Chapter 22 Across Time
Sesshoumaru felt the darkness envelope him like a somber cloak as he jumped to the bottom of the well. Closing his eyes he inhaled the lingering vanilla scent of Kagome; the only trace she had left behind in this world. Even that was fading away at what seemed to Sesshoumaru an impossible speed.
This is it...the only thing I have of her now is her sweet smell and this moldering well. A single tear glided down his cheek. Never to see her, never to hear her, never to hold her again...except in memories.
Out of nowhere, Sesshoumaru felt pain explode through his stomach, as though he had just been run through by a sword. His vision blurred and he staggered against the side of the well; his nostrils filled with the metallic scent of blood and his hands felt slick with his own liquid life as it drained out of him.
Wait...this isn't happening to me..IT'S KAGOME ON THE OTHER SIDE OF THE WELL...EVEN STRETCHED ACROSS FIVE CENTURIES OUR BOND IS STILL HOLDING...
At his back the Tensaiga pulsed insistently, demanding his attention. Gripped by an unexplainable compulsion, Sesshoumaru unsheathed the now glowing sword and plunged it deep into the earth of the well.
Power rushed out of the blade in a flood of light and spiraled down the path of the well, twisting and turning through the centuries, flowing along the chords of a transcendent bond.
Kagome felt hollow. She wanted to weep but couldn't. Her life was draining from her and all strength was leaving her. A darkness was nipping away at her consciousness, devouring thoughts in a whirring maw of nothingness. Images of Sesshoumaru drifted into her mind like leaves on the wind.
She saw him smiling at her as he held her in his arms while skating
She saw him laugh as he stole her top from her at the beach
She saw him cradle Rin lovingly as she clutched him during thunderstorms
She saw him charge through flames like a silver haired angel to save her.
Sesshoumaru...
Abruptly blinding light shone all around her, causing her to squeeze her eyes shut with a strength she didn't know she had. Although unsure what was happening, Kagome felt serenity wash over her. As gentle as a lover's caress, Kagome felt the Tensaiga's healing energies soothe her and begin to repair her body. Her wound knit itself close and the rending pain in her abdomen faded away to be replaced by a soft warmth that gradually spread throughout her entire being, regenerating completely the flesh and organs that had been rent asunder.
Kagome, despite being bathed in the healing energies of the Tensaiga, felt a profound fatigue overcome her. Though death had been staved off, the healing energies of the Tensaiga were forcing her body into the most efficient mode to effect repair. Before she knew it, she was enveloped in the warm arms of slumber.
As sunlight filtered through the green canopy overhead, feudal Japan bore witness to something incredible. For the first time since he came into existence, Wei laughed. What a strange feeling it was to laugh. Wei's veins felt as though elation were bubbling through them, his mind felt impossible relief; his entire essence reveled joyously in his success. He had passed through the time slip and could now seize the past and control the future.
Japan was his.