Though the Battousai would not know it, the man had been paid off to inform Kenshin that his wife had been spying on him all along. The truth of it struck the boy's heart, his eyes going sad for a moment before again turning cold. Given the location of her supposed meeting with the vampire that meant to kill him, he took sword in hand again and set to the road.
His love for Tomoe was strong, and the thought of hurting her at all disgusted him. Still, he had to know the truth. Were her smiles all lies? Had it all been a farce?
Kenshin fought many men on the path to his wife. In his sorrow, he was wounded already and weakened. It was winter, and the snow fell around him as he made his way to the small hut. Outside stood a man, tall and muscular in simple clothing. His flesh was pale, and the assassin could see that he did not breathe. The vampire's hair was white, and his features set in stone save glorious delight dancing in his blood-red eyes.
"Have you come for your traitorous wife, Battousai? Do you know she's been spying on you for some time now and relaying information to us." The unnamed vampire smirked. "It wasn't hard to convince her. You did murder her master. The one who was to free her and wed her, you know. The one she truly loved?"
The change in Kenshin's expression was subtle but poignant nonetheless. If ever there were a look to define the moment a heart was destroyed, it lay in Himura Kenshin's eyes in that moment.
He drew his blade and dashed recklessly at the elder vampire, who easily side-stepped his advance. The battle that would ensue was clearly one-sided, the vampire toying with the broken Battousai, this being the culmination of his plan for some time. When the assassin was beaten, bleeding, and nearly dead, he caught glimpses of a woman's figure in white before he lost consciousness. Tomoe. Trying to come between them to save his life. She'd loved him truly after all.
When Kenshin next woke, there was a body in his arms. He was somehow alive and yet not breathing. The snow around them had been stained red, and everything was so vivid and terribly loud. Had he always perceived things this way? He looked down, eyes widened in horror as he realized the woman in his arms was his Tomoe, the last breaths of life slipping from her as he'd consumed all of her blood after being turned. He could not even weep as his eyes stared down at her body. His wife, his Tomoe, used the last of her strength to draw a knife across his cheek, the cross-shaped scar complete. Vampires were meant to heal such wounds, and yet the cross remained, carved by an enchanted blade she had held all along.
His Sire, the one who had been watching the young Kenshin for so many years only to set up this cruel end to his human life, was nowhere to be found, nor did the newly turned vampire look for him. Kenshin released a single, anguished cry, strangled as it echoed throughout the valley.
The scene shifted again to that of the vampire Battousai, now fighting on the opposite side of the war to simply end the bloody conflict swiftly so that no further lives would be lost. And so he pledged his sword once more to end the war, vowing to never take a life again when it was through. He sat, his back against the tree as he looked up to the stars, color in the vision as he wore the violet shawl Tomoe was so fond of as a scarf. His eyes were tired, reflecting his heart.
When the war ended, he was there. The moment victory was declared and the surrender was to be had, a lone vampire unsheathed his katana for the last time, driving it into the earth, stained with the blood of its victims before he slowly walked off of the battlefield.