Chapter 248: A Smile Once Again

Saitou: So this is how it turned out...

Aoshi: But he won't use that sword again.

Sanosuke: That's it.

Yahiko: Kenshin won!

Megumi: Ken-san!

Misao: Himura!

Kaoru: Kenshin...

(Behind her, Heishin is regaining consciousness.)

(Kenshin suddenly staggers.)

Megumi: Oh no!

Misao: Himura, are you--

(He pulls himself together.)

Kenshin: Not yet...

(Enishi, too, is on his feet.)

Kaoru (thinking): I see ... Just winning or losing a fight isn't enough to pay for his crime. He has to make it right...

Enishi: Battousai ... Battousai!

Kenshin: Enishi--

(He is suddenly struck by a bullet in the shoulder. Heishin appears at the edge of the woods, clutching two pistols.)

Misao: Himura!

Aoshi: It's all right. It missed the vital points. However--

Heishin: So you all tried to make a fool of me! I'll kill you! I'll take you all down!

Kaoru: No!

(She rushes out in front of him.)

Yahiko: Kaoru!

Misao: Kaoru!

(In Enishi's clouded vision, Kaoru seems to blur with Tomoe, leaping in front of the blow to protect the one she loves.)

Heishin: Die!

(Suddenly Enishi is between them, knocking Heishin down with one solid punch. Heishin hits a tree and slumps down. Enishi roars and rushes forward.)

Kaoru: Stop! Any more and you'll really kill him--

(Kenshin blocks Enishi's next punch.)

Yahiko: Kenshin...

Enishi: Move!

Kenshin: I'm not moving.

Enishi: Move it!

Kenshin: If I move, you'll kill this man. I won't kill, and I won't let anyone else be killed. As long as there's anything I can do, I won't let anyone else die! It's over, Enishi ... If you don't let go, Tomoe's smile will be lost to you forever.

(Slowly, Enishi moves back a pace.)

Kenshin: You saved Miss Kaoru. Thank you.

(Enishi suddenly sinks to the ground, pounding his fists into the sand.)

Enishi: No! The one I wanted to save--the one I really wanted to save--Damn you! Damn you!

(Tears fall from his eyes.)

Kaoru (thinking): In order to pay for his sins ... even if he shed his heart's blood, unless someone forgave him, it wouldn't mean anything. Maybe it ended without forgiveness. Maybe his life will always go unrewarded. But--

Kenshin (to Kaoru): Are you hurt?

Kaoru (thinking): But Kenshin can still smile. He always smiles, with a little sorrow hidden in all his kindness. Maybe one life can't change an age. But I at least want to be by his side. I want to always be by his side.

(Kenshin stumbles, and Kaoru moves forward to catch him.)

Kenshin: Oro?