Love beyond the Western Lands: The Curse of the Black Gem

Chapter 9: The First Warm Tears of the Cold Sesshoumaru

Naraku leaned against the cold wood wall of his new home, other than a cold damp cave. Kagura was once again strung up with chains. Kanna walked up to him. "Eh?" Naraku began. Kanna rotated her mirror. It glowed, and then showed some sort of reflection…. Kikyou and Sesshoumaru…. weakened.

Naraku cracked a smile on his cold, pale lips. Reia looked up from reading a scroll besides Tsubaki (A/N: I forgot to mention Reia and Tsubaki are sisters! ;;) "Nani, Naraku?" Reia asked when she saw Naraku's wry smile. Naraku began to cackle. "This is perfect…" Naraku said quietly. "The Tai-Miko and her husband are weakened… a perfect time to seize this opportunity to take all of the Shikon no Tama and corrupt them."

Reia smiled. 'Well, shall we go now, whereas she is weak or until she is dead?" Naraku snorted haughtily. "Let us wait until she is dead…. Sesshoumaru can no longer do much now… It's too late to attempt to warm her for three months. In fact, within five more hours, she would be dead."

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"Keep her warm…" Sesshoumaru thought. "Enju!" he said allowed. "Ah?" she said abruptly. "As soon as we get home warm some blankets for her," Sesshoumaru said quickly as another Shinidama Chu swooped down a sunk an orb of energy into Kikyou's chest.

Within a short period of time, they arrived back at the castle to see Doctor Satsuma and Riko awaiting them. As Sesshoumaru leapt off his cloud, Riko ran up to him as Tomo, Jaken and Enju ran into the castle; Enju, warming the bed and blankets; Jaken, preparing clean clothes, poultice and medicine to bathe Kikyou's barren body; Tomo, telling everything to Rin.

"What happened to her!" Riko exclaimed, feared and cleansed some of the blood off Kikyou's face. "She was tortured. For the Shikon no Tama." Soon enough, Jaken ran back outside. "Lord Sesshoumaru! The water is ready!" With that, Sesshoumaru jetted inside, followed by Riko and a very wheezy Jaken.

Riko removed Kikyou's bloody robe while concealing her body with a spell that coats HOT water around her body like a coffin, only when touched, the water is a temperature the person is accustomed to. Kikyou's hair was pulled out from under her head so Sesshoumaru can cleanse out the blood as another wide band of water covered Kikyou's face.

The process of bathing Kikyou's once stallion body now a barren vessel took many hours. Riko was able to clean off the blood and soften and smooth her skin. Her face and neck was also a pretty successful. As Sesshoumaru cleansed Kikyou's hair, while occasionally bathing her face with a warm pool of water. The process of warming Kikyou's body and bathing the blood off took a drastic 3 hours, no breaks. Occasionally, Jaken, Tomo and Rin would poke their heads in to watch, but were often shooed off.

After the long process of disinfecting and cleaning, Kikyou's body regained half of the warmth. With some more blankets, Kikyou was able to sweat out the excess poison. In a few more hours, Kikyou's black pools opened. "Kikyou!" Sesshoumaru exclaimed, pulling her into his arms. Another Shinidama Chu swooped down, dropping another blue orb of energy, but were beginning to turn into a ghostly blue than a deep one. "Sesshoumaru…" Kikyou began weakly. "…it is so warm…." Suddenly, Shinidama Chu stop coming in. "….it feels cold all of a sudden…" "Kikyou, no…" Sesshoumaru begged. "Don't die on me… Shinidama Chu can still sustain your body, right?"

Kikyou smiled sadly. "Sesshoumaru… they can no longer drop dead souls into my body, for I am on the brink of death and I must pass on to the next world. In order for me to be the living dead, a ritual must be performed…" Her breathing began to get raspy. Sesshoumaru held her tighter.

Kikyou… on the brink of her death… As Sesshoumaru was about to say her name, Kikyou said something else. "Sara Hime…" "What?" "Sara Hime… she is a living dead… she knows the ritual… find her…" "But your limit does not come until three months…" Kikyou sighed sadly. "My body could not sustain so much elixir, for Bankotsu forced much down me. I could not have so much damage done to my body also… Sesshoumaru… I am sorry…I love you…"

A single tear fell from Kikyou's now soft white cheek as she shut her eyes in an eternal sleep.

Sesshoumaru held her and held her. On that same night, the warm tears of the cold Sesshoumaru slid down his milky white skin and his purple stripes.

To be continued…

.- Don't hate me. Don't hate me. Don't hate me. I said it three times already! Just so you know, Kikyou will come back, so quit yer cryin'! XD Anyway, she will come back in… 1 or two chapters further, I promise! Once again, don't hate and R&R, please!