Rurouni Kenshin Fan Fiction ❯ Dance With My Father ❯ Dance With My Father ( Chapter 1 )

[ A - All Readers ]

"Dance With My Father"
) <-- Setting' <-- Thoughts
- <-- Action] <-- Lyrics ++ As if you couldn't tell... ++" <-- Speaking ++ Did I really need to say that?? ++
March 2nd - eleven years after Souzou's death. A little after dusk)

The stars are just starting to come out. -
A sixteen-year-old Toshio and a twenty-year-old Sano are sitting under a tree together, side by side. -
For the first time, Sano is taking Toshio to visit her father's grave. -
The forests around Shimo-suwa are dark and quiet, without even crickets to soften the night. -

Sano sees Toshio staring up at the stars, at the constellation of Orion the hunter. -
Her lips are moving, but he can't hear what she is saying. -
He touches her shoulder and she jumps. -

"Are you alright?" he asks. -

She looks at him sadly. -

"I'm just remembering,"she whispers. -

Sano wraps one arm around Toshio and pulls her close to his side. -

"You know, he really loved you,"he whispers. -

Toshio turns to Sano and looks up at him with tears in her eyes. -
He closes his eyes and leans down to kiss her forehead. -
Two tears stream down Toshio's face as she lays her head on Sano's shoulder. -
Very softly, she begins to sing. -


[ Back when I was a child, before life removed all the innocence ]

Smiling, Souzou sweeps his little daughter up in his arms and she snuggles up to his shoulder. -

[ My father would lift me high and dance with my mother and me and then ]

He wraps his other arm around Midori's waist and holds her close. -
She lays her head on his chest and the three of them dance until Toshio begins to yawn. -
Midori kisses Toshio and Souzou goodnight and heads for her room to wait for Souzou. -

[ Spin me around 'til I fell asleep ]

Holding Toshio tight against his shoulder, Souzou slowly spins around, gently rocking the little girl until she hides her face in the curve of his throat and falls asleep. -

[ Then up the stairs he would carry me ]

Shifting Toshio so that she lays cradled in his arms, Souzou makes his way to his daughter's room. -
She opens her eyes just a little when he lays her down on her little futon and pulls her blankets up to her chin, just the way she likes them. -

"Good night, Daddy,"whispers Toshio. -

Souzou places a tender kiss on his little girl's forehead and tucks Usa-chan, her well-loved lavender bunny rabbit, under her arm. -

[ And I knew for sure I was loved ]

"Good night, sweetie," Souzou replies, brushing his daughter's bangs out of her face. -
Flashback*
under the tree; Toshio and Sano, once again.)

Toshio's hand tightens into a fist in Sano's shirt and her face is streaming with tears as she looks up at him. -

[ If I could get another chance, another walk, another dance with him ]I'd play a song that would never, ever end ]

"I know, sweetheart," whispers Sano as he kisses the tears off her cheeks. "I know..."

[ How I'd love, love, love ]To dance with my father again ]

Toshio sniffles and chokes back her crying to keep singing, though now her voice is shaking a little. -


[ When I and my mother would disagree ]

Midori is trying to get a hyperactive Toshio to settle down for a nap. -
Toshio has a new stuffed bunny and just wants "five more minutes" to stay up and play. -
Not to mention, there is a thunderstorm raging outside and she hates storms. -
Every time thunder crashes and lightning flashes, she freezes and wishes her father would make it stop.-

[ To get my way, I would run from her to him ]

Finally, Toshio squeezes past her mother and runs down the hall to the living room.-
Souzou is sitting crosslegged on a cushion, trying to read but mostly just listening to Toshio and Midori arguing. -
He smiles and sets his book down and holds his arms out to his daughter.-
She comes and climbs up in his lap, complaining about nap time and shuddering about the storm.-

[ He'd make me laugh just to comfort me ]

Souzou smiles and taps the end of her nose with his fingertip. -
She just pouts at him for a second.-
He raises one eyebrow at her and starts tickling her under her chin. -
She tries to keep pouting at him but soon is overcome with the giggles.-

[ Then finally make me do just what my mama said ]

Finally, he rises to his feet with Toshio still in his arms.-

"Alright, you got five more minutes," he says, shifting her up on his shoulder. "Nap time."

Toshio yawns and rubs at her eyes with one small hand and willingly agrees, the storm forgotten.-

[Later that night when I was asleep]

Souzou slides the shoji to his daughter's room open and silently makes his way to her side.-

[He left a dollar under my sheet]

He slides a coin under the blanket, close to her hand, and smiles when she shifts a little in her sleep.-

[Never dreamed that he would be gone from me]
Flashback*

Toshio wraps her arms sideways around Sano's broad chest and whispers "Did you... see him die?"
Sano can't answer.-
He just pulls her into his lap and lets her nestle her face into the curve of his neck, stroking her hair to comfort her.-
Toshio finally makes herself look up at Sano's face and starts to sing again.-

[If I could steal one final glance, one final step, one final dance with him]

"I just want to see him one more time..." whispers Toshio. "I barely even remember what he looked like..."

[I'd play a song that would never, ever end]

Toshio imagines what should have happened when she turned sixteen.-

['Cause I'd love, love, love]

She should have been able to have just one father-daughter dance, not have to dream about one as she sat by his grave...-

[To dance with my father again]

Toshio stares up at Sano, her violet eyes - almost identical to her mother's - hollow and dead-looking.-

"It's just not fair!" she rasps out hoarsely. "It's just not fair!"

"I know..." whispers Sano, close to tears himself. -

Toshio just looks numb as she stares at the gravestone beside her father's - her mother's.-

[Sometimes I'd listen outside her door]


A six-year-old Toshio is curled up outside Midori's bedroom door, her knees drawn up to her chest.-

[And I'd hear how my mother cried for him]

"Mama... please be ok..." the little girl prays as a near-silent whisper. -

[I pray for her even more than me]

Four years later, a ten-year-old Toshio is nearly alone at her mother's funeral.-
Midori couldn't take it anymore so, tired of crying every night, her life ended.-
No, she didn't kill herself - her body and heart just couldn't take it anymore.-
Only Setona - Midori's sister, and Nanaka - her best friend, remain at Toshio's side.-

[I pray for her even more than me]

At a lonely shrine in the middle of nowhere a thin, worn-out fifteen-year-old runs into a short, red-haired swordsman and a young man who seems to be little more than a street punk.-
As she looks up at Sano and realizes who he is, she finally breaks down, falling on her knees and crying in the shrine.-

[I know I'm praying for much too much]

Later on, that same fifteen-year-old is on her knees in a busy shrine in Tokyo, begging for just one wish on the anniversary of her mother's death, which also happens to be her father's.-

[But could you send back the only man she loved]

People are beginning to stare at her, but she doesn't notice or care.-

[I know you don't do it usually]

One man stops to say something to her, but is quickly silenced by a glare from Sanosuke, who is standing nearby cracking his knuckles.-

[But dear Lord she's dying]

Tears are running down Toshio's face as she begs "Please... they're together now, right!? Let them have one more dance..."
Flashback*

[To dance with my father again]

No one can see them, but in a beam of moonlight not far from Sano and Toshio, Souzou and Midori are finally getting their last dance.-
Souzou takes his beloved in his arms and brings his mouth down on hers in a soul-shattering kiss, with Midori's passion just as great.-
The music of the night is faint, but it soothes everyone's heart as Midori and Souzou dance cheek to cheek, reveling in the feel of each other's arms.-
This time, their song will never end.-

[Every night I fall asleep and this is all I ever dream]

Toshio looks away at the moon for a while, then looks back at Sano and bursts into tears. -