Wish Upon A Shining Star
Sakura's Note: I love the holidays, and wish that the spirit could be around all year. Think of it as my surprise gift to you.
Quick background: This happens four years before Wish I Were You takes place, so everyone is four years younger (of course).
-Toutousai is their Grandfather and has just moved out of the house now that Sesshoumaru is 18 and wants to take care of his younger siblings on his own. (Their Gramps isn't completely of sound mind anymore)
-Ages (In order of oldest-smallest): Kaede: 56 Naraku: 23 Midoriko: 22 Sesshoumaru: 18 Kagura: 18 Kikyo: 12 Inuyasha: 12 Miroku: 12 Kagome: 11 Sango: 11 Kohaku: 10
-Sesshoumaru takes some college classes at night, as does Kagura, and works during the day.
-Inuyasha's parents died 8 years ago (before his 4th birthday), and Kagome's mother one year ago Christmas Eve.
-Parallelism will occur, I intentionally repeated some lines.
Merry Christmas and Happy Holidays! Enjoy!
.-..-.
Wish Upon A Shining Star
.-..-.
"Jingle Bells, Jingle Bells, Jingle all the way! Oh what fun it is to ride in a one-horse open sleigh!"
"I don't see the point of this...ow!" Inuyasha shot his needle an angry look, but kept sewing anyway. "Buyo's gonna eat it before Christmas eve..."
Sango stopped her singing with a sigh, "Come on, Yash, it's fun! Get into the spirit of Christmas!" Resuming her humming, Sango curled the final ribbon on the wrapped present. "Sesshomaru's down enough as it is...you don't have to be too."
"Yes, I know..." Sesshoumaru turned his back to his siblings in the kitchen. "I'm old enough to handle them. Our grandfather won't be around forever. I'm of legal age, and they aren't troublesome. It's in our parents' will."
Inuyasha looked back at the string of popcorn, "Done..."
Kohaku looked up from the garland, (which, at the moment, he was tangled in) and beamed. "Wow, Inuyasha! When did you learn to do that?"
"Mom taught me."
His younger siblings were silent for a moment, before they went back to what they were doing. Approaching their big brother after he'd mentioned their parents was trouble.
"I'm gonna go get the ornaments..." Inuyasha jumped up and jogged up the stairs. The attic ladder was already pulled down, thanks to Sesshoumaru. He made quick work of the ladder, coughing when he entered the dusty attic. Crawling around, he found what he was looking for.
.-..-.
"Would you like to hang this one, Miss?" The young maid knelt down to the child's eye level and gave an inviting smile.
Kagome beamed, stormy eyes glimmering, "It's beautiful..."
The maid sighed, "Your mother loved decorating this Christmas tree every year...I remember when you were just a toddler, she'd carry you up the stairs to the balcony and let you put on the star."
The young heiress smiled, "I remember her too..." After a quiet moment, despite the countless servants still decorating the immense tree, Kagome looked around for a more familiar face. Kaede had left earlier in the day to buy presents... "Midoriko!"
The young woman looked up from where she was walking down the staircase and smiled. She was, as always, dressed to the nines. In her hand was a bag - full of what, Kagome was not sure. She was fresh out of college, but Kagome had taken a liking to her instantly. At twenty two, Midoriko Spears lit up the room almost as much as Kagome's own mother had...
Although no one could replace Aya Higurashi...ever.
"Look, Midoriko! Isn't it beautiful?" Kagome held up the simple ornament, an orb of glass with an angel floating inside it. The outer glass was decorated with angel wings made of white glitter.
"It's the best one here." Midoriko smiled, setting her bag at the bottom of the steps to observe the ornament closer.
"It's my mommy's." Kagome cradled the small orb to her chest before grabbing Midoriko's hand, "Come on, lift me up so I can put it right there! Please?" Midoriko couldn't refuse the child, not when she was as sweet and untainted as she was.
"Alright." Midoriko hefted the girl onto her shoulder, careful not to drop her. "You have to cut back on your sugar intake..."
Kagome giggled.
.-..-.
"Sango, why're they angry?" Kohaku looked over at the tree, where Inuyasha was gently but angrily unpacking Christmas decorations, then over at their eldest brother, whose eyebrows were creased into a frown.
Sango looked up from arranging the nativity scene with a sad look on her face. "I think it's cuz mama and papa aren't here to enjoy it with us...neither's grandpa Toutousai."
"He didn't have a good memory..." Kohaku muttered, "He kept calling me Kevin."
"Sess says we just gotta humor him." Sango shrugged, "Oldest knows best, I guess."
The doorbell chimed, filling the room with a happy Christmas tune.
Sesshoumaru, always the sourpuss, sighed. "Be on your best behaviors." Without an explanation, he headed to the door. Once opened, the three children heard "The Dragon Lady."
"Ok, let's get one thing straight. Neither one of us wants to be here, so let's wrap this up quick." Kagura's fierceness was lessened greatly by the Santa hat adorning her head and the happy reindeer sweater covering her back. "This isn't exactly how I like to spend my holidays..."
"Likewise." Sesshoumaru closed the door and gestured for Kagura's trench coat. She shrugged it off and waited impatiently in the hallway.
At his questioning glance regarding her ensemble, Kagura just glared. "My little sister likes Christmas. Anyway, let's get this over with. Combine the research on your laptop and copy it so we can go back to our own li-"
Sango stood in the threshold to the living room, a cheeky grin on her face. "Sesshoumaru..."
"What is it Sango?"
"Aren't you gonna kiss your girlfriend?"
Inuyasha, even with his standoffish behavior looked up from the box of ornaments with a wide-eyed, amused stare. "Ooh!"
They were still children, after all.
Kagura looked repulsed, whereas Sesshoumaru looked as impassive as ever.
"Sango...what did I tell you?" Sesshoumaru took a step forward into the living room, but was blocked by the young girl.
"You're standing under the mistletoe..." Sango giggled, turning her attention back over to their visitor, "Doesn't it hurt to slap your face Miss Dragon Lay-Kagura?"
The young business major groaned. "Cute kid."
"Very." Sesshoumaru sighed; his attempt at passing the young and curious Sango proving futile. The will of a Dawson child is a hard one to break. After another moment, Sesshoumaru glanced over at the woman next to him and sighed. "Shall we, Kagura?"
"What!" Kagura jumped back, her tough girl demeanor crumbling around her. "You're actually going to listen to th-that child!"
"Either you leave without the final product for the project or we get it over with. Your choice." Sesshoumaru was not one to give people options, and the young business major knew it. On the other hand, she also knew it would have been easy for Sesshoumaru to pick the child up and relocate her...yet she still agreed.
.-..-.
"What's in the bag, 'Riko?" Kagome peeped over the giant crystal reindeer assortment with her head cocked to the side and eyebrows raised.
"Your father's orders." She lifted the bag up off the marble floor and gave a faint smile. "He wants the main staff to look festive, including us." At her last word, a cell phone snapped shut.
"What are you talking about?" Naraku's eyebrows were creased in confusion. "Her father didn't give any orders. I would have known about them."
"Well...I suppose he just told me this time." Midoriko shrugged, opening the bag. She happily pulled something out, and set it atop Naraku's head. "Merry Christmas."
Kagome giggled from Midoriko's side. Wearing that hat, Naraku almost looked friendly. Almost. "You must love Christmas, Mr. Webb."
Naraku turned, catching his reflection in the crystal Rudolph. It's nose blinked red, making the scene all the more comical. "These...are reindeer horns."
"Antlers." Midoriko walked behind him, already fashioning her own stylish Santa hat.
"And we can't trade...why?"
"All the better to laugh at you with...my deer." With a quick tweak of the businessman's new appendages, she walked off towards the tree to hand out the other head accessories.
Kagome scampered off after her, leaving the angry Mr. Webb alone to watch his reflection with absolute aversion.
...At least the pay was good.
.-..-.
Sesshoumaru watched Kagura type away at the keyboard of his laptop and inwardly grimaced. If she kept on, he would need to get a new computer. "You owe me money if you break that."
"Well, then it'll be your Christmas present." Kagura muttered, "This is how I type." For emphasis, she tapped a little harder.
"If you keep doing it that way you'll break a nail."
It was meant to be a meaningless comeback...but it was taken for oh-so-much more.
Kagura's angered insults filled the house; although Sesshoumaru only blinked an eye.
Meanwhile...
"He's not real!" Inuyasha persisted, setting the ornament box down. Mayu, Miroku's curious younger cousin, was still strikingly naïve for her age. Thus, Sango and Inuyasha's argument over the age old question;
"Is Santa real?" Mayu repeated quietly. She rocked on the balls of her feet, fiddling with a loose thread on her festive sweater. Kohaku kept to himself, not willing to get pulled into the Santa-craze filling his house.
"Yes, Mayu, he's real to everyone who believes in him. Isn't he, Inuyasha?"
"Keh, no."
"Inuyasha!"
"Why are you lying to her? She's six years old, it's time she learned the truth!" Inuyasha turned away from his young sister, and towards his gullible Holiday-time neighbor. "Santa Claus, Saint Nick, Santa, Chris Cringle-- he ain't real."
"INUYASHA!" Sango banged him on his hard-headed noggin and yanked him to the side. "How can you tell her that? She's just a little kid!"
"You're a kid too, Sango. Do YOU believe in HOHOHO, flying reindeer, Santa Claus stuff?" At his sister's shake of the head, Inuyasha smirked. "Thought so." Redirecting his attention to Mayu, he raised his voice a bit, "There's no such thing as-"
"There is too a Santa Claus!" Inuyasha stomped his ninja-turtle-clad foot on the carpet. "You're lying!"
Sesshoumaru stared at his little brother with annoyance. Even at age ten he was probably the coldest child Inuyasha had ever met. Better yet, he lived with him. Not only did it make him seem to the other children that he was protected by a guy that Inuyasha knew would never protect him, but it also toughened him up for the real world.
Something he'd experienced way too soon.
Sango waddled into the room, heading for the kitchen and the sweets promised there. Their grandfather had brought home the goods this time...
"I don't lie, Inuyasha." Sesshoumaru said slowly, "Santa isn't real."
"Liar!"
"Then how come Santa always knew what we wanted before?" Sesshoumaru posed the question with poison laced on his voice. "How come when Mom and Dad were around Santa always knew what we were getting and now that Grandfather takes care of us we get things we didn't even ask for?"
Inuyasha paused in his ranting and raving. He might have been four, but it was making sense, although it was still a little fuzzy. "Huh?"
"Haven't you figured it out yet?" Sesshoumaru towered over his brother by at least a foot, but his voice added to his height. Inuyasha felt like he was getting closer and closer to the floor. "There is no Santa--and it's your fault."
Using her brother's silence to her advantage, Sango reassured the innocent child. "Don't listen to him, Mayu...Inuyasha doesn't know what he's talking about." Currently, she could tell Miroku's cousin was a bit confused. "Maybe you should go ask Miroku."
"I did; he told me ta come over here and ask yous." She blinked innocently. Mayu blinked, looking over at the silver haired twelve year old. "Is he ok?"
"My fault..."
Sango turned to her brother, "What?"
Inuyasha seemed to have left whatever planet he'd flown to, because his head snapped up like a Jack out of his box. "What are you staring at me for?" Inuyasha rolled his eyes and crossed his arms (what he did 99 of the time).
Mayu tugged on his sleeve, eyes wide. "Is Santa real?" Her words were so earnest that he couldn't bring himself to tell her what he'd been telling himself for six years. He'd tried to make the pain go away by erasing Santa forever, but it never worked. Why should it have now?
"He's as real as you think he is. He might even be a girl..." Inuyasha, who had successfully confused his sister and delighted his best friend's cousin, left for the attic.
Half way he heard footsteps echoing his and he groaned. "Sango, why're you following me?"
The steps stopped, their owner guilty but still trying to make him out to be crazy. If he thought he was just hearing things, oh boy, wouldn't she have a laugh.
"I'm not stupid." Inuyasha stated morosely, grabbing hold of the ladder. "I know you're there, you might as well come out."
"I don't get it." She trailed after him, up the ladder steps. "What made you change your tenacious little mind?"
"For an eleven year old...you got a big vocabulary."
Sango chose not to respond to that, although her chest did puff up with pride.
"Look, the kid wasn't listening. I lied so she'd be happy." Inuyasha shrugged, crawling over the floorboards towards the remaining Christmas decorations. "Sango, Sesshoumaru's gonna get mad if you crawl through all this dust in those pants."
The shuffling stopped.
"You have a big heart, brother."
"Oh God..."
"You just dunno how to use it. I think you could learn, though." Sango sat back on her heels and waited for him to return with the rest. It was really dusty, but she thought she caught a glimmer of something.
"Will you just shut up?" Inuyasha's voice barked.
Sango kept quiet, but continued after the shiny object.
"Sango?"
Inuyasha dropped his box of ornaments and scurried across the floor to where he'd left her. "Sango!"
"Inuyasha..." Sango's head popped out from behind a few unlabeled boxes, two dirty paths running down her face from where the dust had mixed with her tears. "I found something."
"Didn't I tell you to stay put?" His voice was slowly faltering; what was wrong with her?
Sango's head disappeared again, and Inuyasha had no choice but to follow. "What are you crying--"
Five presents, dusty but still in good condition, were half buried. They were wrapped in shiny wrapping paper and silver, white, and gold ribbon. They were beautiful, and could have only been wrapped by one person.
"Mom?" Inuyasha wiped off the dust from the closest gift. "To Sango, from Mom and Dad."
"Sesshoumaru said they shopped real early for gifts."
Inuyasha nodded, unable to speak. A flood of memories came back to him of his parent's faces. They smiled in almost every one of them.
He pulled out another present, less dusty than the last. It was for him.
"W-who's it for?" Sango leaned forward, resting her cheek on his shoulder. "It's for you!" Her voice was an excited whisper. Reaching forward, she raked two more gifts towards them. "These are for Kohaku and Sesshoumaru!"
Inuyasha couldn't believe what they had found. Something their parents had bought over eight years ago. It made sense no one had ever found them; Sesshoumaru barely ever came up there and it was only to get Christmas supplies. They had never paid attention to all the boxes since their grandfather had put half of them up there.
"Then who's the last one for?" Sango wiped her cheeks with the back of her hand, pointing with her other at the final present. It wasn't wrapped in the same paper as the others, but it looked just as special. "...Mom didn't wrap this one."
When Inuyasha brought it forward, he realized why. "It's from Dad."
Sango looked confused, "To who?"
"Mom."
"Should we open it?"
"Of course." Inuyasha scoffed, trying to revive his usual demeanor. "They shouldn't all just stay wrapped forever...it's been eight years."
"I think we should wait till tomorrow." Sango admitted, "They hid 'em up here for a reason."
Despite the anxiousness in his heart, Inuyasha nodded his head. His parent's had always liked to wait for the morning.
.-..-.
Melodic Christmas music filled the main hall of the Arashi Building. The angelic voice flowing through the stereo system was Aya Higurashi, dearly departed singer and wife of Toshi Higurashi; Kagome's mother.
Kagome twirled happily around the giant twinkling tree. "Jingle Bells, Batman smells, Robin laid an egg, the Batmobile lost its wheels and Joker got away, HEY!"
Kaede laughed heartily, "You have the voice of your mother, even when you sing such an awful song."
"It's not awful, Kaede, it's fun!" Kagome grabbed the old woman's hands and pulled. "Come on, let's go get you your hat."
"Hat? What hat?"
Kagome dashed across the marble floor towards the familiar figure of the press coordinator she'd come to know and love. "Midoriko! Kaede's here!"
The young woman looked up from her clipboard and muttered something into her headset. "I see she is." She smiled, "Hello Kaede."
"Hello Midoriko." Kaede smiled, "Are you going home for Christmas?"
Something unreadable came into the coordinator's eyes. Kagome had never seen it before.
"No, no. My father isn't feeling well and my mother doesn't want me to catch it. I argued, but they insisted I stay."
Kaede understood something Kagome did not, and nodded. "When you speak to them, tell Myouga I said I wish him well."
Midoriko seemed to be caught off guard, but nodded. "I will."
Kagome cocked her head to the side, "Your dad's sick?"
She nodded. "Yes, he is."
"How long's he been sick for?"
"A while now."
"Then why don't you go see him? I bet he'd get better if you visited him." Kagome was oblivious to the look Midoriko had acquired, she just kept talking. "I mean, when my mommy was sick, I went to see her. She was really happy, but when I left she got sick again. So, if you stay with him then he'll be ok."
"Kagome, let's go see the decorations downstairs..."
Midoriko shook her head, "Actually, it makes a lot of sense." She dialed a number on her phone, then began speaking into her headset. "No mom, I'm ok..."
"Kaede, what's wrong with her dad?"
"He has cancer." Kaede smiled sadly. She'd never been able to lie to the child standing next to her. It didn't matter how complicated it was. "Midoriko's been afraid to go see him."
Kagome couldn't understand how anyone could be afraid of seeing their parents when they were so sick. Shouldn't she want to be with them every last minute?
"There's my little Princess!"
Kagome could barely believe it. "Daddy? DADDY!" She leapt into his arms. "You're here!"
"Merry Christmas Mr. Higurashi." Kaede bowed slightly.
"It sure is. Business has been through the roof." He paused for a moment, listening to the music. "Who found Aya's CD?"
"I did." Kagome piped up from his arms. "I wanted to hear her. Isn't her voice so beautiful?"
The corners of Mr. Higurashi's eyes crinkled when he smiled, "Yes, she had a wonderful voice." He chuckled, "The decorations are impressive." He nodded to himself, then his ecstatic daughter. "Have you been a good girl?"
"Duh, Daddy."
"Well, you never know..." He winked, carrying her over to the giant tree. "They haven't put the star on yet."
"Momma and me always did it." Kagome whispered, "So they said this year you'd do it with me."
"Why don't you do it, Kagome? I'm sure she would want you to have the honors, Princess, not me."
"But mama loved you." Kagome reasoned, looking up into his eyes.
"What are you talking about? She loved both of us."
"Not love-love." Kagome winked, "She loved me, but she loved you."
"Your daughter is much too intuitive for her age." Naraku crossed his arms across his chest, ignoring the usual business formality. It seemed Arashi's boss was always in much higher spirits and had much more free time Christmas Eve. And much more leniency.
"Well, Aya raised her right. I take absolutely no credit." He lowered his daughter, "It's already been a year..."
.-..-.
"Well." Kagura stacked up the printouts with an air of exhaustion, "Thanks, I guess, for helping me finish this on Christmas..." The thank you was a grudging one. "And for not making me pay for the laptop."
"I noticed that key was loose for a while." Sesshoumaru looked past her to the Christmas tree his younger siblings had decorated. It looked like he'd have to compliment them. He wasn't good at that type of thing.
Kagura tilted her head to the side, like she was trying to crack a code that had too many layers to get through. "You make absolutely no sense Sesshoumaru Dawson."
"So I've been told."
She was about to retort when she realized. It's his way of joking about it...
"Just when I thought I was a step closer to figuring you out, you go and crack a joke--not all that funny, by the way." Clearing her throat, Kagura stuffed the finished project into her bag.
There was a hint of amusement in his tone. "Why do you want to figure me out so badly?"
In spite of herself, Kagura's cheeks heated. With a frown, she stared right at him. You think you can get the best of me Dawson? No way... "Because you fascinate me." She smiled like the cat who'd caught the canary.
In a way, she had.
"Merry Christmas Dawson, hope you get what you wanted from Santa this year... I'll let myself out."
The door closed behind her, and the roar of a motorcycle faded as Kagura drove off.
She didn't know how right she was.
"Where have you two been?" Sesshoumaru demanded, watching Sango and Inuyasha with slight concern.
"Up getting the decorations." Inuyasha muttered, "Can't you tell by the dust?"
Sesshoumaru looked at the two of them. "What is that behind your back?"
Inuyasha shot Sango a look of annoyance, pushing the wrapped parcel back behind her tiny back. "Nothing."
"I see." He turned back towards the window, where he was hanging up tinsel, until he heard a shuffling by the tree. "What are you doing?" For the first time, he sounded angry.
Sango shrunk back from the tree, grabbing her stubborn brother away with her. "Nothing! Just adding a few things!"
Exhausted from his earlier encounter with the former "Dragon Lady", Sesshoumaru just sighed.
The door burst open, an overly large heap of gifts at the door. A little boy with a big grin on his face was under them. "Merry Christmas!"
"Since when do you just barge in?" Inuyasha asked, "Sesshoumaru's gonna kill you. He probably thinks you were a terrorist."
Sesshoumaru gave his brother and their next door neighbor a dry glance.
Miroku shrugged. "I bring you gifts." With Inuyasha's help, the two managed to push the large bag into the house, across the living room floor, and up next to the tree. "Mushin got you guys a lot this year..."
"...You wrapped them, didn't you." Inuyasha held up the crinkly wrapped gifts, taped in random places, with weary eyes.
"No, that was Mushin." Miroku nodded, digging around in the bag until he found a fair-sized, box shaped one, (the others were obvious enough that Sesshoumaru knew they would be receiving a new blender this year). "I only wrapped this one."
"Well who's that for?" Inuyasha stopped mid-sentence. "She's upstairs."
Grinning, Miroku flew up the steps, his entry into her room detected by the high pitched scream from the second floor.
Inuyasha sighed, heading for the stairs himself.
Just gripping the banister, he stopped. Out of the corner of his eye, he saw Sesshoumaru. Smiling.
Or maybe it was just the lighting.
.-..-.
The clock struck midnight, and the hushed people of the Arashi building broke out in cheers. With a loud cry of "Merry Christmas!", many of the building's inhabitants hugged loved ones they'd brought for the special occasion as well as each other.
Kagome laughed happily, being passed from one person to another like a doll for hugs, kisses, and pats on the head.
It was a Higurashi tradition that the people of Arashi had always participated in. Once the hugs were complete, gifts began to pass among the people of the building. One when the clock struck midnight, and the rest the next morning.
The heiress' gifts took up half the space under the tree, the majority were bigger than she was or of more value than an eleven year old could imagine. Despite all the shiny wrapping paper and expertly tied bows from the staff, she always picked the smallest first.
This year it was from, "Naraku?" Kagome reread the tag to see if she'd read correctly. Since when did Naraku ever get her something so small? Usually, his gift was one of the larger ones, always to impress and outdo everyone else sans her father.
It was like everything was changing since her mother's death.
.-..-.
Inuyasha yawned, "Well Merry Christmas everyone." He immediately felt himself falling in and out of a coma as the clock on the VCR showed 12:10. "Now I'm gonna go to bed."
Sango tentatively hugged Sesshoumaru, shocked that he returned it, and followed her older brother. "Come on Kohaku. Santa's coming in an hour!"
"Sango...I'm ten."
"I keep forgetting." Sango sighed, "There's no one to play around with anymore, is there?"
"It's late. If you aren't up by eight I'm claiming everything for myself." Sesshoumaru reminded seriously, "Go to bed."
Running so fast she knocked into Inuyasha at the top of the stairs, Sango bounded off to bed.
.-..-.
Kagome yawned, "Merry Christmas, everyone!"
"Merry Christmas." Midoriko smiled, "Your father will be down in a little while. He called down and said you can start unwrapping your gifts if you want."
Naraku watched Kagome, sipping his coffee from one of the sofas.
The excitement in her eyes faded, but burst back just the way Midoriko had taught her. Naraku sighed. She was faking. Again.
"No, I think I'll wait for him." Kagome sunk down by the tree, sifting through the remaining gifts. There weren't many for anyone except her; many employees only spent Christmas Eve at Urashi, going home for Christmas morning.
That left Kagome, Kaede, Midoriko, Naraku, and, sometimes, her father.
Kaede considered the Higurashis her family, considering her technical family was in Japan.
Midoriko seemed to enjoy Kagome's company, as well as the busy lifestyle of the Urashi Corporation.
Naraku didn't seem like he wanted to bother seeing whatever family he might have. Kagome had asked him once, only to be snubbed and have the topic changed.
The three waited a few minutes, looking at the main staircase when the sound of footsteps appeared. Yet, it was only Kaede, carrying another bag of gifts for the others.
Another few minutes, and her father still wasn't there.
"You might want to start now, Kagome." Naraku advised, "He'll be a while."
Sighing in defeat, Kagome nodded. "I guess so." Picking up the closest present, Kagome forcefully blinked away her tears. "Oh, this one's from Miguel..."
.-..-.
The alarm went off, and Inuyasha was up.
Sango popped out of her room, following at a run towards the staircase. Jumping on Inuyasha's back with a beam, she screamed, "MERRY CHRISTMAS!"
"Gah!" Inuyasha narrowly avoided tripping down the steps, balancing out at the railing. "Sango!"
"Ha ha!" Sango giggled, "Didn't see that coming, huh?"
"I can't see at all!" Inuyasha groped down the steps with his hands gripping the railing awkwardly. "If you're gonna stay up there at least get your bunny slippers outta my face!"
Sango smirked, "You'll never guess what I got you."
"Probably some of Sesshoumaru's old clothes, since you don't have a job." Jumping the final steps, Inuyasha laughed. "It sounds like I'm right."
"You're wrong." Sango stuck out her tongue, sliding off him to run to the tree. "SESSHOUMARU! CHRISTMAS!"
Sesshoumaru looked up from the kitchen table, coffee in hand. "I'm aware."
Kohaku laughed, peeping his head out from behind a box of cereal. "We beat you!"
.-..-.
Wrapping paper covering the floor, Kagome reached for her final present. "I think I'll wait a little while to open this one. Maybe when daddy comes down."
Midoriko smiled reassuringly, "It's a good way to extend Christmas a little while longer." Standing with a roll of her shoulders, Midoriko gave the girl a quick hug. "I have to go check on a few things, I'll be back shortly."
"Oh, okay." Kagome nodded, looking over at Kaede and Naraku sitting begrudgingly beside one another.
"Merry Christmas, Kagome." Midoriko turned, leaving the room with Naraku following a few moments later.
"I apologize, Kagome. I'm sure your father wanted to be here. This business is so demanding of him, especially during the holidays. He's only doing it so you have a better life than he did as a child." Kaede patted the empty spot beside her.
Sitting down solemnly, the young heiress shook her head. "He started working like this when momma died. She could make him stop."
"Yes, Aya did keep him closer to the family."
"Kaede?"
"Yes, Kagome?"
"I want a normal life."
"A normal life?" Kaede nodded, "It sounds lovely."
"Dad wouldn't have to work so hard, and he would be with me. And...you could move in with us! And Midoriko could too!"
"That sounds nice, Kagome. But, I believe your father wants to leave this company to you."
"Yeah...but that would mean me having to ignore my family too." Leaning into the old woman, Kagome sighed. "Merry Christmas, Kaede."
"Merry Christmas Kagome."
.-..-.
Wrapping paper covering the floor, Sango reached for her final present hesitantly.
Sesshoumaru frowned. He knew that wrapping paper...
"Where did you get that?" Sesshoumaru looked under the tree at the remaining gifts; all wrapped in paper from ages ago. "Where did they come from?"
"We found them in the attic." Handing Sesshoumaru his own ancient gift, Inuyasha reached for his own. "Mom and Dad got them and didn't have a chance to give them to us."
Sesshoumaru took the gift, staring at it with something none of the Dawson children had ever seen on his face.
Fear.
Kohaku grabbed his gift, examining it with glimmering eyes. "It's from mom and dad!"
"Yeah." Sango nodded, finding her little brother's excitement contagious.
Speedily peeling the tape off the paper in order to preserve the wrapping, Kohaku anxiously looked inside. His fingers paused over the leather box. He knew what this was.
Sango gasped, "Kohaku, it's-"
Opening the box almost hungrily, Kohaku reached in to pick it up. The bracelet was simple, but had oh so much meaning behind it.
All three of his siblings had received one. They signified something, the love and bond their parents had with them. Sango wore hers everyday, Sesshoumaru kept his locked away, and Inuyasha had never taken his off. They all downplayed it, making it out to be nothing very important since they all didn't have one.
But Kohaku knew it wasn't just a trinket.
He belonged now.
Inuyasha's eyes were wide, slowly moving from his brother's gift to his own. Shakily, he pulled off the ribbons curled by his artistic mother. The beads felt cool in his hands, and heavy. "What is it?"
"It was father's." Sesshoumaru spoke flatly. "Our mother gave it to him."
When Inuyasha looked back at Sango, he noticed the doll in her hands. Not one made of porcelain, but one a girl could really play with. He watched her hold it like a baby, tears welling up in her eyes. "Merry Christmas, guys." With that, she ran up the steps towards her room.
"Sesshoumaru? Aren't you gonna open yours?" Inuyasha stood up too, throwing the necklace over his neck.
At the foot of the staircase, Sesshoumaru paused, holding the gift in his hand. "No." With that, he ascended the steps, a door closing a few moments later.
Kohaku smiled, "Merry Christmas, Inuyasha."
"Yeah." Inuyasha looked down at what now circled his neck. "Merry Christmas."
.-..-.
Her father sighed, entering the elevator.
Kaede looked up disappointedly. "You neglected your own daughter on Christmas."
"I can't not work, Kaede." Mr. Higurashi slumped his shoulders. "What's the use? Why lie about it?"
Kaede's eyes narrowed, "What do you mean?"
"She looks so much like Aya...too much. I can't...I can't look-"
"She's not Aya, sir, she's Kagome-"
"I know that!" Clearing his throat, he looked away guiltily. "I apologize, Kaede. But, whenever I look at Kagome, I see Aya...everything I look at reminds me of Aya. She's better off without me in her life, anyway."
"Sir-"
"No. Go on in to say your goodnights, she's upset with me. I can tell." Reopening the elevator doors, Higurashi smiled. "Give her a kiss for me."
Kaede sighed, allowing the doors to close and Mr. Higurashi to disappear. Again. "Kagome?"
Kagome looked up from her window, "Oh, hi Kaede."
"What are you doing out of bed? It's getting late."
"I know." Kagome looked back out of the window for a moment. "Come over here. I have a secret for you."
"What is it?"
"I'm going to wish for a normal life, and a prince." Kagome giggled deviously, "You always said a wish can come true if you wish on the right star. Right Kaede?"
"Yes, dear. I did."
"Okay. So if I wish on a lot of them, one might work, huh?"
"I suppose...but Kagome, don't you want to stay with your father and everyone? With a normal life, you won't be able to stay here."
"Well, I don't see daddy much anyway. And I can visit." It was always so easy to reason things out as a child.
"Wish away, Kagome. Wish away." Kaede smiled, leaving towards the elevators.
.-..-.
Four Years Later.
Crickets chirping outside his window, Inuyasha sighed. It seemed like his parent's would walk in, complaining about the light being on.
But, they wouldn't walk in.
"Nope. Never again." Inuyasha laughed bitterly, holding his hand up to block the light bulbs on the ceiling.
"Inuyasha?"
Jumping up and covering his bare chest with the covers, Inuyasha froze. "What are you doing up?"
The door opened, Kagome easing in bashfully. "I was just wandering if you were asleep yet."
Inuyasha stared at her dully. "As you can clearly see, I'm not."
"Could I...stay here for a little while?" At Inuyasha's bewildered face, she frowned. "Not like that! I mean...maybe we can talk?"
"It's one in the morning."
"I know." Kagome's eyes dulled, "Believe me."
Inuyasha cocked his head to the side. "What's wrong?"
"My mom died at one in the morning. Five years ago."
"Oh." Inuyasha kicked himself.
"So, can I?"
Looking away with a blush, Inuyasha nodded. "Sure."
Kagome quietly plopped down beside his bed, resting her head on the side of the mattress. "I'm sorry, I know you want to sleep and I'm just bothering you-"
"Keh! What is with you? You don't have to apologize for needing to talk to someone! Wasn't it you who told me you should let things out?" Inuyasha looked down angrily, "Your mother died, you shouldn't bottle it all inside!"
Kagome smiled, "I did say that...didn't I?"
"Yeah. You've said all kinds of things since you've gotten here. I swear, life's been everything but normal until you came here."
"...Hey, have you ever wished on a star before?"
Inuyasha felt his cheek heat, "No!"
"Well I have."
"...What'd you wish for?"
Kagome looked up, "A normal life."
Inuyasha scoffed, "There's no such thing when you're an heiress, Kagome. Hell, what's normal even if you're not? It's not considered normal to be parentless, have silver hair, and live with an heiress for three months while my sister's living the life of an heiress."
"I guess you're right..." Kagome nodded, "But, I guess something else I wished for came true."
Inuyasha yawned, snuggling into his pillows. "And what's that?"
Kagome watched him drift off to sleep, feeling her own eyes become heavy. "You might know someday..."