Disclaimer: Rurouni Kenshin is not mine but Nobuhiro Watsuki's. I'm only borrowing. Author's notes: I want to thank all those who reviewed for their comments. I really appreciate all the generous encouragement and critiques. You guys keep me going. :O) Chapter Two: By the Light of the Moon... Meiji Year 17, 1884 The moon was a perfect circle, warm and white, a pearl to the dark blue velvet of the sky around her. There really was no need for the streetlamps with their still flames encased in glass. On nights like these, the moon's light was enough to show a man his way. 'So it was that I once walked this path, by the light of the moon,' Himura Kenshin mused as he made his way down the quiet street. He exerted no effort to remain hidden, moving only with the extraordinary grace and silence that was natural to his body after years of rigorous training and assignments in the field. Yet the shadows seemed to remember, reaching out to embrace him and he shivered slightly as he recalled the cold solitude that they had given him years before. Kenshin could not help wondering if they sensed the emotions that surged and fell within his breast, if perhaps the darkness without sensed the darkness within. His head was clear; he knew for what purpose he had come. "But how I wish it could be different," he whispered, agony and tenderness lacing his voice. "And yet, there might be no better way." He came to a halt outside a small but elegant house. The lights were out and like the rest of the residence, it seemed that the owner was asleep as well. A chill wind whipped his hair across his cheek, caressing the crossed scars that had almost faded. They had started healing after he had found his answers. "What about you, Enishi?" Kenshin asked softly as he peered intently at the bedroom window above. Then his ears caught the sound of movement. Footsteps, almost inaudible, made their way down a flight of steps before they halted just before the shoji. After a few moments, the door was finally pulled open and Enishi stepped out. Two men stood apart from each other across the breadth of a street, regarding each other with open wariness. The wind tore itself into a frenzy and beneath the light of the moon, they shone like fire and snow. Amethyst eyes met turquoise ones and in that moment, understanding passed between them. Silently Enishi went back inside the house but left the door open, indicating that Kenshin could come inside. It felt terribly surreal, as though he were watching himself from a distance, removing his sandals, shutting the door behind him, entering the tiny hall where Enishi had lit a lamp and was now waiting. Six years ago they had faced each other on a beach, battling it out for everything that they had ever believed in. To this day Kenshin sincerely believed that if not for Heishin's interference and Kaoru, Enishi might not have given up until he had killed him or vice versa. And since he had taken a vow not to kill... ... "What do you want?" The question brought Kenshin back down to earth. Beneath the icy polite tones there lay a wealth of old antagonism, resentment, uneasiness. But surprisingly, no hate. There was none of the menacing hatred that Misao had felt radiating so strongly, so purposefully from Enishi. "I had to come and see you," Kenshin replied truthfully. Enishi's eyes narrowed. Clearly he suspected something was afoot and he was right to think so. 'Although what I have in mind is quite beyond anything you anticipate,' Kenshin thought. "How have you been?" Perplexed, Enishi folded his arms and stared down at the diminutive man whose presence was more disturbing than anything else he had ever experienced in the past six years. When Battousai had appeared on his doorstep, Enishi had already been standing by the window, hidden in the shadows, waiting. The finely honed sixth sense that every good fighter possessed had warned him of a strange presence approaching and he had suspected it might have been an old enemy from the past or a former acquaintance that had managed to trace him. Never had he imagined that it would be Himura Kenshin, the man who had killed his sister, the man whom Enishi had wronged in more ways than he cared to remember. Initially he had been quite badly startled, wondering if the reason why Battousai was here had anything to do with Kaoru. 'But it's been too long. It cannot be about that.' And then knowing eyes had pierced the shadows around him and Enishi knew that Battousai was aware that he was there, awake and watching. Almost against his will he had opened his door and allowed Battousai inside, into his life once more even if it was only for a brief interlude. "I'm fine," he said shortly, tampering the sharp edge to his voice. He still didn't like the man, and facts were facts. Battousai Himura had killed Tomoe. But he had not murdered her. It had been a mistake that both of them had suffered terribly for. During the two years that he had languished in Rakuminmura, Enishi had gone over the past with a fine toothcomb, recalling and re-examining every single event that had taken place in connection with his sister and Battousai. ......................... "Enishi . . . then you're the . . ." The spoon clattered to the ground and his sister collapsed in shock. "You didn't know? That's funny. They said they'd already told you all about it." "Go back Enishi. Go back to Edo..." ........................... At that time he couldn't understand the horror in her eyes. He had been too happy then and too childish to notice the vital importance of that tiny little lie that they had told him. But after years of harsh survival, of clawing his way up in the world of the Chinese Triads, Enishi realised just how much difference one tiny little lie could make. He had been lied to and made use of. If Battousai was guilty of cutting Tomoe down, he was just as guilty for delivering that note that sent Battousai to the forest to look for her. He had been an unwitting pawn in a series of events that had ended in his own sister's death. It had been a damning, bitter realisation for him. "This isn't a social visit Battousai, what do you want?" "For you to come to Tokyo. In about a year's time." "What?!" The word broke from his lips, harsh and clearly filled with tension. Pressing his lips together into a thin line, Enishi took a deep breath and glared at Kenshin who looked perfectly serene and at ease, as though the request that he had put forward was completely ordinary. "Are you wasting my time?" "Iie. I mean what I'm saying. You don't have to worry about my friends or family. When you get into town, simply send a message for me and I will go to whichever inn you are staying at." Inwardly Enishi gave a sigh of relief. Of course he was going to refuse but at least there wasn't the slightest prospect of seeing Kaoru. It would be painful for the both of them, to say the least. For her, he would be an unwelcome reminder of her one hasty night of passion and for him, she represented something tantalisingly close but always out of reach. 'At least its clear Battousai has no idea about us.' For a second when the man had made his request, it had occurred to him that this was some sick belated revenge meant to humiliate him and Kaoru but the idea was so ridiculous that he had discarded it immediately. Battousai worshipped Kamiya Kaoru; he would never hurt her. 'No more than I could.' "It's out of the question," Enishi replied abruptly. "Tokyo...is not a place I wish to return to." "Because of what happened?" Kenshin inquired in a deceptively mild voice. If possible, Enishi's expression hardened even more and he didn't bother hiding his suspicion any longer. He was about to speak when Kenshin swiftly cut him off. "I assure you Enishi, I have forgiven you. For everything..." 'He knows,' Enishi thought furiously. Battousai was hinting he did know...or was he? Enishi would have confronted Kenshin right there and then on the spot but the thought of Kaoru held him back. If there was the slightest chance that Battousai really did not know, he could not risk her happiness by exposing their secret. Besides, he had promised her he would not tell another soul about it. "...And I'm sure Tomoe has forgiven you too." "You go too far," Enishi enunciated in a low dangerous voice. "I don't need you to tell me that." His guilt for trying to destroy what she had done was a private torment that he lived with. Wherever she was, he was sure that she was disappointed with him. "Has she smiled at you yet?" Kenshin continued blithely, as though he hadn't heard Enishi at all, as if he wasn't fully aware of the torment he was putting him through. "That's it. You're leaving right now," Enishi snarled. He was going to toss that redheaded thorn in his side out onto the street with his bare hands. But before he could even move, Battousai stepped back out of his reach and nodded. "Of course. I've said all that I wanted to say," Kenshin agreed. Turning his back on Enishi, he walked to the door and pulled it open. Then he looked back over his shoulder. "You will recall, I told you once that Tomoe smiled one last time for me when I found my answer. Enishi, you won't find yours by hiding in this town, away from your past and everything that you ought to do in order to pay for your sins. Walking out of Rakuminmura wasn't the end of your journey, it was only the beginning." Enishi was unable to do anything but listen in stunned silence. It was as though Battousai had looked right through him and seen the inner struggles that he wrestled with daily. Acknowledging his mistakes had given him the strength to leave that place but that had not been enough to bring back Tomoe's smile. There was still so much bitterness inside him; he had no peace and he was still lost, meandering his way through life. Time and time again he had pleaded with Tomoe to help him, to show him what he had to do. When no answer came he had given that up as well. But tonight ... "And going to Tokyo will give me my answer, is that it?" Enishi demanded. "Battousai! Answer me. Just what are you up to? Why did you come here?" He ran to the door but Kenshin was already out on the street. Reluctant to chase after him and yet agonisingly intrigued by what the man was implying, Enishi stood there, willing him to speak up. "I can't tell you where or when you will find your answer Enishi," Kenshin replied. In spite of his heaviness of heart, his voice was strong and clear, cutting through the wild wind. He had won. Enishi would go to Tokyo. His questions were proof of that. "But I can help you a little along the way. I owe her that much." Enishi would think he meant Tomoe and that was true. But at the same time, there was another that he had in mind. It had been for the love of her that he had made this long journey. "Remember, in at least a year's time," he said softly and melted away into the night. -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Notes and Explanations: Well, I'm deliberately keeping Kenshin's motives unclear at the moment. All will be explained in his monologue which will come at a later time but by then I think what Kenshin has in mind should be clear by then. As for Enishi's behaviour...Given what he had realised on the beach and in the last chapter, plus, two years to search himself and examine things from a clearer and more rational light, I think he would have realised that those men were making use of him and Tomoe and that he had his own part to play in her death as well. He doesn't have the right to be angry with Kenshin anymore but it still doesn't mean that they are going to end up the best of pals...(Yech!) he also needs to find a way to leave his past life behind, along with his hatred and guilt but knowing Enishi, he definitely won't turn do-gooder rurouni, and he will have to find his own way. So now with a little help from Kenshin, who has been there and done that, we will find him in Tokyo when chapter three comes out.