Rurouni Kenshin Fan Fiction ❯ When I Look to the Sky ❯ Chapter 2

Standard Disclaimers Apply
Rurouni Kenshin (c) Nobuhiro Watsuki; "When I Look to the Sky" (c) Train

When I Look to the Sky...
(A Songfic)

 

When it rains it pours and opens doors
And floods the floors we thought would always keep us safe and dry…

 

And in the midst of sailing ships we sink our lips into the ones we love
That have to say goodbye…
___________________________________________ ______________

 

And as I float along this ocean
I can feel you like a notion that won't seem to let me go…

 

Coarse waves shook the ferry; in his small quarters Kenshin shivered beneath the thin blanket a deckhand had provided, and tried to block out the sound of creaking wood and the dull murmur of other passengers conversing.

He knew his thoughts should be focused on the mission ahead of him; to think of anything else could be perilous. And yet he couldn't seem to extricate that final image of Kaoru from his head.

She had been the most beautiful vision, standing there in the graying mist, her slippered feet poised at the very edge of the dock as if she would jump out to him if he gave the slightest indication that that was what he wanted.

Instead he'd met her gaze steadily, their eyes unwavering from each other's until his ship disappeared, engulfed by the fog rolling over the dark waters.

His hand rose shakily to his lips, he knew it was his imagination but he could have sworn that the warmth of Kaoru's sweet, passionate, longing, loving kisses lingered there still.

Her last words to him echoed in his being, “I'll wait for you,” she'd sighed the words against his lips just before she'd pulled away. She hadn't said it, she hadn't needed to because Kenshin could always hear her unspoken words. She'd meant… I'll wait for you forever.

“Oh, love,” he said hoarsely, clenching his hands roughly in his hair, he stared blankly at the slightly mildewed ceiling of his cabin, wishing he were the kind of man who could offer her forever.

 

When I look to the sky something tells me you're here with me
And you make everything alright…

 

Kaoru wished he'd said something, anything to assure her, to let her know that he loved her. She knew he did, it was a feeling you couldn't explain to someone who had never experienced it, but once you had it was unmistakable.

But women sometimes needed the words to remind them that hope still remained, the female heart was such a contradiction, resilient and yet fragile in its own way.

She walked back toward the city, winding her way through damp, isolated streets toward the Kamiya dojo. She didn't notice when another set of footsteps joined hers and looked up startled when a gentle hand touched her shoulder.

“Oh, Megumi. I didn't see you there,” she said feebly, paying avid attention to her soaked socks, anything to postpone looking at the young doctor.

“It's all right, Kaoru, I already know. Ken-san is gone… but he'll be back,” Megumi said with quiet conviction and her faith in Kenshin moved Kaoru, she looked up at the older woman mistily.

“How did you know?” she asked trying to keep her surprise out of her voice.

Megumi hid a smile behind her hand, “I know many things about Ken-san” she said mysteriously knowing that it would annoy the younger woman to no end.

As before, it worked like a charm and Kaoru's face flushed an angry pink. “Vixen,” she muttered under her breath as she marched stiffly toward her front door.

Said vixen's laughter grew faint down the street, and a small smile turned up the corners of Kaoru's lips. She knew what Megumi had been trying to do: get her mind off Kenshin's departure, and it had worked.

For now at least she still had work to do to maintain the dojo, and there was no time for indulging in self-pity and sadness. Plus, with the redheaded rurouni gone, someone else would have to take over the laundry and household chores he usually did without complaining.

The image of his casual smile as he went around washing, cleaning… taking care of all of them, played in Kaoru's mind and solemnly she looked out at the weeping sky.

“Be safe,” she spoke the heartfelt litany, her hands knotted together at her breast in desperate prayer.

“Kenshin.”

 

And when I feel like I'm lost something tells me you're here with me
And I can always find my way when you are here…

 

“Kaoru.”

The sound of his own soft utterance woke Kenshin from a fitful sleep and he pushed himself up, long red locks tumbling loosely over his shoulders.

As if he'd timed it, just then the ferry came to a sudden stop, every timber plank shuddering with the impact of the boat sliding against its destination port.

Outside his door, Kenshin could hear the shuffling of feet as his fellow commuters made their way back up on deck. Quickly tying up his hair, he grabbed his bag from under the short, lumpy bed and pressed unobtrusively into the flowing line of those disembarking.

At first it seemed as if he didn't know where he was going, folk around him gave him wide enough berth once they saw the sword strapped to his side and Kenshin ignored the familiar whispers and stares as he strode toward the seedier side of town.

“Hey there, samurai-boy,” a low feminine voice called out and Kenshin nodded distractedly at the brightly painted and garbed woman leaning against an open doorway.

Not to be deterred, the woman followed him, “You look like you could use a good time,” she said suggestively drawing the collar of her florid kimono lower so Kenshin could get a good look at her wares.

Holding his hands out in a placating gesture Kenshin smiled, “No, thank you, Ma-am. This one has some business to attend to.”

Hearing such genuine politesse from someone who was obviously a samurai, the woman's eyes softened.

“Well, if you need a place for the night, you know where to find me,” she said, her voice gentler now, no longer infused with the kind of sexuality many men craved, since she wasn't trying to acquire a customer for the night.

“Arigato,” Kenshin said, truly looking at the woman for the first time. He was shocked at how young she seemed, practically a girl no older than Megumi or Kaoru.

Again, inevitably his thoughts had strayed to her. For once he didn't try to push them away, instead his memories flew back to the time in the streets when she had reached out and saved him…though she hadn't known it at the time.

“Here, please take this,” Kenshin said abruptly reaching into his bundle to pull out a spare haori that Kaoru had made for him during that last winter.

With trembling fingers the geisha took his shirt and draped the plain white cloth around her shoulders, “Arigato,” she said with a shy smile that made her look even younger.

“Take care,” he said, shouldering his pack again and starting back down the road. He didn't regret giving away something Kaoru had made for him, besides he didn't need it whereas the woman had been shivering in her threadbare clothes.

Plus… it seemed like something Kaoru would have done. This recognition drew a smile from him, it made the distance between them seem less infinite and the cumbersome stupor that had been weighing him down since he'd left the dojo was suddenly lifted.

As long as his journey led back to her, he knew where he had to go and what he had to do.