(A/N) Eh… don't ask where this came from. Sort of a sequel to Watching, but not necessarily connected, and certainly in a lighter note. Dedicated to all my reviewers, both in and Single Spark, but more accurately, to PuppetCat (Here is a 'happier' ending…) and Swasdiva hope you like this one too.
The first quote is from the awesome, classicgerman writer Goether, and if you want to read something to make you cry in despair, read his masterpiece, "Werther". The second one is an Asturian proverb. (For those of you who don't know, Asturias is a province in Spain. Next thunderhead who mails me talking about Escaflowne will be hurt, severely).
Disclaimer: I do not own Inuyasha, but I do own whatever remains of a plot there is here.
Wishing.
"We are never further from what we wish, than when we believe that we have what we wished for."
I could hear the fight behind me, and as I ran faster, I felt my heart grow smaller by each moment. I felt bad leaving them behind, but I know I had to… even Kikyo had urged me on, to escape away with the treasured jewel while they tried to stop Naraku. I had to hurry, but nervousness was making me clumsy, even more so than usual. My leg ached from where one of the tentacles had wrapped itself, tearing the skin a bit, but I couldn't have cared, I had to go on.
For Sango, Miroku, Shippo, Inuyasha… even Kikyo and Kouga had come to help. Kanna was dead and Kagura had been absorbed, both casualties of the early battle, but as I ran, I felt the jewel pulse with a light of its own, as if it knew what was going on. I had to get away and make a wish, stop the nightmare for once and for all… but I couldn't think.
If I wished for Naraku's dismiss, would that be selfless? If I wished for the freedom of those enslaved to him? As I ran further into the forest, the sounds of battle dying down in the distance, the ideas evaporated one after the other. Nothing was good enough, nothing was selfless enough. And yet, one thought struck me all the while, something so irrelevant it made anxiousness grow within.
Sesshoumaru hadn't shown up for the battle, despite the fact he had sworn to help kill off the hanyou. He said so, I was there, that night, when we entered the Western Lands and shared a campsite with him, Rin and Jaken. His eyes had fixed on me as he said it, such a vehement conviction behind them, I knew he could not be lying. Of course he wouldn't lie, he's a Taiyoukai, he has honor and values the worth of his word, even if Inuyasha doesn't want to admit it…
But then, why hadn't he been there? Inuyasha cursed him for it, and Miroku simply pointed out it had been naïve of us to believe a sworn enemy's word, but I knew that wasn't it. He couldn't have. Had he fallen injured? Ill even? A thousand possibilities flashed through my mind to explain his absence when we needed him the most, yet I knew it was pointless to wonder about it.
Soon I had reached the mountain stream we had camped on the night before, and slowed down for a moment, my whole body shuddering with each new breath I took. Resting my hands on my knees, I tried to catch my breath as the glowing pearl hung from my neck weighted me down more by each passing moment. It seemed to have a mind of its own, urging me to wish for something, tempting me with the promise of power, but doing nothing but raise disgust in me. This jewel had cause suffering and death to everyone who touched it, and it had to be destroyed, yet I couldn't but wonder…
The buzzing of Naraku's poisonous insects brought me out of my daze, and with a strangled cry I realized they were following me, and worse, they had almost reached me. Not really caring about my injured leg or my safety, I jumped into the water, struggling against the current to reach the other side, dragging my sore body out of the water and into the fresh grass tiredly. Every inch felt like a mile, and I felt like crying, yet I wouldn't give Naraku that satisfaction. I would give my life to protect the jewel from him, if necessary, but I would not, could not give up.
I felt the rush of air announcing their presence, the force of it sending me backwards, and tried, in vain, to call up my miko powers to aid me, but I was so tired, so drained already… They clicked their mouths at me, hovering at the other side of the river, as if measuring the situation, before they rushed in mass against me. I closed my eyes, and turned my head away, hands clenching tightly on the jewel that had caused so much heartache, bracing myself for the attack…
Which never came.
I felt, rather than heard the snap of the acid whip as it slashed the insects efficiently. My breath caught in my throat as I opened my eyes slowly.
He was standing in the edge of the clearing, tall and imposing and royal and all those things that make him, well, him. His eyes fixed on me, face blank and expressionless, yet I saw a shift in their light as he took in my appearance. I looked down, my fingers so tightly wrapped around the jewel they were getting numb.
"You came." I was not thinking straight, I will admit, but the constant nagging in my mind that he had been missing or something pushed itself foremost in my mind, and I noticed with a touch of awe as his lips twitched slightly.
"This Sesshoumaru does not fail his word," His voice was low, as usual, but it seemed to lower even more as he walked towards me, always so regal, so dignified. "Do you not know that?"
I couldn't say a thing as he knelt beside me, the long tail uncoiling and reaching around to support my way, at the same time cradling me against in a strangely comforting manner. You would think I would be terrified by being held so close, so… intimately, by an enemy of my friends, a known murderer, a youkai… But I felt safe. Instinctively, I knew no harm would meet me as long as he was there… I… Kami, I think I might have snuggled down to his chest for a moment there… that would certainly explain the slightly arched eyebrow he gave me as I looked up…
Then I figured he was using his tail to cradle me, because he was trying to compensate for his missing arm. An arm I had costed him. Sighing, I dropped my eyes to the jewel I held, wondering if wishing his arm back would be selfless enough to destroy the pearl… then I dismissed the thought when I figured it would be just trying to ease the guilt I felt. His hand came to rest on my cheek, the long fingers teasing my skin softly as they gently tilted my head upwards, my eyes meeting his, mere inches away from mine. I could feel my heart thundering in my chest, this time from something far more different than a run, and I was sure he could hear it perfectly. He's youkai, after all.
Still… they were so beautiful, so breathtaking. Inuyasha's eyes had always fascinated me, the color so unique. I had never seen anything like his before, yet they always seemed dull when compared with his brother's. Perhaps because he's youkai and Inuyasha hanyou? I could never tell. Sesshoumaru's eyes were clear, so unlike the eyes of the countless demons we had encountered. Kouga's, for instance, were always filled with a somewhat lulled bloodlust, beating in the background, waiting for the right moment to strike. The Taiyoukai of the West was different, always different.
I think I might have stopped breathing entirely as he fixed that inquisitive, measuring look on me. The last time I had been this close to him, I had just taken Tetsusaiga out its pedestal, and the thunderous fury that shone in his eyes made them all more inciting, alluring. But I didn't feel threatened in that moment though, rather the opposite, the warm, ghostly breath on my lips…
His hand held the pearl in my hands as his lips sealed over mine, eyes sliding shut as the feathery caress of a desired so long denied. One of my hands left the pearl to touch the silk strands of hair, feeling the smooth tendrils in my palm. When he pulled back, I was sporting a nice shade of crimson in my cheeks, my dazed eyes fixed on him, on his eyes, his lips…
I wish we had known each other better…
I wish we had figured out why he's so emotionless, why he hates his brother so…
I wish he could have joined us…
I wish I could help…
I wish…
"I wish you happiness." The voice startled me out of her thoughts, and when I reacted, he was already walking away, the wind caught in his hair, swinging it on his back.
The Shikon jewel glowed brightly, enveloping everything around in the purifying power it held. And suddenly I understood. 'I wish you happiness.' That was the selfless wish needed to bring peace to the jewel, a wish born… a selfless wish born out of love.
"Sesshoumaru!" But he was gone already, and I was swallowed into the bright light of the pearl.
He wished me happiness, and you know what? I was. Thank you.
My name is Kagome Higurashi, I'm currently a student of eleventh year and I have lots of friends.
Many people don't know it, but I have memories of another life, another reality. A place where I fought demons and used magic, where I helped gather a powerful jewel, where I fell in love. No one knows, and that's why I wrote this down. Someday, right after I'm done with college and made my mother proud of me, then I will share my story with the world, even if they think it's just a fairy tale.
Many people don't know it, but I'm in love with a man I've never really met, and whom I've kissed just once. Most would call me crazy, perhaps in some way I am, but I know he's out there, watching out for me, and I will wait patiently, to meet him or his soul again. Why?
Because he loved me for myself, not for what I could do or whose soul I share. Because there are so many questions pending between us, so many unanswered pleas. Because he's a man I could love.
But most importantly, because he wished for me… and now I wish for him.
"Between the wish and the thing, Life lies awaiting."
(A/N) Liked it, hated it? Review!