Butterfly Kisses
An Inu Yasha Fanfiction by Bets
Disclaimer: Even if I did own IY, this is too sad to think about for the ending . . . *sniff* (Don't own the song either - no clue who does) but I DO own the rabid chipmunks, so DON"T GO STEALING THEM!!! (just ask nicely to borrow a flock or two)
A/N - - Know what? I really need to stop leaving off stories in the middle. That includes both my fanfictions and original work. The only think I'm ending up finishing nowadays is my poetry and English stuff. Maybe the incentive for a good grade keeps my creativity and interest for the school stuff. Anyway, I got the idea for this at my friend's party. We were doing karaoke and she sang this and said it's her favorite song even though her father won't let her play it if he's in the room. She says it makes him too sad.
- - - - * * * - - - -
Butterfly Kisses
- - - - * * * - - - -
There's two things I know for sure
She was sent here from heaven
And she's daddy's little girl
- - - - * * * - - - -
"Come on, Chiyo, we need to leave." A tall figure with long, dark hair dressed all in black stands on a hill in the pouring rain, tugging at a little girl's hand. As he looks down at the freshly dug soil at his feet, tears fill his midnight-blue eyes just like memories fill his mind. The girl's voice draws him from his both distant and recent past.
"Daddy, when will Mama be coming back?" He makes a futile effort at wiping away the tears as he kneels down to her level.
"Chiyo . . . " the man's voice breaks as he draws his six-year-old daughter into a hug. "Chiyo," he starts again. "You may not understand this now Chiyo, but Mama is never coming back. We need to take care of each other now, Chiyo." His eyes are both gentle and sad as he draws back and looks at the girl who has begun to sob. His hands remain on her shoulders, a comforting gesture. "But we won't be alone. And Mama won't ever truly leave us. Not really. She's here in spirit, watching over us." Chiyo's eyes light up a bit as her tears slow. She understands.
"Sort of like a guardian angel." Her father stands. He looks down; she, up. "Right, Daddy?"
"Something like that." He smiles a ghost of a smile at her. It is the closest thing he can reach at this point.
"Hey, Inu Yasha. We should probably be leaving now, the caretaker says he's going to lock the gate soon." Another tall figure comes up to the new grave, bearing an umbrella, which he holds over the girl. "Say, Chiyo, would you like to walk back to the car with me?" She nods. As they pass Inu Yasha, the man puts his hand on the other's shoulder and locks blue with his own violet eyes. "You should use this time to say your good-byes."
"Thanks, Miroku." Inu Yasha tells him. Miroku removes his hand, only to run it through shoulder-length ebony hair that is held back in a ponytail.
"Just don't do anything stupid, like try to kill yourself." Miroku points down the path, where Chiyo had continued with the umbrella. "You still have her to take care of, you know."
Inu Yasha growled. "Don't worry." His eyes become unfocused as he unconsciously rubs at the fabric over his heart. The blue orbs snapped back to Miroku's gaze. "I learned the hard way, last time, to let go of the past. I know now I have to live for the future."
"That place you rub is where Lady Kikyo shot you both when she sealed you, and during the last battle with Naraku, isn;t it? You will forever carry a mark there, for she was a powerful miko both in life and death, but I'm afraid the scarring has run deeper than that. And your Lady Wife's death has not helped."
"Yes," Inu Yasha sighs, "but as you said I need to live for Chiyo now." His eyes harden. "Leave, I don't want anyone to hear this." Miroku nods, then walks down to catch up with Chiyo and futilely try not to get any wetter than he is. When the two are at the bottom of the hill, Inu Yasha watches as they get into a red car parked along the roadway that winds through the cemetery. Inside the car, he knows, waits Miroku's pregnant wife Sango and Chiyo's adoptive brother Shippo. Turning back to the grave, he falls to his knees.
"Oh, Kagome, Kagome. Why the hell did you have to leave me?!?" Inu Yasha lowers his head, tears of rage and sorrow dancing along the bottom lids of his eyes. "Come back, bitch! Come back where you belong, at my side forever. You promised. . . . Why? I don't want to say good-bye to you." He fingers a set of navy blue and off-white prayer beads that encircle his neck. Because the mistress of the spell is gone, they no longer contain any power over him, but they make him feel connected to his beloved. Inu Yasha drops his head to the ground, and his voice takes on a pleading tone. "Kagome, we beat Naraku together. I sent Kikyo back to her rest so I could be with you. We swore we'd be together forever, and yet, it was only for a few years. These past seven years, and the shard-hunting ones, were the best of my entire hanyou life. What I wouldn't give to go back to a few months ago . . . Hell, I just want to hear your voice one last time, even if it's for 'sitting' me. I'd give up the whole damn Shikon no Tama to see you again, to smell your scent, raspberries and lavender. I'd die a thousand deaths to hold you once more, Kagome. I may not have always been the nicest guy, nor the easiest to put up with. And I probably wasn't the greatest husband. Your time still amazes me Kagome, I'm still not sure if I fit in here. Too much of me is still wild, yearning for the vast forests and open grasslands that were here in the Sengoku Jidai, but are now lost to time.
"Naraku is dead. The well stopped working. I'm on speaking terms with my brother. That yaze ookami, Kouga, gave up on you. The Shikon no Tama has been purified. And yet, my life is incomplete. You are not here, Kagome, half of me is missing. There could never be another. Though I feel as though that when you were alive, I never quite told you how I felt enough times. You said that my eyes and actions told you, but there was always a bit of sadness in your own eyes. The times my mouth formed the words were few and far between, and I want to remember you smiling. But now as I sit here, I feel as if I'm only half alive without you. I am not whole; part of me is gone. You complete me.
"You once asked me if you were a replacement for Kikyo. And I told you that you were different. Kikyo is Kikyo. Kagome is Kagome. And then I knew that Kagome was the one I would give my life for. Kagome was the one I trusted with my secrets. Kagome understood, and accepted me for what I was then, and am now. I love you, Kagome. I always have. And no matter what happens, I always will. I can"t forget you Kagome, it hurts to even try. Please, wherever you are, don"t forget about me. I couldn"t bear it. Remember, please. I love you. . . ."
Inu Yasha looks up, reaches into the pocket of his trench-coat, and pulls out a slightly battered red rose. The symbol of true and everlasting love. He places it by her gravestone. As he does so, a breeze comes up, only just strong enough to disturb the downward journey of the light rain. Its scent is that of lavender and ripe raspberries, and the wind caresses Inu Yasha's face. The breeze seems to carry upon it a slight laugh, like tinkling bells. It plays with his hair as it wraps around him in an emotion-filled embrace. Sadness. Joy. Apology. Love.
"I could never forget you, Inu Yasha. And I will always love you, now and forever. But please, be at peace, for my sake. . . ." Inu Yasha wondered if he was imagining her sweet voice whispering to him, but wasn't quite sure. An image appears in his mind of when he first met her, when he was still pinned to the Goshimboku, woken up by her scent after fifty years of an enchanted death-like sleep.
----
"I am not this 'Kikyo' person! My name is Kagome! Ka. Go. Me."
----
'Ka. Go. Me. How could I ever mistake you for Kikyo? You were, are, so different. Your strength, your fire, they drew me to you.\rquote Another image, mirroring the one in his head, appears. But this time the girl is now a woman, and she is kneeling next to him.
"Kagome, Inu Yasha breathes, shocked and almost speechless. "What're you. . . !" She shushes him with a soft and gentle kiss, tears running down her cheeks. She leans back, picks up his hand and holds it to her cheek.
"Please forgive me. I'm sorry, oh so sorry, Inu Yasha.: The figure disintegrates in a small burst of sparkles that resemble the woman\rquote s tears. Inu Yasha holds his hand at the spot it touched her cheek. He still feels the warmth of her hand, and the tingling where her lips chastely pressed against his.
- - - - * * * - - - -
As I drop to my knees
By her bed at night
She talks to Jesus
And I close my eyes
- - - - * * * - - - -
"Inu Yasha's been up there for a long time," Sango remarks, in the car. "Chiyo, do you want to go. . ." she turns to the back seat. "Chiyo? Chiyo?! Shippo? Where did you get to?!?" Sango frantically opens the car door, ready to run after them. Only Miroku's hand from beside the car stops her.
"Relax, Sango. They are going up to Inu Yasha. They'll be fine," he soothes.
"No, they won't!!" Sango says vehemently, turning to face Miroku in his embrace. She slumps against him and buries her face in her hands. "No, they won't be fine. Not now. Chiyo doesn't quite understand that she'll never see her mother again, but she will soon. She'll not grow up with many memories of Kagome, and Inu Yasha will never remarry. Dog-demons mate for life. And Shippo - poor little Shippo! - this is the second time he's lost his mother. You know what it's like. We all do. Even Kagome herself, for all her cheeriness and happy attitude, knew what it was like to lose someone dear to her. For her it was her father. For you as well. You never knew your mother. My mother died when I was young, and Kohaku killed Father when he was being controlled." Sango shakes her head at the pain of the memory. Even after ten years, the wound is still festering inside her. "Shippo was just orphaned by the Thunder brothers when Kagome informally adopted him. Inu Yasha, also, was orphaned when he was young. Kikyo, who he loved, shot him with that enchanted arrow and even after death and resurrection, still yearned for his blood. Kagome was the first person he had learned to love again after his horrible childhood. Now she's gone. None of them are going to be fine now, nor any time in the near future. This will take time. Inu Yasha, Shippo, and Chiyo will need to stick together, to stay a family. Eventually, they should be able to think back without pain. That is what we need to look forward to. To moving on. I hope it can happen. I sure hope so."
Miroku's only response was to hold his wife tighter and bury his face in her hair.
~~~~~~~
A/N2 - -
No, that was not the whole thing. This is going to be a rather long one-shot, I think, so I'm posting it in different parts(writing it in different parts). Besides. We haven't even gotten to the chorus of the song yet. *giggle* (when all the parts are up, I'll post them all as one fic) The song, for those of you who want to know, is about a father watching his daughter grow up. Excerpt from the song (comes up later in the fic):
"Sweet sixteen today
She's looking like her Mama
A little more every day
One part woman, the other part girl
To perfume and make-up
From ribbons and curls"
It's a pretty song. Oh, and I'm very very sorry to fans of Kagome!! I love the Inu/Kag relationship to death (no pun intended), but the song sorta implied that the girl's mother was, well, dead. Oh well. See you guys later, ja!!
PS - I would be ever so grateful if you reviewed, but it's not like I'll set the rabid chipmunks on you if you don't *rolls eyes*