No More Decisions
Part 4, "...on our journey...we will find...the answer to our tears..."
Author's Notes: A lot of you are catching onto something really close...but which ones? Hm...poor Inuyasha, it's just so hard nowadays to snap and go crazy. :)
Disclaimers: Inu-Yasha belongs to Rumiko Takahashi, Viz and whoever else lays rightful claim.
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"Sango, what are you doing here?" Shippo asked as he seated himself between her and Kagome.
The girl-warrior laughed.
"I could ask you the same thing, kid. How long have you been gone? A few years now?"
Shippo nodded as he said, "Yeah and I've grown a lot too."
"Yeah, you did, kid. Things sure do change fast, huh?" Sango said and everyone caught the note of sorrow in her face. Quickly, she grinned and despite the scar, she still looked beautiful to the others.
"So, anyway, how ya doin', Kagome? When I saw the fire, I could have sworn it was a bunch of hunters or something. Imagine my surprise at seeing you. You sure look different, but I knew Kagome when I saw her," Sango said to lighten the mood. She looked down at Shippo who was mouthing 'no' and shaking his head slowly.
Sango didn't find out why until a second later when Kagome asked in surprise, "You know me?"
The girl-warrior's eyes widened and she looked down at the little fox-demon for an answer. Shippo was currently hitting his forehead with his palm.
"Oh wait, I know!" Kagome said brightly and Shippo turned to look at her through his fingers. He looked like a small child watching a horror movie, not wanting to look and yet unable to resist knowing. "You saw me in a dream, right? I contacted you through my subconscious magic mind, right? See, Shippo, I do have magic in me!" The girl looked smugly down at her friend.
Luckily, Sango had caught on because she said immediately, "Of course. That's how I remembered you." Only Sango and Inu-chan saw Shippo breathe out a sigh of relief.
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That night, as the others slept, Shippo and Sango sat around the damp place where the fire was put out. For awhile they were silent as Shippo poked at the burnt ashes with a long, thin twig.
"So...she doesn't remember? Anything?" the girl-warrior finally spoke.
"Yeah," the fox-demon answered, careful to keep his head bent. "When we landed back in Kagome's world a few years back, she didn't remember who I was or anything that happened. Her family decided that since the well was closed off and everything it was best not to tell her. I...I don't think you should tell her the truth Sango...not just yet."
"Okay," Sango said and then thoughtfully added, "You know, it makes sense."
"What makes sense?" the fox-demon looked up in surprise.
Sango snapped out of her thoughtful look.
"Well, the fact that Kagome forgot. That was part of her wish, you know and everybody who was directly involved with the jewel got their wish...even me and Miroku. You should know, Shippo, you got your wish of a home, family and to stay with Kagome."
Shippo thought of this for a second before his eyes widened, "Then, that means Inuyasha got his wish. No wonder everybody calls him a lord now. And that Kikyo, what happened to her? She can't actually be alive, can she?"
"Yeah, Shippo, she can," Sango said (almost defensively, Shippo noted quizzically). "What we didn't understand when we were searching for the jewel is that Kagome and Kikyo wasn't, isn't and will never be the same person. I guess that was ours...and Inuyasha's," here she gulped, "biggest mistake. I heard from Kagome that you guys wanted to find Inuyasha. I don't know why you'd even want to try after everything you've heard about him."
Shippo looked down at the fire and for awhile no one spoke.
Finally, his small voice carried over to Sango, the girl-warrior, "I...I don't know. It's sort of stupid of me, isn't it? Doing something as hopeless as this...but I don't know...it's just as though everything is out of balance and we need to make it right again."
"You mean, Kagome needs to make it right again..." Sango said softly.
"Yeah," Shippo said as he looked up. His dark eyes were glittering with unshed tears. He looked quickly down again and gave a sniff.
"But I...I just don't want anything to happen to her, you know. She's...she's everything I got...family, friend, sister...*everything*...and I'm not going to lose her...not even to Inuyasha," the ferocity in his voice shook the girl-warrior.
Finally, in the dark of the night, by the fire, Sango asked the question that broke the balance of it all.
"Then...what are we going to do?"
Shippo threw the stick he had been holding into the fire and answered quietly, "First, we find Miroku, I want him on this journey with us. After that, we're...we're going to reverse this the only way I know how...we have to find the jewel again. I know it's not shattered, but we need to find it and then...and then we'll see."
The girl-warrior with the scar was silent for awhile before she whispered in agony, "You've grown up, haven't you?"
Shippo gave an almost laugh.
"Yeah...but try telling that to miss I-know-everything-and-you-suck-so-nah-nah over there."
Sango wisely chose not to say anything.
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The next morning, Kagome got up at dawn with brightness from a good night's sleep. The group cleaned up their camp and started out on the journey to Miroku's village, each with a different mission in mind. Kagome wanted to help Shippo find his friend again so she could go back home knowing he was safe. Shippo wanted to get the jewel and fix whatever it is that happened years before. Sango had seen enough to know she just wanted Inuyasha stopped...even if it meant sacrificing Kagome. Inu-chan just wanted to go wherever Kagome went.
So they set out, three extraordinary people and one demon, irrevocably linked on this journey.
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The servant stared at his lord through the corner of his eyes as he packed up. The child sat at a corner of the campsite, her eyes wide as they followed the demon. Lord Sesshomaru was back and forth in agitation, stopping every now and then to sniff the air. Finally, he stopped and pointed in a direction.
"They're heading northwest. For what reason, I do not yet know," the demon clipped. He walked over to the child and took her hand before briskly towards that direction. Nodding his head, the servant picked up all the belongings and followed.
As he tried to keep up with his lord's pace, the servant dared to ask, "What are you planning to do when you find them, my lord?" The servant knew this lord would not do anything rash to draw attention to himself. After all, flea-bitten Inuyasha was still on the look-out for his lord to finish up the deed he started years ago. It wasn't that Lord Sesshomaru was afraid; he was just biding his time before he attacked. It was definite that he lord had a scheme.
Sesshomaru hesitated awhile, probably contemplating if he should tell this worthless servant, but then decided to say, "It's the boy, I want. The others won't matter. I'll kill them off and take the boy with me. I have something very important in mind for him."
That was another thing different about his lord, the servant thought. Before the fight with Inuyasha, if he had asked his lord this question, Sesshomaru would have snapped at him for being so insolent had to think he could question him. After the fight, though, Sesshomaru's ego and self-esteem had taken a beating, not much...but enough.
The servant sincerely hoped Lord Sesshomaru's plan would work and he would defeat Inuyasha. That half-breed didn't deserve to be lord.
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The mother walked around the hills in search before finding the children playing among some flowers. Her face was calm as she walked over to the three.
"Hello mother," the three children chirped as two curtsied and one bowed. Her scowling face immediately sobered their bright smiles.
"What are you three doing here?" she asked. "You know the full moon will come tomorrow night. You should be within the village gates. Do you want Lord Inuyasha to get you?"
The three children shook their heads. Their large eyes were set in fear now.
"But wouldn't Lady Kikyo protect us, mother?" one child questioned.
"Only if you stay within the village gates. Lady Kikyo's spells and wards can't reach farther than that. Nobody can save you if you don't stay within the village tomorrow night. Now, let's go home." The woman's voice was threatening, but also slightly fearful herself as a cold breeze went pass. The mother shivered and looked around her in fright.
"Come on, children," she said as she took their hands in hers. "Let's get back."
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Sango, Shippo, Kagome and Inu-chan stood at the large front gate of the village. It hadn't been hard to find where Miroku was staying at all. Every person they passed on the road knew about Miroku. Most of the girls had giggled and blushed when they pointed out the way to the village where Miroku was staying. Kagome had just laughed and commented to a bewildered Shippo how much of a ladies' man this Miroku must be. Sango had just rolled her eyes and thinned her lips.
Looking at the others, Kagome heaved a sigh and said, "Come on, let's go find Miroku." Shippo had told her earlier that in order for him to find Inuyasha, he first needed to find Miroku and some jewel.
"Bossy," Shippo grumbled.
"I heard that," Kagome snapped at him. Shippo just replied by sticking his tongue out at her. Kagome started to retaliate by doing the same when Sango jumped in.
"Why don't we just find Miroku, huh?"
"Fine!" Kagome answered, her nose haughtily raised at Shippo to show that she could be the bigger person. She broke that illusion when a second later, she stuck her tongue out again and rushed off to the nearest person to ask about Miroku.
"And she says I'm childish," Shippo said before noticing Inu-chan glaring at him.
"What?" he asked defensively.
"Stop picking on Kagome!" he demanded. Oh great, Shippo thought, the kid's defending her now?
"Listen, I'm not picking on her. We're arguing, we do it all the time. You're just jealous she doesn't argue with you as comfortably as she does with me. After all, I did know her-" it had just been a joke to get the kid ruffled. Shippo sure hadn't expected it when the kid rushed at him like a cannonball and pushed him. Caught by surprise, Shippo stumbled and fell into the dust. Some people stopped to watch. Sango rushed over to help Shippo up just as Kagome rushed over.
"What happened?" the girl demanded. Shippo was still in shock so Sango answered for him.
"Just a little taunting gone out of hand, Kagome. Now what did you learn about Miroku?" sat the name, half of the girls in the crowd watching sighed.
The dark-haired girl looked unsure for a second before saying, "He's in that house down there."
"Great!" Sango forced herself to grin before heading down that way. The other three had no choice but to follow.
Not thinking about what she was doing, Sango stood in front of the house and knocked on the doorway. Almost immediately, the doorway flung open and there was Miroku.
The two stood in silence and awe.
Kagome looked at the two quizzically. So, this was Miroku? He didn't seem all that great...wait- was that tears in his eyes? No, they're gone now. She was probably just imagining it.
"Sango," the words came from Miroku's lips soft and lilting. It was as though he said 'water' after decades in the desert or 'land' after years lost at sea.
But Sango just thinned her lips and hardened her eyes.
"We need your help. We have to find the jewel."
Only then did Miroku notice Kagome and Shippo by the side.
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"So, you want me to help find the jewel?" Miroku asked after a thorough explanation. They all sat around the table in his house now and all eyes were on his except Sango's.
"Yes," Kagome entreated. "Won't you help us."
"Well...I don't know-" he started to say before the girl-warrior jumped in, "Of course, he wouldn't want the jewel's wishes reversed. He got his heart's desire." Sango's voice was bitter and everyone in the room but Miroku knew that it was out of anger and not truth.
"This from the best damn warrior on earth. So, tell me Sango, why do you want the jewel's wishes reversed? Don't you just love being the best human fighter out there?" Miroku's voice was bitter too, but it finally got Sango to look at him. Her eyes were raging and all too hurt.
She stood up.
"What we wanted isn't always what's right for us, Miroku. We all should have just let things be as they were and we would have been happy, but no. All of us wanted a little something more. Well, I got my wish, but you know what, Miroku? Everyone wants to fight the best fighter? How do you think I got this scar?" With that, Sango stormed out of the house. Kagome looked at Shippo and wordlessly she told him what she wanted.
"You go talk to her. I'll stay here and talk to Miroku," Shippo said and Kagome smiled in thanks.
Outside, she found Sango leaning against the wall next to the doorway.
"What was that all about?" Kagome asked innocently. The girl-warrior looked into the other girl's eyes and for a second resented her for having the freedom of ignorance from the truth of the situation. Best to stick to the truth as much as I can, she decided.
"Me and Miroku...we used to know each other, that's all. That was before all these girls started to like him and Shippo disappeared into your world," Sango replied. Kagome's eyes were still confused.
"But then why did-"
"Let's go back inside now, huh, Kagome?" the girl-warrior asked. Anything was better than this. Sango knew that if she stayed out here much longer, she was going to let something slip. The other girl seemed dissatisfied but nodded anyway.
"So?" Kagome asked Shippo once they were back inside the house. "What did you all decide?"
That was when Miroku stood up and said, "I'm going with you all to find the jewel. No matter what anyone may think-" here he looked at Sango who looked away, "-what the jewel gave me turned out to be more of a curse than a blessing. Besides, we have to stop Inuyasha's reign of terror."
Now, all eyes were on Kagome and the words 'any way that we can' hung in the air.
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The white-haired demon stared out of his window into the late afternoon night. He took a deep breath and the cool air tinged with the muddy smell of late summer engulfed his lungs. Yes, tomorrow night will be a perfect night for the full moon. Inuyasha's lips rose up and crinkled in what some would have called a smile. Others would have called it a curse upon humanity.
A knock came upon the door.
Broken out of his thoughts and reverie, the dog-demon barked out, "Enter!"
A servant entered with a bowed head and said, "My lord, there has been a peasant that claims to have seen sights of Sesshomaru." Inuyasha turned around.
"Let him in," he commanded.
A young teenage, peasant boy was pushed into the room and even from where he stood, Inuyasha could smell his fear. That was good. Fear is very good indeed.
"L-l-l-l-lo-...I-I..eh...uh..." the boy stammered.
"Speak!" the shout rang through the room and made the boy jump back.
"I saw Sesshomaru, lord. He was traveling with that little girl and that servant. They're heading towards the village where Miroku is," the servant answered. Inuyasha stood in thought for awhile before waving the peasant boy away.
That is odd, he thought to himself, why would Sesshomaru come out of hiding just to head towards Miroku's village? Something had happened and I can't place my finger on it. Well, I'll worry about that later. Now that I know where-
"My lord?" the servant still hasn't left.
"What?" Inuyasha did not take interruptions well.
"Now that you know where Sesshomaru is, will you be putting off your hunt tomorrow night?"
Inuyasha's blood boiled at the thought of that hunt. He turned around to look back out the window.
"No, I'll still have my hunt. Only this time...I'll have a certain demon in mind."
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Everyone slept in Miroku's house that night. They all crowded in one room with blankets laid on the floor. They were all asleep except for Kagome and Inu-chan, who was laying in her arms. Beside her, Shippo gave a single, loud snore. Giggling, Kagome nudged him slightly and he turned back around.
"Kagome?" a voice squeaked. Kagome turned her attention back to the little human boy in her arms.
"Inu-chan?" she asked, her eyes sparkling. It had been a long day, but she was happy. They were on their way to getting this jewel and finding Shippo's friend.
"Do you think Inuyasha's a bad person?" The little boy's eyes were all serious now.
"Isn't he a demon?"
"Yeah, but do you think he's a bad demon then?"
Kagome seemed to think about this for awhile before replying.
"Well, I don't really know him so I can't say. Everybody seems to either hate him or be afraid of him, but he can't be all that bad. If he had been Shippo's friend one time, he must have been a good person, don't'cha think?"
"Yeah..." the little boy sighed. His face was sad.
"Hey, what's the matter? Why are you so worried about this Inuyasha?" the dark-haired girl asked.
"Nothing, Kagome. I just...I...you gonna stay with me, right?"
Kagome laughed as she hugged the kid tighter.
"Of course, silly, I'll keep you nice and warm."
Inu-chan's eyes started to droop as he snuggled closer to Kagome.
"You smell nice, Kagome," he whispered before falling off to sleep.
Kagome couldn't sleep for the rest of that night.
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"I have to wrap up a few things. You all have a look around the marketplace."
This was Miroku's words before leaving them in the bustling, crowded center of the village. Sango didn't look any happier than before and muttered something about him saying good-bye to his many girlfriends.
"Listen," Sango said to Kagome and Shippo. "I'm going to go and see if I can find some good quality cloth. The ones wrapping my sword are starting to rip." With that, she too left them. Kagome looked to Shippo, who was looking around the marketplace dubiously. Suddenly, his eyes caught onto the back of a familiar head. That girl!
"Uh...I have to go too. I'll see you later, Kagome," Shippo yelled before running after the girl.
Kagome gave a slight pout before shouting out sarcastically, "Oh, everyone just leave me! I'll be fine!" She suddenly felt a tug at her hand.
"Come on, Kagome," Inu-chan said. "Let's go check out the market."
So, the two walked around the market, checking out everything from candy to toys. Inu-chan's enthusiasm had spread to Kagome. It made the girl happy somehow to see the kid acting so...human. For some inexplicable reason, she expected him to disdain the marketplace. That was stupid, though, right? He was just a kid...of course he would enjoy kid things. Something kept nagging at the back of Kagome's head...but for the moment...she was happy that Inu-chan was happy.
The two were on their way towards the windmill stand when a commotion captured their attention. A crowd had gathered and curious, the two made their way to see it. When Kagome saw that Shippo was in the center arguing with some guy who was holding tightly onto his arm, she panicked and made her way to the center of the crowd.
The guy held tightly onto Shippo's poor arm and was shaking it as he yelled, "Where's the boy? I know you know? Where's the boy?"
Furious, the dark-haired girl walked over and pulled the man's arm from Shippo.
"Don't touch him!" she screamed, her eyes flashing a brilliant color. The man backed off slightly. Kagome looked a frightening sight at that moment, with flaming eyes.
For a second the villagers gasped. Within all their minds whispered two words.
Lady Kikyo.
But the man knew better. He knew this wasn't Kikyo at all, but the human-girl from the other world. Still...her presence was overpowering.
"Jaken," a soft, steel-edge voice said from a corner of the crowd. Kagome moved her head to see a white-haired demon, just like the ones she saw in her books, stand at the edge of the crowd with his hand in that of a little girl's. The little girl had obviously brought the demon here.
Instantly, Kagome felt a desperate tugging at her hand as Inu-chan moved to hide behind her legs.
"Kagome...Kagome..." he cried desperately as is thin body shook like a leaf. "Kagome...make it go away...I'm scared...make it go away..."
"Lord Sesshomaru!" Jaken exclaimed just as the crowd pulled in a second gasp. Shippo ran to stand beside Kagome.
All three: Shippo, Kagome, and Inu-chan kept their eyes glued on Sesshomaru.
The demon finally turned his golden eyes to look at Kagome...then past her...to Inu-chan.
A slow smile came across his beautifully dangerous features.
"Come here, Inuyasha," he said tauntingly. "Big brother has a treat for you."
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Author's Notes: Way too short...but at least I got something done. I'm just not feeling fanfiction anymore. Don't worry! I have just come down with the dreaded writer's block bug. I'll be well in no time! :) Maybe another songfic...I just don't know what story to write for...I think SP, BD...yeah...it's been quite awhile with that fic...yeah! :)