Wait, Sunny's writing a what?

I'll have you know that back in the day I was a huge Inuyasha fan, and my first fic on this site (my first two, actually!) were both in this fandom! I got fed up with the pace of the anime, and didn't like the drawing style of the manga, but now I've learned that the series finally ended so I was able to watch all the "Final Act" episodes.

Kagome and Inuyasha's Theme.

Restoring the Wind

Prologue: The Way Things Are

Three years. It was not a long time; the half-breed was merely impatient and chose to live by human standards, Sesshoumaru was above such restrictions. After Naraku's defeat and the final dissolution of the Shikon Jewel his perception of time had altered back to a more stable, cursory sense of weeks and months. He maintained a solid grasp of the seasons only to mind how long he was apart from Rin, bringing replacement garments to her in the human village when he deemed her old ones too worn.

In three short years his already impressive territories had expanded, bordering closely on his mother's realm without encroaching too far into her forests and hills. He left to her what he did not need nor feel any obligation to take, and she understood that if she tried his patience he would fight her and he would win. Sesshomaru had no qualms with attacking family, such filial obligations were beneath him.

He was at the other edge of his realm now, at a boarder he could not expand: the sea. The smell of the brine was thick on the rocks and plants even up here high on the cliff overlooking the blue-green water. Shelves of sheer slate grey descended down from his position, the sun brilliant and white overhead where it was just past mid-day.

But the wind... that was something else. And it was not a difference he could name either, just a warmth which, sometimes, spread between the fingers of either of his hands when he turned or felt the wind. It was a pressure against his throat, or his lips, when the air moved past him. It could not be seen or tracked, but it was still tangible, still unexplained. When he rested, he awoke to the feeling of a gentle stroke over the crescent moon marking his forehead, or the graze of something soft along the fuchsia marks on his cheeks.

The wind never pulled him, though it tugged at his sleeve at times, or brushed across his chest. It was not leading him anywhere, it was simply present and persistent. It carried petals to him when there were no flowers nearby, but not often, and never very many. Only if he lingered in a place for more than a day could he turn and find a handful of small red flower blossoms collected on the ground somewhere in his presence.

When he slept, when he chose to sleep, he would hear something, but there was nothing to hear.

None of this bothered him and he didn't endure it: it was simply what was. The only reason he thought of it was... because when he turned his face into the wind, he expected that feeling against his lips. And when he spread his fingers just-so at his side, he waited to feel the warmth slip between them.

Jaken was not here, he had sent his servant away to take care of some minor task, to speak to a petty demon chief whom Sesshoumaru would not deign to visit himself. He chose instead to stand here, alone, on the edge of his realm.

It made him think of freedom, because that was what she had wanted. Free as the wind which knew no boundaries or boarders. When a gust of wind dredged up a small feather, white and shed from the wing of a gull, the Demon Lord watched it rise on the up-draft, spinning hazardously through the air. He held one clawed hand out, his restored left, and just before the warm fibres could graze his skin- another gust of wind and it was sent off, back down towards the roaring waves of the western sea.

"Kagura." Because no one was here, no demon or spirit save the one he addressed. She was there but she wasn't, sensible but intangible, forcing his hand to make the question known. He kept his gold eyes trained on the far western horizon, watching the world beyond his domain. "Do you linger, or do you stay?" Was she a spirit held back by something like regret, or was she free to come and go as she pleased?

This question, he determined, was not important. What was important was that she did not answer him: the same feather was recalled from its downward spiral and brushed its sun-bleached side across his cheek. The wind carried the feather further away with a brief gust that sent his long hair blowing out behind him. This, to him, was not a suitable answer and, he decided, if she was bound then he would not allow her captor to interfere with his business. And if she was free then her insolence would not go unpunished.

He left the cliff side. He would collect Jaken and deal with the dishonourable chief personally, then he would deal with the wind.

The first and last chapters are the shortest, and I know this because this story is finished and sitting on my laptop's hard-drive! There are 19(-ish) chapters in total, and updates will be every Sunday, Tuesday, Thursday and Saturday.

Now, despite just watching 26 episodes of the Sub, plus the third movie all in subtitles, I've tried not to use the Japanese terminology in this fic. It just gets messy with different available spellings and the ease of making mistakes. There are, however, a few places where I didn't hold to this because the full title of "Dog Demon Lord" doesn't sound as impressive as "Inu-taiyokai". Hurrah for inconsistency! There is also, unfortunately, a division in theme in this story: the first 9 chapters are decidedly action-oriented, whereas the second half is where the romance takes precedence. I'm warning you people NOW because there's no sense in reading and being disappointed when the feel changes half-way through!

Now, on with the show!