"You're my mother? Really? But then why did and you and my father give me up?" Hikaru said in a rush. When this woman first told her that she was the miko's mother, she found hard to believe it. But the more Hikaru thought of it, the more she believed it. The hanyou realized that on the nights that she turned human, she looked like a younger version of the woman in front of her.
The woman's eyes lit up and grasped Hikaru's hands. "Oh, I'm so glad that you believe me. I thought that you wouldn't, my dear daughter. And as for giving you up…my dearest darling, we had no choice. We were forced to surrender you on the night that you were born. We never wanted to lose you. We had such plans, of raising both you and your brother," she said.
"My brother! Tell me about him, please, haha-ue," Hikaru pleaded.
++ 'haha-ue' means mom.
Her mother laughed, "I can do better than that my dear. I can introduce you to both of your brothers!"
Of course, she had two brothers. Hikaru had forgotten for a moment. Another tidbit of information also raised its head. It was something that her guardian had told her about the time she left.
"Haha-ue, how can you be here? I was told that both you and chichi-ue had died," she asked.
++ 'chichi-ue' means dad.
Her mother looked sad. "Yes, we had," she said, "But have been allowed to come back here to reunite our family. And to explain what had happened all those years ago."
******
"Our sister is alive," Sesshomaru said. He couldn't believe it. He could remember the day of her birth and the day afterward when he heard from Myouga that the babe was now gone.
"How?" he demanded. There had to be some explanation. He refused to believe otherwise.
Inutaisho sighed. "It is quite a story. The day that Hikaru was born I was joyous to discover that I now had a daughter. I doubted that any youkai could have been happier that day than I was. Also, Toutousai had arrived with the swords that I had asked him to make. Each of them was beautifully made and he had followed my instructions exactly."
"Yes, I remember that. I was there when she was born. You had asked that I show up here because you said that you had some business with me. Shortly after I arrived you called me in and gave me Tenseiga. During that, a human servant came in and said that your second wife had just given birth. I have to admit that I was surprised to find out that you were having another child by this woman," Sesshomaru said.
Inutaisho nodded, "Yes and I remember that you were looked disgusted when you saw her, just like when your brother was born.
"Inuyasha, you were only a babe yourself when she was born, bit even then you showed your affection towards her and protective stance. It touched my heart to see that. Anyway, that night we had Hikaru sleeping in a small basket near our bed for when she needed us…
******
Flashback
Inutaisho gazed at his baby daughter again. She was sleeping peacefully in her basket by the bed. He had hoped that she would look like her brothers but her silky brown ears betrayed what color her hair would be later on. The babe still had the family eyes, a beautiful gold that shined with curiosity and wonder.
He was proud to have a pair of strong, healthy sons but there was something about now having a daughter that made him feel prouder than usual. He believed that the future was bright and shiny for all of his children. Especially now that the swords had been delivered. Toutousai had really out done himself with them. They were what he had asked for and more. He wasn't worried about his hanyou children learning how to use them; it was Sesshomaru and Tenseiga that bothered him. He had never seen the boy so saddened and closed-hearted before. Inutaisho decided to try to talk to his eldest son.
Next to him, his wife was settling in with the baby next to her. Her face was pale from the delivery earlier that day, but both she and their new daughter were as healthy as he could hope. He was about to blow out the candle when he sensed someone else in the room with him and his family. He tensed and saw that the door to their room was open even though it had been closed a moment ago.
"Wife, grab the baby," he whispered.
She looked up at him scared and did what he said. The baby murmured a little as she was lifted from her bed but quieted down when she was close to her mother's breast. Hearing the rhythm of her mother's heart had a calming effect on her.
Inutaisho took a defensive position between the door and his wife and daughter. He was determined that no one would harm either of them.
"You have nothing to fear from me, Inutaisho. I am here to in fact to save your daughter," a voice said. Wind blew through the door and the dog-youkai could smell sand, ashes, and signed feathers. It was the most curious mixture of smells he had ever encountered.
"Who are you? What do you want? Show yourself!" he demanded. He hoped that the bravado he had forced into his voice sounded genuine. The power he could sense was incredible. He could almost swear that this stranger was even stronger than a dai-youkai.
And then she stepped into view. She looked like she was some sort of bird-youkai or hanyou. Her feet were the same as any raptor's up to her knees. From there he caught a glimpse of human flesh but it was mostly covered by a loose skirt of a red leathery material. Her bodice seemed to be made out of the same material. Her skin was pale as any human he had seen but at the same time, hardened and weathered from over the years. A pair of bright red wings came from her back and they looked large enough for her to use. Golden bracers covered her forearms and he saw that her nails were painted a golden red. Her hair was a bright red like her wings with orange-gold highlights. Her eyes were a deep, cold green with the lids half closed and the rest of her face was passive. He could see a feathery tail that skimmed the floor.
"Who are you?" he repeated. There was something about the way that she looked at the three of them that worried him.
"Who I am is not really important right now. What is important is that your daughter comes with me now," she replied.
Inutaisho was outraged. "How dare you!" he growled. "How dare you come in barge in here and demand my newborn daughter. You will leave now."
"Not without the child."
"Over my dead body!" he yelled and lunged forward to attack.
The woman simply raised her hand. The youkai's body stopped frozen in midair. He was unable to move any part of his body. However he had trouble breathing at all.
"It is not my intention to kill you, Inutaisho. Nor do I wish to harm your wife and daughter. But the babe must come with me tonight," the stranger said. She moved past the youkai and stood in front of the babe and her mother.
"Please, give her to me," she said gently.
"No, no. I won't," the woman said bravely. "I'll die before I let you take her."
The stranger looked sad and hung her head. "That is what you do not understand. Neither of you will live to see Inuyasha and the girl reach adulthood."
"Is…th-that…a…thr-threat?" Inutaisho managed to get out through his clenched teeth.
The stranger shook her head. "No, no threat. Just a fact. Neither will live to see them grown. And if the girl does not come with me, she will die."
"Is that another fact of yours," the mother cried. Tears were welling up in her eyes. She didn't want to believe this woman, but something inside of her said to trust her. She was feeling so confused.
"A possibility. But it will become fact if I do not leave with the girl," was the answer.
The baby woke up and began to cry. Her screams sounded like she wanted to voice her opinion about this whole situation to their ears. Quickly, her mother began to try to soothe the baby. But how could she expect to calm her daughter when her own heart was racing?
"You may go on and feed her. She is hungry," the stranger said. Wordlessly the human complied.
"Inutaisho-sama, please understand. I mean no disrespect to you or your family. However this has to be done. This is for your daughter's own good. Also if I could, I would let her stay here. Alas, the decision is not mine to make. Please, let the girl come with me," she said.
The human finished feeding her daughter and stood up. "Can you guarantee me that whomever your taking her to will take good care of her?" she asked.
The woman nodded. "The best that they can."
"Can we give her anything to remember us?"
"Have you named her yet?"
"Well, no…"
"Then you can give her a name."
The human held her child close and looked into the golden eyes that seemed to be a family trait. She didn't want to lose her daughter. But if what this stranger was saying was true, then it would be better if the baby did go tonight. The baby was such a bright light in her life. Light…
"Her name is Hikaru," she said. "That is a good name."
The stranger and carefully took a squirming Hikaru into her arms. "Yes, that is indeed a good name." She then turned and started back out. At the doorway she stopped, turned and faced the couple again.
"A few last things before I go. No one else is to know about this. Absolutely no one, not even Hikaru's brothers. Anyone who knew about the birth should be told something to explain her sudden disappearance, I will leave it to you to decide something. Do not tell anyone who does not know. The fewer people who know, the better. I know that you may hate me for this but it is the best for the girl's future. And don't worry. One day she will return and know her family."
And with that the stranger left carrying Hikaru with her. Inutaisho fell to the floor as the spell that had him suspended in the air ended.
******
"And so we spent the rest of the night in each other's arms and crying. The next morning we told everyone that you were simply gone. We left it to them on how to interpret it. We couldn't lie to them but we couldn't tell them the truth either," she said.
"Well not at least the whole, complete truth. And in some ways that was the worse lie," Hikaru commented. Her mother looked up at her words. She explained, "All that you and chichi-ue did was to tell them a half truth. One of my teachers said that the best lie was to say a half truth. Just not the whole truth."
Her mother smiled. "You have not wasted your learning, dear. You are as wise as any mother could have hoped for their child."
"What happened to you and chichi-ue?" Hikaru asked with a sinking heart.
The woman sighed, "A few months after you were born, he was killed in battle. I died a few years later when your brother was a small child."
"I guess that the stranger knew that," Hikaru mused, "she understood that when both of you left this world we would be too young to survive on our own for long. At least with me gone, it made it easier for my ani."
++ remember that 'ani' means older brother.
Her mother nodded. "Neither of us had realized it that time, Hikaru. But the stranger was right. We didn't live long enough to see you and your brothers grown. But tonight we can finally see all of you."
"When? When do I get to see my brothers?"
"Quite soon, my child," she replied.
******
"She's really alive," Inuyasha said.
Inutaisho nodded. "For most of her life, she has been living on an island being raised by humans. Hikaru had no concept for youkai until she returned here not too long ago. Things have been arranged that she is here tonight as well," he said.
"Where?"
The youkai looked towards the manor. "Let's go inside, my sons. We'll be more comfortable sitting in there."
"But…hey, wait a minute!" Inuyasha sputtered.
"My dear hanyou. Don't you want to see your mother again?" his father said. With that he smiled and started walking.
Inuyasha was speechless. His mother, here? Well it made sense, if his father was here, then his mother would be here too. Neither of them had seen Hikaru since she as taken and Inuyasha didn't' have any memories of his father. Wordlessly he followed his father to the manor.
Sesshomaru was silent. His little sister, alive after all this time. Part of him was relieved to know that she hadn't died, another was outraged to know that he had been tricked by his father and that the hanyou girl was indeed alive. And yet there was a part of him that was nervous about meeting her for the first time. There was also questions that assailed him in his mind as he went to the manor.
What would this girl be like? How different from them would she be? How would she react to her brothers?
These were questions that assailed both Inuyasha's and Sesshomaru's minds.
*******
"How much longer do we have to wait?" Hikaru asked impatiently. For most of her life, she had been waiting for this moment. And now that it was coming, she was both impatient for it to come and afraid that it would. Questions about her brothers whirled about in her mind. She tried to perform some of the calming techniques that she had learned at the feet of her teachers. But they had little effect on her rapidly beating heart.
"Don't worry, daughter. They'll be here soon with your father."
"My father?"
"Yes, they are all out there. Your father is preparing them for the meeting and explaining everything just I am you. They should be here any minute now."
Just then Inutaisho stepped up onto the walkway and called out, "My beloved, we're here. Is everything ready?"
From inside, she called out that they were ready. The youkai waited until his sons had stepped up as well before opening the door.
Whatever Inuyasha had been expecting, it certainly wasn't to see the Hikaru he had been traveling with sitting with his mother with the same look of shock on her face as on his.
"You? You're my imooto?" he sputtered out.
"Oh, you two already know each other? That's wonderful," their mother said. She looked pleased that her children were already acquainted with each other.
Hikaru looked surprised for a moment. Then she stood up, came around table and stood in front of the men. She smiled and threw her arms around Inuyasha. "You're my brother? This is great!" she cried out joyfully. "I'm so glad!"
Behind Inuyasha, Juanyu was standing in shock. Inuyasha was Hikaru-san's older brother. Wow. This changes a lot.
Hikaru eventually let go of Inuyasha and faced Sesshomaru. "And you must be my other brother. It is so wonderful to finally meet you. I've waited so long for this," she said. She moved to hug him as well but he stepped back from her.
"Don't touch me," he said.
"Huh?" she was taken aback by his response to her.
"What makes you think that I am at all pleased by your presence? I cannot believe that there is another hanyou in our family. With Inuyasha, it was tolerable. But another one? I am almost embarrassed to be a part of this family," he said. Sesshomaru turned and made to leave.
"Hey! Sesshomaru, you big jerk! How can you say that? She's our sister! Don't you care at all?" Inuyasha yelled. He knew that his brother never was fond of humans, and hanyou only just less so. But he didn't think that he would actually act like this to Hikaru.
"Sesshomaru, stop now!" their father ordered. His tone broached no disobedience.
His oldest son stopped in his tracks. He could never go against his father's wishes when he used that tone. Reluctantly he turned back around and faced his father. "What is it that you want?"
"I want you to stay here with me and the rest of the family for a bit," his father said softly. His face was sad. "Is that too much to ask of you?"
"Apparently it is, father," he replied. "You have disgraced our family by siring a pair of hanyou and when you died, you left me with an useless sword!"
"Is it so useless? Haven't you used its power at all? If you answer 'no' I will know that you are lying to me, son."
"How?"
"Because the swords were made from my fangs, I can tell when their power has been invoked. I know when you've used Tenseiga's resurrective powers. And it has been used at least two times by now," he said. He raised his head and looked into his son's eyes. "Please stay. There is so much that I didn't get the chance to tell you."
"And besides, there is more to come," a voice said. Everyone wheeled to see a strange woman in the room with the human woman. She looked like a youkai but her youki was all wrong. Inutaisho growled and walked into the room. He marched right up to the stranger and glared at her evenly. Yet the others could tell by his stance that he was also afraid of the woman.
"What are you doing here? Isn't it enough that you tore my family apart? Now you come and interrupt our reunion?" he said in a low, menacing voice.
"Yes, I know that I am the responsible for your daughter's disappearance. And I say to again that I had no choice in the matter. Forces greater than mine ordered me to do it," she said.
"Father, it wasn't that bad for me growing up. The people who took care of me were good people and I learned a lot from them. It is because of them that I learned how to be a good priestess," she said hurriedly. She guessed that this was the same woman that had taken her. The smell was right for it. And if that was true, then it was not a good idea for her to get angry.
Everyone but Juanyu, Inuyasha, Myouga, and the stranger looked surprised. "Priestess?" her father said.
"Indeed, Inutaisho. Your daughter was born with houriki. Because of this, she could not stay here in Japan. She needed to be trained elsewhere in a place where the prejudices between humans and youkai did not exist. That is the primary reason why I had to take her," the stranger said. She sat at the table and helped herself to some of the still warm tea.
"I did not tell you my name before but I will now. I am called Phoenix. I do the work that is deemed necessary by the greater powers. They were the ones that instructed me to take the baby Hikaru from you and your wife to some place where her houriki would be nurtured and developed. After she had arrived here, I managed to arrange for a fish youkai to bring Inuyasha to his sister. Things took off better there than I thought. I did not want his friends to lose hope in him. So kept the hope in his survival strong despite logic and the odds. Doing something like that is one of my specialties. I was also the one who allowed you and your human wife to come back here tonight. And I have a proposition to make to all of you."
"And that would be?"
The Phoenix sipped her tea calmly and set down her cup. "How you all like a chance to live, only for a brief time, as the family you should have been?"
**********
Okay, it was obvious from the start what I was going to do. And for those of you who didn't see this coming…I'm not going to say anything. My editor has mentioned something about my lack of subtlety when it comes to my foreshadowing. Well, I promise all of you, my loyal readers, and him that I'll get better at it. ;-)
The woman's eyes lit up and grasped Hikaru's hands. "Oh, I'm so glad that you believe me. I thought that you wouldn't, my dear daughter. And as for giving you up…my dearest darling, we had no choice. We were forced to surrender you on the night that you were born. We never wanted to lose you. We had such plans, of raising both you and your brother," she said.
"My brother! Tell me about him, please, haha-ue," Hikaru pleaded.
++ 'haha-ue' means mom.
Her mother laughed, "I can do better than that my dear. I can introduce you to both of your brothers!"
Of course, she had two brothers. Hikaru had forgotten for a moment. Another tidbit of information also raised its head. It was something that her guardian had told her about the time she left.
"Haha-ue, how can you be here? I was told that both you and chichi-ue had died," she asked.
++ 'chichi-ue' means dad.
Her mother looked sad. "Yes, we had," she said, "But have been allowed to come back here to reunite our family. And to explain what had happened all those years ago."
******
"Our sister is alive," Sesshomaru said. He couldn't believe it. He could remember the day of her birth and the day afterward when he heard from Myouga that the babe was now gone.
"How?" he demanded. There had to be some explanation. He refused to believe otherwise.
Inutaisho sighed. "It is quite a story. The day that Hikaru was born I was joyous to discover that I now had a daughter. I doubted that any youkai could have been happier that day than I was. Also, Toutousai had arrived with the swords that I had asked him to make. Each of them was beautifully made and he had followed my instructions exactly."
"Yes, I remember that. I was there when she was born. You had asked that I show up here because you said that you had some business with me. Shortly after I arrived you called me in and gave me Tenseiga. During that, a human servant came in and said that your second wife had just given birth. I have to admit that I was surprised to find out that you were having another child by this woman," Sesshomaru said.
Inutaisho nodded, "Yes and I remember that you were looked disgusted when you saw her, just like when your brother was born.
"Inuyasha, you were only a babe yourself when she was born, bit even then you showed your affection towards her and protective stance. It touched my heart to see that. Anyway, that night we had Hikaru sleeping in a small basket near our bed for when she needed us…
******
Flashback
Inutaisho gazed at his baby daughter again. She was sleeping peacefully in her basket by the bed. He had hoped that she would look like her brothers but her silky brown ears betrayed what color her hair would be later on. The babe still had the family eyes, a beautiful gold that shined with curiosity and wonder.
He was proud to have a pair of strong, healthy sons but there was something about now having a daughter that made him feel prouder than usual. He believed that the future was bright and shiny for all of his children. Especially now that the swords had been delivered. Toutousai had really out done himself with them. They were what he had asked for and more. He wasn't worried about his hanyou children learning how to use them; it was Sesshomaru and Tenseiga that bothered him. He had never seen the boy so saddened and closed-hearted before. Inutaisho decided to try to talk to his eldest son.
Next to him, his wife was settling in with the baby next to her. Her face was pale from the delivery earlier that day, but both she and their new daughter were as healthy as he could hope. He was about to blow out the candle when he sensed someone else in the room with him and his family. He tensed and saw that the door to their room was open even though it had been closed a moment ago.
"Wife, grab the baby," he whispered.
She looked up at him scared and did what he said. The baby murmured a little as she was lifted from her bed but quieted down when she was close to her mother's breast. Hearing the rhythm of her mother's heart had a calming effect on her.
Inutaisho took a defensive position between the door and his wife and daughter. He was determined that no one would harm either of them.
"You have nothing to fear from me, Inutaisho. I am here to in fact to save your daughter," a voice said. Wind blew through the door and the dog-youkai could smell sand, ashes, and signed feathers. It was the most curious mixture of smells he had ever encountered.
"Who are you? What do you want? Show yourself!" he demanded. He hoped that the bravado he had forced into his voice sounded genuine. The power he could sense was incredible. He could almost swear that this stranger was even stronger than a dai-youkai.
And then she stepped into view. She looked like she was some sort of bird-youkai or hanyou. Her feet were the same as any raptor's up to her knees. From there he caught a glimpse of human flesh but it was mostly covered by a loose skirt of a red leathery material. Her bodice seemed to be made out of the same material. Her skin was pale as any human he had seen but at the same time, hardened and weathered from over the years. A pair of bright red wings came from her back and they looked large enough for her to use. Golden bracers covered her forearms and he saw that her nails were painted a golden red. Her hair was a bright red like her wings with orange-gold highlights. Her eyes were a deep, cold green with the lids half closed and the rest of her face was passive. He could see a feathery tail that skimmed the floor.
"Who are you?" he repeated. There was something about the way that she looked at the three of them that worried him.
"Who I am is not really important right now. What is important is that your daughter comes with me now," she replied.
Inutaisho was outraged. "How dare you!" he growled. "How dare you come in barge in here and demand my newborn daughter. You will leave now."
"Not without the child."
"Over my dead body!" he yelled and lunged forward to attack.
The woman simply raised her hand. The youkai's body stopped frozen in midair. He was unable to move any part of his body. However he had trouble breathing at all.
"It is not my intention to kill you, Inutaisho. Nor do I wish to harm your wife and daughter. But the babe must come with me tonight," the stranger said. She moved past the youkai and stood in front of the babe and her mother.
"Please, give her to me," she said gently.
"No, no. I won't," the woman said bravely. "I'll die before I let you take her."
The stranger looked sad and hung her head. "That is what you do not understand. Neither of you will live to see Inuyasha and the girl reach adulthood."
"Is…th-that…a…thr-threat?" Inutaisho managed to get out through his clenched teeth.
The stranger shook her head. "No, no threat. Just a fact. Neither will live to see them grown. And if the girl does not come with me, she will die."
"Is that another fact of yours," the mother cried. Tears were welling up in her eyes. She didn't want to believe this woman, but something inside of her said to trust her. She was feeling so confused.
"A possibility. But it will become fact if I do not leave with the girl," was the answer.
The baby woke up and began to cry. Her screams sounded like she wanted to voice her opinion about this whole situation to their ears. Quickly, her mother began to try to soothe the baby. But how could she expect to calm her daughter when her own heart was racing?
"You may go on and feed her. She is hungry," the stranger said. Wordlessly the human complied.
"Inutaisho-sama, please understand. I mean no disrespect to you or your family. However this has to be done. This is for your daughter's own good. Also if I could, I would let her stay here. Alas, the decision is not mine to make. Please, let the girl come with me," she said.
The human finished feeding her daughter and stood up. "Can you guarantee me that whomever your taking her to will take good care of her?" she asked.
The woman nodded. "The best that they can."
"Can we give her anything to remember us?"
"Have you named her yet?"
"Well, no…"
"Then you can give her a name."
The human held her child close and looked into the golden eyes that seemed to be a family trait. She didn't want to lose her daughter. But if what this stranger was saying was true, then it would be better if the baby did go tonight. The baby was such a bright light in her life. Light…
"Her name is Hikaru," she said. "That is a good name."
The stranger and carefully took a squirming Hikaru into her arms. "Yes, that is indeed a good name." She then turned and started back out. At the doorway she stopped, turned and faced the couple again.
"A few last things before I go. No one else is to know about this. Absolutely no one, not even Hikaru's brothers. Anyone who knew about the birth should be told something to explain her sudden disappearance, I will leave it to you to decide something. Do not tell anyone who does not know. The fewer people who know, the better. I know that you may hate me for this but it is the best for the girl's future. And don't worry. One day she will return and know her family."
And with that the stranger left carrying Hikaru with her. Inutaisho fell to the floor as the spell that had him suspended in the air ended.
******
"And so we spent the rest of the night in each other's arms and crying. The next morning we told everyone that you were simply gone. We left it to them on how to interpret it. We couldn't lie to them but we couldn't tell them the truth either," she said.
"Well not at least the whole, complete truth. And in some ways that was the worse lie," Hikaru commented. Her mother looked up at her words. She explained, "All that you and chichi-ue did was to tell them a half truth. One of my teachers said that the best lie was to say a half truth. Just not the whole truth."
Her mother smiled. "You have not wasted your learning, dear. You are as wise as any mother could have hoped for their child."
"What happened to you and chichi-ue?" Hikaru asked with a sinking heart.
The woman sighed, "A few months after you were born, he was killed in battle. I died a few years later when your brother was a small child."
"I guess that the stranger knew that," Hikaru mused, "she understood that when both of you left this world we would be too young to survive on our own for long. At least with me gone, it made it easier for my ani."
++ remember that 'ani' means older brother.
Her mother nodded. "Neither of us had realized it that time, Hikaru. But the stranger was right. We didn't live long enough to see you and your brothers grown. But tonight we can finally see all of you."
"When? When do I get to see my brothers?"
"Quite soon, my child," she replied.
******
"She's really alive," Inuyasha said.
Inutaisho nodded. "For most of her life, she has been living on an island being raised by humans. Hikaru had no concept for youkai until she returned here not too long ago. Things have been arranged that she is here tonight as well," he said.
"Where?"
The youkai looked towards the manor. "Let's go inside, my sons. We'll be more comfortable sitting in there."
"But…hey, wait a minute!" Inuyasha sputtered.
"My dear hanyou. Don't you want to see your mother again?" his father said. With that he smiled and started walking.
Inuyasha was speechless. His mother, here? Well it made sense, if his father was here, then his mother would be here too. Neither of them had seen Hikaru since she as taken and Inuyasha didn't' have any memories of his father. Wordlessly he followed his father to the manor.
Sesshomaru was silent. His little sister, alive after all this time. Part of him was relieved to know that she hadn't died, another was outraged to know that he had been tricked by his father and that the hanyou girl was indeed alive. And yet there was a part of him that was nervous about meeting her for the first time. There was also questions that assailed him in his mind as he went to the manor.
What would this girl be like? How different from them would she be? How would she react to her brothers?
These were questions that assailed both Inuyasha's and Sesshomaru's minds.
*******
"How much longer do we have to wait?" Hikaru asked impatiently. For most of her life, she had been waiting for this moment. And now that it was coming, she was both impatient for it to come and afraid that it would. Questions about her brothers whirled about in her mind. She tried to perform some of the calming techniques that she had learned at the feet of her teachers. But they had little effect on her rapidly beating heart.
"Don't worry, daughter. They'll be here soon with your father."
"My father?"
"Yes, they are all out there. Your father is preparing them for the meeting and explaining everything just I am you. They should be here any minute now."
Just then Inutaisho stepped up onto the walkway and called out, "My beloved, we're here. Is everything ready?"
From inside, she called out that they were ready. The youkai waited until his sons had stepped up as well before opening the door.
Whatever Inuyasha had been expecting, it certainly wasn't to see the Hikaru he had been traveling with sitting with his mother with the same look of shock on her face as on his.
"You? You're my imooto?" he sputtered out.
"Oh, you two already know each other? That's wonderful," their mother said. She looked pleased that her children were already acquainted with each other.
Hikaru looked surprised for a moment. Then she stood up, came around table and stood in front of the men. She smiled and threw her arms around Inuyasha. "You're my brother? This is great!" she cried out joyfully. "I'm so glad!"
Behind Inuyasha, Juanyu was standing in shock. Inuyasha was Hikaru-san's older brother. Wow. This changes a lot.
Hikaru eventually let go of Inuyasha and faced Sesshomaru. "And you must be my other brother. It is so wonderful to finally meet you. I've waited so long for this," she said. She moved to hug him as well but he stepped back from her.
"Don't touch me," he said.
"Huh?" she was taken aback by his response to her.
"What makes you think that I am at all pleased by your presence? I cannot believe that there is another hanyou in our family. With Inuyasha, it was tolerable. But another one? I am almost embarrassed to be a part of this family," he said. Sesshomaru turned and made to leave.
"Hey! Sesshomaru, you big jerk! How can you say that? She's our sister! Don't you care at all?" Inuyasha yelled. He knew that his brother never was fond of humans, and hanyou only just less so. But he didn't think that he would actually act like this to Hikaru.
"Sesshomaru, stop now!" their father ordered. His tone broached no disobedience.
His oldest son stopped in his tracks. He could never go against his father's wishes when he used that tone. Reluctantly he turned back around and faced his father. "What is it that you want?"
"I want you to stay here with me and the rest of the family for a bit," his father said softly. His face was sad. "Is that too much to ask of you?"
"Apparently it is, father," he replied. "You have disgraced our family by siring a pair of hanyou and when you died, you left me with an useless sword!"
"Is it so useless? Haven't you used its power at all? If you answer 'no' I will know that you are lying to me, son."
"How?"
"Because the swords were made from my fangs, I can tell when their power has been invoked. I know when you've used Tenseiga's resurrective powers. And it has been used at least two times by now," he said. He raised his head and looked into his son's eyes. "Please stay. There is so much that I didn't get the chance to tell you."
"And besides, there is more to come," a voice said. Everyone wheeled to see a strange woman in the room with the human woman. She looked like a youkai but her youki was all wrong. Inutaisho growled and walked into the room. He marched right up to the stranger and glared at her evenly. Yet the others could tell by his stance that he was also afraid of the woman.
"What are you doing here? Isn't it enough that you tore my family apart? Now you come and interrupt our reunion?" he said in a low, menacing voice.
"Yes, I know that I am the responsible for your daughter's disappearance. And I say to again that I had no choice in the matter. Forces greater than mine ordered me to do it," she said.
"Father, it wasn't that bad for me growing up. The people who took care of me were good people and I learned a lot from them. It is because of them that I learned how to be a good priestess," she said hurriedly. She guessed that this was the same woman that had taken her. The smell was right for it. And if that was true, then it was not a good idea for her to get angry.
Everyone but Juanyu, Inuyasha, Myouga, and the stranger looked surprised. "Priestess?" her father said.
"Indeed, Inutaisho. Your daughter was born with houriki. Because of this, she could not stay here in Japan. She needed to be trained elsewhere in a place where the prejudices between humans and youkai did not exist. That is the primary reason why I had to take her," the stranger said. She sat at the table and helped herself to some of the still warm tea.
"I did not tell you my name before but I will now. I am called Phoenix. I do the work that is deemed necessary by the greater powers. They were the ones that instructed me to take the baby Hikaru from you and your wife to some place where her houriki would be nurtured and developed. After she had arrived here, I managed to arrange for a fish youkai to bring Inuyasha to his sister. Things took off better there than I thought. I did not want his friends to lose hope in him. So kept the hope in his survival strong despite logic and the odds. Doing something like that is one of my specialties. I was also the one who allowed you and your human wife to come back here tonight. And I have a proposition to make to all of you."
"And that would be?"
The Phoenix sipped her tea calmly and set down her cup. "How you all like a chance to live, only for a brief time, as the family you should have been?"
**********
Okay, it was obvious from the start what I was going to do. And for those of you who didn't see this coming…I'm not going to say anything. My editor has mentioned something about my lack of subtlety when it comes to my foreshadowing. Well, I promise all of you, my loyal readers, and him that I'll get better at it. ;-)