Subject: [KFFDISC] "Love and Duty" - Chapter 7
    Date: Tue, 02 Apr 2002 15:21:22 +0800
    From: " Megan Lavey" <dqbunny@earthlink.net>
Reply-To: kffdisc@nabiki.com
      To: kffdisc@nabiki.com


I would like to give special thanks to Makyra
and to Sailor Elysia, both who are my pre-readers
for my Kenshin stories. They both are wonderful
inspirations to me and they write great fics as
well.

Thanks to everyone for the wonderful reviews!
It's been fun to see the anticipation as to how
Kenshin will answer Kaoru. Thankfully, the wait
won't be long as I seem to be on a writing roll
right now. Enjoy!

Any comments can be sent to dqbunny@earthlink.net
or IMed to me at MegsLeigh on AOL Instant Messenger.
Also, please visit my website at
http://www.geocities.com/weaver_stories/index.htm

"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 7

"Himura Kenshin, would you do me the honor of
marrying me?"

Kenshin's entire world stopped. The firelight
and Misao faded from view and the only thing he
could see was Kaoru's head bent over his hand,
the long ponytail she wore her hair in fallen
over her shoulder so her hair brushed his legs.
He felt her warm breath on his hands, rapid
pants betraying her nerves.

Marriage...to him. Part of him immediately
recoiled at the thought. Kenshin would be the
first to admit that his experience with women
was about next to zero. In the days before he
grew to fame as the Hitokiri Battousai, he would
be laughed at and kicked out of the
establishments at the Yoshiwara. He had looked
more like a little boy than a man.

By the time his fame was known, Kenshin didn't
want to bother with the effort. Deep down
inside, something repulsed at the thought that
women wanted him just for his name. He
channeled all of his energy into kenjutsu, and
it worked to keep his sexual desires pushed to
the back of his mind. After returning to Hiko
and his brothers, he had never even thought of
looking for a wife, not with Hiko showing up
with a new brother almost every other year.
Yahiko and Yutaro were the last to join them,
about three years ago.

The repressed sexual desire part of himself
immediately jumped at Kaoru's offer. That part
had been bugging him every night since they
kissed two weeks earlier, reminding him that yes,
he was still a flesh and blood man with needs
and desires. Another part of him stirred as
well, amazed at how courageous Kaoru was. She
was literally offering her life to a virtual
stranger, a man who happened to be the best
swordsman in Japan with a fetish for knitting
shirts out of nettles.

Shirts. Nettles. Kami-sama...

Kenshin's eyes widened. If he married Kaoru,
they would be sucked into a civil war. There
would be no time for him to finish the shirts
since his every waking moment would be spent
making sure that Kaoru was protected. But, even
if he didn't marry her, war was sure to occur.
The shogun had seen to that.

Kaoru raised her head to receive his answer.
Kenshin gazed into her eyes and immediately
became lost. Any rational reason for turning
down her offer was replaced by crystal clear
knowledge coming from his heart. She would die
at the hands of the shogun if she became his
wife. Somehow, Tokugawa would see to that.
Kenshin had served the emperor as the Hitokiri
Battousai, protecting Kaoru as a child from
Tokugawa. It was ten years later, but his duty
was still the same. His allegiance was to the
empress, and he would do everything in his power
to protect her, including giving up his life.

Kenshin nodded.

Kaoru gripped his hands tightly and smiled with
relief. "Thank the gods," she exclaimed.

Misao crossed her arms over her chest. "Wait a
minute," she said. "Congratulations are in
order, sure, but Kaoru, you might as well be
marrying Tokugawa for all we know."

"Misao-chan!" Kaoru rose to her feet. Kenshin
immediately sprang up as well. "You know the
services Kenshin has performed in the past."

"Yes, I'm fully aware of the excellent record
the Hitokiri Battousai has for protecting the
royal family. But, there's one thing you need
to come clean on, Himura." Misao walked over to
Kenshin and jabbed a finger into his chest.
"How come you can't talk? And what's the deal
with the nettle shirts and the swans? Surely
all this must be related."

Kaoru swung around in time to catch the sheepish
look on Kenshin's face. He sighed and walked
toward the writing table in the corner of
Kaoru's room. Quickly locating paper, brush,
and ink, he sat down and began to write his
story.

*****

Outside of Kaoru's window, Aoshi watched the
proceedings. He immediately flew back to the
other swans. Concentrating with all of his
energy, he resumed human form, something he
hadn't tried doing since they originally talked
with Kenshin a few weeks before. Keeping his
statements as brief as possible, he informed the
others of the marriage proposal.

"As you can see," he finished. "I don't think
our taking human form briefly was a one time
thing. We can do so, but it taxes us immensely.
The strongest of us can only do so for five
minutes. I estimate we can only do this every
few days, the weakest, every few weeks."

Before him, Yahiko suddenly reverted to human
form. His brown eyes were full of fear.
"Kenshin isn't going to forget us, is he?"
Yahiko asked nervously. "He promised he would
help change us back to humans."

"Kenshin will not forget his promise," Aoshi
vowed. "But, there is something I want to do
for him before he marries. Change back now,
you're getting tired, Yahiko."

Yahiko nodded and both humans reverted back to
their swan forms. Aoshi took to the air,
heading toward town, the brothers following
behind.

*****

Misao and Kaoru read the paper Kenshin had
written together. "Mou, his handwriting's
terrible," Kaoru muttered at one point, causing
Kenshin to blush and Misao to grin.

At the end, Kaoru set the paper down. "So,
unless we can either get rid of Shishio Makoto
or complete these shirts, you can't get your
voice back?"

"Look at the names of these people who are
Himura's brothers," Misao said, looking back
over the story once more. "I recognize these
names: Saitou Hajime, Shinomori Aoshi, Sagara
Sanosuke...these are some of the best fighters
in Japan! Just think of what it could do to
have them on our side!"

"They're on our side, they're just not in prime
fighting form right now." Kaoru sank into her
chair wearily.

"Then, our first priority is to finish the
shirts! I'll send for the best seamstresses we
have," Misao said, starting for the door.

Kenshin coughed, stopping the okashira. He
shook his head and pointed to himself.

Kaoru nodded. "Kenshin's right, I think he has
to be the one to make the shirts."

"Then, get to it! Do it, do it!" Misao grabbed
Kenshin's sleeve and hauled him toward the door.

"Wait, Misao-chan." Kaoru approached the two
and gently removed Misao's hand from Kenshin's
arm. "We can worry about the shirts later. We
need to go on with the wedding now."

"Oh yeah!" Misao laughed. "So, what do I need
to do?"

Kenshin tried racking his brain for any
recollection of a wedding ceremony. Out in the
country, most couples were considered married if
they slept together and made it through the
night without the families splitting the two of
them apart. There was a Shinto ceremony that
was starting to become popular, though.

"Send for our priest," Kaoru said, as if she had
read his thoughts. "My parents utilizied a
Shinto ceremony when they married. I'd like to
do the same. Hurry, and keep this as quiet as
possible. There's a gazebo in the gardens.
Bring him there. We'll follow."

Misao bowed and left. Kaoru looked down at her
kimono and smoothed out the cloth. She managed
to give Kenshin a shaky smile. "I...guess I'll
go change. Are you having any second thoughts?"
Kaoru's voice had dropped to a whisper by the
end of the sentence.

Kenshin saw the fear and uncertainty in Kaoru's
eyes and cursed his silence once more. In two
steps, he was by her side. Taking her in his
arms, he gave her a brief, but deep kiss, hoping
to convince her that he was willing to go
through with it.

Kaoru pulled away, blush staining her cheeks.
"I take it that means yes," she said, softly.
"Okay, we'll meet in the gazebo in an hour.
Don't try to act differently from what you
normally do. If the shogun finds out about this
now, he'll attack before we're ready."

Kenshin nodded and gave Kaoru one last kiss on
the cheek. He left his blushing bride staring
after him as he left the room. Despite the
levity of the situation, he couldn't stop
himself from smiling. He reached his own
chambers, opened the door, and was immediately
attacked by the swans.

Kenshin cried out, using every ounce of control
he had to keep from yelling at the swans. One
by one, they took human form before him except
for Aoshi and Yahiko. Some of his brothers
looked estatic, while Saitou simply looked bored.

"Wow, you're going to marry her! Good job,
onii-chan!" Kamatari exclaimed, whapping Kenshin
in the back. As the shorter man sailed across
the room, he blushed. "I guess I don't know my
own strength."

"Man, what a way to serve your country," Sano
joked. "I'd love to perform that kind of
service!"

Kenshin picked himself off the ground and glared
at Sanosuke, his purple eyes ringed with gold.
Sano held up his hands and backed away. Kenshin
dusted himself off and pointed to Aoshi and
Yahiko.

"They have already taken human form today. They
can't do so again," Saitou replied. "It takes a
lot of energy to do so. See, Anji and Enishi
have already given out, along with Kamatari and
Yutaro."

Kenshin watched as most of his brothers reverted
back to swan form with the exception of Saitou
and Sano. He looked at them, feeling immensely
jealous. They had the capability of turning
human, even for a short period of time. He
wasn't allowed to say a word. He wouldn't even
be able to speak at his wedding ceremony.

Saitou stared at Kenshin and sighed. "Just
remember the damn shirts," he said, then
reverted back to swan form on his own.

The last one to remain human, Sano's expression
turned serious. "He's right, Kenshin. We want
to help out Kaoru-sama as much as possible. But,
we can't do it unless we're human. That much
depends on you. Not to mention, I figure you
want your voice back about now, eh?"

Kenshin blushed at that comment. Sano chuckled.
"Look, you could have done worse. In our own
way, we're giving you our blessing. Protect our
empress. Oh, and Kenshin?"

Kenshin gave him a questioning look.

"Change your clothes."

Kenshin looked down at the battered purple gi
and white hakama he wore, the tear in his leg
still there from his fight with Enishi just a
couple hours before. He liked his clothes, they
felt comfortable and broken in. But, Sano had a
point.

Sano clasped Kenshin's shoulder. "Don't worry,
Kenshin. We'll be with you all the way. Just
don't be a bumbling fool on your wedding night."

Oro? Kenshin mouthed, his eyes growing wide.
Sano laughed and reverted to swan form. One by
one, the swans flew from his room with the
exception of Yahiko. The smallest swan stared
at him for a moment, then waddled to his side
and nudged his head under Kenshin's hand.
Kenshin smiled and affectionately rubbed
Yahiko's head. He smiled at him, hoping that
Yahiko could see the pledge in his eyes that he
wouldn't forget them.

Yahiko seemed to notice. He held his head
higher than before and followed his brothers out
the window.

Kenshin smiled and turned around to see a set of
new clothes draped over a chair. A folded note
sat on top of them. He picked it up and smiled
at Aoshi's impectibly neat handwriting.
Silently thanking his brothers, he began to
dress.

*****

Misao sniffed and rubbed her eyes as she watched
Kenshin and Kaoru take their wedding vows.
Beside her, Tae openly cried as they performed
the rituals binding them together. They were
the only witnesses to the ceremony, the only
ones Kaoru trusted enough to keep her secret
safe.

Kaoru had wanted to keep their activities from
seeming out of place. She wore a dark blue
kimono with white butterflies dancing over the
fabric with a soft multi-colored obi. Her hair
was tied back in her normal ponytail with a blue
ribbon, knowing that doing a ceremonial
hairstyle would attract attention to themselves.

Her eyes drank in the sight of Kenshin, her
heart nearly stopping at how handsome he looked.
Somehow, he had gotten hold of a complete set of
new clothes. Tae had sworn up and down that she
had not given them to Kenshin and Misao said she
had not seen him leave the castle. He wore a
white gi and haori with a dark blue underkimono
and hakama. When he had entered the gazebo
dressed like that, Kaoru nearly passed out. Tae
had immediately gushed like a mother hen,
exclaiming how he and Kaoru matched.

The ceremony finished and suddenly she found her
hand enveloped in his. Kenshin gave Kaoru an
encouraging smile. She smiled back and squeezed
his hand. Together, they walked out of the
gazebo as man and wife.

A flash of movement caught Kaoru's eye and she
looked up to see twelve swans in a V formation
sailing toward them. Kenshin's eyes lit up and
he raised his free hand toward the air. The
swans swooped down and brushed their wings
against the tips of his outstretched fingers,
his bright smile rivaling the sun that shone
overhead. The swans then took toward the sky
once more, flying toward the west. Kenshin
laughed, grabbed Kaoru in his arms and kissed
her. Breaking away, he held her tightly against
him as he watched his brothers fly off toward
the horizon.

Tears shone in Misao's eyes as she watched the
couple. They were still virtually strangers,
but they appeared to be in love. Once more, she
rubbed the tears away. "You know," she
whispered. "Seeing this just made me realize
that there is hope for the future."

*****

AUTHOR'S NOTES: The scenes with the swans
turning human and their coming to the wedding
ceremony are ideas taken from "The Wild Swans."
It does seem abrupt, but there was really no
need for the swans to turn human until that
point. I thought it was abrupt as well when I
first read it in the romance novel, but it makes
sense. If the swans had the ability to be human
long enough to tell Kenshin what happened, they
maybe able to take form at other times as well.
In the novel, the swans only turn back into boys
twice: once to tell the heroine and again to
remind her of her duty. As for in this
one...well, with people like Saitou, Sano and
Aoshi, you never know what will happen!

As for Kenshin explaining to Kaoru and Misao
about the curse, in the romance novel the hero
doesn't figure it out until the end of the story.
He probably thought the heroine was always like
that. With Kenshin, it is definitely apparent
once they figure out that he is the Hitokiri
Battousai that something happened. Kaoru and
Misao are not dumb ;-) As Makyra pointed out to
me, Kenshin and Kaoru could not afford to enter
marriage with such a large secret between them.

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