Rurouni Kenshin Fan Fiction ❯ Back Home To You ❯ Prologue ( Chapter 1 )

Title: Back Home To You

Disclaimer: Rurouni Kenshin and all its characters do not belong to me. I am just borrowing them for a little while.

A/N: I was going to do an Aoshi/Kaoru fic but I wanted Battousai. I am currently writing three fan-fictions for RK, one's already posted, it's `Belonging' and my Aoshi/Kaoru `Perfect Fit' will hopefully be out soon.

Premise: Kaoru asked Kenshin to marry her when she was three? And now the Battousai has come back, fifteen years later to claim his bride.

Prologue:

Kaoru was cornered.

Nana came closer and closer, that menacing look glinting in her eyes again.

"Really Kaoru if you don't behave, you'll go where all the bad little girls who disobey their nursemaids go. Do you know where that is Kaoru?"

Three-year-old Kaoru nodded her blue eyes wide as saucers as she pointed her index finger to the ground. "They go `down there'." she whispered.

Nana nodded. "And I'm sure you don't want to go there, do you Kaoru?"

Kaoru shook her head. "No." She really had no idea what `down there' meant but her Papa always said it was a bad place and that she shouldn't ever want to go there.

Nana nodded, appeased. "Now come along child. Let us join your mother and the others at the hall."

When Keiko Kamiya got a look at her daughter, her face twisted in a queer combination of dismay, fondness and exasperation. "Kaoru, look at your dress! It's all soiled!"

"She's been playing in with the other boys my lady. I found her with the commoner's children playing with swords pretending to be a swordsman. This one's got no female inclination in her whatsoever it seems." Nana said with a sad shake of her head.

"Mama, what's female inclination?" Kaoru asked tugging at her mother's beautiful kimono.

Keiko smiled down at her young daughter's upturned face. "I think Kaoru's too young to have to worry about such things. Besides, it's her father who teaches her to wield the bokken whenever he has time. He believes a lady must be able to protect herself."

"Protect herself from what? If she goes on carrying the way she does, no self respecting man would ever like her." eight year-old Megumi piped in. "No one will ask to marry a tomboy."

Kaoru turned and made a face at her cousin. "I'll find my own husband and I'll ask him to marry me!"

Megumi raised a hand to her small mouth and started to laugh.

Kaoru could have sworn she saw fox ears come out of her cousin's head. "Grrrr…kitsune!"

Megumi stopped laughing and glared. "Why you little Tanuki!"

Keiko smiled helplessly as she separated the two girls. "Now girls, name calling isn't seemly for young women of your stature…"

Megumi sighed and flipped her long hair, instantly falling quiet.

Kaoru scrunched up her face and fell silent as well.

Nana sighed. "Come on now you two, go sit down over there and don't speak unless it's time."

"I never speak when it's not appropriate. Not like some people." Megumi said as she flounced after Nana.

Kaoru growled and marched after them. Stupid, idiot fox…she thought to herself. Right then Kaoru would have gladly introduced Megumi-chan's head to the business end of her bokken.

Nana left them sitting side by side at the other end of the hall.

After a while, Kaoru forgot her annoyance and was taken in by the sights going on before her. There were so many people around. People she hadn't seen before. She wondered what they were doing at her house. She leaned over and whispered the question to Megumi. She didn't want anyone else to know that she didn't know because they might have already told her and she hadn't been listening…

Megumi turned to her, "It's because I heard visitors were coming from another kingdom," Megumi whispered back helpfully.

"Why?"

Megumi shrugged. "I don't know. All I know is we're supposed to be well mannered when we greet them."

"Oh."

"Why is your dress stained?"

"I was playing outside."

Eight-year-old Megumi rolled her eyes at the foibles of her younger cousin. "You have to act more mature Kaoru. Be like a lady."

"Nana said I don't have any feminine inclinations. What's that mean Megumi?"

Megumi mulled this over. "I suppose it means you don't act like a female?"

"Is that why you said no one's going to marry me?"

"My mama used to say men like women. How are men going to like you if you don't act like a woman?"

Kaoru had wanted to say she was still a little girl but it didn't seem important.

"Anyway I'm sure your papa would find someone who'll marry you," Megumi said with a shrug. "Even though he might have a hard time."

Kaoru frowned at her cousin. "I don't want my Papa to have a hard time. How do you find a husband Megumi-chan?"

"Well…you have to find one man and betrothed yourself to him…but not just any man. Someone special."

"How do I be-throw myself to him?"

"Not be-throw baka! Betrothed. It means you're engaged. You ask him to marry you."

Kaoru was about to protest that she wasn't a `baka' but her father's laughter distracted her. She smiled because he was enjoying himself talking to his guest. "Oh my, look Megumi, look how add they are…" she commented when she got a look at who her father was talking to.

"I know…they must be the guests from the other kingdom," her cousin whispered back.

There were three of them. Two of the men were really tall, one had black hair and the other had brown hair sticking out all over the place. It was the third one that caught Kaoru's attention though. His hair was a funny color. She couldn't decide if it was red or gold. He was smaller compared to his other two companions but he fascinated her nonetheless.

He must have felt her eyes on him because he turned suddenly and looked directly at her.

Kaoru blinked. Oh he looked so pretty! She smiled at him and decided she wanted him to like her so she would act like a female. She jumped out of her chair and made a move to curtsy. Unfortunately, she had forgotten to hike up her skirts and it got tangled around her foot and she lost her balance. She would have fallen on her head but she was quick enough to lean back so she landed on her bottom instead.

She scrambled back on her feet and glanced up to see if the stranger was impressed with her quick thinking as well.

He smiled at her.

She was going to marry him, Kaoru decided.

Now all she had to do, was ask,

OOOOO

A few minutes later, Kaoru and the other children were allowed out of the hall. Kaoru waited a few minutes until Megumi went upstairs before she ran back outside.

She still had to catch that little piglet.

She'd heard Cook saying what a mighty fine meal Elton was going to be one day.

Elton was her piglet and she'd never let them cook him!

It didn't occur to Koru that the pork roast she had so eagerly partaken last night was somehow related to her pet pig.

When she got to the pen, she saw that Elton's mama was sleeping in a mud pool on the far side of the stables. She looked left and right just to make sure no one was paying attention before she entered the pen and approached the piglets huddled together, sleeping. She knew which one Elton was because she'd tied a bow around his neck. It didn't matter if Megumi said it looked like a noose /whatever that was/ it was still her sign that she owned Elton. She scooped him up and wrapped him in the hem of her skirt, clutching him tightly to her chest. "Don't worry Elton, I won't let them eat you."

All the ungrateful little pig knew was that he was wrapped up in a dark place and he could barely move.

He squealed in protest.

"Shush…" Kaoru said as she walked out of the pen, totally oblivious to the danger she was in until she heard that horrible sound get louder and louder. She turned and let out a blood-curdling scream when she saw the mama pig coming towards her, letting out those horrible noises. Not one to stand around, Kaoru began to run but she was too terrified to think about which way she should go. She clutched the piglet tighter to her chest and began to scream for her father.

Everyone who had heard Kaoru's first scream had ran towards the sound and the sight that greeted them was horrifying.

The three-year-old girl was running around, covered in mud, a large pig nipping at her heels intent on trampling her.

Kaoru stepped on the hem of her dress and pitched forward, she stumbled but caught herself. She let out a scream of panic as she felt the mama pig come closer. She tripped again and closed her eyes, preparing for the impact but instead of slamming to the ground, she felt herself being snatched high up into the air.

Kaoru clutched blindly at the cloth that was brushing against her cheek.

She opened her eyes suddenly. She was in someone's arms, on the opposite side of the fence a large distance away from the pen. She couldn't imagine how he could have jumped over the obstacle or move so fast.

And then she heard the sound of people clamoring to ask if she was all right. What had happened?

Her papa was asking if anyone knew why the pig would attack his dear sweet angel. Kaoru heard her mother crying and instantly felt bad. Papa was comforting her though and Kaoru knew she was in for it now. She had no idea what her punishment would be if her papa knew what she had in her skirt, but she knew she was going to be really sorry.

She hoped he wouldn't find out.

She knew that the man holding her could feel Elton squirming around between them and she looked up at him to see what he was going to do.

She was surprised to see that it was the man with the funny hair. His eyes were a funny color too, like mama's amethyst jewels.

He looked surprised and Kaoru realized she'd said her thoughts out loud.

He looked down at her and smiled.

She smiled back glad he wasn't angry with her.

"Kenshin, is everything alright?" one of his friends asked stepping closer to the fence.

He turned to answer but Kaoru caught his face between her hands and shook her head, whispering her request. He must not have heard her because he leaned closer until their foreheads were almost touching.

"Don't tell," she repeated a little loudly.

He seemed surprised again but he smiled and touched the tip of his nose to hers. "I won't," he promised.

As soon as he put her down, Kaoru ran inside the house before anyone could stop her. She could hear her mama and papa calling but pretended she didn't. She had to take Elton somewhere safe first so she hid under the kitchen table and smiled.

Kenshin.

What a nice man.

She realized she'd forgotten to ask him to marry her. Well, it didn't matter. She would just ask him tomorrow and if he said no, then she'd just keep on asking him again until he said yes. The tactic always worked on her father so she didn't think it would be any different with Kenshin.

She smiled.

OOOOO

A/N: So? Did you like it? So Kaoru is eleven years younger than Kenshin. She's three years old right now, which makes Kenshin 14 years old. He still hasn't become Battousai yet. This is AU so I'm going to be messing around with their ages a bit. Anyway, tell me what you thought of this fic. Please review! Thank you!