Memory – Chapter 3
Disclaimer: I do not own Inuyasha or any other characters involved in this. They are the property of Rumiko Takahashi and shall remain that way.
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Recap "She is worried, remember to come back."
And with that this world is slipping away. I try to grasp at it, but it's not coming back. I think I cry out, but I'm not sure, because I lose conciseness again.
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The world comes swirling back in the same haze as before. The moment my vision isn't fuzzy, I look around. But the woman is gone. The strange part is, there's a man sitting where she was.
His face, too, is obscured by shadow. I can't get the same kind of… aura reading off him. But I can get his connection to the woman. I'm confused, but there are more of those shadows beyond my eyelids. He's a… houshi? And the woman from before is the Taji-ya. I get it now, sort of.
Another one of those spiritual smiles dances around his face, though there's no way he could see me. His head is turned away from me. He speaks in a calm voice, full of reassurance. I know I've heard his voice before, this cannot be a coincidence.
"You have chosen a most interesting place as your sanctuary."
Oh yeah. That's gonna help me absolutely loads.
"Do you understand who you are?"
Damn you, start making sense.
"You are Inuyasha, Inu–hanyou of the Sengoku Jidai. Does that bring back any memories?"
Hai, it does. I'm filled with... grief? Something I've known for all my life. I'm regaining memories now... Of whom I was as a child. And as an adult. The people I've known, the places I've been. It's like sledding, the one time that… SHE took me. Hell if I know what sledding is though. But it's the same sensation of everything rushing past me faster than I can really catch it.
I see… is that Kikyou? I don't know, but the image runs by quickly and is gone. And then… an arrow flying out of nowhere. I've dropped something, someone betrayed me. And then blackness, but not the blackness of fading away from my sanctuary, as the monk called it. Just the memory's end.
Is this when I fainted?
"No."
Well, at least I've got something. And the houshi is talking again.
"You cannot leave us Inuyasha; you must remember who you are."
That was rather pointless now wasn't it?
"She needs to return soon, you have to wake up."
That's at least established a couple things. One, I'm clearly still unconscious and wandering around inside my own head. Two, whoever SHE is is going away and I need to get to her before she goes away. Oh Kami, this isn't helping me.
The houshi is starting to fade, I can see a few of the brighter stars behind him. But there's no way I'm going to let him leave.
You CANT leave! I scream out in my mind. But of all things, it doesn't work. Inwardly I grimace, because I still can't move my body parts. The houshi has faded and I'm left alone with my thoughts.
…
Shut up.
I take the time to gaze around at the void I'm floating in, looking for a moon. There isn't one, but I can see its glow reflecting off a rock in the distance.
Wait a minute, what rock?
It comes as quite a shock that I'm not floating anymore, I'm lying down. From my position here, it appears to be a grassy hillock looking up at the stars. I can't see my body, but the grass is bending where it's supposed to be. Apparently I'm here… and yet I'm not. I don't understand.
I can't move either, like something's holding me back. I think I attempt to move, but a sudden fire races up my…leg? Whoa. It hurts like hell, and I can't stop it. Well, that thoroughly screws up any ideas of exploring.
The stars really are quite pretty. It makes me…
A sudden flash of memory again, something quite insignificant. Watching the stars, there are people around me. The... Taji-ya and the houshi? Demons perhaps, and a… a…
Damn, I can't figure it out again. I think that's her, whoever her is, but I can't reach out. I can't remember who she is. I can't even remember her name. The memory's gone too fast, there's nothing for me to hold onto, no lifeline.
A state of despair settles over me, and I can feel something hot. Is this… tears? I've felt… I've felt this once before. When SHE died, of poisoning. Why do I remember this? Why did she die?
Sorrow beyond helping overcomes me and I can't help but close my eyes. Or, I dunno, the world just blacks out. I'm still awake though, I can feel my 'world' revolving around me. At least as much as it could without me.
I don't want to wake up anymore. I don't care. Sleep would be so nice…
Fading my darling…
You cannot fade away…
Sleeping my darling…You can't sleep the night away…
What the hell!
I'm awake in an instant, perhaps to see whomever it was singing. But there's no one, nothing. Just the empty void, the grass and the stars up above. Oh, and my lovely invisible body. I close my eyes again and the singing comes back.
Rushing my darling…
You cannot run away…
Loving my darling…
She was never here to stay…"NO!"
I'm startling again from the brink of sleeping, just where I was. That was my voice, wasn't it- the one that spoke out? Why am I talking all of a sudden?
The singing… so familiar… It's my mother. Don't ask me how I know, because I just do. Her voice is so sweet, so comforting…
But I know. I know she's not dead. Because she wouldn't ever leave me, she promised. She wanted to stay by my side; she wanted to be with me, even if…
If what?
What have I got to deserve someone who'd want me like that?
And just like that, bam, the memory of HER has faded. But peace has come. She's not dead, because I can feel her. I KNOW it, I can believe it now. I just need to return…
Sleep comes so easily when… whennn… you're… tired….
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Reviewers
Aries: WRITE MORE
That's what I'm doing dahling
Behind Crimson Eyes: YOU MUST CONTINUE! YOU HAVE TO! Do you WANT me to cry? HUH! Is THAT what you want! Goodness... Write more.
Er… Don't cry –patpat- I don't want my readers to cry. That's why I'm writing.
Kirro: I really like the idea you have here. Just a few things to nit pick at. One; you switched tenses after the second paragraph without warning. It was third person then all of the sudden switched to first. Second; remember to double check for grammar errors. Spell Check the system won't always notice them.
I look forward to reading more of your work. Keep it up ;)
PS. I'm so happy to finally have a stalker of my very own! You have SO made my day :D
The reason it switches tenses is because at first it a point of view for everybody as a whole, verses now when it's just Inuyasha. I think the thing uploaded wrong and the lines disappeared.
I'm quite happy to be you're stalker, though. I'm such a fan of your work. X3 It's so excellent, I think I've read Whispered Confessions at least 10 times. Why? Probably because I have no life, and the story is really good.
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Chapter 4 Preview
"Inuyashaaaa, you are such a pain. Stop sleeping all the time, real demons don't need sleep"
"Half-demon runt, and I'd squash you if I could fuckin' move"
"But you can't. So hah."
"Just you wait"
"Anyway, I've come to tell you she's gone"
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Stay… er… tuned… For Chapter Four of Memory!