Here At Last
...OOO...
Kagome clung to Inuyasha's neck as he sped along, bare feet pounding the beaten earth, the landscape melting in a blur of green as they passed. For hours now he had kept this pace.
He must be tired by now...
The thought worried Kagome, but Inuyasha was determined to catch up to Kikyo as soon as possible. It broke her heart.
Inuyasha...
He had told her what happened- about the soul and Naraku's reappearance, and like everyone else she was just as baffled by them.
Why did she refuse my soul?
Not that Kagome wasn't happy that she had but she couldn't understand Kikyo's actions. Even she couldn't have blamed her if she had kept it...
It had taken her two whole days of bed rest to feel well again, and he had stayed beside her the entire time. But as soon as he saw she was well again, Inuyasha had decided to return to the feudal era, and she had insisted on going with him...
Even if only to tell him good-bye in the end...
...ooo...
It had taken them another two days and nights of nonstop travel before finally on the noon of the third day they arrived at last at the valley- a gently sloping expanse of tall green grass and wild vegetation on the other side of which was a small shrine set against a grove of cherry trees.
As they approached they were greeted by a short elderly woman in a plain black kimono, her long gray hair in a thick braid.
"Welcome," she proclaimed, an all knowing smile playing on her lips, "Priestess Kikyo and Sesshomaru demon prince of the Western Lands."
Instantly Sesshomaru was on his guard, but the woman merely chuckled at his tension. "Calm down. I foresaw your coming- though I could hardly believe it and still quite can't. I am the ancient priestess Aiko, keeper of this valley."
"Then you know also why we come?" Kikyo inquired.
"Yes, yes," the elder priestess replied. "The same reason why anyone ever comes to visit me. It's not an uncommon thing- many monks and ascetics often seek the aid of the magical blossoms to divine their own hearts and minds."
"Can you tell us then, Lady Aiko, how the flowers work?"
But she shook her gray head, "Even I am not certain. As far as I can determine it is not so much any physical or chemical property of the flower itself, but the mystical ritual in which they are used that seems to bring about the transcendence."
So it might work on me, Kikyo thought hopefully and out loud asked, "Lady Aiko, might I undergo this ritual today?"
"Well..." Aiko hesitated teasingly. "You see the flowers must be dried and ground in order to make the incense needed for the ritual..."
"Oh." It was disappointment mixed with relief. "How long does it take?"
"Well, I do have some incense readily available- very little, but enough for one more ritual... however, the flowers don't actually grow in the valley (contrary to popular belief)- they must be harvested from that tree up there." And she pointed one gnarled finger to the summit of the nearby mountain, not wide but very, very steep, and to the lone but immense tree which arose from it to meet the azure sky. "And well," she continued nodding down at herself, "as you can see, I am not in the best of conditions to undertake such a task..."
"So you want us to go up there for you and gather them," Sesshomaru ended bluntly, finally getting to the point.
"Exactly," the old woman grinned.
Kikyo and Sesshomaru exchanged questioning glances and finally Kikyo asked, "How much must we gather?"
"Well," answered Aiko in thought, "since you're going up there anyway..." And she disappeared into the shrine and brought out two woven rush baskets each almost as tall as Kikyo.
If ever there was a time in either of their lives that a gigantic sweat drop was appropriate, this was it.
Instead Sesshomaru stifled his annoyance and picked up both baskets, stacking them one on top of the other and made his way to the base of the mountain with Kikyo following. Effortlessly he spanned its towering height to deposit them, then went back down for her.
The pinnacle of the mountain was an almost perfect triangular peak offering very little leeway to move without the danger of slipping on its bare rock surface and falling. The tree, which must have been at least 20 feet in diameter and 500 feet in height, was the only thing which grew on the summit, anchoring itself to the rock with roots so massive they seemed more like an extension of the earth itself. It was on one of these that he landed and set her down, right beside the precariously balanced baskets.
Eyeing her doubtfully, he couldn't help himself.
"Be careful," he cautioned. "Don't move." And before she could reply, he bounded up from one stocky branch to another in search of the blossoms- still unable to believe how he had been cornered into doing such a menial task.
Supporting herself with one hand, Kikyo glanced up after him as he disappeared into the cloud of green above her.
Don't move?
Why then had he bothered to bring her up at all if he only expected her to sit idly by?
"What are you doing?" he cried out, unable to hide the small bit of alarm that escaped as one of her collector demons wound itself around her body, lifting her up to a nearby branch.
"You really don't think I'm so useless as to just sit and watch, do you?" Another one brought her a basket, and she reached out her arms to receive it.
"Do what you want," he mumbled, "but don't expect me to come flying to your rescue when you fall." All the while knowing full well that he would.
In response she threw a flower at his head.
She's taking too many freedoms with me, he thought stonily as it bounced off, but he merely caught it on the way down and tossed it back before uptaking a few higher branches.
She smiled after him.
He's really not as cold hearted as he tries to make himself to be.
But in a way, she understood why he did. Sometimes it was just easier when you didn't care.
...ooo...
From the shrine Aiko gazed up at the tree, every now and then catching a quick glimpse of red or white as well as faint flashes of light that threaded through the leaves.
What an odd pair, she thought. He cares only for himself, while she cares for everyone but herself- a priestess without a heart and a demon lord who refused to use his... or maybe that's why they weren't so odd after all.
...ooo...
With the help of the soul collectors, they had managed to gather the elusive blossoms which- though numerous enough- were spread out and well hidden beneath the dense foliage. But by late afternoon both baskets were filled, and he brought her back down as her snake-like helpers followed with the flowers.
Aiko went to meet them.
"Well done!" she praised eyeing the full baskets, and to both of her visitors' surprise, she hoisted both easily, balancing them on each side of her shoulders as she marched back to the shrine.
"Well, come on," she prodded. "'Time wasted in idleness profits no one' - or something like that."
Again Kikyo and Sesshomaru exchanged glances.
"Strange old woman," he muttered, and she laughed as they followed her lead.
"Strange, yes, but I trust her."
...ooo...
Since the magic of the incense was most potent at night, they had a few hours to wait.
Kikyo decided to help Aiko bundle clusters of the flowers together to hang up and dry while Sesshomaru disappeared for a while.
Though he did not tell them, he had gone out to survey the valley and surrounding lands, making sure it was safe- that nothing would attack them while she was incapacitated. Satisfied with his search, he returned at sundown to find her lying alone in the open field.
"What are you doing?" he asked staring down at her, casting her in his shadow.
She smiled at his sight and replied, "Waiting."
Lowering himself beside her he gazed away into the distance and asked, "Are you worried?"
"Somewhat," she answered truthfully, and after a short pause, "... but it's so nice here, don't you think? It's so calm and peaceful..."
He didn't answer, but she knew he was listening.
The valley was a peaceful place- the sort of place that always set her mind at ease, the sort of place where she could be happy... The sort of place she had used to dream about living in- with a small cottage and a garden and laughing children and...
As each settled into their own thoughts, a light silence fell broken only by the soft murmur of the steady wind through the tall grass.
Suddenly, out of nowhere she asked, "Sesshomaru, what was your father like?"
The question startled him- he never talked of his family. Ever.
So he wondered why he answered and said, "He was the most powerful demon I knew. No one questioned his strength even though he had a weakness for humans. He died in order to save one."
Inuyasha's mother... she thought. Is that why he hated his brother so much before? But instead she asked, "And your mother?"
She caught the admiration in his tone as he responded, "Mother was a proud, noble woman. She was the one who taught me strength beyond my physical power, to never question honor, to never accept failure and defeat. She was the one who gave me my name and instilled in me my discipline and the value of obtaining perfection."
So that is why he strives so hard to be better and stronger than everyone else- to live up to his mother's legacy...
"What happened to her?" she implored quietly.
"During a war, while my father was away in battle, we were betrayed by one of his retainers who had snuck in enemy soldiers into the castle. She died, but she took them all down with her." It was the first time he had ever talked so openly about his mother in many centuries- the first time he thought of her so openly, in fact.
But it was ok. Once, just this once, it was ok.
He held back enough, however, not to tell her about the real reason why his mother had died. He didn't tell her that it had been his fault- that they had been after him, trying to kidnap him and use him as ransom against his father, that she had sacrificed her life for his. That was the reason why he had to become powerful- to prove to her and to himself that her sacrifice had not been in vain...
Next to him, Kikyo sighed wistfully, feeling the sudden emotion wrought upon him with the onslaught of his mother's memories- even as his face registered no visible signs.
"I can't remember my parents," she told him. "When I was very young, I was taken away in order to train for my duty as guardian to the Jewel of Four Souls, and after I finally completed and was able to return home, they had already passed away, leaving behind a sister whom I did not even know had existed."
"Do you regret it? Never knowing them?"
She thought about it for a minute before admitting, "I can't say. Even back then I can't remember missing them- I never really knew them as individuals. It was more the concept of simply having parents- someone to look up to and trust... The priests who raised me trained me well for my duty, but it was always... lacking."
They fell back into silence, but he reflected on her words and found that he understood because he too had been deprived of that essence by the death of his mother. But they had both learned to live without it, and perhaps that was what made them stronger in the end- that they had early on learned to rely upon themselves to fulfill that need instead of shifting the responsibility to another.
Meanwhile, she wondered if it was why she had, on a strange level, always found herself attracted to him- because they were the same in that sense. They mirrored one another- alike opposites.
The same idea had formed in his mind. They shared that connection, and he finally realized why she had always made him feel uneasy with her presence- even before, when their paths crossed but for brief moments at a time. She reminded him of himself, the self he did not want to acknowledge- the little boy who had lost his mother and was devastated by it. The boy who had built up around his heart a fortress of stone and ice to keep him from ever feeling such pain again.
Pushing herself up, she turned to see him and their eyes met, and in that instant they read in one another the thoughts they had contemplated within themselves.
She smiled, and on impulse he reached over to brush away the blade of grass caught in her hair...
And he smiled back.
A smile which took her in complete amazement- a beautiful smile, small, barely even perceptible on his lips but which shone in his amber eyes, almost childishly shy, and yet so warm and tender...
A smile which tore her up inside.
Abruptly she spun around and walked away quickly, leaving him stunned on the grass, the smile replaced now by grim iciness as he watched her withdraw.
...ooo...
"Ah, there you are," Aiko exclaimed standing on the front porch when she saw Kikyo. "It's just about dark, we can st-"
"I'm sorry," Kikyo interrupted hurriedly rushing past her and into the shrine.
Sliding the door shut behind her, she brought both hands to her face, closing her eyes.
For the first time in either lifetime, she found herself wishing she could cry...
...OOO...