Title: The Free Wind
Author: Niki-chan
Rating: PG
Summary: Companion piece to I Am the Wind. This time it's Sesshoumaru's POV.
Spoilers: Manga chapter 374! If you haven't read it, don't read this, or you'll be spoiled!
Notes: All the dialogue in this story was taken from the original manga, as translated by Kuro at Ear-Tweak ( www . ear-tweak . com ). A very special thank you to her for her wonderful scanlations, without which this story wouldn't be possible!
Distribution: Want, take, have. Just let me know where it's posted!
Feedback: Please, please, PLEASE! Email me at funky (underscore) chick (underscore) 13 (at) yahoo (dot) com.
Disclaimer: InuYasha and all characters belong to Rumiko Takahashi. I wish they were mine, but they're not. Manga translations thanks to Kuro.
I was not entirely sure why I had come.
Surely I, the great lord of the West, did not care what became of the wind user.
But somehow I feel almost relived when she mutters my name.
"Sesshoumaru…?"
So she is not dead yet…
She seems surprised that I am here. I suppose that makes two of us.
"I came following after the scent of Naraku's shouki," I say simply, as if to justify my motives. The smell of her blood assaults my senses, and I am almost overpowered by the scent of the poison coursing through her veins.
She laughs slightly at this. "You'll be disappointed. Naraku isn't here." Her tone is calm and almost detached, but I vaguely sense the hint of disappointment in her speech.
"I knew that it was you," I say, almost reassuringly. Again she seems surprised at this.
"I see," she whispers. "You knew… and so you came…?"
Her question startles me slightly, and for the first time I can remember I am rendered speechless.
Why had I come?
It was not as though I cared for her.
I care for nothing.
Yet even as I think this, I know it is untrue. The realization disgusts me, as I force whatever it was that I felt aside.
There was no place for such emotions.
Never had they done anyone any good. Just look at Father…
Again I push my useless thoughts aside. I turn my gaze to the wounded girl at my feet.
I am unsure of what has come over me, but suddenly I reach for my sword. But then I pause.
Tenseiga can't save her.
"Are you going?" I ask her.
She smiles at this.
"Yeah," she whispers, as if suddenly accepting her own defeat. "It's fine."
She looks at me with such longing in her eyes, and I want to turn away, but I am suddenly unable to break her gaze.
She smiles again, an almost heartbreaking smile.
"In the end… I was with you…"
I am slightly taken back at her words.
Then, oddly, I feel content.
Content that her last moments were peaceful.
And content that it was I who had made them so.
And finally she gives in to the poison. Her body disintegrates before me, and I watch almost peacefully as a soft breeze disperses her remains.
It is over.
I smile inwardly as I watch the spot were her body once lay. I feel at peace, and the unfamiliar sensation pleases me.
But my peace is soon interrupted by my idiot brother and his companions.
He demands to know what happened, and I ignore him.
He already knows.
I begin to walk away, when he calls to me again.
"Was she suffering?"
His question causes me to halt. His voice is thick with concern.
Concern for her; for her pain.
Perhaps she would want them to know.
"She was smiling," I say simply, without turning around.
Another breeze stirs through my hair, and I smile to myself.
I always knew she would do it.
Somehow I knew she would one day gain her freedom.
She truly had.
I turn my eyes to the sky as I feel a half-smile creep onto my face.
She is free. As free as the wind…
And as I stare into the vastness of the seemingly endless blue sky, a single white feather slowly drifts into my path.
Kagura…
I am almost tempted to reach out to it, but I stop myself.
I frown, and shake my head.
What's gotten into me?
Such a foolish display of emotion.
I have no use for such things.
A/N: Well, what do you guys think? I really wanted to show what Sesshoumaru really thinks under that hard exterior of his. Please review! Andif you liked it, read I Am the Wind for Kagura's POV.
By the way, if you are not current with the manga I highly recommend visiting Ear-Tweak. Even after Kagura's death there are some very good Sesshoumaru scenes that are starting to show how he really felt about Kagura.