Previously...Kaoru told Enishi about her run-in with Kenshin and Megumi.

Chapter 3: Is this love?

At the dojo:

Kenshin stirred in his sleep. "Kaoru.." he murmured quietly. His open his eyes slowly, studying his surroundings. "Ow, where am I?" Kenshin thought out loud, rubbing his aching head.

"Your at the dojo, babe." A deep, seductive voice said behind him. "Don't you remember what happened?" The voice changed and suddenly sounded so innocent.

Kenshin turned around to see the owner of the voice, and to his surprise, it was Megumi! Kenshin was certainly surprised to see Megumi in the room with him, but there was only one thought that kept entering his mind. "Where's Kaoru?" He asked. His voice was full of concern. That made Megumi cringe.

"How can you keep thinking about her!" Megumi asked, enraged. "After what she did to you! Oh Kenshin! I was so worried! I thought you were going to die!" Megumi started to cry fake tears. Kenshin just stared at her strangely.

"What do you mean? Kaoru wouldn't hurt me!" Kenshin exclaimed, staring at Megumi waiting for an answer.

Megumi stopped 'crying' and looked into Kenshin's eyes. "Your right Kenshin. Kaoru couldn't never physically hurt you."

Kenshin looked even more confused. "What do you mean by that?"

"I'm just saying that she used her evil powers on you, that's all. She's a witch Kenshin. I saw her making these weird potions in her room one night. She was chanting things like "Kenshin must die!" "It was horrible! "

Kenshin stared at Megumi in disbelief. 'Kaoru wouldn't do things like that! She's not a witch!"

"I know what your thinking Kenshin, but your wrong." Megumi's voice got deeper with each word. Her eyes held hatred and jealousy. "You will be mine!"

Kenshin felt something cold, and sharp dig into the flesh on his back. He suddenly felt faint and nauseated. Sharp pains ran through his body as he cried out in pain.

Megumi just stood there, cackling evilly. Looking down at her left hand, she smiled at the needle that sat there...still spewing venom. "You are mine."

*On Enishi's Island thingy*

Kaoru woke with a startled yelp. Sweat was dripped from her brow. She stared at her surroundings and gave a sigh of relief. "It was only a dream." Kaoru wiped the sweat off her brow and laid back down trying to fall asleep again. After 15 minutes of no success she got up and walked to the nearby window. "Oh, it's so beautiful tonight." Kaoru smiled as she stared at the stars, making little patterns with them in her mind. She used to do this when she was younger. It took her mind of things that were troubling her. A vague memory of her mother slipped into her mind.

// Flashback //

Kaoru saw a younger version of herself standing outside in the moonlight. Tears were streaming down her face.

"What's wrong my beautiful daughter?"

Kaoru, surprised, turned to see her mother's smiling face.

"It was awful Mother!" Memories of the previous event flooded her mind. " The girls made fun of me ::sniff:: and said ::sniff:: that I wasn't pretty enough to be a girl...::sniff:: and that I might as well be a boy!" Kaoru ran into her mother's arms, tears pouring from her eyes and her body shaking uncontrollably.

"Oh my dear Kaoru, don't listen to them. You are indeed a rare beauty." She smiled down at her daughter. "Any person who can't see that is a fool."

"But Mother, they said no man would ever want a girl as boyish as me. How will I ever find my one true love!" Kaoru wiped her tears, only to welcome more.

Her mother's gentle gaze never ceased. "Come and sit Kaoru. I want to tell you something."

Kaoru obeyed, and sat on a bench next to her mother.

"Now listen Kaoru, and I will tell you something my mother told me when I was your age."

Kaoru sat and listened intently. Her eye's shined with childish curiosity.

" There is an old Japanese legend," her mother began, "that says your one true love can be seen in the stars. It all started when a young girl, like you, fell in love with a very handsome young man. Only to her dismay, he was in love with another."

"Oh Mother," Kaoru interrupted," that would hurt so much! It must have been horrible, I feel so sorry for her!" Kaoru frowned just thinking how the poor girl must have felt.

"You are truly a selfless girl, Kaoru" Her mother smiled. "Now let me finish

my story."

Kaoru sat back down next to her mother, waiting anxiously to hear the rest of the story.

"Now, the girl was very heartbroken. She was so in love with the young man, she would die for him. So, she decided there was one thing she must do."

"What's that Mother! If I was her, I'd challenge her to a duel, and kick

her sorry..."

"Now Kaoru! You mustn’t always resort to violence." She looked down at Kaoru rather disappointed.

"Well, I would have." Kaoru crossed her arms.

Her mother just shook her head. "May I continue with the story?"

Kaoru nodded, remembering the story wasn't finished yet.

"Well, the young girl decided that no matter how much it hurt...she just wanted the him to be happy."

Kaoru eyes widened, "You mean that she'd rather see him happy and be with another girl, other than herself!"

"Yes, and one day the young girl, lets call her Minako.. well Minako saw him and his love by a little river having a picnic. She saw how happy he seemed, and she wished that she could be so happy as he was. That night, underneath the stars, she wished that she could see her one true love's face, so she could know who he was and find him. Her eyelids grew heavy and she fell asleep with the stars smiling down on her."

"Well did she ever find her true love?" Kaoru wondered. 'If she did, maybe there's luck for me.'

Her mother smiled, she knew what her daughter was thinking. "Well, legend has it that the next night, she sat in the same spot where she made her wish and looked up at the sky. To her surprise, she could see a face in the stars. Then a very handsome man came up to her, and his face was the one in the stars! She had finally found her true love. One thing she didn't know, though, was that he saw her face too."

// End Flashback //

Kaoru snapped back into reality and noticed that she wasn't in her room anymore. Somehow, she managed to get herself outside...even quietly enough not to wake Enishi. Kaoru sighed and sat on the cool dirt, "You were wrong Mother." She looked up at the sky, tears dripping down her chin. "I will never find my one true love. I thought I did..but now I know it was all a big mistake." Kaoru's slim body nestled itself in the tall grass. She laid her head in her hands. "What am I supposed to do Mother...what am I supposed to ::yawn:: do...." Kaoru then fell into a deep sleep, under the stars.