Fate
...OOO...
Naraku was irritated.
He had hid it well from her, but their second meeting had greatly disturbed him because it should never have been able to happen.
Why? Why did Kikyo still have no soul?
He had set it up so carefully- the search for that damn flower, the troubled birth, the boy, the mantis woman- and one after the other they had fallen into place.
Except that she had refused the soul.
After all that trouble she had rejected his offering- an offering which had cost him Kanna. His Kanna- the only who had ever managed to please him.
If only she had taken it, he thought.
It had been such a simple plan: bring Kikyo back to life, reunite her with Inuyasha, and then...
And then set them up for a second betrayal- and then she would see, finally she would see that all along it was he, Naraku who cared for her. Loved her. Everything he was doing was for her, had always been for her. He was the one who deserved her love. Him and no one else. Finally she would see...
If only she had taken that girl's soul.
But it was alright, he reassured himself. She was still not beyond reach. Kikyo could still be his...
...ooo...
Night had fallen and once again Kikyo found herself in another forest- though this one was not nearly so dense nor ominous as the last one she had left. All day long she had followed the highway until, coming up a low rise, she had seen that it threaded through a large town and past an overlooking castle before curving back south again. The sight of civilization had stopped her short, and rather than remain on the road and enter into it, she had decided instead to cut across the nearby woodlands.
She had never before purposely avoided a human society unless it was to call her collectors, but this time that wasn't even the reason. This time she merely wished to be alone.
It was still too early in the evening to take in any souls, so for now she merely wandered aimlessly in a general southern direction, her empty quiver feeling oddly light across her back. It had occurred to her to go into the town and restock, but something held her back.
If fate wills it that tonight I die, then tonight I shall die regardless of whether I have an arrow for my bow, she thought grimly and continued on her way.
As she strolled, the trees around her thinned out, eventually melting away into a still pond fed by a shallow brook, ringed by large, smooth boulders, and veiled by the surrounding forest. Calm, peaceful, serene. It beckoned to her, and she answered.
...ooo...
Sesshomaru picked up her scent from where he had left her and followed it down the highway, pursuing it into another forest, Kagura's words ringing in his ears.
'You have to kill that priestess,' she had said . 'Naraku is planning to use her to restore himself to this world- to take her power as his own. If he succeeds..." Her voice had trailed off, leaving the outcome to his own imagination.
So that was why he wanted her...
After taking leave of the wind witch, his mind had, as always, processed the information and reduced it down to its logical conclusion.
Kagura had seemed more than sincere, but the revelation could have easily been a trap laid by Naraku without her knowing it. But for what reason would that bastard want Kikyo dead? Nevertheless whether the information he had just received was reliable or not, he knew that whatever Naraku was planning, it involved the priestess in a vital way, so killing her was certainly a viable option to stopping him.
It had to be done, he told himself. So why then did a part of him revolt at the idea? It was a senseless opposition but the very presence of it in his mind made him uneasy. Inner conflict was a new experience to the demon lord.
"It's that damn woman," he grumbled under his breath. This was her doing- just another reason to rid himself of her.
The thought replaced his anger with a somber but iron resolution. Having decided his best course of action, he now set out to execute it.
...ooo...
Kikyo slowly removed her haori and hakama and stepped into water the same color black as the night sky, its frigidity unfelt by artificial skin. Her long loose ebony tresses cascaded down her body to meet the water as she waded up to her waist, the mirror like surface reflecting her image- the milky white skin, the proud shoulders, the haunting earthen eyes that stared back at her, right through her...
And she wondered if they had always been so- if this was the same Kikyo as that of fifty years ago.
As if in answer, one of her soul collectors glided down, skimming against the water to break up the image. They had started to gather all around the glade, bringing with them nourishment for her body. Her artificial body of bones and graveyard soil.
She submerged her hands and drew them back up, letting the water slip through outspread fingers.
No. She was not the same- not completely. But no one ever stayed the same. That was part of being alive, the inconstancy... except that she wasn't alive, she reminded herself. And perhaps that was the reason why she feared the unpredictability of the changing heart so much. In this world, you couldn't rely on people with their fluctuating sentiments, forever changing with the days and the seasons. It was something the Kikyo of fifty years ago had never given much thought.
Back then she had her duty, and to her that had been enough. People always needed someone to turn to, someone to put their faith in, to assure them everything would be all right- children had parents, lovers had each other, and followers had leaders. In her first life that was what she had been- the high and mighty priestess who would defend those under her from all evil. The ones she protected had been her source of strength- they needed her to be strong for them, and so she made herself strong for them. That was all it took.
Now...
'And you?' he had asked her. 'Who do you turn to for such vital needs?'
She had not been able to answer him, and now she knew why- she didn't have anyone- not even those who villagers who had depended on her so much.
Vital needs...
But those who could not meet their needs, learned to live without, and that was what she did. Because she could not rely on others, she instead relied on fate. That was her comfort, the thing that allowed her to continue. Because fate never wavered, never faltered. What would be would be- and that... that was all she could ever hope for...
And it would have to be enough, she told herself. She would not allow it to be otherwise.
For the second time that day she let out a long slow sigh. Suddenly she felt tired, too tired... But it would pass. It had to.
...ooo...
He had traced her scent into the forest and finally he sensed her aura- she was near- and for a brief second he thought of suppressing his own, but pride and honor forbade him. What sort of coward was he that he had to take a woman- a human woman at that- by surprise? And she had saved his life once, she at least deserved to see who would end hers. No, he would meet her face to face.
Drawing Tokijen, he stepped into the clearing.
And froze as the ethereal scene met his eyes.
There she was, waist deep in water with nothing but her long hair to cover her- long hair which seemed to be part of the water itself- her white skin luminescent against the black. All around and above, her soul collectors danced hypnotically, their snakelike bodies swaying in rhythm to the wind, casting the surrounding trees and boulders in hues of blue, the color of their eerie radiance.
She had been too preoccupied with her own thoughts to sense him, but upon hearing his faint footsteps upon entering, she had turned to see him, her eyes locking into his by mere chance.
Eyes too steeped in sorrow to shed tears- even if she were capable.
He had surprised her after all, but he was the one caught off guard.
She's only human, he scolded himself. A human priestess. A dead human priestess.
So why then couldn't he look away?
In the end she was the one who turned away.
"So you're back," she said vacantly, breaking the silence, the sword in his hand not going by unnoticed. "Did you forget something?"
Surveying the scene, he took in her clothes laid on one of the large boulders, saw the bow beside them along with an empty quiver.
Empty... he had forgotten she had used the last of her arrows the night before.
Inside it pricked at his sense of honor. Of all times he had to come in when she was at her most defenseless...
"Kagura has discovered that Naraku wishes to use your powers to help him return to this world," he finally told her.
"So you wish to kill me to prevent him," she guessed matter-of-factly. "So why do you hesitate?" And then he caught his eyes staring at her and she had to smile in amusement.
Slowly she stepped out of the water, her serpentine attendants encircling in tight formation, screening her as she dressed.
"Is this better?" she asked sardonically after she was done, coming to face him.
His eyes narrowed at her tone.
She dares to mock me?
But he held his tongue.
"Why do you hold back?" she demanded bitterly. "You hate me, do you not? Just like how you hate Inuyasha for being half-demon- you feel the same about me. Because we are abnormalities, things that should never have been. Unnatural. Repulsive. Well here is your chance to fix one mistake. Take it."
The hostility in his eyes melted as he replaced Tokijen into its sheath.
"And play right into Naraku's hands?" he asked. "Do you take me for a fool?"
"A stubborn one," she replied dryly.
"You're one to talk," he retorted in the just the same, and she laughed at their pettiness, but it was an easy laugh, one that made him stare at her in wonder.
It was amazing, he thought, how that sound had the power to evaporate all the tension in between them.
She was about to turn away when his voice stopped her.
"Priestess," he declared. "If I hated you, I would not bother to tolerate your presence."
"Perhaps," she reasoned, trying to reassure them both of the fact, "you tolerate my presence simply because you hate Naraku more." With that she shouldered her weapons and walked away.
His elegant eyebrows furrowed in thought. How? How did she always manage to leave him speechless?
It was a question which left him frowning without an answer, as he followed her out of the clearing.
...OOO...