Title: What Lived
Theme: In a dream
Genre: Romance/Drama
Pairing: Inuyasha/Kikyou
Rating: T
Summary: (50 years prior) Can a person's most fervent desires only be fulfilled in the realm of imagination?
What LivedHe looked so different now. Eyes had darkened from amber to brown; hair from silver to black. All other hallmarks of his old heritage – the dog ears, the fangs and claws – had disappeared, erased by a wish upon a centuries-old jewel. But his true self was still clearly visible behind those eyes. He looked different, yes, but remained the same in all the ways that mattered.
Kikyou paid only the barest attention to the words sealing their union, keeping her focus on her soon-to-be husband. They had each made a great sacrifice for this marriage – he, a life measured in centuries rather than years, and she, the power that gave even youkai pause. But neither of those things mattered anymore. And the words drifted off into silence; the sunlight retreated, replaced by a curtain of darkness . . .
A darkness that was most welcome. Their eyes were shielded even from each other, but it eased some of the awkward feelings. Having served its purpose, the wedding garb was cast aside and forgotten. Their bodies twined with each other and burned away the chill that the lack of clothing caused. Hands travelled shyly over flesh, unpractised at such intimacies. And faint breaths carried through the surrounding shadows . . .
The shadows lifted to reveal a sunny field just outside the village. Kikyou stood at the edge, watching as two small children – their own – bounded through the grass. One came running over to her, only to trip and fall at her feet. With a kind, indulgent smile, she knelt and placed a hand on the child's shoulder.
Her hand came away bloody. Further ahead, shrieks of pain and fear pierced the air –
The world snapped into sharp focus. Kikyou found herself kneeling in the field, but not touching an unharmed child. Rather, her fingers rested upon a wounded man. And not all of the blood that now stained her came from him. Most of it came leaking down her arm, from a grave injury of her own.
Kikyou's face tightened in fury. The blood loss she had suffered must have caused her to daydream, to imagine the future that had been to be fulfilled this day. The future that Inuyasha had so cruelly destroyed when he tore through her with his claws and uttered his intention to attack the village.
With great effort, Kikyou pushed herself to her feet, swaying as she did so. She looked toward the village. More screams came from there, carried with the sounds of splintering wood. Inuyasha's attack.
No more time could be spared here. Inuyasha had to be stopped.
Kikyou closed the distance to the village as quickly as she could manage. She would be of little help if she fell and died before she got there. Her life was soon to run out, but not before she protected her home and sister – and gained her vengeance.
She paused at the very edge, body quivering in its weakness. On the ground before her, she spied a discarded bow beside a quiver of arrows. Kikyou managed a bitter smile at this sight and allowed her knees to give way so that she might grasp the weapon. Her hand still shook as she reached for it.
That life of happiness that she had seen only moments ago . . . It had been merely a dream, a fantasy. Dreams were full of hope and strength and tender feelings. Dreams were what died.
This world of destruction that she was in now . . . It was purely a nightmare. Nightmares were full of despair and weakness and shattered hearts. Nightmares . . .
Kikyou's fingers steadied as she placed them on the bow. Her other hand deftly plucked a single arrow from the quiver. It was all that she would need to send things to their only possible end.
Nightmares were what lived.
