(Kaoru’s perspective)

Kaoru ran past Yahiko and ignored his protests. She had to find Kenshin, before it was too late. Not knowing where to begin, Kaoru ran for the street they had all taken to the Akabeko earlier that day. Kenshin had promised to come watch the fireflies with she Ayame, and Suzume, so just maybe…

Kaoru knew she was near the spot before she even could see it. Fireflies flew wildly through the air, giving the area a sort of eerie otherworldly light. With a fist clenched tightly over her heart, Kaoru scanned the dirt road before her, her eyes narrowing against the dark. However, the shape of no man penetrated the darkness, only the small circles of light created by the fireflies. Sighing in both resignation and panic, she looked to the ground, holding her left wrist in her right hand. He left, she thought in panicky disbelief, he left us without saying good-

“They’re beautiful fireflies, aren’t they?” Kenshin’s voice pressed in from the darkness and Kaoru’s head snapped up, revealing a smile of pure joy and dancing blue eyes.

“Kenshin!” She watched as Kenshin emerged from the black night, willing herself to breath normally. However, her smile faltered when she could finally see Kenshin’s face clearly. He looked strained, but he masked it with a well-placed smile. He stopped a few paces away from her.

“Kenshin…?” she tilted her head slightly, apprehension crashing back over her like a powerful wave, nearly knocking her to the ground. Kenshin continued to look at her, his own smile, most of the time so reassuring, was only making the knot on her stomach tighten. Kaoru felt like she could vomit.

“Lord Okubo was assassinated today.” He said quietly. Kaoru looked down to the ground, unable to look into Kenshin’s dimly shining eyes lest she would break down in tears of frustration. He couldn’t be coming to say goodbye, could he? He wasn’t actually going to leave, was he?

“I know. I heard the news.”

“Shishio was behind it all.” Kaoru looked up as her eyes widened in shock. Kenshin was no longer smiling and his voice had taken on an aggressive tone. “One of his men did it. I can’t just stand by and allow Shishio to continue doing this.” Kenshin paused and his face softened as Kaoru’s own face began to twist in anxiety. “I will be going to Kyoto.”

Kaoru sidestepped away from Kenshin and hung her head, wringing her hands nervously. No, this isn’t happening, it can’t be! I don’t want to be alone again!

“Kyoto… Does that mean you’ll be going back to the man you were ten years ago?”

She looked up at Kenshin with despair shining in her eyes. Kenshin’s own eyes mirrored her inner feelings and he raised a hand as if to comfort her but then stopped it and lowered it, twitching, back to his side.

“I don’t know yet. For 10 years, I’ve forbidden myself from becoming that man again; always staying in control. However, my battle with Saito earlier taught me something very clearly. It showed me that deep within myself, there’s an angry manslayer who’ll never be able to change his ways.”

Kaoru shook her head in angry protest, “but Kenshin, you were always able to go back to normal again! No matter how close you got to being the Battousai, you’ll always be the person you really are, a wanderer who doesn’t kill.”

Kenshin didn’t move and he stared out in the field, alight with hundreds of fireflies. “If I stay here any longer, every incident that I become involved with will endanger you all and I’ll get closer to being the Battousai each time.” He slowly turned to Kaoru and smiled kindly, but his eyes were glazed, as if remembering something. “When I first met you, I remember you telling me miss Kaoru how you felt my past wasn’t really all that important.” His eyes narrowed gently as Kaoru’s own eyes grew. Oh gods! Kaoru thought, bowing her head, he’s leaving. He’s really leaving! She bit her trembling lip, fighting back the tears that she knew would inevitably spill from her eyes.

“I was happy you said that,” Kenshin continued, looking down at Kaoru. “My soul was refreshed day after day and I truly felt that I could become a normal swordsman, I truly did.”

Kenshin suddenly lifted his hands from his side and wrapped them around Kaoru. Pulling her in, he rested his head on her shoulder. Kaoru too surprised by the action, allowed herself to melt into his arms.

“Thank you for everything,” Kenshin spoke quietly into her ear, and she could feel him looking past her shoulder. “I’m a wanderer Miss Kaoru, and it’s time to wander again. Farewell.”

A lone tear escaped Kaoru’s eye and slid silently down her cheek. Kenshin held her for a moment longer, and she began to sob into his arms. No, she protested silently, you can’t leave me! Kenshin! She suddenly found herself on the ground and watching Kenshin retreat into the darkness. She wanted to get up and follow him, but she couldn’t move; she was paralyzed. Helplessly, she watched him disappear and she folded over. Holding her head in her hands, she closed her eyes against the pain and shock of Kenshin’s final words: I’m a wanderer Miss Kaoru, and it’s time to wander again. Farwell.

“Kenshin… Kenshin…”

(Kenshin’s perspective)

Kenshin walked the streets toward the Kamiya dojo in silence, his mind racing, fearing what he would have to tell the most important person in his life. He clenched his hand around the hilt of his sakabatou and cursed under his breath. Shishio would cause much more pain than he even realized.

The first thing he saw were the fireflies, and he cringed when he remembered the promise he made to Ayame and Suzume. He didn’t even want to think of how those two would react when the discovered he was gone. But the person he was most worried about was Miss Kaoru, and in fact, he was appalled by how much it pained him to think of leaving her behind.

He knew that Miss Kaoru needed him, for she was very lonely and had grown very attached to him, but he too realized now that he needed her. Her vibrant innocent spirit and generous nature had made him discover that his years as the Battousai had not all gone to waste. And not only that, but he had feelings for her that he couldn’t even begin to put in words.

Kenshin suddenly paused when he heard light footsteps approaching. Ducking into the shadows, he waited, and he let out a strangled gasp of sorrow when Kaoru appeared. The girl was looking around anxiously, obviously hoping to find Kenshin here. Closing a fist above her chest, she turned slowly back towards the dojo and bowed her head. Kenshin fought the powerful urge to go and hug her tightly, to relieve her of all her worries, and stepped forward out of the darkness.

“They’re beautiful fireflies, aren’t they?” Kenshin spoke casually and hid his discontent with a smile.

“Kenshin!” Kaoru cried, turning around, her face alight with joy and relief. It pained Kenshin to realize that that face, the one face he desired to see joyful more than anything else in the entire world, would soon be twisted with pain and grief all because of him.

“Kenshin…” Kaoru hesitated and tilted her head questioningly. Kenshin did not let his smile falter, but he saw as anxiety creep back and cover the light of joy in her eyes. He hated this; he was going to be responsible for causing Kaoru misery.

“Lord Okubo was assassinated today,” he began quietly. Kaoru broke eye contact and looked at her feet. He felt like he could almost see her mind working around this news, trying to decipher what was coming.

“I know, I heard the news,” she said slowly. Kenshin knew automatically that she suspected he was leaving her. He fought to keep his face neutral. Oh gods! Kaoru I am so sorry! Damn Shishio for doing this to us. Damn Shishio…

“Shishio was behind it all,” the aggression in his voice surprised even him, but he hated Shishio with every fiber of his being. “One of his men did it. I can’t just stand by and allow Shishio to continue doing this.” Kenshin paused and watched Kaoru for a moment while his face softened. As his words sank in, her eyes grew wider and wider, realizing a lonesome future loomed before her. “I will be going to Kyoto.”

Kenshin watched as Kaoru stepped away from him, shaking her head slightly in disbelief. She wrung her hands nervously and Kenshin chewed his inner lip, fighting back the prime instincts he assumed the moment he set eyes on Kaoru. His heart cried out to her, wanting to ease her pain, wanting to make everything right for her; as it should for someone so kind, beautiful, and innocent.

“Kyoto…Does that mean you’ll go back to being the man you were ten years ago?”

Kenshin almost smiled. She’s worried more about me than herself. But his smile did not last long. He looked skyward, into the stars.

“I don’t know yet,” he answered truthfully. He had no idea what would happen on his return to Kyoto, a place he had had no intention to go back to. Ever. “For 10 years, I’ve forbidden myself from becoming that man again; always staying in control. However, my battle with Saito earlier taught me something very clearly. It showed me that deep within myself, there’s an angry manslayer who’ll never be able to change his ways.”

Kaoru shook her head, whether from anger or sheer disbelief, Kenshin did not know. She glared and Kenshin with her fists balled, tears shining in her eyes.

“But Kenshin, you were always able to go back to normal again! No matter how close you got to being the Battousai, you’ll always be the person you really are, a wanderer who doesn’t kill.”

Kenshin stood still for a moment and looked out into the field of fireflies. Who was he really? Was he the Hitokiri Battousai or was he actually Kenshin Himura, the wandering samurai? In all actuality, he was raised as a deadly assassin, asked to kill for the sake of his country in his teenage years. He killed without remorse or guilt, fighting for his own beliefs with his sword. But what did that do for him? He ended up killing his beloved Tomoe!

After that, he became the wanderer. He swore in oath to never kill again, and his sakabatou was his proof of this. He would protect the innocent, such as Miss Kaoru, and rid the world of as much as he could of evilness and corruption.

But who am I really? He asked himself as he watched the fireflies, unable to look at Kaoru. Am I the manslayer I was raised to be, or am I the wanderer I choose to be?

Nonetheless, there was on fact he could not deny. Because of his past life, he put anyone around him in harms way. He knew this the moment he left the army, which is why he became a wanderer instead of settling down somewhere. It’s best this way, he told himself, I have to leave her behind for her own sake. She’s in enough danger with me just living with her. I can’t possibly take her to Kyoto, where Shishio would almost definitely take advantage of her as my weakness. I have to leave, not only to fight Shishio, but to protect her as well.

“If I stay here any longer, every incident that I become involved with will endanger you all, and I’ll get closer to being the Battousai each time.” He turned slowly to Miss Kaoru, who was now by his side. He smiled at her as old memories began to surface in his mind. The first time he met Kaoru, saving Yahiko from the Yakuza, fighting Sanosuke, rescuing Megumi from Kanryuu Takaida, the last party Sanosuke had for them…

“When I first met you, I remember you telling me, Miss Kaoru, how you thought my past wasn’t really all that important.” He narrowed his eyes gently as he watched Kaoru’s eyes cloud over pensively. She bit her trembling lip and looked to the ground. Oh please don’t cry, Miss Kaoru! Kenshin pleaded silently. “I was glad you said that. My soul was refreshed day after day, and I truly felt that I could become a normal swordsman, I truly did.”

At last he gave into his feelings and suddenly wrapped his arms around the girl. She resisted at first out of shock, but he then felt her melt into his arms. It felt so right for her to be there. He ground his teeth to fight back his own emotions and spoke into her ear softly.

“Thank you for everything.” He raised his eyes to look down the path toward the Kamiya Dojo, knowing that he may never see that place again. He wanted to go and bid everyone else, Sanosuke, Megumi, Yahiko, Dr. Gensai and his grandchildren, farewell, but he knew that if he went there, he would not be able to leave. It would take every ounce of willpower he had just to leave Kaoru standing here by herself.

I’m a wanderer, Miss Kaoru, and it’s time to wander again. Farewell.”

He held her for a moment, and could feel her body shake in silent sobs. He closed his eyes against the pain building within him and released her. He began to walk slowly away, not even daring to turn back. He heard a small thump as Kaoru fell to the earth. He kept his eyes forward, and his footsteps never faltered, but it took everything out of him to take those steps.

“Kenshin… Kenshin…” Kaoru’s wailing sobs assaulted his ears, and he bit his lip until they faded into the darkness behind him. As he left all that he knew and loved behind, tears began to fall unchecked from his bright violet eyes.