Disclaimer All rights and privileges to Rurouni Kenshin belong t
o Nobuhiro Watsuki, Shuiesha, Sony Music Entertainment, and associated
parties. The characters of this series are used without his permission for
the purpose of entertainment only. This work of fiction is not meant for
sale or profit. The characters that I create belong to me! Don�t use
them without my permission!
Spoiler warning:
Kyoto Saga/Departure. But only a little bit!
A New Era:
Part 2 -- Confessions and Announcements
�Kenshin, its too
early to wake up. . . .� Kaoru moaned as she rolled over , trying to avoid
the hand that was shaking her shoulder.
�Kaoru. I�m not Kenshin.
Wake up. We have to talk.�
�Megumi? Oh. What happened?� Kaoru
blinked in confusion.
�You passed out,� Megumi replied dryly. �One
of the neat things that happens from time to time when you are
pregnant.�
�Megumi! I�m pregnant!� Kaoru�s eyes began to fill
with tears. She could not believe that she was really going to have
Kenshin�s baby. A baby. She lowered her hand to her stomach, as if
trying to feel the life-force within.
�That�s what you get when you
do what you�ve been doing with Ken-chan.� Megumi hunkered down to sit
more comfortably next to her. �Didn�t you think that it would
happen?�
�I-I thought about it, b-but... I can�t believe it really
is happening.�
�Heh, now you get to experience all of this first
hand. For the next 7 or 8 months, your body will be going through so many
changes, it will make your head spin.�
�Changes? Oh!
Kenshin!�
�Huh?�
�Megumi. How am I gonna tell him?� Kaoru
sat up on her knees and began to gesticulate frantically. �Will he be
happy about it? Of course he will! He loves children! He�s going to be a
wonderful father. Megumi! Everything is going to change. Megumi. . . .�
Kaoru�s eyes went big. �I�m going to be a mommy.� The enormity of it all
made her tremble.
�Calm down, Kaoru. I know it's a lot to take
in.� Megumi put her arm around her to reassure her. �I told Sanosuke to
fetch Kenshin. They are coming over right
now.�
********************************
�How did you tell
Sanosuke?� Kaoru asked, after taking a deep breath of the cooling summer
air. She had put away the futon in an effort to calm herself. Megumi and
Kaoru sat on the porch of the house, talking in the late afternoon
breeze.
�The first time?� Megumi smiled. Her face was full of
feminine mystery.
�Yeah. How did you tell him? I never thought of
it till today. When you were pregnant with Shin-chan, Sanosuke was the
one who announced it to everyone. When did you tell him?�
�I
pushed him into the river. After he told
me.�
�Huh?�
�I had just realized that we were going to have
a baby and I was so excited about it. We were talking as he walked me to
the clinic. It was a beautiful day and I thought that it would be a
perfect time to tell him. The sun was shining off the water and all. . . .
I told him I wanted to go there to look at the water.� Megumi smiled at
the memory. �Sano grumbled a bit, like he always does. We walked down
there and looked at the water. I wanted the moment to be perfect. We
didn�t say anything for a couple of minutes, just stared out at the water.
Then suddenly, Sanosuke turned around and started yelling at me. �Well?
Are you going to tell me I finally knocked you up?!?� I was so surprised
at him. Then I got mad.�
Kaoru began to laugh. �Sanosuke knew?
How?�
�Apparently, that had been his goal from the beginning. He
had been counting days to make sure. I was so angry at him, I pushed him
into the water and started to walk away.�
�You were mad at him?
For making you pregnant?�
�No. For ruining the moment! Here I
was, bent on building atmosphere, and he blew it. Anyway, he got out of
the water and ran up to me and grabbed me and started spinning me around
and around.� Megumi�s eyes softened at the memory. �He was wet and cold.
But he didn�t care. Don�t tell him that I told you, but he had tears in
his eyes. He just kept spinning me around in circles, telling me how
happy he was and how much he loved me. It was one of the most beautiful
moments that we have shared.�
�How wonderful. Later, you two came
over and told the rest of us. Sanosuke was so proud when he made the
announcement.�
�Yes. Sano loves children. He was very excited
that he finally was going to have some of his own.� Megumi patted her
belly. �And you better be better behaved than your oniichan! I swear,
Shin-chan gets into so many fixes that my hair is going to turn gray
before he is five. Sano just looks at him and he says that he gets it
from my side of the family.�
�Tadaima (We�re back)!� Sano called
out to them as they stepped through the gates to the courtyard of their
home. Shinosuke was riding on his father�s shoulders, holding on to
Sano�s hair spikes, which were sagging just a bit. Kenshin and Yahiko
followed behind them, a wee damp looking as well.
�Okairinasai
(Welcome back). Finally. What took you so long?� she asked looking up
at them. �What happened?� She looked at the men in her life, her arms
akimbo. They looked very wet for the short walk from the dojo to their
house.
�Nothing, really.� Sano looked away from his wife and
started whistling. Shin-chan tried to copy his father, but just ended up
blowing spittle onto his father�s hair.
�N-nothing . . . ,� both
Kenshin and Yahiko stammered, looking away.
Megumi looked at all
their faces. They looked guilty or at least they were hiding something.
She made her decision and looked to her darling
son.
�Shin-chan?�
�Ai?�
�Tell �kachan what
happened.�
�What �appened?� Her son looked down from his place on
his father�s shoulders and smiled at her. It was one of pure innocence.
But Megumi knew her little angel oh too well.
�Yes. Why are your
father, Kenshin and Yahiko so wet?�
�It was
wraining?�
�Sagara Shinosuke.� Megumi used his full name. One of
the weapons in her �mommy arsenal�. �That�s not true. What did I say
about lying?�
�It's bad. Sworry. �Kachan pwomise not to get
mwad?�
�I promise.�
Kenshin and Yahiko began to slink away,
leaving Sano and Shinosuke to Megumi. At least they tried. They did not
get very far.
�You two, don�t move either,� she said in the voice.
It was something, she told Kaoru later, that all mothers acquire after
giving birth. Very handy in making people freeze and confess their crimes
in no time at all.
�We goin� home and Shin wanted to see the water
in the river. Shin went 'n ran down. . . .�
�And?�
�Shin
twiped and fwell,� Shinosuke finished, seeing his mother would not be
satisfied till she got more of the story.
�All of you went after
him?�
�Yeah. He got away from us, so we ran like heck to catch up.
We got there just in time before he fell in. We pushed him back, but we
ended up falling into the water �cuz we all bumped into each other,�
Yahiko confessed. �So much for our combined reflexes.�
Megumi
paled a little at the thought of her son falling into the river�s waters.
Even though in the summer the river ran low, Shinosuke could not swim yet.
�Is that why you didn�t want to tell me?�
�Hey, woman,
it�s kinda embarrassing. Shinosuke is the only one who didn�t get wet.
Anyway, we saved him from a dunking. And he is going to learn how to swim
starting tomorrow.� Sano put his son on the ground and squeezed more
water from his clothes. He took a seat on the wooden porch before the
entrance to the house.
�Yah!!�
Megumi sighed as Shin-chan
began to dancearound in joy. Only their Shinosuke could get away with a
stunt like that and get rewarded in his eyes at the same time. He was
definitely going to turn her hair gray.
She turned to say
something to Kaoru about it, but she and Kenshin were busy looking into
each other�s eyes. No one could get Kaoru�s attention away from Kenshin
when they were looking at each other like that.
�Are you okay?� he
asked, moving closer to her.
�Um, yes. Megumi says I�m perfectly
healthy.�
�Really?� He still looked worried.
�In fact,
Megumi says that I should be getting even healthier!�
Megumi
coughed at that. �Getting even healthier?� I guess that�s true . . .
.
�Well, I�m going to go get dinner ready.�
�Oh. I�ll
do it.� Kaoru offered. Megumi should be resting, not running around
making food. Yahiko groaned. Kaoru retaliated by hitting him on the
head. She had been improving a lot in that area. Really.
�I�ll
help,� said Kenshin.
�No way.� Sanosuke got up and stretched.
�Tonight, I�ll be making dinner.�
Kenshin, Kaoru and Yahiko looked
at each other in confusion. Sanosuke could cook? He never offered to do
so before. Marriage apparently did amazing things him. They looked over
to Megumi, who looked at Sano, who had bent down to look at his very
excited son.
�Yah!!! Fish!!! Fish!!!� Shin-chan began to jump
up and down with anticipation. �Can I help, �touchan?�
�Yeah,
come on.� Sano patted Megumi�s stomach in greeting and walked into the
house.
Megumi sighed again. �That�s the only thing he can cook.
Fish grilled over an open fire. I�ve been eating it for the last week and
a half,� Megumi said resignedly. �Ah well. . . . It�ll be good for a
summer night.�
********************************
Kenshin
was still worried about Kaoru. She seemed distracted throughout dinner.
Even though she had assured him she was fine, she did not seem
herself.
�Kenshin,� Kaoru said in a soft voice as they walked the
dirt road to the dojo.
�What is it?�
�Let�s stop here. I
want to talk to you.� Kaoru had been thinking about where to make her big
announcement to him. It finally hit her as they were walking towards the
dojo. It was perfect.
�I�m going to go ahead to the dojo, okay?�
Megumi had pulled him aside and told him to give them some private time,
but Yahiko was not a fool. He already knew when it was time retreat and
let the couple have a bit of privacy. Something big was going to happen.
Though he was curious, he was not about to ruin the moment, whatever it
was. They would tell him about it later.
The stars were out,
brightly twinkling in the night sky overhead. They walked down to the
edge of the river bank. She looked across the water at the fireflies
flickering, reminding her of the past, encouraging her about the future.
It was a night like this, on the road near here, that he had left her in
the dark to return to wandering. He left her so he could stop a mad man.
That night, Kaoru had cried herself to sleep. She loved Kenshin so much.
Kenshin stared out at the dark beauty of the water and the lights.
He, too, was reminded of that dark night when he had to say good-bye the
one he loved the most. It still pained him that he had hurt her so much
when he walked off into the darkness.
�It�s beautiful, isn�t it?�
His voice broke the silence, the calm of the night.
�Yes. Kenshin.
I love you so much.�
Kenshin opened his arms and gathered her
close, breathing in her smell, needing to feel her close to him. �I love
you, too. Kaoru, what�s wrong? You looked so preoccupied all through
dinner. Are you okay?�
He looked down at her face.
Tears?
�Kaoru? What is it?�
�Kenshin . . . ,�
Kaoru�s voice trembled with emotion as she took his hand and placed it on
her stomach. �Kenshin, we�re going to have a baby.� She savored the
words. They were so easy to say once she did. The tears in her eyes
spilled down her face. Tears of joy. She said them again. �We�re having
a baby.�
Kenshin�s eyes grew big. He gathered her closer and held
her tightly to him. He didn�t say anything for a long
time.
�Kenshin?�
�I-I love you. Kaoru, I love you so
much.�
�Kenshin.� She turned around to face him.
�Life
would not be worth living without you. I am so happy. I can not tell you
how happy I am.� His hands trembled as he touched her face gently, his
finger tips tracing down her cheek to her lips. Then he kissed her, his
lips conveying to her without words how he felt.
They stood for a
long time, just holding each other.
Yoko-chan:I hope
that was not too sappy. I wanted the moment to be funnier. You know, an
�oro~� or two when he found out and a lot of falling. But they kinda took
over and it ended up like this. Really, it's not my fault! ^_^;;
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