Symbols

Wrinkled by this gravel, skinless trace of time.

"Women scent, men perspire and horses sweat." Not meaning the word in that semantic way, everyone should be aware of the fact that Tomoe is one of the most important characters in the series, even if she doesn't have much screen time. Just by looking at the great impact she had on Kenshin and therefore, the whole storyline. There are also other things about Tomoe, symbols that give her a special accent and help make Tsuioku Hen what it is.

WHITE PLUMS

Plums belong to the family of cherries. So ume, white plum blossoms, are also cherry blossoms, sakura. Please excuse how I like to digress omen-wise just so I can pseudo-philosoph a bit.
Sakura can stand for hope, new beginnings, and endings.

Tomoe is well-known for her white plum perfume. But the only people who actually talk of white plums are killers.
First, we start off with Hiko Seijurou, Kenshin's master, who thinks that the smell of blood is as common as the smell of white plums. He is a swordsman, he knows the smell of blood and always knew the smell of something as delicate as white plums.
Then, Kenshin. When Iizuka talks about that something is smelling sweet here, Kenshin automatically knows that it's white plums. Even Iizuka tells him that he hadn't thought that Kenshin could sense such a fine smell.
Next, Saitou Hajime. After the Shinsengumi had attacked the patriots, Kenshin and Tomoe fled the place together. There was a lot of space between them and Saitou, but as they ran across one of the streets, Saitou looked alarmed. When asked what was wrong he said he had just thought that he had smelled white plums.
Why are all those extraordinary swordsmen so sensible to the smell of white plums?

I think it's supposed to tell us that the smell of blood = the smell of white plums. Not that these two scents actually are identical, they are just similar, in a symbolic way. Tomoe smells like white plums = Tomoe represents death and rebirth. Tomoe is the power that can refresh things, and change them to a new beginning, just like she gave Kenshin hope and the power to go on. Tomoe had power over Kenshin's fate; she had the power to save him, but she could have let him be killed as well. It was her choice, she was the "judge". She is like the sakura; she could have ended Kenshin's life, but with sacrificing herself and accepting another end, she created a new beginning, the beginning of Kenshin how we came to know him.

OTHER FLOWERS, IRIS, RAIN, BLOOD

When we see Tomoe for one of the first times, Kiyosato thinks of her while dying. You only see half of her face, the rest is hidden under flowers. If her fiancé thinks of her as somebody with flowers in her hands, I think flowers mean much to her. If you look at the flowers Kiyosato is seeing Tomoe holding really precisely, you'll notice that it's the same kind Kenshin lays on Kiyosato's back after he's dead. This may express how his death will affect Tomoe, and that something ties him to earth, as seen when Tomoe sees his ghost, smiling.

At the inn Tomoe works at she's also practising ikebana, one of the flowers used is the iris. It starts raining, and the okami tells Tomoe she's like the iris, conspicious in rain. Before Kenshin and Tomoe leave for Otsu, the okami tells Tomoe that she shouldn't forget how she's conspicious in rain, even in the rain of blood. Let us remember how Kenshin and Tomoe met; it was raining, and Kenshin had just killed. Tomoe told him that he made it rain, the rain of blood.

STOLE

After Tomoe had died, Kenshin burned down their house. The only things he took with him were his sword and Tomoe's purple stole. He carried it with him the whole time until the revolution was over, and it was his only connection to Tomoe, except the second part of his scar. Kenshin leaves his sword at a battle field after the revolution has been completed.

Tomoe's stole he hung over one of the crosses for his "sisters" he had made. When he was small, he had failed to protect them. "But he had also failed to protect Tomoe, even though he had told her he would do so. He wanted to make a final cut to his past and give away everything that had to do with his hitokiri times, so he had to part from the stole.

SHEATH

Katsura told Tomoe to act as Kenshin's "sheath" - and that's exactly what she did. She is the person who woke up Kenshin, she is the one who "tamed" his deadly sword. She was, and would still be, his sheath, because she was who made him realize he didn't, and never had wanted, to kill. She is what made Kenshin's other half reign over Battousai, she is one of the reasons that made him able to become Shinta again.

SPINNING TOY

Tomoe realizes that Kenshin is just a child, and that's what makes her begin to understand him. Battousai is a split personality. The split personality of a child. The grown-up Kenshin is not Battousai anymore because he's not a child. Tomoe made him grow up. Tomoe made him realize what was wrong in his life. The spinning toy represents Kenshin's childhood. It is what he owns since he can remember, it is what he's still playing with while being a hitokiri. After Tomoe's death, however, when he burns down the house, we see that he left the spinning toy there, which also makes a cut to his past. Battousai, who clings to his memories and thinks others can be spared from what happened to him as a child can be achieved through a violent revolution, is dead, and the child's toy has withered away.