...well I couldn't just STOP writing, not after last chapter's cliffhanger!
I've gotten so attached to the Kikyo/Kohana dynamic that it was pretty damn hard to write this because it marks such a shift in their relationship. Not an unwelcome one, because they both deserve freedom, but still...it's le sad.
Hope you enjoy this one, guys, and I also hope that I caught all the editing errors...cue Christina Perri's song "Human" if I didn't, because unlike Kohana...I'm only human :)
PLEASE REVIEW!
Chapter 29: Kikyo's Return
Inuyasha raced up the mountain as quickly and carefully as he could—the hag had clipped her left arm on a protruding tree branch as she fell and the bone had cleanly broken, so his normal speed wasn't an option. A surprisingly stoic Kaede had instructed him on how to wrap it and insisted they hurry to the ogre's lair and the half-demon couldn't help but admire the woman for that. Humans tended to be pretty terrible at hiding physical pain but Kaede had proven him wrong on that front.
The old woman didn't try to speak to him once he started running and he was grateful for it—his entire focus was honed in on the scent of Shippo and Kohana, faintly present in the distance but still carrying the telltale signs of life. But for how much longer? How many more steps would it take him before the smell soured with blood and death? Ten more steps? Five?
Inuyasha gritted his teeth and sped up, knowing that Kaede would be in greater pain as a result but not finding it in his heart to feel more than a passing shred of guilt.
Hang on, Inuyasha silently pleaded with the packmates he was racing towards. Hang on until I get there.
The ogre's stench filled the air long before the lair came into view. It filled Inuyasha's nose and made him grimace in distaste. Ogres were among the foulest of all demons and this one was no exception. A bit craftier than others of its kind he had encountered ove the years but just as offensive smelling.
Inuyasha jumped over the last stretch of stone and rubble, smoothly dislodging Kaede from his back while still airborne so that he could cushion her fall within his arms rather than the length of his spine. They landed gingerly on the flat expanse of rock outside the ogre's cavern.
Careful to keep an eye on the ogre demon as she noticed their presence, Inuyasha scanned the area for Kohana and Shippo. An almost-whine of relief escaped him when he saw Shippo still alive and still struggling in the arms of a clay servant just beside the ogre demon. Another sound escaped him at the sight of Kohana in a stone tub filled with a truly vile smelling potion because sure, she wasn't dead, but she also wasn't moving.
"How nice of you to finally join us, half-breed! See for yourself the glory of a priestess reborn!" she cried, and began to loudly chant. In response, the liquid in the tub glowed an electric green and Kohana's eyes snapped open—they glowed a bright pink-purple, too bright to stare at for longer than a second.
"Kohana!" Inuyasha bellowed, but his voice was lost in the roar of energy that began to expand from Kohana's chest, encapsulating the tub in a shimmering, spiritual veil of light.
The ogre laughed. "It's no use! The human's soul is being called forth, and once it leaves her body there will be nothing left but an empty shell. Kikyo's body will unite with her soul and transcend the cold, faceless clay of my other slaves!"
Kikyo's…body?
The sounds of Shippo's yells and Kaede's gasps faded, just for a moment, because it was as if an outside force grabbed hold of Inuyasha's head and forcibly turned it to face the entrance of the cave. There, about a hundred feet away, sat a familiar—dead, dead and gone—figure. For the world it had been fifty years but for Inuyasha, it had been mere months since he had last seen Kikyo's face. Even with that, the reality of seeing it again in the flesh nearly brought him to his knees.
It was like stepping back in time, for Kikyo was dressed in her priestess attire and her face was as beautiful and untouchable as it had always been.
Suddenly, Kohana let out a piercing scream, a sound that rattled Inuaysha's bones and overpowered even the ogre's spell. Without hesitation the half-demon threw himself at the barrier, struggling to manage the panic that now pulsed in his veins right alongside his blood.
"Kohana!" he shouted, ignoring the burn of the spiritual power on his fists as he attempted to break through. A pulse of the barrier sent him flying back, hands thoroughly scalded, and then the world seemed to explode within the tub's sphere. Inuyasha watched with equal parts awe and dread as two balls of light—two souls, he realized—emerged from Kohana's heaving chest, both beautiful but as different as night and day. Both were visible for only a moment before one retreated back into Kohana's chest and the other spiraled upwards, streams of powerful energy arcing off of its trail as it soared towards the clay recreation of Kikyo.
The soul surged into the clay form's chest and the light glowed so powerfully that Inuyasha was forced to look down until it dimmed—trapped within the body. Kikyo's form floated into the air, features creasing into their first show of actual human emotion; a grimace, tight and pained as shaking hands lifted to touch the face as if shocked to have one at all.
"Yes, yes! Come forth and serve me, my perfect creation!" the ogre demon crowed, waiting until Kikyo's feet touched earth before stepping closer. Inuyasha looked to Shippo, then, and the moment the ogre was out of range the half-demon pounced onto the clay servant, tearing the dagger-wielding arm out of its socket and splitting the body in half before the creature could so much as register his movements. Shippo was in Inuyasha's arms the next second and the two retreated to where Kaede stood; the woman's single eye was wide with shock.
"You good?" Inuyasha gruffly demanded of the kit, one arm holding him upright and the other patting his body in search of any wounds. It was proof of how shaken up Shippo was that he allowed the treatment, his lower lip trembling in an attempt to hold back his tears—Inuyasha could see the glimmer of them in the kit's eyes all the same and didn't comment on it for the boy's sake.
Inuyasha kept the kit against his chest—as if he was going to be anywhere else, not when there was a potentially dangerous priestess about to be wielded against them—and turned his focus back to the ogre as she approached the still-glowing priestess. It was more than painful to have to restrain himself, to resist rushing to Kohana's side and dragging her out of the tub, but she of all people would want him to be smart and wait until the threat was dealt with. He reassured himself by checking in on her vitals, the tension in his chest relaxing ever so slightly when he heard the steady thud of her heartbeat and the whispering sound of her breaths.
Kikyo lowered her hands from her face, eyes opening to reveal the rich brown color that Inuyasha had been unable to shake since their first meeting all those years ago. The moment her eyes opened, Inuyasha almost wanted to laugh, because he knew the look in those eyes—she was furious. Not with him, no, but with the still-clueless ogre that drew closer and closer.
"Now, for your first task—" the demon began, but the command was cut off as Kikyo reached out to grab the ogre's throat, spiritual energy crackling around her fingers and burning the wrinkled skin beneath them.
"I told you, didn't I?" Kikyo murmured, almost sweetly. "I told you that if you didn't let him go…that your death would be one that I savored."
"What?" the ogre gurgled out, body immobilized by Kikyo's power and red eyes widening in almost comical confusion. "That—but that wasn't you, that was the…unless…no!"
Kikyo didn't respond, simply squeezing harder and watching as the ogre woman's body began to crumble to ash. The head was saved for last, prolonging the demon's awareness and pain, but it soon joined the rest of the body in the pile of soot.
Silence only lasted for a moment before Kikyo turned away from the body and her eyes locked onto the stone tub where Kohana still lay. Her mouth dropped open in worry and in a blink the all-powerful priestess became a human woman once again.
"Kohana!" Kikyo cried out, rushing to the tub and cupping the younger girl's face in her hands, healing energy glowing at her fingertips as she did so. Inuyasha felt his body fall back under his command, then, following Shippo's urging and running to join Kikyo at the tub's edge.
"She'll be fine, though the spell took a large toll on her. I wouldn't expect her to wake until tomorrow morning at the earliest," Kikyo concluded, her brown eyes soft as they scanned Kohana's face, one finger very gently smoothing out the furrow that sometimes appeared on the younger girl's brow when she slept poorly.
Inuyasha supposed that almost having your soul completely detached from your body was reason enough to sleep fitfully.
"Are you okay?" Shippo asked Kikyo, surprising them both when instead of keeping his distance, as they expected, the kit moved so he was pressed against her leg.
Kikyo blinked, shocked. "…I am well, Shippo. Thank you."
Shippo didn't respond with words, instead jumping up to quickly press his cheek against hers. Kikyo's eyes were shining with fondness when they parted and without thinking Inuyasha sent Shippo a rumbling growl of approval, the sound too low for human ears to detect. The fox kit puffed his tail proudly before returning his attention to Kohana.
Kikyo stood and took a few steps back, and Inuyasha carefully removed Kohana from the tub and deposited her carefully onto the ground before standing as well. Shippo remained with Kohana, probably sensing Inuyasha's unspoken need to just look at Kikyo without any interruptions.
The two of them stared at each other. It felt like a damn eternity but it probably wasn't longer than a few seconds. Inuyasha saw Kikyo's hands twitch towards him before tightening into fists at her side, and the movement reminded him so much of Kohana and her attempts to keep a distance from him out of respect for Kikyo that Inuyasha let out a choked laugh.
"Oh no you don't," he growled, and roughly pulled her into his arms. Kikyo went completely still for a moment before slowly relaxing into the embrace, her arms coming up around his shoulders to hold him close. Her body wasn't warm, exactly, but it wasn't as cold as he had been expecting. The scent of her skin was earthier than he remembered but still had hints of that weathered meadow that he couldn't forget even if he tried. And he had definitely tried.
"I was so scared that it wouldn't work—that in trying to give Kohana her body back I would doom her to lose her soul. She trusted me to have her and I almost failed…I was overwhelmed that I almost couldn't put her soul back on my way out," Kikyo confessed into his shoulder, her voice hoarse with guilt.
Inuyasha didn't respond at first, instead putting a comforting hand on her head, careful not to scrape her scalp with his claws. The old routine of being careful around her was both foreign and familiar. Just like Kikyo herself was—both known and unknown to him, now.
"You did it, though. Kohana is alive. No use in beating yourself up over what could have happened," Inuyasha declared, stroking her hair so softly that it felt like he was barely touching her. Was this how he used to touch the people he loved? Like they were so fragile that any sort of pressure would break them in two?
Kikyo, perceptive as always, let out a small little laugh and pulled back, reaching up to touch his face in a way that felt utterly intimate and utterly platonic all at once.
"I had almost forgotten how delicately you used to handle me—like I was made of glass rather than flesh and bone. I can't say that I miss it," she teased, her brown eyes only bearing a touch of sadness.
Inuyasha smirked and let his hands fall from her shoulders. She mirrored him and the both of them turned back towards where Kaede and Shippo were sitting with Kohana.
"Thank you, Kikyo. For bringing her back to us," Inuyasha said softly, looking at her profile and still marveling that he could even look at her.
Kikyo shook her head. "I'm the one who needs to be thanking her—for bringing me back to…me. Without Kohana, I would still be lost."
With one last smile for him, Kikyo moved to approach the rest of the group. Kaede got to her feet as her sister drew near, schooling her features into what might have been neutrality had her one eye not been so damn hopeful.
"I do not know if you recognize me, but I am—"
"—my sister," Kikyo interrupted the woman with a kiss to the forehead and a careful hug. "You have done so well, Kaede. I'm so proud."
Kaede's face crumpled and for a moment Inuyasha saw the child that she had once been, the young girl that had practically worshipped her sister and whose one hope was to be even half as good a priestess one day.
"It has been so difficult without you," the woman admitted sadly, and Kikyo's expression sobered.
"Come," she suggested, holding her younger sister's uninjured hand and gently leading her to a pile of small, smooth boulders. "Tell me of your life since I've been gone, and I will tell you how it is that I'm here in this way."
Inuyasha watched as the two sat down and Kikyo began to heal her sister's broken arm. Demon hearing meant that if he wanted, he could easily eavesdrop—and likely would, to some degree, even without wanting to—but he actively tuned them out to give them some semblance of privacy. He joined Shippo in sitting next to Kohana, sharp eyes watching her chest rise and fall as if afraid that if he didn't watch, it would stop.
Now that it was just him, Kohana and Shippo, just pack, he felt comfortable letting out a shaky breath and leaning forward to cradle Kohana in his arms. Her body was still covered in the witch's potion and the potency of it stung his nostrils but distancing himself wasn't even remotely an option. Even if the mixture burned his skin and sapped his strength, Inuyasha wouldn't let go of her, not even for a second.
She was pack. She was his.
Shippo jumped up and wiggled into the crook of Inuyasha's elbow so that he could join the closeness, and Inuyasha felt himself relax even more at the familiar scent and warmth of them both.
"We're okay, Alpha," Shippo said, too quietly for human ears, and Inuyasha's throat tightened at the steady weight of the kit's words. Coming from anyone else, in any other moment, he would have scoffed and brushed it off, annoyed that they felt that he needed the comfort of those words.
As it was, the words weren't unwelcome, weren't pushed aside.
Inuyasha leaned down to brush noses with Shippo, his first time initiating the fox-gesture with the kit. The child yipped happily, nuzzling closer and reaching out to touch Kohana's cheek as he did so.
The pack was okay, and for now, that was enough.