by. Inuki
Prologue: Death and Rebirth
The sounds of passion echoed through out the luxurious room. Two shadows interwined in rhythm behind the silk curtains of the bed. The only source of illumination was the flickering light of twelve candles circling the bed. With a final shudder and sigh, the shadows lethargically untangled from each other to form two distinct shapes before the shadows merged once again.
"That was very satisfying, my dear." The man whispered huskily to his lover's ear.
Without replying, the woman drifted off to sleep. But even the silence of the night and the soft glow of the candlelight gave the woman no rest from her memories - and demons. With each flick of light, she drifted from consciousness to the unconscious dreaming of long suppressed memories.
"Mama, Papa, I picked some flowers for you." A little girl with long black hair ran into her home located between the edge of town and the dark forest, her gray eyes sparkling with excitement at her discovery. Her mother looked up briefly from her weaving to smile prettily to her and her father paused to pat her affectionly on the head before heading back to the harvesting fields.
These images of happier times shifted through the woman's mind. Gradually, darker and sadder memories overcame the happy ones. The war had came. Her father was called away to duty to fight off the invaders and her mother became ill during an especially harsh winter, almost losing the baby in her womb. Her mother still wove until exhausted everyday despite the pregnancy and her delicate health. The news of father's death reached their home shortly after baby's birth.
She tried to take care of her mother and the baby, but because of war, everything became so expensive. She had to borrow extraordinary amount of money to pay for her mother's medicine, food and finally transportation for her mother and the baby when she could no longer care for them the way they needed. When a kind elderly uncle heard of their trouble, he offered them a home in Edo.
When all the affairs at the home of her birth had been settled, she realized that there was no way she could ever raise enough money to pay back the debt collectors. And before she could even think of an alternative way of paying them back, they had found her. They offered her two choices, pay the debt with her life or her body. She chose to pay back the debt with her body. The next day, she was sold to Ichiban no Sakura.
It was there she had lived for the past three years of her life. The only thing that kept her going was the hope of seeing her mother and baby sister once again. Someday, when she saved enough money and jewelry from her customers, she would buy her body back. Then she would reunite with her mother and sister once more. . .
She woke up weeping. Quickly, she wiped the tear from her eyes and looked out the window. The sun had yet to rise from the east. The city and the man lying next to her were still slumbering. Lord Naraku, that was his name. He was the one that bought her virginity when she first learned her craft. He was also the one who bought her body the previous night. From previous experiences, she knew Lord Naraku would be waking up soon. As that thought fluttered across her mind, the man next to her showed the first sings of wakening.
He carressed her body languidly before rising from the bed to put on his kimono. But before he walked out the door like numerous times before, he turned back to the woman and promised, "Oh my little whore. You are worth all the money I've put into that gold digger's pocket. In fact, I think I may want to keep you. My Lady Kikyo."
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Author's Note: I have to a big "THANK YOU" to my friend Angela who beta for me. With out her periodic nodding, I would never get my ideas out.