Chapter 23:- Akane's nightmare

As they lay in bed, fingers intertwined, Akane couldn't help thinking back to the loneliness she suffered only four days ago. Her life was completely overturned and it would never be the same again. 'I hope this can go on forever. I want our family to be together, for as long as we live.'

"Did you enjoy it?" Kenshin asked, brushing a strand of hair from her face. "You stiffened up occasionally."

"I'm fine. I loved it. Thank you for this." Akane reached up to give him a soft peck on the lips before snuggling in his arms. "I'm tired." She whispered.

"Sleep well, Akane." Kenshin gave her a kiss on the forehead and Akane slowly drifted off into a peaceful slumber, and Kenshin soon followed.

[Later that night]

In her dreams, Akane suddenly discovered herself in the middle of a battlefield. There was rubble everywhere.

"Where am I? What happened to this place?" Akane said to herself as she walked around.

Suddenly she saw a figure sitting in the middle of the battlefield. Slowly, she walked closer to the figure. It seemed to be a girl, wearing an outfit similar to what Akane usually wears. But she seemed to be holding someone in her arms and there was a sword going through her back.

"What happened to her?" Akane murmured as she walked closer, her heart pounding. Suddenly, the girl's body twitched. Akane rushed to her. "Hey, are you okay?! What hap–" Akane's words were cut short as she saw the person in her arms who happened to be Kenshin, with a hole in his chest. He was not breathing.

Her concern turned to shock and confusion as she saw the girl who turned out to be herself. The girl couldn't lift her face and simply stared at Kenshin, tears flowing from her eyes.

"What..... What is this?! This.... this has to be a nightmare!" Akane screamed as she frantically looked around, trying to figure out what was happening. Suddenly, she heard a loud explosion from behind. She turned around to see a something she was very familiar with, the hokage mountain. Only this one was destroyed, four of the five faces gone. And less than a second later, a loud blast erupted from the mountain, engulfing the entire battlefield in a fraction of a second.

"Ahhhhhh!!!!!!!!!!!!!!" She screamed as she woke up.

"Akane?! What happened?!" Kenshin was jolted awake by her sudden scream. "It's okay, it's just a nightmare. It's not real." He hugged her tightly, while gently rubbing her back.

Akane couldn't speak. She was too shocked and scared. The dream, it was not like her usual dreams or nightmares. It was extremely vivid, as if she was seeing a memory. Not to mention she saw herself holding the dead Kenshin in her arms.

After almost an hour, Akane finally spoke. "I... I saw..... a battlefield. You... we.... we were there. You were..... d... d.. dead.... and I... I was holding you. And then.... There was a..... an explosion and.... Everything... was destroyed." Akane stammered, barely able to speak properly.

"It's okay. It was just a nightmare. You must've been very tired. Come on, I'm here aren't I? And you know what? You and I, we're not weak. We're not going to die so easily. So rest assured, nee-san." He gave her a gentle kiss on the forehead and laid down with her in his arms.

Akane couldn't sleep for most of the night but just before dawn, she drifted off into an uneasy sleep. Only this time, there were no more dreams. After ensuring that she was asleep, Kenshin went to sleep as well.

[Next morning]

Kenshin woke up to the sound of someone knocking on their door. 'Who is it?' He thought as he quickly got dressed and opened the door. It was Maki.

"Where's Akane?" She asked. "We have a mission. It's urgent."

"She's asleep, she had a bad dream last night and didn't sleep. When do you have to leave? You can tell me the details, I assure you that she'll get there in time." Kenshin replied, while being careful not to let Maki look inside.

"You're awfully cautious, what's wrong? Come on kid, move over." Maki tried to push him aside but he didn't let her enter. "It's fine, I know about your..... secret. You can trust me."

"I don't understand what you're saying but, it's not about trust. It's nothing personal but I can't let you come inside. Please understand." Kenshin said with an awkward smile.

Maki chuckled and decided not to push further. "All right you win. Send your sister over to the hokage's office at noon. We'll leave then. We're escorting a VIP." Saying that, Maki left immediately.

'I guess I'll take a bath now. And prepare some breakfast before Akane wakes up.' Kenshin thought as he went to the bathroom.

An hour later, Akane woke up. She noticed Kenshin making breakfast. "Morning."

"Good morning, nee-san. Did you sleep well after that?"

"Mmm, yeah." Akane nodded. 'It's back to nee-san now. Well, I guess it can't be helped. We can't really tell everyone about our secret. As of now, only Maki and Shizune-san know.' she thought with a soft sigh.

"Anyways, why didn't you wake me up?" Akane asked, although she was still distraught because of the nightmare, partly because she hardly ever had dreams. And most of the time they were extremely vague, unlike what she saw last night. But she didn't want to talk about it because she didn't want to make him worry.

"I wanted you to sleep some more, you were awake for a long time last night. By the way, Maki-san came. She said that you two had an escort mission. She asked you to meet her at the hokage's office at noon."

"All right, I'll go." Akane went to the bathroom to take a quick bath.

[Later that day]

Kenshin and Akane were currently staring at Kana, their faces a mix of shock, surprise and relief. It was because Kana was already able to stand on her own, although she couldn't walk without support.

"The Uzumaki clan's vitality is incredible! I never expected you to be able to stand on your own so soon." Shizune exclaimed. It was beyond anything she had seen before, for someone to be able to recover from such a physical condition so soon with only inherent recuperative ability.

"Well I guess that means I'll be able to walk by tomorrow then." Kana laughed. But suddenly, she lost her balance and before she could fall, Kenshin caught her.

"I got you, mom." Kenshin said as he sat her down on the bed.

"Oh, thank you, my prince!" Kana said with a mischievous smile. But suddenly she noticed Akane, who seemed disturbed."Anyways, Akane-chan, you look distraught. Did something happen?"

"It's nothing, I just had a bad dream last night." Akane smiled sheepishly. "Anyways I need to go. I have a mission. I might not be back for a couple of days." Akane said before leaving. Kenshin went with her to see her off.

[At the village gate]

Maki was waiting for Akane. "She said she was going to visit her mother but we're going to be late like this. The client is the daimyo's relative. We can't be late."

Suddenly, she saw Akane and Kenshin approaching her. "Sorry I'm late, Maki. Let's go." Akane said after she came.

"Is your brother going to tag along?"

"No, I'm just here to see her off." Kenshin replied. "Bye, you two." Kenshin waved as the girls went on their way.

"So, did you do it?" Maki asked Akane after the village was out of their sight.

Akane's face flushed bright red and she took a moment to compose herself. "Yeah." She said, her voice barely above a whisper.

"How was it?"

"It was.... good. Like.... really good. I don't expect it to be like that."

"Ohh." Maki smiled in amusement. "Do tell me more."

Akane recalled what happened between her and Kenshin the previous night and told Maki everything, including the part about her past life. Maki already knew about it but she was surprised to hear that Kenshin just so happened to be Akane's love from her past life.

'This guy just keeps getting more and more interesting. I guess not making a fuss about their relationship turned out to be a good thing. If they're lovers from their past life, it makes sense for their relationship to feel normal for them.' Maki thought with a small smirk.

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