And so comes forth Chapter Nine. I want to thank all of you who have reviewed, and to come to a mailbox every day with mail from makes my day, because people out there take an interest to my story. You all have a special place in my heart! Now, on with the chapter! Exactly what is this bad thing coming their way? Read to find out! Oh, and P.S. This Chapter is dedicated to Doragon-Akuma… and there is only one word to describe you…MOTIVATION! Go!
PriestessOfBlue
"I do love you, Inuyasha."
His eyes continued to look into hers, the look of tainted questioning slowly disappearing, as his heart started to make him feel so relieved, and so full of hope.
She looked into his as well, happy for what she had found, what they both had found.
Love.
Kaede sat at home, in the residence of her father and Kikyo's, a look of worry on her little face. It had not been long since her elder sister was carried off by that dog demon Inuyasha.
"I hope you are ok…"
She whispered to herself, as she sat on the floor. She had taken out her little dolls she had made with her mother and Kikyo while she was a little baby. They had a strong sentimental value to her, since they were one of the many things that reminded her of her mother.
And now...Kikyo.
She dilly dallied with her toys as small thoughts ran through her head. Kaede had seen how selfless Inuyasha was when he did not want the Jewel anymore, but his behavior seemed so odd to her. She had put it back in the shrine with the aid of her father, and the remaining soldiers guarded the temple instead.
He had wanted the jewel all his life, but he decided to give it up at that point and time. Suddenly, her small favoritism for him dropped to a confused dislike, as her eyes widened in the process of her thinking.
"What if…what if…" she dropped her doll. It had all come to her. He was pretending. He was lying. He was gaining her rare trust in the worst way. He wanted the jewel, but he was going to go to any length or measure to get it.
After all, demons had no hearts…they were just a mass of violence and wrong doing, a form of hate. Of course, she had let her mind wander, and the sole reason she had was because they still did not know the reason why Aku-Shin had killed their mother.
Kikyo and their father had sadly thought that he killed her to get to the jewel. It was the one thing that had any major importance to Aku-Shin, or so they thought.
The sad thing had to be that this was not the real reason, their father knew.
That lust that Misao had for Kirei was so strong and so binding that he knew that he killed her because he couldn't have her.
It was as simple as that.
But if he really loved her, wouldn't he just want to see her happy? Wouldn't he forever lament on what would have been, and then over time accepted what was to be?
Oddly, the jewel, at that point and time, was not the goal of Misao. His goal was Kirei.
The father of Kikyo and Kaede sat outside in the garden that he used to sit with Kirei at. He remembered being a young man, lying with his beautiful wife, enjoying her company, basking in the fruits of love. It hurt him to know that he could never do that again. One man decided to take one important thing he had away from him, and another man was attempting to erase his meaning for life completely.
He was not going to lose his firstborn under any circumstances.
If he was not going to tolerate this, then why was he not out searching the outskirts of the village with the soldiers?
Probably because he had faith in his second born that Kikyo was ok.
This would be short-lived, like everything else in this predicament.
Kaede ran through the house, her small feet tapping the floor, waking up the floorboards, which replied in small creaks and moans. Her head turned back and forth, as she yelled, "daddy!"
He looked around, and then finally turned toward the house as she met the opening of the door, her big brown eyes showing a small flair of skepticism. His eyes widened a little as well, seeing how out of breathe Kaede appeared to be.
"Daddy…"
"Yes, Kaede? Is something wrong, are you ok?"
"I don't think that Inuyasha was telling me the truth."
"You know what, neither do I. That is why I am going out to find her when the group I sent out comes back in."
She started to violently shake her head as she stared at her father, her eyes appearing to flood with tears of fear at any second. This was not going to happen. She was not going to risk losing everyone important to her in her life.
She ran to her father, tears cascading down her cheeks, head still shaking back and forth in an effort to change his mind. She fell into his arms as she buried her mop of brown hair into his chest, crying rather loudly. He held her close and rocked her back and forth in his strong arms, trying his best to take the pain away. He hated how his family was being torn apart by all of this. He wanted, more than anything, to make it all just stop.
But it would be a lot harder than usual.
Inuyasha went over to the lake and sat directly by it. He scanned the water, with calm, reveling in the events that had occurred not too long ago. In particular, his moment with Kikyo. Yes, the person whom he loved returned this feeling of deep-hearted love, and the emotion was more than he could bear. In short, it was wonderful.
A small smile crept over his lips as he continued to stare into the abyss of the lake. The water rippled gently once again, with the wind whispering directions to and fro.
His white shirt felt particularly light at the time, and his emotions were just floating on air. He had never felt this good in his life, and he had a feeling that if he wanted to, he could fly.
Kikyo passively rested over by a big willow tree, her slumber soothing Inuyasha's sore eyes. He turned completely over to her direction, and smiled even wider just to see her beautiful face. Looking at her, he thought of what he should do now that they were away from her village.
Should he run off with her?
At that point and time, that is exactly what he wanted to do. He just wanted to take the one person he loved and run off to another world, where they could be free of heavy responsibility and just live life knowing for a fact that they loved each other, and nothing could come in-between them.
But then the appositives of that decision started to leak into his brain, as the vision of little Kaede came into his head. She loved her sister so, and did not want anything to happen to her, he could tell. He didn't want to imply that, for he knew how it felt to lose someone.
Inuyasha stood up and walked over toward Kikyo's sleeping frame. He knelt down beside her and kissed her on the cheek. She stirred just a little, before finally opening her eyes and seeing what was hovering over her.
"Hi, Inuyasha, "she whispered, smiling. She could not help but smile when she saw that face adorned with the most amber of eyes, which just seemed to gaze upon her and make everything alright.
He was lost in a daze too, and thought that the only way he could break it was to look away from her, because he knew that if he continued he would do something that they would enjoy at the moment, but then later question.
"Kikyo, I need to take you back home…it may take a while, but I just need to return you. If I guessed right, your family, especially Kaede, misses you so much that it's hard to bear…" His voice trailed off, as he looked at the lake.
Kikyo, looked up at him, and realized that what he was saying was nothing farther from the truth. He needed to get her back, and she needed to guard the jewel. Kaede had it, she knew, and even though she trusted the little girl with all her heart, she must have known that the village felt if any a little vulnerable without her around to protect the village's wealth.
"When will we leave, Inuyasha?"
"I'm thinking right about now. Do you feel any better?"
"Yes, I feel much better. I'm thinking that rest was all I needed."
He looked at her, a little suspiciously as he pressed her back down with the palm of his hand on her head as she attempted to rise.
"Inu-"
"Shh…" he whispered. He slowly got on top of her, and looked around as she lay there with an interrogating look on her face. All of a sudden, he jerked his head and looked down straight on her. She blinked, and before she could utter another word his lips met hers. He closed his eyes, and just kissed her. Her eyes were wider than you could possibly imagine, and all the surprise she was feeling let itself be at that very point and time.
After a couple of seconds, he pulled away. His eyes were so full of fear, for whatever reason, she had no idea of. She glanced up at him, flushing red all the while, but looking surprised.
They quickly moved apart, and hid their faces from each other. Inuyasha went back to the lake, and she lay back up against the large willow tree.
They didn't speak a word to each other, and the whole moment just submersed itself into isolation. Not a word said, not a motion made, not an idea thought of, just pure silence.
Kikyo turned her body away from him, her face hidden completely by the will of the tree. She, by no means, wanted him to even notice the look on her face. It was the look of surprise, yet overall bliss. She did not want to be feeling like this, and yet she did. She loved him, and at the same time thought that everything was going so fast. Then it all came to her-it wasn't that.
It was not, by any circumstances, the fact that it may have been going so fast. There was one thing and one thing only that was bothering her.
What the village, and especially her family, would think.
How would the people she protected feel if she was 'involved' with the 'enemy'? Of course, they would sense a threat, but at the same time, they could trust her, couldn't they?
The fact is they never wanted to. They were too vain to see that she did anything and everything to protect them, and yet felt that she, a mere fifteen year old, was not worthy or deserving of their trust. Obviously, they would not approve, but in the end, it was her family that had the last say.
She prayed to Buddha, hoping that they would accept it, in some way, in some form or fashion…just some way…
And with that thought lingering in her head, she drifted to sleep.
Meanwhile, Inuyasha silently rose over from the lake and crept silently over to Kikyo's slumbering frame.
He wondered exactly when she had fallen asleep as he knelt near her beautiful body. He lay right next to her, and slowly wrapped his arms around her body, cradling her in a way. He held her so close, not wanting her to wake up, but at the same time wanting her to realize that he was holding her.
These emotions that he was having all of a sudden were creeping up on him. He never felt this way about a person before, and everything that he was going through swam to the surface of is mind. He was having sudden urges, desires, and he had no way of controlling them. Well, of course he had the will and the power to do so, but something just wanted, in the deepest, darkest part of his demon mind, to take her.
Head rolling back onto the soft bark of the willow tree, he sighed, feeling really puzzled at what he was doing, especially what he was thinking. He decided that he would finally take her back, but one fear surmounted his intellect-
Would he ever see her again?
Lord knew he loved her, and he'd do anything to be with her, but the human, soft-spotted part of him did not want to take her away from what she had. A loving father, a precocious sister, and a home that was good enough for her.
But still…
As he pondered, he sensed something in the air. His ears perked up as his nose sifted through the fall weather. He smelled something, he knew, but it was not normal…It was something evil, something sinister, something that could not match up with the negativity of his own scent.
He could tell that it was something, more specifically someone, and he did not like the scent he was receiving at all.
He slowly let go of Kikyo and stood up, his eyes scanning the wood around him that adorned the lake, as he inched away from the willow tree. A strong wind was blowing all of a sudden, as his defenses heightened.
It only took five seconds for the scent of evil to disappear…
And one second for Kikyo to vanish out of thin air.
…And there was Chapter 9! Oh my goodness? What happened? Well, rest assured folks…I'm not telling anything! Just…leave it up to assumptions and it will all come clear to you. But, hahaha, what a cliffie, don't you say? Ok, thank you once again for all of you who have reviewed. You really have made me feel special, and I love the fact that I have so much support! I love you guys! Thanks again!
PriestessOfBlue
