Epilogue

"And so, Battousai the manslayer was finally laid to an eternal rest- where he could finally be at peace. And as for his beloved Kaoru- his dawn in the night- she found her descendants years later and received Kenshin's journals. Kaoru always kept them near her, as a reminder of her love from long ago. And though she misses her dear husband, she knows that one day she will see him again, where he will finally be at peace with himself and they will both be happy. The End." The small girls smiled and clapped their hands in applause. One girl yawned and her eyelids drooped.

"Grandma, she's falling asleep again!" the other whined. The woman smiled and lifted the small girl in her frail arms and carried her to her room. She gently rested the child on her bed and tucked her in, kissing her forehead with her papery lips. She turned to the other little girl and tucked her into bed, kissing her forehead too.

"Grandma?" the girl asked before she could leave.

"Yes?" the woman responded softly in the dim light of the room.

"Is Kaoru real?" the girl asked. A ghost of a smile flitted across the woman's lips.

"Of course she is, dear. Himura Kaoru is as real as you and your sister."

"Where is she?" the girl asked. The woman smiled again and pressed her palm to the little girl's heart.

"Nearby. She is always nearby. Whenever you want to find her, just look in your heart, and you'll find her there. She will always be with you and watching over you." The girl yawned and drifted off to sleep. The old woman turned off the lights to the room and silently shut the door behind her before heading towards her own room. She slipped beneath the crisp, cool, covers of her bed and opened up the side drawer to her bedside cabinet, pulling out yellowed, crinkly parchment paper with beautiful calligraphy scrawled neatly across it. She briefly pressed the page to her chest before placing it back in the drawer and turning off the bedside lamp.

The old woman rested her aged head on the fresh pillow and peacefully closed her eyes, a small sigh escaping her lips. And as her breath brushed past her lips, the woman felt more content than she ever had before.

And when she had exhaled the last of her breath, Kaoru intertwined her fingers with Kenshin's at last and was happy again.