Kendo no Go
In the Language of Kendo:
A Fanfic in 100 Chapters
by Akai Kitsune
88: Heart
~*~
I have
a person inside me.
That was the thought which
became a permanent fixture in Kaoru's mind several days after she discovered -
much to the amusement and pride of her long-time family doctor - that she was
pregnant. It was also the cause of a great deal of paranoia, some of which was
healthy, and some not.
Distinguishing between the
two caused no small amount of disagreement between herself and her husband.
"There's
nothing to worry about," Kenshin assured her, a bright smile ever existent on
his face. "The doctor says the baby is healthy, so why should we doubt?"
Yes, why? Kaoru couldn't
answer him; she couldn't understand where he got such a passive attitude from.
It was almost infuriating.
But she really couldn't find
it in her heart to be angry with him, especially when his heart seemed
so open to everything that involved the baby. Shopping, cleaning, her own
growing enthusiasm - and occasional lamenting - over the growth in her belly.
He took her complaints in stride, celebrated her delight at any sort of
indication of life from their child - a soft stirring, a gentle heartbeat, a
rough, breathtaking kick - and did his best to comfort her when fears of
motherhood brought her to tears.
How, she wanted to wail,
sometimes, could he be so perfect?
But he wasn't, and she knew
it; he had his share of doubts, his share of brooding moments that made her
want to sigh in exasperation and snap him back to reality. She didn't - at
least, she tried not to. Kamiya Kaoru did have her limits, just as anyone
else.
They
fought - as every couple must - and later admitted that it was mostly due to
the growing stress an addition to the family would bring. Kaoru blamed her
temper; Kenshin blamed himself in entirety, but she expected that and so
ignored it more easily than in the past. She was accustomed to his flaws, and
he was seemingly ignorant - or tolerant - of hers, and so they survived,
somehow.
Until the birth.
Kaoru
often winced, looking back upon the birth, and though she wouldn't say it
after, she could distinctly recall thinking it was not - was not -
worth the pain. She could also recall saying a good many things that made her
blush, later - indeed, made Kenshin blush, if her memory was clear
enough.
It was a long, agonizing
process - rather embarrassing, from her viewpoint - but the emotion she felt
when she saw the shrieking red thing Gensai placed in her arms... the
emotion alone was enough to make her forget it all.
That, and the expression
Kenshin wore when he was finally let inside to see his wife and newborn child,
both alive and well after eighteen hours of waiting.
Kaoru would never forget his
face, all the days of her life, as he took their son from her and held him
close. The child, moments into existence, had stolen the rurouni's heart. Her
heart, just as surely, she had to note.
His heart. Heart of Sword.
"Oh,"
Kenshin said softly, strangely unaware of the tears in his eyes, "Oh, I'll
take care of you, child..."
His path was clear, clearer
than the sky in midsummer, clearer than water after the storm, clearer than
his eyes, that day.
"Are you
going to name him?" Kaoru asked, a little shy of intruding.
He glanced at her, kneeling
beside the bed, and smiled brightly. "That's not for me to choose," he
murmured, squeezing her hand.
An unfair statement, she
thought, considering who he was. But she was glad, nonetheless; he would never
dream of suggesting the name she had in mind.
"All
right," she nodded, brushing her hand lightly through the wet fluff of auburn
hair on the baby's head, "What do you think of this..."
And so, Himura Kenji entered
the world. And the family survived.
Until...
~*~
|