A/N sorry for the short, half-assed chapter. My mental and physical health haven't been great these past couple months and I just wanted to get something out.

Kaoru hung the latest persimmon crop from the eaves of the house to dry. Thanks to the sunny and mild weather they were blessed with that autumn, the persimmon harvest was bountiful.

Plenty of delicious hoshigaki. If only she could find a way to send some to Yahiko, who'd left with Tsubame after the autumnal equinox, in Kyoto. Hoshigaki was Yahiko's favorite sweet and would make a nice present for his genpuku.

"Afternoon, Hime-Sama."  Kaoru craned her neck. Iizuka-San's thin figure approached the farmhouse via the main road. "Where's your Lord and Master?"
Kaoru scoffed. If Himura was her Lord and Master, then Iizuka-San wasn't a slimy weasel in hakama. "Iizuka-San's here," she shouted into the house.
Kenshin stepped out onto the engawa. He shared a gloomy look with Kaoru. Iizuka-San rarely came with good news.
It had been a summer of defeats for the Choshu clan, with the foiled Ikedaya and Kinmon Incidents and the Shogunate's retaliation and the humiliating defeat at Shimonoseki at the hands of the western barbarians. But still, Iizuka-San greeted Kaoru with a smirk.
Kaoru gave him a polite bow and went into the house to make tea. After all, a lady, like a lotus, rises above the muck.
Kenshin settled in front of the tokonoma next to an arrangement of chrysanthemums. Kaoru brought over the tea things and took her place by his side.

"Looks like we've made a proper little housewife out of you, Hime-Sama." Iizuka-San accepted a cup of tea from Kaoru. Half of its contents sloshed onto the tatami mats. Katara dabbed up the spillage with a towel. "Your father's fiefdom is near the Mito Domain right?"
Kaoru met his gaze. "Yes?" Mito and Murkai were practically neighbors and Otou-san frequently dined with Tokugawa Nariaki, the retired Lord of Mito.
Iizuka-San's smirk turned even nastier. "There's been fighting in your backyard. The Shogunate sent forces, one of their leaders being your old man, to deal with rebels based around Mount Tsukuba." Kaoru's heart pounded. Please, please, let Otou-san be alright. "The rebels were outnumbered but they still clobbered the Shogunate forces. Lord Kamiya had to turn tail back to Edo." He emptied his tea cup in one shot. 
Despite this embarrassing loss, the knots in Kaoru's stomach loosened. At least Otou-san was safe. She refilled Iizuka-San's tea cup. He raised the cup to her. "What do you say, Hime-sama?" he said.
Kaoru folded her hands in her lap and met Iizuka-San's eye. "I'm relieved that my Lord Father survived to fight another battle." No way in Hell would she let him see her worry.
"She's a feisty one," said Iizuka-San, laughing and clapping Himura on the back.

Iizuka-San, thank Kami, didn't stay long. He had to get back to Kyoto before the gathering storm broke. Once he was finally gone, Kaoru and Himura closed up the shutters to keep the paper shoji screens and the racks of persimmons dry.
Himura looked up at thickening rows of clouds. "Eightfold rising clouds," he said. "Build an eightfold fence. An eightfold Izumo fence wherein to keep my bride." He stole a quick glance at Kaoru, who lowered her eyes. An aching warmth spread throughout her entire body. Thinking of herself as Himura's wife was still so thrillingly new. "Oh splendid, eightfold fence."
His words were from a poem, composed by the  storm god Susanoo after he rescued the beautiful princess Kushiinada-hime and made her his wife. It expressed his wish to have a place where they could be safe and happy, much like the new era Himura often spoke about.
The maple trees in the nearby forest wore their fiery autumn garments. A gentle breeze made their branches perform a graceful dance.  Kaoru was entranced by the autumn foliage and said, "I wish they could stay like that forever."
Himura bent down to pick up a particularly and vibrant leaf, its bright scarlet color the same as his hair, that had landed on the engawa. A cleverer man than Himura might have captured this moment for his sweetheart in a poem or painting. But instead, all he could do was give the fallen leaf to Kaoru.
Kaoru laughed. "Am I a caterpillar?" She tucked the leaf into her obi.
There was the bumbling rurouni again. This man was hopeless. But what was it Megumi always said? Sometimes men needed a little push.
Rain pattered on the roof. Kaoru took Himura's hand. "Let's go inside," she said. A warm fire and a soft futon awaited them there.