Chapter Seven: Never Forgotten, Always Protected
By Ddoskocil
-----------------------------------
This is the last chapter of this story. It also happens to be the longest chapter. Hope you all enjoy it. I've had fun writing it and I hope I captured Inu-Yasha and crew. And now, on with the story.
Flashback
"Inu-Yasha," his mother called. "I have a present for you." Four year-old Inu-Yasha ran to his mother and jumped into her arms.
"Mama! Big Sister says I look a lot like Father. She says I'll grow up big and strong like him."
"Your Big Sister is right," his mother smiled. She took a shiny red ball out of a small bag and handed it to her son. "Here, Inu-Yasha. I bought you a gift in the village today." Inu-Yasha happily took the ball and squirmed from his mother's hands.
"Can we play, Mama?' he asked as he held it up to her. His mother smiled down at him.
"Of course we can."
End Flashback
Inu-Yasha hugged the ball to his chest. He closed his eyes and tried to forget the happier times of his youth.
"Inu-Yasha?" Miroku asked. He put his hand on the half-demon's shoulder, but Inu-Yasha shrugged it off with a "feh."
"You can stay here," he said as he stormed out of the room. Miroku just sighed and settled in for the night. He would worry about Inu-Yasha tomorrow.
Inu-Yasha walked back into the main room to watch his sister. She sipped at tea as she looked after the two girls on their pallets. "Inu-Yasha," she stated without looking at him. Inu-Yasha stared, but a small grin played at his face. He shook his head as he fully stepped into the room. She finally looked up as he sat down.
"Do you still miss her, Inu-Yasha?"
"Huh?'
"Your mother. Do you still miss her?"
"Feh,"
"I miss her." Inu-Yasha looked at Kan-Tama, surprised by her comment.
"I guess I miss her a little," he admitted.
There was silence between them as they watched the two girls sleep.
"Do you still wish to become a full demon, Inu-Yasha?"
"I...I don't know," he answered quietly. "I wanted to be powerful-"
"You are powerful, Inu-Yasha. More powerful than you know."
" I still needed your help to beat that demon."
"No. You did not. In truth, I needed your help to defeat that monster. He hungered for my jewel shard. The spirit shield around the shrine protected me, but it is weakening and I fear it will soon fail completely. When that happens, this shrine and myself with it, will pass."
"What!"
"My life force is tied to this shrine. When it is destroyed, I will die," she replied calmly. Inu-Yasha stared at her, his jaw slack and his eyes wide. Kan-Tama leaned over and closed his mouth like he was a child.
"Die! Kan-Tama, you...you can't die."
"Yes I can. Everyone dies someday, Inu-Yasha. I have lived a long life, most of it happy. Death is merely my next adventure."
"But-"
"Inu-Yasha," Kagome mumbled. Inu-Yasha looked to the girl lying on the pallet. "Inu-Yasha. What happened?"
"You were paralyzed by the demon," Kan-Tama replied. "I gave you some herbs. You should feel better by morning. Go back to sleep." The young woman nodded and closed her eyes.
"You should get some sleep as well, Inu-Yasha. I will see you in the morrow." Inu-Yasha nodded and stood. He took a few steps to his room before he stopped and looked over his shoulder.
"Kan-Tama?'
"Yes,"
"Did you even want to become a full demon?"
"Yes."
"Before...before you, um-"
"Before I killed my mother. Yes, Inu-Yasha."
"Why did you change your mind?"
"I did not like what I become with full demonic powers. I lost that small part of myself that was human. I used to believe I did not need that part, but something changed all that."
"What?"
"Your mother had you. I knew I had to teach you the ways of my mother. That's when I asked Father to help me."
"Because of me?"
"Yes. You should sleep. The spirit shield will protect you and your friends. Do not worry, Inu-Yasha. I would never let any harm come to you or your friends." Inu-Yasha nodded. He slowly made his way back to his old room while Kan-Tama settled into her tea and watched the sleeping girls.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Kagome awoke slowly to the smell of rice cooking. She cracked open her eyes, but quickly closed them when a beam of bright light blinded her. She rolled to her side and opened her eyes experimentally. There was no light, so she opened them wide and looked around. She was lying on a palette, Sango lying next to her, in a large room in the shrine. She could not remember how she got there. She bolted up, but immediately regretted her decision.
"Ow," she moaned as she cradled her head in her hands. "What happen?" Someone shoved a bowl of foul liquid under her nose.
"You mean you don't remember?" Inu-Yasha asked between bites of rice. Kagome took the bowl from Miroku and, holding her nose, drank it down.
"Ick. That's the most disgusting thing I've ever drank," she complained as she handed the bowl back to the monk. "What's in it?'
"You do not want to know," Miroku replied as he spooned some more in and set it to cool for Sango. He returned his gaze to Kagome.
"Do you truly not remember what happened last night, Kagome?"
"I remember-" she stopped and screwed her face, drawing on her memory for the fuzzy details. "There was a fight with a demon. He looked at me, but after that, everything's a little hazy." She took a clean bowl and spooned rice into it.
"You should not eat yet," Kan-Tama warned as she entered the room with an armload of firewood. Kagome put down her chopsticks carefully and watched Kan-Tama place the wood in a metal bin.
"You were paralyzed by a demon last night, Kagome," she began as she sat, "and I had to use many herbs to bring you out of it. It would be best if you did not eat anything for a while. There is broth, made of different herbs, which will cure any undesirable effects from the herbs to cure the paralysis." She spooned herself a small bowl of rice and delicately ate with white chopsticks. Kagome watched, her stomach aching with hunger.
"Can't ya give her just a little, Kan-Tama?" Inu-Yasha asked after Kagome's stomach growled for the third time. Kan-Tama shook her head.
"Drink one more bowl of broth. If the herbs are not properly counters, you could become gravely ill." She handed the human girl the bowl. Kagome moaned, but she swallowed the liquid. Kan-Tama took the bowl back and spooned more liquid in to it.
"I don't have to drink that, do I?" Kagome complained. Kan-Tama smiled.
"No. This is for Sango. You may eat your afternoon meal, but not before then. Understand?" Kan-Tama leveled her gaze of Kagome and she nodded quickly.
"Good," Kan-Tama said then went back to her meal. A few moments later, Sango awoke, groggy and just as confused at her friend had been. Kan-Tama made her drink two bowls of the broth, much to the protest of the demon slayer. Kan-Tama ignored the whining and set aside one more bowl for each girl to drink before they left.
"Are you sure you must leave so soon, Inu-Yasha?" she asked as she finished cleaning up the breakfast dishes.
"Yeah," he replied.
"We need to find as many jewel shards as we can before Naraku finds them," Kagome added as she held her nose. She screwed up her face and quickly downed the last bowl of the offending broth. Kan-Tama lifted her head up, her eye twitching.
"Naraku," she said, venom in her voice. She clenched her hands into fists and her body tensed.
"You've heard of Naraku?" Miroku asked as he looked up from his tea. He raised an eyebrow at the demon as she growled in response. Inu-Yasha stood and walked over to his sister. He hovered behind her, not sure what to do. Kan-Tama smiled at him and handed him a cup of tea.
"Sit, Inu-Yasha," she said softly. "I do not need you hovering around me like that." She turned to Miroku, her own cup of steaming tea in her hands. She sat across from him as Inu-Yasha sat next to her. Kagome and Sango shifted to complete the circle with Shippo resting on Kagome's lap. She looked at each of them in turn.
"Yes, I know of Naraku. There was a large disturbance day he was born. So many demons in one place, all concentrating their energy on one man was reason enough to investigate." She gazed turned to Inu-Yasha. "But I was too late. I went after Naraku, but my power is limited outside the shrine, and he proved to be more clever than I thought." Miroku nodded his understanding. All present were familiar with Naraku's cunning.
"So you couldn't stop him," Inu-Yasha gloated. Kan-Tama gave him a sharp look, annoyed by his outburst.
"Sit," Kagome said sharply. Inu-Yasha smashed to the ground, his face planted in the dirt floor. He stood enraged and stamped his feet at Kagome while the young girl ignored him.
"Why the hell did ya do that?" he yelled. Kagome drank her tea in silence, watching her half-demon friend as he fumed.
"Inu-Yasha," Kan-Tama finally interrupted. Her brother looked up at her and immediately understood. He collected himself with as much dignity as he could muster. He took up Tetsusaiga and tied it to his belt. He walked out the door, stopping once to look at Kagome.
"Let's go," he commanded before strolling out. Kagome frowned and looked to her companions. Sango was strapping her bone boomerang across her back while Miroku drained the last of his tea. She stood slowly, not wanting to leave the comforts of the small shrine. She turned when some one tapped her on the back.
"Here, Kagome," Kan-Tama said as she offered the young girl a clay pot. Kagome took it and turned it in her hands. "These are healing herbs. You will find them useful in your travels." Kagome nodded.
"Thank you." She packed the pot carefully in her backpack.
By then, everyone was ready. Kan-Tama saw them out and walked with them to the end of the shrine property. She stopped as they said their good-byes and continued on their way.
"Inu-Yasha," the demon called out. He stopped and looked over his shoulder.
"You are always welcome here," she said with a smile. He nodded, a faint smile playing on his lips. He turned back and followed his friends down the dirt path toward an unknown destination.
Kan-Tama watched them go until she could not see them anymore. She stood, lonely from the silence. She sighed and crossed her arms over her chest.
"It is not yours Sesshö-Maru," she commented dryly over her shoulder. Her younger brother stepped out of the shadows and stood next to her.
"It should have been. He stole it from me," he growled.
"It was never yours. Father gave it freely to Inu-Yasha."
"He was a fool."
Kan-Tama turned to her brother, her eyes flashing red.
"I am sorry Father choose Inu-Yasha over you. I am first born and should have received the Tetsusaiga. But Father chose him. I made a vow that I will protect him, even from you. I will kill you if you harm him." She stated it matter-of-factly, her anger subsided as her speech continued. "I will hunt you down and kill you, Sesshö-Maru."
"Big words for one who is not even full demon," he taunted
She smiled. "Do I smell human on you, little brother?"
He growled and spun around, his hair flying behind him. "I will have Tetsusaiga," he snarled.
"You will die on that day," Kan-Tama stated tiredly as she watched her demon brother board his cloud vessel.
"You have no power outside this pathetic shrine," he observed as he road away. Kan-Tama shook her head as she watched.
"You know so little about me, Brother," she whispered. She turned back to watch the path Inu-Yasha and his friends took only moments ago.
"Be safe, Yasha."
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Inu-Yasha led the way down the dirt path that led away from his childhood home. He looked over his shoulder occasionally, but quickly turned back to the road whenever he thought someone was looking at him. His mind was full of images and he found it hard to concentrate on much else but his long forgotten childhood. So much bad had happened to him that he forgot the good.
He laughed with Kan-Tama as she tickled him before putting him to bed.
She told him a story about their father as they sat outside under the willow tree.
He ran to her with a small wounded bird. She smiled and took it from him. Weeks later, they released it together in the garden that surrounded the shrine.
Inu-Yasha looked back over his shoulder one final time before he turned all his attention to road before him. He tried to block the floor of memories being with his older sister had brought one. He wanted to forget.
"She gave us her shards," Kagome suddenly exclaimed. Inu-Yasha whipped around.
"What did you say?"
She looked up at him and held out her hand. In her palm were two pink jewel shards. Sango and Miroku, who was pushing Kagome's bike, looked over the young woman's shoulder.
"Why would she give us the shards?" Sango asked. Miroku shrugged.
"I don't know."
"Inu-Yasha?" Kagome asked, but the half-demon was looking back toward the shrine. He grinned.
"We've got more shards to find," he commented dryly. He strolled back down road, the others slowly following.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Kan-Tama closed the door to Inu-Yasha's room. Inside, a red ball rested on a wood chair.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Note: I do not own Inu-Yasha or any other characters from the manga and anime Inu-Yasha. Inu-Yasha is copyrighted 1997 by Rumiko Takahashi/Shogakukan Inc and copyrighted 2005 by VIZ, LLC. All rights reserved. This story was written without permission of the copyright holders and for non-profit use. "The Red Ball" and the character Kan-Tama are copyrighted 9/2005 by Ddoskocil.