PARTING WAYS
rating: PG-13
genre: angst / drama / romance / horror
pairing: Inuyasha / Kikyou / Naraku
summary: In the darkness of night, something is lost while vengeful plans unfold - but is anything what it really seems?
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"There's no use hiding. I know you're there."
At those words, a figure moved, stepping through tall grass out of the shadows of trees and into the clearing, moonlight highlighting his pale strands as he crept closer. He moved slowly, cautiously, until he came to a stop by the other standing by a mound of earth.
"I knew you would come," said the pale-haired one, anger vibrating in his tone.
"Oh, did you now?"
He ignored the dark amusement lacing the other's tone as he knelt, getting a closer look at the grave marker adorning the mound of earth. Anger abated slightly as something softer crossed his features when he looked at it. And lightly, with the merest brushing of clawed fingertips, he touched it with a low, almost reverent whisper.
"Kikyou."
His companion stiffened.
"It's a beautiful name," he said softly. "Just like her."
"Don't you mean 'was'?"
He whirled his head, giving his companion a hostile stare. "Don't make light of this, Naraku!"
"I speak merely the truth, Inuyasha, though you may not care to hear it. She was a foolish woman, after all. She pledged to see both you and I dead, and yet she allowed herself to be destroyed by some lowly youkai."
"She didn't 'allow' anything! She did it to save people!"
"Yes, she did. Weak, sniveling cowardly humans. To give up what little life she had left for worthless beings like that, it's only to be expected that she got what she deserved for such foolish actions."
"Don't act as if this doesn't touch you, Naraku!"
"And why should it?"
"Because she's gone! DEAD! Do you know what that means?!"
"Please, calm your annoying righteous ranting. She was dead long before this, Inuyasha. Now, she's merely returned to where she should have been decades ago."
A wordless growl rumbled through the night air.
"Come now, don't be like that. It's not as if she's completely gone, as if you don't have some piece of her still with you. Reincarnation and all, you know? You still have that other girl with you, after all."
"It's not the same. You know that."
"I do?"
"How could you not? You're one of the few who knows what she was like before."
"Ah, yes. Before. Before I, Naraku, was created and sundered the blooming love between you and the pure pristine priestess who was not so holy in that she lessened herself to dabble with a lowly hanyou."
"Bastard!"
"Is that any sort of language to use before a grave? Show some respect. Or hasn't the second death of your beloved done anything to mature you?"
He smirked as the white-haired hanyou rose until the two were standing face- to-face, each staring into enemy eyes for endless moments as a cloud passed over the moon and concealed them in darkness.
"I came here to kill you," Inuyasha said at last, his voice tight with barely leashed fury. "I should have done it long ago, but-"
"As if you could ever accomplish that!" Naraku's voice was full of disdain.
"I've come close more than once," he shot back.
"But close isn't enough, is it?"
He growled. "Doesn't matter. I'll get other chances to deal with you."
"Why not take this one? You did say you came here to kill me, didn't you?"
"I did." His eyes narrowed. "But now I don't think I will, not yet anyway."
"Then, you're only talk, aren't you?" he commented contemptuously. "I thought better of you. My mistake for placing my expectations too high."
"The day when I take your life and take revenge for all the wrongs you've done will come, Naraku. That, I swear. But for now, I just want you to suffer and feel the pain."
"Pain?"
He turned to the mound of freshly turned soil, his features visibly softening with sorrow. "The pain of knowing that she's forever out of your reach now, the pain of knowing that you'll never have a chance of being with her like I once was, the pain of living without her no matter what form she's in."
"Do you really think that I shall miss her that much?"
"Would you bring flowers to an enemy's grave if you wouldn't?"
His hands clenched on the stems of the fragile white blossoms within his grip when his companion's gaze landed on them. His dark eyes narrowed at the smirk in those golden orbs when they met his.
"They're for her, aren't they?"
"Believe what you will."
"Say whatever you want, Naraku. But you came here to mourn. You can't fool me, not about this. You still have that piece of Onigumo's heart in you and I know you care about her, however twisted those feelings might be. You wanted her. Badly. And now you'll never have her."
A dark brow arched. "How presumptuous. I fail to see how a small offering for parting ways with a fallen foe is a sign of great affection that will bring about the misery you foresee for me."
"Of course you don't see, not yet. It's only begun. But when time passes without her voice, her touch, her presence, you'll know." Satisfaction curled his lips. "And you'll suffer."
"Enjoy my pain, will you?"
"Every moment of it," he retorted viciously. "And just when the pain begins to fade, then I'll end your miserable life."
"Though I think you're mistaken in how events will unfold, I must say that I'm impressed with your plan. I didn't think you had it in you to come up with something so vengeful - or something that actually required patience."
Gold eyes flashed furiously.
"Such a change from your usual method, isn't it? No doubt, this development can be attributed to the pain of lost love. You're really suffering, aren't you, Inuyasha?"
"Just as you will," he promised tightly, surety ringing in his tone.
Then he turned away before his tattered control broke its straining leash, sparing one last glance at the grave before striding into the surrounding woods. And as the hanyou's figure disappeared from sight and all sounds of his departure faded away, leaving only one standing by the graveside once more, Naraku smiled with a coldness that chilled the air with its icy sharpness.
"That fool."
He could have eradicated the hanyou once and for all, had intended to when he finally revealed himself and stepped into the clearing, disturbing him and keeping him from his purpose for coming here. But then the fool had gone on and on about what it would be like to live without her, how horrible it would be, and he had changed his mind as a better idea had come to the forefront.
Naraku had no desire to spare the hanyou even one moment of that suffering of which he had spoken.
He laughed, the dark sound whispering through the empty stillness of the lonely night as he bent, placing the beautiful flowers he'd been holding in his grasp upon the fresh grave. If only the hanyou had known just how right he was about them, the special, rare delicate white flowers he had indeed procured just for this, just for her. They had taken a lot of effort to acquire, many would even think it an impossible task, but he always prevailed, always got what he wanted.
A slash of his palm and dark drops splattered on the tender buds, staining the pure color of their petals.
Overhead, the concealing clouds finally moved and the moon was free to shine, bathing the scene below in its light.
And Naraku waited patiently as all he wanted was soon to be in his grasp. He laughed again, darkly, thinking that he couldn't wait to see the look on that hanyou's face when their paths would cross once more and he found out.
But by then it would be far, far too late.
Then he heard it, the sign he'd been waiting for as the mound began to glow, the faint stirring sounds coming from below.
Smiling, he moved closer, ready to greet his love when she rose.
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owari
rating: PG-13
genre: angst / drama / romance / horror
pairing: Inuyasha / Kikyou / Naraku
summary: In the darkness of night, something is lost while vengeful plans unfold - but is anything what it really seems?
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"There's no use hiding. I know you're there."
At those words, a figure moved, stepping through tall grass out of the shadows of trees and into the clearing, moonlight highlighting his pale strands as he crept closer. He moved slowly, cautiously, until he came to a stop by the other standing by a mound of earth.
"I knew you would come," said the pale-haired one, anger vibrating in his tone.
"Oh, did you now?"
He ignored the dark amusement lacing the other's tone as he knelt, getting a closer look at the grave marker adorning the mound of earth. Anger abated slightly as something softer crossed his features when he looked at it. And lightly, with the merest brushing of clawed fingertips, he touched it with a low, almost reverent whisper.
"Kikyou."
His companion stiffened.
"It's a beautiful name," he said softly. "Just like her."
"Don't you mean 'was'?"
He whirled his head, giving his companion a hostile stare. "Don't make light of this, Naraku!"
"I speak merely the truth, Inuyasha, though you may not care to hear it. She was a foolish woman, after all. She pledged to see both you and I dead, and yet she allowed herself to be destroyed by some lowly youkai."
"She didn't 'allow' anything! She did it to save people!"
"Yes, she did. Weak, sniveling cowardly humans. To give up what little life she had left for worthless beings like that, it's only to be expected that she got what she deserved for such foolish actions."
"Don't act as if this doesn't touch you, Naraku!"
"And why should it?"
"Because she's gone! DEAD! Do you know what that means?!"
"Please, calm your annoying righteous ranting. She was dead long before this, Inuyasha. Now, she's merely returned to where she should have been decades ago."
A wordless growl rumbled through the night air.
"Come now, don't be like that. It's not as if she's completely gone, as if you don't have some piece of her still with you. Reincarnation and all, you know? You still have that other girl with you, after all."
"It's not the same. You know that."
"I do?"
"How could you not? You're one of the few who knows what she was like before."
"Ah, yes. Before. Before I, Naraku, was created and sundered the blooming love between you and the pure pristine priestess who was not so holy in that she lessened herself to dabble with a lowly hanyou."
"Bastard!"
"Is that any sort of language to use before a grave? Show some respect. Or hasn't the second death of your beloved done anything to mature you?"
He smirked as the white-haired hanyou rose until the two were standing face- to-face, each staring into enemy eyes for endless moments as a cloud passed over the moon and concealed them in darkness.
"I came here to kill you," Inuyasha said at last, his voice tight with barely leashed fury. "I should have done it long ago, but-"
"As if you could ever accomplish that!" Naraku's voice was full of disdain.
"I've come close more than once," he shot back.
"But close isn't enough, is it?"
He growled. "Doesn't matter. I'll get other chances to deal with you."
"Why not take this one? You did say you came here to kill me, didn't you?"
"I did." His eyes narrowed. "But now I don't think I will, not yet anyway."
"Then, you're only talk, aren't you?" he commented contemptuously. "I thought better of you. My mistake for placing my expectations too high."
"The day when I take your life and take revenge for all the wrongs you've done will come, Naraku. That, I swear. But for now, I just want you to suffer and feel the pain."
"Pain?"
He turned to the mound of freshly turned soil, his features visibly softening with sorrow. "The pain of knowing that she's forever out of your reach now, the pain of knowing that you'll never have a chance of being with her like I once was, the pain of living without her no matter what form she's in."
"Do you really think that I shall miss her that much?"
"Would you bring flowers to an enemy's grave if you wouldn't?"
His hands clenched on the stems of the fragile white blossoms within his grip when his companion's gaze landed on them. His dark eyes narrowed at the smirk in those golden orbs when they met his.
"They're for her, aren't they?"
"Believe what you will."
"Say whatever you want, Naraku. But you came here to mourn. You can't fool me, not about this. You still have that piece of Onigumo's heart in you and I know you care about her, however twisted those feelings might be. You wanted her. Badly. And now you'll never have her."
A dark brow arched. "How presumptuous. I fail to see how a small offering for parting ways with a fallen foe is a sign of great affection that will bring about the misery you foresee for me."
"Of course you don't see, not yet. It's only begun. But when time passes without her voice, her touch, her presence, you'll know." Satisfaction curled his lips. "And you'll suffer."
"Enjoy my pain, will you?"
"Every moment of it," he retorted viciously. "And just when the pain begins to fade, then I'll end your miserable life."
"Though I think you're mistaken in how events will unfold, I must say that I'm impressed with your plan. I didn't think you had it in you to come up with something so vengeful - or something that actually required patience."
Gold eyes flashed furiously.
"Such a change from your usual method, isn't it? No doubt, this development can be attributed to the pain of lost love. You're really suffering, aren't you, Inuyasha?"
"Just as you will," he promised tightly, surety ringing in his tone.
Then he turned away before his tattered control broke its straining leash, sparing one last glance at the grave before striding into the surrounding woods. And as the hanyou's figure disappeared from sight and all sounds of his departure faded away, leaving only one standing by the graveside once more, Naraku smiled with a coldness that chilled the air with its icy sharpness.
"That fool."
He could have eradicated the hanyou once and for all, had intended to when he finally revealed himself and stepped into the clearing, disturbing him and keeping him from his purpose for coming here. But then the fool had gone on and on about what it would be like to live without her, how horrible it would be, and he had changed his mind as a better idea had come to the forefront.
Naraku had no desire to spare the hanyou even one moment of that suffering of which he had spoken.
He laughed, the dark sound whispering through the empty stillness of the lonely night as he bent, placing the beautiful flowers he'd been holding in his grasp upon the fresh grave. If only the hanyou had known just how right he was about them, the special, rare delicate white flowers he had indeed procured just for this, just for her. They had taken a lot of effort to acquire, many would even think it an impossible task, but he always prevailed, always got what he wanted.
A slash of his palm and dark drops splattered on the tender buds, staining the pure color of their petals.
Overhead, the concealing clouds finally moved and the moon was free to shine, bathing the scene below in its light.
And Naraku waited patiently as all he wanted was soon to be in his grasp. He laughed again, darkly, thinking that he couldn't wait to see the look on that hanyou's face when their paths would cross once more and he found out.
But by then it would be far, far too late.
Then he heard it, the sign he'd been waiting for as the mound began to glow, the faint stirring sounds coming from below.
Smiling, he moved closer, ready to greet his love when she rose.
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owari