Subject: [kenshinfanfics] Mirai no Yakusoku Part 4 Date: Thu, 30 Jul 1998 18:27:34 -0700 From: Ardith Reply-To: kenshinfanfics@makelist.com To: kenshinfanfics@makelist.com, Battousai no Miko , "Angela \"Mendonﾁa\"" Hi all! I just finished the rough draft of part 4 (after taking a Econ midterm, I needed to vent some thing. . .). I hope that you all like it. It has some mistakes in it (especially since I did that type whatever comes into my head thing again), so I need editing help! ^_^ If you have not read this the first parts of this fic, you can go to my homepage and read it, if you want. . . . http://www.geocities.com/Tokyo/1149/yokoff.html Domosumimasen! Ardith Mirai No Yakusoku: Part 4 Kenshin turned around and quietly started towards the dojo as soon as he caught sight of Megumi and Sanosuke in each other's arms. Not that stealth mattered. The pair was totally engrossed with each other. Sano and Megumi. . . . He smiled at that. Megumi deserved to find happiness. Though the pair seemed a mismatched, they sparked off each other like fireworks. The arguing, he had reasoned long ago, was just a cover, a way for them to deny the attraction. Of course, he never confronted Sano with that fact. Sano just would have pointed out that Megumi had been pursuing him since the beginning. Whatever Megumi felt for him, Kenshin blithely ignored. He did not want to hurt her if she was serious, but he half thought that she did it to tease Kaoru. Kaoru's reactions were, in a word, extreme. Sano had been watching him carefully these past weeks. Kenshin really did not blame him. If Sano and the others were not around, he really did not know what would have happened. Those first days, it was touch and go. It was hard for him to take that Kaoru was gone. It was hard for him to accept that he could not have saved her. "I love you, too. So much. . . . I love you, minna. Take care of each other." Kaoru. . . . . Kenshin had found happiness with her. And he had appreciated it when he had it. He only wished he had been more open with her about his feelings. He hoped she knew just how much he loved her. After losing Tomoe, he had learned that loosing someone you love hurt more than any battle wound, but it was still important to feel it. Love made him human, kept him sane. For 10 years, he did not let anyone that close to him again. Not until a slip of a girl confronted him in the streets of Tokyo. He loved her then, for her courage and spirit. It was a different kind of love than the one he felt for Tomoe, but it was deep. It was Kaoru's words kept him from going over the edge, her final request. Grief had burned at him, ate at him, but when he looked up and saw Megumi and Yahiko, tears streaming down their faces, he fought for control. He had been helpless. Fate seemed to conspire against him each time he found someone he wanted to spend the rest of his life with. He shook of those dark thoughts. If he kept thinking that way, he might spiral even deeper in to depression. Just focus on everyone else. You aren't the only one suffering. It was important that he keep his promise to Kaoru. They all had to stay together. The he stepped up to the doors that led into the interior of the dojo's practice room. He could hear the muffled voices of Yahiko and Tsubame. Kenshin's eyebrows rose at the words coming from the normally timid Tsubame's mouth. "Yahiko! Listen to me. I need this. Don't be so DAMN STUBBORN!" "Tsubame. I can't teach you. I'm not a master! You don't understand! I'm still learning my-" "Oh, SHUT UP!" Kenshin opened the doors just a bit to peek. Just in case. Tears were streaming down Tsubame's face. Her eyes looked fierce as she faced off with Yahiko. Yahiko looked surprised and anxious. Tsubame was definitely not acting like herself. She suddenly looked mad enough to actually hit him. And everyone knew that Tsubame would not hurt a fly. "Yahiko." Her voice trembled as she spoke. "Of all people, you should know how it is to feel like you are powerless, without any control of your life. Kenshin and Kaoru helped you, gave you the power to break free from the nightmare you were living." Yahiko reached over to wipe the tears away from her face. She held his hand to her cheek. "Tsubame-chan . . ." "Yahiko. I need this. Kaoru was . . . . I was thinking about her life. This made me realized that she lived the way she wanted. No one else told her what to do or how to live. She was happy. Yahiko, I want to be able to choose, the way that she had been." Yahiko stared at her. She wanted to be stronger. She wanted to able to live as she wanted. Yahiko had no idea that she had felt like that. Yahiko remembered when they had met in the beginning. Tsubame had been afraid and he fought to save her. Now she wanted to be able to fight for herself. "I-I think I understand." May be they both needed this... "Good. Yahiko. Help me be stronger. I-" The door opened with a thud and a redheaded eavesdropper rolled on to the floor of the dojo. "Oro-ro-ro~!" "Kenshin!" "Ano. . . I was just walking by to check to see if you were okay. . . ." "Oh. We're fine. Um, Tsu-tsubame has decided to start training in Kamiya Kasshin Ryuu." *()*()*()*()*()*()*()*()*()*()*()* 1999 Sagara Yuukiko wanted to close her eyes and get some sleep. It had been a long day. She was sick and tired of waking up in the middle of the night because of those stupid dreams. Sick and tired and a little scared. She had awaken last night with tears streaming down her face. She didn't know that anyone could cry in their sleep, but she had been. Yuukiko hardly remembered what happened in them. Images flashed in her mind of a handsome man with flowing red hair and a scar on the left side of his face. His voice speaking gravely to her. His arms around her. . . . This had been going on way too long. I don't care how unforgettable that guy is; I have to stop having them. Reality, Yuuki, is a wonderful thing. He does not exist. He does not exist. He does not exist. And even if he did, he's been dead for, like, a hundred years. She sighed in frustration. She was not going to dream of him! No more. No more. No more. May be I should just talk to someone about them. But the dreams seemed so private. She did not want to tell anyone else about them. She did not want to have to share what she felt. The warmth. The love. Even the sadness. What am I doing? Its like I don't even know if I want them to stop or not. Yuukiko sighed again. She was going to go to sleep. If she was going to dream or not was up to whatever god or angel watched over her. Deep down, she acknowledged, the dreams were comforting, even if she felt so emotionally drained afterwards. As she slipped into sleep, her last clear thought was, The promise. It is time for it to be fulfilled. It is time. Then the night took hold. ()*()*()*()*()*()*()*()*()*()*()*()*()*()*()*() ardith@ucla.edu ardith@geocities.com http://www.geocities.com/Tokyo/1149/