Rurouni Kenshin © Nobuhiro Watsuki

Beta: Kokoronagomu

The Voice

15

xxoOoxx

I finally found you, love.

I can now hold you.

Forever…

…and more.

xxoOoxx

Kaoru awoke to confusion and a powerful headache. Instantly her small hands caught her head and she shrunk into herself. Until she noticed she was on a bed.

She startled, opened her eyes and attempted to sit up but the abrupt movement made her sway and she fell back again. Her eyes moved all around the room but there was not enough light to see clearly. A few things she noticed. There didn't seem to be anyone in the room and she had dirtied the white sheets. Also, the scent of sea water was strong.

She was on a boat… if the way the room moved was any indication.

An unfamiliar panic made her chest clench and she jumped off the bed. The ebony haired woman cared not for the little visibility she had and she went directly to the door and opened it with a push. Blinded she ran down the only hallway and passed several rooms without looking back.

She needed to escape the boat. She did not know why… but she knew she had to escape.

She finally made it to a small room connecting with other halls and she ran for the small stairs. A cry escaped her throat as she darted across the room and held onto the railing of the stairs. She made it to the top and was about to make her final escape when strong arms yanked her up and pressed her against a hard chest as only a very hungry and very big snake would. Panic rose and she screamed out wildly but the body moved her until her face was pressed uncomfortably against the white shirt. She did her best to squirm out, to push the tall man holding her against the walls or to make him lose his balance as he descended the stairs but none of her attempts worked.

She finally felt him open a door and then close it behind her when the desperate tears finally fell. The man stopped and shouted to someone but she heard nothing. The fear was numbing her and stealing her ability to think away.

"I have to escape," she cried softly, her voice muffled against the man's chest, "I have to escape. I can't stay… I can't stay!" Unbalanced and uncaring she bit, hard, into the man's chest.

Sano yelped and pushed her away making her stumble and then fall to the floor. Kaoru missed no time and did a back flip which placed her near the door. She quickly turned the knob and ran out of the room. Her heart skipped a beat when she thought she was free but she collided against someone on her way out and the two of them lost their balance. Neither fell to the floor but both of them were pushed back rather unceremoniously. If Kaoru thought about muttering an apology, she had no time. The moment she found her balance she was pushed against a wooden wall.

Blue eyes widened as she turned to face her assailant and she found red hair. More from panic than any real sense of the situation she screamed and hit the man in front of her wildly, "Let me go!" The man cursed when the impacts hurt but he held on firmly. Angry, Kaoru started to elbow him and find places to hit that would hurt him even more.

"Kaoru!" yelled a familiar voice from nearby and her frantic attacks froze.

Kaoru turned to the side and saw her brother; wounded, bandaged but bloody. "Yahiko!" she cried in terror and began to push against the man holding her against the wall. "Yahiko! Yahiko!" she started screaming again but her attacks slowly subsided… unlike her screams which continued to bounce against the walls.

Kenshin felt his gut run cold when he saw her blank eyes just stare uncomprehendingly as she cried out for her younger brother's aid as if her life depended on it. It was as if something in her head had snapped and she was being held somewhere else, restrained in a memory so painful that she was unable to get out or to drift back to reality. "Kaoru!" Kenshin called in despair, "Kaoru… stop! You are safe! I am not going to hurt you!"

But it wasn't working. She wasn't coming back. She wasn't waking up.

Scared and concerned Kenshin shook her forcefully, but her unblinking eyes kept their distance… and their insanity.

"Battousai," started Yahiko from where he stood, his body tense, "Let her… don't stop her." When Kenshin turned to him with a confused glare the young man explained, "This… is a memory she should remember… even if it hurts. She should remember… try to ask her –things— to see if she remembers. This is the same as back then… when we took her from…the house back then."

Kenshin's eyes narrowed to an angry gold, "You did this to her?" he asked in a growl.

Yahiko's lips parted in surprise and regret and he turned away, "I didn't know she was happy!" said Yahiko softly, "I didn't know she had a child."

Kenshin's eyes were still pure rage, "You still joined with Yukishiro! Yukishiro who broke her in such a way… this is your entire fault!"

Yahiko's face scrunched in pain but he glared back, "Us fighting now will not help her! Yes! It was my fault but I did what I could! Now is your time to do something!"

They shared a glare for a moment before Kenshin turned to the woman he was pinning against the wall. She had quieted down and heavy tears fell down her cheeks. Feeling tired and sad Kenshin moved them to the small cabin where Sano watched with pity. Yahiko followed quietly and closed the door behind him. Kenshin moved to the bed, jumped over it, pressed his back against the wall and slid down with Kaoru on his lap. She seemed oblivious to her surroundings.

"Kaoru," Kenshin said softly, "Stay with me."

As if someone had turned on a switch Kaoru tensed and her clear eyes focused a moment on her surroundings and then clouded over again. "Nooo!" she yelled and started fighting Kenshin's hold, "I have to go! I have to go! I have to go back!"

Kenshin held her tightly, "Why? Where?"

She wasn't listening anymore. She kept repeating the same thing over and over again. Kenshin asked her various things, shook her by the shoulders, screamed some insults even but she was far gone.

After five minutes Sanosuke couldn't handle it anymore and walked out of the room to keep guard.

xxoOoxx

Kaoru awoke, curled beside Yahiko. She blinked a couple of times and listened around her to orient herself back to reality. She heard soft snoring and she could smell sea water. Instantly she stiffened.

Yahiko quickly noticed and his hands resting over her hair tangled in it to keep her still, "Easy," he whispered reassuringly, "We're safe." His hand released her hair and proceeded to brush it with his long fingers.

"Where are we?" she whispered back as she slowly sidled closer to him, hiding from the other unknown occupants in the room.

Yahiko pressed his hand to her back and squeezed, "We are in a boat… back to Japan."

Kaoru couldn't contain her gasp and she sat up, "What?" she asked in a normal tone of voice with blue eyes centered on his darker ones, "We made it? What happened to Yukishiro? Did he find us?" she asked one question after the other with a small furrow to her eyebrow.

Yahiko shrugged, "He didn't find us… but I'm sure he'll follow…" he said and then trailed off, uncertain about adding certain matters. When his older sister looked at him suspiciously he sighed, "We had…help."

Kaoru sat straight and fisted her hands over her lap, "What do you mean help?" she asked tightly, not really sure what he meant but knowing by sound it was not at all good.

"He means me," a new voice barged in on their conversation.

Kaoru quickly turned to the source of the voice but it was dark and she had to strain her eyes in order to see the shape of a man lying on the bed next to theirs. His silhouette was vague, but they tiny shape of a smaller body next to him made it easy to identify him. And the voice, that voice, "It's you."

He answered with a simple, "It is I."

Kaoru took a deep breath and released it, "Why are you helping us?" It made little sense. They worked for Yukishiro.

The man's eyes shone a tad brighter before he spoke, "You took care of my son," the assassin said evenly, "My feud is with Yukishiro… as seems to be yours."

Kaoru watched the man carefully for a moment before turning back to Yahiko with an uncomfortable expression, "You may be…mistaken. It's true I want nothing to do with Yukishiro… but I don't plan, we, don't plan on fighting him," she told the assassin as her eyes leered her opinion into Yahiko, then she turned to the assassin when her brother looked away, "As for…Kenji… he was in no danger."

The man let go of a strained chuckle, "Of course… children are kidnapped every day just for nothing," he said and he sat on his bed. Kenji didn't even stir.

Kaoru's eyes went back to Yahiko. There was desperation behind her gaze and she shifted uncomfortably, "The boy was in no danger," she repeated, "Yukishiro… he said… he thinks the boy is…his or should have been." When she finished, she finally turned to the man.

His golden gaze shone even more than last time, "The boy is my son," the assassin said tightly.

Kaoru nodded her head, already knowing this, "He said… Kenji's mother is alive…and he has her but no one knows. He's… crazy…he said he was going to take her… even if she didn't want to…," then she turned to Yahiko, "We must go and help her," she declared weakly. She really didn't want to go there… but she feared for this woman. Perhaps this assassin could help her.

"No," Kenshin said tightly, "She… is not there. I found where she is… 'help' must have reached her already." It was a twisted form of the truth but the episode she suffered before didn't really give him much space to be completely honest. Perhaps… once they arrived in Japan she would be more receptive of her memories.

Kaoru's shoulders relaxed and she smiled, "That's good," she said relieved, "Kenji deserves a whole family."

Eerie golden eyes snapped to her and after a minute glanced away, "That he does."

xxoOoxx

When the finally landed in Japan they moved to the house Kenshin and Kaoru used to share. The thought of leaving Kenji with Doctor Gensai crossed Kenshin's mind but he dismissed it. He did not want to endanger the older man and he didn't want to separate from Kenji anymore. He was lucky nothing happened to his son… but he was not about to risk it again.

Kenji was happy to be back and he happily took Kaoru's hand to show her the house. The dark haired woman gave Kenshin a confused look, almost pleading, but he merely laughed and left her to deal with the boy's antics on her own. After all… he didn't plan on letting her leave after this. She was his Kaoru, his wife and the mother of his son. It was a complication that she couldn't remember… but he guessed he could work on that one way or another.

If not… he had already made her fall in love with him once, he could do it again.

"I remember this house," Yahiko muttered softly, "What a fool I was… I thought you had erased her memory and kept her prisoner." The younger, tanned man sighed and his shoulders dropped in misery.

Kenshin said nothing for long moments, only stared at the gardens. "Katsura took mediators out of the company," Kenshin said evenly, "The way their memory can be altered makes them dangerous."

Yahiko smiled a sad smile, "That's good, I guess."

Kenshin nodded and then turned to the young man, "We must prepare… Yukishiro will be coming."

xxoOoxx

In the following week they remained in the same house. Sanosuke was there and to everyone's surprise so was Saitou. The older man's smoking habits were the same but he had also quit the company. Now he lived as a policeman and had decided to lend his help in case things got out of hand. Besides, not even he wanted to have Yukishiro walking around.

The older swordsman was about to light another cigarette when Kaoru smacked his hand, "No more," she growled angrily, "Go outside, Kenji is here and that's not good for his health."

Saitou glared at her but she glared back and he finally left with a huff, and a murmured, "What's the problem with females and smoking?"

Sano burst out laughing from the place where he lay playing Chinese checkers with Kenji, "That old wolf deserves everything you give him Missy," he laughed and after Kenji moved his piece he made his move and then turned back to her, "Plus… I don't like him any."

Kaoru grinned, "Yeah… I know," she said and then a frown appeared on her face, "Though I can't believe how… daring I am when it comes to him. This dislike must not be normal… he's pretty scary too."

Sano looked at her, really looked at her, for a moment before sharing, "That's because you knew him from… before, and you hated him." He kept his eyes on her.

Her eyes widened and her lips parted, "What?" she asked still unable to believe what she was hearing, "I knew… him? Is he someone from my past?" She fisted her hands to keep them from shaking.

Sanosuke nodded and glanced away to check in case Kenshin was close, "Jou-chan… you used to know all of us…" he said softly and then he startled when she started crying, "Jou-chan…"

She closed the distance between themselves and flung her arms around Sanosuke, "I knew there was something about you all!" she sobbed and the younger fighter squeezed her back reassuringly, "You all came back to save me!"

Tears prickled at Sano's eyes too and he let go of a strangled breath, "We did, Jou-chan. Yukishiro is our enemy… we didn't know he had you…we thought you were dead…until Kenji told us there was a Kaoru there."

She sobbed some more then turned and hugged Kenji, almost suffocating him, "Thank you, thank you, Kenji-kun!" she cried and bestowed hundreds of kisses to his mane of red hair.

xxoOoxx

Kaoru awoke with a start in the middle of the night. Her eyes searched about the dark room while her arms hugged Kenji closer to her.

Was it a noise?

She held herself still, trying to discern what had awoken her. Was it a threat? Had someone invaded the house?

Kenshin, Saitou and Sano had left the house the day before… but Yahiko was still there. Could it be Yahiko?

She waited some more minutes… and then she could hear the sound of footsteps…but they were normal. No one was trying to hide. She almost called out to Yahiko when a shadow appeared on the shoji screen.

"Kaoru?" whispered Kenshin's voice.

Kaoru relaxed and untangled herself from Kenji and walked out of the room. When her eyes fell upon him she froze. His eyes were glowing gold and there was no denying the blood thirst hiding behind them. She fisted her hands instinctively and if the shoji wasn't behind her she would have taken a step back. Not only were his eyes eating at her soul but his clothes were stained red, "Ke-Kenshin?"

He smirked and tilted his head to the side, "Come," he said as he extended his left hand towards her.

Kaoru looked at the offered appendage and seeing no blood on it decided to take it. She was led to the porch of the house where Sano stood with crossed arms, looking up to the night sky, Yahiko stood beside him and Saitou was in a corner…smoking, again. "You are all back," Kaoru said with a frown, "Where were you?"

Sanosuke was the one who turned with a happy grin, "Yukishiro is dead," he told her flatly.

Kaoru stiffened for a moment, letting the news sink in. After a moment she turned to Kenshin, "Was it you?" she asked with a disapproving frown. She disliked killing.

Sharp, amber eyes locked with hers, "No," he said blankly, "I defeated him and handed him to Saitou."

Blue eyes flew to Saitou who was expecting her gaze and he stood with arms cross, facing her, and grinning insanely, "I am the justice," he said arrogantly, "and decided he was too dangerous to keep alive."

Kaoru looked at him for a few moments and after realizing she really felt safer like this shrugged, "Whatever," she said and turned to Kenshin, "What about your woman… did you find her?"

Amber eyes flew back to her and studied her carefully for a few moments and then he nodded, "She doesn't remember me… or Kenji. Her memories were erased… she's back with her family… I think it's better this way."

Kaoru opened her mouth to object, but stopped before saying anything and really thought about it. She had been his wife and had mothered him a child… but then she was kidnapped by a crazed Yukishiro… and only Kami knew what had happened to her. Had she gone insane and had forgotten about them or like her she had a chip implanted in her brain? Either way… if she didn't remember… how could they make the memories come back? Forcing them will not work… it would only work to harm her. Besides… if she was happy now… "Maybe… just maybe it's for the best."

Kenshin's eyes stayed on her for long moments, even when it became uncomfortable, until he finally looked away. "This mission is done," he finally said and smiled, "Our family is back together… except Saitou… who was never part of our family."

Saitou 'tsked' from where he was and threw his cigarette to the ground, "Bastard," he cursed with a smirk, "I have my own family. I would never call you family," and then with a non-committal wave of his hand and a salute left the house and walked down the darkened path towards the town.

Kaoru looked at Kenshin disapprovingly, "That wasn't very nice," she admonished softly.

Kenshin chuckled and looked at her with a raised eyebrow, "I think not letting him smoke is crueler," he joked back and when she flushed he chuckled again, "Go back to sleep." He then left to the bathhouse.

Sano looked at them with a grin, "Hey, Jou-chan… you know he's single, right? And his kid is a nice kid, no?" he mocked.

"Shush it!" she growled angrily, "It's not even funny!"

Sano barked out a laugh and ruffled Yahiko's hair, "I'll be going to Kyoto now… and I'll see if I can find Yahiko a job there. Boy needs the distraction."

Yahiko groaned and pushed Sano's hand away, "I am not a boy!"

Kaoru's eyes narrowed. Sano was right… Yahiko… must be feeling restless… but if he left… what would happen to her… what… no. She needed to get back to her feet… she needed to stop depending on him, "Thanks… Sano."

Sano flashed her a knowing and proud smile.

She met his expectations.

xxoOoxx

Many years later— "Kenshin?" she whispered in the dead of the night.

"Hn?" he asked softly, cuddling closer to her, "Are you cold?" he whispered, still cocooned by sleep. He was wearing shorter hair now, it barely reached his neck. Kaoru's was still very long.

"I had…a dream," she told him in a soft voice, "this one was nice."

Kenshin laughed softly and squeezed her. He always demanded she tell him her dreams, so he could tell her if there was truth to them. She did, automatically these days, "What happened?" he asked drowsily.

A small smile came to Kaoru's lips, "I dreamt… that I was your wife…and was Kenji's mother," she told him nostalgically, "but it was not that… I could…feel him, could see him feeding from my breasts…it was a very touching dream."

Kenshin didn't stiffen, already used to such strong emotions as these. He was glad to hear this though…and it warmed his heart a little. "Ah, such a nice dream. Maybe it did happen," he told her softly and kissed her forehead and hair.

Kaoru huffed and kissed his lips, "It really doesn't matter… I love Kenji," she told him softly and squeezed him back, "The same way I love my two daughters."

Kenshin pushed her back a little and kissed her fully to the lips while he settled above her. "I love you, you are Kenji's mother… I've told you this many times," then he kissed her again, "I so love you."

Kaoru giggled and pushed against him, "I love you too," she said and when he moved a little closer she grabbed his red hair and pulled him close to capture his lips.

Kenshin was soon distracted by her and their talking diminished to a minimum. He didn't mind though, she was with him, she loved him again. Her memories were fickle and she mostly recalled bits and pieces during small lapses at night. He didn't mind though. He loved her, her soul… not her memories. He had met her three times during his lifetime and thought she had a different backbone to her, her personality was the same. Her loving, kind and stubborn 'self' remained. That was what he loved the most about her.

They spent each other that night and he secretly hoped his efforts bore fruit nine months later. He would never forget this night… but he wasn't sure she would remember it. If a child was born of this night… he would call the child Nagori… because this was the night she remembered by herself she was Kenji's mother. Even if she would later forget it.

Love was never missing with her. There was no lack of warmth towards him or Kenji and the girls. He had no complaints about her. To him she was perfect.

She was Kaoru. She was his other half.

Finally he could rest, because this time it would be…

…Forever. Until death do them part.

xxoOoxx

Fin

xxoOoxx

[*]The Voice is finally complete[*]

*Nagori, for those who are curious, means: traces; memories; waves remain after the wind subsides

*Thanks to all of you who continued to support this story during all this time. This ending is dedicated to all of you ;] Thanks for everything!

*I also want to thank Kokoronagomu, my awesome beta-reader, for all her support and help with The Voice. Thanks for always being there!

*Until we meet again!