Chapter Seven – Daffodil (chivalrous love)


Though Takeshi had not loved Izayoi, his plan having been to use her to incite Ryukotsusei's wrath, he had grown to care for her – if only out of guilt for his actions.

It wasn't long before I began to see this same trait in Sesshoumaru - the same desire to right his wrongs - and I wondered if he wasn't moving forward on a path towards abandoning his quest for power.

The first human Sesshoumaru brought to me was a girl-child named Rin. One that had nursed him after his severe injuries inflicted by Inuyasha, and who had later been killed by Low Pack wolf demons. Though he had not realized it at the time, Sesshoumaru felt guilt for his negligence in returning her care, the feeling compounded by the fact that it was our old allies who had killed her. That was the first time he used the Sword of Life, protecting her soul from death's embrace.

When he brought her to me he was yet seeking power, working to widen his Meido. But when she was taken into the underworld, he abandoned his quest without thought and without hesitation. Sesshoumaru followed her into the darkness and brought her back for a second time.

It was only a few years later that he formally claimed her as his daughter in a special ceremony to lengthen her life span and add her to our small family. It felt good to have a child in the palace again, her echoing laughter in the halls and gardens a welcome change to the venomous muttering of courtesans.

The second human he brought to me was a boy-child, the member of a clan of demon hunters. Though I did see him when I first met Rin, I was not formally introduced to the boy named Kohaku until after the battle against Naraku. Like Rin, Sesshoumaru held feelings of remorse towards the boy. For his actions in kidnapping Rin, Sesshoumaru had intended to kill him, unaware that he was being controlled by the hanyou Naraku.

Of course, Sesshoumaru didn't end up killing the boy, as he had proven himself to be a worthy ally and companion to Rin. Sesshoumaru realized that had he killed Kohaku, he would have destroyed a soul deserving of life.

Some years later, when Rin was of age, Kohaku approached Sesshoumaru about courting her, and I hid chuckles behind my sleeves at how much my son reminded me of my father in that moment. He seemed ready to give them permission when Rin asked that he release her soul, so that she might age with Kohaku, and someday join him in the afterlife.

When Rin made this request he halted all preparations for their union, and made the humans wait two years before he finally agreed to release Rin's life. Everyone could see that it pained him to do so – knowing that in doing so he was resigning her to a life of some decades instead of some centuries – but it was what she wanted, and to this day her descendants had a place of honour and protection in our House.

The third human he brought before me was a woman.

Though Sesshoumaru had repeatedly tried to kill her, she had only ever attempted to befriend him and ally their packs. I was surprised to learn that she was a member of Inuyasha's pack. Of course, Inuyasha had no place in the Imperial Palace; he was the product of Takeshi's betrayal, and this meant that if I were to allow him a place in the Moon Kingdom, it would only be as a Low Pack member, along with anyone else under his protection.

For a time, I had not understood Sesshoumaru's enchantment with the girl - not only a Low Pack member but a human - and then I sensed her power, carefully restrained behind a tight control. Sesshoumaru introduced her as one Higurashi Kagome, Priestess of the Shikon no Tama and channel of extremely powerful purification powers. While this would have perturbed and frightened most demons, it only served to attract my son like a moth to a flame.

It was impossible to not recognize the similarities between my courting at the hands of Takeshi, a Low Pack member who had proven himself through his sheer power, and Sesshoumaru with his Kagome. It was startling, and only compounded by the fact that a daffodil was carefully tucked behind her hair upon our introduction – chivalrous love. I would expect such from my pup.

I wondered if Sesshoumaru still sought power like his father once had in his mating to me, or if he had truly fallen in love with the girl, as I had once believed Takeshi loved me.

I wasn't sure how I felt about Kagome, though I would later come to admit that the fault was my own, and not the girl's. The last human woman that had meant anything to someone I loved had been the catalyst to the destruction of the happy life I had once led when Takeshi betrayed our family and spawned a bastard hanyou. I had thought that I had overcome my pain and hurt in the century that had passed, but the sight of my last remaining son beside the human woman rubbed at wounds I had thought long healed. It wasn't until I was able to separate my burning remorse towards Izayoi from Kagome that I was able to finally see her for who she really was.

It helped that I recognized a lot of myself in her. Though I had lost my kindness over the years to the bitter hardness of betrayal, I liked to think that like Kagome, I had at one time possessed a kind and gentle heart. We both were fiercely loyal, and had power and status in demon circles – and we both loved Sesshoumaru very much.

I'm not sure how they had come to love each other, but the depth of their love was clear each time their eyes met. Over the years Sesshoumaru had only spoke of how annoying Inuyasha and his little rat pack were, but the battle with Naraku had been over for a long time, and for three years afterward Sesshoumaru had been acting more differently than usual. Rin had helped him open up once more, encouraging him to show love to his pack, but he had also been melancholy in a way I hadn't seen since the death of his siblings. Almost as though something were missing.

Seeing them together as Sesshoumaru presented her to the court, I realized what had been missing, and though I had misgivings in the beginning, how could I not be happy and grateful to the woman who had returned the light to my son's eyes?

It took some time, but I have come to accept Kagome as my daughter-in-law, as the humans like to call each other nowadays. Over the centuries that I have known her she has proven herself to be a worthy Western Lady in her defence of our lands from threats, and a worthy Imperial Princess of the House of the Moon in her loyalty to my son and her care to their pups, who were quite numerous in number. Something that I welcomed with a proud heart and open arms.

The halls of the Imperial Palace had been long ensconced in silence, haunted by the ghosts of the past that could not be appeased, and I had thought that they would never disperse; but eventually, I learned what Takeshi had only learned too late - revenge and power had nearly destroyed everything, but even in the wake of such destruction, the seeds of love and compassion had managed to restore what I had once thought lost forever. The first time that I heard the sound of clacking sandals on stone and laughter - my grandchildren's laughter - it was as though peace had not only finally returned to the floating palace, but also to my own broken heart.

The Imperial Kingdom of the Moon and the Western Lands had been returned to their former glory, and it would not have been possible without the love that shone clearly through Higurashi Kagome, the Lady of the West.