Chapter Three: Her Ghost in the Fog
Kagome's heart was beating furiously within her chest, her mind solely upon Nasai whom she worried for immensely.
" Have you found her scent yet Inuyasha?" Kagome asked, turning anxious eyes toward her hanyou lover who didn't return her concerned eyes.
" No..and..yes. Every time I think I have her she disappears again!" His voice was husky and drenched in anger, at her or himself he couldn't tell. He gazed toward Aya who didn't seem to be bothered by the fact her half sister was missing. Yet Ania stood beside her father and tried her hardest to pin point Nasai's unique scent.
" I can't." Ania's words faded, turning to her father who didn't gaze back at her. " I'm of no aid to you father and I'm sorry."
" Don't worry Ania, I will find Nasai then we can go home."
" But what about the Shikon no tama? Aren't you going to rescue it?" She asked innocently, truly wanting to stay within the past. When there was no answer she turned to her mother, who searched the ebony encircling her. " Mother are you going to find the jewel?" Kagome sighed and turned to her daughter.
" Yes, but first we find Nasai. God only knows where she is." Ania knew that she was finally thinking of a world without Nasai. Of course mother was never cruel to her, yet she beheld the shimmer of sorrow within her eyes every time she gazed upon her sister. She knew Nasai wasn't in danger because she would have felt something. Yes..something..like they were joined by their emotions.
" Aya...do you love Nasai?" Ania felt herself whisper, as if she was ashamed. When there was no reply she turned to her sister who gazed off into nothingness.
" Of course I love Nasai but..but I don't know who she is really. No one does. She's like a phantom of past pain and shame. I don't really know, she's a mysterious one, Nasai I mean. The only person she has ever told anything to is Ania. I know why...because of father and his neglect of her. Damn I wish I'd seen it sooner. She's always been what you would call a problem child. Losing her temper easily, and..just not being what we are. She's..so different from us." Aya gazed back to Ania and her mother. Tears welling up within Kagome's loving brown orbs, turning to her husband who had ceased in his search to listen to his daughter. No doubt the problems Nasai faced was of Sesshoumaru's genes and she needed him..only him...to help her control her emotions. A zephyr gently danced upon the four as their hair fell defenceless to the call of the winds, dancing as if in comfort. With that wind Inuyasha sniffed the air and found Nasai.
" I smell her." He said flatly, signalling the others to follow him as he sprinted off within the dream like scenery of his past home. He knew the lands well and it was a growing challenge for Kagome to keep up, being pulled along by her daughters. Then, as if an unseen foe had come before him, he ceased. One word spilling from his lips almost in hear.
" Sesshoumaru.." Aya and Ania didn't know what person the word belonged to but by the look of their mother it wasn't what they needed now.
" Is Nasai with him..is she hurt?"
" No." Ania whispered before her father could. " I'd know If she were injured."
" Who's Sesshoumaru?" Aya asked, grasping her mother's hand. " Is he Nasai's..." The aged human woman nodded her head closing her eyes to cease tears in which stained her pain stabbed eyes.
" Sesshoumaru is Nasai's..father." Her voice became a whisper as she swiftly said the word father. Ashamed at the memory it evoked. Both for her, and her Inuyasha. Stepping into a clearing, they saw a young fox demon staring at the midnight heavens. " You there!" Kagome yelled, causing the boy to turn around, locking eyes on the human. " Shippou?" She asked breathlessly, seeing him nod his head.
" Looking for Nasai?" Kagome's eyes lit up. He knew her daughter, perhaps he knew where she was. Running before him she grasped his hands and practically yelled her question.
" Do you know where she is?" She asked, silently rejoicing at his nod.
" Yes. She's with Sesshoumaru. I didn't know much about her, only her name, and she smelled like you and that Inuyasha. She called him father Kagome, she fell to her knees and embraced him as if they had been apart before. I didn't know what words they spoke to each other, but I watched them fly away within the shroud of the night." Kagome could have burst into tears. What would Sesshoumaru do to her? Terrible thoughts filled her head, she was truly frightened.
***
Nasai watched in silence as the Earth below passed beneath her very feet, cuddling closer to the bright silver angel that she had so painfully searched for. He didn't gaze at her, just called out her name as if it were a prayer of salvation.
" Nasai." Her attention stood acute, as she awaited him to speak again. That voice, cold and distant, yet something...soft. " I didn't think I would see you, and I'm sorry since you had to be raised by a human and an ignorant hanyou. Who only gazed at you shamefully, and could teach you nothing of your youkai self." She didn't answer, just enjoyed his nearness. For eternity it seemed she had yearned for this moment.
" Did you love my mother?" The question didn't surprise him, after all she had a right to such a question. He gazed down at her, and saw the innocent, naïve child her mother had been. Yet also something defiant that roared within. Her eyes were filled with her mother's past emotions, yet it didn't disgust him. And he didn't scold himself for seeing it either. Tightening his hold upon her he answered.
" Did I love her? No, I didn't. We were as bitter as enemies could be, and a curse caused us to be with who we hated the very most. Love was something we did not allow each other to feel." Nasai fell mute again. She wasn't a child born of love, but a child born of regret and sorrow.
" Do you love me?" She asked, holding her gaze firmly upon his.
" Yes, I love you more dearly than anything that I've ever possessed before. At first I hated the very thought of you, the very fact that you were my daughter, yet...I realised you were part of me. An innocent, beautiful child born into a world in which she did not belong." He fell silent then, allowing her to reach into his silver locks and let her fingers glide through it. Knowing very well that Inuyasha searched for her and wanted her back. Something we wasn't going to do because she belonged to him. He is the one that loves her. He is the only one that can teach her. He is her father and no one was going to deny her of him any longer. As his palace neared they allowed each other to be absorbed in the others presence, something she thought she was cursed to never do.
Her thoughts raced. As she felt his chest rise and fall she noticed how incredibly graceful he was even just breathing. Eyes of sincerity, yet what she loved most was his smile. It wasn't empty like her mother's was, and it wasn't shame absorbed, just..love smothered.
As they touched the ground Nasai leapt from the beast they were upon grasped her father's hand as he leapt off also. Opening the large, cathedral like doors, her eyes fell upon a girl, human. It seemed as if she had been awaiting her father's arrival since he left.
" Welcome back home Sesshoumaru-sama." The human bowed, eyeing Nasai as if Nasai herself had wronged her merely by existing. The human seemed to be seventeen or eighteen, yet Nasai didn't ask.
" This is Rin." He said bluntly, smiling at the girl, causing her to smile in return.
" Lord Sesshoumaru-sama!!" Yelled an aged toad demon who through himself at his master's feet. " Your loyal servant welcomes you." Sesshoumaru didn't bother to acknowledge him, just stepped over him, beckoning Nasai to follow. Rin walked by her side, and Nasai noticed how lovely she was. Raven hair in which crowned her head, and cradled her just as lovely face. Her simple kimono fitted perfectly about her figure, knowing she looked more like a princess then Nasai herself at this moment. Ceasing at the entrance of a room, Sesshoumaru opened the door and within were glorious robes Nasai had never seen, or even thought possible to exist.
" They are for you my dear." He simply said, his voice smooth, deep, and utterly intoxicating. Seeing two women inside she walking inside, hearing the door shut behind her. The two women beckoned her over to them.
" Ah yes, what a pretty woman." The seemingly elder of the two commented, running her fingers through Nasai's silver locks.
" What else do you expect? She's Sesshoumaru's daughter after all." The younger giggled to herself, picking up layers upon layers of clothing as they measured her, and making her go in and out of different styles. When they were finished picking out her clothing they directed her into a large bathroom, a tub filled to the rim in steaming liquid. Leaving her alone, the woman closer to door. Nasai smiled as she took off her clothes and touched the water with her fingertips. It was searing, yet Nasai welcomed it. Slowly getting inside she pulled her head back so her silver hair was completely submerged within the scolding water, moving her fingers through it softly. She allowed a sigh of pleasure escape her lips, letting her body relax within the bath. She remained inside the water for at least an hour, getting up she bound a towel around her, and dried off, entering the room the two women were in. They smiled as they laid eyes on her, showing her how to put her new style of clothing on, and setting her down before a mirror. She then felt the younger woman's fingers through her hair, also a brush in its wake. When they had finished brushing her hair they placed her hair in delicate golden combs, their faces graced by scenes of natures beauty. The lower half of her hair, cascaded over her shoulder as if a frozen waterfall, and her bangs hung low over her eyes. They painted her lips crimson, and shaded her eyes in a soft cerise.
Her many robes were heavy, and she burned up within them. Just getting out of a very boiling bath. The were mostly white with designs of flowers. The clothes she had came in were discarded and forgotten about, yet she couldn't have cared. The sun began to rise, and Nasai was pressed from the room, and left to venture the maze before her. Stained glass windows adorned most of the wall's surface. Floors of marble in which caused her foot prints to echo throughout the corridor seeing the toad demon from before bound to her.
" Lady Nasai." He said breathlessly, as if he had been running for some time. " Lord Sesshoumaru-sama told me to bring you to him. To join him and Rin at dinner." Nasai smiled. Food was what she wanted, well food and sleep that is. Walking behind the toad demon she gazed around her surroundings. Words could never explain how grand the palace was, and only a fool would try. Finally, when Nasai saw her father she smiled openly, seeing the human girl Rin at his left. Taking her seat beside him on his right Nasai locked eyes with the human who gazed at her almost with hatred in her eyes. Sesshoumaru's gaze suddenly locked upon the entrance.
" Inuyasha.." The word rolled from his tongue as he stood. " Nasai come with me." He grasped her hand and walked to the large doors and swung them open, seeing the faces of Inuyasha, Kagome, Shippou, and two hanyou girls.
" Nasai!" Kagome cried, trying to break the hold Inuyasha held on her.
" Let her go Sesshoumaru!" Inuyasha demanded, yet silence drifted between then for a few moments.
" I don't want to go with you!" Nasai yelled, " I'm nothing to you Inuyasha nothing!" Kagome and the others were caught off guard by her out burst, as she continued. " I've found my father and I intend to stay with him!"
" Nasai.." The whispers of her mother caught Nasai's ears, brown eyes to gold. " I need you with me."
" Please mother, let me stay with my father." She tightened her grip on his hand, gazing toward Inuyasha, who was startled by something. Sesshoumaru heard it too. Then, leaping from the trees a female youkai stood. Her fingers pressed upon the Shikon no tama in which was at her neck.
" Kagura." Inuyasha and Sesshoumaru almost whispered in unison, loathing imposed upon both of their breaths. She only laughed and pointed her finger to Nasai.
" You! You will come with me, for you have something I want!" Nasai was confused at first, then scared. She couldn't be taken away from her father. No, not just yet. What connection could she possibly have with this youkai?
A/N: Kagura's here! She's about to reveal a secret about Nasai. Something that shes been hiding. But anyway thank you all for the reviews! ^.^ I'll try and update soon, but I have some stuff to do over the weekend by I'll try to have another chapter up on Tuesday.
Kagome's heart was beating furiously within her chest, her mind solely upon Nasai whom she worried for immensely.
" Have you found her scent yet Inuyasha?" Kagome asked, turning anxious eyes toward her hanyou lover who didn't return her concerned eyes.
" No..and..yes. Every time I think I have her she disappears again!" His voice was husky and drenched in anger, at her or himself he couldn't tell. He gazed toward Aya who didn't seem to be bothered by the fact her half sister was missing. Yet Ania stood beside her father and tried her hardest to pin point Nasai's unique scent.
" I can't." Ania's words faded, turning to her father who didn't gaze back at her. " I'm of no aid to you father and I'm sorry."
" Don't worry Ania, I will find Nasai then we can go home."
" But what about the Shikon no tama? Aren't you going to rescue it?" She asked innocently, truly wanting to stay within the past. When there was no answer she turned to her mother, who searched the ebony encircling her. " Mother are you going to find the jewel?" Kagome sighed and turned to her daughter.
" Yes, but first we find Nasai. God only knows where she is." Ania knew that she was finally thinking of a world without Nasai. Of course mother was never cruel to her, yet she beheld the shimmer of sorrow within her eyes every time she gazed upon her sister. She knew Nasai wasn't in danger because she would have felt something. Yes..something..like they were joined by their emotions.
" Aya...do you love Nasai?" Ania felt herself whisper, as if she was ashamed. When there was no reply she turned to her sister who gazed off into nothingness.
" Of course I love Nasai but..but I don't know who she is really. No one does. She's like a phantom of past pain and shame. I don't really know, she's a mysterious one, Nasai I mean. The only person she has ever told anything to is Ania. I know why...because of father and his neglect of her. Damn I wish I'd seen it sooner. She's always been what you would call a problem child. Losing her temper easily, and..just not being what we are. She's..so different from us." Aya gazed back to Ania and her mother. Tears welling up within Kagome's loving brown orbs, turning to her husband who had ceased in his search to listen to his daughter. No doubt the problems Nasai faced was of Sesshoumaru's genes and she needed him..only him...to help her control her emotions. A zephyr gently danced upon the four as their hair fell defenceless to the call of the winds, dancing as if in comfort. With that wind Inuyasha sniffed the air and found Nasai.
" I smell her." He said flatly, signalling the others to follow him as he sprinted off within the dream like scenery of his past home. He knew the lands well and it was a growing challenge for Kagome to keep up, being pulled along by her daughters. Then, as if an unseen foe had come before him, he ceased. One word spilling from his lips almost in hear.
" Sesshoumaru.." Aya and Ania didn't know what person the word belonged to but by the look of their mother it wasn't what they needed now.
" Is Nasai with him..is she hurt?"
" No." Ania whispered before her father could. " I'd know If she were injured."
" Who's Sesshoumaru?" Aya asked, grasping her mother's hand. " Is he Nasai's..." The aged human woman nodded her head closing her eyes to cease tears in which stained her pain stabbed eyes.
" Sesshoumaru is Nasai's..father." Her voice became a whisper as she swiftly said the word father. Ashamed at the memory it evoked. Both for her, and her Inuyasha. Stepping into a clearing, they saw a young fox demon staring at the midnight heavens. " You there!" Kagome yelled, causing the boy to turn around, locking eyes on the human. " Shippou?" She asked breathlessly, seeing him nod his head.
" Looking for Nasai?" Kagome's eyes lit up. He knew her daughter, perhaps he knew where she was. Running before him she grasped his hands and practically yelled her question.
" Do you know where she is?" She asked, silently rejoicing at his nod.
" Yes. She's with Sesshoumaru. I didn't know much about her, only her name, and she smelled like you and that Inuyasha. She called him father Kagome, she fell to her knees and embraced him as if they had been apart before. I didn't know what words they spoke to each other, but I watched them fly away within the shroud of the night." Kagome could have burst into tears. What would Sesshoumaru do to her? Terrible thoughts filled her head, she was truly frightened.
***
Nasai watched in silence as the Earth below passed beneath her very feet, cuddling closer to the bright silver angel that she had so painfully searched for. He didn't gaze at her, just called out her name as if it were a prayer of salvation.
" Nasai." Her attention stood acute, as she awaited him to speak again. That voice, cold and distant, yet something...soft. " I didn't think I would see you, and I'm sorry since you had to be raised by a human and an ignorant hanyou. Who only gazed at you shamefully, and could teach you nothing of your youkai self." She didn't answer, just enjoyed his nearness. For eternity it seemed she had yearned for this moment.
" Did you love my mother?" The question didn't surprise him, after all she had a right to such a question. He gazed down at her, and saw the innocent, naïve child her mother had been. Yet also something defiant that roared within. Her eyes were filled with her mother's past emotions, yet it didn't disgust him. And he didn't scold himself for seeing it either. Tightening his hold upon her he answered.
" Did I love her? No, I didn't. We were as bitter as enemies could be, and a curse caused us to be with who we hated the very most. Love was something we did not allow each other to feel." Nasai fell mute again. She wasn't a child born of love, but a child born of regret and sorrow.
" Do you love me?" She asked, holding her gaze firmly upon his.
" Yes, I love you more dearly than anything that I've ever possessed before. At first I hated the very thought of you, the very fact that you were my daughter, yet...I realised you were part of me. An innocent, beautiful child born into a world in which she did not belong." He fell silent then, allowing her to reach into his silver locks and let her fingers glide through it. Knowing very well that Inuyasha searched for her and wanted her back. Something we wasn't going to do because she belonged to him. He is the one that loves her. He is the only one that can teach her. He is her father and no one was going to deny her of him any longer. As his palace neared they allowed each other to be absorbed in the others presence, something she thought she was cursed to never do.
Her thoughts raced. As she felt his chest rise and fall she noticed how incredibly graceful he was even just breathing. Eyes of sincerity, yet what she loved most was his smile. It wasn't empty like her mother's was, and it wasn't shame absorbed, just..love smothered.
As they touched the ground Nasai leapt from the beast they were upon grasped her father's hand as he leapt off also. Opening the large, cathedral like doors, her eyes fell upon a girl, human. It seemed as if she had been awaiting her father's arrival since he left.
" Welcome back home Sesshoumaru-sama." The human bowed, eyeing Nasai as if Nasai herself had wronged her merely by existing. The human seemed to be seventeen or eighteen, yet Nasai didn't ask.
" This is Rin." He said bluntly, smiling at the girl, causing her to smile in return.
" Lord Sesshoumaru-sama!!" Yelled an aged toad demon who through himself at his master's feet. " Your loyal servant welcomes you." Sesshoumaru didn't bother to acknowledge him, just stepped over him, beckoning Nasai to follow. Rin walked by her side, and Nasai noticed how lovely she was. Raven hair in which crowned her head, and cradled her just as lovely face. Her simple kimono fitted perfectly about her figure, knowing she looked more like a princess then Nasai herself at this moment. Ceasing at the entrance of a room, Sesshoumaru opened the door and within were glorious robes Nasai had never seen, or even thought possible to exist.
" They are for you my dear." He simply said, his voice smooth, deep, and utterly intoxicating. Seeing two women inside she walking inside, hearing the door shut behind her. The two women beckoned her over to them.
" Ah yes, what a pretty woman." The seemingly elder of the two commented, running her fingers through Nasai's silver locks.
" What else do you expect? She's Sesshoumaru's daughter after all." The younger giggled to herself, picking up layers upon layers of clothing as they measured her, and making her go in and out of different styles. When they were finished picking out her clothing they directed her into a large bathroom, a tub filled to the rim in steaming liquid. Leaving her alone, the woman closer to door. Nasai smiled as she took off her clothes and touched the water with her fingertips. It was searing, yet Nasai welcomed it. Slowly getting inside she pulled her head back so her silver hair was completely submerged within the scolding water, moving her fingers through it softly. She allowed a sigh of pleasure escape her lips, letting her body relax within the bath. She remained inside the water for at least an hour, getting up she bound a towel around her, and dried off, entering the room the two women were in. They smiled as they laid eyes on her, showing her how to put her new style of clothing on, and setting her down before a mirror. She then felt the younger woman's fingers through her hair, also a brush in its wake. When they had finished brushing her hair they placed her hair in delicate golden combs, their faces graced by scenes of natures beauty. The lower half of her hair, cascaded over her shoulder as if a frozen waterfall, and her bangs hung low over her eyes. They painted her lips crimson, and shaded her eyes in a soft cerise.
Her many robes were heavy, and she burned up within them. Just getting out of a very boiling bath. The were mostly white with designs of flowers. The clothes she had came in were discarded and forgotten about, yet she couldn't have cared. The sun began to rise, and Nasai was pressed from the room, and left to venture the maze before her. Stained glass windows adorned most of the wall's surface. Floors of marble in which caused her foot prints to echo throughout the corridor seeing the toad demon from before bound to her.
" Lady Nasai." He said breathlessly, as if he had been running for some time. " Lord Sesshoumaru-sama told me to bring you to him. To join him and Rin at dinner." Nasai smiled. Food was what she wanted, well food and sleep that is. Walking behind the toad demon she gazed around her surroundings. Words could never explain how grand the palace was, and only a fool would try. Finally, when Nasai saw her father she smiled openly, seeing the human girl Rin at his left. Taking her seat beside him on his right Nasai locked eyes with the human who gazed at her almost with hatred in her eyes. Sesshoumaru's gaze suddenly locked upon the entrance.
" Inuyasha.." The word rolled from his tongue as he stood. " Nasai come with me." He grasped her hand and walked to the large doors and swung them open, seeing the faces of Inuyasha, Kagome, Shippou, and two hanyou girls.
" Nasai!" Kagome cried, trying to break the hold Inuyasha held on her.
" Let her go Sesshoumaru!" Inuyasha demanded, yet silence drifted between then for a few moments.
" I don't want to go with you!" Nasai yelled, " I'm nothing to you Inuyasha nothing!" Kagome and the others were caught off guard by her out burst, as she continued. " I've found my father and I intend to stay with him!"
" Nasai.." The whispers of her mother caught Nasai's ears, brown eyes to gold. " I need you with me."
" Please mother, let me stay with my father." She tightened her grip on his hand, gazing toward Inuyasha, who was startled by something. Sesshoumaru heard it too. Then, leaping from the trees a female youkai stood. Her fingers pressed upon the Shikon no tama in which was at her neck.
" Kagura." Inuyasha and Sesshoumaru almost whispered in unison, loathing imposed upon both of their breaths. She only laughed and pointed her finger to Nasai.
" You! You will come with me, for you have something I want!" Nasai was confused at first, then scared. She couldn't be taken away from her father. No, not just yet. What connection could she possibly have with this youkai?
A/N: Kagura's here! She's about to reveal a secret about Nasai. Something that shes been hiding. But anyway thank you all for the reviews! ^.^ I'll try and update soon, but I have some stuff to do over the weekend by I'll try to have another chapter up on Tuesday.