We come to the end of our little story. Thank you to everybody who stayed with this for several months, and endured my inconsistent production rate. Thank you for believing in a sad story, that helped me survive the craziness of my school life.

This is the result of a bad mix of Lovers in Paris (that nice Korean drama I mentioned at the last chapter) and Saiyuki Reload. Be warned that I will give a crazy ride before I give the nice conclusion. Hope you like.

……………………………………..

The winter passed like a long dream. He barely saw the snow fall and the winds blow during the whole season. Days and nights blended into each other. On most days he never noticed the hours pass as he worked on a few odd jobs. He had to work hard, and work well. He would be the one spending for the ceremony.

They had agreed it would be a simple ceremony, with their closest friends and associates. The Akabeko would help them with the wedding reception. She would save and choose her own wedding dress. Nonetheless, by his calculations, it would still take a good sum of money. And the money had to be ready by spring.

It was alright with him. At least it gave him something to think about and to work for, for several months. Thus, he kept himself immersed and busy in the long, happy dream. He was afraid that if he stop long enough to think about it, that he would wake up, and find out that it was all, just a dream.

He still could not believe that she said yes, that afternoon on the bridge. It was not a dramatic, even romantic, yes. Just a simple yes. That was all. But it was enough. He did not even jump up or shout or kiss her, or any of those romantic things people do. He just looked at her for a very long time, wondering if he had heard right, checking her face if she was joking. Then he smiled, and said thank you. Then he took up her hand, and they walked home. That was all. But it was enough.

Occasionally he wondered during that winter, if she still harbored any resentment from that trying summer and autumn. Or, if she regretted accepting his proposal. But she never talked about that time, not did she avoid it if he opened it up.

"It's the past. We both made mistakes. I've forgiven you. I'm just glad you're still here with me." That was all she said.

So his mind was at ease for most of the winter.

But roughly a week before the big day, the happy dream dissolved, and it was replaced by a terrible one.

He found himself walking, walking, walking, in a straight line, in a field white with snow. The cold winds blew across his face, and he shivered under his simple clothes.

Just a little beyond him, he saw her. "I've been waiting for you!" she called out. "Come on, let's go home!"

He walked just a little faster, nearer to her. Her hand was stretched out to him, and he held out his hand to her.

But as their hands were about to meet, a dark figure swooped over and pulled her back, kicking and screaming. It was a tall figure, and cloaked. It laughed in a cackling voice from beyond the grave, and muffled her screams.

"Let her go," he warned the figure.

"She will never be yours," it answered.

"I said, let her go!" he shouted, and drew out his sword.

"She will never be truly yours!" it laughed and cackled, as its hostage shouted his name.

"This is your final warning!" he placed his sword before him in battle stance, and charged.

But the figure was quick, and avoided all attacks. Meanwhile her shouts and screams kept him on his toes, desperately seeking an opening.

He finally stopped in mid-attack. He jumped up and soared, and brought his sword down in a powerful strike.

But the ghostly figure swung around, and the sword connected not with it, but its hostage, before he could change direction.

There was no scream. There was no sound. There was even no blood. Just a kimono in the snow. A loud cackle filled his ears from all directions, carried by the winds and confused by the snow. She will never be yours. She will never be truly yours!

He sat up in bed. He felt his hair, damp with sweat, and his face, cold and clammy. And he stayed awake for the rest of the night.

He managed to live through the rest of the day without any problems. But when the cackling voice and the terrible dream returned that next evening, he frantically ran to her bedroom and slid the door wide open. He saw her, perfectly fine and sound asleep, and sighed deeply with relief.

She shivered and looked up at him. "Kenshin! You look awful! What happened?"

He panted and caught his breath. "Nothing, nothing. I am glad you are alright." He closed the door and walked back to his room. But he did not sleep again. The dream seemed too true. He was afraid that if he went back there, it would indeed come true, and she would be taken from him for good.

He came for breakfast the next day, sat down, and gave Kaoru a glad smile. She was fine. She was still around…………..She was alright…………….I could finally close my eyes, knowing she is fine…………..

He only knew he had dozed off when he heard Yahiko above him. "Kenshin? It's 8 in the morning! Why are you still here? Don't you have work?"

He looked at the table, and saw a bento box with a cloth and a note above it. You looked so exhausted I let you sleep. Don't forget to eat before you go to work. I had to leave before you, I'm sorry. Kaoru.

When the third and fourth night came, and he was still haunted by the cackling voice, his body could no longer cope. During the day he worked hard, helping a storekeeper move into a new warehouse. But because of two nights without sleep after such intensive work, he dropped boxes and tripped at least once an hour.

"I think you better go home and rest, Himura," the storekeeper told him a little before lunch. "I'll still pay you for the day. Go on. I don't want you sick on your wedding day."

He thanked his employer, and slowly, dizzily, made his way home.

He kept walking, walking, walking, in a straight line. Spring was still coming, and the street he walked in still had patches of white. A cold breeze blew across his face, and made him shiver.

Just a little beyond him, he saw her. "I've been waiting for you!" she called out. "Come on, let's go home!"

This was not happening, he kept telling himself. This was too much like his terrible dream. Surely it was not coming true!

But a dark, tall, cloaked figure appeared behind her, and covered her face. She kicked behind her, and squirmed to free herself.

Even if his nightmare was coming to life, he had to do something to protect her. "Let…………Let her go…….." he said, shaking in his sandals, his right hand reaching for his sword.

"Say what?" the dark figure called out.

He forced himself to be more threatening. "I said, let her go!" His right hand was shaking as he drew out his sword.

"Why should I? She isn't yours, not yet!" the figure taunted.

He placed his sword in front of him, in battle stance. "This is my final warning," he said, and stepped forward, his sword swaying up and down. "L……l….let her go."

"You're serious!" the figure exclaimed. "That can't be!"

"Kenshin, no!" Kaoru called out to him.

"Release her, now!" He zipped in the snow, moved behind the dark figure, and aimed the sword at the back of its neck.

"Alright, alright! I surrender! You can have the jo-chan!" Kenshin now saw that it was a human being, and a man, who raised his arms, and placed his hands over his head. "Jo-chan, did I really change that much?" the man addressed Kaoru. "How come he doesn't recognize me?"

Kaoru faced him and shook him hard. "Are you out of your mind?! You just pointed a sword at Sanosuke!"

Kenshin looked at the grinning man called Sanosuke from head to food. Aside from the change of clothes and a stubbly beard, it was indeed he. The surroundings around him spun furiously, he found it hard to keep standing. Kaoru had to catch him from behind and stop him from falling backward. He leaned on her, as they walked home.

He was not sure if he was still reliving the dream or he was wide awake, or something in between. He was still very tired, and very dizzy. He soon found himself staring at the ceiling.

"Hey, pal," his friend greeted from above him, "you alright?"

"No," he admitted, and groaned as Sanosuke's face refused to stay in one place.

Kaoru's face also appeared overhead, as she placed a cool cloth on his forehead. "You're working too hard, silly boy! I don't need a banquet, you know!"

He sighed. "Days like this, I wish I still had those tablets………….."

"Not. A. Chance. Himura-san." She clenched her teeth and frowned at him.

He smiled back weakly. "I knew you would say that."

She stood up with resolution and tapped Sanosuke. "We'll leave him to rest for now. I'll bring over some soup later."

He looked at the ceiling as they left.

But as he looked as the ceiling, the cackling voice rang again. She will never be truly yours. Never. She will never be yours. The wooden ceiling was slowly replaced by a dark winter sky, as snow fell over his face. The dark figure hovered over him, and it held her at the waist and at the mouth. You are not worthy of her, it shouted to him. You will never be, even if you try. She will never be yours. The figure constricted the woman it held, and the woman disintegrated, with fragments falling to the snowy ground, all while he looked, dumbfounded.

"No!" He screamed out, and he was back in his bedroom again in the still spring night. He looked around, and found an untouched bowl of soup near his futon. From her, he remembered gratefully. But the images of the disintegrated fragments were falling, falling, into the bowl, and turned it black. He sat down, covered his eyes and ears, and curled into a little ball.

A short rap at the door, then it slid open. Kaoru smiled at him in her bedclothes, a futon and a blanket around her arms. "Will it help if I stay here tonight?"

He was still too rattled to think straight, so he simply nodded.

"Of course," she added, as she lay out her futon beside him, "you have to promise not to do anything stupid."

"Oro!" Perish the thought!

"Good." She settled into bed, turned her back to him, and threw the blanket over herself. "Good night."

" 'Night," he said, but his eyes moved from the ceiling to her back, and from her back to the ceiling.

"Go to sleep, Kenshin," she scolded delicately without facing him.

"Yes," he muttered back.

He shut his eyes, but the snow and the wind filled his eyes again.

He saw her ponytail blowing in the wind. A large deep expanse lay beyond her. He was not sure, from where he stood, how sure her footing was. But the cackling voice still kept ringing in his ears. She will never be truly yours! She will never be truly yours!

"What are you afraid of, dearest?" She asked from a short distance beyond him, just a little beyond his grasp.

"I don't want to lose you again, Kaoru!" He shouted to the wind. He could barely see her, the snow and the wind stinging his eyes.

"No, you won't!" she said, and stretched out both hands. "Come on!"

He trudged on toward her, ever closer, her voice shouting for him to hurry. "I believe in you!" she prodded. He got to her, held her hands, kept her close. "See? I knew you can do it! Let's get away from here!" she said.

But as he pulled her up, the ground beneath her gave way, and fell into the deep darkness beyond them. She shouted his name, as he held on to her arms. But the snow had made their hands slippery, and he knew he was slowly losing his grasp. He kept shouting instructions and plans to her, but none were working, and still she was slipping.

"Go on and save yourself!" she pleaded.

"I will not lose you!" he shouted back.

She gave a final smile. "I love you and I believe in you."

A strong wind pulled her down, slipped her off his grip, and she fell, without a scream. The only scream he heard was his own.

The cackling voice only grew louder as it was carried by the wind. She will never be yours!

He woke up again, panting and heaving, and sighed as he looked beside him. She was still there. But he did not want to go back and see her fall off a cliff again in his dreams. He stared at the ceiling again.

"Kenshin," she mumbled beside him, "why are you still awake?"

"I do not want to go back there," he whimpered. "It's dark, and cold………"

She groaned,and turned to him. "You know, you sound like a big baby," she said in sleepy mock annoyance. "A big, redhaired baby, asking for a hug." She grinned,and ruffled his hair. "It's okay, mommy is here. Now go to sleep." And she turned her back on him again.

He did not want to lose her, in dreams or in reality. He took her at her word.

He placed one arm over her waist, and leaned his head on her shoulder. She did not resist, she did not pull away. He held her gently, but firmly, concerned about her, but unwilling to let her go. He allowed a few tears to drop and fall onto the futon.

Slowly the wind began to blow around him, and the snow surround him. He shivered as the cold penetrated him. He held on to her still tighter, and prayed.

After all the things I have put her through, she still chooses to stay with me. Despite what I am, she still chooses to accept me. I have hurt her, and still she heals me. Please, let me stay with her. Do not take her from me. Let me be with her. Let me protect her. Please.

He did not know to whom exactly he directed his prayer. Maybe to everything that threatened to take her. His fears. His enemies. His past. He pleaded with them all. He had a longer time to know her, and a longer time to love her. He wanted to spend the rest of his life with her. Desperately.

She is mine. She is truly mine.

The winds stopped blowing.

Do you hear? She is truly mine! Please let her be mine!

The snow stopped falling. He stopped shivering. Gradually the white snow disappeared, the darkness turned into a warm glow. He was back in his room, his arm around her, her warmth filling him.

He breathed his thanks, as he finally drifted off to dreamless sleep.

Morning came all too quickly soon after. She was squirming and trying to free herself from his arms. He got scared, and pulled her back. "Do not leave me yet," he begged with eyes shut.

"But I have to cook breakfast!" she protested, but with a laughing ring to her voice.

He did not answer, but hugged her closer.

"Oh, dear," she sighed, and snuggled. "Alright, but just one more hour. Such a big redhaired baby……." She stroked his hand. "Really, what would my father have said to my marrying someone like you?"

"He would say you are crazy," he whispered to her.

"Maybe," she answered. "But if he knew you, I don't think he'd say that."

He cuddled a bit more. "Thank you, Kaoru-dono."

"Don't mention," she said. "I liked it, too. You're nice and warm. And you're not the only one scared of the dark, my silly wanderer."

Despite the taunts by the other two men in the dojo, she came over to sleep beside him that evening, as well as the next, and the next. She let him embrace her from behind for the night. That was all he allowed himself to do, for now. There would be a time and place for other things. But right now, he only needed to feel, with his heart and his body, that she was there. That she would always be there.

The evening before the wedding, both exhausted from the final preparations, she placed her futon and blanket beside him as before. But this time, she lay down, and faced him.

"From now on, this is how it shall be. I will always be with you here."

He nodded, and held her hand.

The days of nightmares are over.

……………………………………

Even on that special day, he dressed quickly, as he always did.

"You know, old friend – and you ARE getting old," Sanosuke chided, "you should've let me help you out with these things. The dressing and stuff."

He finished the high knot of his ponytail. "Thank you for the offer, but if I did not do this myself I would get even more nervous, yes?"

"Yeah, I can see that," Sanosuke said, already dressed in a rented Western suit. "You're being more polite than ever!"

He smiled. "Thank you for coming to the wedding. I wish you could have come earlier." Much earlier, like 5 months earlier, he added to himself. Then maybe Kaoru could have been spared some of the pain I put her through.

"Just lucky," his friend answered. "Heard from a friend of a friend. Fortunately I wasn't far from Tokyo when I heard. Hey, I wouldn't miss this kind of thing for the world!"

From the way he was talking to him, evidently Kaoru had not told him anything about the last few months. Sanosuke would have given him a solid punch if he had. But surely…..

"Sano, what did Kaoru-dono tell you about us here, while you were gone?" He had to know.

The tall young man frowned. "If you're asking if jo-chan told me about how dazed you were for a whole summer, then yeah, she told me. Even if she didn't, Yahiko gave me an earful of it the other day." He stood beside Kenshin with his full height, and looked down on him. "Do you realize how CLOSE you were to getting yourself killed?! There were people I know that aren't alive anymore because of those things! And you did that because you worried about her? Are you nuts?"

"Probably," he mumbled.

"You're getting married to that jo-chan today," Sanosuke grabbed him by the front of his kimono. "Promise me you will not make her cry about you again, understand?"

"Of course, Sano," he said, rather flustered.

Only then did Sanosuke release his kimono and push him away. "That's settled. Remember, if I hear that you made her cry, I will pommel you to the ground the next time I come here. Now go on and fix that messy hair of yours. I'll see ya later." He then shut the paper door behind him.

Kenshin was soon as ready as he could be, dressed in a dark kimono and hakama, his hair tied high on his head. He ran into Yahiko, and the boy just gawked at him. "Never thought you could look that good," the boy tsked.

But he went straight on and passed Yahiko. He was getting terribly curious about what his bride looked like. He knew he was not supposed to, at least before the actual ceremony, but he could not help himself. He walked to where he heard female giggling and chattering, in Kaoru's bedroom.

He just wanted to take a peek before the ceremony, he convinced himself. No harm in doing that, surely. So he placed himself alongside the door, and slowly opened it just a crack.

Then someone slid the door fully open, and in he tumbled onto her bedroom floor. The ladies laughed heartily for a while, then all stopped, and stared at him.

"Something wrong with my hair, ladies?" he asked as he stood up.

"Oh, no, nothing wrong," Tae answered for them. "It's just that………….we've never seen you look like that………….." She then waved her hand before her face, to brush aside the ogling stares. "Oh, yes. She's all done. Look all you want."

He could hardly recognize the woman that slept beside him last night. She was dressed in a kimono white as snow, with fine cherry blossoms sewn near the hems and sleeves. Her hair was raised and kept in place by golden pins and small white flowers. The white powder was just enough to accent her smooth cheeks and soften her strong face. The rouge on her cheeks brightened her smile. He knew that most women, when dressed and painted for special occasions, looked like dolls. Kaoru did not look like a doll at all. She looked like an angel, descended on earth, to bless him. He almost bowed before the angel. He was not worthy to be in her presence.

"From the look on his face, I'd say we did a good job," Tae nodded approval, "right, girls?" The girls all nodded in unison.

He could not believe it. This beautiful woman was to be his wife. She was truly his. He had no words for it.

He let his actions speak louder. He offered his hand to her, then the other, as he helped her to stand. He took her by one arm, and walked with her to just outside the main hall of the dojo.

The whispered mumblings just beyond the door told him that everyone was already assembled for the ceremony. They were only waiting for them.

He slowly moved his stare from the closed wooden door, to her blushing face. A few seconds later, she was looking back at him.

"Kaoru."

"Yes?"

"Are you sure we are doing the right thing?"

She smiled. "No."

He actually was relieved that she said that. "I am afraid. For the future, for the present, for us………"

"Yeah, so am I," she answered. "But let's not worry anymore about the fears that aren't ours right now."

Kaoru, being the Kaoru he loved, yet again. She was afraid, but she boldly moved on.

"And from now on," she held his shaking hand, "we'll do it together. We'll face our fears together."

He squeezed her hand, faced forward, and held his head high with a confident smile.

"You and me…………together."

……fin…….

……………………………………

Whew! I'm done! This final chapter kept me sane while answering a long assignment that we have to pass next week.

Thank you to everybody who reviewed, both one-timers and regulars, both the "Please update!" people and the tough critics. You reminded me of this story when I most needed it, and gave me the incentive to finish. You all make me a better writer. I hope to see you all in a story I have brewing, which I hope to release by January or February.

A happy new year to all, may it be a better one for all of us.

EK out.