Disclaimer: I don't own Inuyasha
A little girl ran, chasing a butterfly as her mother watched her. "Careful Sakura." She heard her mother say and obediently slowed down. She always listened to her mother because she loved her more than she loved anyone or anything.
Sakura stood on a rock and held her hand up; the butterfly dodged her hand and landed on the flower in her hair. She giggled and walked to her mother, slowly so she didn't scare it away and pointed. Her mother laughed and gently tapped her child's nose. "Take it back now, we have to get back."
Sakura plucked the pink flower out of her hair and laid it on the rock she had stood on. "You can keep it." She said to the butterfly. It fluttered its wings softly and flew around her face. Sakura giggled, wagging her tail, she blew a kiss to the butterfly. "I hope I see you again." She said and ran to catch up with her mother.
Sakura looked up at the wolf demoness that was her mother and smiled, bouncing along beside her, hopping into shallow puddles from the rain last night.
Sakura and her mother looked just alike, they both had reddish orange eyes, dark hair and instead of their tails being brown like most wolves they came across, theirs where white, they were both average height and they both had naturally tan skin, the only difference was Sakura had freckles and was more free spirited. Both Sakura, and her mother whose name was Yuna, were part wolf and part fire demon.
"I wish you didn't have to work tonight mama." Sakura said. "We could have stayed in the forest with the butterflies."
Yuna smiled. "That would be nice, but I can't miss work."
"I know." Sakura said hiding the sadness in her voice. Her mother was so busy she never had time to stop and do fun things and barely played with her. Her mother danced and lived in the house where she worked. She had explained to her sometime ago that her employer often sold her dancers to patrons for a night, even though she wasn't supposed to.
When that happened and her mother was chosen, Sakura was given a special medicine that masked her scent and aura and kept her asleep, Sakura had to sleep under the bed when that happened and she didn't like it.
They got back to the place where her mother worked and they lived and went upstairs to their room. Sakura sat on her bed silently while her mother got ready; soon there was a knock at the door. "It's open." Yuna said and the door bust open to reveal a very angry bat demon. "Oh," Yuna said and saw Sakura playing at the window now, she turned back to the woman who had just entered her room. "Hello Leiko."
"Don't hello Leiko me!" the bat said with her arms crossed, "you cost me customers! They come here once a week to see you dance and you went missing!"
"It was Sakura's birthday." Yuna said calmly. "I promised to spend the day with her."
Leiko stood up and opened the door, motioning for Yuna to follow her into the hallway. Yuna did so and closed to door. "That child of yours is running up a bill!"
"What bill?" Yuna asked.
Leiko pulled out her record book and opened it up, going down a list of things that required extra money for Sakura. "Lets see, toys, the food she eats, those expensive clothes you insist on her having-"
"I want her to look nice." Yuna interrupted.
Leiko held up her hand and started to go down her list again. "Those sandals you wanted her to have, the make-up you let her play in and then ruin, the extra blankets you get her when it gets cold, all those sweets you waste money on, the time she keeps you away from here, and last but not least, her medicine to keep her asleep under your bed."
"I'll pay it all back, but she's just a child, I want her life to be as normal as possible."
Leiko scoffed. "You'll never be able to pay me back and work as you usually do. I should throw you and the brat out right now."
"No!" Yuna said sharply. "I have no where else to go…any where else to take her…" Yuna looked at Leiko, determined to keep a roof over her child's head. "There must be some other way to pay you."
Leiko thought about it, then a smirk spread across her face. "How old is the girl now?"
"Five now," Yuna answered. "Why do you ask?"
Leiko placed a reassuring hand on Yuna's shoulder. "There is one thing you can do to stay here."
"Name it." Yuna said quickly.
"Sell her to me in eight more years." Leiko suggested.
Yuna looked up quickly at Leiko "What?" she whispered.
"When she is older." Leiko said and opened the door to look at Sakura who was now sitting on her bed playing with a doll. "There are men, who will pay me dearly to be with a young, pure one, and she's very pretty, even at this age, she's adorable."
Yuna felt her heart stop; she wasn't able to speak or move, so Leiko spoke instead. "Think about it, you really have no other option."
Yuna finally sunk to the floor on her hands and knees, sobbing and screaming hysterically. She couldn't bear the thought of selling her child to the bat.
Sakura looked up and ran to her mother, hugging her "Don't cry mama" she said sweetly and dried her tears. "Who made you sad?" she asked, kissing her cheek. She then looked at Leiko with a scowl on her face and pointed accusingly at her. "You're mean, really mean, and I hate you for making mama cry!"
Yuna placed a hand on her daughters head, a bit surprised, Sakura was the only one in that whole house, child or adult who ever dared to speak to Leiko in that way. Sakura had thrown mud at her, spit at her and kicked her, making Yuna wonder where the girl's bravery had come from.
"Hush," Yuna whispered, trying to calm her daughter down.
Sakura didn't listen, but yelled. "Go away! Mama's not working tonight! Find someone else, she needs to rest and I'm gonna take care of her so go!" Sakura slammed the door as hard as she could in Leiko's face and kneeled beside her mother. "Get in your bed." She said and took her hand to help her stand.
Yuna moved in a zombie like state and lay down on her bed. Sakura brought her an extra blanket and the doll she had been playing with. "Now stay here." Sakura said kindly. "I'll go have cook make you some tea and bring it right up." Sakura then kissed her cheek and ran out of the room.
Yuna couldn't move. She felt like she couldn't breathe. In her mind she saw images of Sakura, as a baby, screaming until she was picked up, learning to walk, sneaking downstairs to watch her mother dance, hiding in the trees to delay her mother work, chasing butterflies, and sleeping peacefully in her drug induced sleeps.
Sakura was too innocent and sweet for what Leiko was ordering her to do. More images flashed through her mind of what Sakura would be like if she actually did take her to Leiko. A hollow shell of the little girl she is now, mad at the world, ashamed, staring at her mother with hatred for turning her into a whore.
Yuna couldn't bear it, even the thought of it made her heart ache. She wanted Sakura to leave this place and make something of her life, live somewhere peacefully, she wanted her to have a mate, someone who was kind to her, playful and energetic as she was, and someone who could stand her temper and would forgive her if she made a mistake of any kind. She wanted Sakura to have pups, as many or as little as she wanted. She wanted Sakura to have a happy life but there was only one way to keep her from this living hell she would be sure to endure.
Sakura came back into the room with a cup of tea as promised. "Here mama, it'll make you feel better."
Yuna smiled weakly and sat up slowly. "Thank you, sweet heart."
Sakura smiled and crawled into the bed, hugging her mother. "See, I can help, I can help with everything."
"Yes, I see," Yuna said, "You'd make a wonderful healer one day Sakura." Sakura smiled brightly at her mothers words, her little fangs glistened brightly in the light. "Sakura," she said "When I'm feeling better, how about I skip work and take you out somewhere? Just me and my little princess."
"Yay!" Sakura cheered and hugged her mother again. "I can't wait!" She held onto her and closed her eyes, smiling.
Yuna touched her child's soft hair; she leaned down and took a deep breath, inhaling her daughter's scent, faintly sweet like a mixture of rose petals and cherries, wondering how long she'd remember it. "I'll be better tomorrow." She whispered. "Go to sleep, we have a big day." Sakura moved to get down but Yuna held tight to her. "No," she said softly. "Sleep here with me tonight."
"Okay," Sakura said. "I'll stay here so you sleep better."
Yuna lay down, holding her baby close to her. She remembered how happy she was when she had Sakura. The girls that worked here were given a drink that would kill any baby they conceived, but Yuna was young and alone, if she had a baby she wouldn't be alone anymore. She stopped drinking it and soon had Sakura.
She didn't know which one of her customers was her father; she just knew he was a human. Sakura was half demon, though she'd never admit it to keep her daughter protected, she undid the ponytails that hid Sakura's ears and rubbed them softly. Sakura was born with ears and a tail so they hid her ears with ponytails. Sakura loved being who and what she was; she hated her ponytails but understood the need for them.
Yuna closed her eyes and dozed off, listening to the sounds of nightly activities below her room, but the sound that stood out above all was little Sakura's steady heartbeat.
The Next Day:
Sakura spun around in a brand new white Kimono with snowflakes on the fabric. "I look like a snow princess!" she said cheerfully. She was happy because it had been a good day, her mother had taken her out for lunch, let her play in the river, bought her lots of sweets, this new kimono and hadn't made her cover her ears, now there where in a forest, it was dark and secluded. Sakura didn't mind, she finally got to spent time with her mother uninterrupted.
Yuna took Sakura to her favorite places and bought her the most beautiful kimono she could find. Her daughter looked like an angel, but then again she did everyday. She told Leiko she was going to sell her Sakura and needed today to tell her. Leiko agreed and gave her money and the day off, saying it would come out of the money she was going to get for her daughter.
"Look around Sakura." Yuna said as it for dark and fireflies surrounded them. Sakura smiled, wide eyes staring and the beautiful insects. Yuna slowly made her way towards her daughter who kept staring and smiling. "They're beautiful, right sweetie?" Yuna asked and clutched a dagger, raising it high.
"Not at beautiful as you, mama." Sakura said and turned to face her mother but felt a horrid stinging in her right cheek. She fell, getting dirt on the white kimono. She touched her cheek, she was bleeding. She looked up at her mother and her eyes widened as she saw the dagger in her mothers left hand. "M-mama…why?"
Yuna smelled her daughters fear and it made her sick, but she had to do this. She had to kill Sakura to save her from a life of pain and suffering. Sakura would find solace in heaven.
She told herself there would be rivers in heaven, sweets, plenty of dolls, butterflies and fireflies to chase, and beautiful clothes for Sakura. Angels would dress her, play with her, brush her hair, and rock her to sleep, their beautiful voices lulling her into a sleep without drugs. That's where Sakura belonged, with angels.
Sakura backed away as much as she could and backed into a tree now knowing why her mother chose this spot, because no one would hear her scream.
Running was futile, Sakura cold really take off, but her mother was the only person she knew that could run faster than her and with the smell of her blood in the air, she would easily be found.
But that didn't stop her from trying.
Sakura turned as quickly as she could and ran fast, jumping over fallen logs and tree roots. She heard running behind her and sped up, twigs tore into her new outfit and mud splattered around the bottom of it and her legs.
I'm scared. She thought, zigzagging through trees. Why is mama so mad at me? What did I do that was so bad? Sakura screamed as she tripped over a tree root and fell into the dirt. She tried to get up but felt a kick to the ribs knock the breath out of her lungs. It had so much force behind it; it sent her headfirst into a large rock. She howled in pain as her forehead was cracked open.
"Please mama, stop!" she begged. "I'll do whatever you want! I won't ask you to miss work again, I'll stay in the room, under the bed forever, and I won't be a bad girl anymore! Please!" blood ran into her eyes and she could barely see, but kept trying to move, she turned and tried to run, but screamed as she felt fire on her back.
Now she was really scared. Her mother was using fire against her, something she had not yet learned to do very well. "I'm sorry!" she cried as the kimono started to fall away from her body, although she didn't know what she was apologizing for, she wouldn't die giving up or without trying to convince her mother she would be good.
She rolled in the grass, putting the fire out almost instantly and crawled now, trying to move as fast as she could. A foot came down hard on hard on her burned back. She bit back her screams as her throat became raw from so much screaming.
Just as she thought the pain could get no worse she felt the dagger her mother had used to cut her face slice though her skin. White hot pain blinded her and her screams could be heard for miles around. She could barely move but felt her fingers twitching. She smelt salt behind her, mama was crying? Why? What did she do to make her cry?
That's why she was here. She did something really bad and was being punished… but what? She could think of only one thing.
Being born a half demon.
Mama was tired of her, tired of having a half demon as a child and wanted her gone. If she had known she would have run away long ago. She wanted her mother to stop crying and to be happy again. She smelled water ahead of her and forced her eyes open, there was her solution.
A cliff.
She would jump and drown in the water below.
Using bloody fingers she drug herself away from her mother and to the cliff. She stood slowly on weak legs and looked at her mother. "Mama…" she whispered, her voice heavy. Yuna looked at her. Sakura smiled and tears slid down her cheeks, mixing with the blood and dripping to the ground. "Don't cry… I want you to be happy."
Yuna watched in horror as Sakura moved closer to the cliff and whispered. "This will make you happy." Before jumping to her death.
"Sakura!" Yuna screamed in pain, wanting her baby back.
Sakura heard the scream on the way down and smiled. In some twisted way, her mother still loved her, for that she was happy her favorite person still loved her.
Sakura smiled as she plunged into the water, deciding she loved her mother until the bitter end.
A/N: I had this in my head a long time. R&R and tell me what you thought