Disclaimer: I don't own either Rurouni Kenshin or Inu-yasha. I hope you guys enjoy this new twist on the Kenshin- Inu cross. So whether or not you love or hate Kikyo, you can't help but enjoy this fable. Enjoy.

Let the Years Fall Down

Chapter One: Ghost From the Past

"How could they!" the boy cried as he tore through the woods. Little Sanosuke could not get the image out his mind; his hero, Captain Sagara… the man who cared for him as if he were his son… his head laid on a pedestal for al to see. And the false crimes against him! How could the government that Captain Sagara had fought so hard to bring forth betray him so? Sanosuke was fortunate that, being a child, he had also not shared his leader's fate… But he did not feel fortunate.

"I should have died too!" he cried to the night. "I'm a coward, Captain! I should have died with you and the others!" As he wept, he suddenly heard the sound of running water. It was close. Very close. He then remembered being told how when Samurai failed a mission or were captured or had not been killed in battle that they sometimes took their own lives to preserve their honor. Sanosuke bushed aside the leaves and brush to see a deep river at his feet. Looking at his tear streaked reflection in the water, he could think of no other way.

"Captain," Sanosuke said to the reflection. He held out his arms, and closed his eyes. "I will preserve my honor, like you did. I will join you and my comrades of the Sekiho-tai…" He leaned on the river bed, and was taken by the river.

Transition

She had heard the splash nearby, but she could not fathom what had made it. Until now she was mostly concerned for her search. But as she went through the forest and saw the small footprints in the dirt, she knew she had to help the child that might have fallen in. She hurried to the river, and saw, held under by the current, a boy under the water. She reached her pale arms into the icy river and grabbed him. When she started to lift him out, his arms thrashed and he struggled. He was so strong for such a small thing.

When she had gotten him on the river bed, he kicked around and coughed. Then he screamed, "WHO THE HELL ARE YOU? Let me go! I want to die! I have to die!"

Transition

How could fate be this cruel to him? Ripped from his commander and fellow soldiers not once, but twice! Sanosuke balled up his fists and beat them on the chest of the person who'd pulled him out of the water.

"Killing yourself will not bring back your family," said the deep female voice that made the chest he was hitting vibrate.

"I'm not dying for family!" Sanosuke screamed at her. "I'm dying to join my army!"

The voice laughed. "You seem young to be leading armies," then it said more seriously, "But then with these times, it is not entirely unlikely."

"How dare you mock me?" Sanosuke yelled. "Do you know who I-!"

"Look at me," said the voice, calmly.

Sanosuke had not realized that his eyes had been closed. He opened them, and looked up. His voice froze in his throat. Her skin was as pale as the moonlight shining around them. Her hair blended into the dark night. Orbs of light surrounded them, were they in the stars? And this woman… She had such a young face, so lovely and kind yet so cold… so sad. Was she one of the Christian angels he'd heard about from western missionaries? A water nymph disguised as a Shinto Priestess? Or was she the legendary Moon Princess, Kagulya, come from her palace on the moon?

"Wh- who a-are you?" he whispered.

"I am many things, and nothing," said the woman. "I am a priestess and a spirit. A woman both living and dead. I am a wanderer who is yet bound to this place."

He wanted to shout and demand she stop speaking in riddles, but something about her made him feel so peaceful. As he looked into her dark eyes he could feel her sympathy for him. Had she once lost someone as important to her as Captain Sagara was to him?

"Little one," the pale woman said softly, "do not seek death as solace for loss. Would your comrades want you to die when you have barely started living?"

Sanosuke thought about that, considered her words. No, he knew what the captain and the other men would say. They would want him to live. They would want him to grow up; perhaps… perhaps they would want him to keep fighting. Yes! They would want him to fight for the ideals they had believed in, not the lies of the new treacherous government.

"No," he answered. "They wouldn't."

"Then sleep," the woman said, laying two slender fingers on Sanosuke's forehead. "Sleep, and let this sadness wash away."

His eyes were already getting heavy. He could not keep them open any longer. "W-wait," he mumbled drowsily, "Who are you?"

"I am the guardian spirit of children," the woman said, smiling. It was so sad yet so beautiful. "Kikyo."

"Kikyo…. sama…." Sanosuke said as the arms of sleep took him from the arms of his rescuer.

Ten Years Later, in Tokyo

"Sanosuke!" called out Yahiko as he opened the back door. He looked out in the back garden and saw the tall young man sitting near the little pond. As he approached, he saw that the tough guy was just staring blankly at his reflection in the water. Yahiko took a deep breath and screamed in his housemate's ear, "SANOSUKE!"

"GAH!" Sanosuke yelled, jumping in his spot. He whirled around and knocked the kid so hard that he grew a great big bump on his head. "What the hell is your problem, kid!"

"It's dinner time, you big baka!" Yahiko yelled back at him. "What the heck are you doing here staring at water in the middle of the night!"

"None of your business," Sanosuke said, getting up, walking to the dojo. "Can't I have a minute's peace? Can't I have deep thoughts?"

"That'd require a brain, which you don't have," Yahiko answered. Sanosuke hit him again, giving him twin bumps.

As they went in, Kaoru was setting out the bowls of dumplings and rice and the slices of beef she's picked up that day. Kenshin sat quietly, smiling as always at dinner time. Then the former Battosai turned his head and said cheerfully, "Good evening Sano. This one is pleased you have joined us."

"I never miss a chance for food," Sanosuke said, sitting down. "Even if it is Kaoru's cooking."

Kaoru got up and gave Sanosuke a lump on the head. "How dare you? I'm a good cook! If it were really as bad as you say you wouldn't eat it!"

"Shut up and pass the soy sauce," Sanosuke said with a full mouth.

Before she could brain him again, Kaoru and all the rest heard a knocking on the door. "Who could that be this time of night?" Kaoru wondered aloud. She got up, dusted off her kimono, tightened her ribbon, and went to answer the front door. Kenshin, Yahiko, and Sanosuke stayed in their seats, and continued to eat, but they could not help hearing the words Kaoru exchanged with the unexpected mystery guest.

"Of course you can stay here tonight," Kaoru said, "But would you not be more comfortable at an inn, or even a shrine? This is just-"

"The Kamiya Kassin-Ryu Kenjutsu Dojo, I know," said the guest's voice. "I prefer privacy… and there is one I wish to speak to."

"You think it may be another of your old buddies, Kenshin?" Yahiko asked his idol.

"This one does not believe so," Kenshin replied, gulping his food. "This voice is unfamiliar."

"What about you, Sanosuke?" Yahiko asked him. He got no reply. "Sanosuke?"

They both looked at their dinner companion. His face was deathly white, and he was as motionless as a statue.

"Sano?" Kenshin inquired.

"Sanosuke, you're starting to scare me?" Yahiko said.

"Everyone, we have an extra dinner guest for the night," Kaoru said pleasantly. She moved aside, and, half bowing, gestured to their new arrival. "This is-"

Sanosuke dropped both chopsticks and bowl, shattering it on the floor, his dinner spilling everywhere. He knew her. There was no mistake. Her hair had been flowing loose back then, but even bound as it was now, he knew he was not mistaken. But how, in ten years passing, could she not have aged?

"K-Kikyo-sama!" Sanosuke said breathlessly.

The priestess smiled. "How nice of you to remember me, little one. You have grown since last we met."

"Do you know her, Sanosuke?" Yahiko asked him.

"How can you be here!" Sanosuke yelled, pointing his finger at Kikyo-sama. "You- you vanished the second I fell asleep! You were a water sprite!"

Kikyo-sama laughed, just as she had back then. "As you can see, I am no nymph."

"Then how can you still look just seventeen?" Sanosuke demanded.

"Sanosuke-san, stop it!" Kaoru ordered him. "She's a guest, why are you-?"

"Kaoru-dono, get away from her," Kenshin said roughly, unsheathing his reverse blade sword, his battle glare fixed on his face. "This woman is dangerous."

"What?" Kaoru asked. "But she's a Shinto priestess."

"Can't you sense it? My chi detects that she is no ordinary woman." Kenshin said.

As Kaoru and Yahiko started believing that both their friends had gone crazy, Kikyo started laughing again. But it wasn't the humoring chuckled from a moment ago. It was a deep laugh that made her throw her head back. With a wide grin on her face, and her eyes darkened, she glared back at Kenshin.

"Your chi? Are you certain that much more is warning you? Can you, in fact, smell something wrong about me? Can you not smell death on me? My flesh made from grave soil and bones?"

"What…" Kaoru muttered, backing away from her now menacing guest.

"Kenshin?" Yahiko asked, getting his wooden sword, ready to stand with his hero at a second's notice.

"I have searched for over thirty years for you, little renegade," Kikyo said. "And now it has ended." suddenly, orbs of light, carried by creatures that looked half snake, half fish, surrounded them. "I have found you at last, the final link in the bloodline. The heir of Inu-yasha, Lord of the Dog Demons!"