Read first A/N at the bottom when you get done. Also, review highlights!
Kitty (Navi-kun) is my beta for my unposted fic and she is so fabulous I want to marry her.
Quotes just keep coming to me like whoa.
Waaaaahhhh! ff. net did something and lost all my hits! 15,000+ of them: boooo!
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"No more tears now; I will think about revenge." -Mary, Queen of Scots
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Kagome sat in her room for a few hours crying nonstop. She remembered howsweet and gentle he was the night before andthe tears fellharder. It was as if it were a last huzzah for their relationship, their marriage. Did he know, even subconsiously that it would end the next day? Did he know that the betrayal would ache so much her stomach would rebel? Did he know that she loved him? Did he even care?
Sango came in about halfway through and seeing the girl on the floor, panicked. She held her and shushed her like a mother would to calm her down. The sobs lessened and now words rained from her, bitter and sour and full of secret poison. Sango listened to Kagome's story. The girl that had taken her in as a servant but treated her like an equal. She was fiercely loyal to the woman that allowed her to live her dreams. She vowed vengeance on the man that would hurt someone like her lady. He didn't care for anyone but himself and Sango made a decision. She sent a messenger to ask for an audience with Inutaisho when Kagome's eyes had somewhat dried up. Sango figured he would be able to sort it out. The messenger came back minutes later saying he would escort her to the lord.
Inutaisho smelled the saltiness on Kagome before she entered to room. Her handmaid was standing a pace behind her looking solemnly angry. Kagome bowed low and kept her head down.
"Daughter, what is the matter?" Kagome looked up at him with tears once again threatening to fall from those ridiculously long lashes. Suddenly she launched herself into his arms, sobbing for all she was worth in his embrace. The story came out in bits and pieces, but when he had learned the jist of it, his rage was a towering inferno. Kagome was the daughter he never had. He promised Todo that his only girl would be happy and well taken care of. How dare his son make him a liar! He called for a servant and gave some orders before turning back to Kagome, rocking her in his arms and comforting her.
All of Kagome's things were moved into the separate quarters she had that afternoon. Kikyo was removed from the grounds and sent back to Kawagoe. Kagome, after all, was the one who belonged in Kyoto and had only invited the miko as a companion. Inutaisho felt it was safe enough to assume that any companionship between the two was finished. Besides, sending Kagome back would bring disgrace to both families and the true reason for sending Kikyo home could be covered up easily .
Sesshomaru was not told what had come to pass, but could guess rightly with the many clues. The salty smell of tears was everpresent and pungent on Kagome's person. Secretly he was pleased and sought to speak to the girl and get her to tell him what had happened herself. More than likely she would fall into his arms, sobbing for all she was worth and he would comfort her, telling her she was beautiful, special, her husband didn't deserve her...the things one always told an emotionally-needy human woman, heartbroken or not. And then she would fall again, but this time into his bed.
But his plans would have to be delayed for a while.The same day, Naraku attacked the Western Lands. All three of the inuyoukai went to fight. Inuyasha had not yet known of Kagome's visit to his father, but for certain he would not be left in the shadows for long.
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It was a small bit of relief for Kagome to be separated from her husband for a while. It was her greatest wish to just go home and be loved, though she knew her father and brothers would be fighting in the battles. Kagome doubted her father would let her return with no explanation and she doubted Todo Seigan would continue to fight with Western Lands. Besides, that wouldn't be a good move if they were trying to rid this world of the evil that was Naraku. Odd how easily heartbreak can force a young lady to become a woman. Alot easier than marriage could. Alot easier than intimacy could.
So instead she spent her days entertaining the ladies she became acquainted with the week before (who didn't dare ask what was wrong), or tending to a small part of the garden (flora and fauna never questioned her), or wandering listlessly through the many halls and corridors (walls and floors couldn't mock her). She had become wraith-like in her heartbreak, silent and meek. Everyone around her who didn't sense the inner change could see the change in her outward appearance as she became thinner with her fine bones jutting slightly in awkward pale-skinned angles and delicate, lavender circles formed under those incredible blue eyes.
Kagome's thoughts centered on Inuyasha for the first month he was away. And it was mostly reliving those moments in time where he was so good to her, laughing at the irony of her folly. He wrote her letters, saying how sorry he was and how much he loved her, but they became fodder for the fire, more often than not. Inutaisho wrote to tell her the important things, such as how Inuyasha had been duly reprimanded. That brought a smirk of amusement to her face that lasted all of two seconds.
Sango and Chiaki each tried to shake her out of the funk she was in. With Sango, Kagome helped to design kimonos and learned how to sew. Chiaki kept her busy with trips to the markets in the surrounding villages for shopping sprees and the fairytale-like history of the Inuyoukai clan.
The servants (for no one knows more gossip than they) took up her cause when they found out why she was unhappy all the time. She was treated with her favorite things to eat whenever she wanted, and sometimes when she didn't want. There was no news of the war she didn't hear about first. Even the most stoic of the guards would attempt to make her smile in passing.
It went on that way for nearly fifty days.
It wasn't until the end of the second month that she finally started to come out of the shell she was so ruthlessly shoved into. It began when she happened upon Sesshomaru's room. The elder brother was also away battling the forces of Naraku and his room had remained untouched. She looked into the corner and saw the Tenjo board. Kagome knelt down on the cushions in front of it and fingered a piece idly.
Sesshomaru was attracted to her, she had no doubt of that. He was the more refined, dangerous brother, who held a certain allure to all of those around him. His sense of honor and pride seemed high; she could not believe he would stoop so low as to lie with another woman after he was married.
And Inuyasha was unbelieveably jealous of him, no matter how hard he tried to surpress it...
A small smile slowly formed on her lips. Because Kagome had found her revenge.
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It took the armies of the west only 6 months in all to defeat Naraku.
When Inuyasha returned home, stooped sullenly on his horse's back as the troops rode through the city, he found his wife among the party greeting the return. He straightened, relieved; he thought she might still be mad at him for the whole Kikyo thing. He dismounted off of his horse and went to see her, a grin on his face. She was standing there in a white kimono embroidered with the odd brown branch here and there with a handful of nightengales sprinkled throughout. Her obi was red and plain...the color of her lips, the color of his robes. He went to embrace her but she stepped back slightly.
"Don't try to touch me Inuyasha. I don't want to have to embarrass you." She said it with such anger, such hate that contrasted with her gentle smile, that he stopped dead. Inuyasha, for being the cunning warrior he was, had no place on the battleground of a woman's heart. Betrayal was the worst thing he could have done to Kagome. She was forgiving by nature, understanding, but he had single-handedly broken her trust and her spirit. The carefree girl she used to be had been replaced by a bitter woman.
Kagome's only comfort was her revenge. It spoke to her of its plan, like a gentle lover it seduced her into evil. One could say that deep down she knew it was wrong, but that was by no means accurate. Her morals had been drowned by the tears she had cried so many months ago.
Inuyasha let her be. After all, who needed a row in the middle of the courtyard. He milled about for a few minutes, giving her time to leave before following in the direction she was going: their room. Upon entering, he realized now that all of her posessions were in her separate room with not so much as a hairpin remaining in their shared chambers. He moved to her door, intent upon an explanation, but it was locked and sealed with a ward so strong it burned his hand when he touched any part of it. He started to get angry. He had apologized after all! He needed explain to her that Kikyo must have put a spell on him or something. He reached for the handle again, to tell Kagome the realization he had come to, but was rewarded with yet another singed palm.
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Inutaisho's heart ached for Kagome. Though it had been a fair amount of time, she had not forgiven his younger son. And Inutaisho had put off the inevitable. He would have to tell Todo that he was wrong. Inuyasha was not the best choice for Kagome. He looked over the correspondences from over two years ago.
Todo,
It would be a honor for your only daughter, Kagome, to become a member of my family. I am sure once Sesshomaru gets to know her, they will become inseparable. He would be honored to be a part of your family as well; he respects you greatly.
-Inutaisho
And the reply that was sent back, along with the previous letter,
Inutaisho,
Though I am far away from the capital, I still hear the gossip. Forgive me for being blunt, but I know Sesshomaru to have the reputation of a womanizer. I know he had already been arranged to wed Lady Aiko before he bed her and then broke the betrothal. Kagome is my only daughter. If she were to be mistreated in such a way, there would be nothing stopping me from revenge, even a friendship such as the one between us. Do not hold it against me my friend. My offspring are all I hold dear in this world.
-Todo
Inutashio sighed and began to write.
I am sorry...
Then he crumpled the paper and threw it into the fire. It was no easier than on the field, sitting next to the man who was oblivious to his daughter's distress and not being strong enough to say a word. But honestly, what was he supposed to say now? 'Thanks for nearly singlehandedly defeating Naraku with your brilliance. By the way, my younger son has cheated on Kagome and now she's severely depressed'?
He bowed his head and hoped.
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Total props to Golden-Eyed-Girl for guessing correctly about the betrothal way back in chapter 10. That's why next chapter will be a day early! Yay!
BaBeeCinaMon says 'like whoa' and that's why she rocks.
rinseternalsoul cracked me up. Also, could teach me how to post on A.S.S. ( -haha) when it gets back up? I can't figure out how to stop the damn italics from taking over the entire post, etc. But damn you for reading my high school fic! You have forced me to start working on it again to relieve my embarassment! ;)
I finally got LynGreenTea to write more than 'write more'. Go me!
RNR posted twice! Twice people!
Kjinuyasha looooves me...and YSS thinks I'm naughty!
So many new reviewers this chapter o0...makes my head spin! And thank you to everyone who has been with me from the start. Can't forget you guys!