A/N: Okaaaaaay. Well, I have two items of news that definitely fall within the 'bad' category and one that falls within the 'great' category. Personally, I like my bad news first so, here it is:
First, I know that a lot of you were expecting this chapter WAY earlier than this. I wish I could have accommodated that, but unfortunately my computer went kaput. Well, actually the hard drive did, which meant that I lost the first (nearly complete) version of this chapter. I also lost my outline of this entire story (thank goodness I know it by heart). There's a good news element to even this though - from now on, I'll be the queen of backing up my files so this doesn't happen again. Live and learn, I suppose.
Second, SingleSpark is shutting down. I know that a lot of you knew this already, but for those of you that didn't - there ya go, now you do. It will be in read-only mode in a couple months. This story should be long done by that point (barring any other mysterious computer plus brand new external hard drive failures) but obviously, I won't be posting any more stories on that site. There's a new Sess/Kag site that's gone up to replace SingleSpark called Dokuga but I'm not going to immediately start posting there. We'll see what happens. I will, of course, continue to post on deviantART and FFN.
However, the GREAT news is that SingleSpark still held their yearly awards, the votes for the 2007 awards are in and this fic almost swept the categories it was nominated for!
First Place - Best AU
First Place - Best Romance/Fluff/WAFF
Second Place - Best Action/Adventure
First Place - Best Kagome Portrayal
First Place - Best Sesshoumaru Portrayal
First Place - Best Overall Fanfic (!!)
This is AMAZING, especially considering the wonderful stories this fic was up against (good Lord, the stories it was up against! I'm flattered and humbled that I'm in that sort of company!). Thank you so, so, SO much!
The Once and Future Taiyoukai
Chapter 28: The Garden's Fruit
Her fingers wrapped around his wrist, holding him close to her as her eyes slowly took in the familiar figure. She had known who it was the moment he had touched her and yet her gaze could not move up beyond the red hexagonal pattern on his collar. She had been so eager to see him again, and yet, she realized now that she was also terrified. As she paused, his grip tightened around her own wrist, his claws pressing into her skin.
"Kagome! How good to see you again!" The feminine voice broke his hold and he released her as the witch appeared at Kagome's side. She smiled gently as the miko turned. "I suppose it has only been a short time for you though, since you seem to have solved our little Time and Fate problem."
"Uh yes," murmured Kagome, bowing clumsily. "It's always nice to see you, Lady Hoshiko."
The witch stepped closer and took the miko's arm, steering her back out of the cave. "And you've brought friends this time. I would be honored to receive an introduction."
"Oh, of course," Kagome replied softly. She gestured to each of her companions in turn. "This is Inuyasha, Koga, Kikyo, Sango, Miroku, Kohaku, Shippo and Kirara. Everyone, this is Lady Hoshiko. She's the one that told me how to get back here."
Inuyasha's golden eyes widened as the witch moved towards him. "Inuyasha, it is wonderful to meet you at last. Everyone on this island owes you their thanks for defeating Naraku." She bowed her own head as the hanyou swallowed, his eyes becoming the size of dinner plates. "So, thank you from this one humble inhabitant. Thank you to all of you," she added, looking over the others.
"Uhhh, I just... I mean, Kagome did most of it," Inuyasha stuttered after a moment. "She beat him with... with whatever she did."
Hoshiko smiled, her eyes shining. "Is that so?"
Kagome blushed as the witch looked back at her - she knew that Hoshiko was aware of exactly what had happened on that battlefield. She knew more than any of them. "We all fought him," the miko murmured.
The witch nodded and gestured to the cave. "Well, any role in the demise of Naraku, whether small or large, earns you the right to enter my home as honored guests. You must spend the night, of course. It's getting quite cold out here."
"Are you sure we won't be imposing?" Sango asked.
"Of course not. We expected you," Hoshiko replied, her smile broadening. "Ami spent the morning preparing for your arrival."
"Where is Ami?" Kagome asked, glancing around for the precocious girl.
The witch smiled and waved towards the mountainous horizon. "She'll return quite soon. Sometimes the pilgrims keep her past sunset."
"She meets the pilgrims? The ones we met on the path?"
"You know that my own contact with pilgrims has been minimal," Hoshiko said.
"But they think she's the witch, not you," Kagome said, thinking of the man on the road who was asking for a son. "What happened?"
Hoshiko nodded. "Well, after you left, the villagers began to come here more often to ask for my help. There were so many on the treacherous path up this mountain that accidents were happening every day. Villagers were falling, breaking bones, or they were being carried off by demons inside the thick forest. So we changed things. A new home was set up right off of the main road where sentinels can easily watch over the pilgrims. Ami goes every day to minister to their needs, to give blessings and, for those that need more than just advice, she mixes potions and performs simple spells. Over time, they forgot that there was another woman in these mountains. My more complicated skills have never been required." She shrugged and gave a soft smile. "I find that teaching Ami is far more rewarding than using her as my mouthpiece. She can take care of herself these days."
"I guess she's grown up," Kagome said.
The witch laughed. "I don't think you'll recognize her. We will see." She pointed towards the sky, where an orb of blue light was traversing the valley between the peaks.
"That's her?" Shippo asked, his eyes widening. He had been looking forward to meeting the young hanyou girl that Kagome had described. "You have to be a really powerful demon to travel like that."
Kagome nodded. "It's been three hundred years, Shippo."
The blue light arrived at the edge of the plateau, expanding and stretching into the shape of a young woman. When the glow faded, Kagome saw that Ami had indeed grown up - although not nearly as beautiful as the witch, she was now taller than even Sango and had kept the exotic wisdom in her eyes that stretched far beyond her visible age. She bowed immediately to Hoshiko and Sesshoumaru before looking at Kagome and bending once again. "Lady Kagome, I'm pleased you were able to make it," she said softly.
"It's nice to see you again, Ami," replied the miko. "You've changed."
"So have you," replied the young woman, smiling.
Hoshiko beckoned to her assistant. "Now that you're home, we should all get inside. It will snow tonight," she said.
Kagome glanced up at the clear, cold sky where the stars were beginning to shine. "Are you..."
"Lady Kagome," Ami interrupted gently, taking her arm, "I have wanted to hear about Naraku's defeat for some time now. Will you honor me with the story?"
"Haven't you heard about it from Lady Hoshiko?" asked the miko, as she was led back towards the cave mouth.
The young hanyou shrugged. "The visions my lady sees in her mind can tell quite a different tale than what you have seen with your own eyes."
They entered the cave where Sesshoumaru still stood in its shadows. Kagome kept her eyes on the ground, lifting the front hem of her kimono with her free hand as if she were concerned about tripping in the dark. Just as she was about to pass the silent taiyoukai, however, her gaze flickered upwards to his face - it was as if the eyes in her own head were not her own for a moment.
She almost fell back into Ami at the seething anger she found in his expression. His creased forehead, a deadly sneer and flashing golden eyes made a jack-o-lantern of his face in the low light. She half expected him to reach out and grab her by the throat, and when he didn't, she let out an audible sigh.
"Are you alright, Lady Kagome?" Ami asked quietly.
"What? Oh. Yes, I'm fine," she replied, trying to shake her head clear. "May I ask you something?"
"Of course."
Kagome bent her head close to Ami and the taller girl stooped down. "When we came here last time, Sesshoumaru wasn't allowed inside the cave. Now he is. I don't want to question Lady Hoshiko's judgment but..." She paused and frowned. "That's not sounding right at all. I don't mean that demons shouldn't be allowed inside, just that Sesshoumaru is, well, different than he used to be."
"Why was he not permitted inside three hundred years ago, when he was less cruel than he is now?" Ami suggested.
"Exactly," Kagome said, with a grateful smile.
"It is not something my lady decides," the hanyou said. She cast a sidelong glance at the miko. "But be assured that if the barrier allowed him through and allows him to remain, Lord Sesshoumaru is no danger to anyone."
Kagome colored at the gentle admonishment in Ami's voice. "So the barrier decides who can come in and who must stay out?" she asked.
"My lady has not always been a perfect judge of character as she is now," Ami replied. "The creator of the barrier was concerned that her youth and generosity would permit ill-intentioned youkai to enter the cavern. He was obliged to make the barrier decide for my mistress."
"He?" echoed the miko. "Do you mean Lady Hoshiko's mate?"
A small smile touched the hanyou's lips as she nodded. "Who else would care so much for the well-being of my lady?"
"Where is he? Does he ever come back?"
"Of course. He has not abandoned my mistress," Ami said. "As for where he is, I cannot guess. He walks the entire world over and, I suspect, between worlds as well. He can be anywhere he wishes in a moment, so great is his power."
"What does he do?" Kagome asked, a little breathless.
Ami's eyes were shining now, but swirled with colors quite different from the green phosphorescent moss that lit their way down the tunnel. "I do not know exactly," she said, "but the stories he tells when he comes to see my mistress put all other stories to shame. He has seen the great battles, met heroes, eaten with the gods themselves and conquered the most vile of monsters."
"Do you ever travel with him?" Not for the first time, the miko wondered if Ami was more than an assistant to the witch and her mate. The hanyou was certainly flush with the adoration that was usually given to a beloved parent.
"No, but then I have never asked," Ami said, glancing at the priestess. "But even if I do not ever accompany him, I finally have my own story to tell to him, one that might match any of his."
Kagome smiled. "How you're the witch now?" she suggested as they came to the large cavern at the end of the tunnel.
The hanyou laughed quietly. "No, it is a story in which I took only the smallest of roles." She nodded towards her companion. "Your story. Lord Sesshoumaru's story. Naraku's demise. I admit that that is the reason I wanted to hear your account."
"It's not that interesting," she murmured, her words faltering as Ami turned a surprised eye to her. "Well, it's just not the best story, perhaps."
"A girl traveling through time to defeat youkai and discover her own power? How is that not a fairy tale?"
"It doesn't have a very good ending," Kagome said flatly.
Ami gave her a long look and sighed quietly. "The best stories do not end," she replied, bowing and excusing herself.
Hoshiko immediately resumed her place at Kagome's side as Ami pushed aside the rock like a theater curtain. The copied sun was still setting over the artificial horizon inside and the cavern was suddenly glowing with its fiery hues. "Your companions are quite charming," the witch commented, laughing as Kagome's friends gaped at their first peek into the enchanted gardens.
The witch linked arms with the miko and quickly guided her inside, ahead of the others. "Ami, take care of our guests," Hoshiko called over her shoulder before taking Kagome down a path to their right.
Kagome twisted around to see the broad shoulders of the taiyoukai disappearing down a path to the left of the entrance. "So, call me crazy, but you're preventing me from talking to Sesshoumaru, aren't you?" she asked, as soon as they were out of sight. "I have a pretty good idea what he would say if we did have the chance, you know. You don't need to protect me."
"I am very well aware that you no longer need my protection, Kagome," said the witch. "I have only done this at Lord Sesshoumaru's request."
Her heart squeezed painfully within her chest. "He's the one that didn't want to talk to me?" she asked.
"Has Lord Sesshoumaru ever shied away from a confrontation?"
Kagome arched an eyebrow despite herself. "With an enemy, no. With me? Multiple times."
Hoshiko let out her clear, bell-like laugh. "I see. Well, in this particular case, I agreed to his request because I had to talk with you about a few things." The smile hovered at the edges of her mouth as they walked farther into the garden and through a grove of trees still heavy with ripe fruit, but she did not speak again until they came to a wall of stone. They had reached the edge of the garden, where the natural rock face sprung from the ground to sail upwards and over them. When Kagome looked up, however, she could see the stone fading into the artificial darkness of the twilight sky.
"Let's sit," suggested the witch, leading the miko to a large arbor, encrusted in ivy and morning glory vines, with a cushioned seat underneath it. Once settled, Hoshiko glanced at the girl. "To tell the truth, Kagome, I am surprised you are here at all."
"What? Why?" asked the miko. "I know the world and all of Time isn't at stake like last time, but my world is. I don't want to kill Kohaku just to complete the Jewel and I don't want to be sent back to my time permanently."
"And what if you do? What if you are?" Hoshiko asked. "Kohaku has already lived once when he should have died. And what do you have here that is so precious?"
"My friends!" Kagome cried, standing up. She stared for a moment at the blank, serene face of the witch. "I don't understand you! The last time I needed help, you did everything that you could for us. And now, you're just sitting there. Just because it's only my life that will be destroyed, why should that matter any less? I have sacrificed everything for this damn Jewel and you're not helping me have the one thing I truly want! This isn't like you!"
The witch sighed. "Kagome, I am not as cruel as you think. I cannot just provide happiness to those that deserve it, just as I cannot strike down those that have done everything to deserve death. I am under the obligation of Fate and cannot tamper with it, unless to correct it as I did with you three hundred years ago. If you desire happiness, you are the only one that can provide it for yourself."
The miko sagged and fell back into her seat. "I know," she murmured. "I'm sorry. I guess I just thought that coming here would mean that everything would be fixed."
Hoshiko smiled. "It is still a possibility," she said. "The reason I am surprised at your visit is that it is well within your own power to solve your own problems."
Kagome frowned and leaned back against the bench. "I've been thinking about it constantly, but what can I do to save someone's life? How can I have the power to stop myself from being sent home, if Fate has decided that that's exactly where I should be going?"
"Fated to go home or not, I believe the only thing that matters is whether a certain dog demon cares to wait again," Hoshiko replied with an amused glance at Kagome's flushed cheeks. "And as to your first question, well, what can't the most powerful living miko do?"
"Kikyo? She doesn't know. We've asked her," Kagome said.
"Who said anything about Kikyo? I do believe I said living miko," the witch corrected with a brilliant smile and a pointed look. Then she shrugged. "I suppose it's a distinction without a difference though."
The priestess felt slightly breathless. "I... how could I be more powerful than Kikyo?"
"How would you describe the magnitude of power that you displayed on that battlefield?" the witch asked.
Kagome shook her head. "I don't know what that was."
"Not even a guess?"
The miko shrugged. "I just revoked Sesshoumaru. All of powers were gone when the bond was half-done, except when I was close to him. When the bond broke, I guess I just thought that it was all that power that had backed up getting released at once." She sighed heavily. "I never thought of it before, but it was so difficult to be without my powers. I don't know if I could ever give them up again. I guess that means that I'm staying single."
"You're assuming that just because your partial bond with Lord Sesshoumaru suppressed your powers, that any relationship would do the same?" Hoshiko asked.
"Well, miko are supposed to be unmarried." She laughed quietly without mirth. "To tell the truth, I don't know if I could be with someone normal anyway, not after a taiyoukai. Not after that one."
"What if you're wrong?"
Kagome frowned slightly. "About wanting someone normal? I don't know. It's not something I can think about right now."
Hoshiko shook her head, her silky black hair now shining with the light of the stars. "No, no. I meant, what if you're wrong about your powers? About what happened?"
"Well, I'm not hearing any other likely possibilities," the miko said, sending an exasperated glance towards the witch.
"Alright," laughed Hoshiko. "Here's a possibility for you. The most powerful living miko would never lose her powers because of love. The most powerful living miko has such a big heart that she can hold fantastic levels of spiritual energy and have more than enough room for her beloved. That's the problem, you see, with most miko. If they love a man, they cannot hold onto their powers as well. It's one or the other. But unconditional love like you give, Kagome, is rare. Few people have that capacity and fewer miko than that."
She tapped her chin with mock thoughtfulness. "Now that I think of it, it's possible that someone with such a heart would become even more powerful the moment she bonded with her mate. Especially if he was powerful in his own right and their strength fed one another." She smiled brilliantly at Kagome's pale face and gave her a shrug. "Just a possibility."
The miko shook her head. "No, but... but I revoked him. I said it and... and I revoked him," she stuttered.
Hoshiko laughed as she got to her feet. "Oh, Kagome. Words are nothing, meaningless." She looked up at the dark sky. "I take you as my mate. I would have no other," she murmured to herself, before turning back to Kagome. "Do you know how many demons - and humans - have said that over the ages? More than I can count in my lifetime. They're just words."
"I don't understand. They didn't mean anything?"
"They mean everything," Hoshiko replied, "but only because you put the meaning into them. The words themselves are nothing."
Catching movement out of the corner of her eye, Kagome looked to see Sesshoumaru walking down the path towards them, his golden eyes fixed upon her. "I don't know if I'm ready yet," she said, turning back to Hoshiko, only to find that the witch had disappeared.
She stood up slowly, one hand braced against the arbor, lifting her eyes to find his only when he came close. His expression was once more reserved and for some reason, this scared her all over again. "Hello," she managed to say after a moment. When he didn't reply, she took an unsteady step away from the arbor. "I'm going to go back to the others."
"No," he ordered, moving to block her path. His nostrils flared as she turned her head away. "Why will you not look at me?"
"Why won't you let me go back?" she countered, still averting her eyes. "We came here for help from Hoshiko, not to see you."
"It can wait."
"You don't know that."
He clenched his teeth, resisting the urge to shake the difficult girl. "The boy will die if you take out the shard, not if you let it remain," he said.
Her eyes, suddenly blazing, moved to meet his. "Have you been spying on us?" she hissed. "How did you know that?"
Sesshoumaru straightened his spine. "I do not spy. It is not difficult to deduce. The Jewel has only one shard missing. You too easily forget that I am still a demon. I can sense the shard in the boy and the fact that it sustains his life."
Her cheeks colored as the annoyance faded. "Right. Sorry," she murmured. She let out a soft sigh and went back to her seat, folding her hands in her lap. "Go ahead."
He remained where he was, standing still and straight, without saying a word. After a few moments, the miko sighed again. "Sesshoumaru, if you're not going to say anything..." She paused, taking a moment to consider the way his jaw twitched and the arch of his eyebrows. "Are you nervous?" she asked slowly, trying not to let her own jaw drop.
The taiyoukai took a deep breath and roused himself, crossing his arms and lifting his chin. "This Sesshoumaru never gets nervous," he said, pronouncing the word with distaste. "I simply seem to be having trouble finding a suitable way of expressing certain matters."
Kagome eyed him for a moment before nodding slowly. "Alright," she said. "Well, when you decide you've found suitable words to express yourself, just tell me." She began arranging herself more comfortably on the cushioned bench.
"There is no need to be patronizing," he growled as she moved on to examining the closed morning glory buds weaving through the arbor.
She rolled her eyes and let her hands drop back into her lap. "Fine. What do you want me to do? Make small talk?" she asked. She waved her arm mechanically at the sky. "Nice weather we're having, don't you think? I don't know if this counts, since it's artificial, but it is nice. Nicer than sleeping outside in a snow storm."
"Be quiet, you insufferable woman," he muttered, coming forward and sitting down beside her.
Kagome watched as he leaned forward with his elbows on his knees and felt a sharp pain in her heart. He looked so familiar in that position, and yet she knew it was not the taiyoukai in front of her that she was remembering. "I was wrong," she murmured, earning herself a sharp glance from the taiyoukai. "You have changed. All those things that you used to be have just become more pronounced. Prouder, colder, less talkative."
"I know," he replied shortly.
"I miss him."
He turned to look at her fully. The artificial moonlight was breaking through the arbor and decorating her skin and hair with slices of silver. He remembered the rainy afternoon they spent together in the cave and how he had come so close to admitting his feelings. "On occasion, I do as well," he said.
Kagome smiled sadly and nodded. "The thing is, as much as you might have changed, it's not in any way that matters. I still love you." She hesitated and licked her lips. "You, the present, here and now, Sesshoumaru."
The taiyoukai frowned. "It is impossible. I have tried to kill you on several occasions."
"Ditto," she murmured with a shrug. "But I don't think that what I did on that battlefield would have happened if I didn't love you as you are now."
Sesshoumaru sat in silence.
Tears beginning to drip down her cheeks, she plowed ahead with sudden energy. "I think that if you just gave me a chance that you'll feel the same way again. Then it won't matter that memories from three hundred years ago are fresher than memories from last week. I mean, I know that you didn't want this and that you probably came here to ask Hoshiko..." She lost her breath and trailed off, turning away. "To ask Hoshiko to break the bond," she finished.
His claws pricked her shoulder through her kimono as he forced her to look back at him. "That was not my purpose for coming to the witch!" he growled. "Why would you presume that?"
The miko stared at him for a moment. "You looked like you were about to kill me when I walked past you just an hour ago, when we arrived," she said. "You were so angry."
"Angry at myself," he said heatedly. "Angry that I had asked a female to speak with you instead of telling you myself! I did not know that we had completed the bond until the witch told me, only a short time before your own arrival."
Kagome sniffed and blinked away some of the tears. "So we really are mates, with an one hundred percent and totally complete bond? And you didn't ask her to break it?" she asked, her voice vibrating.
"Yes, we are truly mates," he replied. "And I did not ask her to break that bond."
She eased closer to him, biting at her lower lip. "Then, why did you come here?"
He was staring very intently at a small patch of ground as his jaw began to twitch again. Kagome waited quietly for some time and when he spoke at last, his voice was dry and low. "I came here, not because I thought there was a mating bond between us, but because I thought you had successfully revoked me," he said. "I requested advice from the witch. I wished to know if there was a way to take as a mate a female that has once revoked you."
Kagome's breath was quick and shallow as she leaned forward, her forehead resting against his temple so that her lips pressed up to his ear. "You... you wanted me as your mate?" she whispered. "Really?"
She felt, rather than saw, his eyes close at her touch. "The beginning of the ceremony was an exchange of words of devotion," he said. "It cannot be completed by only one mate, but both. You were not the only one to finish the binding spell on that battlefield."
Her warm breath floated down the side of his neck as she spoke. "What did you say?" she asked. "Please, Sesshoumaru," she added when he hesitated.
"I said the last words of the ceremony," he replied slowly.
"What are they?"
"For you, I will sacrifice my life and my power so that my life and my power sustain you," he said.
Her tears smudged against his cheek and into his hair as she pressed kisses to the curve of his jaw. "It did," she whispered. "Thank you."
"You are the one that returned my sight and my arm," he said, his breathing becoming slightly ragged. "I should be giving my thanks to you."
She smiled. "Maybe. I don't know. The power in that moment... the way it was surging through us both... for all I know, you used my spiritual powers to heal yourself," she said, her voice growing thick and her breath speeding up once again. She pressed one more kiss to his jaw.
When she began to pull away, the taiyoukai turned and suddenly pulled the miko into his lap, burying his nose into her neck. She gasped as she felt his fangs scrape over her skin. "Sesshoumaru!"
"I have never felt as powerful as I did in that moment," he growled against her throat.
Her eyes widened as her hands gripped at his shoulders. "Me neither."
"But do not trust that the combined strength that flows through our bond will save you every time," he continued, his fangs once again dragging across her flesh, making her shiver.
She nodded shakily. "Okay."
"Now that this Sesshoumaru has his mate..."
Kagome took his head between her hands and pulled away to look into his eyes. There was red mixing with the gold, but she smiled. "You don't want to lose me," she finished for him. "Don't worry, you won't."
His eyes moved to the side of her neck and the red disappeared as he inhaled deeply. "And yet, I have injured you." Kagome lifted her hand to feel the wetness of her own blood. "I should not have restrained myself so strongly earlier."
Her smile quickly reappeared. "I don't even feel it. And, just for the record, I wouldn't have minded if you had just grabbed me and kissed me when I first got here. You didn't need to restrain yourself at all," she said, one corner of her mouth tilting up into a smirk. She sobered quickly and took his new hand between her own. "This is really alright with you? You're not being chivalrous or anything?"
"I assure you that my interests are entirely selfish," he replied.
She pressed a kiss to his brow. "And what, exactly, made you decide that you wanted me after all? I mean, all that talk about you feeling only what your younger self felt, and how you would never feel that way. What happened to all that?"
The instinctive burst of possessiveness faded completely as he turned his eyes back to the ground. "Kagome..."
"You just have to say it once," she murmured. "You know that no one else need know that you admitted anything. I won't breathe a word."
He remained silent, his brow creased with uncharacteristic indecision and she shook her head. "No, wait. You came here, didn't you? Even if you don't know why, even if you can't admit it to yourself, I know. I shouldn't have asked you to admit anything. I'm sorry."
She leaned forward, resting her cheek on his shoulder and closing her eyes. When she relaxed against him, Sesshoumaru realized that she would not ask again. She was content and he suddenly was not. Once, when he was young, he had been willing to love her and admit that love if only they had not had their obligations driving them apart. Now that those responsibilities were removed, he could not admit anything. What strength had he had as a youth that he no longer possessed?
He would regain that lost strength. His arms wrapped tightly around her waist and pulled her close as he lowered his lips to her ear. He spoke low enough so that even if anyone tried to eavesdrop, she was the only one that could hear him. "I wanted you to return to me," he began, "because I once believed that I could survive without happiness. I was wrong. My father was correct - I have something worth defending. If I am not defending her, I have no purpose."
Kagome sat up and gave him a small smile as her eyes sparkled with pleasure. Suddenly her lips touched his and he felt the discomfort of his admittance slip away. Her hands clutched at the back of his neck and at his collar and she let out a soft noise of contentment as he deepened the kiss and he once again tasted ginger and citrus, just as he had so many centuries ago. But it was not the same as it once was - it was not even the same as the kiss they shared a few days ago, when he had spared her life. He was kissing a mated female now - his own mate. There was a spiciness added that hadn't been there before and he recognized it as his own influence on her scent. Male pride in his choice of mate swelled up within his heart as they parted.
"Thank you for telling me," she said. He noted with appreciation the way her cheeks were flushed and how she blinked slowly, as if happily drugged. "That's all I ever wished for..." She paused, her eyes growing wide, regaining focus. "Sesshoumaru! I know what to do about the Jewel!"
She began to scramble out of his lap, but he easily held her back. "I admit such things, kiss you and you want to run off to my brother and your friends?" he asked, arching one brow at her.
The miko stopped cold and grinned up at the stars. "You have a point," she said. "And I bet they're all asleep already."
"It can wait until morning," he agreed.
She laughed as she fell back into his arms.
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"Where are they?" Sango pushed off from the railing and crossed the porch in four long strides to lean out over the other side. "I can't believe that all of them just disappeared. We should go look for them."
"If a witch doesn't want to be found, she won't be," Koga commented from his place on the steps. "Same goes for Kikyo. And I don't think you want to go looking for Kagome if she's with Sesshoumaru. He's not the forgiving type, especially if you're going to go and demand that she do what you want her to do."
"I'm not even sure what you want, Sango," Inuyasha added. "Your brother is fine right now. What if Kagome can't save him?"
Miroku frowned and stepped forward, between the slayer and hanyou, before his betrothed could react. "I don't believe that Sango is in any rush to change the circumstance of Kohaku being alive," said the monk. "She simply dislikes the suspense of waiting to see if Kagome has an answer at all, no matter what that answer might be."
The hanyou shrugged and turned to look out over the garden, which was glowing yellow in the dawn. "Where is the kid, anyway?"
"Inside, still asleep," Sango replied. "I don't know how he can sleep at all."
"He lived in Naraku's house," Miroku said. "This place is the safest place he has been in four years. He's been worried about whether he'll live or die for that long. Having the decision in the hands of someone trustworthy, like Kagome, must be a relief."
"Still," began Sango.
"There she is," Inuyasha said suddenly, his ears flicking forward.
They all looked to see the dark-haired miko and the pale taiyoukai at the edge of a grove, slowly wending their way back through the garden. "Did they make up?" Shippo asked, hopping up on the railing. "Are they friends again? She still has Tenseiga. And they're not holding hands or anything."
"I don't think that Lord Sesshoumaru does that," Miroku murmured, leaning forward himself. "The fact that she has Tenseiga is probably promising."
They watched as Kagome paused to bend over an opening bloom. Her lips moved as she chattered and the taiyoukai listened, replying in a few words. When the miko turned back to her path, her brilliant smile allowed them a sigh of relief. Sesshoumaru had his mask of indifference, but Kagome's expression told them all they needed to know. "They made up," Koga said with a grin. "Now we know why they took all night," he added, earning himself a glare from Sango and a sickened groan from Inuyasha.
The miko approached the hut still radiating joy. "Good morning," she chirped.
"Good morning, Kagome," said Miroku. "It seems congratulations are in order?"
She blushed prettily. "I suppose so. It's kind of a funny story actually." She caught sight of Sango and the smile faded. "Which you'll hear later. Is something wrong?" she asked.
"Will my brother live?"
Kagome's eyes flickered over the others' faces and saw the same question. "Um, I hope so," she answered, "but I can't promise anything."
Sango gripped the railing, her knuckles turning white. "You can't do anything if you don't know for sure," she said.
The miko let out a little sigh, her former mood evaporating, as she walked towards the porch. "I'm fairly sure it will work, but I don't want you to think that I don't have any doubts. I just don't want you to get your hopes too high, Sango."
The taijiya shook her head. "No. You're not doing it unless you're completely confident."
"But that will never happen!" protested Kagome. "This is the best chance we've got."
Sango turned to the others when Kohaku appeared in the doorway. "You've got to let her do it, sister," he said, looking at her with his large brown eyes. "You aren't even giving her the chance to say what it is she's planning on doing."
"If she makes a mistake, you die," Sango said.
"I already died once," Kohaku replied with a shrug. "You survived."
"But I can't do it again."
The boy looked around at the others. Leaning against the door frame with his arms crossed and his serious expression, he looked far older than his sixteen years. "So if you don't trust Kagome to do it, who do you trust?" he asked. He paused as Sango glanced about her helplessly. "You're just frightened, Sango."
She drew in a shaky breath. "Of course I am."
"I am too," he said. "But we fight while frightened all the time, right? So I still need to do this, even if we're afraid that it won't work."
Sango bit her lip and turned to the miko. "What do you want to do?"
"I'm going to remove the shard," Kagome said, eliciting a small strangled gasp from the taijiya. "And then, when the Jewel is complete, I'll use the wish to bring him back."
Inuyasha started. "Use the wish? But..."
"Do you still want to become a savage full-fledged youkai, little brother?" Sesshoumaru asked suddenly, speaking for the first time. He stood behind Kagome, framing her with his form.
The hanyou frowned and fell back a step, his ears pinned to his head. "No," he murmured after a moment.
"Then remain silent. The Jewel is in Kagome's care alone," the taiyoukai replied, before lapsing into silence once more.
Kagome nodded at her mate and then looked back at Sango, still pale with fear. "I think it will work," she said. "The greatest danger is that it might not be an unselfish wish. But I can't think of any wish that wouldn't be selfish in some way. Tenseiga won't work and Hoshiko told me it was within my power to figure this out, so she can't help. I think this is the way it has to be."
"I'll do it," Kohaku said.
"Kohaku..."
He turned to his sister and smiled. "I think it will work too," he said. He gave her a quick hug that she desperately returned before handing her over to the monk and descending the stairs. "I'm ready."
Kagome glanced at Sango, trembling in Miroku's arms. "You can take another minute," she began.
"If I don't do this now, I might never have the strength to try again," Kohaku interrupted, a shot of his own fear going through his eyes. He turned and fell to his knees in front of the miko, bending his head forward. The shard's light blinked up at her as she pulled back his collar.
"Just," Kohaku added quietly, "don't let it last too long. If you can."
She nodded, squeezing his shoulder with her free hand. "I'm so sorry," she murmured, her heart beating rapidly. The tips of her warm fingers pressed down on the back of his neck and the boy heard everyone grow very still. Sesshoumaru stood at Kagome's side. Her fingers moved suddenly and quickly, the shard sliding from its place and into her palm. The strength seeped out of his limbs and he pitched forward into darkness, hearing his sister cry out his name and feeling someone catch him before losing all connection to the world.
Kagome stared down at the body that Sesshoumaru was lowering to the ground. A terrible pressure built up in her chest, making it feel as if it would burst. Sango's sobbing was deafening inside her head.
"Complete the Jewel," the taiyoukai said as he stood up again. "Quickly."
Her fumbling fingers grabbed the nearly complete Jewel from where it rested at her throat, snapping the cord that held it in place. The last remaining shard slid into place without a murmur of the power that the orb now contained. She held it for a moment, considering it - both the bane of her existence and the object that gave that same existence meaning. It had all led up to this moment.
She saw movement at the corner of her eye and she looked up to see the witch, Ami and Kikyo standing at the edge of the garden. Hoshiko was smiling softly. "Go ahead," she said.
Kagome wrapped her hands around the Jewel and pressed it to her heart. Her eyes slid closed and her lips moved as she made her silent wish.
It began slowly. Her hands began to glow with the light of the Shikon no Tama that she held, brighter and brighter until her grasp could not hold it any longer. It shone like a star, its light stretching out rapidly, touching everything. It covered the garden, speeding upwards and outwards until it hit the confines of the cavern. They were floating in a sea of pink light, wrapped in warmth. There was a delicate sound of chimes in the wind and, above that, the sound of a woman's light laughter and indecipherable words. In the middle of the nova of light, Kagome turned her head up to the sky to hear her old friend, Midoriko, as her soul finally left the earth.
The light at last receded, returning them to the crisp greens and blues of the early morning. Sango was the first to recover, running forward to her brother's body. "Kohaku!"
He pushed at the ground and rolled over, releasing a relieved breath, and Sango collapsed beside him, crying happily as the others cheered. The siblings embraced and Kohaku looked over his sister's shoulder to thank the miko. "Kagome?" he asked, pulling away from Sango to get to his feet.
Everyone looked at the young miko, sitting stunned, still with her hand over her heart. Sesshoumaru was kneeling beside her, shaking her gently and calling her name. She roused herself at last and gave her mate a small smile. "I'm sorry... I'm fine. I'm fine," she said.
"Don't worry," Hoshiko murmured from her place. "Just a side effect of having her complete soul once again."
There was a pregnant pause as her words sank in and then Inuyasha jumped from the porch and ran to Kikyo, who wore a similar dazed expression. He grabbed her hands. "You're warm," he said, his golden eyes widening. He touched her throat. "Your heart is beating!" He looked back at Kagome, his mouth slightly open.
The two miko regarded one another for a moment, until the elder miko finally found her voice. "You gave me life, another soul?" Kikyo asked, her eyes rippling with emotion faster than even a demon could comprehend. "After I closed the well against you?"
Kagome slowly got to her feet. "Why not? I wasn't going to save Kohaku and leave you to suffer, even if we haven't been the best of friends. I'm not like that," she said. Then, she shrugged and looked up at the taiyoukai. "Besides, I once forgave a priestess for actually killing me. I figure if I can get over that, I should be able to forgive you for accidentally sending me to a place where I met my mate."
"Whose soul does she have?" Inuyasha asked.
"Her own," Kagome said. "The Jewel had that kind of power and so I used it."
Kikyo bowed. "Thank you," she said.
"Thank you, Kagome," echoed Sango, hugging her brother again. "I'm sorry I was..."
"It's okay," interrupted the miko, holding up one hand. "I wouldn't have been that happy about it either, if it were my brother."
She watched as her friends fell back into celebration, gathering around both Kikyo and Kohaku. The elder miko was smiling - not mockingly or malevolently, but with true happiness. Inuyasha kept giving her long looks, his face etched with wonder. Koga was joking with Kohaku, making the young man laugh. Sango was leaning into Miroku with a dreamy expression on her face, nodding at Shippo's chatter. It was all so perfect and familiar. Kagome sighed and looked up at Sesshoumaru. "You will let me visit them, right? Even your brother?"
"Yes," he replied. Seeing her grin, he gave the correction she thought he had forgotten. "Half-brother."
She had to hold herself back from touching him as she laughed. "Alright. Where to now?" she asked.
He gave her a surprised glance and Kagome felt a trill of excitement that she was the only one that could possibly interpret such a cold look as surprise. "You do not wish to remain?"
"I'll see them all at the wedding," she replied, smiling broadly as Miroku dropped a kiss on Sango's forehead. "Besides, I've missed traveling with you."
"It has been mere weeks for you," he pointed out.
She nodded and then took his arm, unable to resist any longer. "And back then, I wanted to travel with you forever. Weeks is long enough. Where are we going to go?"
"Naraku has been defeated," he said. "We may go where you wish."
Kagome smiled. "Sounds like a plan." She glanced at the others, still engrossed in their elation. "How about my mother's?"
"Your mother," he repeated flatly.
"They should know," the miko said. "They should meet you."
He nodded - it was customary to meet a mate's family before the actual ceremony. They couldn't do anything about it now. He was keeping her. "Very well," he agreed. "Will the well allow us both to pass through?"
"Yup," she replied. "And it'll stay open too."
"How do you know this?"
Kagome shrugged. "I fixed Time. It owes me," she said.
Sesshoumaru's eyes swept over the others once more. "And the kitsune?"
She smiled and broke away from him. "He's coming with us, of course." She held up a hand, with her first finger extended. "Just a minute. Let me say goodbye to everyone real quick and we'll be with you, alright?"
He crossed his arms. "Woman, do you intend to upset every aspect of my once peaceful existence?"
"Of course," she replied confidently. "You need a little shaking up in your life. Just wait until we have kids of our own."
The thought stilled him. Children with Kagome? It was imperative that he have an heir of course, but it was more than that - his three hundred years of pain were over and Naraku was dead. He would take his father's place and raise a son or daughter of his own. Having a child with Kagome was the completion of what had been a grueling path and the start of a new, better one. The taiyoukai never found a thought more agreeable.
Until, of course, Kagome clasped her hands and whispered excitedly, "Oh! I hope they have ears like Inuyasha!"
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A/N: Whew. That was an endurance test. I'm not sure if it's better than my first version, but I don't think it's worse either. It's different and rather long (I originally planned two chapters but quickly realized the second would have been anticlimactic so it all went in one). I wish I could show both versions to you... but, the guys at the Mac store have it on my very broken hard drive. By the way, forgive typos, as I haven't installed a proper word processor yet and Google documents is strangely lacking in a decent spelling/grammar check.
In case you're wondering - THERE WILL BE AN EPILOGUE. (All caps for those that do not usually read my author notes.) It will be fairly short, but then, it'll be done and I'll be starting my next story. Full details about that will be the author's notes of the epilogue - so you get two treats for the price of one. LoL.
Oh, and just in case nobody realized it - my deviantART account (user name - ReplicantAngel) has a journal. If ever I have something major going on in my life again, like a hard drive failure, and you're wondering where I am, skip on over there and see if my journal sheds any light on it. I felt bad that only my dA readers knew what was going on, but FFN removes stories with just author's notes as chapters...
Thank you again for all the support and the SingleSpark awards! Kisses!
