"I sense the jewel. It's coming closer," Kagome warned her companions.
Where once their mindless animation promised death, all around them lay lumps of unmoving flesh. For no apparent reason, their animation ceased as if they had died, but why? Was it some trick to lure them into a false sense of security?
"Is it Naraku?" asked Sango. Her fire-cat, Kirara, stood at the ready by her mistress, a large, ferocious predator, ready to attack and defend. "Does that mean…" her worried thought went unuttered, but all understood the ramifications that unfinished statement held.
Sesshomaru had been fighting Naraku, and so had Inuyasha. Had they failed? Had they…died?
Kagome shook her head in denial. "I do not sense Naraku's presence."
"Nor I," confirmed Miroku.
Just in case, they took a battle stance. Miroku held his staff aloft, Sango with her Hiraikotsu, and Kagome notched an arrow at the ready.
"Here it comes," Kagome murmured, warning her companions yet again.
Seconds later, the strained silence was interrupted by far-off shouting. All three tensed, waiting. More shouting.
Kagome frowned.
Sango was the first to speak. "Does that sound like Inuyasha..?"
A loud curse, followed by a distinct smack, ended the growing ruckus. Blessed silence followed, before a familiar shout echoed in the air: "Sesshomaru!"
They all breathed a sigh of relief when the tall, pristine figure of the Lord of the West came into sight after stepping from the tree line ahead. He'd taken no more than a few paces when a red silhouette appeared above him. Inuyasha pounced, but Sesshomaru was no longer in sight.
Kagome felt a presence at her back, before a hand lightly cupped her right shoulder. Even at that light touch, she flinched and gasped. His hand left her.
"Miko, you are injured."
Kagome smiled at the demon lord when she turned to greet him. "A few bruises but I'm fine."
"I scent blood." His eyes regarded her steadily, not allowing her to undermine her injuries to him.
In a show of comfortable affection, she reached out to clasp the sleeve of his haori, her smile genuine, and if she had been paying attention to her friends, she would have seen their open astonishment at their familiarity. Instead, her full focus was on a set of cat-like eyes that seemed to welcome her.
"Oh, you think to hide behind Kagome?" Inuyasha charged angrily, snapping everyone's attention to him.
Kagome turned, truly pleased to see her friend alive and unhurt. "Inuyasha." She took a step in his direction, then another. She ignored the scowl on his face, filled with longing to be held in his strong arms, to assure herself that he really was unhurt. It was hard to tell if blood soaked his haori because the cloth of the fire-rat was a deep ruby red.
Filled with concern, she lifted her arms in welcome, only to stumble to a halt when her friend marched right past her, as if he hadn't noticed her existence. Instead, she heard him yelling obscenities at his brother. The jewel came up amidst his cursing, but Kagome was only half-listening. Her ire rose with every foul utterance that spewed from Inuyasha's mouth.
Through gritted teeth, she spat, "Sit."
A loud crash behind her back did little to soothe her anger towards Inuyasha's self-centered disregard towards her. Instead of seeing towards her welfare, he was too busy yelling at his brother. The nerve!
Inuyasha was on his feet and finally giving her his attention. "What the hell, Kagome?"
"Sit boy."
Inuyasha's shrill scream was cut off with another smack as he kissed the ground. Once again on his feet, he advanced on her turned back; she heard his bare feet lightly slap the dirt. "Kagome, this is not the time for—"
"I said, sit!"
Another crash. This time, she turned around and ignored him when she walked passed his prone form with a haughty sniff and a muttered, "Jerk".
Miroku stepped over to his flattened companion. "You really are oblivious to a woman's heart, Inuyasha."
Sango snorted, defying his sage words. "As if you would know, pervert."
Taken aback, Miroku followed after her retreating form as she followed the irate miko. "Sango! Surely you misunderstand my well-meaning intent—"
Sango's disbelieving snort cut him to the quick.
Suddenly, Sesshomaru was beside his brother. "What strange humans you surround yourself with, brother."
"Who asked you?" Inuyasha grunted with attitude as he peeled himself once again off the ground after the subjugation spell wore off. A sound made him glare upwards at his half-brother. What he saw not only shot his blood to the boiling point in an instant yet stole the scathing words right from his tongue, because Sesshomaru was smiling down at him.
Mocking him, but still, that small smile came as a shock to the hanyou. Grunting, his anger simmering down, he stood and crossed his arms before following his brother in the wake of his friends.
"Keh, whatever."
The silence was deafening. The air was heavy with things yet left unsaid, a weight about to burst and blast them into the unknown. There they sat, huddled in Kaede's humble home, a fire crackling in the hearth while the half-blind miko simmered hot water in preparation for tea.
Sesshomaru sat apart from it all, or as apart as one could be in such close confines of ramshackle walls. His back against the wall, Kagome sat nearest to him, not touching, her crossed knee so close to his own. Should he stretch out his legs, he'd bump into the huddled forms of the monk and slayer, who sat near the warm flames.
The elder miko knelt on the other side, filling cups of steamy liquid. Tea, he noted. There were not enough cups to go around, but Inuyasha and the clay imitation refused their own cups. Even the slayer shook her head at this kind offering amongst friends. A weight seemed to darken her mood, and the monk's comforting hand upon her knee could not make it better.
Tension filled the air they breathed.
Only Kagome and he shared in the elder's kindness, yet as silent as the rest.
Her one good eye rested upon him, letting Sesshomaru know she waited upon his first sip before her own, showing him unvoiced respect towards his station, regardless of the difference in species. Familiar with diplomatic gestures, he lifted the steaming cup to his lips for a small taste, green tea hot upon his tongue, easing down his throat. Wordlessly, he nodded his thanks.
A tentative smile and a sipping from her own cup was Kaede's only acknowledgement. Beside him, Kagome also sipped her tea, yet her posture was one of dejection. Today was a victory. In the face of the nearly completed jewel, now purified by Kagome's pure touch and rested around her neck between her breasts on a thin chain, all should be well, light-hearted. Instead, negative emotions slithered amongst the small crowd. Jubilation of the seeming defeat of Naraku absent.
For long minutes, no one spoke.
"Has he truly been defeated?" the monk spoke, risking the tentative calm within the hut. The calm before the storm.
"Keh," Inuyasha shifted, lips lifted in a sneer. "Whatever we,"—at the 'we', he glared at Sesshomaru, "fought, it died."
Miroku turned his head to eye the jewel that rested seemingly innocently around Kagome's neck. "And the jewel restored to its rightful guardian."
A sound of contempt followed that pronouncement. Kikyo eyed the jewel as had the monk, before lifting cool regard to the woman bearing such a weighty burden. "Rightful guardian? You mean the foolish girl who broke such a powerful relic to begin with, starting this unholy war?"
Kagome flinched at the truth of her incompetence.
Ever the kind spirit with words of wisdom, Kaede defended the younger miko, casting a chastising gaze upon her deceased sister. "Ye know Kagome is not of this world, unschooled of our ways and of her powers. Since arriving here, she has selflessly sought to bring the jewel back to its original form and eradicate the darkness within its depths. You judge her unjustly. Furthermore, she has gained in skill and knowledge over the years, honing her reiki as is customary of miko."
If Kikyo felt shamed by her younger sibling's chastisement, she did not show it. "Be that as it may, her ignorance has caused much death and destruction."
Anger laced Sango's tone as she heatedly answered Kikyo's callous assessment of her dear friend. "And what of the jewel's previous guardian? Do you deny all the hardships and heartaches your indiscretions have caused?" Here, she eyed both Kikyo and Inuyasha. Brown eyes stared back coldly, while golden, demonic eyes lowered. "You're so swift to judge Kagome unworthy, Kikyo, yet fail to point out your own failings."
"Leave her alone, Sango."
The slayer's anger turned towards Inuyasha. "Don't you dare speak to me," she hissed.
Inuyasha's eyes widened on her face, then lowered to the floor, unable to meet the accusation behind Sango's words. Kohaku was dead, and it was obvious who she blamed. He had nothing to say against such agonizing truth.
"Sango…" Kagome murmured sorrowfully.
Sango turned, anger and anguish written across her face as she next faced off with her friend. "I don't want to hear it," she said quietly, her voice trembling with emotion. "I am sick and tired of this continual farce. He killed my brother. I know he was out of his mind with bloodlust, but Kohaku is dead. Truly dead." Her heated gaze shot towards Kikyo once more. "And this clay imitation of life dares turn judgement upon the living for mistakes she also had made when she had breath to draw." Her glance shifted to Inuyasha's downcast head. "And of a love struck fool who can't decide who to love, who to defend." Sango laughed. "We're all just a bunch of fools, driven by emotions because that's what it means to be human."
Sango turned back to Kagome. "I know I shouldn't blame Inuyasha, just as he shouldn't blame himself for Kikyo's natural death and resurrection, nor should Kikyo blame you where she also has failed. But I do. He does. And so does she. We all blame one another for acts out of our control."
After her heated speech, silence once more reigned. No one could rightfully refute what had been said, but neither was anyone willing to give up those ugly feelings and find peace and balance.
This was humanity, thought Sesshomaru. Contempt slithered inside him, calling to attention that he, too, was not exempt from the slayer's disdain, for wasn't he also harboring inaccuracies about himself? Hadn't he just felt a rise of superiority at the human's failings, while ignoring his own?
His pride was his own undoing. His shame.
His gaze slide to the top of Kagome's bent head, unable to see her face, hidden behind her dark bangs. Unlike the humanity around him, unwilling to let go of their guilt and hatred, his redemption sat beside him, willing to help him let go of his. He strove to be a better man, and kami help this little miko, he needed her to show him the way, or fall into his inner most failings as the rest of them were.
Was it pride that once more fueled him? Or the gentle eyes of the woman beside him whenever she turned to him?
With only slight hesitation, he reached out and clasped her free hand. Chocolate brown eyes shot up to meet his gaze. The turbulence in her eyes slowed, stilled, until she squeezed his hand in return. Their intimate moment did not go unnoticed. The undead miko's gaze burned into his flesh, and Sesshomaru lifted his gaze to meet it.
Before her dead eyes, he lifted Kagome's hand and kissed the inside of her wrist, tasting her pulse upon his tongue. A challenge. A promise.
Kagome blushed as he lowered her hand, but he did not relinquish his hold upon her. "Kagome will not be alone," he vowed, all eyes turning to him. "The jewel is not yet completed, a shard remains missing. This Sesshomaru will offer aid to the Shikon no Miko in its completion and guardianship for as long as she requires."
Before anyone could speak against him in the heavy silence that followed, Kaede nodded. "Kagome has grown in strength and wisdom these few years she has been with us. With your help, Sesshomaru-sama, I feel the Sacred Jewel is in good hands."
Miroku chuckled, taking a sip from his cooled tea. "I couldn't agree more, Kaede-obaasan. The jewel couldn't be safer."
"Keh, whatever," muttered Inuyasha.