Date: Tue, 2 Nov 1999 12:08:10 -0400
 From: The Fox <bgalv001@xxxxxx.xxxx.xxx
 Subject:  [FIC] Dancing Madly Backwards 12 [END]


		 Here is the end...
                 just an epilogue to go.
                 Let me know what do you think, minna!!!
   .................................................................
   .................................................................
                 Dancing Madly Backwards
                 Chapter 12

                 Let it rain.

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                 :
                 I dont want to loose you
                 I could never make it alone...
                 I¥m the man who will fight for your honor
                 I¥ll be the hero that you¥re dreaming of
                 Standing together
                 Always together ...
                 That karate Kid song....

	- I'd like to think you were counting with the flat edge, but 
I wouldn't bet it .-

	- Oh, dear , of course ... now, let me check that bandage 
(or "those bandages") ...-

	Saitoh, tucked to the chin in bed doesn't seem a very happy 
wolf as her beloved half checks the bandages and tips keeping all his 
upper body inmobile. Tokio gave him a moist kiss in the tip of the 
nose and then tucked him again.

	- The doctor said you'll have to keep unmobile three weeks, 
but I will keep you here one more to be sure.-

	- Shit.- Saitoh just sighs, knowing it's no use to argue with 
his wife , in special being so helpless at her mercy. Further argument 
could leave him without soba .- Dear , I even can't light a cigarrette 
in this state ...-

	- It's a good moment to get rid of that habit, koibito.-

	- Tokio....- the Mibu's Wolf gave in a growl. His wife just 
begins to caress his taut , muscled stomach with butterfly fingers .

	- Tokio, damn, I have a broken neck for your hobbies, so let 
me in... TOKIO! ! Yamete ! I'm serious ! !-




	Yahiko was alone.

	The snow had recently stopped and the dojo was bathed by a 
bright sun. When the boy had stopped brooming the snow out of the 
central path , he had sat himself in the porch, his arms around his 
knees.

	The dojo was so silent. Sano was in the clinic still , still 
asleep and pale, still a fading ghost .

	Kenshin is in Kyoto , with Megumi, trying to help Kaoru.

	Kaoru...

	Neesan...

	The image of Kaoru, her stubborness, her laugh and her scowls, 
her warm eyes and her powerful common sense has imprinted this dojo. 
Her hands , strong and beautiful have caressed Yahiko's many times 
... and yanked his ear many times too. She was life : the life of this 
place . And now, Yahiko, who was always thankful to be bring a home, 
the dojo, understand that isn't the building his home. His home is 
where Kaoru is. His sensei. His family...

	Kamiya kasshin Ryuu : Protect the loved ones .

	Yahiko hugs the broom closer and cries .







	-Tadaima - says a tired voice .

	A pale Kenshin falls directly in the snow when Yahiko jumps 
over him with the force of a cannonball. He hugs the boy as close as 
his fading strength lets him, whispering incoherent loving words . 
The coldness of the snow can't cool the warm in their embrace . After
him, in procession, Misao smiles supporting the pale and battered 
Kaoru as Megumi shrugs absently, her thin cheeks talking of sickness.

	- Oka...okaeri ...- mutters the boy, letting Kenshin go to hug 
Kaoru and Megumi fiercely . Then , he looks into the tired eyes of 
Kaoru. .. deep blue,as the sky over him, framing her pale face ...

	the sun in her hair...
        
        This is his Kaoru. And Yahiko cries in relief hugging her 
closer and closer.He has been a man taking care of the dojo . He has 
felt like a man helping Kenshin and managing to guard something as 
important as their home. But now,he knows that he really loves to be a 
boy...

	Their boy.

	- I'm so happy to see you again , Yahiko-chan...-

	And old reflexe . A habit of happy times, to call the 
happiness....

	- CHAN ? ! !?-




	Kenshin waits .

	Sano is in deep slumber .

	Genzai sensei has said he was fading.

	The cut has sliced important organs in half. They can't feed 
him , even with chewed rice and hiss only food has been milk . That, 
with the enormous blood lost and a infection had put him in a 
lamentable state .

	Sano was a skeleton. His tanned muscles, his strong body now 
are a fading memory : he looks like a dying child, pale as rice paper 
, his always carefully arranged hair messed and loose , and his warm 
eyes closed in pools of violet . His lips are dry and hurt : his arms 
thin and full of veins.

	- Sano...- Kenshin slowly wets the hurt lips with a tinny 
cotton and then takes the consumed hand in his, remaining kneeled 
besides the futon - Sano,my friend...-

	Megumi has inmediatelly took care of him. But even if the cut 
is healing properly, the infection defeated , his fever was still high.
All depends of his strength, and now, there isn't much strength in his 
battered body.

	Megumi will recover. Kaoru is fine now. Please Sano fight
...awake . You never leaft me alone. Don't start now. I need you ... 
onegai . I need you so much. You are my will and my reason and my half.
You are my partner... my warm white shadow. Please awake .... our 
family is waiting for you...
	I'm waiting for you , Sano...
        The boy has been in that deep coma from the moment the 
possesed girl hit him. He surely fades hearing the desperate cries, 
smelling the fresh blood of his and Megumi¥s open wounds. Maybe he 
has heared Kenshin cry for his shattered dreams. How can he have 
any living will still....?
	Sano, just you're missing still... we can surpass everything, 
but if you die, Kaoru-dono will never forgive herself... if you die, 
she will follow you in nightmares. We need you, you know... because if 
you die, I¥ll have to go. I can't keep being here...I can't . Because 
even as great as my love for Kaoru-dono is, you're as meaningful to me.
I need ... I need things I longed to express to you . I have dreamed
... I had wished ...Sano...

	The birds were singing .
        Damn loud f*** pieces of f**** meat ....
        Sano blinks, and then curses himself and rests his head again 
in the pillow.
	He feels as dead meat ... and more bones than meat, in fact . 
The room was turning and turning and turning ...
        And a deep red pool of silken hair was nestled in his shoulder.
        NANI????
        Kenshin was hugging him, deep asleep, his loose hair like a '
enormous blood stain in the futon. His skin was warm, and sweet ... 
and his breath was soft in his ear. His gi was discarded in the floor, 
and in the coldness of the grey dawn his features were childish and 
angelic...
	My angel, blood haired angel...
        ... if the room doesn't stop spinning, he will puke ...
        - Ken...Kenshin... - he whispers , hearing his own voice so 
raspy, so harsh and different...Why? He has no memory of what has put 
him in this state, or why Kenshin is sleeping with him ...
	- Kenshin ? - he pleads, trying to awake him, but his hand 
feel so dead and numb...so weak! What the hell? Why does he feel like 
a just borned kitten?
	The fight must had been very hard, he decides . And Kenshin, 
even if he doesn't have a rash, seems gone to the hell and back.
	Worst than Shishio...
        ... oohhhhhhhh......
        must have been rough ... and seems I got the worst part.
        No matter, he smiles weakly , unconsciously caressing the 
slender hand over his heart . I always wanted to be your shield. I 
know I can't fight for you... but I can help. I can ... I can help . 
I can be your shield and the arms to hold you . I can be ...
       ... all that I could not be for my Souzou...
       I will not let you die. I ...
       Why I¥m weaker than a mouse ???
       ....Ch¥.....
       -------------------------------TWO MONTHS
       LATER--------------------------------------------

	- So, how is Saitoh doing , Tokio-san?-
        - He is well, as usual . Himura-san¥s attack just bruised him 
a bit - Tokio shrugs, and resumes her eating in the small table of 
the Aoiya. Aoshi, sitting across her, was peacefully sharing her rice 
balls and steaming bread .- I still can¥t believe how Sagara recovered
. It was amazing, but I still think Himura was very close to overdoing 
it . Even his habilities have a limit.-
	- I¥d bet a generous amount of self-blaming was enough to put 
him in that state . He was really blaming himself about Tomoe-san¥s 
job.-
	It was a sunny afternoon of spring. Kyoto, after one of those 
spring rains,looked like a just cleaned garden . The sky was velvet 
light blue, and the sun gently poured over the table where they were 
eating. Okon was serving them, and Aoshi waits till fresh tea was 
served.
	- I still think it wasn't Tomoe.The frustations and anger 
Kamiya-san, Takani-san and... Misao have, are more than enough to make 
them snap. But yes I think it was the Tomoe idea, the phantom of 
perfection what made Kaoru-san believe that if she could be as her , 
Himura would love her .-
	- I definitively sensed a evil presence there , Shinomori-kun.-
        Aoshi smile was diminutive to the lady.
        - I'd bet that skill is hard to bear to you, then. -
        - If you are being mean with my husband, I will slap you, 
Shinomori -  answers Tokio placidly at the ironic gleam in thžse blue 
eyes .
	A shadow in the Aoiya's porch enters and Aoshi lifts his head 
to greet silently the newcomer. Saitoh, still with droplets of rain in 
his police cloak smiles a bit , letting they know that he has heard 
all .
	-'afternoon, Shinomori.-
        -Ohayo, Saitoh.-
        -You have arrived sooner that I expected , koibito. What about 
taking a cup of tea with us ?-
	Okon appeared fast with warm tea for the Wolf. Even perfectly 
straight as always he looked a bit uneasy tense sitting, and Aoshi 
silently decided he still had to be very pained . Even with the flat 
edge, the hit could broke his neck.
	- I don't want tea. Just hurry up with your chat and we will 
go sooner .- says Saitoh matter of factly. His wife, anyway, doesn't 
seem to mind in absolute.
	This woman haves him around her little finger...
        .. if any woman can.
        - The flowers of your garden are lovely, don't you think ,
Shinomori -kun?- asks Tokio all of sudden. Aoshi lifts his gaze to the
crisantemos just refreshed by the rain, soft warm sun over the pink 
petals, and his eyes soften in thought.
	Misao was playing with a muddied puppy in the garden.
        Misao, my flower. My own flower...
        You need the sun and the rain as Kamiya-san, ... and 
Takani-san. You need love. And you are our flowers, so , we have to 
take care of our flowers .
	Neeh, Himura ?
        As always, Saitoh has known the truth sooner that us , 
battousai-rurouni.
	Faster, and with all his will he has dedicated to his duty.
        I'll do too. In our duty is the hapinness, maybe... but sure 
the peace is .
	Our flowers...

	- Where is Ken-san? - asks Megumi.
        The dojo was very silent . Yahiko was brooming without a 
complain, and Kaoru was reading absently enjoying the brief sun. When 
Megumi arrives, she was still thin and pale, but looks better than the 
exhausted yahiko, who has been a real angel taking care of the sick 
people for two months.
	- He is with Sano in the river . They are surely coming soon 
to dinner -says yahiko tiredly, rubbing his pained back and resuming 
his brooming diligently.
	- Don't overdo yourself, Yahiko-chan.- smiles Kaoru, with a 
warm look to the boy.
	- Hmph. A man has to do what a man has to do.- he snarls back 
and attacks his work with new energies . Not so long till Kenshin 
arrives surprised to see a cloud of dust forming in the porch debt to 
Yahiko's diligence.
	- Oroo? - Kenshin manages to clear the dust and then sneeze .
        - ....oops....to much ramen...- smiles Yahiko to Kenshin .
- Where is Sano,Kenshin? Isn't he coming with you? -
	- He is... tired, Yahiko . He must be carefull , as  \
Genzai-sensei has said.- smiles Kenshin. but something is faltering
... something odd.
	Sano has been almost totally absent, and he hasn't come to 
the dojo in weeks. After a long period of convalescence, even Kenshin 
can't be sure about him remembering something or not . He has grown 
silent , and spending more and more time with Katsu or alone .
	He hasn't greeted Kaoru still.

	A sob. A soft sob.
        Kaoru.
        - Kaoru, Kaoru, what... - asks worriedly Megumi, hugging her 
with a older sister ease - That damn f** rooster head ... i'll give 
him a good kick in the c*** if he is asking for it...-
	- Daijobu, Megumi-dono.- Kenshin kneels and hugs the sobbing 
Kaoru as he has done for those two months, when she is awaken 
everynight with desperate reminiscenses of madness . But today is 
different. Kaoru dosn't have to cry...
	- It's not your fault, Kaoru-dono.Nor mine, or anyone else . 
It's just...-We were crying for love.
	- Megumi-dono, onegai, will you mind going to check Sano? He 
has just gone...-
        A silence. That violet gaze denying, assuring, promising, 
ordering... all in that warm wave of violet shades. Megumi raising 
with the eyes colored of dead old drems and bold new dreams. She too 
has flowers to take care .
	As Kenshin.
        As everyone.
        - Sayonara, Kaoru, Ken...shin..-
        Kenshin hugs the calming Kaoru closer as Yahiko goes to 
practice in the dojo. As the night falls softly , he kisses that 
raven-like shining hair ,and whispers .
	He whispers words of love.
 ............................OWARI!!!!!!:............................
 			    ..............
Just one epilogue now: "To wake up!" Is time for Megumi, Aoshi and 
Kenshin flowers, neeh? What do you think about a little l. sidestory 
for the Wolves?
                 Love, the Fox.