Don't own it. Enjoy.

Kenshin looked at the young girl with hair the color of gold, eyes as blue as the ocean, and a dress made of blue material. The girl looked to be no more than twelve or thirteen. She appeared in the next life just a few months ago, and he watched her every day in curiosity. His purple eyes always filled with sadness when he spotted her. He hated to see young children here in the Afterlife, no matter if they came from his homeland or some other country.

The girl was smiling gently at a multicolored butterfly that flew around her head. She raised her finger up, and her eyes widened in delight as the butterfly landed. She marveled at the multicolored wings, then watched in slight disappointment as the butterfly flew away.

The girl slowly stood up and followed the butterfly at a fast pace through some lovely cherry trees. She gasped as she went through the beautiful forest, and she slowed slightly as she drank in her surroundings. She gently plucked a flower from a nearby branch and sniffed it, her eyes fluttering shut in bliss. She sank down at the foot of the tree, and sighed in contentment. This was a beautiful place…even though she was dead.

Kenshin slowly approached the young girl. She looked a little lonely, so he thought he should probably say hello. The girl's eyes widened a bit when she spotted him. A smile slowly spread across her face, and she waved to him in greeting. He gave her his famous Rurouni smile from when he was alive and slowly sat down before her. His smile instantly fell off his face as he looked closer at her dress.

Blood.

A part of her dress was covered in blood.

He instantly felt sick as he continued to look. Blood was what marked him as a hitokiri when he was a Battousai during the Revolution. Why? Why were there reminders of those days even here?

The girl looked at him in concern, then slowly turned her gaze to where he was looking. She paled slightly herself as she looked at the wound that brought her here, then looked to the man in concern.

"Are you alright, sir?" Kenshin tore his gaze from her dress and looked into the girl's blue eyes, "Y-yes. I am okay, that I am." The girl giggled at the way he talked, then put on a guilty face. "I am sorry. I shouldn't have laughed."

"Oh no. I don't mind if you laugh that I don't. I love hearing children laugh." The girl smiled shyly. Kenshin held out his hand, "I'm Kenshin." The girl placed her delicate, pale hand in his.

"I'm Maria. Maria Robotnik." Kenshin nodded, smiling gently at the young girl. His eyes kept on coming back to the blood stain on her dress.

Maria sighed, eyes filled with sadness. "I got shot." Kenshin looked at her face, guilt in his violet eyes. He opened his mouth to apologize, but her haunted eyes stopped him. "I lived up in space with my grandfather, Professor Gerald Robotnik. I had a disease that prevented me from going to Earth. My grandfather made me a cure that was also my friend. His name was Shadow the Hedgehog."

The girl sniffled sadly as she recalled the friend she left behind, and Kenshin felt anguish for her. He placed a hand on her back to comfort her as she trembled slightly from sadness.

"One day, the government found out about the Space Colony we lived in, and ordered his men to destroy everything up there. That included my friend, Shadow. He tried to help me escape, but the men had us cornered. I put him into a capsule to help him escape, but before I could pull the lever, one of the men lifted his gun and…"

A loud sob escaped the girl but she took a deep breath and continued.

"With my remaining strength, I pulled the lever so Shadow could get away. After that, everything turned black, and I ended up here." Maria finally couldn't take it anymore. She sobbed into her hands. She cried and cried, until she felt something soft against her face.

She opened her eyes and saw red cloth. Slowly she looked up at the gentle violet eyes of the Rurouni. A few tears were going down his cheeks as well. "You shouldn't cry that you shouldn't. You're safe now. Everything will be alright, that it will." He pulled her closer, and she pressed her face against his chest, wrapping her arms around him.

"My death was not as dramatic as yours were. I was trying to right the wrongs of all my sins that I was. I caught a sickness, and I slowly became sicker and sicker. The only thing that kept me going was my wife, Kaoru. The moment I fell into her arms, I knew it was okay to die, as long as I was with her."

Maria sniffled softly, wiping her tears. "That's sounds pretty. You had someone you love with you. I can't believe my death was more tragic than that." Kenshin smiled, "You were really brave."

Maria smiled sadly, tears falling down her cheeks. "Thank you Kenshin." The two sat there hugging each other, letting both their deaths go.

"Do you want to meet my wife and our son? You could also meet our friends, Sano and Yahiko?" Maria smiled.

"I would like that a lot, Kenshin." The young girl and the red-haired swordsman slowly walked away hand in hand, laughing with tales of Kenshin's family.