A/N ~ (17/10/2010): Dates: November 8th. Hey people! I decided to get rid of the Naraku puppets.. they seemed kind of stupid. I think, at least this early in the story, Naraku should still have enough confidence in his own powers where he doesn't need to hide behind a fake version of himself. What kind of villain is THAT much of a coward? So anyways, the jewel shard status is as followed.. they have none. This is a shorter chapter as well.. I didn't feel like pushing two together for this.

ENJOY!

You're Kinda, Sorta, Basically, Pretty Much, Always On My Mind.

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I Do Not Own Inuyasha

21. History

"Dammit all! What's with that 'Sango' girl?" Inuyasha cursed, throwing down a blackened piece of wood on top of a slowly growing pile, "She couldn't even remember the face of that suspicious 'young master' at the castle!"

"Stop jabbering and tidy up," Miroku sighed. He was crouched down beside me building up a small fire with strong long branches that I had picked up only moments before.

We were back at the Taijiya's village. Sango was now in our care and we'd been treating her wounds for the past week. We learned that she had been from the castle, and tricked by Naraku into believing Inuyasha had been the one to kill all those that were hear. However, since she was in such a weak state, mentally as well as physically, she couldn't recall anything of Naraku. I didn't blame her, neither did Miroku, but Inuyasha on the other hand wasn't as compassionate.

"But-!"

"This is Naraku we're talking about," Miroku interrupted, more aggressively this time. I sensed his irritation and glanced at Inuyasha. He looked more aggravated at the name and I wondered if he was thinking about Kikyo too, "Until all of his crimes are detected, unless you have any other ideas, we can't go back, can we? It must have been a spell cast on her aways, and now that Naraku is gone it's worn off. Besides we can't go romping around the country side with Sango in such a condition."

Inuyasha gave an irritated grunt and chucked another scorched beam into the pile, "Who cares about her spells and her wounds! You're not going to let her stay in bed for a whole week though, are you? If it was me, I'd be up in three!"

"If it was me, I'd stay in bed for a month."

"Sango's not just suffering physically, you know," I muttered, tossing a leaf into the fire, "She's lost her entire family and village. She must be heart broken."

"Oooh! A broken heart, huh?" Inuyasha gasped sarcastically, "Well the best cure for that is vengance, and to get that revenge we have to find Naraku's castle! I'm gonna go see if she remembers anythin- Ow!"

Miroku had chucked a thick log at Inuyasha's head. He stumped a bit then spun around, his fists clentched and his body braced for combat.

"Now why did you do that!"

"Leave her alone and let her rest for a while. I promise you that will be the best medicine."

I looked away from them as Inuyasha shouted his protest. I searched for the graves. New flowers had been placed upon them, red this time, and the amount of debris in the area had decreased incredibly thanks to us. As I continued to inspect I saw a dark haired figure sitting in front of the farthest rows by the wall. I quietly rose to my feet to join Sango.

I got there seconds later but made my approach silent. I didn't want to frighten her and I wondered if my presence would make things awkward. We've never just been together by ourselves. I remembered last week and my snide comments during the fight. Ugh, what if she doesn't even like me?

"The graves.." Sango said. Her voice was sad and pretty again. I tensed a bit as her brown eyes gazed over me. I was sure I had been completely silent.. how did she hear me coming? I stepped to her side and sat down, "You made graves for everyone."

"Of course," I mumbled.

She looked older than me but she was pretty nonetheless. Her eyes weren't as deep a brown as most people I've seen around here and a dark pink colour was painted on her lids like eyeshadow. Her hair wasn't black either, it was a very deep brown. It was pulled back at the ends with a white ribbon in a very similar version to Kikyo's.

"You know, you really shouldn't be up," I said, "You should be inside healing."

"I couldn't exactly stay here without visiting my friends.." she mumbled.

I hesitated. It was hard for me to figure out what to say.. I had never really been in the position where it was necessary to comfort another.. and even so it wasn't just like I could tell her to be happy..

"Why don't you join us?" I heard myself say, "When you're healed of course.. Inuyasha isn't such a bad guy once you get to know him. I should know, we've been together since I.." I paused, remembering how we'd actually been separated for most of my life, "..was a little girl. Miroku can be a bit of a pervert sometimes but it's not that difficult to ignore."

"You can see Shikon fragments, can't you?" she asked, resting her chin on her knees. Her head was tilted and her eyes gazed at me curiously.

I nodded.

"But you're a hanyo."

I nodded again, my ears twitching.

"That means you cannot be a miko.."

"Well.. no.."

"So therefore you shouldn't be able to."

"But I can."

She looked away from me now, down at the graves once more, "If you can sense them.. that means you are able to find the castle just from following that?"

"Yes, if we're close enough to the shards, it's possible. But me and Inuyasha's know the scent of Naraku, not very well but you still have a faint trace of it on your clothes. We can always follow that too."

Sango looked at me again, her eyes cold and hard. She stared for a moment and in that moment I felt like she was searching my soul for impurities.

"Fine. I'll go with you."

I blinked and a strange emotion filled me. One I couldn't explain, "We will help you avenge everyone here at the village."

The hostility drained from her eyes, "Thank you.. but also.. the Shikon No Tama.."

"It was born here, wasn't it? Yeah, we heard about that.. "

"Was that the reason why you came here?"

My eyes wandered, "Maybe one of the reasons.. maybe the reason for Miroku. But not for me."

"What was your's then?"

"I.." Would she believe me if I told her? I glanced at her from the corner of my eye. I had no choice.. She was waiting, "The reason.. I can see Shikon shards even though I am not a miko.. is because.. according to my... according to Kaede the Miko from my village, Midoriko was my ancestor. I came to learn about my heritage.. I came to train and get stronger and control the demonic urges.. My story is complicated.. but basically those were the reasons.."

She was silent as she processed the information, but then she gave me a small smile and rose gently to her feet, "Since you held a funeral for everyone... Since I believe you.. I'll tell you about it. Why the Shikon No Tama was born."

°°•. .•°ღ°•. .•°°

We walked deeper into the limestone cave. Flashlight in hand, I carefully placed my steps to make sure I was always at Inuyasha's side. He carried Sango on his back, so this time there was no way he could hold me. This made me slightly jealous but I knew Sango couldn't walk so I tried to repress the negative feelings.

"Have any of you been inside this cave.. and seen it?" Sango asked, her voice echoing across the stone.

"Yeah those mummified yokai, right?" Inuyasha answered, his voice joining hers in the reverberations.

Streams of light rained down upon us from above, creeping through the small cracks in the stone. I watched as the dust danced around the mummy. Shivers ran down my spine as I looked upon her decayed face.. as if any moment she'd come alive.

Inuyasha placed Sango on her feet and she carefully lowered herself to her bottom, using a stalagmite for back support.

"There was a time when countless numbers of yokai, dragons, ground spiders, oni, and so on, merged into one, and increased their power to wage a battle," she explained, "Just to destroy one single human."

"Then.. this is a human as I thought," Miroku muttered, staring up at the large mass of imobile yokai. They were twisting and turning over eachother, yet still as a statue. The human above, I now noticed, was half submerged in the jaws of a reptile-like creature.

"Wearing old armour.. an ancient general, huh."

Ancient general? I glanced toward Miroku as if he were crazy. Could his human eyes not detect it? This was defiantly a woman. Even though the bottom half of her body was not seen the curves in the upper made it quite clear.

"No you are wrong," Sango said, conforming my thoughts, "That is a woman. Several hundred years ago.. she was a miko."

"I see," Inuyasha said, "If yokai are your opponents then a miko is about as strong as 100 samurais."

"It was a time when the nobility were still in control of Japan," Sango explained, her eyes never straying from the body, "There were piles of people who had died in war and hunger.. As the corpses and exhausted humans were eaten, in no time, the numbers of yokai increased. All sorts of Buddhist priests and generals exterminated the yokai it appears but, above all was the miko Midoriko, who used an attack that drove out the yokai's souls and purified them. She had enough spiritual power to destroy 10 youkai at once and was considered the most powerful human of her time."

My heart pounded in my ears and I saw Inuyasha's eyes flicker to me. He heard it, I know he did.. I lowered my gaze and clenched my teeth together, trying to force my body to relax. In a moment he was beside me and I felt his large hand grasp my own. It calmed me and for a moment I just thought of this. His hands were strong and rough, as was expected of someone who climbed around in trees and battled all day everyday, but they were warm and gentle. I felt that red ribbon tied around his wrist, that ribbon I had almost forgotten about completely, signifying our promise and my anxiety faded.

"In this world there are humans, animals, trees, and rocks. Midoriko could purify all four of those souls," I heard Sango say. It snapped me from my thoughts and I looked around, no one seemed to have noticed Inuyasha and I.. or at least they were pretending not to.

"In shinto there is one way of thinking," Miroku said, his dark blue eyes shifting as I gazed upon them. He had been watching us, with that same annoying smirk on his face.. "Namely that 'shikon' is Ara-mitama, Nigi-mitama, Kushi-mitama, and Saki-mitama. All together these become one spirit, and in the flesh they live inside the heart. Ara-mitama is courage, Nigi-mitama is kinship, Kushi-mitama is wisdom, and Saki-mitama is to be in charge of love. Human nature is correctly maintained between them."

"And then..?" Inuyasha asked weakly.

"If you do evil, the shikon's actions fall down to evil," Miroku replied.

Inuyasha stared at the monk for a moment, the silence quickly becoming an annoying ring in my ears, "S-stop changing things around!"

"Shall I start again?"

"In other words, souls can become good or evil," Sango explained.

Miroku nodded, "Right."

"It's still kinda confusing," Shippo confessed.

I sighed, "They mean that when all of those qualities, such as wisdom and courage, love and friendship, are found in one person, namely Midoriko, they unite to form a balance within the soul. That balance is powerful and that power can be used for good or evil.. Does that make more sense?"

Shippo nodded, but I wasn't totally convinced.

"Anyway.." Sango said before I could think of a even simpler way to explain what I had understood almost instantly, "The miko called Midoriko exorcised shikon, and had much experience in using the spell to transform a yokai's power to nothing. That's why the yokai were afraid of Midoriko, and started trying to take her life. But even if they attacked her suddenly, they were all exorcised, which is why, to overcome Midoriko's spiritual powers, a soul with massive evil was needed.. so the yokai became one."

"How?" Shippo questioned.

Sango pointed toward the bottom of the giant corpses, "Take a look over there. There's one more.."

My eyes followed her finger and then locked onto the face of a man, "Another human?"

"Midoriko.. hadn't always been a miko," Sango confessed, "There was a time when she had been a normal noble woman and this normal woman, free from the limitations of following a spiritual path, was arranged to be married. This was the man whom she married. He loved her so much that it became something of an obsession but unfortunately Midoriko was never able to return these feelings. A few years later, Midoriko, worried for her people, wanted to peruse what she'd always dreamed. To become a miko and protect those around her. To do this she could not be married. The man's heart never mended but his love for her also never faded. As the years went by and Midoriko's powers grew, the yokai took advantage of the man's weakness and malice toward the woman who left him, and possessed him. Many yokai merged into one as using a human with an evil heart to anchor with was the easiest."

I sense of deja vu ran over me.. I felt like I'd heard this story.. but.. from where..?

"..and Onigumo..that man filled with evil, harboured despicable desires for Kikyou. Unable to move, Onigumo's dreadfully evil thoughts filled the inside of the cave..and that evil drew in yokai...He traded his body to the youkai in exchange for one that could move freely.."

Oh.. that's where.. Naraku's monologue.. Why was everything in my life always leading up to.. always so similar to Kikyo..?

"This story.." Miroku's voice snapped me back to reality. I realized now that in my thoughts I had sub-consciously leaned my head against Inuyasha's shoulder. His hand had moved to the top of my head, and now it felt more protective than comforting, "This story is like it's about Naraku. Isn't it the same as when the wild thief Onigumo submitted his body to the yokai, and was reborn?"

I heard Sango gasp, "Naraku was..?"

"Continue the story, Sango," Inuyasha said, tickling my ears with his breath, "Did this miko.. beat the yokai, or did she lose?"

"The battle continued to 7 days and 7 nights and finally, Midoriko exhausted her power, and her body was eaten. It seems her soul was absorbed. But at that moment, with the last of her power, Midoriko seized the yokai's soul.. and her own soul was taken in and forced out of her body. There both the yokai and Midoriko died.. The cluster of souls remained and that's the Shikon No Tama."

"But even though their body had been destroyed, inside the jewel Midoriko's and the yokai's souls still continue to fight. In truth, depending upon the soul of the person who holds the Shikon No tama, they become better or worse it seems. If a yokai or evil person holds it, their corruption increases. If a person with a pure soul holds it, then they are cleansed."

"In the hundreds of years since various yokai and humans have gotten hold of the Shikon No Tama on occasion, and in my grandfather's time, he brought it back to this town. He'd gotten it from a yokai he exterminated. Soon afterwards grandfather also died from the wounds he got at the time.. But by that time, the Shikon No Tama had already been corrupted very badly."

"But Sango.." I mumbled, sensing that her story had come to an end. I pulled away from Inuyasha and he let me go easily, "The story I know.. was that my mother had the jewel and that my mother was a daughter of Midoriko.."

"Yes.." Sango gazed at me and nodded once, "I forgot to mention that while being married Midoriko had given birth to a child. After the deaths of his parents the was taken care of by the servants at the mansion. He knew the story of his parents well and with each generation the story was retold. Until again my grandfather's time.. when a young artist claiming to be the last descendant of the miko appeared in our village. Few people believed her, since she was infatuated with a yokai lord at the time. Most believed she was lying to get the jewel for him but nonetheless she stayed here, learning about Midoriko as much as she could. Until Shikon No Tama was brought back. The night after my grandfather died, she disappeared with the Shikon No Tama and that was the last they heard of her. Her actions conformed their suspicions but there was also the fact that a simple artist had the powers of a miko without ever practicing, while being in love which had forced some to believe she was genuine."

"Do you know her name..?" I asked.

"She went by 'Itami Mika'.."

"Mika.." I dropped my gaze. My mother's name..

"Kaori.." I looked up at Sango again, "You remember, what I said. I said she was an artist."

I stared at her blankly. So..? My mother was an artist, who stole things, abandoned her children, and was in love with a yokai..

The taijiya got to her feet and stumbled towards me. She grabbed my hand and forced me to point the forgotten flashlight to the wall behind the giant corpses. The wall none of us had ever paid any attention to.

My breath was stolen from me.

The cave wall was covered with colour. Vibrant blues, greens, browns, pinks, the blackest of blacks, reds golds, purples. Everything was colour. Everything was painted. Not a hint of the dull grey stone was visible. The colours still shined, almost as if laced with magic.. paints mixed with glitter and life.

It was a mural. A picture of a large glowing neon pink ball with white mist and sparkles floated in frozen clouds around it. Inside the ball was the almost transparent face of a beautiful pale raven haired woman. Her eyes were closed. Her red lips were pressed together. Serious, strong and elegant.. What Midoriko would have looked like.

On the right of the jewel was a man. Tan complexion, black jagged lines across his cheeks, long dark blue hair.. fangs.. bright icy blue eyes with tints of gold. His ears were long, and pointed, like an elf, like Sesshoumaru's yet larger and more noticable.. A black-violet little ball was clenched in his clawed fist. He looked serious.. but.. almost evil.. well not so much evil as.. maybe angry, as his eyes were narrowed and looked out as if he were staring right into your soul. But either way he was godlike.

On the left of the jewel was a woman. She was facing away from the yokai but their free hands were still entwined together. She was holding a pale pink almost white little sphere close to her chest. Long light brown locks fell past her shoulders down to her waist and vivid green eyes, contrasting against a pale beautiful face, were pointed towards the sky.

My vision blurred with tears. My father.. My mother.. My history.. My story.. Everything I had ever wanted.. All that was in this room.. I could not reach..