Home is Where the Heart Is?
Summary: The saying was: Home is where the heart is. What if your home and the family that came with it had been ripped from your grasp and given to another? Where would that leave you?
Kagome smiled lightly as she worked in her garden in truth she didn't really have a garden it was more of a forest then a garden and it wasn't really hers. Not entirely, she smiled lightly at the spirit of a young child that lingered by her roses. The child merely faded from view, she went back to tending to the herbs that grew close to her house. It wasn't uncommon for wandering sprits to be drawn to her little home. The land itself was a beacon in the darkness to those who were lost. Add in her calming and powerful aura? Half of Japan's spiritual and other community had been to her home at least once.
She was fine, she herself was a part of the supernatural community on so many levels it was kind of comical for who had ever heard of let alone seen a vampire miko? Let alone one who held claim to the western and northern lands? Yes, it seemed so long ago that Sesshomaru and Kouga had accepted her as part of their packs, so long ago. She remembered the very day like it was yesterday yet at the same time it was often overrun by the other memories she had gathered in the past five hundred and some plus years.
She blinked as a fairy landed on her nose and smiled at her, she was petit, a young one most likely, and new to her lands as well, then again they came and went as they pleased. "Hello little one." The fairy lifted off her nose, her pale pink wings fluttering, and floated at eye level with her and danced a to a tune that only she could hear before zooming off with a small giggle. She smiled as she stood up and looked off in the direction the fairy had flown in. She glanced at her watch, which stood out against her traditional miko grab like a glob of red paint in a white room, and sighed. "Oh dear, I need to start dinner."
With that she walked into her house and hung up her gardening tools on the hook on the wall. After that was done she walked briskly to her kitchen sink and washed her hands thoroughly before drying them on a nearby dishtowel. Once that was done she moved around her kitchen and the sprits that decided to watch her prepare her nights diner and got the things that she would need to prepare said dinner.
Once she had everything started she turned on her heel and made her way to her bathroom intent on washing away the grime from today's gardening session. "I'm going to bathe and would appreciate it if you left me alone for a bit." The words were calm and if she hadn't been so used to talking to things that no one else could see she would have shivered as they all walked past her and left her home as she had asked.
She sighed as she shut the door behind her and put up a barrier to keep unwanted visitors outside. It wasn't that she didn't trust them it was just that she knew a few of her guest were on the perverted side and a couple others loved to try and scare her. She just wanted time to relax and unwind from the days activities. So once that was done she drew the water for her bath and undressed.
Once she was completely naked, her supple and lithe figure exposed to the room she grabbed a large white fully towel to wrap herself in to beat the small chill of her bath room. She vaguely made a mental note to turn on her heat for the upcoming winter season, if not for her for the others that often wandered into her house well the ones that had flesh, she recalled hearing that it was going to be a doozy of a winter if the days temperature of only fifteen degrees was anything to go by.
Once her bath was at her desired level of water she turned off the water and let her towel drop to the floor as she stepped into the scalding hot water. To her it was only luke warm, a drawback of being one of the undead, and sighed lightly. The one thing she hated, besides having to occasionally feed on animals to live, was the fact that she could never enjoy hot baths like she had used to. She shrugged her thoughts away and let herself fully submerge into the water and smiled. On the other hand being able to just relax in the tub fully submerged without fear of drowning was a pretty big plus in her book.
It was twenty minutes later that she was refreshed and warmly dressed in a clean pair of black sweat pants and a dark blue thermal long sleeved shirt. She unplugged the tube and tossed her used towel into the hamper on her way to the kitchen. Once there she smiled as she shut off the burner, her pasta was done as was the sauce warm and ready to be drizzled over her three cheese pasta. She quickly made herself a plate and sat down to eat it.
She smiled at the new child spirit as he, for he was a boy, stood across from her looking at her oddly. She had no doubt what his unasked question was.
"Yes, I am a vampire but I'm special. I can and need to eat human food at least three times a week. No I don't know why I think it has to do with my miko powers." She smiled as the small boy nodded and walked out of her kitchen. At least he was starting to warm up to her, she just hoped he would cross over before his piper fully opened it's eyes. Lest she be fighting against said piper to protect the young boy's souls, oh yeah her days were never boring.
She knew she was odd, she always had been and she always would be. Besides who else got dragged down wells on their fifteenth birthday only to end up five hundred years in the past? No one, she was just that special. She shrugged her shoulders; she had long ago stopped questioning her fate and resigned herself to be its plaything so she merely finished her dinner in peace. Once done she paced the dishes in the sink to be washed later and made her way into her living room.
She frowned at how quiet and desolate her home had become but brushed it off as she moved to check her answering machine. It was thrust on her years ago by her eldest son Shippo. He had gotten annoyed by the fact that when she was in the 'gardening zone' she never picked up her phone and was tired of her missing appointments and other such things with him and the others. Her eyes widened as she saw the red flashing light telling her she had a message or two. She quickly pressed the button and waited to hear who had called her and for what. Please don't let it be a meeting with Sesshomaru, if it was she was screwed.
"It's me Edward though I think you knew that. It's just…I'm in some trouble and I don't have anyone else to turn to. I...I need your help…please…mama I need you. Call me." She gazed blankly at the answering machine her whole body frozen. Never again had she ever thought that he would call let alone call her mama. It had been at least one hundred years since she had heard from him, from any of them.
Involuntarily her mind ran over all of the memories that she tried so hard to burry deep down. Smiles, laughter, hugs, kisses, playful insults, joking around, all of it. It came rushing back and took her back to a time when she was happily married and was the mother a three oh so special and quirky vampires.
With the good came the bad and she was once again forced to remember when and how things had turned badly. Meeting her and the way he looked at her. The way he drifted from her and spent more time with that woman. The way that woman wormed her way into her family and one by one won them over one by one. Edward was the last to be won over and it was just barely what hurt the most was that Alice was the first and she went without much of a fight. Rose and Emmet had resisted but in the end they to caved.
She could remember it all, the tears, the pain, the despair, the ashamed and pitiful looks. The 'I'm sorry's' that he didn't really mean. She held a hand above where her heart used to beat and bit back a dry sob. She took a deep breath to clam herself, something that she held onto even after being changed, and looked blankly at the answering machine which blinked up innocently at her.
She could feel the worry of those that were in the room with her yet could not been seen and forced herself to calm down. When she was upset she upset them and she had no right to do so. So she steadied herself and replayed the message twice before slumping to the ground her face in her hands. Oh God. She didn't know what to do. Yes, her son needed her but they made it perfectly clear when they chose Esme that she was to stay away from them. Yet…he called her and he needed her. She could hear it in his voice and no matter what they had decided on it didn't mean anything because her son needed her.
She glanced at the wedding band that sat on her finger, she hadn't taken it off since he had slipped it on her finger all those years ago even after he had chosen another over her. After he had ripped apart her world and crushed her heart. She grit her teeth as her head throbbed in pain. If she went to them now she would no doubt receive glares and be yelled at but her child needed her. He needed her and no matter what had happened between her and Carlisle she had vowed to her children that it wouldn't change anything between them. It had oh God it had she barely heard from them anymore but that didn't change how she felt about them. They were her kids and she loved them.
So with resolve flowing through her veins she stood up and made her decision. She quickly picked up her phone and dialed a number she knew by heart. It rang twice before someone picked up. She didn't even give them a chance to answer before she spoke.
"It's me. I'm on my way. I'll see you soon. Stay strong, I love you." With that she hung up and walked away from the now ringing phone. She quickly threw some clothes and other things into a bag and picked up her purse. She glanced around the place she had called home for so many years and those she had called her companions and with an aching heart she walked towards the door.
She cast a glance at a painted portrait that hung on the wall opposite of her. In it was a young woman with long flowing black hair pulled into an intact design. She was dressed in the richest of fabrics, her supple body was hidden by a late eighteenth century dress. Next to her stood a man with pale skin, light blond hair and golden eyes. He was dressed in the finest of robes that one could find in the late eighteenth century. His arm was wrapped firmly around the young woman, they looked happy, they looked like they were in love and at the time that picture was painted they were.
She let out a deep sigh as she turned her back on that picture and the many more that littered the walls of her home. They were all memories of a time far better than now.
A time when she was an innocent young girl traveling the feudal era with her friends in search of jewel shards and to save the world.
A time when she had been changed by the man she thought she would spend forever with.
A time when with that man she built a new family and a time when she had brought together both her family from her past and her family of the, then, present.
A time long forgotten yet once again within reach if she so desired.
She shook her head at that thought she was not going to go down that road again any feelings she had for Carlisle where put away in a box deep in her heart right next to her feelings for Inu Yasha. She was going to them to help her children and then she was once again going to leave. She would pretend that everything was fine, that she wasn't still in pain from his decision and she would be there for her children and that was it.
With that in mind she slammed the door shut behind her and walked towards her sleek black Mercedes and got in, her thoughts in order and her mind set on a mission. She would find out what her child needed and she would help him and God help anyone who got in her way. She harshly jammed her key into the ignition and peeled out of her driveway towards the nearest air port.
She felt a twinge of pain as she left her home in the remote mountains of Japan, already the land and all those on it, living and not, were crying out for her to stay. Begging her not to leave them, she blocked them out and pushed ever harder against the gas pedal. The faster she got this over with the faster she could return home….if she could still call it that after seeing the family that used to be hers. What was that saying? Home is where the heart is and God knows her heart was still with him and their children. So…what did she have to call home?