I likey me the story.
*****
Gossamer Dreams
Part 2
*****
"What're you doing?" a little girl with bright purple eyes and glossy dark hair pulled back in a white ribbon asked an adolescent boy with dark hair pulled into a small ponytail at the nape of his neck. He had his eyes squeezed shut as he held two fingers to his lips and mumbled fervently, an empty teacup in his other hand.
"Not now, Kikyo." He told her, returning his concentration to the task at hand, and the little girl watched him silently until he sighed and let his hand drop, his eyes fluttering open to reveal grey orbs. "Are they grey?"
"Yep!" she nodded sharply after he lowered his face to where she could see better. "Are you going out?"
"Yes, I am." He told the little girl. "You can help Kaede in the garden while I am gone."
"I want to go with you." Kikyo spoke carefully. She liked how Miroku sounded so very grown up when he spoke, and she tried her best to emulate his speech patterns, but it was hard to remember sometimes. "I never get to leave the house."
"I know, Kikyo." Miroku paused, turning to lower himself so he was looking the six-year old in the eyes. "And you must remember that no matter what happens, you are not to leave the house until you are old enough to learn how to change your eyes." Miroku indicated his own face with one hand, the other resting on Kikyo's small shoulder.
"But Miroku." Kikyo twisted her hands together, blinking up at him hopefully. "It isn't fair. I can't talk to other people. I can't make friends."
"I am your friend, am I not?" Miroku asked her, his eyebrows raised expectantly.
"Yeah, you're my brother, though. That's different." Kikyo attempted to explain. "I like all your stories and stuff…but I wanna see the world, too. Not just books and things."
"Ah, but is the world impressive enough for a mind as sharp as this?" he tapped her head gently. "Will it be ready for a face so fresh, eyes so bright with knowledge and curiosity? Will it possibly be able to satisfy your expectations, I wonder?"
"You only say stuff like that when I don't get what I want." Kikyo pointed out his avoidance of the issue.
"Kikyo, listen to me. When you are older, I will explain everything to you. And you will agree that the world is not really such a wonderful place all the time. Sometimes it is better to stay hidden than be faced with something so cruel." Miroku told her, his brow furrowing slightly. There was so much that the little girl had yet to learn. It had been easier to let her believe Miroku was her brother, and that their parents had left them with Kaede…and yet, it troubled him. Was it right to lie, even if it was to keep that innocent gleam in those precious eyes? "But until then, will you stay in the garden and help Kaede? She is really too old to do all the work on her own, you know."
"I know. I'll help her." Kikyo nodded slightly, and Miroku kissed her brow.
"There is a good girl. I will return shortly." He waved before leaving, a knapsack over his shoulder and a small bag of coins tucked into his robes. Kikyo sighed dramatically as she watched him leave through a gap in the front curtains. There were so many people out there. They must all have different stories, and it made her wonder how they could all be so bad. Did Miroku know that they were dangerous? What had happened to him that made him so much smarter than her? He could read and write much better, but she hadn't had as many years as him to study yet. Maybe it was best to believe him. He was a nice brother, why would he lock her up unless there was a good reason? Determined not to upset Miroku, the one person she most admired in the world, Kikyo turned from the window and set out to the backyard where Kaede was weeding.
"Kikyo, why do you frown so?" Kaede brushed off her hands and stood, facing the little girl in consideration.
"Miroku left again." Kikyo admitted. "He always leaves without me." Kaede smiled and reached forward, scooping the little girl up in her arms and kissing her little cheeks.
"Don't be sad, child." She told the little girl who had come to mean so much to her. "He will return soon enough. Until then, would you like to spend time with me?"
"Miroku said I should help you." She explained, and Kaede laughed slightly.
"He is a very responsible young man, it is true." Kaede told the girl, setting her down and moving back toward her weeding. "I have never in my life trusted anyone so completely as I do Miroku. He is a true blessing to me, and I know that even though I am old, when I am gone, he will take care of all my affairs."
"You aren't that old." Kikyo told the woman, not wanting to think of Kaede going away for good like the people in the stories sometimes did. It was a very sad thing, and as she understood it, that was where her parents had gone. It would be horrible for Kaede to leave her as well. "Does Miroku really know all about you?"
"More than anyone else. Some things he has not asked about, because he respects my privacy. He is a good boy, and will soon make a very good man." Kaede told the girl as they both set about pulling up weeds. And then something very strange happened. Kikyo was enjoying spending time with Kaede, even if it meant that she was dangerously close to worms, one of her least favorite things in the world, but that was all right. Then, Kaede seemed to slow down a bit. Kikyo didn't notice at first, thinking that Kaede was tired, as she had been working out her all morning. But when the woman let out a gurgling noise as though she were choking on something, Kikyo's eyes went wide in alarm as she turned to ask what was the matter.
Before she could ask, Kaede collapsed in the dirt.
----------
Miroku came home with groceries to a sobbing Kikyo and a bedridden Kaede. He did not understand what had happened while he was gone, but Kaede had taught him enough about her art that he was able to discern the problem soon enough. Kaede had a very old body, and her heart had been giving her problem for some time. There was a special brew that she drank every morning, but it seemed that she was simply too close to the end. Nonetheless, he quickly set about making a stronger version of Kaede's heart medicine, meant to help her clear whatever difficulties she was experiencing. After he had finished, Kaede asked the sobbing Kikyo to go outside for a bit and pick her some cherries. The request was obviously an excuse to get her out of the room, and it only added to Miroku's worry.
"Drink this." He handed her the hot cup, and she smiled at him, nodding and smelling it.
"You'll be able to take over easily once I'm gone." She told him. "You are so smart, Miroku, and so talented. You will make a wonderful healer. Do not let this discourage you."
"You will be fine, Kaede." Miroku insisted as she sipped the tea. "Do not speak as though you were dying."
"Miroku, I realized that I wanted to tell you something." She told him, ignoring his words. "I had forgotten, and I always thought there would be a better time, a more opportune moment…and yet, it seems that time is running short. So I must tell you about Kagome."
"You won't…Kagome?" Miroku's face went pale at the name. He had never asked about the girl, the missing twin. He had always assumed that it was something Kaede did not want to talk about, and that he should therefore let her keep her secret. "What…about her?"
"Her father was Musouka ka'Neko, and he was the eldest son of the ka'Neko household." Kaede did not have to explain who the ka'Neko family was to an apprentice healer who had lived in Yuurei for six years. He had learned much in those years. "Before she died, I asked Mikomi what she would do if her child had Youkai signs. She said that she would have it live with the ka'Neko family, and so…"
"Kagome's…living there?" Miroku's eyes popped, and he forgot about his propriety and formality for once. "She's living in a Youkai noble home? Is…she okay?"
"They love her, and they suspect nothing of the truth. She looked exactly like a Youkai child, they would never know that she was half Gifted, as she was never taught how to use that side of herself, if indeed she ever developed any sort of power." Kaede explained. "I want you to know, Miroku. If someday you find it right…tell Kikyo. She's too young now…but someday."
"Someday, we will tell her together." Miroku insisted, and Kaede laughed weakly, setting down her empty cup.
"I love you, Miroku. I don't know if I've told you…I think of you two as the children I never had. I am sorry I could not stay with you longer. The time I've had with you is some of the best in my life." Kaede told the thirteen-year-old. "You…I want you two to be happy and to care for each other. She's not your real sister…but still…"
"I love Kikyo better than I could love any true sister, you know that." Miroku was fighting back tears. This seemed so final, he didn't know what to say.
"And…if ever anyone should call for me…would you?" Kaede asked him, her face strained. Miroku recalled all the Gifted, fleeing the country, hiding from discovery, learning to live in Fukumaden, begging for help, always ending up at Kaede's door. He remembered so many times when she had solved all their problems, like some benevolent goddess of mercy. How could he be as strong and wise as her?
"I will try. Anything I can do to help our people." Miroku promised, twin tears spilling down a face too solemn for his thirteen years.
"You are my son…the son of my heart." Kaede reached up, brushing her fingers over his cheek, wiping away one of the wet trails. "And my closest friend. I thank the gods that brought you to me. You brightened my last days. Thank you." There was a silence broken only by a stifled sob that shook Miroku's young shoulders. "And tell…tell Kikyo I love her as well."
"I…will." He promised. Her face seemed to clear then, as though all her worries were erased by those two words, and he bit his lip before blurting out. "I love you too."
"I know." She smiled before letting her eyes close. Miroku let the grief take over then, wracking his body in great sobs as he collapsed on her still chest.
"I brought cher—" Kikyo froze as she took in the scene. Miroku was crying. Miroku never cried. "Miroku?"
"She's…sleeping right now." He wiped his eyes and looked up at the little girl standing next to where he sat. She frowned at him, her eyes narrowing in suspicion.
"You're lying." She accused.
"I'm sorry." He nodded, a sob wracking through him once more. "She's…she wanted you to know. She loves you."
"She's not…" Kikyo felt foolish as tears filled her eyes. Miroku would think she was such a baby…but then, he was crying as well. Maybe it was okay when someone died?
"I'm sorry." He hugged her so tight, the cherries fell from her hand, bouncing and rolling across the floor as they both mourned together in privacy the woman who had been mother and teacher and protector to them for the last six years.
----------
Miroku was true to his word. He took care of everything that was required once Kaede had passed away. The arrangements for her cremation were made and quickly carried out, and before much time had passed, there were two urns on the backyard shrine. Every morning, both Kikyo and Miroku paid their respects to the little shrine, and Miroku began to teach Kikyo more about reading and writing as well as history and her true nature. He would wait until she was ten to show her the way of turning her eyes, but until then, she could learn the basics of controlling and manipulating her spirit, as well as the various reasons why a little girl with purple eyes did not go into the streets of Yuurei.
He cared for the affairs of the household while saving up extra money in hopes of attending the University when he turned sixteen, as he knew that Kaede had intended. When he found how much Kaede had already saved up, it made matters considerably easier, but he was still very careful, and spent all hours on call healing for families of all types, making as much money as he could so that Kikyo would be well provided for even when he wasn't able to work full time, as a University student had very little free time.
And so, time passed by, and occasionally a refugee would turn up at their doorstep, looking for help from the legendary Kaede, and learning that she had left behind a teenager who was surprisingly well-spoken and learned, one who was actually able to fulfill all their needs and helped them in any way he possibly could. It was now spoken in the secret avenues where the unwanted people walked that Miroku was the one who could help you, he could save you from the trap, the inescapable horror that was this country.
And life was good, in its own way. Miroku was happy enough just to be with Kikyo, the girl who was his sister at heart. He still couldn't bring himself to tell her the truth, even that small piece of it. It seemed too cruel to tell the girl that was his most important person that she was alone and that she would likely never live to see any members of her family. And he worried that if she knew the truth, she would not hold him so dear. He worried that she would no longer love him, that she would brush him aside and never again look at him as though he were her hero, as though he could do anything at all, and that nothing was too difficult for him to handle.
He needed someone to believe in him, and he had stopped believing the day Kaede died. And so, he held onto what he had, and he watched her grow, and he worried, and he waited, and he planned, and he hoped, and he wondered.
And then one day, he received a letter from a man he had never met. But the letter spoke of a woman whose name he had heard before. It was addressed to Kaede.
Hanami had died, and her last wish was that her daughter live with Kaede.
Could she come to get the girl?
Miroku began packing his things.
*****
The End (Of Part 2, That Is)