Author's Note: Sorry it took so long to post this chapter, School got in the way. I promise from now on, chapter updates will always come on Thursday. Also, I am offering a bribe. If you review my story, even if you didn't actually read it (though why you would review without reading is beyond me), I will go and review your stories. Also, if you have any suggestions about the my story and what could happen, let me know and I will see if I can work it into the outline.
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Summary: Kagome gets hurt and Inu Yasha takes her to someone he knew fifty years ago for help. In the process, we learn more about Inu Yasha's past and what it was like growing up being niether human nor youkai.
Disclaimer: I don't own Inu Yasha
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Chapter 2: Reunion
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Inu Yasha raced through the night, Kagome held tightly in his arms. He could feel how cold she was, even through the blankets that were wrapped around her. She wouldn't last another hour outside like this. When he got her to his sister's cottage, the best that he could hope for was for her to wake up, to be able to speak to him again. He didn't harbor any hope that his sister could save Kagome. After all, she hadn't been able to save their mother, when his father had been away...
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"What do you mean you can't save her!?" Inu Yasha's anger at his sister's helplessness was irrational. Sesshoumaru's poison was quick, and deadly. His sister had just come outside to tell him. "You have never had a problem saving anyone before!" It didn't matter to him that everyone else she had saved had only had minor injuries. His mother had gaping wounds injected with poison strong enough to kill the heartiest of youkai.
Her tears had stopped his yelling. "I don't know why I can't save her! His poison is too strong. And I was too young to remember what father did to save me that last time... even if a human could do it, I can't remember!" His fearless, wonderful sister had tears of grief and frustration silently rolling down her cheeks. She was pale, too, her scar standing out lividly right above her jaw line. She ignored her tears, refusing to admit she was crying, and just sat there. "All we can do for her now is to make her last night as comfortable as possible."
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When their father had returned, two weeks later, he was too late to even attend their mother's funeral.
Inu Yasha hugged Kagome even tighter to him. He was going to get Sesshoumaru for this! That scum had been wandering the earth for too long! He would see Kagome's body back to her time, and to her funeral, and then he would come back for Sesshoumaru's blood, even if it took his own life.
His arrival at Kiara's cottage cut short any more musings he might have about revenge. She was waiting for him when he got to the door, and led him back to a room with a pallet in it. He gently laid Kagome down, tenderly pulling her hair out of her eyes as he stood up. He looked at Kiara for a moment, and left the room to wait outside.
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Kiara carefully pulled the blankets away, and discovered the red streaks traveling up the girl's neck. Pulling the blankets back further, she saw the expertly bandaged wound, and caught the scent of an herb she knew well. She smiled. Where had Inu Yasha gotten the knowledge to use that herb? As she finished preparing the antidote her father had taught her after the incident with her mother, she hoped the herb had slowed the poison enough for it to work. Hers didn't act as quickly as the one her father had made, but if it was administered soon enough after the attack, it would save the person.
She had learned the hard way that it wasn't as fast...but she wouldn't think about that time right now. Right now, she had to save this girl. She couldn't let her brother down again. She couldn't bear the look on his face if she did. Now it was time for the last part. With a glance to the door, hoping Inu Yasha wouldn't smell her blood; she slit her wrist, and watched as a large portion of blood fell into the cup she had made. When enough had fallen in, she quickly bandaged her wrist. Stirring the antidote, she watched the blood spread, and stain the contents red. She took it over to the still unconscious girl.
Holding the girl up with one arm, Kiara placed the cup against her lips, and she drank it reflexively. After she finished the whole cup, she sank back down to the pallet. Kiara watched her for a moment. The red streaks were ever so slightly starting to retreat. She smiled as she left the room. It had worked.
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Inu Yasha glared at her from across the room, waiting for her to say what he knew she must. No one could survive that poison, and she couldn't help Kagome.
"She should wake up sometime tomorrow, and be fully recovered within a few days."
"I knew it! I shouldn't have gotten my hopes...." A confused look crossed his face, "Wait....What did you say?"
"She should wake up tomorrow, and be fully recovered within a few days. Really Inu Yasha, I distinctly remember that between the two of us, your hearing was better than mine." She tweaked his ear as she said this, her eyes twinkling merrily. She wouldn't joke like this if Kagome were dying. She wouldn't dare. But how?
Inu Yasha entered the small room, and knelt beside Kagome. Her color was returning to a more normal hue, and her breathing was much easier. He gingerly reached out a hand, but stopped less than an inch away from her face, afraid that he was hallucinating, and that if he touched her, she would go back to how she was before.
Then he noticed the smell of blood. Puzzled he looked around, and saw the cup beside the pallet. Picking it up, he turned to Kiara, with a quizzical look on his face. Her smile was gone. "She needed the antidote. I gave it to her the only way I know how." She moved her arm behind her back, but not before he saw the hasty bandage there.
"That is how it is made, with someone's blood?" His question was incredulous. If it was that simple, why hadn't she been able to save their mother?
He could tell that she didn't want to answer, but he knew she would. She owed him that much. "Not just anyone's blood. It is Sesshoumaru's blood, with his natural resistance to his own poison. That is what father used for me. Father also used a lot, probably more than he needed to, because I was so small he was afraid it would kill me if he didn't. Because of that, I have Sesshoumaru's blood as part of me. My antidote doesn't work as quickly, or as well. But somehow, your friend over there was able to respond to it, even this long after being poisoned. Even so, an hour or two more, and it wouldn't have worked." He was staring at her. He still couldn't believe it. Kagome was going to live. But why had the poison run more slowly in her veins? "Her wound was bandaged with an herb that slows poisons from spreading. I don't know where you learned that, Inu Yasha, but it worked well." An herb? Sango had bandaged her wound. Had she really made a difference? "Let's go into the other room and talk while she rests."
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Inu Yasha seemed to be taking the news well. He wasn't screaming at her, or demanding to be off to take revenge. He had truly prepared himself for this girl to die. She supposed he had only brought her here hoping to wake her, and be able to speak with her one last time. As he sat down, she dished out a bowl of stew for him. His ears twitched as he noticed the savory smell of her stew. It had been a long time since he had eaten her cooking. She set the bowl down in front of him, and he watched her while he ate, not taking his eyes off of her. The intense scrutiny made her feel uncomfortable. She knew she didn't look a day older than day he had left.
She was the one who broke the silence, and he jumped at her voice. "So who is she? That girl in there? Is that...Kikyou?" She guessed the name that he had mentioned earlier with such tenderness.
Inu Yasha smiled, as if remembering something, "No, she isn't Kikyou. She is Kagome. Ka-go-me." The last was said quietly, as he looked down at his stew, and he just kept smiling. She had to smile at his reaction. So, her brother had become quite the playboy--Two loves in a lifetime.
She wanted to ask more, but at that moment, she felt two people, and two demons, approaching her clearing. Not wanting to disturb Inu Yasha, she got up and walked outside. Picking up her bow and quiver of arrows that were outside her door, she went to the center of the clearing. It had been a while since the villagers had bothered her. What could they want? She cocked an arrow, and aimed at the nearest of the intruders. There was a girl with a large weapon over her shoulder, a man dressed as a monk with a staff, and two small youkai.
"Its right up here, I know it..." This was from the kitsune youkai.
"Who are you and what are you doing here?" she demanded.
The girl stopped as she answered, "We were following two of our companions. One is deathly ill, and we need to reach them soon."
Inu Yasha has friends too? He certainly had a lot to tell her. Lowering her bow and arrow, Kiara invited them in, "If Inu Yasha is your companion, you are welcome in my home, though he may find himself sleeping outside tonight for not telling me there were more in his group who were coming."
The monk approached her, and took her hand. "We are most appreciative of your help, my dear lady. My name is Miroku. Such a lady as you must be a very strong and independent woman. I wonder if you would consider bearing my child?" Taken aback by the amorous monk's attitude, she was saved from an answer at that moment by Inu Yasha, who had come outside to see what all the noise was about. He grabbed Miroku and threw him across the clearing where he landed in a bush, yelling, "She's taken, and even if she weren't she wouldn't want someone like YOU!!!"
Kiara was a little surprised at the sudden show of violence in her brother, but looking at the girl's slightly disgusted, yet tolerant look, she became puzzled. The girl answered her unspoken question. "Miroku asks every girl he meets that. It isn't anything personal, but Inu Yasha doesn't like it when he does. He's never thrown Miroku like that, though." She paused for a moment, musing, and then introduced herself, "My name is Sango, this is Shippou, and this is Kirara. I suppose you already know Miroku." Sango indicated each of her companions as she introduced them.
Kiara looked at her brother, who was glaring at the monk. Miroku was getting up, dusting himself off, saying "What is the harm in asking?" as he passed her to go inside.
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Inu Yasha couldn't believe Miroku would go after his sister, a married woman! Young girls he could understand, but Kiara was over 70! Granted, she didn't look it, and her husband wasn't around right now, but still, he should know better. It was as Kiara passed him, following the others inside; that he realized what was wrong with the house, and with her. She didn't smell of a man. There wasn't a man's scent anywhere around. He grabbed her wrist, and turned her to face him. "Where is he? Where is your husband?" He demanded this information from her, ignoring the gasp of pain she made from his hand on her arm where she had cut it earlier.
She looked him straight in the eye and showed no emotion as she answered, "He is dead. He died two days after you left."
Shocked, he let her pull free of his grip. The man he had left to protect his sister after his father's death had let him down. He wanted more than ever to know what had happened in the fifty years he had been gone. Miroku's voice cut through the silence, "I am sure you two have a lot to discuss, as it seems you know each other. But where is Kagome-sama? May we see her, before she dies?"
Kiara immediately turned to him, smiling. Inu Yasha knew she loved giving good news, so he stepped back, and let his questions remain unasked, while she showed the rest of their party in to see Kagome. There would be time enough for talk later.
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Kiara watched as the four sat around Kagome, discussing her apparent health, and thanking Kiara for her help. She answered them all politely, but her mind was far from the room in which she sat. It was in the past, before Inu Yasha had left...
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"I have convinced him to have the wedding on the night of the new moon, Inu Yasha. This way you can be there too." She had worked so hard to convince her fiancé to wait that long. She really wanted her brother to be at the wedding, he was her last surviving relative. "Please say you will come!"
Her brother smiled, "Why would I miss your wedding day? The day my sister will be all grown up." He seemed proud of her, and she smiled back at him at his promise.
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Of course, the night of the wedding, he hadn't shown up. He had disappeared the night before. He knew the villagers would be there, and that they would know who he was, even as a human. These were the same villagers who had taunted him as a child. He knew she was going into the human world, where she belonged, and he had accepted that, and left, to find his own place.
Shaking herself out of her reminiscing, she stood up. "I think we should all go into the other room now, and let her sleep." The others followed her out of the room, and settled themselves in the main room. Inu Yasha waited patiently while they arranged their sleeping positions, but he didn't take his eyes off of Kiara for one moment. When they were all settled, he finally asked his question, "So what happened to him? He seemed pretty healthy before he died."
She sighed. She had meant to ask the questions first, but now she had to answer. "Sesshoumaru showed up the day after the wedding, demanding to see Father. He had just heard the news of his death, and couldn't believe he was truly dead. When I told him that what he had heard was true, he became angry, and destroyed everything around, including the house, and my husband." It didn't hurt, to say it. What she had lost that day wasn't so much a part of her life, as a future, a future that had been arranged for her.
Miroku broke in at that point, "So you aren't taken then? Would you consider bearing my child?" Inu Yasha threw a bowl at him, hitting him in the back of the head. "I told you, she wouldn't want someone like you!"
"She is a beautiful, young lady. Why wouldn't she want a dashing young priest?" Miroku's words surprised her. It had been a long time since anyone had called her beautiful. Then again, it had been a long time since any human had visited her. Before Inu Yasha could find something else to throw at the monk, she broke in.
"Inu Yasha. You haven't answered my question. Why did you have a hole in your chest for fifty years?"
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Miroku looked back at the girl. Strange, that she should put it that way. How did she know Inu Yasha had had a hole in his chest, and not know the cause? Who was this strange, young lady? He studied her as Inu Yasha related the tale of his and Kikyou's betrayal.
She was dressed rather oddly. She wore long blue pants, gathered at the ankle, though not as baggy as Inu Yasha's, and a white shirt tucked into the top. He supposed that living here alone, as she must, it was for convenience more than looks. Even though the outfit was rather baggy, it didn't hide her lithe figure. She was slightly shorter than Inu Yasha, and slender. He then noticed a pendent hanging around her neck. It seemed to have some sort of aura about it. He couldn't tell what it was, but it appeared to be a silvery white disk, about as large as his thumbnail.
As she sat there listening, she unbound her hair from the tie that had held it back, and began brushing the tangles of the day out of it. The long black mass reached her lap, and the ends trailed on to the floor.
He then turned his attention to her face. It was tanned from long hours in the sun. A scar stood out pale against the darker skin, though. It was a thin line, paralleling her jaw on the left side of her face, ending as it reached her chin. As she smiled slightly, he could see that the right side of her mouth curved more than the left, giving her a mischievous look. The muscles must not have healed fully from the injury, he thought to himself. He noticed another line along the side of her neck. It looked like something had clawed her. Well, it was none of his business; he wouldn't pry into her past.
Her eyes reminded him of someone he knew, but he couldn't quite place who. In fact, her face taken as a whole tugged at his mind, that he knew this face. He was sure he had never seen her before, but the more he studied her, the more convinced he was that she was somehow familiar.
At that moment Sango elbowed him sharply in the side, giving him a hard look. He had been staring at this mysterious woman for a long time. He sighed, but obediently turned his attention back to Inu Yasha's story. How could she expect him to be interested in a story he was very familiar with, when there was a new, intriguing, beautiful woman sitting right in front of him?
And she certainly was beautiful, that much was certain. He snuck a glance back at her when Sango wasn't looking. She had started braiding her hair, completely oblivious to his scrutiny. Why was Inu Yasha acting so protective of her? And how could he have known this young beauty if he had been stuck to a tree for 50 years?
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As Inu Yasha finished his tale, she was nodding, but had a sad look on her face. "I am so sorry for you, Inu Yasha. You had finally found happiness, and that was taken away from you. You, of all people, deserve to be happy."
"Feh. It doesn't matter." He put on a stony face, but felt comforted at her words. She was the one person he had ever known who had always supported him without question. Now it was his turn to ask her the questions that had been left unanswered earlier in the clearing. But as he opened his mouth to speak, Shippou interrupted.
"Inu Yasha, who is this woman and why do you trust her so much?" Sango and Miroku looked like they had wanted to ask the same thing, but were too polite to pry. Leave it to the little kid to say what was on everyone's mind. He glared at the kitsune for breaking in, but he supposed they had a right to know.
"This is my older sister, Kiara." He ignored their shocked, surprised and confused looks at his short answer as he turned back to Kiara, and asked the questions that had been left unanswered earlier. She was looking away from him, using the tail of her braid to play with Kirara. "So, what are you still doing alive, and why are you so young?" Looking up at him, she gave that mischievous half smile of hers.
"Are you upset that I am still alive, and young?" Her tone was light as he glared at her.
"Of course not!" His answer was quick and defensive, blurted out before he realized what she was doing. "Quit that!" She was baiting him. It was her favorite game, to not answer a question, but to come back with a question of her own. She KNEW it got him every time.
"Quit what?" Her innocent tone was a little too innocent as she turned to the others in the room, including them in her game. "Do you see me doing anything that should get him upset like that?"
Miroku ignored Inu Yasha as he answered, "I don't see anything, do you Sango?"
"Not at all. It must be close to his time of the month for him to be getting all out of sorts over nothing like this."
Inu Yasha glared at Sango, and Miroku took the opportunity to move over next to Kiara. He picked up her hand in a comforting manner, "I mean, I certainly don't mind that you are alive and young." Inu Yasha acted before the monk's wandering hands went too far, and threw him across the room, away from his sister.
"That's it! Would you stop that! She is older than I am! Do the math!"
Inu Yasha watched as a horrified look crossed the monk's face that he had been attempting to court someone that old. Sango was having a hard time containing her giggles as he came to the realization. She had probably already figured out that his sister was much older than she appeared.
Sitting straighter, and regaining his composure, he said, "Well, if that is the case, then I think Inu Yasha has a fair question in asking how you look so young." Inu Yasha could tell the monk was trying to hide his embarrassment.
"It is indeed a fair question, and one I will answer eventually. But it is late, and I need to check on the girl, Kagome, before we go to bed," and she swept into the other room, leaving Inu Yasha without answers, again.
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Later that night, Inu Yasha sighed as he looked at the little cottage in the clearing from his vantage point in a tree. It was a small cottage, but very well made, and cozy. There was a small but extensive garden in the front, where many different vegetables were growing. Several fruit trees clustered around the back of the house, providing shade as well as sustenance. Judging from the size of them, they had been there for many, many years. Right now, their leaves had the bright fiery colors of the autumn season. There was already a blanket of leaves littering the ground under them. Off to the side of the cottage was a well, so she didn't have to go down to the river to get water. He wondered who had made it for her. This cottage was in a completely different area than the village they had grown up near. It was a good home, but it also looked like she had been alone for a long time.
He thought back to the one answer she had given him. Something had seemed odd about the way she told him about her husband's death. Rather...emotionless? That didn't seem right for his sister, but he supposed after fifty years she would not really feel much about it.
Inu Yasha turned his mind back to thoughts of her husband. He had died two days after he left. She had been married for one day. Had she really been alone all this time? How could that idiot go and get himself killed, leaving his sister like that? Well, he couldn't exactly blame the human for it. It was Sesshoumaru who had attacked him. He knew he should not have let her marry him, but her reasons had been very good. He looked up at the waning crescent moon as he thought about their argument over her betrothed.
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Inu Yasha didn't like the man his father had chosen for Kiara to marry. He was untrustworthy, lied, and had been among the group that always tormented him. He wouldn't let his sister know that though.
"Why do you have to marry HIM? He is human, he is barely strong enough to provide for you, let alone protect you!" Inu Yasha's question was really rhetorical. He knew why, at least in part. But she answered anyways.
"Father arranged this marriage for me before he died. If I don't marry him, it will be disrespectful to him."
"Screw him. He is dead. Why should we do anything he says? I can't believe he picked a weak human for your husband!"
"Well, what would you have him choose? A youkai?" Her volume had risen to match his. When they got into shouting matches, they could go for hours. They were both stubborn, and hated to lose.
"Yes! At least then you would be safe!"
He didn't understand the annoyed look on her face. Didn't she understand that he wouldn't be around much longer? "Do you want to know why father didn't choose a youkai, other than the fact that there probably aren't any around who would accept a human for a bride?" Her quieter tone cut off his response, and he just glared at her. He knew if he opened his mouth she would just look at him like he was an idiot and tell him anyways. His sister always said what she wanted to say and not one word more. She took his silence as a 'yes' and went on. "Father didn't choose a youkai for my husband because he didn't want me to go through what he and mother did."
Inu Yasha cut her off, "She and Father loved each other, why wouldn't he want that?!"
She rolled her eyes, like he had missed something very obvious. "Didn't you notice how much older Mother looked than Father, before she died?" He blinked at that. He hadn't noticed, but thinking back, he did remember his mother's not so smooth face, and hair that had started to streak with gray. "Humans age so much more quickly than demons. It would be a cruelty to marry me to a youkai, because as I aged, he would remain virtually the same." As he considered this, he remembered the sad way his mother had looked at his father, and how she had tried to cover the signs of her aging from him. Then his sister went on. "It would also be cruel to the youkai, if he grew to love me, to know that his time with me was so short." He gave a start at that, and looked at her again. Had he really been that blind?
"Mother and Father loved each other, yes. But it was a love full of sorrow, and he didn't wish that on me. That is why he arranged this marriage before he went off to die." Her last words hit home.
"What do you mean, 'went off to die'? Father went to fight some demon and came back too injured to recover."
"He knew he couldn't defeat that demon. That is why he took care of his affairs before he left, making sure I was betrothed. He followed Mother into the other world."
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Her logic, as always, had deflated his anger. He rarely won an argument with his sister, and when he did it was more often because of brute force than logic. He had conceded her point, and not made any more trouble about her marriage. Her life had been stressful enough at that point without him making it more difficult. Though he hadn't attended the wedding in the open, he had watched from the shadows. He hoped his sister knew that he had been there, that he had kept his promise.
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Next Chapter: Scars
Kagome wakes up, and she, Sango, and Kiara have some girl time together. Their talk turns, naturally, to Inu Yasha. What can Kiara tell them that Inu Yasha hasn't? Lots.
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Author's note: I have tried to edit this as much as possible, so that it flows as well as it possibly can. Tell me what you think, and if there is anything that is unclear, please ask.
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Summary: Kagome gets hurt and Inu Yasha takes her to someone he knew fifty years ago for help. In the process, we learn more about Inu Yasha's past and what it was like growing up being niether human nor youkai.
Disclaimer: I don't own Inu Yasha
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Chapter 2: Reunion
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Inu Yasha raced through the night, Kagome held tightly in his arms. He could feel how cold she was, even through the blankets that were wrapped around her. She wouldn't last another hour outside like this. When he got her to his sister's cottage, the best that he could hope for was for her to wake up, to be able to speak to him again. He didn't harbor any hope that his sister could save Kagome. After all, she hadn't been able to save their mother, when his father had been away...
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"What do you mean you can't save her!?" Inu Yasha's anger at his sister's helplessness was irrational. Sesshoumaru's poison was quick, and deadly. His sister had just come outside to tell him. "You have never had a problem saving anyone before!" It didn't matter to him that everyone else she had saved had only had minor injuries. His mother had gaping wounds injected with poison strong enough to kill the heartiest of youkai.
Her tears had stopped his yelling. "I don't know why I can't save her! His poison is too strong. And I was too young to remember what father did to save me that last time... even if a human could do it, I can't remember!" His fearless, wonderful sister had tears of grief and frustration silently rolling down her cheeks. She was pale, too, her scar standing out lividly right above her jaw line. She ignored her tears, refusing to admit she was crying, and just sat there. "All we can do for her now is to make her last night as comfortable as possible."
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When their father had returned, two weeks later, he was too late to even attend their mother's funeral.
Inu Yasha hugged Kagome even tighter to him. He was going to get Sesshoumaru for this! That scum had been wandering the earth for too long! He would see Kagome's body back to her time, and to her funeral, and then he would come back for Sesshoumaru's blood, even if it took his own life.
His arrival at Kiara's cottage cut short any more musings he might have about revenge. She was waiting for him when he got to the door, and led him back to a room with a pallet in it. He gently laid Kagome down, tenderly pulling her hair out of her eyes as he stood up. He looked at Kiara for a moment, and left the room to wait outside.
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Kiara carefully pulled the blankets away, and discovered the red streaks traveling up the girl's neck. Pulling the blankets back further, she saw the expertly bandaged wound, and caught the scent of an herb she knew well. She smiled. Where had Inu Yasha gotten the knowledge to use that herb? As she finished preparing the antidote her father had taught her after the incident with her mother, she hoped the herb had slowed the poison enough for it to work. Hers didn't act as quickly as the one her father had made, but if it was administered soon enough after the attack, it would save the person.
She had learned the hard way that it wasn't as fast...but she wouldn't think about that time right now. Right now, she had to save this girl. She couldn't let her brother down again. She couldn't bear the look on his face if she did. Now it was time for the last part. With a glance to the door, hoping Inu Yasha wouldn't smell her blood; she slit her wrist, and watched as a large portion of blood fell into the cup she had made. When enough had fallen in, she quickly bandaged her wrist. Stirring the antidote, she watched the blood spread, and stain the contents red. She took it over to the still unconscious girl.
Holding the girl up with one arm, Kiara placed the cup against her lips, and she drank it reflexively. After she finished the whole cup, she sank back down to the pallet. Kiara watched her for a moment. The red streaks were ever so slightly starting to retreat. She smiled as she left the room. It had worked.
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Inu Yasha glared at her from across the room, waiting for her to say what he knew she must. No one could survive that poison, and she couldn't help Kagome.
"She should wake up sometime tomorrow, and be fully recovered within a few days."
"I knew it! I shouldn't have gotten my hopes...." A confused look crossed his face, "Wait....What did you say?"
"She should wake up tomorrow, and be fully recovered within a few days. Really Inu Yasha, I distinctly remember that between the two of us, your hearing was better than mine." She tweaked his ear as she said this, her eyes twinkling merrily. She wouldn't joke like this if Kagome were dying. She wouldn't dare. But how?
Inu Yasha entered the small room, and knelt beside Kagome. Her color was returning to a more normal hue, and her breathing was much easier. He gingerly reached out a hand, but stopped less than an inch away from her face, afraid that he was hallucinating, and that if he touched her, she would go back to how she was before.
Then he noticed the smell of blood. Puzzled he looked around, and saw the cup beside the pallet. Picking it up, he turned to Kiara, with a quizzical look on his face. Her smile was gone. "She needed the antidote. I gave it to her the only way I know how." She moved her arm behind her back, but not before he saw the hasty bandage there.
"That is how it is made, with someone's blood?" His question was incredulous. If it was that simple, why hadn't she been able to save their mother?
He could tell that she didn't want to answer, but he knew she would. She owed him that much. "Not just anyone's blood. It is Sesshoumaru's blood, with his natural resistance to his own poison. That is what father used for me. Father also used a lot, probably more than he needed to, because I was so small he was afraid it would kill me if he didn't. Because of that, I have Sesshoumaru's blood as part of me. My antidote doesn't work as quickly, or as well. But somehow, your friend over there was able to respond to it, even this long after being poisoned. Even so, an hour or two more, and it wouldn't have worked." He was staring at her. He still couldn't believe it. Kagome was going to live. But why had the poison run more slowly in her veins? "Her wound was bandaged with an herb that slows poisons from spreading. I don't know where you learned that, Inu Yasha, but it worked well." An herb? Sango had bandaged her wound. Had she really made a difference? "Let's go into the other room and talk while she rests."
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Inu Yasha seemed to be taking the news well. He wasn't screaming at her, or demanding to be off to take revenge. He had truly prepared himself for this girl to die. She supposed he had only brought her here hoping to wake her, and be able to speak with her one last time. As he sat down, she dished out a bowl of stew for him. His ears twitched as he noticed the savory smell of her stew. It had been a long time since he had eaten her cooking. She set the bowl down in front of him, and he watched her while he ate, not taking his eyes off of her. The intense scrutiny made her feel uncomfortable. She knew she didn't look a day older than day he had left.
She was the one who broke the silence, and he jumped at her voice. "So who is she? That girl in there? Is that...Kikyou?" She guessed the name that he had mentioned earlier with such tenderness.
Inu Yasha smiled, as if remembering something, "No, she isn't Kikyou. She is Kagome. Ka-go-me." The last was said quietly, as he looked down at his stew, and he just kept smiling. She had to smile at his reaction. So, her brother had become quite the playboy--Two loves in a lifetime.
She wanted to ask more, but at that moment, she felt two people, and two demons, approaching her clearing. Not wanting to disturb Inu Yasha, she got up and walked outside. Picking up her bow and quiver of arrows that were outside her door, she went to the center of the clearing. It had been a while since the villagers had bothered her. What could they want? She cocked an arrow, and aimed at the nearest of the intruders. There was a girl with a large weapon over her shoulder, a man dressed as a monk with a staff, and two small youkai.
"Its right up here, I know it..." This was from the kitsune youkai.
"Who are you and what are you doing here?" she demanded.
The girl stopped as she answered, "We were following two of our companions. One is deathly ill, and we need to reach them soon."
Inu Yasha has friends too? He certainly had a lot to tell her. Lowering her bow and arrow, Kiara invited them in, "If Inu Yasha is your companion, you are welcome in my home, though he may find himself sleeping outside tonight for not telling me there were more in his group who were coming."
The monk approached her, and took her hand. "We are most appreciative of your help, my dear lady. My name is Miroku. Such a lady as you must be a very strong and independent woman. I wonder if you would consider bearing my child?" Taken aback by the amorous monk's attitude, she was saved from an answer at that moment by Inu Yasha, who had come outside to see what all the noise was about. He grabbed Miroku and threw him across the clearing where he landed in a bush, yelling, "She's taken, and even if she weren't she wouldn't want someone like YOU!!!"
Kiara was a little surprised at the sudden show of violence in her brother, but looking at the girl's slightly disgusted, yet tolerant look, she became puzzled. The girl answered her unspoken question. "Miroku asks every girl he meets that. It isn't anything personal, but Inu Yasha doesn't like it when he does. He's never thrown Miroku like that, though." She paused for a moment, musing, and then introduced herself, "My name is Sango, this is Shippou, and this is Kirara. I suppose you already know Miroku." Sango indicated each of her companions as she introduced them.
Kiara looked at her brother, who was glaring at the monk. Miroku was getting up, dusting himself off, saying "What is the harm in asking?" as he passed her to go inside.
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Inu Yasha couldn't believe Miroku would go after his sister, a married woman! Young girls he could understand, but Kiara was over 70! Granted, she didn't look it, and her husband wasn't around right now, but still, he should know better. It was as Kiara passed him, following the others inside; that he realized what was wrong with the house, and with her. She didn't smell of a man. There wasn't a man's scent anywhere around. He grabbed her wrist, and turned her to face him. "Where is he? Where is your husband?" He demanded this information from her, ignoring the gasp of pain she made from his hand on her arm where she had cut it earlier.
She looked him straight in the eye and showed no emotion as she answered, "He is dead. He died two days after you left."
Shocked, he let her pull free of his grip. The man he had left to protect his sister after his father's death had let him down. He wanted more than ever to know what had happened in the fifty years he had been gone. Miroku's voice cut through the silence, "I am sure you two have a lot to discuss, as it seems you know each other. But where is Kagome-sama? May we see her, before she dies?"
Kiara immediately turned to him, smiling. Inu Yasha knew she loved giving good news, so he stepped back, and let his questions remain unasked, while she showed the rest of their party in to see Kagome. There would be time enough for talk later.
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Kiara watched as the four sat around Kagome, discussing her apparent health, and thanking Kiara for her help. She answered them all politely, but her mind was far from the room in which she sat. It was in the past, before Inu Yasha had left...
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"I have convinced him to have the wedding on the night of the new moon, Inu Yasha. This way you can be there too." She had worked so hard to convince her fiancé to wait that long. She really wanted her brother to be at the wedding, he was her last surviving relative. "Please say you will come!"
Her brother smiled, "Why would I miss your wedding day? The day my sister will be all grown up." He seemed proud of her, and she smiled back at him at his promise.
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Of course, the night of the wedding, he hadn't shown up. He had disappeared the night before. He knew the villagers would be there, and that they would know who he was, even as a human. These were the same villagers who had taunted him as a child. He knew she was going into the human world, where she belonged, and he had accepted that, and left, to find his own place.
Shaking herself out of her reminiscing, she stood up. "I think we should all go into the other room now, and let her sleep." The others followed her out of the room, and settled themselves in the main room. Inu Yasha waited patiently while they arranged their sleeping positions, but he didn't take his eyes off of Kiara for one moment. When they were all settled, he finally asked his question, "So what happened to him? He seemed pretty healthy before he died."
She sighed. She had meant to ask the questions first, but now she had to answer. "Sesshoumaru showed up the day after the wedding, demanding to see Father. He had just heard the news of his death, and couldn't believe he was truly dead. When I told him that what he had heard was true, he became angry, and destroyed everything around, including the house, and my husband." It didn't hurt, to say it. What she had lost that day wasn't so much a part of her life, as a future, a future that had been arranged for her.
Miroku broke in at that point, "So you aren't taken then? Would you consider bearing my child?" Inu Yasha threw a bowl at him, hitting him in the back of the head. "I told you, she wouldn't want someone like you!"
"She is a beautiful, young lady. Why wouldn't she want a dashing young priest?" Miroku's words surprised her. It had been a long time since anyone had called her beautiful. Then again, it had been a long time since any human had visited her. Before Inu Yasha could find something else to throw at the monk, she broke in.
"Inu Yasha. You haven't answered my question. Why did you have a hole in your chest for fifty years?"
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Miroku looked back at the girl. Strange, that she should put it that way. How did she know Inu Yasha had had a hole in his chest, and not know the cause? Who was this strange, young lady? He studied her as Inu Yasha related the tale of his and Kikyou's betrayal.
She was dressed rather oddly. She wore long blue pants, gathered at the ankle, though not as baggy as Inu Yasha's, and a white shirt tucked into the top. He supposed that living here alone, as she must, it was for convenience more than looks. Even though the outfit was rather baggy, it didn't hide her lithe figure. She was slightly shorter than Inu Yasha, and slender. He then noticed a pendent hanging around her neck. It seemed to have some sort of aura about it. He couldn't tell what it was, but it appeared to be a silvery white disk, about as large as his thumbnail.
As she sat there listening, she unbound her hair from the tie that had held it back, and began brushing the tangles of the day out of it. The long black mass reached her lap, and the ends trailed on to the floor.
He then turned his attention to her face. It was tanned from long hours in the sun. A scar stood out pale against the darker skin, though. It was a thin line, paralleling her jaw on the left side of her face, ending as it reached her chin. As she smiled slightly, he could see that the right side of her mouth curved more than the left, giving her a mischievous look. The muscles must not have healed fully from the injury, he thought to himself. He noticed another line along the side of her neck. It looked like something had clawed her. Well, it was none of his business; he wouldn't pry into her past.
Her eyes reminded him of someone he knew, but he couldn't quite place who. In fact, her face taken as a whole tugged at his mind, that he knew this face. He was sure he had never seen her before, but the more he studied her, the more convinced he was that she was somehow familiar.
At that moment Sango elbowed him sharply in the side, giving him a hard look. He had been staring at this mysterious woman for a long time. He sighed, but obediently turned his attention back to Inu Yasha's story. How could she expect him to be interested in a story he was very familiar with, when there was a new, intriguing, beautiful woman sitting right in front of him?
And she certainly was beautiful, that much was certain. He snuck a glance back at her when Sango wasn't looking. She had started braiding her hair, completely oblivious to his scrutiny. Why was Inu Yasha acting so protective of her? And how could he have known this young beauty if he had been stuck to a tree for 50 years?
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As Inu Yasha finished his tale, she was nodding, but had a sad look on her face. "I am so sorry for you, Inu Yasha. You had finally found happiness, and that was taken away from you. You, of all people, deserve to be happy."
"Feh. It doesn't matter." He put on a stony face, but felt comforted at her words. She was the one person he had ever known who had always supported him without question. Now it was his turn to ask her the questions that had been left unanswered earlier in the clearing. But as he opened his mouth to speak, Shippou interrupted.
"Inu Yasha, who is this woman and why do you trust her so much?" Sango and Miroku looked like they had wanted to ask the same thing, but were too polite to pry. Leave it to the little kid to say what was on everyone's mind. He glared at the kitsune for breaking in, but he supposed they had a right to know.
"This is my older sister, Kiara." He ignored their shocked, surprised and confused looks at his short answer as he turned back to Kiara, and asked the questions that had been left unanswered earlier. She was looking away from him, using the tail of her braid to play with Kirara. "So, what are you still doing alive, and why are you so young?" Looking up at him, she gave that mischievous half smile of hers.
"Are you upset that I am still alive, and young?" Her tone was light as he glared at her.
"Of course not!" His answer was quick and defensive, blurted out before he realized what she was doing. "Quit that!" She was baiting him. It was her favorite game, to not answer a question, but to come back with a question of her own. She KNEW it got him every time.
"Quit what?" Her innocent tone was a little too innocent as she turned to the others in the room, including them in her game. "Do you see me doing anything that should get him upset like that?"
Miroku ignored Inu Yasha as he answered, "I don't see anything, do you Sango?"
"Not at all. It must be close to his time of the month for him to be getting all out of sorts over nothing like this."
Inu Yasha glared at Sango, and Miroku took the opportunity to move over next to Kiara. He picked up her hand in a comforting manner, "I mean, I certainly don't mind that you are alive and young." Inu Yasha acted before the monk's wandering hands went too far, and threw him across the room, away from his sister.
"That's it! Would you stop that! She is older than I am! Do the math!"
Inu Yasha watched as a horrified look crossed the monk's face that he had been attempting to court someone that old. Sango was having a hard time containing her giggles as he came to the realization. She had probably already figured out that his sister was much older than she appeared.
Sitting straighter, and regaining his composure, he said, "Well, if that is the case, then I think Inu Yasha has a fair question in asking how you look so young." Inu Yasha could tell the monk was trying to hide his embarrassment.
"It is indeed a fair question, and one I will answer eventually. But it is late, and I need to check on the girl, Kagome, before we go to bed," and she swept into the other room, leaving Inu Yasha without answers, again.
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Later that night, Inu Yasha sighed as he looked at the little cottage in the clearing from his vantage point in a tree. It was a small cottage, but very well made, and cozy. There was a small but extensive garden in the front, where many different vegetables were growing. Several fruit trees clustered around the back of the house, providing shade as well as sustenance. Judging from the size of them, they had been there for many, many years. Right now, their leaves had the bright fiery colors of the autumn season. There was already a blanket of leaves littering the ground under them. Off to the side of the cottage was a well, so she didn't have to go down to the river to get water. He wondered who had made it for her. This cottage was in a completely different area than the village they had grown up near. It was a good home, but it also looked like she had been alone for a long time.
He thought back to the one answer she had given him. Something had seemed odd about the way she told him about her husband's death. Rather...emotionless? That didn't seem right for his sister, but he supposed after fifty years she would not really feel much about it.
Inu Yasha turned his mind back to thoughts of her husband. He had died two days after he left. She had been married for one day. Had she really been alone all this time? How could that idiot go and get himself killed, leaving his sister like that? Well, he couldn't exactly blame the human for it. It was Sesshoumaru who had attacked him. He knew he should not have let her marry him, but her reasons had been very good. He looked up at the waning crescent moon as he thought about their argument over her betrothed.
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Inu Yasha didn't like the man his father had chosen for Kiara to marry. He was untrustworthy, lied, and had been among the group that always tormented him. He wouldn't let his sister know that though.
"Why do you have to marry HIM? He is human, he is barely strong enough to provide for you, let alone protect you!" Inu Yasha's question was really rhetorical. He knew why, at least in part. But she answered anyways.
"Father arranged this marriage for me before he died. If I don't marry him, it will be disrespectful to him."
"Screw him. He is dead. Why should we do anything he says? I can't believe he picked a weak human for your husband!"
"Well, what would you have him choose? A youkai?" Her volume had risen to match his. When they got into shouting matches, they could go for hours. They were both stubborn, and hated to lose.
"Yes! At least then you would be safe!"
He didn't understand the annoyed look on her face. Didn't she understand that he wouldn't be around much longer? "Do you want to know why father didn't choose a youkai, other than the fact that there probably aren't any around who would accept a human for a bride?" Her quieter tone cut off his response, and he just glared at her. He knew if he opened his mouth she would just look at him like he was an idiot and tell him anyways. His sister always said what she wanted to say and not one word more. She took his silence as a 'yes' and went on. "Father didn't choose a youkai for my husband because he didn't want me to go through what he and mother did."
Inu Yasha cut her off, "She and Father loved each other, why wouldn't he want that?!"
She rolled her eyes, like he had missed something very obvious. "Didn't you notice how much older Mother looked than Father, before she died?" He blinked at that. He hadn't noticed, but thinking back, he did remember his mother's not so smooth face, and hair that had started to streak with gray. "Humans age so much more quickly than demons. It would be a cruelty to marry me to a youkai, because as I aged, he would remain virtually the same." As he considered this, he remembered the sad way his mother had looked at his father, and how she had tried to cover the signs of her aging from him. Then his sister went on. "It would also be cruel to the youkai, if he grew to love me, to know that his time with me was so short." He gave a start at that, and looked at her again. Had he really been that blind?
"Mother and Father loved each other, yes. But it was a love full of sorrow, and he didn't wish that on me. That is why he arranged this marriage before he went off to die." Her last words hit home.
"What do you mean, 'went off to die'? Father went to fight some demon and came back too injured to recover."
"He knew he couldn't defeat that demon. That is why he took care of his affairs before he left, making sure I was betrothed. He followed Mother into the other world."
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Her logic, as always, had deflated his anger. He rarely won an argument with his sister, and when he did it was more often because of brute force than logic. He had conceded her point, and not made any more trouble about her marriage. Her life had been stressful enough at that point without him making it more difficult. Though he hadn't attended the wedding in the open, he had watched from the shadows. He hoped his sister knew that he had been there, that he had kept his promise.
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Next Chapter: Scars
Kagome wakes up, and she, Sango, and Kiara have some girl time together. Their talk turns, naturally, to Inu Yasha. What can Kiara tell them that Inu Yasha hasn't? Lots.
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Author's note: I have tried to edit this as much as possible, so that it flows as well as it possibly can. Tell me what you think, and if there is anything that is unclear, please ask.