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Disclaimer: *sigh* how many ways can I say the same thing? Until Kenshin himself appears in my living room and offers to cook and do my laundry for me, I don't own RK. 'nuff said.

I have some bad news…my beta-reader (and best friend) recently moved to Florida *sob*, so I now have to snail mail my chapters to her. Expect even longer gaps between chapters from now on…a month at the very least -_-;; At least we're nearing the end of this saga; my aim is to have this fic done by summer. This chapter is mostly buildup for the grand finale, as well as giving our villain some much-needed spotlight and explanation. On with the fic! Oh yeah, and make sure you remember to vote for all your favorite fics in the RK Reader's Choice Awards this year! The nomination phase lasts until Feb. 28.

Prism - Chapter 13

The early morning sun burned brightly behind his closed eyelids, the brilliant red glow finally stirring him from his long sleep. Shinta blinked open tired violet eyes and turned his head away from the blinding sun, which was streaming in through shoji doors left slightly ajar the previous night. Squinting into the relative darkness of the room he was momentarily confused. The last thing he remembered was darkness and rain…but now he was somewhere else, in a room that was familiar to him. Home. I'm home. He sighed in relief, and sucked in a sharp breath of surprise when the sudden movement sending a burning, throbbing pain throughout his entire chest. He shifted his body cautiously on the futon, trying to see what else was damaged. Oh…of course. It was everything. Figures. I wonder how long I've been asleep? His chest felt like it had been run over by a cart, and his head swam slightly as he struggled into a sitting position. WOW, this hurts. No wonder even Shishou passed out when I hit him… Carefully straightening his sore back, Shinta tried to lift his hands but found them restrained. Quickly he looked to either side of him, and he felt his eyes grow wide.

On his left lay Battousai, sound asleep, his hand wrapped securely around Shinta's wrist. On his right was the rurouni, his fingers entwined gently with Shinta's, his face equally peaceful in slumber. The sunlight lit both their faces with a gentle glow, and Shinta couldn't conceal his astonishment. It was well past dawn, and yet here his counterparts slept on, their hands warming his own. He felt their twin spirits humming around him in perfect contentment, at peace for the first time since their separation. He felt tears rise at how concerned they had been for him. He could feel it in the air, their lingering worry and uncertainty. But that was all it was…an impression of an emotion past. Shinta smiled gently. I did it. It worked. Thank the gods.

Ignoring the pain in his body, which suddenly seemed less than before, Shinta tugged his hands free and lay them in his lap. He stared down at his tiny hands, which were almost lost in the twisted fabric of his yukata, probably one of Yahiko's, which was far too large for his tiny frame. This physical pain will last for a while, but in the end it was worth it. I knew they could come together. He grinned at his counterparts, suddenly giddy with happiness. I knew they could!

A mischievous glint entered his eyes as he heard the distant sounds of someone—probably Kaoru—clattering around in the kitchen. A wicked grin spread across his face and he clapped his hands together in front of him with a vigorous nod. "Yoshi!"

Kaoru carefully balanced the cluttered breakfast tray in her hands and made her way to Kenshin's room. Let's see miso, rice, tea…I don't think I forgot anything.

Kaoru had made an extra effort this morning to make her food edible, trying to remember as much as she could of the cooking lessons both Tae and Kenshin had been giving her recently; she hoped it would meet with his approval. She reflected ironically that under normal circumstances she wouldn't know one way or the other if Kenshin disliked her food; he was far too polite by nature to say that her cooking was anything but perfect. Unlike the rurouni though, Battousai spoke his mind quite freely and Kaoru admitted to herself that it was really him she was trying to please. She smiled as she recalled the scene from that morning: she had woken to find the three parts of her husband lying side by side, all deeply asleep. Battousai's presence had honestly surprised her; she hadn't heard him come in the night before, and this was the first time she'd seen him sleep lying down. She'd observed how he'd been cuddled so very close to Shinta, his body curled in a protective posture around him. The rurouni had been in a similar pose, but it was Battousai who had caught her attention. Of the three of them, she reflected, he had changed the most. Only a few days ago he had been nearly unapproachable by anyone except her, his anger lashing out like the coils of a startled viper at the slightest provocation, unpredictable and dangerous. Back then she would never have dreamed of finding him like this, so intimate with his other selves, and the sight had taken her breath away, filling her with an indescribable happiness.

He'd better like breakfast. She thought fiercely, tightening her grip determinedly on the tray in her hands. She quickened her pace down the hall.

The door to their room flew open and Shinta came barreling out, laughing hysterically, his oversized yukata hanging off him and his bare feet slipping on the polished wood floor. The child was forced to drop to all fours and scramble to keep from slamming into the wall. Regaining his balance he came running toward Kaoru, a long hair ribbon clutched in one fist, his face flushed with excitement. "Ohayou, Kaoru-san!"

Battousai came tumbling out right behind him, his yukata in complete disarray. His hair tie was missing and his long red hair fanned in an unruly mane around his furious face as he charged after his pint-sized counterpart. Slipping on the floor he slammed his injured shoulder hard into the wall. He failed to bite back a very colorful curse. "Come back here, you runt!"

Shinta squealed with glee and darted down the hall, dodging Battousai with eye-blurring speed. He shot around behind the stunned Kaoru. She met the hitokiri's horrified gaze as he flew toward her and they both realized too late that he was going too fast to stop. Reacting on instinct the teenager let himself fall, dropping to the floor just as his hands met Kaoru's waist. He pulled her roughly into his lap, taking the jarring impact for both of them. For an instant they stared at each other and then both looked up at the same time, identical looks of consternation on their faces. The tray flew to the ceiling above them and then, seemingly in slow motion, started back down.

Kaoru gave a little shriek and shut her eyes against the inevitable. There was the pounding of feet and the loud clatter of dishes rattling on a tray, but nothing touched her head. Cautiously, Kaoru opened one eye and stared up into the rurouni's flushed face. He was hanging over them, balanced precariously on one foot, the tray clutched safely in his hands. He sighed in relief and hopped backwards, only lowering the tray when he was safely out of range. Heart hammering in her chest, Kaoru looked between the younger and older versions of her husband, at a loss for words.

The hallway rang with Shinta's delighted laughter. "That was great! You all should see your faces! Nice save Rurouni-san!"

"Temee…" Battousai growled through clenched teeth. He hadn't loosened his protective grip on Kaoru's waist. Pulling her closer, he leaned around her and glared at the boy. "What's gotten into you?"

Kaoru twisted around to stare at Shinta, her eyes wide. "Sh-Shinta?" She stared at him in disbelief for a moment before scrambling out of Battousai's lap, nearly falling as her kimono caught on her legs. Landing hard on her knees she threw her arms around the boy, sobbing in relief. "Oh Shinta, thank the gods you're okay! I've been so worried!"

"K-Kaoru…" the child whispered, dropping the honorific in his surprise. Although Kaoru couldn't see his face, his counterparts could see how his face twisted in pain at her embrace. I thought so. The rurouni thought grimly. His energy was just a show. For whose sake I wonder? Shinta's play had obviously aggravated his injuries badly but he smiled through the pain and returned the hug, pressing the side of his face tenderly into her hair. "It's okay, Kaoru-san. I'm all right."

She muttered something into his hair that sounded suspiciously like "baka" and pulled away from him. Holding him at arm's length she examined him critically. "What are you doing out of bed so soon? Megumi-san said three days at least! You're supposed to be resting!"

"Indeed, Shinta-kun," the rurouni said, crouching down beside the boy and setting the breakfast tray to one side. "You should be more careful. Your injuries are serious, and Megumi-dono's orders were very strict on the matter."

Shinta looked at him for a long moment then leaned forward until their noses were almost touching. He squinched his eyes shut in a sweet smile and uttered two syllables: "Ba-KA!"

With the speed befitting of a pint-sized Hiten Mitsurugi master, Shinta brought up his fist and smashed it down on top of the rurouni's head as hard as he could.

"OW!" Kenshin fell back solidly on his rump, one hand to his head, wincing painfully. "What was that for?!"

Shinta bared at his teeth at him fiercely. "Gee I don't know Rurouni-san! Why ever would I be angry about the fact that if the two of you hadn't been so busy fighting each other like toddlers I wouldn't be injured at all! Next time think before you act!"

Battousai slumped against the wall and pressed his fingers against his forehead wearily. "Moron."

"And YOU—" Shinta whirled on the hitokiri, who looked up at him in surprise. "Is your sanity going take a hike on us again anytime soon?"

Battousai blinked in shock at the bold question, his eyes huge. He fumbled for a reply. "I uh, that is…no."

The hitokiri smiled shyly, the light of that smile finally reaching lavender eyes. "I'm all right now."

Shinta gave him a searching stare and then dropped to the floor, crawling forward on hands and knees into Battousai's lap. Getting up into the teenager's face he leaned in close, staring deeply into the other's eyes. Behind them Kaoru and the rurouni exchanged bewildered glances. The hitokiri swallowed nervously, held fast by the child's intense stare. Shinta's eyes widened. "Really?"

Shinta's cherubic face broke into a wide grin. "Yatta!" he yelled gleefully, leaping backwards to his feet and throwing his arms wide. "I'm so glad to hear that!" He grabbed Battousai's hands and pulled him to his feet with a strength that belied his size. Keeping hold of Battousai with one hand, he grabbed the rurouni with his other hand and started dragging them both down the hallway. "Let's go!"

"Forget all that! C'mon, let's play!" Shinta pulled the spluttering and protesting Kenshins all the way down the hall, leading them outside.

Kaoru stared after them before a moment before bursting into astonished, yet happy, laughter. Getting to her feet, she followed them into the sunlight.

Akari came awake suddenly in the sun-drenched room, her heart pounding from her nightmare. Breathing deeply she tried to calm herself, but her terror refused to subside. It had felt like someone was there in the room with her, a horrible evil presence that meant her harm. Frantically, she searched the room with her eyes. Nothing…there's nothing. A shudder passed through her and she reached unconsciously for her throat. Images from her nightmare persisted in her mind, refusing to be banished: hands grabbing her throat, squeezing with unbearable pressure; a menacing man-shaped shadow moving in the darkness, pressing down on her with terrible weight. The feel of liquid flowing freely down her arms, too thick and hot to be water…

Tears stung her eyes and Akari shut them tight, hunching over around her pain. It was just a dream! she told herself furiously. It wasn't real…not this time. Not this time. Her body was shaking, trembling with fear, but she refused to cry. I won't cry. I'm too strong to cry… Her mother had cried every day of Akari's young life. She had mourned the husband lost to disease, and how hard it had become to raise her young daughter alone. None of those tears had been able to feed them, or bring her mother's once proud spirit back from where it had fled. Crying was a useless act, a weakness Akari refused to show. Crying would not bring Yanagi back to her, nor would it erase what she had learned about him in the past few days. She felt a tear hit her hand, unbidden. Damn it…I don't want to cry! A sob tore through her and she hunched even lower, fighting with all her will against the tears that threatened to spill down her face. There was a tight pain in her throat, insistent and choking, a pressure demanding relief.

Shock ripped through her with the force of a lighting bolt, banishing her misery in an instant. That voice…had he seen her cry? Akari sat up straight and stared into the shadows of the room, red-rimmed eyes focused on the figure standing where before there had been nothing but air. It was pointless to ask how he had gotten in; it only mattered that he was here now, and the sight of him filled her with both relief and terror beyond imagining. Her voice, thick and distorted with tears, rasped when she spoke. "Yanagi?"

The figure stepped forward until he was half-lit by the sun. She could see only one eye clearly, and that eye was flat and cold, its pale gray color like an overcast winter sky, devoid of warmth or comfort. "How are you feeling, Akari?"

He was nearly unrecognizable as her husband; he seemed to have grown gaunt and sickly since she had seen him last, his filthy Western suit hanging off his frame. He held himself with a stiffness Akari had never seen before, and those eyes.... She instinctively recoiled from this stranger, hissing softly in terrified rage, her face drawn into a scowl. Her bandaged fingers twisted in the thick blanket that covered her. The man before her looked like Yanagi, but it wasn't him, not the man she knew. This was the other, the one who had attacked her without warning or mercy. "Who are you?"

The gray eyes widened slightly in surprise, and she saw something else flicker through them. Was it sadness? Regret? "A strange question. Don't you trust your own eyes?"

Akari glared at him, feeling her anger overtake her fear. Good, she could deal with anger; it was far preferable to the feelings of self-pity and abandonment that had been threatening to consume her only moments before. "I would say yes…but it wouldn't change the fact that I don't know you. Where is my husband?"

The man stepped further forward until he was at the foot of the bed, the sun illuminating him fully. Akari leaned away from him, unsure of his intentions. His expression was thoughtful. "You haven't answered my question. How are you doing?"

"Forget that," she hissed. "How do you think I feel? You know what you did to me."

"What the hell is going on here?" Akari demanded, her dark eyes blazing with fury. A small voice in her mind warned her that his was how she had provoked him last time, but she ignored it. It was still better than being afraid. "When are you going to tell me the truth? Where is Yanagi?!"

Yanagi sighed and tilted his head to one side. Coming from him, the gesture seemed strangely menacing. "If I tell you, will you listen?"

Yanagi nodded and seated himself carefully on the stool at the foot of the bed. "Why do you think I'm here, if not to explain?"

"I don't know," she said in a low voice, trying to conceal her nervousness. "I can't tell what you're thinking anymore, or why…you do things. I don't understand what's going on. What's happened to you?"

His expression softened slightly. He could see how frightened she was of him. He could always tell with her, no matter how much she tried to hide it. "I'm not Yanagi, at least not the one you knew. He is gone. He doesn't exist anymore…and hasn't for a very long time now."

He looked away from her, staring out the window. "You've been lied to Akari, deceived for so long…I came today because you and you alone deserve to hear the truth."

Akari searched his face, which seemed to have aged significantly since she'd seen him last. "You've been nearby this whole time, haven't you? When you fled from Himura-san…you didn't go far."

The expression in his eyes when he looked at her was chilling. "No, I could not. Not in the condition I was in. I couldn't leave, so I waited until I was sure Himura had left here for good, so could to talk to you without interruption."

She looked at him expectantly, willing to listen, to defer further judgment until she had heard everything. That's so like her. he thought. Burying his own uncertainty, he met her bold gaze steadily. "Two years ago, just after we moved to Osaka, I associated with a man named Udoh Jine." Akari shook her head; the name was unfamiliar to her.

"He was a strong swordsman," Yanagi explained." A hitokiri from the revolution. He was highly skilled in manipulating ki, both his and others'. You remember what ki is, right?"

"Of course I do," she whispered. "I remember it from Furano. And Himura-san explained it to me."

Yanagi's face twitched at the mention of that name but he didn't comment on it. "Ki is a skill I also have Akari, and it is very powerful. I wanted to learn from Jine, to gain the strength he had."

He paused for a moment, as if waiting for a reaction. Akari just stared at him, waiting patiently for him to continue. "Your Yanagi," he said finally, "was always weak in spirit. Many times and in many ways he tried to overcome the emptiness in his heart. He asked Himura Kenshin for guidance…he would not give it. He asked his father and others around him for guidance. They would not give it. But still he wanted to be strong, and with that in mind he made it his goal to defeat Himura…so after leaving Hokkaido with you he looked until he found someone who would teach him." Pain flickered briefly across his face now, and Akari feared what he would say next. "Jine agreed to help him, but at a price. You see, he had one weakness as a swordsman, a weakness that got him expelled from the Shinsengumi and forced him to become a rogue hitokiri. He had an endless thirst for blood. He lived to kill, and he used his skill with ki to help him take out his targets. Still, no number of deaths could be enough for him, so in exchange for his knowledge Yanagi…I was required to use my new skills to find more victims for Jine."

"I never killed anyone while in his service," Yanagi continued in an empty voice, his gaze far away. "But I was an accessory to countless murders at his hand."

A memory surfaced in Akari's mind, of a time two years ago when Yanagi had come home very late looking weak and sick, his gray eyes haunted. She had never seen eyes like that before, and they had frightened her. "I remember," she whispered, "that day you came home and you were so sick and you wouldn't tell me why..." That was the beginning, she realized. After that he had become more and more detached from her, his behavior growing increasingly erratic. Something had been very wrong, she knew that, but every time she tried to worm the answer out of him he always turned her attention to something else. He had done it by directly manipulating her mind...she knew that now. "Why..." she asked tearfully, "why didn't you tell me this before?"

"Yanagi feared your rejection," the man before her explained in cold, almost angry tones. "He was ashamed that your love wasn't enough to fill the void in his heart, and he knew that Shimizu Akari was not a person who would ever approve of what he was doing. But it was too late...there was no turning back from the course he'd chosen. After a year Jine vanished, and I grew hungry for more power. Yanagi was powerless to stop it…and I finally consumed him. I continued experimenting on my own, and a few months ago I found a way to separate ki, something even Jine had never conceived of. I knew then that I was finally strong enough to face Himura. So I brought us here to Tokyo."

Akari could not speak. She stared at him in horrified disbelief. She had been partially right, she realized. Someone had taken over Yanagi's mind…but it had been Yanagi himself. And she had been powerless to put a stop to it. He had seen to that. He knew he was slipping away, falling into madness…and he didn't care. He didn't want help, mine or anyone else's.

He lifted his face to her now, his eyes steely and full of conviction. "Now that the child has been incapacitated Himura is at his most vulnerable. He is still powerful in spirit, even in his current state, but I will defeat him. It will happen tonight."

Akari blinked again in astonishment. It took an effort to find her voice. "Tonight? Why are you telling me this? Aren't you afraid I'll warn Himura-san?"

He could see fear in her eyes again; fear that he would silence her. No Akari, not you. Not this time. There is no need. "I know you will," he reasoned calmly, "and it doesn't matter one way or the other. He is a hitokiri; he is always prepared to fight. Whether he is warned or not, it will make no difference in his strength." Yanagi stood now and gazed down at her. "There's nothing you can do, Akari."

"You don't need to do this, Yanagi!" she insisted, her voice earnest. "No matter who you are now or what has changed I still—" she swallowed and looked away from him. Her fists trembled where they were clenched on the bed. "I still love you," she said finally. "Won't you even let me try to help you?"

His eyes widened in genuine surprise. "You want to help a man who tried to kill you?"

"You are ill," she said, still not looking at him. "These things that you did, these murders you helped with…they hurt your mind. So I guess…you are not quite sane, are you?"

"Probably not," he said mildly. "I won't deny that my behavior had hardly been that of a rational man."

"You admit that so freely," she whispered harshly, glaring at an invisible point on the wall. "And yet you came here to explain to me…to ask how I was, despite what you did to me. I guess part of me believes that you are mistaken…that there is still something of my husband left in you that can be reclaimed."

There was a long silence. "It was all a lie, Akari. An act I put on for you. Just because I remember how he was doesn't mean that your Yanagi still exists. Go to Himura if you want, it doesn't matter to me. I am saying goodbye to you now."

She turned sharply to stare at him and he was astonished to see tears flowing freely down her face. "'Goodbye'? How can you do this to me?! What am I supposed to do without you? You're my husband, you can't just—"

"You are no longer my concern!" He snapped viciously, his tone carrying a terrible note of finality. The words, and the tone they had been delivered in, struck her like an arrow through the heart. Akari felt her face grow pale, her anger evaporating in the face of the sorrow that suddenly enveloped her heart. "In turn," he continued in a voice as unyielding as Battousai's sword, "you should no longer concern yourself with me. You are a strong woman, Akari. I know you will manage somehow. In the meantime, I must do this. That is the way it has to be. Sayonara." He turned to leave.

Her muffled sob was deafening in the silence of the room. "Our whole lives Yanagi, everything we've been through together, everything we were to each other, you're saying it was all a lie? You're saying it was all nothing to you?"

He did not answer her, and when she looked up again he was gone. As if he had never been.

Sano and Yahiko sat together on the porch, watching their friend in amusement. "You realize," Sano mumbled around the fishbone that hung out of the corner of his mouth, "that if we hadn't met this guy our lives would be so goddamn boring?"

Yahiko grinned. He completely agreed. "Yeah, that's Kenshin for you. He really is something, though. I wouldn't miss this for the world."

They watched the three Kenshins dance around one another in a game of toss-the-ball (Shinta's idea of course). All three tried to go for the ball at the same time. The rurouni and Battousai collided with each other and the hitokiri spat something that was far from polite. A stern glance from the rurouni silenced him immediately though, and both looked sheepish at Shinta's disapproving frown. "Play nice!" he told them, in a voice so commanding Sano blinked. For a moment he had sounded like…but then he was Kenshin, so why was he even surprised?

The three Kenshins had so far broken every single medical rule Megumi had laid down for them. If any of them were feeling any pain though it didn't show in their enthusiastic play, which was only made the more amusing for the spectators since all three were still dressed in their sleeping yukata. The rurouni still seemed a bit embarrassed by his state of undress but Battousai didn't seem to care all that much. He tossed the ball to the rurouni, and when it was hit back at him he ran and caught it with impressive agility, simply straightening his robe when it started to come undone around him. Kaoru had joined their game as well, and Sano was glad to see her so happy and contented. It just wasn't like Kaoru to be so sad and serious all the time—that was Kenshin's specialty—and he was relieved that Battousai and the rurouni seemed to have finally gotten their act together. Sano hadn't shown it but Shinta's serious injuries had really scared him, and the possibility of the boy being injured again was enough to send him into mental hysterics. He cared very deeply for his friend, and if the boy had died he wasn't sure what would have become of the other two. Would they have died also, since they all seem to be connected? Or is the fact that the two older ones are almost recovered the reason Shinta's awake and running around? Sano watched the trio thoughtfully. Shinta had a big smile on his face, but at times that smile was strained, and he constantly favored his left shoulder. He's hurting pretty badly, but he won't show it. That's so like Kenshin. He can be so stupid sometimes. "Oi, Kenshin!"

The two older Kenshins turned immediately to look at him. Shinta was slower to respond, but he too glanced in Sano's direction. "You know, you're all still hurt and the Fox Lady said she was coming by this morning. She's gonna kill you if she finds you roughhousing like this."

"We aren't roughhousing, Sano." Battousai growled, but he cast a concerned glance at Shinta. Both Kaoru and the rurouni followed suit, turning worried eyes on the child.

Shinta stared at them in turns. "I'm fine!" he insisted, lifting his right hand to rub at the sweat and dirt on his face. "We were having fun, weren't we?"

"Aa," the rurouni agreed gently, "but Sano is right. Let's go clean up before Megumi-dono gets here." He offered his hand to Shinta and the boy took it reluctantly, a definite pout on his face. "Aren't you coming?" the rurouni asked of Battousai, who was standing slightly apart from the rest of them.

"In a moment," the hitokiri said quietly. The rurouni frowned. Battousai smiled at him reassuringly. "I'm fine. Go on ahead; I'll be right behind you." He waited until the rurouni and Shinta had disappeared inside the bathhouse before walking over to sit on the porch.

His friends watched him curiously. "Aren't you going to…" Yahiko began but the hitokiri cut him off with a short wave.

Kenshin sighed heavily. He looked at them with eyes that hovered somewhere between pale lavender and amber. "I wanted to…that is…" he trailed off and shook his head sharply. Kaoru came to stand next to him, laying a comforting hand on his shoulder. He looked at her gratefully. "Thank you," he murmured. "I'm sorry, this sort of thing is still very hard for me. It shouldn't be, but it is."

Kenshin nodded. "I just wanted to thank you all… for everything, for your patience and friendship. I know you wouldn't have done otherwise—" he continued quickly as he saw Yahiko's mouth open in protest "—but I didn't want to seem like I was taking your friendship for granted. I have been terrible to all of you, and I wanted to apologize for that before…while I still can."

That caused to others to blink, and even Battousai seemed at little puzzled by his own choice of words. "What I meant was, I have a feeling that one way or the other, this will all be over with very soon. Before this happened none of you knew me very well—" here he glanced at Kaoru, who simply smiled "—and that was entirely a result of my own cowardice. That and, for a very long time, the rurouni and I haven't exactly seen eye to eye on certain things."

"Yeah, well that was pretty obvious from the start." Sano grunted. "What's your point?"

"My point," the hitokiri said, obviously trying hard not to be become irritated with Sano, "is that, thanks to all of you, he and I have finally come to an understanding of sorts. I wanted to you to hear that from me, not him, while it was still possible. Something is going to happen soon. We should all be prepared."

Everyone on the porch turned quickly to stare at the two women who had suddenly appeared in the yard. Their eyes traveled from Megumi to Akari. She was once again dressed in her maroon kimono, but she did not carry it with the same confidence as before. Everything about her spoke of a great weariness, and she leaned heavily on Megumi for support.

Megumi glanced worriedly at her companion, but Akari simply shook her head. "I need to speak to all of three of you together, Himura-san. As soon as possible."

The three Kenshins bathed and dressed in record time, and by late afternoon the Kenshin-gumi were again assembled around the dinner table. It was a strange replay of their gathering of a few days earlier, only this time the stakes were even higher than before. Akari had just finished her long account of Yanagi's visit that morning and the room had fallen into stunned silence, the optimism of that morning effectively erased.

"I've lost everything," Akari said, her voice painfully loud in the awkward silence. "He has abandoned me to do this foolish thing. I am so sorry Himura-san that I could not stop this from happening. I don't have the words to apologize for what my husband has done to you. I thought that I had the power to fix this…but it seems I don't. I am so sorry." Her voice was thick with emotion. Megumi and Kaoru sat on either side of her, and both women placed a comforting hand over Akari's bandaged ones. Akari looked to each of them, gratitude in her tired eyes. She looked down again at her hands. "I should have done something," she whispered. "From the very beginning when he came home like that…but I didn't understand what was happening to him. Even if I had…I don't think I would have been ready to believe it. The man I love has faded away, eaten alive by something I can't even comprehend. And I can't bring him back."

"Akari-san…" Shinta whispered, his eyes large in the fading light of the room.

Battousai looked away uncomfortably, at a loss of what he could say that could possibly comfort her. In times like these, it was the rurouni they always relied on to take charge and say the right thing. Kenshin's gentler self did not fail them. "It is hard," the rurouni said softly into the silence, "to realize a dream. Few people have that kind of resolve. Yet there are people who believe in something so strongly, be it for good or evil, that they are willing to go to any lengths to achieve it, even if that means sacrificing a part of themselves."

The rurouni glanced at Battousai, who was looking at him with a startled expression. He continued to gaze at his counterpart as he spoke. "Men like that are dangerous creatures, Akari-dono. If allowed to live without guidance they sway constantly from one side to the other, unable to choose between them, harboring two natures within one soul." Everyone was staring at him now. Akari seemed slightly confused but there was understanding in the wide eyes of the Kenshin-gumi. Kaoru frowned slightly. He's talking about himself, isn't he? But is Kenshin really similar to Yanagi?

"An unsteady heart," Kenshin continued, looking now straight into Akari's eyes, "striving for what he perceives to be a pure goal can be so easily corrupted, or worse used as an unthinking tool, a pawn in someone else's game." Some of the Kenshin-gumi bowed their heads slightly. There was no doubt now that Kenshin was referring to himself. "Until Jine no one, including myself, had been willing to take responsibility for Yanagi's untrained power. Although I had my reasons at the time, for what it's worth I regret the choice I made in Hokkaido." He let that hang in the air for a moment. Akari only nodded slightly.

Kenshin sighed deeply. "Akari-dono, you must understand that there was probably nothing you could have done to prevent this. From what I saw of him then, and from what you tell us now, he has always been this way. He has thirsted for strength his entire life, and that desire has overridden everything he once cared about, even you. Every time I have encountered him he has shown one of two faces. The one I knew in Hokkaido was an uncertain young man begging for attention, and for someone to fill the emptiness in his heart. The other face is obsessed with that very same goal. The difference with him is that he is willing to use any means to achieve it." Next to him, Battousai flinched.

"It seems," Kenshin continued thoughtfully, "that he has finally chosen one face over the other. And yet, Akari-dono, I cannot convince myself that there is no hope for him. No matter how hard this new Yanagi may try to deny his original self, no one part of a person's soul can ever be completely destroyed. Suppressed maybe, but never destroyed." The Kenshin-gumi were all looking at Battousai now. The hitokiri, for his part, was apparently finding the top of the table very interesting. The rurouni smiled slightly at his counterpart. "Yanagi can only deny himself for so long Akari-dono. That is where your role may be the most important of all. If he cared enough to come and tell you goodbye in person, then I believe you still have a chance of reaching him."

Akari looked up at the rurouni, her face an amalgam of trepidation and hope. "Really?"

"Aa." The rurouni nodded. "I speak from personal experience, Akari-dono. As for Yanagi, he has a strong will that obviously won't be denied. When he arrives we will meet him on his terms, the three of us together."

"Ah yes, about that." Megumi spoke up, arching a delicate eyebrow at the rurouni. "Why, may I ask, is that child out of bed against my strict instructions?"

"Don't blame him Megumi-san," Shinta said with an innocent smile. "I got myself out of bed. Besides, I had lots and lots of sleep. I'm really feeling much better."

"Is that right?" Megumi replied, obviously not buying a word of it. "Well then I suppose I'd better enlighten the three of you with an official medical report. This battle tonight is poorly timed, to say the least. None of you have had enough time to recover, and since it is obvious your health is connected I worry about you fighting again so soon. Shinta's frailty will drag you all down. Your injuries mean only one thing to me: that at least in part, your separated state is nothing more than an illusion."

"Illusion?" Battousai said incredulously, reaching over to yank firmly on the rurouni's ponytail. "If this is an illusion Megumi-dono then it's a damn good one, don't you think?"

Megumi met the hitokiri's icy gaze unwaveringly. Their mutual dislike was quite palpable. "There's no need to be so crude, Ken-san. I agree with you, but that is the evidence I see. Are you planning to let go of him anytime soon?"

Battousai released the rurouni, who inched away from the teenager with an affronted look. Shinta rolled his eyes at the two of them. "You know, she's right Kenshin-san. We all have the very same ki. It hasn't changed at all."

The rurouni frowned and rubbed the back of his head. "An illusion? What are you thinking of, Megumi-dono?"

The doctor shook her head. "I was hoping you could tell me, Ken-san. I don't know anything about the subject, really. I am a healer of bones and muscles; the foundation of medicine is to heal the physical as well as the spirit. However there is no way to touch the metaphysical. A bone is set with bandages and heals as the crack itself mends. The spirit often takes longer to heal. It may be that your ki is like that fractured bone; all we have to do is find the proper way to begin to heal it."

Battousai caught Kaoru's gaze. She looked at him quizzically and watched as he traced the shape of a triangle in the air. Oh, the prism! Her eyes widened in understanding. She had nearly forgotten about that. "Three shades of the same color," the hitokiri said quietly. "What was separated can be recombined. I believe that is what she means. Since it's clear we can't rely on Yanagi for help, we'll have to somehow do this ourselves."

Shinta blinked. "How? We can't—" he broke off abruptly and jumped to his feet. Everyone tensed. They all knew of Kenshin's ability to sense danger when it was coming, and they were unsurprised by his next words. "He's here."