The Words Softly Spoken

Are Spoken Too Late

Once again she was sneaking away in the night. like a thief. Sending one last glance to the sleeping figures around her, her already wounded heart broke. She would never see them again. Returning to them afterwards would be too painful for her tattered heart especially as the chances of him finding someone by then were as good as done. How was she to stay watching from a distance? That would be self induced torture.

'Keiryu, I am coming. Where shall we meet ane-chan?' she sent a call to her counterpart, opening a link that had been long closed.

'Where the darkness meets light beneath a blood red moon. The Womb' Keiryu replied. 'Are you sure that you are ready for battle? A scarred heart will impede your performance.'

'Does it really matter? He doesn't love me, could never love me. The balance needs to be restored or destruction shall befall us all. That is infinitely more important.'

'If you say so ane-chan but...' began Keiryu only to be cut off by Seirou.

'That is how it has to be. We will meet and plan our strategy. How far are you from the Womb?'

'Not as far as you. You will find me waiting there. Be safe ane-chan.'

With those words the link was severed and Seirou was left to listen to the night sounds of the forest and the soft breathing of her companions.

Stopping at the edge of the camp, she gave a lingering glance to the sleeping figure of her love. He was so handsome, so perfect, his tail wrapped around Rin to keep her warm, Despite his glaring denials a heart of gold lay hidden beneath layers of ice beating fiercely inside that magnificent chest of his. Ice that she wished she could have thawed.

"Ai shiteru Sesshoumaru-sama." she whispered softly before disappearing into the trees, the wind taking her voice and floating it teasingly past his ears.

It was not so much that he heard her leave as it was that he felt her presence disappear from the edge of his senses and with that disappearance unintelligible words came to his ears only to fade as he tried to decipher them. Immediately he awoke, the sense of loss overwhelming as he both saw and felt the absence of her essence, of her. Her glorious scent which had continuously tantalized him, a light mixture of gardenias and that essence that all women had but on her seemed more suited, wafted to his nose, strong where she had lain but already fading.

Looking around, he realised that all indication of her ever having been there had been removed, quite thoroughly. How she had slipped away without his excellent hearing picking it up was another question to add to the growing list. The mystery that was Seirou would never be solved, not with her gone.

'It doesn't have to be that way. You could go after her.' his inner voice whispered.

Not giving his decision a second thought, he carefully unwrapped his tail from around Rin as not to wake her and wrapped it around his waist. Leaping up, he caught her scent and followed it, trusting it to lead him to her. Following that scent, he ran swiftly through the forest, jumping gracefully over fallen branches and trees, avoiding all obstacles that meant to slow him down. Pausing only to a certain that he was on the right trail, he began to notice a subtle change in her scent.

Trying to identify the change, he slowly came to the realization that she was not human. Her scent was definitely not that of a human but it was also not that of a youkai or hanyou and that puzzled him more. What was she? Who was she? Eyes reddening in anger, he became even more determined to find her. No one, absolutely no one, youkai or hanyou, and especially not human, fooled or held secrets from Lord Sesshoumaru, ruler of the western lands.

Seirou topped in the center of a clearing lit sharply by the silver glow of the moon. She knew that he was following her. She could both hear and smell him but as much as she desired his presence with her through this battle she could not have him. Most assuredly, she could not let him discover the location of the Womb, the place of her creation.

Glancing up at the sky she saw that the moon was beginning to take on the reddish tinge that marked the beginning of the unveiling. It was the only way to see the Womb as the words said 'beneath a blood red moon'. There was not much time before the unveiling took place for her. Keiryu awaited her arrival so they could travel to the Womb together. The need to send him back gained a new urgency.

'Why Sesshoumaru? Why? Why? did you follow me?' she thought in distress.

'Maybe because he feels as you do,'' whispered her inner voice of hope.

'Yeah right. He thinks you're human and even if he knew you were not he still would not love you for any one who had heard the legends would not dare or care to.' whispered her inner voice of doubt.

Before the other voice could respond the subject of contention burst into the open, rage evident in his stiff posture. His eyes, normally a gorgeous molten gold, were a harsh red that signaled either his anger or his transformation to full youkai.

"What the hell are you onna?! How dare you deceive me, Lord Sesshoumaru!" he snarled.

Sighing sorrowfully, she walked towards his seething form, strengthening her shaky resolve to tell him the truth. Well, part of it anyway. Stopping directly in front of him, she revealed her true splendor in an explosion of light.

Sesshoumaru could hardly believe his eyes as Seirou changed before his eyes from a mere mortal woman to a .. to a.. to a goddess! Her light spilled onto him and filled him with warmth and peace, calming his rage and soothing his soul. Her beauty, increased a thousand fold, was stunning to say the least. Her incredibly long hair had grown to an unbelievable length and would have dragged on the ground had it not floated with a life of its own parallel to it, stretching out behind her. It's colour was no longer just golden blonde but an incomparable mixture of gold and silver strands that practically glowed on their own. Her pupil-less eyes were fathomless black orbs that contradicted the portrait of light and her skin gave off its own luminescence. The clothes she wore seemed drab in comparison to her perfection.

"I am the Shugoshin no Hikari of Chikyuu. I must return to my other half the Shugoshin no Kaimei so that we can restore the balance to this world. As the Keepers of Balance it is our sacred duty. Please Sesshoumaru-sama, let me and do not follow. Where I go no one but myself and counterpart are allowed entrance. To follow would mean death.' she told him, all the while her hope dying.

"I always believed that story to be a myth. If what you say is true then I am proved wrong and it would be my folly to prevent your departure. You will be missed by Rin and Jaken though. You are always welcomed to return to us. They will like that." he said coolly.

'As would I my koi.' he added mentally.

Despair welled into his heart as he came to the conclusion that there was no possibility that they could be lifemates. The Shugoshin no Hikari was unattainable with a loving heart for all living things that was encased in ice where true love was concerned. She was never meant to become someone's lifemate.

"Thank you Sesshoumaru-sama. I will consider it. Goodbye my Lord. Take care. May we meet again." she said sadly before turning around and taking off into the darkness.

Watching her go, he felt coldness pervading his body and soul and darkness swamping his mind. There went the only love of his life, the one woman he had desired to make his lifemate. What good was love when the person you loved did not love you? It made no sense.

"Ai shiteru Seirou-chan." he uttered softly before turning back the way he had come.

His silent vow was to never love another, to never love again.

Mini Dictionary:

Shugoshin - guardian deity

Kaimei - Darkness

How did you like it minna? I hope it wasn't a disappointment. I'm thinking of doing a sequel. With a happy ending this time but I'm not sure. you guys don't seem to like this fic. However, if I get 50 reviews for this fic I will start writing the third part that finishes this trilogy. It'd be an accomplishment for me as my first trilogy and the first story to be completed. And don't worry, if there is a third part it'll have more than three chapters and by that I don't mean four but it's not going past ten.

Thank you for all your support.

Ja minna!!!