Author's Note: This story takes place somewhere in between Kikyo's death and when Sesshoumaru merges Tensaiga with Tensusaiga in Inuyasha: The Final Act. Although I intended it to be, this is not exactly a Kagome/Sesshoumaru romance. There are very subtle hints, but there are also traces of Kagome/Inuyasha and Sesshoumaru/Rin pairing hidden in there. I suppose the pairing in this story is whatever the reader wants it to be. Please, please, please READ AND REVIEW!
The Gift
The night was cool and calm; the stars had retreated into dark, enveloping blackness that hung above. The moon was sickle-shaped, glowing sliver in the sky. It was a night so dark it looked as if the entire countryside was overturned and dipped in ink. And, as always, the darkness was permeated with the dense, metallic scent of blood.
Such were these feudal times. Standing silently amongst a grove of trees, Sesshoumaru basked in the scent. He'd seen a thousand nights like this, each just as dark and dank and blood-soaked as the last. These humans had been busily exterminating each other for centuries, and always for ridiculous reasons. The blood-scent had seemingly grown stronger with each year; the very earth smelled of it.
This night was no different…except for one thing.
Tonight a different odor penetrated the heavy mists surrounding the valleys and hills. It was blood—fresh blood. But this blood smelled strangely different than the rest.
This scent Sesshoumaru recognized.
He glanced momentarily back at the camp that his vassal and the children had established. Both Rin and Kohaku were now asleep; neither would notice him leaving. The small frog demon sat close by the fire, but hurriedly scuttled up to Sesshoumaru once he sensed his master's gaze.
"Milord, what troubles you?" Jaken inquired quietly.
Sesshoumaru felt a frown begin to crease his face. "I will return by sunrise," he said bluntly. "See to it that Rin is protected."
The small demon puffed out his chest. "I will, Lord Sesshoumaru! Count on this humble servant to do all that he can to…" Jaken abruptly trailed off and cringed when he felt the heat of his master's annoyed glare.
"Ah…forgive me, Master," implored Jaken sheepishly.
Sesshoumaru's gaze softened, and then turned away, back towards the dark oblivion stretching across the sky. He acknowledged Jaken one more time with a curt nod, and then with a swift bound the demon lord plunged into the darkness of the night.
He headed towards the source of the scent.
Byakuya floated softly above the dramatic scene unfolding below him, a wicked smile creasing his features.
The incarnation of Naraku was interminably curious about this group of misfits his master so strongly loathed. Byakuya was somewhat confused about why Naraku wanted the Inuyasha and his friends dead, besides the fact that they were preventing him from obtaining the last shard of the Shikon jewel. He actually thought the half-demon and his humans held more value in life. They were extremely amusing to him. Disturbing the peace in Inuyasha's group was like kicking the dirt off of an anthill and watching the insects inside scatter frantically in an attempt to salvage what they could, unaware of their utter helplessness.
Unfortunately, Byakuya was bound to do as his master pleased, and tonight his orders involved assuring the death of one of the humans—the girl that was rumored to be a priestess.
It had certainly been easy enough for Byakuya to inform a few nearby demons of the miko's presence and convince them to attack the girl and feast on her. Virgin flesh aways seemed irresistible to demons.
It seemed that he had chosen the perfect time to instigate the attack as well: The young girl had stupidly wandered away from the group and had been occupied with filling a strange, metal cylinder with water from a nearby stream. The demons attacked, tearing into the girl's body and staining her strange white and green garments a brilliant bright red. Despite the immediate response to the girl's terrorized screams from Inuyasha, who easily dispatched the demons with Tensusaiga, Byakuya's task was fulfilled.
The girl would die. Byakuya raised a thin eyebrow as he assessed the scene.
Naraku is one cruel bastard, the incarnation mused nonchalantly to himself. Not only did he kill Kikyo and leave the priestess to die in Inuyasha's arms, but now he's doing the same thing with this Kagome girl.
The demonic smile grew as Byakuya leaned back on his paper crane, making himself more comfortable. Inuyasha had been hung up on Kikyo's death for a long time, and this was bound to be just as good a show.
Suddenly, Byakuya sensed a flow of demonic energy surging across the valley. He sat up swiftly, eyes alert and scanning the horizon. He recognized this energy.
Sesshoumaru, Byakuya marveled. What is he heading this direction so quickly for?
Until now, the demonic incarnation's presence had gone undetected due to Inuyasha's various distractions. But he knew that Sesshoumaru would be able to sense him here as soon as he arrived.
Byakuya cursed silently to himself. How rude for the demon lord to interrupt his observations. Reluctantly, the incarnation and his paper crane floated away from the scene.
No matter, he thought to himself, as he disappeared into the darkness. I've completed my task. The miko will die, and Naraku will be pleased.
A strange sensation overcame Sesshoumaru as he neared the end of his search. The blood-scent he followed grew stronger as he grew closer to its source. It became apparent to the demon lord that the body yielding this blood could not possibly survive a loss so great.
The girl that had traveled alongside Inuyasha for so long, the one that held such mysterious spiritual power…was dying.
The one named Kagome…Sesshoumaru spoke her name in his mind as he caught another familiar scent on the wind—not the rich, metallic scent of blood, but the putrid scent of rotting last the demon lord realized: …this must be Naraku's doing.
For some strange reason, knowing that the young Miko lay dying triggered an urge to quicken his pace. Sesshoumaru swooped from the dark, blanketed sky into the trees near a stream were the scent of the human girl's blood was coming from, and emerged from the trees and into a scene scattered bits of dead demons and reeking with blood and death.
The demon lord's half-brother was sprawled in the center of his vision, his body collapsed beside the bloody, broken figure of Kagome. The girl was wrapped tightly in Inuyasha's arms, her face pressed tightly against the half-demon's chest. His body was racked with sobs; a darkening halo of blood was forming on the ground around them.
Beside his brother, Sesshoumaru observed the young fox-child, irrepressibly bawling and screaming the young miko's name over and over again, as if the sound of her name would miraculously return life to her body. The monk and the female demon slayer lingered near, tears glittering in their eyes, but seemed unable to bring themselves any nearer to the body. It was strange, Sesshoumaru thought, that people who surrounded themselves with death daily would be shrinking away from it in such fear.
Finally, the demon lord's eyes rested again on the battered body of Kagome. Her clothing—once an unusual display of green and white—was stained red with the lifeblood seeping from her various wounds. She lay limply as a doll in Inuyasha's mournful grasp, her body half submerged in the cool waters of the stream. There was no sign of life on the girl. It reminded Sesshoumaru of Rin's death—her first one.
A strange emotion began tugging on Sesshoumaru's conscious. He felt sorry for the girl. Despite her obvious love for half-demons and her undeniable uncanny ability to annoy the demon lord with her constant talking, she didn't deserve a death like this. For a woman with such a fighting spirit, it was a shame for her to have passed without a fight at all.
Wait…
Sesshoumaru's sharp ears captured a sound beyond that of his half-brother's sobs and the small fox-child's weeping. It was so faint that it took a moment for the demon lord to identify it.
Inside Kagome's body, her battered heart was still struggling to beat. It fluttered weakly, like a dying butterfly in her chest. But it was beating nonetheless.
I underestimated her…Sesshoumaru realized with mild surprise. Despite the damage her body has endured, her spirit is resisting death.
The demon frowned unpleasantly at the thought. The young miko may be fighting, but her last efforts would prove worthless. He could tell by the powerful blood-scent that she had already lost too much blood to survive much longer.
Kagome would die. Sesshoumaru sucked in a breath, and practically tasted her blood on his tongue. He stepped forward, out of the cover of the trees and into what little light the sliver of moon provided. He had nearly crossed the entire clearing when the female demon slayer finally had the sense to glance up and notice him.
"Sess—Sesshoumaru!" the woman gasped in disbelief.
The demon lord waited as all eyes turned towards him. All—except for Inuyasha's.
Instantly the monk positioned himself protectively between Sesshoumaru and where his half-brother held the dying girl in his grasp. "What are you doing here?" the monk demanded, poking his staff towards the demon's chest.
Sesshoumaru regarded the man with boredom, but didn't see any point in attempting to explain himself. He wasn't sure why he was compelled to come here either. He shot the monk a sharp, dangerous look. Miroku's determinable stance weakened, and he finally sank back, allowing the demon lord to advance.
Only when Inuyasha sensed his older brother's presence towering over him did he bother to glance up. He gripped the blood-stained figure in his arms tighter, as if trying to conceal her from Sesshoumaru's sight. His cheeks were stained with tears, but the half-demon dipped his head in an attempt to hide them.
"What do you want, Sesshoumaru?" Inuyasha whispered, his voice trembling with a mixture of anger and grief.
Sesshoumaru surveyed the dying girl once more. Her heartbeat still fluttered weakly in his ears. "Do not regard me, Inuyasha," he answered sternly. "The girl is dying. Do not dishonor her memory by spending the last moments of her life concerned with me."
The half-demon's eyes widened at the unexpected response. "She's—she's still alive?"
"Are you so stricken with grief that you cannot hear her heartbeat?"
Inuyasha glanced down at Kagome's pale face, and his eyes trailed down her slashed neck and rested on her crushed chest. He listened for a moment, heard the barely audible remains of a heartbeat inside her chest, and then began to panic.
"What do I—what do I do? Kagome!" The half-demon cupped her delicate face in his hands and began to sob again.
A moment of terrible silence stretched across the clearing.
"Comfort her," Sesshoumaru finally suggested, surprising everyone around him by speaking first. "If she is to die in your arms, she should at least know the truth of how you feel about her."
"H-how do I do that?" Inuyasha had completely reduced to tears; he was past caring that everyone—even his much-disliked older brother—was witness to his grief. "What do I tell her?"
Everything I wish I had told Rin before Mother brought her back to life, Sesshoumaru answered the question silently, but resisted speaking aloud.
He frowned, and his eyes fluttered towards the ground, covered in bits of demon flesh and droplets of blood. Sesshoumaru resolved himself to watch as Inuyasha poured out his emotions along with his tears during the last seconds of Kagome's life.
"Kagome…" the half-demon began weakly, "…I don't know what to say, except that I'm sorry. I—I'm so sorry I never showed you how I really felt, because I didn't realize it until now. Kagome…I'm so sorry. I was so proud…I never could tell you I loved you."
"Oh, Inuyasha…" Sango pressed her hand to her chest and mourned.
Miroku paced over to Inuyasha's side and clamped a hand on the half-demon's shoulder in an attempt to comfort him. Inuyasha didn't seem to notice, but his ears quivered as he cried. Sesshoumaru knew that his younger brother was listening to a sound hidden from the other's ears—the sound of Kagome's dying heart gradually weakening. It no longer held the strength to keep a steady rhythm, denied of the blood it needed.
"Kagome…" Inuyasha moaned the girl's name one last time. Finally, the miko's heartbeats stuttered, then slowed, then finally…stopped.
Inuyasha doubled over Kagome's body, his jaw clenched in a futile attempt to hold in a scream. Tears dripped from his eyes and onto the girl's pale, still face, scattering tiny glimmering droplets like sparks on contact. Shippo placed a shaking hand on a lock of Kagome's hair; when it came away smeared with red, the fox-child fell back in shock and began once again to weep. Sango's hand trailed up from her chest to her mouth, where she sobbed into it, and then searched for a place to sit down. She found none, and so collapsed on the grass in front of her, her shoulders shaking with each new wave of tears. Miroku bit his lip, dug his fingers a little deeper into Inuyasha's shoulder, and then spun around and recited a short prayer.
Sesshoumaru simply stood and stared, his feet planted in the blood-soaked earth as if they were roots of a tree. Whenever he glanced at the miko's body, visions of a mauled, dead Rin flashed through his mind. The demon lord's soul was flooded with sorrow.
Sesshoumaru closed his eyes and turned his head away, willing the unpleasant thoughts away. He reached to his left side and brushed the tips of his fingers against the soft, textured leather wrapped around the hilt of Tensaiga. Then, slowly, the demon lord unsheathed his legendary sword. Sango blinked and looked up, her eyes filled with questions. Questions were replaced by alarm when she saw Sesshoumaru advance towards Inuyasha with the sword.
"Inuyasha!" the demon slayer yelled in warning. Miroku spun around on his heels, and the fox-child let out a small squeak and jumped away.
The half-demon's eyes flickered up, but he didn't flee or take a defensive stance, even when he saw the shining, pointed end of the sword floating just a few inches from his face.
"Sesshoumaru—" he began, but the half-demon's elder brother cut him off abruptly.
"Inuyasha," the demon lord growled deep in his chest. "Step aside."
His brother blinked, seemingly struck dumb by the order. "What?"
"I said to step aside."
Miroku again thrust his staff forward defensively, his features torn with anger. "What is the meaning of this, Sesshoumaru?"
The point of Tensaiga drooped slightly, yet Inuyasha did not budge. Sesshoumaru's brow furrowed, and with a frustrated growl, he lashed out a leg at his younger brother. His heel hit the half-demon square in the chest, and knocked him back a few yards. Inuyasha cried out more in surprise than in pain, but then sprang back up. He crouched in preparation to attack, but once again found the tip of Tensaiga lingering just inches from his face.
"You best stay where you are, half-demon," Sesshoumaru said dangerously.
Inuyasha's face twisted into a violent snarl filled with outrage. "Sesshoumaru! If you touch her I swear I'll rip you apart!"
"Shut up, you idiot. You could do no such thing." Sesshoumaru's voice was as sharp as the edge of his sword. "Do not move; you will see that what I intend to do will not harm your precious miko."
Inuyasha's yellow eyes were ablaze and he dug his fingers deep into the earth. Sesshoumaru was sure that his younger brother would rather be digging his nails deep into his neck at the moment, but surprisingly the half-demon stayed crouched where he was. "What the hell do you intend to do?"
"You shall see," Sesshoumaru answered plainly.
The demon lord's eyes flickered towards the dead body in front of him. He could already see the shadowy figures of the Underworld imps gathering around Kagome's still body. Their little, forked hands reached towards her and groped at her pale flesh, pinching it, checking to be sure that she was fresh. Some began to clamber up her tattered clothing to stand atop the body, and others examined her wounds by sticking entire hands inside of them, pulling out the contents.
It disgusted Sesshoumaru, to see these tiny being crawling over the still-warm body of a dead girl. He cast one last harsh glance towards Inuyasha, a silent communication between the two brothers, and slashed Tensaiga in a silver arch towards Kagome's body.
"No!" screamed the demon slayer, rushing forward.
The monk and the fox-child tried to rush him too, but Sesshoumaru's attack was too swift. His sword swooped down and cut cleanly through each of the tiny demons' bodies, effectively dissolving them into mist. The clothing on Kagome's body fluttered from the breeze his swing had caused, but her body was left untouched by his blade. Sango, Miroku, and Shippo froze in their tracks, unable to understand what the demon lord's intentions were.
Sesshoumaru sheathed his sword. He could smell the scent of death leaving the miko's body. Inuyasha's nose twitched, his brow furrowing in confusion and awe, and the demon lord knew that he could smell it too. The half-demon inched forward, and stared down into the girl's face.
"Ka…" Inuyasha began in a hoarse whisper. "…Kagome?"
The girl did not move. Her figure was as limp and as pale as it had been a moment ago when the Underworld imps had been crawling all over her. Sesshoumaru strained his ears. Shouldn't her heart begin to beat once again? Once confident, the demon lord felt the cold hands of doubt creeping on his skin. He sucked in a breath, and stared hard at Kagome's lifeless form.
It began very slowly.
Thump…thu-thump…thu-thump…
Inuyasha gasped loudly as the soft sound of a heartbeat reached his ears, and glanced up at Sesshoumaru in disbelief. His older brother only stared emotionlessly back at him, his yellow eyes piercing the darkness like two small torches. The two brothers shared a connection—a secret understanding—for that instant.
"Inu…Inuyasha?" Kagome's voice.
Miroku blinked, a sudden understanding springing up in his eyes. "Of course, Tensaiga!" he whispered to himself. Sango's tears of grief slide easily down her cheeks and were quickly replaced with tears of relief, and Shippo sprung up from the ground like a flower, and rushed to Kagome's side immediately.
Only Inuyasha continued to stare, even as Kagome's eyelashes fluttered open and the girl shakily propped herself up on her elbows and glanced around the scene. When she stopped to glimpse the sight of her cloths stained completely red with blood, she let out a loud scream that made Inuyasha's ears ring.
"Oh..oh…what happened to me?" Kagome asked in several quick breaths, trying not to hyperventilate at the sight of so much blood—and covering her. Her eyes searched the field until they finally made contact with Inuyasha's own. "Inuyasha?"
The half-demon blinked at her once, and then raised a hand and pressed it to the side of the miko's face. He felt her warm skin flush under his palm, and then simply couldn't hold it in any longer. Inuyasha's arms swept forward, catching Kagome in his grasp, and he trapped her in a loving embrace.
"Kagome…" he breathed her name as if it were oxygen. "…I never thought I'd see you again."
He tightened his embrace, and the miko squeaked. "Ah—okay?" she glanced about at her other comrades, baffled and still feeling queasy at the thought of all that blood. She gasped. "Sango, why are you crying? And Shippo, you too? Miroku you look like you've seen a ghost! What's going on?"
Inuyasha finally freed her from his desperate grip, but he stared at her face intensely. The miko's soft pink blush darkened under his gaze, and her eyes floated shyly to the ground. Why was everyone staring like this?
Well, look at me, Kagome rationalized. I must look like a horror show.
Sango sucked in a deep breath, and then managed to speak in a trembling, tiny voice: "You don't remember what happened to you?"
"To me?" Kagome's shrill voice echoed throughout the clearing. She glanced down at her blood-soaked clothes again. "No, I don't know what happened! One second I'm filling up my canteen in the stream, the next I'm waking up covered in blood and you're all acting like crazy people!"
Miroku kneeled down towards the miko and her half-demon companion. "Kagome, you were attacked," he explained delicately. "A group of demons attacked you."
The girl tugged nervously on a piece of her hair, only to find that her fingers came away dripping with red. She squealed in revulsion, and wiped her hand on the grass, only to find that it was soaked with blood as well.
"Well, obviously Inuyasha took care of them! What—did I get knocked unconscious or something?" Kagome asked, her hands probing through her bloody locks for a bump. She glanced back up at the half-demon once more. "Inuyasha?"
"Kagome," Inuyasha breathed, finally breaking his silence, "you weren't knocked unconscious. You were dead."
The miko's brow furrowed, and her voice fluttered away from her lips like a falling leaf. "What?"
"You were ambushed by demons," Miroku emphasized. "You died!"
Kagome's eyes widened, and she glanced back down at her sodden clothes again. "You…you mean…that this blood…is all mine?"
Inuyasha nodded slowly, his eyes never leaving the girl's face. "I listened to your heart stop beating," he whispered. "You were dead."
Kagome's panicky tendency began to set in. "Um…okay, but if I was dead, then how the heck did I end up alive and talking to all of you again?"
Only then was Sesshoumaru remembered by the rest of them. Each pair of eyes snapped up to the place where the demon lord had previously been standing, but he had disappeared. It was as if the blackness surrounding them had swallowed him whole.
"He's gone," Shippo observed aloud. "Why would he just leave like that?"
"Who?" Kagome insisted, leaning forward. "Who left?"
Inuyasha glanced back at the miko. "Sesshoumaru," he replied, everything finally becoming clear. "Sesshoumaru and his Tensaiga…he brought you back to life."
"Yes, the sword that can save the souls of the dead!" Miroku agreed.
"Tensaiga?" Kagome squeaked, and then adopted a more serious expression. "He saved me? But…but why would Sesshoumaru save me?"
The darkness around them parted as a rift formed in the clouds above, allowing a small amount of starlight to peek through. The air around them whirled and danced, carrying away the loose leaves and ripping the water in the stream. Kagome, Inuyasha, and their companions all stared at each other blankly, questions and confusion floating through their thoughts. Sesshoumaru had taken all of the answers with him when he disappeared.
Sesshoumaru floated downwards, watching the dust scatter and grass blades shiver as he settled his feet on the ground. The stars had finally revealed themselves, their light cutting through this black night like daggers. He glanced over his shoulder, in the direction in which he came, and regarded the landscape for a moment.
The demon lord strode to the edge of the woods, where his three companions lay sleeping near a now-smoldering pile of embers. The fire that had made the shadows in the forest dance around them had faded. Sesshoumaru stepped around the ashes and took a seat against the rough bark of a tree next to Rin. The young girl was curled up on the soft grass, her knees tucked up under her chin, and her head resting on her arms for support. Sesshoumaru regarded her silently. Even in sleep, this little girl was so full of life. So opposite from what she had been like when Sesshoumaru had discovered her after being attacked by wolves, or after the guardian of the Underworld had tried to steal her away from him.
The girl he had saved tonight—Kagome—was similar. She had reminded him of Rin. Like his small human companion quietly slumbering beside him, Sesshoumaru had failed to feel any real compassion towards either girl until he had seen them both die.
The demon lord reached out his hand and gently brushed a stray lock of hair from Rin's brow. She stirred, but only long enough to crack open her eyes and smile sleepily at him. Sesshoumaru gazed at her gently. Then Rin yawned, tucked her head back into the comfortable crook between her arms, and fell back asleep. Sesshoumaru turned and stared past the soft grass swaying around him, beyond the dark mountains and deep valleys, and into the horizon. The darkness of the night was beginning to fade, surrendering to the sliver of light that crept across the curved slab of earth in front of him.
Sesshoumaru watched the red sun rise but remained deep in thought. Perhaps he had gained some understanding of compassion tonight. He had saved another life.
The sun's golden rays finally defeated the dark blanket of night, and they burst across the landscape, igniting a brilliant rainbow of colors. Each tree had never looked a brighter shade of green; each flower had not bloomed as luminously as they did on this day. Sesshoumaru watched as the world grew more beautiful around him, but his expression remained aloof. The demon lord raised his head and sniffed the air.
The scent of death had been carried away by the wind.
AUTHOR'S NOTE:
Thanks for reading! Please review—it's my first Inuyasha fic!