Kenshin Page

You are Sanosuke! You are a very caring person and
you will protect your friends even if it'll
cost your life. You like to enjoy life and you
always look happy. You can be short temper but
deep inside, you're a cool and a nice friend.

Rurouni Kenshin Personality Quiz (Samurai X)
brought to you by Quizilla

You are Aoshi! You're very smart, intellegent and
always care about your friends. You can be
quite dangerous for sometime but you have a
good heart. Open yourself to the public and
just be yourself.

Rurouni Kenshin Personality Quiz (Samurai X)
brought to you by Quizilla

The evolution of Kenshin and Kaoru's relationship started off happily enough, but progressed into something a lot sadder.

This section describes the events in the Seisou Hen that were centered specifically on Kenshin and Kaoru.

Major spoilers ahead.

Driven by guilt to wander once more, Kenshin leaves his family a mere few years after his son, Kenji, is born. He told Kaoru that he felt as if all the lives he took were not yet repaid with his previous, decade-long journey, and that he felt the call to help people once more.

He said, however, that he would no longer use his sword to achieve his goals, because he had sworn to lay it down completely. Now he wanted to help people alleviate their suffering-- war-torn areas left behind vast areas scorched and stripped people of their homes. He wanted to help disease and poverty-stricken areas-- his sword wasn't of any use, and he wished to help people with his own two hands.

Kaoru let him go, saying that she and Kenji would wait for him as long as it took. After all, he had given her all that she could've possibly wanted-- a son.

Years passed between visits, and Kenji, sadly, grew up hating the father he never knew. Kaoru, on the other hand, still waited for him with a smile on her face. She went to the docks every day to see if he would come home to her, and once every few years, he would.

This continued for several years until Kenshin comes home with an illness that he picked up from one of the disease-stricken areas of Japan. It is further explained that his body was weakened greatly by the utilization of the Hiten Mitsurugi Ryuu, and that it made him susceptible to disease (if not being the cause itself.)

Kaoru knew this, but asked her husband to make love to her anyway.

Kenshin refused at first, but she says that there is nothing left for her here-- Kenji has grown up and left their home, and she wished to simply share her husband's pain.

This is one of the most pivotal moments in the entire history of Rurouni Kenshin because it shows just how much Kaoru loved her husband. She waited for him for almost thirteen years, and now she simply wished to die with him.

Taking Kenji into account, Kenshin and Kaoru were actually quite selfish in their love for each other, but I suppose that was really the beauty of their relationship-- it was an all-consuming passion that would never die. -_- (even distance couldn't keep them apart-- how amazing is *that*?)

In any case, Kenshin leaves again after a few days and he somehow ends up in China. Sagara Sanosuke caught wind of his presence there after several months passed, and he arrives to find his friend staring blankly into the sunset-- his memory was gone, and the disease had reached its final stages.

Sano stayed with him and tried to cure him as best he could, and when Kenshin regained enough strength to make the journey home, he put him on a boat

and waved his old friend good-bye.

(NOTE: This was a fairly gut-wrenching scene since we see Sano and Kenshin reunited again after so long, and with Kenshin so weak, he doesn't even recognize him. Sano is aghast at what his friend has become, and the play of emotion that is put into play in this scene is incredible-- shock, disgust, pity... Sano valiantly tries to forget that the broken man before him used to be the greatest swordsman in all of Japan, and simply tries to get him home...)

Back in Tokyo, Yahiko managed to convince Kenji to return to his mother's side to say good-bye. Kaoru was dying-- the disease had approached its final stages in her body, and she was very weak,

Kenshin arrived at the docks the following day, and as he limped home, Kaoru somehow sensed his presence. She lifted herself from her futon and walked as best as she could towards the docks.

It was in the sakura field that they said goodbye to each other so long ago that they met once more-- Kenshin collapsed into his wife's arms amidst the blooming cherry trees.

Kaoru welcomed him home with a soft smile and open arms, just as she said she would all those years ago.

Stopping to rest in the shade, they settled under one of the trees. Kenshin with his head on her lap, and Kaoru with stories and plans of the things they would do together, now that he was finally back.

On a whim, she pushed back his hair from his cheek and discovered that his scar was finally gone. She smiled softly at her discovery, and shakes him lightly to tell him.

Kenshin, however, does not stir. He has died quietly in the arms of his beloved, and his journey has ended at last.

Kaoru wept as she cradled his body close-- but in her heart, she knew that the one man she has loved her entire life... was finally at peace.