Reflections
...OOO...
I JUST DON'T GET IT!
Tetsusaiga slashed the air and another tree crashed down to join its fallen comrades as Inuyasha took out his frustration on the hapless forest around him.
"Inuyasha..." Kagome stepped into the circle of stumps .
One look at her blood shot eyes told him how she had spent most of her night.
"Hey," he greeted softly, sheathing his sword.
Kagome did not know why exactly she had cried but she had done her best to name the confusion of emotions storming inside of her. In the end, they left her weak.
Kikyo- the same for whose death she had shed tears- was alive.
It was too much to hope she would stay dead and buried this time.
The sudden though had made her balk and immediately she pushed it away, angry with herself for thinking it... and, though she could not admit it, for it being true.
Now that Kikyo was back and waiting for him, would Inuyasha leave Kagome to be with her?
Kagome greatly feared the answer she suspected.
Even in the six months-no, the more than fifty years they had been apart, it was obvious that Inuyasha's love for Kikyo had never diminished. If anything, it had only grown...
How can I compete with her sacrifice? With his loyalty?
But instead of asking the one question she desperately wanted the answer to, she gave in to her fear and merely asked, "Will you be going to see Kikyo soon?"
He saw the obvious pain in her eyes, knew how much she was hurting, how much more he would hurt her- but at the same time, he just couldn't help himself, so he simply answered, "Yeah."
All night long a thousand questions had been swirling around in his head, and he needed answers.
Kikyo was alive, but how had she survived?
Why didn't he find her after days of searching through the rubble?
What was she doing here now?
And why with Sesshomaru of all people?
But first and foremost, the question that plagued him was- Why didn't she let him know sooner that she was alive?
...ooo...
The same question ran through Sesshomaru's mind as he watched Kikyo stir with the first early rays of sunshine.
Like Kagome and Inuyasha, he too had spent the night in sleeplessness, but unlike them he had been more successful in keeping his thoughts in check- or at least in keeping them from being so apparent in his expression.
He had kept watch over the priestess from a sitting position on a thick above ground root of the tree under which she slept, his back against its rough trunk, one foot up in easy repose.
Her wound had completely healed in the night, the laceration disappearing without a trace, her skin restored to its original perfection.
After the last of her Soul Collectors had vanished, he had once again used the heavy fur he carried to cover her. He had known it was a pointless gesture, but he didn't try to make sense of it.
That was a power she seemed to have over him- making him question his own actions. And the only way he knew to combat it was to not bother with reasons.
"So you're awake," he stated when her eyes fluttered open, taking note first of him and then the fur wrapped around her shoulders.
Instinctively her hand flew to her side but felt nothing, just as she knew she wouldn't.
"Did you sleep well?" he asked keeping his eyes fixed on some distant object only he could see.
"Yes," she answered with the same nonchalance he gave her, rising to her feet. "Perhaps it was the pain which kept him away, but Naraku did not come."
And he momentarily wondered why she had thought he was referring to him at all.
Instead he asked, "And what do you plan to do about Inuyasha?"
"There is nothing I can do," she replied plainly. And he understood without need for further elaboration, though he did not agree with it- with her so called "fate."
Still, he had to know.
"Why did you wish to conceal yourself from him?"
She did not know how he had found out, but she did not altogether care.
"What else could I do?" she asked.
"You could have gone back to him," he replied matter-of-factly.
"And offer him what? This body which cannot feel? No... It was the only way he could move on, to forget about me... It was best he did not know."
"Know what?" Inuyasha's unusually calm voice interrupted them as he entered the clearing, Kagome following close behind.
She had decided to come- no matter what happened, she needed to be there too.
Sesshomaru rose upon their arrival.
I wonder what will happen now, he thought detachedly, a question he had never before had to ask himself.
...ooo...
"They have gathered, Master," Kanna's empty voice proclaimed to an empty darkened cave.
"Good," Naraku replied, his voice eschewing from her mirror.
Now that Kikyo and Inuyasha were once again reunited, soon his plans would be realized.
Fools, he thought contemptuously. How easy they were to deceive, to manipulate, so readily falling into his carefully placed traps...
True, he had not counted on Sesshomaru's continuing presence, but the demon lord was of little consequence. Only the girl stood in his way and she would be easily disposed of with Inuyasha blinded by his beloved Kikyo.
...ooo...
The four of them stood awkwardly, no one knowing where to begin.
It was Inuyasha who broke the silence.
"Do you guys think you could give us a minute?" he asked quietly, his eyes never leaving Kikyo as she turned to see Sesshomaru comply.
Kagome hesitated, wanting to stay and disappear all at once, knowing nothing could be accomplished with her presence and yet wanting it to be over with as fast as possible as well. In the end she willed herself to move and followed Sesshomaru wordlessly. They came to stop at a tree shaded cliff which fell away into more forest, and in the distance she could make out a cluster of tiny houses and farmland at the base of a looming grey mountain.
"What do you think will happen now?" she asked his back, the question which he himself did not voice.
But he kept his eyes directed at the carpet of green beneath him and coldly responded, "It doesn't concern me."
"Oh, right," she laughed humorlessly. "I forgot- what do you care..."
...ooo...
"Kikyo..." Inuyasha whispered her name and advanced, his arms outstretched.
She resisted only slightly as he drew her to him into a tight embrace...
"Why didn't you tell me you were still alive?" he finally asked.
"Would it have mattered?" she answered.
Why? Why does my heart feel so empty? Even in his arms...
"You still love Kagome, do you not?"
He could not answer. Of course he loved Kagome- he could not deny that- but Kikyo... Kikyo was the one he loved first, the one he loved most... wasn't she? But Kagome was important, too... How was he supposed to choose?
But just as he was losing himself in his eternal indecision, a flicker of familiar demonic aura interrupted his thoughts.
Instantly Kikyo pulled away. She had sensed it as well...
...ooo...
Sesshomaru was the first to notice it.
"What is that?" Kagome asked, coming to stand beside him, one hand shading her eyes as she strained to make out the strange dark cloud which had formed over the distant mountain and was now rapidly moving closer and closer.
The familiar aura...
Realization struck her dumb and she could barely utter out, "Naraku's poisonous insects!"
She turned to him only to see him bolt in the direction where they had left Inuyasha and Kikyo. Hurriedly, she stumbled after him.
...ooo...
Sesshomaru leapt gracefully through the forest, his foot barely touching the ground before he was airborne again, one solitary name speeding him along.
Kikyo!
...ooo...
She and Inuyasha met him as he landed softly in the clearing.
"Sesshomaru!" Inuyasha exclaimed. "What is it?" Although he knew what the obvious answer must be, he just could not bring himself to believe it. "And Where's Kagome?"
As if in answer, they heard her terrified shriek.
"INUYASHA!"
"Kagome!" Inuyasha shouted, racing off in the direction of the scream.
Sesshomaru was stunned- They were after the girl?
He went after Inuyasha and Kikyo followed until they reached the edge of the cliffs. From there they could see the almost solid cloud of insects with an unconscious Kagome in their midst.
Without hesitation, Inuyasha sprang after them.
"Fool!" Sesshomaru muttered, leaping after him and grabbing him around the waist. "Did you think you could save her by falling to your death?"
"Sesshomaru?" Inuyasha was at a loss for what was happening until he caught sight of Kikyo looking down on them as they rapidly descended.
As soon as Sesshomaru landed them safely onto the lower forest floor, Inuyasha demanded, "You idiot! What about Kikyo!"
And he answered sternly, "You can't have it both ways, Inuyasha- either stay with Kikyo or save the girl. Which will it be?"
A look of pure frustration crossed Inuyasha's face, but finally he took off after Kagome. Sesshomaru matched him leap for leap.
...ooo...
Meanwhile, high above the air, Kagura rushed in her feather toward the same mountain, the memory of her dream still fresh in her mind. At least, she hoped it was only a dream...
Just yesterday she had been enjoying a glorious sunset from atop an ornate temple when his voice flooded into her thoughts.
Go to Kanna, Naraku had ordered.
She had tried to resist, but suddenly she felt her chest tighten, her breath cut off.
Go to Kanna, he had repeated.
And this time, she obeyed.
...ooo...
"Demons!" a man cried out in alarm as Sesshomaru and Inuyasha approached the tiny village at the mountain's base. Those who could, scattered and sought shelter where they might, while a woman and two children prostrated themselves.
"Please," the woman begged, frantically drawing the children nearer, "Spare us!"
"What the hell happened here?" Inuyasha asked in astonishment as they stopped to pause. The smell of death lingered heavily in the air and all around he could make out several fresh graves...
"Haven't we suffered enough?" An old man came hobbling defiantly out of his hut to meet them. "First you take my daughter, and then her only child. Will you now take me, as well? Then take me!"
Bounding up to him, Inuyasha prodded, "Old man, you say something took your daughter? What was it?"
Surprised by his interrogation, the old man could only answer honestly, "A demon in the shape of a child accompanied by several larger ones. She demanded them to be sacrificed..."
"Where?" he demanded urgently.
"From the mountain-" and without waiting for him to finish, the two brothers raced for the summit.
What was that damn Naraku up to? Sesshomaru wondered. First Kikyo, then the girl, and now these humans? What could he possibly be planning?
Slashing their way through several minor demons, they reached the flattened summit to find a deathly still Kagome lying beside Kanna, her mirror in her white hands.
"YOU!" Inuyasha yelled angrily. "What'd you do to Kagome?" He lunged for her with his claws, but was deflected back by her mirror.
Sidestepping him, Sesshomaru drew Tokijen and addressed her, "Where is Naraku?"
Kanna did not answer, but there was no need for her to as Naraku's face manifested itself on her mirror.
"You wished to see me?" he smiled malevolently.
Sesshomaru was about to launch himself at the image when Kikyo's voice stopped him.
"Stand aside, Sesshomaru."
She was behind them on the lip of the summit, her bow and arrow drawn. Without waiting for him to yield, she let it fly.
Its tip glowed brighter and brighter as it sped toward Naraku until finally the whole arrow was engulfed by her bright energy. A ring of light rippled from the point of impact- directly in the middle of the mirror, and shattered it, sending Kanna flying backwards, her small ghostlike body skidding to a stop several feet from where she had stood.
Calmly Kikyo nocked another arrow to her bow and made her way to where she lay. She aimed for her heart as Kanna met her gaze with dark unwavering eyes that held no fear, no sadness, devoid of any emotion.
Kikyo froze, the string on her bow taut to its fullest.
Why?
Why couldn't she bring herself to release it?
"What are you waiting for, Kikyo?" Inuyasha asked impatiently.
But before Kikyo could do anything, she was cut off by an angry cry.
"Dance of Blades!"
Inuyasha lunged for Kagome's body as Sesshomaru jumped to shield Kikyo with his Tokijen, staving off the cutting winds which blew from the wind witch's fan above them.
"Kagura," Sesshomaru announced meeting her red eyes.
"I'm sorry, Sesshomaru," she hurriedly apologized as she swept Kanna away.
So Naraku has reclaimed her as well...
From behind him, Kikyo stirred, and he watched her curiously as she knelt before the broken mirror. She brought her hands together just above it's surface, pulling out the orb of light from it's darkened depths into her cupped palms.
My soul, she thought, bringing it closer to her chest. At long last...
Inuyasha's eyes widened as realization dawned on him.
"Kikyo," he whispered apprehensively, the unconscious Kagome in his arms. "What are you gonna do?"
...OOO...