Subject: [KFFDISC] "Love and Duty" - Chapter 3
    Date: Tue, 02 Apr 2002 11:55:20 +0800
    From: " Megan Lavey" <dqbunny@earthlink.net>
Reply-To: kffdisc@nabiki.com
      To: kffdisc@nabiki.com


I apologize if this is a repost, but I saw that only
two chapters were posted thus far, so this is to
get folks caught back up:

For those of you who are just joining us,
last year a romance novel of the fairy tale,
"The Wild Swans" was put out. For those of you
not familiar with the tale, it is the story of
how a princess must knit shirts out of nettles
for her 12 brothers who have turned into swans.
She must remain silent the entire time. During
this time, a handsome king comes along and
falls for the princess. He takes her home and
marries her. Things proceed from there. Anyhow,
feelfree to e-mail me any questions or comments
to dqbunny@earthlink.net or by IMing me at
MegsLeigh on AOL Instant Messenger!

"Love and Duty"
by DQBunny

DISCLAIMER: "Rurouni Kenshin" is owned by
Nobuhiro Watsuki. The romance novel form of
"The Wild Swans" is owned by Kate Holmes. All
royalities go to them, I'm just a humble fanfic
writer.

Chapter 3

"Please...come back to Edo Castle with me."
Kenshin whirled around, his violet eyes filled
with shock. Kaoru dropped to her knees and bent
over so low that her bangs brushed the ground.
"Please," she whispered. "Come with me."

Misao's jaw dropped. "Kaoru! You can't be
serious!" she cried.

Kenshin agreed with Misao. He remained rooted
to where he stood, trying to gauge whether or
not Kaoru was serious or not. Yes, he had saved
her life, but was it enough to have the empress
of Japan ask him to go home with her?

No, of course not. After all, he would had done
the same thing for anyone else. Kenshin
squashed the quickly growing part of his heart
that yearned to go with her and find out whether
the sparks of attraction he felt when he first
saw her would grow. He couldn't leave now. Not
with his brothers in this predicament. Even if
they were royal pains in the butts, they were
his. He shook his head and turned away, knowing
the long he stared at Kaoru, the weaker his
resolve would be. After all, she was the
empress and he was just a mere swordsman.
Any attraction would lead to heartache.

Kenshin looked up and saw his brothers
gathered on the shore of the lake, all 12 of them
glaring at him as if he had lost his mind. They
turned their backs on him. He sighed.

Kaoru lifted her head and stared at his backside.
Tears gathered in her eyes. She had just met
this man, but there was something that was
pulling them together. She could feel it, and
normally she could trust her gut instinct. That
instinct told her now that if she lost this man,
she would be losing something infinitely
precious.

She sat back on her haunches. She could
command him to come with her, but she knew
that it would cause him to resent her. She thought
back to their initial meeting on the dock. Perhaps
there was something else...Kaoru's eyes widened
with realization.

"I can teach you how to knit!"

Before Kenshin could react, the swans whirled
around and started after him. Sanosuke reached
him first and knocked Kenshin into the air.
Yahiko and Yutaro caught him on their backs and
tipped him onto Anji's. All 12 ran to a bewildered
Kaoru and Misao with Kenshin silently yelling at
all of them. Anji tossed Kenshin off his back and
he landed at Kaoru's feet.

Kaoru stared at the swans. "You want him to
come with me?" she asked them.

All 12 nodded.

Kenshin jumped to his feet and growled at them,
his hand poised to draw his sakabatou. Kaoru
swore the swans growled back and took a step
toward him.

"Would you like to come too?" Kaoru asked.

All 12 nodded again.

"Then it's uhh....settled?" Misao questioned,
giving all of them strange looks.

Kenshin's cheeks turned red and he nodded,
fighting the urge to laugh nervously. He knew
it was strange for a silent swordsman and 12
swans to be going anywhere with anyone.

Kaoru smiled. "Great! Our carriage is back near
the road. We'll all...," she started to say, but
instead the 12 swans knocked Kenshin back
onto one of their backs and started running
toward the carriage with both bewildered women
staring after them.

Misao drew in a deep breath and gave Kaoru a
sidelong glance. "Let me get this straight,"
she said. "You want a swordsman, a really good
swordsman I admit, who says absolutely nothing
but apparently wants to learn how to knit and
his 12 pet swans to come with us to Edo Castle?"

Kaoru grinned at Misao. "Yup!" she replied, and
started after the swans and Kenshin.

Misao scratched her head. "But why?" she asked.

"Didn't you see?" Kaoru called back.

"See what?"

Kaoru looked back at Misao. "He didn't bow to
me."

Misao cocked her head to one side. "He
didn't...bow to you?"

"Nope! Sure didn't!" Kaoru was so happy that
she wanted to skip all the way back to the
carriage. Instead, she started singing. A
confused Misao followed her, shaking her head.

*****

Kenshin stared out the window, his eyes filled
with wonder as they passed through the gates of
Edo Castle. He had been to the city before, but
never inside the place where the royal family
lived. He knew he looked like a child, his face
nearly pressed against the glass as he stared at
the magnificent buildings leading up to the
castle. He craned his head slightly and saw his
brothers flying above the carriage in a V, two
of them fighting it out to be the lead swan.
Probably Sano and Saitoh, he realized.

Earlier, they had all tried to pile into the
carriage with them. Kaoru and Misao just gawked
as all of them fought until Aoshi, the only swan
with blue eyes, pulled all of them out by their
tail feathers. Saitou head been the only one to
hang back, pecking Kenshin in order to get him
to light another cigarette for him.

"I've never heard of a swan that smokes
cigarettes," Kaoru commented.

Kenshin blushed and shrugged, wishing with all
his heart he could explain the entire situation
to them...or at least kick Saitou in the butt.
He decided on the latter. As the women got into
the carriage, he kicked Saitou and sent him
flying into Sano, who promptly picked a fight.
Kenshin flew into the carriage and urged Kaoru
to leave immediately before Saitou could come
after them. The view forgotten, Kenshin leaned
back into the plush seat and sighed. He would
be dead the moment he stepped out of the
carriage.

"Tired, Kenshin?" Kaoru asked.

He looked across the carriage at her and Misao
and shook his head and pasted on a smile.

Kaoru smiled back. Before she could ask
anything else, the carriage pulled to a stop.
The door flung open. A slender, dark-haired
woman appeared at the entrance, her normally
beautiful face now twisted with anger.

"I hear that you did not approve of the husband
choices in Kyoto that I discovered for you,
Hime-sama," the woman spat at her.

Kaoru ignored Megumi, used to her tantrums
concerning husband, or lack thereof. "I'm very
sorry, Megumi-san, but none of your choices
agreed with me," she replied, pleasantly. "But,
thank you as always for your excellent advice."

"Besides, she doesn't want to marry a rat like
you," Misao cheerfully informed the older woman
as she hopped out of the carriage.

Megumi glared at the okashira. "Say that again,
itachi-musume," she growled.

Misao's eyes darked and she pulled out her
kunai. "You watch your tongue, kitsune," she shot
at her.

"You better watch your back...better, your food."

Kenshin climbed out of the carriage and
immediately inserted himself between the two
women. He held up his hands and silently tried
to get them to calm down. From a few steps away,
Kaoru shook her head.

"You can't do anything with them," she said.
"They've hated each other from the first moment
they've set eyes on each other."

Megumi looked down at the shorter man standing
in front of her with a cheerful smile on his
face. The sour look she wore quickly faded as
she assessed him. "Who is this?" she asked.

"His name is...what is his name, Kaoru?" Misao
looked back at the empress.

"Himura Kenshin," Kaoru replied. "He saved my
life while I was taking a walk. He is an
excellent swordsman and I have need for men
like him to serve in the Oniwabanshu." It was a lie,
but one Megumi would accept, that she knew. As
for Kenshin serving in her personal guard, that
would be something they would discuss later.

Kenshin whirled around and stared at Kaoru
when she mentioned the Oniwabanshu. He
quickly shook his head and started down the road
toward the gate.

The three women stared after him. "What is he
doing?" Megumi asked.

"I think he's leaving," Misao replied.

Kaoru gasped. She started running after him.
"Kenshin! Wait! You can't leave!" she cried.

Kenshin stopped and looked back at her.

"What did I say? Did I insult you? You are a
good swordsman!"

Kenshin smiled and nodded. That, he was willing
to admit to himself.

"What is it? Is it the Oniwabanshu?"

He nodded.

"You don't want to join it?"

He shook his head.

"Why?" Misao yelled, her grip on her kunai
tightening. "The Oniwabanshu are the best
fighters in Japan! We personally guard the
empress and Edo Castle. It is considered an
honor to join! You should be kissing the
empress's feet for even being considered to be
among us!"

Kenshin chuckled and shook his head. He turned
once more to leave, then saw that his brothers
had formed a wall on the road before him. They
glared at him. He knew if he took one step
further that he would be attacked.

Kaoru ran to his side and grabbed his arm. "You
don't have to be a member of the Oniwabanshu,"
she said, softly. "I figured with your fighting
skills that you wouldn't mind. I apologize for
insulting you."

Megumi scowled. "He should be locked away for
insulting you, hime-sama. Send for the guards
immediately, itachi!"

"Not as long as you're talking to me like that.
Besides, since when were you ever concerned
that people were observing protocol with the
empress anyhow?" Misao muttered and headed
toward the castle.

Kenshin looked down into Kaoru's eyes and
couldn't look away. Her blue eyes pleaded with
him to stay. He saw the tears brimming in her
eyes and the lonliness as well. He looked
around. Megumi still stood by the carriage
fuming and Misao had left. Guards and servants
were going around doing their normal jobs. Only
Misao seemed to be on any friendly, personal
terms with Kaoru. Everyone else seemed to be
afraid of her or not really know her.

He glanced down at her again and smiled. He
knew he would stay. After all, she needed a
friend and he needed to know how to knit.
Besides, he had a mystery to solve – he wanted
to learn who Kamiya Kaoru was, not the empress
of Japan. Anyone could know the empress. He
had a feeling only a select few knew the real
Kaoru.

He grabbed her arm and tucked it under his and
started toward the castle, the servants, guards
and Megumi gawking after them all the way.

*****

Kenshin looked around his new room, his eyes
wide with amazement. The suite of rooms Kaoru
had him placed in was bigger than the cabin he
shared with Hiko and his brothers. A Western-
style bed was the centerpiece of the room. It
sat up so high that a set of stairs were pushed
against it.

He walked over to the fireplace and fiddled with
it for a moment, then sat in one of the plush,
Western-style seats that sat facing it. Then he
got up and headed for the door, intending on
inspecting the castle. Every place he had ever
gone before, he checked over throughly to ensure
he knew where possible intruders would come in.

Kenshin left his room and walked down the hall
toward the stairs. At the head of them, he
heard a yell from the first floor. His eyes
narrowed, he flew down the stairs, his hand
wrapped around his sword's hilt. He reached the
bottom, skidded to a stop, then promptly slapped
a hand against his forehead in exasperation.

One of the swans, Sano he guessed, was fighting
one of the laundry maids over a length of red
cloth. The swan had the cloth in his beak and
pulled with all of his might. The maid was
cussing at him and trying to get it back.

"That's Megumi-sama's favorite handkerchief!"
she yelled. "Give that back!"

Sano pulled back successfully jerked the cloth
out of the maid's hand. He looked around and
spotted Kenshin, then trotted over to him. He
dropped the handkerchief at Kenshin's feet,
stepped back, and waited.

Kenshin stared at the handkerchief and then
motioned his hands as if he was tying the cloth
around his head. Sano nodded. Kenshin sighed.

"Now, you give that back," the maid reached for
the handkerchief. Sano growled at the maid and
went after her with his beak.

Kenshin grabbed the handkerchief and shrugged
at the maid in apology. The maid wailed, grabbed
the laundry basket and ran off. Probably to tell
Megumi, Kenshin guessed. He knelt and tied
the handkerchief around Sano's neck since it was
too big to go around his head. Sano proudly
tossed his head and then nuzzled Kenshin's hand
in thanks. He trotted back over to the where
something else lay on the ground and scooped it
up in his beak. Kenshin sighed and shook his
head sadly as Sano walked past him, a fishbone
proudly cocked in his beak.

*****

Misao walked down the hall, looking over a few
papers in her hands. She sighed as she read the
last one. Not five minutes after she and Kaoru
had returned from Kyoto than Megumi had posted
more flyers advertising that the empress needed
a husband. Rather, you want a good roll in the
hay, Misao thought.

Misao had been friends with Kaoru from
childhood, her own father had been the okashira
for the Oniwabanshu when Kaoru's father was
emperor. She wanted the best for her friend, and
she knew in her heart that Megumi was about the
worst thing for her. Still, Kaoru was a good person
and tried to make everyone happy and not offend
anyone. It was one of her greatest strengths,
yet her greatest weakness as well, Misao
realized.

She passed by the opened entrance to the
castle's shrine and casually glanced inside.
About five steps passed the shrine, she stopped
and looked back at it. She quietly backtracked
and stuck her head in the door. She rubbed her
eyes and stared again, not quite believing what
she saw.

There was a swan meditating in the shrine.

She was dreaming. She had to be. Then again,
she had seen some weird things that day with
Himura Kenshin and those 12 swans of his. It
was most likely one of his. She crept into the
shrine and approached the swan. His head was
still held high, but his eyes were closed, as if
he was really meditating.

Misao stared at the swan, then cocked her head.
"Ano...are you really meditating?" she asked.

The swan slowly opened one eye. Misao stared at
the animal as it studied her with an ice blue
eye, then closed it again. Since when did swans
have blue eyes, she wondered.

She shook her head and left the shrine. No
matter how odd it was, it looked like Himura
Kenshin and his swans would shake up castle
life for everyone. Misao smiled as she headed
toward her room. It was about time they needed a
good change.

*****

The door to her chambers flew open. Kaoru
jumped in her seat, but did not rise from her
desk to greet the fuming Megumi. She glanced up
quickly and returned to her paperwork. "Yes,
Megumi-san?" she asked.

Megumi slammed her hands on Kaoru's desk.
"Did you hear that a SWAN stole my favorite red
handkerchief?" she yelled.

"Yes, Tae-san told me all about it," Kaoru
replied, signing her name at the bottom of one
of the papers.

"And did you know that there's currently a swan
in my room right now, playing dress-up with my
formal kimonos?"

"Really?" Kaoru looked up, biting her lower lip
to keep from laughing. The thought of a swan
dressing in kimono was funny. But, poor Megumi
looked so angry, she knew it was better to keep
that thought to herself. She would have to
laugh it over with Kenshin and Misao later.
Perhaps Kenshin would write out the name of the
swan dressing in Megumi's clothes so she could
thank it.

"I want to know, who is this red-haired freak
you brought in here! Everyone's been talking
about how peculiar he is! They're even saying
that he's your lover."

Kaoru laughed this time, not at the talk about
Kenshin being her lover, but at the anger
twisting Megumi's beautiful face into something
hideous.. "So, what if he is my lover?" she
replied.

"It's unacceptable! He's some dirty, poor
swordsman here to usurp you of your power and
money. He's using you, Kaoru!"

Kaoru shook her head. "I highly doubt that,
Megumi-san. Kenshin was very reluctant to come
here in the first place, and you saw how he
tried to leave when we offered him a place in
the Oniwabanshu."

"It's just an act, I assure you, Hime-sama."
Megumi studied the empress's face. "You do want
to bed him, don't you?"

Kaoru couldn't stop the blush that immediately
betrayed her. She stood up and faced the window,
her hands fiddling with each other. "It's not
like that," she whispered. "I barely know
Kenshin. I just want to thank him for saving
me."

The look on Megumi's face softened. "I know
what it's like to be in debt to someone," she
said. "You can't throw away your entire life,
not to mention this kingdom's, because someone
sparks your lust."

"Oh?" Kaoru looked at Megumi. "Then, why did my
father take you to his bed? Don't tell me there
wasn't lust there."

Megumi's features hardened again. "It was a
different situation," she replied.

"No, it wasn't. You found my father left for a
dead after a battle with some bandits and saved
his life by healing you. He was attracted to
you and you became lovers. He grew to trust you,
even love you in a way, and made you his chief
advisor. Tell me how different that is from the
situation now?" Kaoru asked.

"It's different because you are an unmarried
woman. Your father had already been married
and had an heir."

"So an unmarried man is allowed to have a lover,
but I can't?"

"You must keep yourself pure for your husband!"

"Well, you obviously didn't do that, did you,
Megumi-san?"

Megumi's hand flew toward Kaoru's cheek. Kaoru
snapped her hand up to block it, but another
hand grabbed Megumi's wrist instead. Both
women whirled their heads to see Kenshin with a
tight hold on Megumi's wrist, his purple eyes
ringed with gold. He pointed to the door.

"You can't tell me to leave, peasant," Megumi
snapped at him.

"But, I can," Kaoru growled. "Get out of my
sight for the evening, Megumi-san. And, if you
ever try to slap me again, I will have Misao
throw you in the dungeons. Got it?"

"Got it," Megumi snatched her hand from
Kenshin's and stalked toward the door. "Have
fun with your lover, Hime-sama. Just don't come
crying to me when noone wants to marry spoiled
goods." She slammed the door behind her.

Kaoru sighed and walked over to the fireplace,
where two chairs sat before it like in Kenshin's
room. She wearily sank into one of the chairs
and massaged her forehead to ward off the on-
coming headache. After a moment, she glanced
at Kenshin and managed a smile for him. "Thank
you," she said, motioning to the other chair. "How
much of it did you hear?"

Kenshin sat in the offered chair. He thought
for a moment. To be honest, he had heard almost
the entire conversation. It had been Megumi
yelling about the swan dressing in women's
clothing that he stopped near the open door and
listened in on their conversation. He bet it
was Kamatari getting into the clothes. He
preferred to dress up in women's clothing.
Kenshin pointed to Kaoru's kimono, then made a
flapping motion with his hands.

"Oh, then you heard all of it," Kaoru said, then
sighed. "I apologize for putting you in the
middle of my family problems."

Kenshin shook his head quickly. Kaoru stared in
her lap, fiddling with her fingers. He fought
the urge to fidget at the silence that stretched
between them. He quickly ran over everything
Hiko ever taught him about women. It wasn't
much. He thought about how some of his
brothers acted with women and nearly groaned.
He couldn't do that either! Perhaps if he just got
Kaoru to talk about her problems, it would help.

He stared at her. The firelight cast a dim halo
around her body, like some type of barrier he
had to pass through. He frowned. How would he
get her attention? Touch on the shoulder? The
knee? Trip and fall so she'd noticed him?
Kenshin settled for the knee. He reached over
and lightly tapped the traveling kimono she
still wore. Heat radiated from the point, making
it almost feel like a caress to him. He quickly
snatched his hand back.

She looked up, surprised. He smiled and made a
talking motion with his hand.

Kaoru smiled. "You are a little left out in the
dark about this, aren't you?"

Well, that too, but Kenshin knew that curiousity
was never suppose to get the better of someone,
especially a swordsman. He settled back in his
chair and shrugged, immediately hiding his
hands in the folds of his gi before his fingers
decided to tap anywhere else.

Kaoru stared into the fire. "My mother died
when I was very young," she explained. "Since
then, my father was very lonely. He threw his
energy into raising me. About three years ago,
he was returning from a border war when an
assassin wounded him with an arrow. With the
assassin was a young woman, a hostage of his.
Father rescued the woman and it turned out that
she was a healer. That was Megumi-san. They
came back and became...intimately involved."

Kenshin smiled as he saw blush creep across
Kaoru's cheeks. He would bet the feathers on
his brothers' backs that she had no idea how
involved being intimate could be.

"Father told Megumi that he could never marry
her. Instead, she made her his cheif advisor.
When he died last year, I promised him that I
would retain her. Since then, she has felt it
is her duty to marry me off."

Marry? Kenshin nodded. That would explain
Megumi's behavior toward him being in the castle.
She saw him as a theat to her own goal of
getting the empress married. He fought the urge
to laugh. Too bad Megumi didn't know he had no
plans to marry the empress. There was no way he
could.

"So, the parade began. All sorts of men of all
ranks from all over Japan. Megumi-san literally
began an advertising campaign just to announce
that I'm eligible. Every day I'm in Edo, Megumi
arranged an audience session where just single
men of good rank come and try to win my hand in
marriage. I met you when I was coming back from
a marriage trip Megumi-san arranged for me. I
was in Kyoto looking at the new prospects, as
Misao-chan calls them." Kaoru sighed. She
looked at Kenshin.

He tapped the fourth finger of his left hand.

"Do I want to be married?"

He nodded.

"Only to the right person. I want someone to
marry me because of myself, not because I'm the
empress or rich." Kaoru rested her elbows on
her knees. "Like that will happen during my
lifetime. Maybe I should just give up and just
award myself to the highest bidder that's the
least likely to bloodsuck me onto the streets."

Kenshin frowned and held his hands out in front
of him and made a movement as if he was
swinging a shinai.

Kaoru smiled. "Not many people know that I'm
good at kenjutsu. My father taught me the
family school, Kamiya Kasshin Ryu. It's a sword
technique where you protect people. We use
wooden swords of different types. Your
sakabatou is also unusual. I think it's a
weapon my father would like to use. It stands
up to real swords better. What school do you
know?"

Kenshin shook his head and sighed. The story of
how he received his sakabatou and his entire
past burned in the back of his throat, the urge
to tell her filled him so strongly that it was
nearly painful. He had no idea why he wanted to
tell her things that he had never even told his
own family. Not even Hiko knew the entire truth
about what happened during the three years he
was away from home. He forced himself to
concentrate on how the firelight played in
Kaoru's hair, casting an almost-angelic glow
about her. He bit his tongue. Perhaps they
needed to move onto other things.

He spotted paper, ink, and brushes on a small
writing table next to the chair Kaoru had sat in.
He quickly retrieved them and knelt on the
ground and spread them out. Kaoru watched him,
intrigued as he scribbed out some kanji
characters.

"What is that?" she asked, getting down on her
knees as well. "The school you use?"

Kenshin nodded.

Kaoru stared at the kanji and squinted as she
tried to read the characters. She turned the
paper until it appeared upright to her. Then,
she turned it upside down, then right side up
again. She started laughing.

Kenshin frowned.

"You really do have bad handwriting," Kaoru
giggled. "I didn't want to mention it when we
were outside, but it really is bad."

Well, having an education hadn't been on
Kenshin's list of priorities, especially when he
was younger. Now, he wished he had paid better
attention to the teachers Hiko had brought in to
try and make him and his brothers literate.
There was another mark seperating him and the
woman sitting before him. He sighed and picked
up the brush.

"Wait, wait, I think I can make some of this
out," Kaoru said. "The first characters looks
like it should be 'Hi-ten.' The stroke order on
the 'Hi' is all wrong. Let me show you," she
added, reaching out to the brush from Kenshin's
hand.

He didn't let go of it. Instead, her hand
covered his and he froze. They stared down at
their joined hands, then back at each other.

Kaoru knew she was crazy. She had to be, for
bringing a strange man into the palace like this.
She was even crazier still for the thoughts
racing through her mind at the moment. She
quickly lost herself in Kenshin's eyes, the deep
purple wells quickly swallowing her in. He had
to be the first man she had known outside her
father who didn't fawn over her, prostrate
himself before her, or try to pick her up on the
spot. He listened to her and seemed to respect
her for knowing kenjutsu, not laughing when she
mentioned it. He actually wanted to know more
about it.

Kaoru glanced at their hands, then at him once
more. His other hand moved to brush the
tendrils of hair that framed her face behind her
ear. Her heart nearly stopped. He was just a
stranger. But still...Kaoru lifted her free
hand and wrapped it around Kenshin's wrist.
Then, she leaned forward and kissed him.

Megs
*******
dqbunny@simplecom.net
AIM: MegsLeigh
http://www.wishing-blue.net/dreamweaver/
--