ALEXIS' POV

The next day, I got up and I did my work which was an entertainer and I also had a few lessons for both the Biwa and the sitar. I was at one of the inns in Echigo and everyone loved my singing voice. A few of the kids from the inn also loved Sora and they wouldn't stop petting his fur or playing with him. I got back after my performance along with Sora who wouldn't stop following me all day and I rubbed the back of my neck.

'Phew! I worked all day long but, it was worth it. I got paid twice the amount than I usually get from my previous workers and those lessons are paying off too.'

 I was heading back to my room after a long day's work but, as I passed through the hallway that encircled the garden, I saw him. 

'Kenshin? Is he just standing there?'

He was so beautiful, bathed in the light of early sunset, that I was tempted to just stand and watch him. But, I slipped out into the garden to join him, greeting him cheerfully. 

"Hello, Kenshin."

"You're finished with work, Alexis?" Kenshin asked me before petting Sora's head.

"Yep. What are you up to?"

"I had a break in work, so I was overseeing the renovation."

He pointed to where several men were working hard.

"The landscapers are putting in a rock garden."

'Oh, pretty.'

I thought to myself after he told me this. I watched as the workers were busily moving in a selection of smooth white stones.

"With those and some hanging lanterns, that should keep the garden from looking empty."

"I think that sounds lovely--!"

'"Empty"? wait a minute. The garden wasn't empty yesterday.'

I thought to myself after I realised something.

"Where did all the flowers go?" I asked Kenshin.

I looked around and I didn't see a single bloom anywhere.

"I cut them down."

"You cut all the flowers down?" I asked in a shocked tone.

'They looked healthy like they'd continue to bloom for weeks.'

I thought to myself after I remembering the flowers I admired last night.

"Did you plan to use them for a display or something?"

"No. But there was a local daimyo who'd expressed an interest in the cuttings. I sent them to him."

"Well, I hope he likes them," I told him with a small smile before Sora barked in agreement.

'...Although...this seems pretty capricious.'

I felt a creeping uneasiness settle over me that I couldn't explain. It was then Kenshin turned to me with the sweetest, most loving smile. 

"Are you happy, Alexis? the flowers won't ever hurt you again."

Sora and I looked at him with a surprised look.

'No. He couldn't have. Could he?'

I asked myself before I spoke up.

"You removed every flower in the garden because I pricked my finger on one of them?"

"That's right."

The uneasiness I felt intensified after he told me this.

"But, they were beautiful. And it was just a clumsy accident--"

"If you liked them, I'll have fresh ones cut and de-thorned and brought to our room every day," Kenshin told me.

I wanted to say; "That's not the point," but, when I looked at Kenshin with that mournful, helpless look in his eyes, I couldn't bring myself to say it.

'I knew there was something strange about him. Almost from the moment, I met him. I loved him regardless. And I hoped my love would help him. It really seemed to be helping.'

How many times had he been trying to tell me? How many signs had I missed, blindfolded by happiness? 

'I was naive to his trauma or maybe I wanted to believe it was just easy to fix? but, Kenshin's tragedy affected him more than I imagined. More than two weeks of bliss would heal.'

My thoughts were interrupted when Kenshin spoke up.

"Alexis? are you okay?"

"Yes, I'm fine," I replied with a small smile on my face.

'I don't want to say anything now that would hurt him. No without knowing what will help him, first.'

I thought to myself before I looked at Kenshin. I saw a new side of him, one that I hadn't recognized before. A stranger. It didn't frighten me but, it made me sad. I got closer to him before I held Kenshin in my arms.

"What is it?"

"Nothing, I just want to hold you," I told him as I rested my head on his shoulder.

"...I always feel that way."

He held me and looked at me with eyes that were so clouded that I wasn't sure he was really seeing me. 

"I love you, Alexis. I love you so much."

"I love you too."

I told him with a small smile on my face before I thought to myself.

'I love you, but I've been willingly naive to your problems. I wanted to believe it could be as easy sunshine and happiness. But love isn't living in a permanent state of bliss. Especially not for Kenshin, who's been suffering. I can't ignore this anymore but, what can I do for him?'

I asked myself before I held him tighter in my arms. We held each other in the dying light. By nightfall, a beautiful rock garden, lit softly by orange lanterns lay in perfect array. But, the artistry of that landscape, created to suggest harmony and peace, gave me neither. 

***

The next day, I decided to pay a visit to the one man who can tell me how I can help Kenshin from the trauma he has suffered. I got to his room and I spoke up.

"Shingen, it's me. May I come in?"

"Of course," Shingen replied before I slid open his door.

Sora followed after me and I closed the door behind me before Shingen spoke up.

"I'm always pleased to have you visit me, Alexis. But, if you're here to ask about Kenshin and Isehime, I can't call this visit a particularly cosy one."

Shingen spoke as he invited me in, offering me a warm cup of tea as he did while Sora sat next to him which earned him a few scratches behind the ear.

"Thanks, and I'm sorry for asking. I know it's a strange request."

"Don't feel bad about it. And don't mind me, I live in hope that you'll visit me."

Shingen laughed a soft, easy laugh.

"So, you want to know about Isehime?" Shingen asked me before he petted Sora's head.

"Maybe? I'm honestly out of ideas. I don't want to open old wounds...But, when they've healed badly, sometimes you have no choice."

"And why come to me?" Shingen asked me.

"You two were rivals. I hoped you know more about what happened."

"We weren't friends but, I knew things. And I'll share my knowledge with you."

"Thank you."

Shingen set his tea down and sank into the posture of a wizened storyteller. 

"As you said, Kenshin and I were enemies in those days. And I like to collect information on my enemies. Doubly so for Echigo, as they were a powerful foe. That's how I heard that Kenshin had taken a lover in Isehime. Did he tell you that it was his vassals who pulled the two of them apart?"

"Yes, he told me she was forced to become a nun and that she took her own life right after," I told Shingen after I remembered Kenshin telling me about Isehime.

'She had despaired of a life outside her control, he said. That poor girl.'

I thought to myself as I tried to picture how desperate she must have been and I also felt sympathy towards her.

"When she died, Kenshin abandoned everything. He left Kasugayama that night, without plans to come back. I couldn't believe it when my spies told me that the young warmonger had donned monk's robes at Mt. Koya."

"He'd what?!" I shouted in a surprised tone and Sora whimpered in response to this.

"Kenshin, that was where he got that name, became a monk. He was right on the verge of swearing off everything. That's him, in a nutshell. Always leaping before he looks."

'I wonder if he felt it was a way to join Isehime? Or maybe he just had nothing left?'

I asked myself before Sora came over to me and then he moved his head under my arm to let me pet his head.

"Losing their young God of War made Kasugayama panic. They had no one strong enough to assume leadership."

'And obviously, the story doesn't end there or we wouldn't be here.'

"What made him change his mind?" I asked Shingen after thinking to myself.

"There was a revolt within Echigo. His vassals pleaded with him to return."

"So, if it hadn't been for a random revolt, then Kenshin would--"

"Yep. He'd still be on that mountain, I assume. Alive but, not living."

'The lure of battle drew him back from that lonely path. It was the only thing he had left that brought him joy.'

I thought to myself as I ran my fingers over Sora's ear and he was enjoying the little massage I was giving him. Shingen stroked his chin and smiled.

"A lot of things had to be pulled to get that revolt to come off just right."

"Wait, Shingen--!"

'"I like to collect information on my enemies?" No, he couldn't have?!'

I nearly dropped my teacup when I realised what he meant.

"YOU caused the revolt? You were the reason he abandoned monkhood?"

"That would be me."

"But why? you were enemies. Why encourage your greatest rival to return to battle?"

"Because he never showed any interest in conquering Kai. We fought, but, I didn't hate him. I respected him. In fact, I saw it as a waste for a man of his talents to cut his career short. So, I sent a few dozen letters to several of his vassals and set the stage for Kenshin to come back fighting," Shingen explained to me.

'I can't believe that crazy plan worked.'

I thought to myself before I asked Shingen.

"Do you think Kenshin knew?"

"It's never come up in conversation, but I've always assumed so. He acts more than he thinks, but when he uses that head of his, he's sharp."

"You helped him to protect your own interests, to keep a strong but honourable enemy?"

I asked him before I thought to myself.

'I'm not sure how a lesser-of-two-evils situation turned into a friendship. They're pretty remarkable men!'

I sat there staring at him with an impressed look on my face.

"I tried to help him for his own sake too, but it was only a stopgap measure. You could argue that what I did made him worse. He returned to the world, but only to wage war. Kenshin doesn't see his second chance at life as the previous gift it is."

"Do you think he doesn't want to live anymore because he lost Isehime?" I asked Shingen as Sora whimpered sadly.

'If she was that previous to Kenshin, is it even possible to help him?'

I asked myself before Shingen spoke up.

"I don't think it's quite like that."

Shingen's considerate words came just as I felt my own hope waning. 

"It's not that he can't get over her. It's that he's come to fear he'll lose anyone and everyone he loves. Theirs was a young love. If she'd lived, he would gave gotten over her eventually. But, she chose to take her life and that left him with an unhealed wound."

"...So, intentionally or not, she pretty much took him with her?"

"Not so. Don't sell yourself short. I've already seen how much Kenshin's improved because of his love for you."

"Really?"

"I swear on it," Shingen spoke with a smirk. 

'You know, when Shingen's being serious, he's worth listening to. Turns out, inside the hopeless flirt is a deeply caring man and a good friend. If John were here right now, he and Shingen would have gotten along well.'

I stood up and bowed to him.

"Thank you for listening and for taking the time to talk to me."

"Always a pleasure, Princess. Anytime."

"See ya, come on Sora."

I commanded Sora and patting my thigh at the same time. Sora got up from the floor while Shingen waved goodbye to me with a cheerful smile to me as we left the room.

3RD PERSON POV

After Alexis left, Shingen sighed.

"You should be ashamed of yourself, Kenshin. Putting a frown on that beautiful face is a crime. It's far past time to get over yourself. And it looks like it's up to me to save your sorry self--again. Just so you know, I'm keeping count."

Resting his chin on his hand, he grinned a scheming smile.