Second chance
Scroll three
"Finding the Strength Within"
'Anywhere but here..'. Mika thought as Sesshoumaru stared coldly at her
Tenkai didn't need to look at her to sense the fear. He half expected her to panic and run. She seemed so frail and yet she stood her ground. He smiled to himself, if it were anyone else, they wouldn't be able to tell how scared she truly was just by looking at her. Despite her fear, her face stayed calm... but Tenkai knew that what he could sense, Sesshoumaru also would sense.
Sesshoumaru stepped down into the clearing and walked up towards them. Not once did he look at Tenkai, his eyes stayed fixed on Mika. She was shaking, very slighting, and the smell of fear emanated off her like a perfume. He wondered slightly if she would run, but it seemed for each step he took, her resolve was stronger.
She was very much like Kagome indeed...
Mika wanted to bolt as Sesshoumaru stepped closer, he was very tall and extremely imposing. She had never been really truly afraid of anyone, save her father, but there was something about him... it wasn't only his appearance, his face was actually handsome despite his fearsome look, Shouka looked a bit like him and Shouka was so kind and warm... with Sesshoumaru, it was more like a feeling. He didn't feel normal and it frightened her more than she could say.
As he got closer Mika remembered something her husband had once told her.
It was in the beginning, before she had found the strength to break away from her father. She had spent so much time crying, so much time wasted on self pity because she couldn't find the strength in herself to get away... he told her that fear is never something that goes away. Being strong is when you stand up and face what it is that frightens you. You'll never feel strong, you'll always want to run, you'd be stupid and careless if you didn't feel that way, but never underestimate the fear you experience, bravery is when you stand up and face it.
Mika closed her eyes briefly, she clenched onto the ring and forced herself to look Sesshoumaru in the eyes. She felt shaky and on the verge of tears but she stood there anyway.
'Anata...' she thought as he stopped in front of her, ' if you are there... watch me !!'
"Tenkai, leave now" Sesshoumaru said , still staring down at Mika
"I won't..." Tenkai said defiantly, "I was in the middle of a conversation with her and I won't leave until I've finished it. "
Tenkai stepped behind Mika and put his hand on her shoulder, she flinched slightly at his touch. He was helping her and somehow... she felt protected
Sesshoumaru narrowed his eyes and for the first time, he took them off Mika. Tenkai smiled slightly...
"You," Sesshoumaru began "... are too much like your father, boy. "
"Feh... so you keep telling me... uncle" Tenkai said snidely
Years ago, Sesshoumaru would have killed him where he stood for such insolence... but he had made a promise... one that he could not break. He looked back down at Mika and smiled, which was something he rarely did
"...You will forgive my interruption then" he said quietly.
Sesshoumaru glanced slightly at Tenkai, who smiled, he then turned and walked back towards the house.
Mika's jaw dropped. She was totally taken aback by his sudden change. Sesshoumaru turned his head as he reached the house, amused by the surprise in Mika's face.
"I will speak with you tomorrow, "he said turning his head again "at a more decent hour." With that said he disappeared into the house.
Mika stood there for a moment, confused and relieved all at once about the sudden change in Sesshoumaru. She realized a moment later that she had been holding her ring so tightly that her hand hurt
"Owww..." she said out loud
Tenkai pulled his hand away
"Sorry !" He said, he hadn't realized he had been gripping her shoulder hard.
Mika had completely forgotten that he had been standing behind her, she turned and the look on his face struck a funny bone in her, she started to laugh.
"No..." she laughed, grabbing onto her side as it started to ache, "it wasn't you..."
She let go of her ring and pulled her hand out of her pocket. She held her hand out to him to show him the mark. Tenkai wasn't sure what to make of her, standing there laughing, partially bent over with her hand outstretched. There was an imprint on her palm and her hand was shaking
"I .. I was so scared that I held my ring too tight ! "she laughed
Tenkai smiled and sat down... she was so small and it was the first time he'd seen her smile.
"I was so scared..." Mika started to sob... she couldn't help it
She collapsed onto the ground, pulled her hands up to her face and cried
"Oi !" Tenkai said, jumping off the bench and kneeling besides her. He could handle any emotion except this one... how was he supposed to comfort her ?
"Why... ?" She sobbed
"What ?" He asked, unsure if he should touch her or not
"Why is this happening to me ?" She said quietly through her tears "Why ? it... it's not fair... "
Suddenly she got angry... "Haven't I suffered enough ? Haven't I been through enough ?!" She slammed her fists into the ground, taking Tenkai completely by surprise.
"It's not fair !" She said through gritted teeth "It's not fair !!"
She brought her arms up and slammed her fisted into the ground again, this time striking a rock, but she was too angry to notice. She slammed her hands over and over into the ground. Tenkai reached out and grabbed her wrists
"Stop it !" He said "Look at what you are doing !"
Mika didn't need to look, she felt the pain in her hand, she felt the sting as the blood flowed from the cuts where she had struck the rock.
"Let go of me !" She said as the tears ran down her cheeks.
She tried to pull her arms away and again she was reminded about how strong he really was.
"I said let go !" She said angrily
"No ... not until you've calmed down " He said, pulling her arms down and holding her hands up in front of her
Mika wanted to scream, she wanted to slap him, she wanted to struggle... anything to break free but all she could do was sit there, her hand cut and bleeding while Tenkai held her in place. She put her head down and cried, she hated feeling so helpless and alone. She hated it more than anything...
"I hate this place "She whispered after a while "I hate you...."
Tenkai smiled. He understood her frustration , he wanted to tell her this. He understood perfectly what it was like to feel helpless, he understood how much that feeling hurts, especially for one with so much pride. He wanted to tell her but instead he just sat there and watched her cry.
"I ...I'm sorry" Mika whispered after a minute "I didn't mean it... I'm just, it's just..."
Tenkai loosened his grip, stopping her in mid sentence
"It's okay "he said, "I didn't take it seriously"
Mika looked up and smiled "Thank you"
Tenkai's heart skipped a beat suddenly and he let go of her wrists
"Well, "he said , turning his head so she couldn't see the slight blush come across his face, "you are constantly changing so it's hard to take anything you say seriously..."
Mika's face became heated at his words.
"What the hell is your problem ?!" she said without thinking
"W-what ? Tenkai said, taken off guard by her outburst
"Who do you think you are ??" she said using the back of her uncut hand to wipe the tears off her face. She stood up and stared angrily down at him
"Just because you helped me with that... that man, doesn't mean you can talk to me any way you-"
"Okay okay" Tenkai interrupted "calm down"
He stood up and smiled at Mika's indignity "I didn't mean anything by it... sorry"
Mika closed her mouth and stood there for a moment
"Okay..." she said quietly "as long as you know you can't just talk to me anyway... it's okay"
Tenkai smiled again, she really was different than any human he had met
"Now," Mika said turning away from him, "if you'll excuse me, I need to go to bed..."
She started to walk away but before she could make one step he reached out and grabbed her cut hand. She flinched at the sting
"What are you doing ?!" she cried out as he pulled her back
Tenkai had a blank look on his face, almost as if he was in a trance. Mika tried again to pull her hand away but to no avail.
"St-stop" she said almost in a whisper as he pulled her too close to him.
He held her hand up and placed his other hand over the cut. Mika stared at him with a mix of wonder and nervousness as he touched the opening of her cut with one of his long, sharp fingernails. Suddenly a flash of heat went through her hand, she watched with widened eyes as the cut closed up and healed before her eyes.
Tenkai closed his eyes and let go of her hand. He sat down on the bench and put his head back.
Twice in one day... he's never used it so much in his life, he felt drained... as if he'd been training for hours
"It was like this before ..." Mika said staring at her hand in disbelief. She sat down next to him, still looking at her hand. " You did this before too, didn't you ?"
Tenkai sighed and opened his eyes, looking up at the pale glow of the moon.
"Who are you Mika... ?" he said after a while
"What do you mean ?" she asked, caught a little off guard by his question
"I've been told you came from the well..." he looked at her, "I want to know who you are, you aren't like any human I've ever seen. You look different, you act different... you aren't normal..."
Mika put her hand in her lap and stared at it.
"Normal..." she turned suddenly and grabbed Tenkai's pointed ears, pulling him down "Normal ??, you call this normal ?!"
Tenkai stared at her in shock, he hadn't expected her to do anything so brash. Mika let go of him, aware suddenly of what she had done.
"Sorry..." she said turning her head in embarrassment, "but how can you talk to me about normal when you look like that..."
Mika put her hands to her face "... this is a nightmare," she said out loud in English, "it.. it just has to be..."
"What ?!" Tenkai asked
Mika looked up at him, she realized she hadn't spoken in Japanese
"What did you say ?! I've never heard that before, what language is that ?" Tenkai questioned "What did you say ??"
Mika blinked "You've never heard English before ? Don't the teach it in school ?" she wondered out loud, "I thought it was standard nowadays..."
"English ? Is that what you spoke ?" Tenkai asked
He thought for a moment before standing up. He put his hand out to her
"I want to show you something..."
Mika stared at his outstretched hand "W-what ?" she asked
Tenkai smiled "... trust me"
"Trust ?" Mika said quietly, then she thought to herself, that was asking a lot... in her entire life, she had only trusted one person and he...
She shook her head slightly trying again to stifle the memories that always wanted to surface. Tenkai stared down at her while she struggled internally, he wondered if she would accept is hand or not. Even in the darkness of night, her skin was so pale that she almost glowed in the moonlight. She looked so different, almost like a yokai he had met long ago... she was mysterious and he wanted to learn more about her, and that language she had spoken... English, he wanted to know where she had come from.
What he was about to do... he had never trusted anyone with it, not even Shouka, but there was something about Mika... something special
Mika looked up at Tenkai and made her decision. She reluctantly took his hand. He pulled her up and with no effort at all, he lifted her up. She was much lighter than he had thought she would be, her body was much more slender than it looked in clothing.. as if she never ate.
Before Mika could protest he had jumped suddenly into the air. Tenkai shifted his body in midair to go over the wall. Mika let out a small cry and pulled her arms around his neck so suddenly and so tightly that Tenkai almost choked.
"Oh my god !" she cried out as they descended to the ground.
He took another leap into the air. Mika shut her eyes tight and held onto him for dear life. Her heart was beating so fast that he thought it might burst. He smiled as he made his way into the forest that lay directly to the west of his uncle's house. He could tell that she was frightened but since he wanted to make good time, he didn't slow down. Even though she was scared, he found that he enjoyed the fact that she was holding onto him so tightly, something about her appealed to him, something he couldn't place....
Tenkai sped up towards his destination as they reached the mountains, he wanted to get there before dawn. Mika could feel the wind rushing passed her ears. She could feel the speed as he moved, it was if she was riding a roller coaster. She had never been good with heights, she had tried many times to conquer her fear, but nothing had ever worked... what he was doing seemed impossible to Mika, she didn't know what to do, everything was too real to be a dream, ... she wanted to scream, cry and laugh all at once.
After a while, Mika felt them slow down, but she didn't dare look
"You can open your eyes..." Tenkai said after a few minutes and she realized they had stopped, but she was too scared so all she could do was hold onto him and shake.
"Mika... you're... choking me.." he said trying to set her down, but she wouldn't let go of his neck, "... Mika..."
She slowly opened her eyes and was suddenly aware of how close she was holding him. Embarrassed, she quickly let go of his neck and tried to stand. Her legs were so shaky that they gave way and she almost fell. He caught her and helped her up
"S-sorry" she said, holding onto his arm to steady herself
She looked up and gasped. They were standing in front of a mountain side, surrounded by forest. Directly in front of them, imbedded into the mountain was a temple in the state of ruins. A faint iridescent glow surrounded the temple. Mika forgot her previous fear and stared, open mouthed at it.
"W-what is this place ?" she asked in awe.
"I found this place about twenty years ago..." he said looking at the temple "there's something inside I want to show you..."
Tenkai stepped towards it, Mika followed, still holding onto his arm. Before they could reach the barrier the jewel in Mika's pocket flared up suddenly and pain shot through Mika's heart and head. She screamed and clenched onto her chest, collapsing to the ground.
"Oi !!" Tenkai turned, and grabbed onto her, "what's wrong ?!"
"I ... I don..." she gasped as a pulses of pain kept flowing through her body like a heart beat "I don't know... "
She screamed and collapsed as the pain overwhelmed her.
"Mika !!" Tenkai lifted her up, her breath was erratic and her heart was racing,
"What the hell is happening ??" he realized he'd have to get her some help. He remembered the wolf tribe was close by and with all of his speed he ran towards it.
Tenkai held her close, her heart was beating fast and her breathing was extremely strained.
"Hang on !" he whispered as he ran
Mika could barely hear his voice, the pain was blinding and she couldn't think straight. Through half closed eyes she looked up. Her eyes widened and tears formed in her eyes as she saw her husband's face
"Anata..." she whispered
Tenkai looked down at her as he ran, she was gasping and tears were streaming down her face.
"Anata..." she cried out as another pulse of pain hit her
"Anata" she reached up with a shaking hand and touched Tenkai's cheek, " I... I've waited so long to see you !"
In her pocket the jewel flared up again and a pulse of pain so severe shot through her body. She gasped, clenched onto her chest and fainted.
"Oi !!" Tenkai yelled as he felt her go limp. He couldn't stop, he was almost there
Don't die on me... he thought desperately.
Tenkai made it to a clearing, a large waterfall was imbedded in a cul-de-sac of a mountain face. There were many wolves resting on indents of cliff, tapering down to a lake directly in front of him. Two human form wolf demons stood sentry in front. Tenkai ran up to them.
"Tenkai !" the smaller demon said with a smile "Long time no see !"
"What brings you here ?" the other said glancing down at Mika's near lifeless body
"Kouga !" Tenkai breathed "Where is he ?!"
"He left this morning with half of the pack to hunt..." said the smaller one
"Tenkai ?" said a soft female voice from above
They looked up to see a smaller, pretty woman yokai, with dark hair standing on the cliff above them.
"Ayane !" Tenkai yelled, "I need your help !" he held Mika up "...something's wrong, I think she's dying"
Ayane looked down at Tenkai and the woman he was holding, she was pale and her golden hair was long and wind blown. Ayane took a leap off the cliff and landed in front of him, she brought her face close to Mika's and breathed in, She smelled like she was near death... and she had a severe fever
"Bring her inside," Ayane said turning towards the waterfall. "Quickly !"
As they walked through the waterfall, Tenkai held Mika close to protect her from the water. Mika's eyes clenched and she gasped but she stayed unconscious. Ayane pointed to a bed of furs
"Set her down over there." She said walking over to a chest that lay on the ground at the entrance. She opened it and pulled some herbs out.
"Get her clothing off " she said matter-of-factly
Tenkai stumbled as he set Mika down "... uhh... what ?" he asked in surprise
Ayane looked at him as she walked over to them "This isn't the time to be stupid, do you want her to die ? Take her shirt off, now."
Tenkai flushed as he looked down at Mika... the wolf tribe had no modestly what so ever, and he knew that Mika would be angry if it were any other time, but this was her life so he did what Ayane asked... surely Mika would understand.
Her clothing was strange and he as he undid the jacket he wondered what kind of cloth it was. Ayane was infusing the herbs she had pulled from the chest while Tenkai carefully took Mika's shirt off, as he lifted her up to remove the garments, he gasped at the sight of the burn scars that covered her back... what could have happened to her ?
He removed the shirt and jacket and set them aside leaving the last garment that covered her chest, carefully he set her back down. Her skin was burning hot. As he moved her hair away from her face, he was surprised to find that she had a bright red mark in the shape of a V on her forehead that her bangs had covered before. More than ever, he wanted to know about her... those scars, that mark....
"Don't die..." he whispered
Ayane sat down and placed a large cloth soaked in cold water over Mika's forehead.
"Lift her up, we need her to drink this." She handed the mixture of herbs to Tenkai and stood up.
"How.. ?" Tenkai asked, holding the bowl of herbs.
"I'll be back, I have to get more," Ayane said running towards the entrance, "do what you have to, but get her to drink it !"
Tenkai stared at Mika, who was breathing very shallow, her body was burning and it seemed impossible that he could wake her to get her to drink. He sighed and sipped a small amount of the mixture, holding it in his mouth, he held Mika up and kissed her, forcing her to open her mouth and take in the mixture. At first nothing happened but slowing he felt her swallow. Little by little he repeated the process, until he had fed her all of it. He set the bowl down and took the cloth off her head, he soaked it in the cool water and dabbed her head and body. He was relieved to hear her heartbeat even out... her breath slowing came back to normal. He leaned back and positioned her carefully so he could rest on the cave wall without disturbing her. Mika's face contorted every once in a while, like she was having a bad dream... but she was breathing normally again.
He looked at her face and realized how pretty she was... the mark on her forehead was unusual, he carefully traced it with a finger nail wondering why she hid it with her hair.
"Should I leave you two alone ?" Ayane asked in an amused voice that startled Tenkai
Tenkai looked up and flushed, causing Ayane to laugh.
She walked over and started to infuse another batch of herbs, while Tenkai tried not to look embarrassed.
"She's very unusual..." Ayane said, handing the herbs to Tenkai, "where did you find her ? "
"Sesshoumaru found her actually," Tenkai said with slight annoyance in his voice at the thought of his uncle, "no one knows where she came from though and before I could find out... this happened."
"Interesting... "Ayane said as she looked at Mika and touched her forehead
"Well," she said standing, "her fever is coming down, so hopefully she should be able to tell us."
Ayane walked towards the entrance, "Kouga-kun will be back soon, so just try to rest until then... "
"Thank you Ayane..." Tenkai said as she disappeared through the waterfall
Tenkai pulled some furs up to cover Mika as she slept. He held her as he drifted off to sleep, wondering what had happened. He wondered about her scars and the mark on her forehead. With each steady beat of her heart, he was relieved more than he could say that she would live...
He remembered she had called him anata... She had said it before too, when she had come out into the clearing. It was a term of endearment, the way she used it... but towards who ?
As he fell asleep her words went through his head
"I've waited so long to see you.."
Did she really come from the well... ? Who was she looking for ? Now more than ever, he needed to know...
Notes and such-
Anything between the ' ' is a thought
I love Kouga... I just had to throw that in -laughs-