To Be Loved

Disclaimer: Kenshin and characters do not belong to me, and I never said that they did.

Author\'s Notes: This is another of my Kenshin lemons that got kicked off of FF.net awhile back. It\'s a REALLY unconventional pairing I\'m playing with, one that I actually haven\'t ever seen done before. Yet, it\'s not completely out of the realm of reality within the context of the show. I\'m a confirmed Sano/Megumi shipper, but this was a nice little break, without really taking a break. You\'ll see what I mean and I hope you enjoy.

Also, I know I\'ve completely ignored the last two Kenshin OVA\'s that just came out in Japan, and I did that on purpose. They sucked. I renounce them; if you get a chance to watch them, don\'t. They are awful, and end Kenshin on the most horrible note imaginable. Anything any fanfiction writer comes up with to end Kenshin is better than they way they ended it, with the possible exception of having Kenshin end up drooling over Sano. Cause that\'s just silly.

****

To Be Loved
by Kristen Elizabeth

****

The 11th year of the Meiji Era (1880 AD)
Tokyo

My confession hung in the air between us. I watched his eyes carefully in those moments. I wasn\'t entirely sure what I was searching for in those black irises, circled by what I had once thought was dirty brown, but now knew was rich chocolate. He didn\'t blink as I studied his gaze.

I was looking for disgust...repulsion. All I found was outrage. Not at me, but the things I had just told him about myself. About my past. Things he had probably always suspected, but never realized were the truth. The whole, terrible truth.

My bangs brushed against my cheeks as I lowered my head. \"I don\'t blame you if you don\'t want to marry me anymore, Sano.\"

Sagara Sanosuke, the man I loved in spite of my better judgement, balled up his fist. Even with knowing him so well and knowing he would never raise a hand to me in anger, I instinctively winced. He must have noticed; his white-bandaged hand relaxed. I felt the gentle roughness of his fingers, lifting my chin up to meet his eyes again. This time I saw a flash of anger, but for some reason, it didn\'t frighten me.

\"Megumi,\" he said in the low voice that always managed to send a chill down my spine. \"Don\'t ever say something that stupid again.\"

I willed back tears, but my body paid no heed to my mind. The tears slipped down my cheeks. \"But...now that you know....\" My voice trailed off. I had no wish to repeat everything I had just told him.

\"What kind of man do you think I am?\" Sanosuke asked me. \"Do you think that what happened to you in the past could ever change my feelings for you?\"

\"No man...\" I shook away his hand. \"No man wants...what another man has had.\"

Sanosuke\'s eyes burned. \"Then it\'s probably a good thing I\'m not a normal man.\"

I had to smile. The overwhelming sense of protection he emanated was too pure for someone like me. Perhaps he really was the boy his enemies had taunted him in the past for being. Young, headstrong, stubborn. I reached for him, wanting to touch his purity as though he was my absolution.

\"I really do love you,\" I heard myself whisper. In the past, I would have regretted that little confession. But now, in the wake of such a huge confession, it seemed insignificant to me. Besides...it was the truth.

Sanosuke pulled me towards his body; I found myself pressed against his warmth. My eyes closed as I laid my head against his chest. \"If you love me...\" he said in a softer tone than I had ever heard him speak in. \"...let me love you back.

I could have melted at that moment. I knew he was telling the truth, too. It wasn\'t just in his eyes. It was in the way he held me, the way he stroked my hair....the way he treated me like I was precious. Like I wasn\'t damaged goods. I felt myself giving in, but I forced another protest to my lips.

\"Sano...you can\'t...\"

He pressed a long, battle-rough finger to my mouth. \"You were hurt so much before I knew you, Megumi.\" He lifted his shoulders. \"I couldn\'t do anything about that then. But now...I can.\" His hand slid around to the back of my head, pulling our bodies together for a long, soulful kiss. \"Kanryu was the first man to have your body...and you didn\'t get a choice in it. He made you cry in pain and degradation. I want to be the first man to have your heart. And I want to make you cry out in pleasure...\"

Sanosuke kissed me again; his tongue played with my lips before sliding between them. Hot and wet...he tasted like ginger. I wanted to kiss him forever.

But a thought nagged me from the far recesses of my memory. As Sanosuke cupped my breast through the silk of my kimono, I tried to push the thought away. But it refused to budge. I found myself caught up in it despite what was about to happen on Sanosuke\'s futon.

**Oh Sano...I\'m so sorry. Kanryu did rape me and took something from me that I wish I could give to you. But you won\'t be the first man to bring me pleasure...**

Sanosuke\'s tongue traced the edge of my ear.

**No....you won\'t be the first...**

~~~~~~

The 9th year of the Meiji Era (1878 AD)
Tokyo

\"Is it done??\"

Takani Megumi brushed a long strand of black hair out of her eyes and looked up at the man hovering over her shoulder. She lifted the medicinal bowl she had been slaving over for the past hour. \"It\'s done,\" she said softly, almost regretfully. \"I added some more...\"

Takeda Kanryu snatched the bowl from her hands. \"I don\'t need the details, Megumi-san.\" She cringed at the sarcasm he put into what was supposed to be a title of respect. He examined the white powder in the bowl. \"You\'re sure this is stronger than the last batch?\"

\"It\'s stronger\", she replied.

Her employer smiled wickedly. \"Good, Megumi-san.\" He set the bowl down and ran his fingers through her hair. \"That\'s very, very good.\"

Megumi stiffened her muscles to keep from flinching. The man\'s very presence was repulsive. His touch was nearly unbearable. She had the sudden desire to take a bath, to wash away any residue he might have left on her.

He turned to go. Her shoulders relaxed; perhaps he wouldn\'t make the request. Kanryu stopped, turned back around and her hope faded.

\"I\'ll be expecting you at nine, Megumi-san.\" His lips curled up. \"I have a special treat for you tonight.\"

Her stomach lurched. His last special treat had left her with bruised thighs. Looking down at her medicines, Megumi could only nod. \"Nine.\"

When he was finally gone, she allowed the tears to flow. If only she were able to stand up to him. If only she were able to say \"no\". No to making his opium. No to indirectly killing hundreds of his hopelessly addicted clients. And most importantly, no to him.

But she was trapped. To refuse him would be suicidal; he would have no compunctions about taking her life. There were plenty of people who could learn to make opium. Megumi was completely convinced that the only reason he had chosen not to kill her after she witnessed him murdering his last pharmacist was to keep her as his pet. His own personal whore.

There was a light rapping on the oak door. Without waiting for her reply, someone twisted the Western doorknob and entered her room. Megumi didn\'t bother to look up. She knew who it was and why he was there.

\"Here.\" She picked up the bowl containing the freshly-made opium. \"He forgot this.\" The man approached her, surrounding her with the scent of leather. His long coat brushed the floor as he reached down for the bowl. Expecting no response to her words, Megumi addressed the man. \"Try it if you want...it\'s the best there is.\"

Shinomori Aoshi looked down at her with barely-hidden contempt. It was the most emotion she had ever seen in his cold, jade-blue eyes. \"I do not pollute my body with opium.\" His monotone was as icy as his stare.

Megumi rocked back on her heels and stood up. Without her wooden sandals, she only came up to the man\'s chin. Her head tilted up to meet his glare straight on. \"Will you be guarding his room tonight?\" she asked, narrowing her eyes. **Will you hear him as he forces himself onto me? Will you even care?**

\"It\'s my job to guard his room,\" Aoshi replied. With the opium in hand, he started for the door. He paused before he closed it behind him. \"But I never said I enjoyed my job.\"

A breath caught in her throat. Megumi blinked. Had Shinomori Aoshi, Okashira of the Oniwabanshu, easily the most lethal man alive in Japan, just expressed some sort of remorse over her situation? She blinked again. Kanryu\'s grandfather clock banged out the hour; she could hear it from the main hall. Six o\' clock.

She had three hours.

****

Of all the things Shinomori Aoshi regretted about the path his life had taken since the end of the revolution, moments like the one he was experiencing were the worst. For a brief moment, while standing in the grand hallway of Takeda Kanryu\'s overly-Western style mansion, Aoshi wished he were anywhere else. Kyoto with the core of the Oniwanbanshu. Or perhaps Hakone, relaxing in a hot spring. Anywhere in Japan...anywhere on Earth had to be better than where he was.

The sounds of sex filtered out from Kanryu\'s room into the hallway. He closed his eyes, as though he could block out Kanryu\'s high-pitched moans. Oddly enough, that was all he ever heard when the gangster took Takani Megumi into his bed by force. The female doctor never cried out in pain or pleasure. She bore the incidents in silence; Aoshi couldn\'t help but respect her for that. Only her eyes gave evidence to how miserable her life was.

In only a few minutes, it was all over. Aoshi snorted softly. The man was quicker than a dog, probably just as animalistic, too. He could hear low whispers and in another minute the ope opened. Megumi stepped out hesitantly, wrapped in a floor length silk robe from France, the same thing she had been wearing when Aoshi had let her into Kanryu\'s room less than an hour earlier. Except now, the robe was ripped in several places; Megumi fought to keep herself covered. Her lip paint was smeared and her eyes were puffy with unshed tears.

They stood for a long minute, neither one having any idea what to say to the other. Finally, Aoshi spoke. \"The maid has a bath prepared for you.\"

She looked up at him. All the tears she had forced back while Kanryu was inside her spilled over at his words. \"I didn\'t order a bath,\" she whispered.

Aoshi crossed his arms over his coat. \"I gave the order.\" He looked away from her unbelieving stare. \"Go. It\'ll get cold.\"

Slowly, she walked away, leaving the mixed scent of jasmine and man in her wake. Aoshi felt a presence behind him. \"Don\'t say it,\" he told the man in the shadows.

Han-ya of the Oniwabanshu smiled behind his mask. It was a smile his Okashira would never see. For even though he and the rest of their ninja clan knew that their leader had a heart behind the layers of formality and ferocity, *Shinomori Aoshi* didn\'t know he had one.

Still, Han-ya dared to speak. \"She\'s unique.\"

Aoshi raised one shoulder indifferently. \"She\'s too tall.\"

\"So, you\'re saying you like your women short?\"

\"I\'m not saying anything.\" Aoshi started down the hall, in the opposite direction, leaving Han-ya to guard Kanryu\'s door. \"And neither are you.\"

Han-ya may not have said anything, but he continued to smile.

****

It had become a routine. On the nights when Kanryu sent for her, Aoshi would order the maids to have a bath prepared especially for her. So when she emerged from Kanryu\'s chambers, feeling more soiled than a prostitute on the streets, it would be waiting for her. Waiting to wash the gangster away.

Megumi never thanked him; he would not have responded to the thanks even if she had. But as the days turned inteks,eks, the baths he ordered became the high point of her existence. The one pleasant constant in her life.

She wasn\'t sure just when she began to see him in a different light. He was, after all, her prison guard. Kanryu held her captive; Aoshi enforced that captivity. She ought to have hated him and in many ways she did. But she could not overlook the tremendkindkindness he did for her, for no reason other than to make her life a little easier.

One balmy night, Megumi emerged from Kanryu\'s room expecting to see his tall, powerful presence in the hallway. However, she found the short, awkward figure of another Oniwabanshu member, Beshimi. He was squatting in the hallway, playing with a sharp, deadly-looking dart. Megumi tried to hold her head high as she closed Kanryu\'s door; she clung to her dignity with all her might.

\"Where is your leader?\" she asked, keeping her voice neutral.

Beshimi grinned, revealing a mouthful of long teeth. \"Okashira has no wish to guard Kanryu\'s door when you are in there, anymore.\"

\"He said that?\" She let her voice soften in surprise.

\"Ah...don\'t get your hopes up.\" Beshimi cackled. \"He just doesn\'t want to hear it anymore.\" He pointed down the hall. \"Your bath is waiting.\"

As she bathed and soaked Kanryu away, Megumi tried to picture the stone-faced ninja. In her mind, she removed the ubiquitous coat and the kodachi that hung from his hip at all times. She unfolded his arms and made his shoulders relax as though he didn\'t carry the weight of the world around with him. She tried to picture what his eyes would look like without the dark strands of his hair hanging in front of them, but quickly decided to leave his bangs as they were. They were part of what made him so handsome.

Megumi covered her mouth. *Handsome*? Had she really just thought that about him? The other side of her mind was quick to defend the thought. He *was* very handsome. Eyes that could pierce through your soul...

*And a blade that could pierce through the rest of you.*

A trace of a smile played on her lips. But what a way to go. For a moment, she felt like the teenager she ought to have been allowed to be...had the revolution not ripped her family and her world apart. She longed for her older sister, the person who had painstakingly dictated the facts of life to Megumi when she was twelve. The smile fell. Her sister\'s greatest wish for her was that Megumi would find a man who would love her, treat her well....and give her pleasure. In Megumi\'s first lover, she had found none of those things.

Her thoughts drifted back to Aoshi. Suddenly, in her mental picture of him, he was no longer wearing his purple-colored gi. She could imagine bare skin, not Kanryu\'s sickly pale color, but a toast brown. Smooth, unblemished. She modified her thinking; he was a swordsman. There would be scars, but somehow that only made her vision of him all the more attractive.

Megumi shivered in the water. She crossed her arms over her bare breasts; her nipples were taut. A new sensation coursed through her veins. Desire. She wanted Shinomori Aoshi.

Her own hand came up and slapped the side of her cheek. The self-inflicted blow brought her back to reality. And in that reality, Aoshi was the representation of everything holding her back from living a happy life. He was not an object of sexual desire. She stood in the tub, dripping wet. The maid standing off to the side in the shadows came to her side and offered her a drying cloth.

\"Did you enjoy your bath?\" the maid murmured. Her eyes never met Megumi\'s.

Megumi donned the light yukata the maid held out to her. \"Yes, I did.\" The maid bowed and prepared to leave. Before she could go, Megumi spoke. \"Tell Shinomori-san...that I said \'thank you\'.\"

****

\"Shinomori! Are you listening to me?\"

Aoshi blinked and looked at Kanryu. \"Of course,\" he replied in a tone that left no room for mistake.

Kanryu gave him a look of condescension. \"I\'ll repeat it again, at any rate. My train leaves for Kyoto at ten o\' clock sharp tomorrow morning. I expect to be escorted to the station at nine. While I am gone, and this is most important, you will keep a constant eye on Megumi. I\'ve been picking up signals from her....I think she might try to escape one of these days.\" Kanryu pointed a long, bony finger at Aoshi. \"She\'s worth more to me than the lives of your entire clan combined. I\'m leaving this task to you because I don\'t trust anyone else, got it?\"

\"Understood.\" He hid his contempt for the man behind his long bangs. \"Han-ya will take you to the station. Everything here will be taken care of while\'re\'re gone.\"

The gangster smiled his repulsive grin. \"You are most assuredly an asset to the Takeda family, Aoshi-san.\" Aoshi grimaced at hearing his first name on the man\'s tongue. \"You and my Oniwabanshu.\" Kanryu openhe dhe door, indicating that Aoshi was free to leave.

As soon as the door closed behind him, Aoshi balled up his fist and sent it slamming into the tapestry-lined wall.

\"*My* Oniwabanshu,\" he whispered.

****

Megumi walked around the mansion in a state of near euphoria. Kanryu was leaving. For two whole weeks she would not have to put up his with his touches...his sloppy kisses...his fast, hard... She stopped.

Two whole weeks. She would not even have to make his damned opium during that time. His supply was filled for now and ouldould not need more for awhile. So, for the next fourteen days, Megumi was a relatively free woman.

Relatively. For although Kanryu would be gone, he had left his guards behind. Most specifically, one guard.

Her thanks about the baths had fallen on deaf ears as she had known they would. Since that night, he had continued to send his ninjas to watch Kanryu\'s door while she was inside. Megumi was not fool enough to believe that he did so because he did not want to be witness to her degradation. Perhaps the little girl inside could believe that he cared about her, but the realist in her knew better. He was coldly indifferent to her when they passed in the hallways, he took his meals in his room alone, he sent his ninjas to do any jobs that involved her.

It did not add up to love.

The night before Kanryu left, he sent for her. She endured the sex knowing that when it was all over, she could slip into a hot bath. The gangster fell asleep soon after he climaxed and Megumi extracted herself from his grip.

Han-ya stood outside the door. Megumi shuddered; his mask was one of the only things in the world that frightened her. \"Enjoy your bath, Megumi-san,\" he said in a low tone that almost seemed to mock her.

She narrowed her eyes. \"I have to wonder...why do you insist on guarding his door while I\'m in there? Do you and your boss get some sort of satisfaction from it?\"

Han-ya smiled, but Megumi saw nng bng but the fixed stare of his mask. \"Even the least skilled assassin knows to attack his opponent when he is at his weakest. There\'s no place in the world where a man is weaker than between a woman\'s legs.\"

A faint blush crept on her face. She tossed her hair. \"Excuse me.\" With that, she started the hallway towards her chambers.

Her bath was prepared as usual, but there was no maid in sight. Shrugging, Megumi let her robe fall to the floor. In the mirror, she examined her naked body. There would be bruises in a day or so; Kanryu had been especially eager when he gripped her flesh. Megumi sighed. By the time those bruises healed, he would be back to inflict fresh ones.

The steaming water tempted her. She quickly soaped up her body in the small bathing tub next to the bath and rinsed. When she was clean, she stepped into the hot water and sat down. Her eyes closed in pure pleasure.

After a minute, she felt a presence in the room. mingming it was the maid, she addressed her without bothering to open her eyes. \"Aika-chan, would you please bring me some tea? You know the kind I\'m talking about.\" When she received no reply, Megumi cracked one eye open.

Instead of the pretty little maid, Megumi was met with the sight of Shinomori Aoshi standing over her bath, arms crossed over his coat, eyes taking in the sight of her exposed flesh with no visible reaction. Megumi gasped in shock and indignation. Her arms covered her breasts and she drew her knees up to her chest.

\"What the hell do you think you\'re doing?\" she cried without thinking.

Aoshi made no move to leave. \"Not what you think I\'m doing,\" he dead panned. \"You have nothing that I have not seen before in much greater detail.\"

Megumi\'s jaw tightened. She was more exposed and vulnerable in front of him than she had ever been. If their relationship was ever a power struggle, he had just gained the upper-hand. \"What do you want?\"

\"I was told that you thanked me. I came to say...you\'re welcome.\"

She blinked once. Then once again. \"And the most appropriate time you could think of to do that was when I was in the bath?\"

Aoshi met her gaze. \"I told you...you have nothing that I haven\'t...\"

\"Never mind.\" Megumi shook her head. \"It doesn\'t matter. It\'s not like you have a high opinion of me or anything.\" Her arms unfolded and she stood up in the tuaterater cascading down her skin. \"Might as well see it all....I have nothing to be modest about. You know what I am. You know what I do. Go ahead and look.\" He continued to stare into her eyes. \"Oh...looking\'s not good enough? You want to do more?\" Her fingers traced the ample curve of her breast.

\"I do not...\" Aoshi took a step towards the tub. \"...force myself onto women.\" He reached out until his fingers almost met hers at her breast. She caught her breath, anticipating the touch. But at the last minute, his hand dropped and he turned to go. \"Whatever it is you\'re looking for...you\'re going to have to ask for it.\"

It was a long time after he left before she could move again.

****

Kanryu left in the morning. Megumi stood at the window and watched his carriage start down the long driveway to the main road. Escorted by two of the Oniwanbanshu, Kanryu was the picture of a wealthy man. Megumi wondered how many people knew from where he acquired his great wealth. Her eyes watered. How many people had to die for his wealth.

The mansion was quiet as Megumi walked around. Three days had peacefully passed since his departure. She found herself with a lot of free time; she used it to explore the mansion. Kanryu\'s home may have been her prison, but Megumi couldn\'t help but admire its silent grandeur. She smiled. At the same time, she would have rather lived in the smallest dojo if it meant she could ree.ree. She looked down at her tabi-covered feet as she walked through the carpeted hallways. Before she knew it, she had walked into something. Someone.

When she looked up, she met his icy stare. Quickly, Megumi took a step away from his body. \"Aoshi...san. You should watch where you\'re going.\"

Aoshi folded his arms. \"I had every intention of getting in your way.\"

\"Why?\"

\"It\'s my job,\" he replied. \"I watch you.\"

Megumi swallowed. \"And....you never said you liked your job.\"

\"I don\'t recall saying I didn\'t either.\"

She put a hand to her head. \"Well, while it\'s fun to play word games with the Okashira of the Oniwabanshu, I do have other things I could be doing.\"

When she was a few feet away, he spoke. \"I want to show you something.\"

She stopped but didn\'t turn around. A smile played on her lips. \"Aoshi-san...you have nothing that I haven\'t seen before. In great detail.\"

The most unexpected sound followed her words. A sound she was sure no one else in the entire world had ever heard. Shinomori Aoshi snorted in laughter. \"Follow me,\" he ordered.

Her feet decided for her, following him with little hesitation. He started up the third flight of stairs. After a minute, he stopped in front of a door. \"This leads to the observation tower. The one place in this house that I can stand.\"

\"And...\" Megumi looked down at her feet. \"You want to share it with me?\"

Aoshi made a noise that was neither affirmative nor disagreeing. \"Come on.\"

Another, steeper set of stairs led to the observation tower. He opened the door for her and she stepped inside. Instantly, she could tell why this was his favorite room out of all the rooms in Kanryu\'s mansion. It was small and circular with bay windows on all sides, looking out over the lush countryside. It was quiet and private.

\"Does he ever come up here?\" she asked.

\"No.\" Aoshi followed her into the room. \"He\'s afraid of heights.\" For the first time in a very long time, Megumi began to laugh. \"You should do that more often.\"

Her smile faded. She stared at him, but he stared out the window. \"Why did you bring me here?\" she demanded to know. \"Why did you just say that? Why have you been ordering baths for me? Why...\" She took a breath. \"Why does Shinomori Aoshi care about Takeda Kanryu\'s whore?\"

He took a long time to reply. \"I\'ve spent my entire life around people who do everything they can to hide. I do it too; it\'s how we survive. But you don\'t hide. That night when you came out of his room...you showed me your entire soul in one look.\" He stuck his hands in his pockets. \"No one has ever shared that with me before.\"

Megumi touched her throat. \"I\'m sorry...I just don\'t understand. Has he asked you to say these things? Some sort of test of my...I don\'t know...my faithfulness to him?\"

\"I wish it were that simple,\" Aoshi replied.

\"Tell me. Tell me what you\'re doing.\"

\"I can\'t.\"

\"Why not??\" Megumi\'s fist tightened. \"You can\'t really expect me to believe that you\'re falling in love with me.\"

\"I\'m not in love with you.\"

\"Then what is it?!\" Her words bounced around the empty tower. It was another minute until she spoke again. \"Do you even know?\" Still, he didn\'t reply. Realization hit her swiftly. She approached him carefully. \"You told me...that whatever I was looking for, I need only ask for it.\"

Aoshi looked down at her. \"Yes.\"

\"The truth is, I have no idea what to ask for. I think I know what I want, but despite all my medical knowledge and experience, I have no idea...about pleasure.\" Megumi dared to touch his arm. \"If I asked you...to show me....\"

\"Yes.\"

\"Is that what you want? To give me pleasure?\"

He took a step towards her. \"If I said yes, would you ask?\"

Megumi hesitated only for a minute. \"Aoshi...would you show me?\"

Another step brought them face to face. She could feel the heat from his body. \"Show you what?\"

\"Pleasure,\" she whispered.

Silence hung around them, thick and almost impenetrable. Until finally, he reached for her. \"Has he ever done this?\" Aoshi bent his head. Instinctively, Megumi\'s eyes closed as his lips brushed against hers. He drew back.

\"No. He hasn\'t.\"

His lips met hers again; this time with careful force. \"Has he ever done this?\" His tongue slipped into her mouth.

She drew in a breath. \"No.\" Her hands reached up to touch his face. His cheeks were smooth, with only a hint of stubble. Her doctor\'s eye caught sight of a faint, white scar running just under his jaw. Standing on the tips of her toes, she kissed it.

Aoshi closed his eyes and let her kiss him. It had been a very long time since he had indulged... He wanted to reach for her obi and yank it away, but something held him back, reminding him that if he took his time, she would be a much more responsive lover.

Megumi felt his hands at her obi. \"Take it off. No pretenses...\" Her tongue delicately tasted his skin. \"No false modesty.\"

She barely saw him move, but in seconds her obi lay in a pile of silk on the floor and his hands were pushing her kimono off shoushoulders. Realizing how unfair it was, she searched for a way to rid him of his clothing. The coat was easy; in only a minute it joined the heap of silk. His strangely formed gi tied around his waist. Her fingers trembled as she untied it. It didn\'t help that he was running his fingers up and down her bare back.

\"Aoshi...\" she said softly. The sensual touch was creating unfamiliar sensations in her body. The kind she had always read about, but never experienced. As his hands wandered down to her bare bottom, she became frantic to feel him. \"Help me.\"

Without needing further prompting, he rid himself of his gi. She explored his chest with a doctor\'s touch. Her fingers were cool against his skin, the warmth of which seemed to surprise her. He took her lips against his. \"Are you surprised?\" he asked between kisses. \"That I have a pulse?\"

She pulled back and looked him in the eye. \"A little.\"

Aoshi found himself smiling grudgingly at her honesty. He took her hands and placed them at the ties holding up his pants. Together, they loosened the garment, allowing it to slid down his muscled hips and legs. His manhood was hard and hot; it pressed against her soft stomach as they kissed. Instinct compelled her to recoil from it.

He watched her look down at his body, fearfully. \"It\'s not hard to hurt you,\" he informed her.

Megumi blushed. Tentatively, she reached for him. Her skillful fingers circled him. He was a stoic man; he merely closed his eyes and breathed deeply. After a moment of her stroking, he grabbed her hands.

\"You\'ve obviously learned his body.\" Aoshi pulled them both to the floor. \"But has he ever helped you learn yours?\"

Her breath was shallow. \"No,\" she whispered.

Aoshi\'s hand cupped one bare breast. \"He\'s a fool.\" His thumb and forefinger found the center of her breast and gently pinched it. She gasped, feeling her nipple hardStilStill holding it between his fingers, he lowered his head and delicately licked the very tip.

The taste of a woman\'s skin. The feeling of fingers running through his hair. Memories he had almost forgotten. It was better to cling to those memories than try to create new ones with the woman underneath him. Neither one of them were in any position to believe that this could become anything more than what it was. Physical pleasure. Human contact.

Her eyes closed as houthouth latched onto her nipple, sucking softly. The sensations were foreign. Kanryu had often used her breasts as a way to hold onto her. To cause pain. Aoshi\'s tongue was gently erasing away every hurt the gangster had ever inflicted. And when he began to move lower, she nearly fainted.

She opened her body to him, surrounding him with the heady aroma of female arousal. He had the strangest thought as he spread open the folds of her womanhood. The last woman he had done this to was dead. It was not the time to mourn the young geisha, however. Not when Megumi\'s hands were twisted in his hair. Not when her hips were bucking up to meet his mouth. Not when her sweet juices were clinging to his lips and tongue.

Her entire body burned, set on fire by his mouth between her legs. She was barely aware of herself crying out. Was that his name on her lips or was she calling to some unknown person, or perhaps to whatever god had been responsible for throwing them together like this? In a matter of seconds, she had no thoughts as the intense pleasure he had been building peaked and her whole body exploded.

Aoshi watched her very first orgasm with all the satisfaction to which he was entitled. He wiped his lips with the back of his hand and waited for her to open her eyes. When she did, he crawled over her, preparing to join their bodies.

She panicked at seeing him hovering over her, the tip of his penis bumping against her wet folds. \"No...no, don\'t....not like this...\" She twisted her head to the side. \"I can\'t....with you like that...\"

\"Is this the only way he does it?\"

Megumi bit her lip. \"Also...from behind...\"

He kissed the swell of her breast. \"Then we\'ll try something else.\" He moved off and lay down beside her as he pulled her on top of his body. Awkwardly, she straddled his waist.

\"I don\'t....understand,\" she said. He didn\'t reply. All he did was gently urge her to rise to her knees, positioning her body over his erection.

\"You\'re in control,\" he told her. \"You decide how fast or how slow we go....or if we go at all.\" He released her hips; the head of his arousal settled just inside her body.

It only took a brief second before she caught on. He was giving up control to make her comfortable. It was intensely intimate. Taking a breath, she lowered herself onto his shaft. He slid inside easily and for the first time, Megumi felt an intense bolt of pleasure. He filled her, just as Kanryu had so many times, but it wasn\'t anything at all like what she was used to. His sex within hers was incredibly pleasurable, not to mention terribly erotic. She rolled her hips experimentally. He closed his eyes briefly, indicating that she had done something right.

Aoshi opened his eyes again to see her riding his body with all the eagerness of a woman who\'s eyes had just been opened up to the wonder of sex. She squeezed her inner muscles, tightening the heat around him. He tried to hold back an, bn, but it slipped out. It had just been too long. And she just felt too good.

Unable to stay sitting upright with the flood of sensations running through her, Megumi planted a hand on either side of his head and leaned forward. Her hips continued to rock forwards and backwards. She felt his mouth on her breasts; she hadn\'t realized they were right in front of his face. He suckled at one nipple while his hands slid up and down her back.

\"Oh...\" she moaned. \"Please...Aoshi...\"

Hearing her cry out his name in pleasure only served to heighten his own. He lifted his hips up to meet hers; his hand slid between their joined bodies to find the hard bud of her desire. With careful strokes, he drove her over the edge once again. Megumi screamed and collapsed on him just as he let himself go, flooding her body with his very essence.

****

\"I never would have known this.\"

Aoshi stared up at the high arched ceiling of the observation tower. Megumi lay in the crook of his arm, sated after hours of lovemaking. Or perhaps he just should just say sex. He closed his eyes and said nothing.

\"He certainly never would have shown it to me.\" She was quiet for a minute. \"I mean, I could have learned from someone...someday when I escape him.\"

His eyes opened. \"Escape?\"

Megumi\'s voice took on a hard edge. \"You don\'t think I\'m going to stay here and put up with him after this, do you?\"

Aoshi sat up; the solid mass of his body loomed over her. \"You don\'t think I\'ll just let you go, do you?\"

She took a breath. \"Is that a challenge?\"

\"No.\" He brushed a strand of hair off her cheek. \"Just a warning.\"

Her eyes flooded with hot tears. \"He\'s going to be back tomorrow.\"

Aoshi lay back down. \"I know that.\"

\"You know what he\'ll do to me...\" Megumi\'s lip trembled. \"I couldn\'t lie down for him again. Not when you\'ve shown me...\" Her hand reached for his sex. \"...everything I\'ve been missing.\"

\"Sex is sex, Megumi.\" He put an arm behind his head. \"Nothing more, nothing less.\"

She stroked him in the way she had learned he liked. \"Even sex with me?\"

\"Yes.\"

Her hand grew still. \"I will escape him, Aoshi. That I swear.\"

Aoshi grabbed her wrist. \"And I will track you down. That *I* swear.\"

They locked gazes for a minute. \"If I stay...\" she began quietly. \"I\'ll kill myself.\"

\"Better you do it yourself than have him order me to do it.\" Aoshi touched her cheek in a way that was neither comforting nor loving.

After a moment, Megumi wrenched away from him and reached for her kimono. He grabbed her arm, pulling her back down. His impossibly strong arms pinned her to the ground. \"Let me go!\" She struggled against him but it was futile. He dropped his head, suckling the soft skin of her throat. \"I don\'t want you to....oh...\"

He loosened his grip on her wrists as she stopped fighting him. \"Where would you go, Megumi? There\'s no place you could run that I couldn\'t find you. Who would help you? There\'s no one in the world who could fight me and survive. Don\'t you see?\" He pushed his newly erect sex into hers. She threw her head back and her mouth fell open in a silent cry of pleasure. \"You belong to him. And I protect his interests...\"

\"I don\'t belong...to him.\" She squeezed her eyes closed as he thrust. \"I don\'t belong to you...\"

\"Right here....\" Aoshi withdrew and thrust again. \"....like this....you do.\"

They moved together in a rhythm they had discovered and perfected in the days of Kanryu\'s absence. They came together with no fear of repercussion; the herb teas Megumi prepared for herself eliminated the risk of pregnancy. When he reached his climax, Aoshi gently bit her throat, hard enough to draw blood, but not so hard that it caused her much pain. She dug her nails into his back, returning the favor. After several minutes, he lifted himself up.

\"If you stay...I will never hurt you.\" He pulled out of her body. \"If you run, I can\'t make the same promise.\"

Megumi refused to look at him. \"I won\'t live my life as Takeda Kanryu\'s whore.\" She pushed on his chest, forcing him away as she stood up. Her arm covered her breasts. \"Or Shinomori Aoshi\'s.\"

He watched her go and had no regrets.

****

There was a knock on her door as she finished brushing out her long, black hair. Instinctively, she knew who it was. The question waid sid she really want to see him again? Megumi glanced at the window she planned to climb through to find her freedom. She had everything worked out perfectly. Letting him in could ruin it all.

He knocked again. She knew that if she waited any longer, he would forgo politeness and barge in. Sighing, she got up and went to the door.

Aoshi said nothing as he walked into her room. Megumi closed the door behind him gently and turned around, pressing her back against the wood. They watched each other warily for a long minute. Megumi could feel her heart thumping; she was afraid he could hear it pounding just under her breast. Did he know what she was planning? Was that why he had come to her in the middle of the night, only hours before Kanryu would return?

\"Aoshi....\" she began. \"What are you...\"

She was cut off when he grabbed her wrist and pulled her against his body, already hard with desire. He didn\'t kiss her; it would have been hypocritical. Instead, his lips found her slender neck and began tracing its familiar softness.

Megumi\'s knees felt weak as though she had no power to stop what he was doing. Even if she had any will to stop it. He knew her body all too well. He knew exactly what to do to bring her the most pleasure possible. Her hand cupped his rigid flesh through his clothing. As much as he knew her body, she knew his. He groaned into her hair and pulled her even closer.

Together they undressed, throwing articles of clothing every which way, not really caring where they fell. It was only important to feel flesh against flesh. Once they were naked, Aoshi walked her back towards the Western style bed. There was a look in his eye that had never been present in all the times they had come together in the observation tower.

It excited her. It inflamed her. It saddened her.

As he sat down on the bed and urged her to sit on his lap, Megumi realized something. The pleasure was almost over. It was the end. For Megumi, it would be a new beginning. A tear welled up in her eye as she lowered herself onto his hard shaft. She didn\'t cry for the end of their time together. Nor did she cry for losing the man who introduced her to pleasure. She cried for knowing that he could have never been anything more to her than what he had been. A lover not in love.

She wrapped her legs around his body and held on tight. It was the best they had ever had because it would be the last. They both knew it. And with as much sex as they had experienced together, this was to be the first time they made love.

Aoshi rested his forehead on her shoulder as he gently, but insistently lifted and lowered his hips. Her skin smelled like cherry blossoms. He would never be able to smell the flower again without thinking of her. He was no fool. He knew that she was planning to escape, despite his earlier warnings. It would be a fruitless attempt on her part. Once she escaped Kanryu and was returned by the Oniwabanshu, they could never be together again.

He would be her prison guard once more.

The low, throaty moans she made never failed to intensify his excitement. \"Megumi...\" he groaned into her ear. \"I will never...never let you go.\"

Her determination flashed together with the passion in the dark centers of her eyes. \"I\'d rather die...\" She threw her head back. \"...than stay.\"

Aoshi was nurt urt by her words. She did not love him. He did not love her. She could escape if she wanted. He had no hesitations about hunting her down. It was simply his job. It wasn\'t as though he hadn\'t warned her.

Megumi clutched frantically at his back as her orgasm approached. When the pleasure peaked, she heard him cry out and felt the rush of warmth within her womb as he filled her for the final time. Together, they collapsed on the bed. She maneuvered their bodies so he would not lay on top of her. Throughout all their couplings, she had never been able to stand him being on top of her. It was too much like Kanryu. She doubted she would ever be able to stand it with anyone. Finally, he rolled over and lay on his back beside her. They were silent for a long time.

She wasn\'t sure when he fell asleep or more importantly, why. But when she glanced over at him, his eyes were closed and his bare chest, so perfectly formed and even more perfectly scarred, rose and fell in a steady rhythm. Megumi propped herself up on her elbow and studied him for a moment. Would she ever see him again? Probably. Would she ever see him like *this* again?

Never, she decided.

It only took minutes for her to dress. She took nothing with her besides the kimono on her body and the small case of medical instruments tucked into her apron along with the only remaining packets of Kanryu\'s opium. She had to wonder if, when he returned aybreybreak, he would be more upset at losing his drugs or his whore?

Megumi did not look back at Aoshi as she climbed out the window. If she had, she would have seen him, fully awake, watching her carefully.

~~~~~~

The 11th year of the Meiji Era (1880 AD)
Tokyo

My cheek rested against Sanosuke\'s shoulder as we both caught our breath. After a moment, I heard him chuckle. \"Damn,\" he laughed. \"We should do that more often.\"

I hesitated for a minute, not sure of what to say. The sex had been incredible, but I still felt as though something was missing. Even when I had been straddling his body, looking down at him and the intense pleasure on his face, I had not felt as elated as I had expected. I loved Sanosuke. Why was I still holding back?

His thick eyebrows furred in worry after I said nothing for a long time. \"Megumi? Didn\'t you...I thought you...you did, right?\"

My fingers covered his lips. \"I did. It felt wonderful.\" I cupped his cheek with one hand. \"Thank you.\"

But he knew me too well. He knew me in a way no one else did. It was as though he could see right through me. It used to irritate me. Now, I had to wonder...was it really that bad to be known? Sanosuke sat up. \"No...something\'s wrong.\" He scratched the back of his tousled head of hair. \"Tell me? Did I do something wrong?\"

The simple request brought realization crashing down upon me. In a moment, everything became very clear. Kanryu had been the first man to enter my body. Aoshi had been the first man to bring me pleasure. But Sanosuke...the annoyingly adorable, street-smart, too-tough yet incredibly gentle ex-gangster....was the first man to love me.

Even though we had just made love, I wanted him back inside me. I wanted to feel his weight on top of me, overcoming every fear that Kanryu had created and Aoshi had been unable to undo. Only Sanosuke could make me whole again. Aoshi might have started the healing process, but Sanosuke was to be the one to complete it.

With a smile, I reached for his sex. It was larger than Aoshi\'s, I had to note. If only there were some way to tell him that; I was sure it would have made him gleefully happy. He drew in a breath as my fingers wrapped around his flesh. \"How long...\" I sat up and kissed him. \"....before you\'re ready again?\"

\"Fox lady.\" Sanosuke\'s hand slid around the back of my neck, pulling me closer. I could feel him hardening in my hand. \"I\'m always ready.\"

I nodded and lowered myself back against the futon. \"I want you...like this.\"

He hesitated. \"Megumi...I don\'t want you to anything you\'re not comfortable with. We can do this without me being on top. I know you said you didn\'t...\"

\"Sano,\" I silenced him with a look. \"You\'re not Kanryu.\" *And you\'re not Aoshi,* I added silently. \"You love me and you would never hurt me. I won\'t spend our life together hiding from the pains of the past.\"

\"Yeah, but...\"

I narrowed my eyes playfully. \"Are you going to get over here or not?\"

Carefully, he crawled over my body. I had a moment of panic as I felt the power of his immense figure over me. He must have sensed it because he kissed me, slow and sweetly. \"I love you,\" he whispered.

I kissed him back, freely and without hesitation, opening my legs and my soul to him. He entered me and it was nothing like Kanryu. In the amazing, unassuming way he had, Sanosuke healed me with every stroke and every thrust. My tears flowed freely. When I came, I cried out his name and my love for him.

He filled me with his very essence and collapsed, utterly drained. I would not be making the special tea for myself tonight. If our afternoon of discovery and healing had created a baby, it would be the most welcome and loved child in the world. I stroked his bare, sweaty back and kissed his shoulder. \"I love you,\" I told him, in case he hadn\'t heard me cry out in passion.

Sanosuke nodded and shifted our bodies until I was resting on him once again. He held me tight, promising to never let go. \"I think we should get married right away,\" he said when he could talk again. \"Cause I really hope I got you pregnant today.\"

I laughed. There he went, reading my mind again. Only Sanosuke.

****

The 15th year of the Meiji Era (1884 AD)
Kyoto

\"Otou-san! Look!!\"

Three year old Sagara Hanako pressed her face to the glass window of the train as it approached the Kyoto station. Megumi gently pulled her daughter back into her lap. \"Your otou-san has a bit of a problem with trains.\" She glanced over at her husband just in time to catch his scowl. \"He\'ll look once we\'ve stopped.\"

Behind them, Himura Kenshin chuckled. \"After all these years, Sano. Trains still bother you.\"

Sanosuke ground his teeth. \"God-forsaken hollow metal hell....I\'d have rather *walked* to Kyoto.\"

Myojin Yahiko snickered and turned around in his seat to see the older man. \"We\'d never have seen you again if you had. You\'d have been lost forever.\" He yelped in pain as Sanosuke brought his fist down onto his head with careful force. \"Baka!\"

Kenshin\'s wife, Kaoru scrunched up her pretty face at the squabbling men. \"Enough! Can we make it through this trip without any bickering? For Misao-chan\'s sake, at least?\"

\"It will be fine, Kaoru.\" Kenshin rested a gentle hand on his wife\'s belly, swollen with eight months of pregnancy. \"They won\'t disturb the wedding.\"

Kaoru balled up her fist. \"They had better not.\" She presented an amusing picture. A tiny woman, practically tipping over when she stood from the child she carried inside her, threatening to take down a teenage boy and a grown man if they dared to mess up the most important day of a good friend\'s life.

\"I keep them quiet, Okaa-san!\" Himura Kenji, Kenshin and Kaoru\'s four year old son, tugged on his mother\'s sleeve. Kaoru embraced the little boy, ruffling the red hair on his head.

Megumi managed to still Hanako for a moment. She swallowed back a sudden wave of unexpected emotion. Once more, she had to remind herself that there was nothing to be nervous about. She had seen him many times since their last encounter at Kanryu\'s mansion. When he had brought her back and locked her in the observation tower, when he had come to Kaoru\'s dojo, looking to fight Kenshin. When she had joined her friends in Kyoto after the battle with Shishio and when he had come to Tokyo to retrieve the young ninja, Makimachi Misao.

Now, he was going to marry Misao. Megumi, as well as her family and friends, had been invited to Kyoto for the occasion. The invitation had surprised her. She had been afraid there was too much water under their bridge for them to ever be friendly to one another. Apparently, Aoshi had not felt that way.

Sanosuke reached for her hand. \"I\'m the one who\'s supposed to be on edge in this damnable train,\" he told her softly.

She smiled. \"I\'m fine. Just excited to see them all again.\"

He lifted an eyebrow, but said nothing more. In a moment, the whistle blew, signaling their arrival to the Kyoto station. Hanako squealed with delight and reached for the window again. \"We\'re here! We\'re here!\" she announced. The adventure of travel was an overwhelming excitement for the child, even though she had never met the people they were traveling to see.

It took quite awhile to get all the members of their party, not to mention their baggage, off the train. Sanosuke carried Hanako in one arm and Kenji in the other to let Kenshin devote his full attention to Kaoru\'s safety. Megumi loved watching him with the children; there was something so appealing about a man holding two kids. Especially a man she was madly in love with. He caught her eye over the top of Kenji\'s flame-colored head and winked. She returned the gesture.

\"HIMURA!!!\" The unmistakable voice of Makimachi Misao filtered out from the crowd of people surrounding them on the station\'s platform. \"Excuse me...pardon me...coming through....MOVE IT!!!\" In a second, the slender girl of twenty had managed to push her way to where they were. She emerged from the crowd, her sea-colored eyes wide and shining with excitement. \"YOU\'RE HERE!!!!\"

Kenshin smiled warmly at the girl. \"We made it. How are you, Mis...oro..\" The former Battousai\'s eyes bugged out as Misao\'s arms wrapped around his waist and squeezed with all their might.

\"I\'ve missed you all terribly!\" she declared, finally releasing Kenshin. Her hands immediately went to Kaoru\'s hugely rounded stomach. \"Kaoru-san! You could have this baby any second!\" Her eyes were momentarily troubled. \"And here I insisted that you come! I\'m so sorry!!\"

Kaoru shook her head. \"There\'s nothing to worry about, Misao-chan. Megumi\'s here, so if anything does happen, it will be fine. And I wouldn\'t have missed this trip for anything.\"

Misao turned to Megumi and gave her an equally wide grin. \"Megumi-san!\" She bowed. \"Thank you so much for coming. And for bringing your chicken-headed husband.\"

\"I heard that, Weasel Girl,\" Sanosuke muttered as he tried to keep his daughter from pulling Kenji\'s hair.

She made a good natured face back at him. \"You\'d just better not call me that around Aoshi.\"

All she had to do was mention his name and he was there. Megumi took a calming breath as he appeared behind Misao. His hand instinctively went to his bride\'s delicate waist, touching her protectively. \"Konnichi wa,\" he greeted their guests.

There was still a lingering awkwardness around Aoshi. Megumi could feel it. After all, the man had tried to kill Kenshin twice before finally realizing the error of his ways. It seemed only natural that Kenshin\'s closest friends would be wary of him. But Kenshin, being the man he was, had put the past in the past a long tigo. go. It was the only way he knew how to live. He stepped forward and held out his hand to Aoshi for a Western handshake. \"Konnichi wa.\"

Aoshi took the hand that was offered to him and shook. Misao\'s face lit up; it was a signal that everything was going to be all right. \"Hey! C\'mon...we\'ve got to get back quickly. Okina is absolutely *dying* to take you on that tour of Kyoto!\" As if to speed things along, she reached for a pile of luggage and started down the platform. Aoshi followeoselosely behind. Sanosuke grabbed what he could while still managing to hold onto the two children and Yahiko grabbed the rest. Megumi walked just behind them, still lost in thought. With Kenshin still holding onto his wife\'s hand tightly, the group followed Misao.

\"Misao is very glad you decided to come, Megumi-san.\"

Megumi looked up from the dusty ground. Aoshi had fallen behind the rest of the group and was fighting to keep his steps short in order to stay at her pace. \"And you\'re not?\"

The very corners of his lips turned up. It wasn\'t exactly a smile, but it was close enough. \"Truthfully, I didn\'t expect you\'d voluntarily see me again ever.\"

\"I almost stayed in Tokyo,\" she replied, quietly. \"But Kaoru-chan might need my help. And Misao-chan...she\'s special to me.\"

\"She\'s just special.\"

Megumi turned her head to see her former lover better. \"The whole time...at Kanryu\'s...you loved her, didn\'t you?\"

\"Yes.\" Aoshi looked up at the sun; the others were completely out of hearing range now. Their laughter and chatter drifted on the breeze, a faint presence in his conversation with Megumi. \"But you were special, too.\"

\"I was a whore,\" she whispered.

The tall ninja shook his head. \"I don\'t bed whores. We were together because we both wanted it.\"

\"I needed it. Maybe you did, too.\"

Aoshi nodded slightly. \"It seems like a lifetime ago.\"

\"Two lifetimes.\" She smiled. \"We were very different people then.\"

He stopped suddenly. \"Kanryu is dead.\"

Megumi\'s breath caught in her throat as she stumbled to a stop beside him. \"When?\"

\"Two weeks ago. I\'m surprised you didn\'t hear about it in Tokyo.\" Aoshi folded his arms over the front of his coat. \"He had been transferred to a more remote prison a few miles away. Sometime during the night, he tried to escape. The guards shot him down.\"

She released the pent-up air in her lungs. \"I\'ve been free from him for so long. I didn\'t think I was afraid he\'d come after me, because I always knew Sano would protect me. But now...I feel like an invisible yoke has been lifted off my shoulders.\"

\"I understand.\" Aoshi started walking again. \"The first time I saw you come out of his room, knowing what he had just done to you...I would have liked very much to kill him.\"

Megumi looked down at the small travel box in her hands. \"I know why you didn\'t. And I know that you\'ve changed. So....it\'s all a part of our past now.\" She squinted her eyes to see the others up ahead better. Misao had Yahiko in a head-lock. \"You have a new future. I already have a new life.\" She touched her flat belly where her second child with Sano had yet to make his or her appearance. \"Thank you, Aoshi. For teaching me pleasure.\"

\"Thank you, Megumi. For teaching me to care again.\"

\"Aoshi!!\" The moment was broken just in time as Misao came running back to them. Megumi\'s smile was bright when the young girl wrapped her arms around Aoshi\'s torso. He returned the strong embrace, kissing the top of her head. \"Himura\'s afraid Megumi-san might be ripping into you back here.\"

\"We were just catching up,\" Aoshi reassured her. \"A lot has happened since we last met.\"

\"Yeah...\" Misao looked up at her old Okashira. \"I know.\"

Megumi touched the younger woman\'s shoulder. \"Take your time, you two. I\'m just going to join up with the others.\"

When she glanced back a moment later, the couple were engaged in a deep kiss. She smiled and lifted the hem of her kimono, jogging as fast as her wooden sandals would take her until she caught up with the others.

Sanosuke\'s strong arms were loaded down with luggage and two squirming children. \"Lend me a hand, Fox-lady?\"

Taking pity on him, Megumi transferred her box to one hand and reached for Hanako. The little girl squealed and threw her arms around her mother\'s neck. \"You know you look adorable though. And I love you.\"

He shook his head. \"Oh no...I\'m not carrying that tiny little box for you. If that\'s what all the sweet-talk is for, you can just...\"

Megumi tossed her hair over one shoulder and gave him a look as she walked ahead. \"In that case, *you* can just forget sweet-talk from now on.\"

\"Aww, Megumi...\" Sanosuke ran to catch up to her, much to the delight of Kenshin and Kaoru\'s son. \"Megumi!\"

Kenshin turned around and watched his oldest friends, still bickering, but completely happy. And in love. He suddenly felt Kaoru\'s hand pressing into his. Aoshi and Misao reached them just as Sanosuke got Megumi to stop and give him her box to carry, as well as a kiss that got broken up by little Hanako grabbing her father\'s head band and tugging it down over his eyes. Yahiko jabbed Misao in the side, teasing her as usual. She growled and tackled him to the ground.

\"Are we sure we want to subject another child to all of this?\" Kaoru asked her husband, a twinkle in her eyes.

Her rurouni gave her a warm smile. \"Absolutely.\"

****

The End