Disclaimer: I don't own the InuYasha series by Rumiko Takahashi, or Wake Me Up When September Ends by Green Day, though I did modify the song slightly to fit.
When September EndsStanding on a grassy hill, Sango reflected on how much she hated September. There was just something about the leaves' changing colors, the chill that just started to nip, the frost on the ground at times, that reminded her of everything she had spent so many years trying to forget.
Summer's innocence was gone, stolen by the first chill wind, just as her father and her entire village had been stolen from her.
Summer has come and passed
The innocent can never last
Wake me up when September ends
Like my father's come to pass
All these years have gone so fast
Wake me up when September ends
She gazed out over the landscape, cloaked in night's shadows, without seeing anything. Memories were all she had of her old life. Sometimes she just wanted to go to sleep, and not wake up until September had ended, until she would no longer have to face the cruel reminders in every breath of cold wind, every falling leaf.
But she couldn't. She was taijiya, and must face her fears, no matter how hard it was.
The rumble of thunder overhead caused her to look up as the patchy clouds that partially obscured the stars let loose the rain they had been holding. Sango couldn't bring herself to move as the rain drenched her. So she just stood, unmoving, and closed her eyes as the water poured down. It was as if the sky wept the tears she could not shed. She was taijiya. That was who she was, but there were times she wondered who she would have been had she not been taijiya. Sometimes she pretended she was just Sango, but she was always taijiya.
But she could not. She could pretend, but she could never forget. Never.
Here comes the rain again
Falling from the stars
Drenched in my pain again
Wondering who we are
Memory was the only thing she had left. Memories of pain, of death. She hated everything September was and everything it stood for, because with the reminders everywhere, she could never, ever forget what was now lost to her.
As my memory restsBut never forgets what I lost
Wake me up when September ends
Sango lifted her arms to the skies, realizing that the drops of water pouring down her face were not entirely from the rain. She smiled, feeling the rain wash away all her sorrow.
"Father. Kohaku," she murmured.
For the first time in so long, she remembered them without regret, without sorrow. Pain, yes, pain was there, but she knew that she would one day avenge her people, and the pain was somehow bittersweet, mixed with her determination.
One day, September would steal the innocence of summer, and she would face it without fear.
Summer has come and passed
The innocent can never last
Wake me up when September ends
Sango stood alone in the rain, and for the first time in so long it seemed but a memory, she remembered her family with a smile.
Here comes the rain again
Falling from the stars
Drenched in my pain again
Becoming who we are
As my memory rests
But never forgets what I lost
Wake me up when September ends
Summer has come and passed
The innocent can never last
Wake me up when September ends
Like my father's come to pass
Future years will go by fast
Wake me up when September endsI will face it without fear, Sango thought. For my family.