Chapter 42
Kagome's eyes met with a young girl who seemed to be slightly younger than Shippo. By her appearance she was obviously of the wolf demon tribe, wearing light armor of a brownish tint. Her wavy locks were a very deep brown, tied back in a ribbon near the base of her neck loosely. Kagome thought she reminded her of someone, but she couldn't quite place who.
"Shippo? ...Shippo please stop running and hiding from me...I'm tired of chasing you...just come out- you promised!" The young girl's begging tone was met with Shippo's resistant and harsh voice as he jumped from the tree several yards from where she stood. "Just go home Kaya, I don't have time for this! I'm much too busy today!" He turned coldly to jump back into the trees, but was stopped short. "You promised! You said you would spend today with me...no training or hunting or running off...Shippo!"
"Kaya..." His voice trailed somewhat as he placed his swords in their hilts and turned to leave. "I'll be back this afternoon, I'll come see you then...and don't follow me this time..." "You're going to see her again...aren't you?" Kaya's hands were held to her chest, clutching on the words as she awaited an answer which didn't come- Shippo stayed silent, not turning to see her face- he didn't want to see the pained look in her eyes.
"TELL ME SHIPPO! YOU ARE! I know you are..." Her voice was strained, holding back tears in the pause that extended the gap between them. "Then go...I don't care anymore..." her lies trailed off as she turned and ran into the forest. "Kaya- matte!" Shippo sighed as he called too late, her figure already disappeared into the overgrowth. He cursed himself for being so stupid, then jumped into the trees, running along the tops in leaps as he neared his destination.
"What was all that about?" Kagome looked at Konomi with questioning brown hues as he began leading her up the steps. "Kaya is Kouga and Ayame's daughter...she was born not long after your death, around the same time Sango and Miroku's children were born- yet demons grow very fast at first, then their aging slows tremendously...but I'm sure you already know all this..." He cocked an eyebrow at her as they reached the top of the steps, her thoughts running over Shippo for sometime.
"Let's go, we still have alot to see." He led her in Shippo's direction, where they soon found themselves spying on Shippo as he greeted another young girl with long dark brown hair and bright brown eyes. Shippo jumped from the trees with a smirk as he looked down at the young girl, who looked about Kaya's age and hieght, wearing a blue kimono with a matching blue ribbon tying back two strands of her hair, wrapping back to the long flowing ribbon as she kneeled next to the ground, then stood with her back to Shippo.
"Hello Rin..." The girl turned quickly at first, then relaxed into a smile and ran into Shippo's arms. "Shippo!" He lifted her up as he spun around once, then placed her to her feet and looked at her smiling face. "Its good to see you again..." Shippo smiled as Rin giggled slightly. "Shhh...if my Lord finds you here, he will be cross with both of us..."
"What are you doing out here alone? Where is Jaken?" Rin smiled slightly at the boy. "He and Lord Sesshomaru are away- they had to leave me behind with Au-un while they look for some demon..." Rin finished her sentence just before coughing violently- Shippo immediately looked concerned. "Baka- he shouldn't have left you alone! Are you alright?" Rin waved it off as she stopped coughing, looking back up at Shippo. "I'm fine...besides, I'm not alone anymore..." They smiled, though Shippo was still concerned.
Kagome looked back at Konomi with questioning eyes, but he answered before the question even came out. "She is dying...Sesshomaru doesn't know how to save her this time either- you're gone, and Tenseiga won't effectively rid her body of the poison...you remember when you saved her? Well you weren't around this time...now all Sesshomaru can do is search for a demon or priest to cure her while using Tenseiga to keep death at bay- but it won't sustain her...she is slipping away everyday..." Konomi sighed. "Unfortunately, there are no priests or priestesses left with your kind of spiritual power..."
Kagome watched as Shippo and Rin talked quietly, sitting in a tree branch for most of the day as they giggled and teased each other. She smiled softly to herself, bittersweetly knowing that Rin would die because she wasn't around, but thoughts changed when she heard a small noise from the nearby bushes. Her eyes turned to catch sight of the girl hidden behind a tree as the sun was vanishing.
Kaya's figure was shadowed in the darkness of the shadows as she spyed on the two young friends in the tree not far away. Her face was pained, yet curiously eager to soak in everything that happened- she bit her lower lip as she stole her eyes away and hid behind the tree again, trying her best to stay perfectly still and quiet while her heart was breaking. Shippo was with Rin again...she wasn't allowed to see Rin...her father had made a promise to Sesshomaru that his entire pack would stay clear of her because wolves scared her so much. But he was with her, though he knew that she cared for him, he ran to see her anyway. He always did, until she wasn't around...as soon as she returned to Sesshomaru's side to travel he ran back to her...and she always took him back...
Kagome saw it unfold before her, almost as if time replayed itself. Shippo jumped from the tree as he told Rin goodbye, kissing her tenderly then watching her run off into the dark forest. He turned rapidly as Kaya clumsily made a small pained noise from behind the tree. He called for the intruder angrily, his face finally softening somewhat when he saw Kaya step from the shadows with a heavy burdened look across her eyes. He tried to call for her but it was too late, she was gone.
"I can't stand it anymore!" She leaned her head forward as an angry tear rolled down her cheek, her forehead resting against the tree as her fists stretched out on the bark above her, digging her claws into the fragile wood. "Why does he love that human so much! This isn't fair...Sesshomaru doesn't approve of him, but still he risks his life to be with her whenever he gets the chance...that baka...he's going to get himself killed one day..." Her fists clenched tightly as she bit her lip. "...but...he promised...he promised it would be different this time..." Her voice trailed as she wiped her tears, pushing herself up from the support of the tree and standing there, gazing at the wounded bark as if it had offended her. Finally, she swung her fist into it, blowing the base of the tree into pieces and leaping away toward the mountains as it came toppling to the forest floor.
Kagome watched as the young wolf-demon ran off, reminded of the pain she felt when she ran away from Inuyasha. It was happening again- it was the same, only this time it was Shippo, not Inuyasha- and it was another set of girl's having their hearts tugged in opposite directions. Soon, Shippo was passing them, trying to follow Kaya's scent. Konomi laughed slightly, Kagome turning her head curiously to hear his explaination as to why he found it so funny.
"He'll never catch her...he knows that- but he always tries...she has the speed of her father...and it happens this way every time...Kaya catches Shippo sneaking off, then he has to explain things while rescuing her when she runs into trouble..." "So she is Kouga and Ayame's daughter after all?" Kagome questioned as they walked through the forest quietly, leaving the young lovers to their quarrel. "Hai, but Kaya is only raised by her father...Ayame died shortly after Kaya was born." Kagome's face was shocked at the comment. "Died? How? What happened?"
"The clan was mysteriously attacked by a demon, Ayame and Kouga fought fiercely to protect their pack and their daughter, and their entire pack fought to protect Kaya- but in the end, many died and Ayame ended up being fatally injured, but not before she sent their daughter to safety. She watched the remaining pack take their daughter to the mountains as both her and Kouga stayed and tried their best to slay the demon, but failed- Ayame was fatally wounded and Kouga was badly injured himself, but he escaped with his life and his dying mate in his arms."
"That's horrible...poor Kouga...Ayame...and Kaya will never get to know her mother- thats just horrible..." Konomi's stoic gaze gave a certain warmth as he stared at her, turning somewhat sympathetic. "And what of the others...you have yet to show me Inuyasha...where is he? How is he doing now?" Konomi sighed slightly, continuing to walk into the forest.
"Konomi? Tell me- Come on! I want to see Inuyasha!" Konomi's voice was swift and silenting. "Be patient, you will see him soon enough..." Kagome sighed impatiently, wondering what he would be like- if he and Kikyo were living in a cozy hut stashed in the woods, if Kikyo's soul had returned- if Inuyasha was human...if Inuyasha was even still alive...but what she found was nothing she could have imagined.
Konomi led her to the clearing where the well stood, erected in the middle of the field with a silver-haired figure sitting on the lip of its aged wooden edges. Kagome curiously watched, walking into the field to get a better view of her hanyou, but Konomi stayed put at the tree line. 'Inuyasha...' The red haori was slightly tattered from time and battles fought, but this was her hanyou- so why did he seem different? She stepped in front of him- seing his eyes said it all.
Kagome gasped slightly- his face, it was scarred. The largest of the scars ran down his forehead to his brow, then began again just under his ember hues and stopped mid-cheek. A few others ran along his cheeks, but his eyes- Kagome noticed the flicker from them was gone, he held a deep cold to him, like Sesshomaru. She watched as got up to his feet, sniffing the air slightly and then leaping into a nearby tree.
Her heart pounded in her chest, her mind relaying rationalizations back and forth- too many to keep up with. She heard a short laughter, then saw Miroku and Sango step from the small forest with their family. They walked by the well with only a short pause to interrupt their conversation- the young children giggling and playing until they passed through the clearing and disappeared once again.
Inuyasha jumped from the tree, scoffing slightly at the happy scene that had just passed his sight. He looked at his claws nostalgicly, then returned his eyes to the well before speeding off into the forest. "What- What happened to him? Something is wrong...Inuyasha isn't like that- he would never be so...so..." Kagome sighed- losing her words in her thoughts and frustrations as tears formed behind her brown hues.
"Inuyasha began to lose his mind after your death...he felt it was his fault- it had to be his fault, every woman he loved and protected eventually died...he went insane with his guilt and decided he wasn't meant to be close to anyone...he vowed to live his life alone- and so he did, he detached himself from everything and ran away from everyone who tried to help."
"but...no- he can't live like this! He can't survive this way!" Kagome was finally beginning to fall apart- she was starting to forget that this wasn't her world. "He needs his friends! Baka- What was he thinking! We have to do something- I have to help him!" Kagome was rambling and raving through ragged breathes as Konomi stared her down, awaiting her finish. "Konomi- tell me where he is! I have to find him!"
"And do what? We can't change anything here- I've told you before, we are only visitors..." Konomi's ember hues looked to the direction in which Inuyasha was headed. "He'll probably meet up with Sesshomaru...ever since your death, those two can't stop going at it- ...Inuyasha fights Sesshomaru and the Lord quickly retaliates...its as though they have no other purpose now...they live to kill each other- yet they never succeed..."
Kagome sighed- her Inuyasha- he wasn't hers anymore...he had told her once that he wasn't meant to be so easy-going and carefree like she wanted him to be, but she told him over and over- she wanted him to love, to laugh, to be happy...this was nothing like what she wanted for him...this wasn't the life she invisioned for her hanyou, for her friends...
"Come...our time here is spent..." Kagome looked over at Konomi, standing by the lip of the well. "We have to go so soon? What's going to happen to them all?" Konomi sighed. "I don't want to spend any more time looking at this particular world, but in the future Miroku and Sango live with their children quietly in the village, though Sango always regrets her brother's death- Rin will eventually die of her poisoning...but not before Sesshomaru does the drastically insane trying to save her...Shippo and Kaya fall in love- " Kagome rolled her eyes. "Stop- just show me...I want to see...I want to see thier future...and what happens to Inuyasha...please Konomi...show me..."
Konomi sighed defeatingly. "Very well...if we must..." Kagome and Konomi fell through time once more- traveling another 5 years into the future of thier alternate reality. "Here...5 more years...and everything has changed..." Kagome looked around- finding themselves in the same spot, though she heard voice nearby...
"Who is that?" Kagome's dispondent voice fell off as she walked into the woods toward the sacred tree. Konomi followed silently until they arrived under the Goshimboku. "Inuyasha...please...stop it!" The voice was familiar, Kagome's eyes washing over the silver haired hanyou who stood in front of her reflection...yet this wasn't Kikyo...no- this was Kagome?
"Konomi- what is this? I thought you were taking me to the future of this world- not a different world entirely..." Konomi smirked slightly. "I did...look at Inuyasha's face...I did as I said I would do- I told you Sesshomaru tried the drastically insane before Rin's death...he did the only thing left to him- he raised the dead..." Kagome gasped slightly, looking over herself- she was wearing a beautiful kimono...exactly like the one she was wearing the day she was buried, yet she was scared- she hated the thought of being like Kikyo- she never wished to be resurrected...
"You are flesh and blood, yet you do not understand what has happened- people you knew are all different...you were dead almost a decade before you were brought back to life." Kagome watched as she raised her voice to Inuyasha- his figure backing away, his eyes gazing stoicly- trying to stay emotionless as he stared her down, though the flood of emotion was killing him.
"Stop running- please Inuyasha- I need you..." Inuyasha growled low in his chest, looking away from her. "Shut up! You don't need me...you died because of me...everyone I've ever loved has died- so just stay away from me!" Kagome's face was stained with tears in the dusky sunlight; she ran over and grabbed his wrist as he tried to walk away, making him turn around as she held his hand up and placed hers against his, interlacing their fingers. "THIS! This is what I've waited for Inuyasha...your hands were meant for this...they would never hurt or betray me...I know your hands are gentle...so why are you walking away- why are you breaking my heart?" Inuyasha's hand went to her cheek, his voice still hard and cold, as if time would not let him release his guilt and anguish. "You stupid girl- I would rather you be alive and heartbroken- than dead and buried." "BUT THAT'S MY CHOICE TO MAKE! I will gladly die for you again Inuyasha- but don't make me die without you..."
Kagome sighed- the scene was heartwrenching for her...as unusual as watching her own funeral. She had seen enough to be satisfied and soon, Konomi was taking her to a new world. "Come, we can use the well as our portal now..." With that, Konomi and Kagome jumped down the rabbit hole and into something new...all the while, Kagome wondering how she was ever going to make it home...or to what home she would return to...
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Well, I hope you enjoyed that one- it was unusual, but fun to write! Can't wait to see what they run into next...lots of twists and turns in the next chappy to keep reading and reviewing! Ja Ne!
Here's your translations, as always...
matte- wait
Otousan- father
jinseikouro-path of one's life
Konomi-his name means "choice"