+Legacy

 

An RK Fanfic: i.e. the author doesn't claim rights to the anime used.

 

Chapter 26 - A child's heart.

 

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"I must be dreaming…"

                                                                    -  Frou-Frou

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Genzai quietly walked out of the candlelit dojo to the garden outside. His hands were clasped behind his back, each gripping the other so tightly that his wrinkled skin was pulled taut, the flesh beneath them rendered a stark white under the strain. The most telling evidence of his displeasure however, could be found higher up, on the roughened surface of his face. None of the youngsters within the dojo's walls could recall a single moment in which the old doctor's countenance failed to hold even a trace of the silly smile that made him so likeable to adults and children both. This night, his face held not the slightest indication of that smile, the corners of his mouth instead turning downward, his dark eyes glaring harshly into the gloom as if it were to be blamed for his precious grand-daughters' ordeal. He had cried when he first heard of what had happened, but what the others took for grief was really a bridled expression of rage. Unlike most of the people he associated with, flying into a tantrum was simply not an option that he possessed, so in lieu of that he chose to cry. It was better than the alternative which would undoubtedly result in less than savory consequences for all involved.

 

Several paces down the path, he stopped and turned his face toward the sky. Millions of stars twinkled at him from the canopy above, each one as lovely and priceless as the next. Even if it were possible to harvest this great bounty from the sky, the entire lot of them would not be enough to purchase the lives that were almost lost to him that day. Fate had been both cruel and kind to him in taking most of his loved ones away. For even as he lost the things that he cherished most, the tides of destiny brought the girls into his care, and in time he found that his love for them was no less than that which he had lost…everything that he had lost.

 

His hands tightened again, fingernails mercilessly curling into his own fragile flesh as his anger crested again. In his heart he had always known that this day would come, yet the fragility of his own emotions caused him to push the possibility to the back of his mind. He had lost so very much in the years that had passed, the thought of losing anything more simply could not be tolerated. There just wasn't enough left of his heart to be ripped away.

 

"Genzai-sensei?"

 

Turning his head slightly, he regarded the person who unknowingly interrupted his bitter reflections. "Oh Kenshin, it's you, he said as gently as he could, "I thought you went to sleep with the others."

 

The redhead bowed his head slightly out of shyness. "Iie," the young man replied, "I don't feel very sleepy after all the drama that went on here today."

 

The old doctor chuckled softly despite himself, "Drama?" he repeated, "I'd say that's a very accurate analogy Kenshin."

 

The younger man shrugged, "I suppose there is no other way to describe it, is there?" he mused aloud.

 

"No," the doctor agreed, turning to the sky once more, "I suppose there isn't."

 

As Genzai seemed to become lost in his own thoughts again, a thoughtful look crossed his young companion's face. "Genzai-sensei?" he interrupted again.

 

"What is it, Kenshin?" the old man patiently asked.

 

"How long have you known?"

 

Genzai smiled again, but it did little to hide the grim expression that crossed his eyes just before he shut them in concentration. "All my life," he answered simply, "Or did you think I was entrusted with her care by accident alone?"

 

Kenshin blushed at his own presumptuousness, "Everyone else was so shocked by the news it was hard not to notice that you barely showed any emotion at all, that you didn't," he quietly confessed, "Ever since she first told me I wondered who else was entrusted with her secret…their secret."

 

The old man nodded knowingly, "I see…" he mused aloud, "Frankly, Kenshin," he confessed, "I'm surprised that it took this much for her to finally tell you the truth."

 

He turned to face the  younger man with a gaze that spoke of a quiet wisdom that exceeded his medical expertise. "Kenshin," he said, "There is something that I want you to understand. So far you have proved your love for my god-daughter many times over, and I believe with all my heart that you would do anything for her, even forfeit your own life. Nothing is wrong with loving someone that strongly."

 

"However," he continued as he pinned Kenshin more firmly under his gaze, "You must comprehend that this fight is not like the ones that you have already won. You have neither the tools nor the skill to save either of them this time. If you try, you'll be dead before your hand even touches your saya."

 

Kenshin breathed deeply, his heart hammering at the unaccustomed grimness of Genzai's words. The old man had spoken them without emotion, as if he were reciting the anatomy of the human body to an apprentice. There were no inflections in his voice, no room left for exaggeration or misinterpretation. What he had said, he wholeheartedly believed.

 

"I…" Kenshin faltered. It had been his job to protect his loved ones for so long that it was difficult for him to accept his own uselessness now. He was supposed to be the most powerful fighter in all of Japan, for Buddha's sake! How could that mean nothing now?

 

"I respect what you are trying to say Genzai-sensei," he quietly began, "But if there is a threat to Kaoru or anyone else in this family I have to do what I can to help."

 

Genzai closed his eyes, his expression darkening once more. "I see…" he whispered, more to himself than the young man beside him.

 

"Kenshin," the doctor commanded, raising both his eyes and his voice, "Draw your sword now."

 

Kenshin blinked in surprise, "Draw my…?"

 

Genzai's displeasure deepened, "Are you deaf, boy?" he snapped, "I said to draw your sword now!"

 

The harsh snap of the doctor's words startled Kenshin so deeply that his hand immediately dropped to his side. However, when he instinctively tried to push his sword out of its sheath with his thumb, he found that it would not move. Surprised, he glanced down, trying to yank it out with his other hand, but still the sword refused to budge an inch.

 

"What the…?" the flustered warrior sputtered, "I don't understand. How did…?!"

 

The rest of the sentence remained unsaid as he looked up to see three distinct claw-like projections pointed at the vital spots around his face and neck. Finding himself in such a compromising position so suddenly, he forcefully swallowed. The tiny movement caused the claw pointed at his jugular to brush slightly against the skin, painlessly drawing a warm trickle of blood from the spot.

 

As he watched, the glowing claws retreated back to the place where they began on Dr. Genzai's fingertips. Slowly, the old doctor lowered his hand to his side again, his gaze never leaving the frightened ex-assassin's.

 

"You're out of your league child," he said in a dangerously quiet tone, "The sooner you admit that, the longer you will live."

 

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The sun rose over Tokyo Bay the next morning like a dancing maiden garbed in robes of scarlet and gold. Her light followed her across the water, spreading out like a trail of stars behind her, lovely and sparkling on the wet carpet of blue. As she spread her arms across the sky, her light spread even farther, slipping into every crack and crevice of the township, rendering all that she touched clean and new again.

 

Eventually, that light found itself peeking through an open window, extracting a wad of tangled sheets from the darkness it replaced. Up it spread, catching the glint of pale, wavy hair wrapped around the dewy warmth of golden skin. Further up it went to find a paler shade of the same surrounding a full pair of lips, partly hidden by the gleam of ebon tresses strewn across them and the sheets below. The tickling sensation of warmth which accompanied the healing power of the dancing sun caused the softer of these two forms to mewl lightly in protest and move closer to her companion. The larger, paler form instinctively wrapped itself around the first to quell her whimpering. At the brush of his lips, the first form calmed down, smiling now as she nestled deeper into his embrace, now enjoying the warmth of the sun on her back as it smiled down upon the lovers.

 

On the other end of town, a similar form, this time with hair as dark as a moonless sky, held tighter to the one beside her in a similar fashion as the sun intruded on their private space as well. Her companion, who had hair like liquid fire, was farther away from the realm of sleep than she was. Even so, he refused to relax his hold on her as he continued to stare at the ceiling in deep contemplation. Unconsciously his free hand traveled up to his throat fingering the tiny scratch on its surface as if to confirm the occurrences of the previous night to be much more than a mere dream.

 

Littered around the rest of the house, many others were touched by sun, lingering in different stages between sleep and wakefulness. They writhed and curled under the sheets of their futons at its gentle caress, stubbornly holding on to their last traces of sleep. Only one of these rose easily from her respective spot, stretching her long, bare legs in a yukata that was obviously made for a shorter woman. Shaking out the braid that had kept her long hair under control the night before, she approached the front of the house, silently sliding open the shoji to look upon the newborn world and breathe in the air made fresh and clean by the passing of night into day.

 

As the mist that came off of the dewy garden came into view, it became clear to her that she was not the only one who took comfort in this daily renewal of the earthly realm. Several feet above the path that ran from the steps below her feet into the heart of the little garden, a lithe, little creature hovered in midair, his bright golden eyes turned toward the light of the sun as his furry body seemed to drink in the energy of the sunbeams that caressed the silver guard-hairs of his coat. His tail swished absentmindedly from side to side as the healing passed over him and the ivory feathers of his wings glinted in its luminance.    

 

Gradually, she became aware of a sound that had lay hidden in the buzz of awakening things. A low rumble, like thunder from a tiny cloud rose up through the air to her ears. A strange sound, yet somehow familiar to the treasure-box of her childhood memories. For a moment it lingered there, beyond her reach before realization dawned upon her. The little creature that Kaoru had introduced them to the night before was more cat-like than his appearance let on.

 

"So," the figure mused to herself, "He is just a kitten after all."

 

"He is the sun guardian, not a kitten." a new voice softly corrected from behind her.

 

The woman spun on her heel to face the new intruder, cinnamon eyes widening and then sliding back to their normal size the instant she laid eyes on the one who had addressed her.

 

"Suzume," the young doctor breathed, "It's only you."

 

The child regarded her with a stare that was very far from the carefree smile that she was used to sporting. Instead, her eyes held the emotion of one much older than she was and the light of sympathy and apology for the elder of the two burned true in their chestnut depths. Her silent approach had not been made in innocence after all, she had meant to come close to the woman before making her presence known.

 

"Gomen for scaring you," she softly apologized, "I was quiet because I didn't want to wake everyone else up."

 

Nerves still slightly rattled by the child's silent approach, Megumi forced herself to smile even as one hand still pressed itself to her chest as if to contain her accelerated heartbeat. "It's alright," she said reassuringly, "You just surprised me, that's all." She then knelt down, so that she could be closer to the child's height, opening her arms in an inviting gesture.

 

For a moment the serious look on the child's face disappeared, and she willingly walked into the woman's embrace, allowing her to stroke the length of her tousled, mahogany hair as she held her close to her breast.

 

"Ohayou," the child meekly said.

 

"Ohayou," the other replied, "How do you feel?"

 

The child stiffened a little in her arms and remained silent. Instead she buried her head deeper in the fabric of the doctor's yukata and wrapped her arms more tightly around her neck.

 

Megumi reciprocated the strong embrace, patting the child gently on the back, "It's okay," she crooned, "You don't have to say anything that you don't want to."

 

Her heart broke for the child in her arms. She could not fathom what it must have been like, for one so young to endure such a violent ordeal. It was one thing to have your purity taken away from you as a woman, but it must be something entirely different to have someone rape your mind and strip you of your will to live. That demoness Kaoru told them about the night before was too callous to even be compared to anything human. Even when she was a prisoner in Kanryu's mansion, there was at the very least, an excuse for the things he did to her. No matter how obvious it became that he was nothing more than a murderer and a coward, still she found it easier to blame secondary things. He had drunk too much, he was trying to show off, he wanted to be close to someone. These were all tangible, all human. What Tian had done was far greater, she attempted to take the children's lives but, in the end, came away with the next best thing… their innocence.

 

Focused on the channel of comfort between them, neither female noticed when the little sun-guardian turned to regard them with his intelligent, golden gaze. Despite his origins and purpose, he could not help but feel a pang of sympathy in his tiny heart for the scene unfolding before him. The many years that he had spent asleep in the book had done little to dull the sense that told him that these were all good people. It pained him to see not only the two captors in the deepest throes of despair, but their entire family as well. Deep down he was most grateful for what Hideki had done, he much preferred to be in the care of both herself and her shrine-sister than that woman he had only briefly glimpsed upon awakening from his century-long slumber. He had sensed a great evil within her from the moment their eyes had met, and now the fledgling's tears testified her intentions with more clarity than a crystal ball. If he had fallen into her hands instead of Hideki's, there was no doubt in his triangular head that the entire world would be made to bow to her will. To have the magic of the cards in the hands of such a person was unthinkable, to say the very least.

 

He lowered his eyes again for a moment, only to find that when he raised them again, a darker pair of the same stared into his from over the tall woman's shoulder. The child sniffed as he rendered all but his gently flapping wings to be still. It was an ordinary sound, befitting of the age of the one who made it. However, as he stared on, he realized that the depths of her eyes failed to echo any trace of sadness whatsoever. The despair that she had portrayed only seconds ago was now replaced by a blatant stare of curiosity and, with considerable surprise to himself, familiarity.

 

Pulling free from the young doctor who too had now turned to see the little cat-creature regard them with his steady, amber stare, the child held out a hand to beckon him closer.

 

Cautiously, he drifted nearer to the place where they stood, drawn by a magnetic pull that only the child and himself could feel. As he came within arms reach, she held him gently in her hands, bringing him close to her body as Megumi had previously done with her. A sweet feeling of sedation immediately overwhelmed him in the presence of the young one, and without him willing it to be so, his purr grew louder, more content than before.

 

Megumi regarded all this with parted lips and widened eyes. Kaoru had been very careful to enforce the fact that although the sun-guardian currently looked like nothing more than a harmless animal, he was an intelligent and powerful being who truly belonged to none but the cards and himself. Yet still he succumbed to the child's embrace with all the loyalty of a cherished pet without having a single word pass between them.

 

As she pondered these thoughts, the child turned her head toward her again, a serene smile that echoed the rumblings of her furry companion lighting the shadows on her face.  

 

"See?" she said, "He really is Keroberos, the Sun Guardian."

 

Megumi was not quite sure how to respond, so simply stood, offering a smile to the girl as she caressed the side of her face. "He seems to like you," she observed. Not quite a direct answer, as she was careful to preserve her neutrality on a subject she was unfamiliar with.

 

The statement seemed to appease the child who looked down on the creature in her arms with affection. As their eyes met, her long brown hair moved about as if stirred by an undetectable breeze and both forms of cat and child became outlined in a golden light that was independent of the rays of the sun.

 

"Beings of power always know how to find each-other," she said as she turned away.

 

As Suzume walked out into the garden with Kero comfortably snuggled in her arms, Megumi found herself unable to find any of the warnings that she would have called out behind her on a normal day. Instead she stood in the doorway like a stone copy of herself as the child walked, barefoot, out into the chill of the gold-gray morning.

 

As Suzume settled down on a large rock to stroke Kero's fur, realization dawned upon Megumi more brightly than the sun in the sky above. Tian had not chosen the girls as victims of her attack for no reason other than their vulnerability.

 

Ayame and Suzume were magical too.

 

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