Well anyway, this chapter is a little strange and freaky and I'm a little afraid that you won't like it. I do, but I am a little strange and freaky myself anyway. I really really REALLY hope you don't stop reading once you read this chapter because I'm so scared that you wont like it.
Well here you are. Chapter 23.
Chapter 23: Ai No Uta
Rin hung in Chika's arms, sobbing quietly. "Lord Sesshomaru…" she cried, 'Why did you have to die too…?" Chika felt so badly for Rin, the sobbing innocent child in her arms. She held her close, forgetting her hatred for humans. She was all alone in the world now…
Jaken could not believe his own eyes. Inuyasha had cut down Sesshomaru so easily. It was all because he had let his guard down to protect that damn Hanako.
Hanako stood in the dry grass of the meadow. The birds no longer flew. Dark clouds covered up the sun. She lowered her head. She could no longer take the sight before her. Her entire body shook with terror, and misery.
Inuyasha backed away from the corpse, the corpse of his brother that he had killed. So many times he had threatened to kill him, but never had he actually meant to. He felt strangely guilty.
"No…" said a meek voice.
Everyone turned their attention to Hanako.
Hanako felt every bit of dignity and pride and stubbornness drift off of her, leaving her naked before all of them. She could no longer control the unbearable pain that pierced her heart. She burst out in uncontrollable sobs.
"No… Lord Sesshomaru… no…!" she wept. She knelt down to his dead body, tears streaming from her eyes. She did not care about the crimson blood that stained her white frock. She covered her mouth and cried out in desperation.
"You weren't supposed to die…" she whispered, "You weren't supposed to die…"
Inuyasha raised an eyebrow. "But… I thought she hated him and never wanted to see him again. Shouldn't she be happy he's dead?" he said, trying to talk away his guilt.
"Inuyasha…" Kagome said, baffled at how dense he was, "Don't you remember all the times we fought, and said we hated each other?"
"…Yeah…"
"But we never meant it… it was just a stupid little fight…" Kagome lowered her head in sorrow. "And that's all that was happening between them… just… a stupid little fight…"
Hanako still continued to sob over him. She was crying so hard that she thought she might throw up.
A dark realization came over her. He had died with a distorted image of her. At that moment, she almost through up.
"And… and the last thing I said to you was…" she stuttered, almost unable to speak through her sobs, "Th-the last thing I said was… that I… hated you…"
She looked at him once more, into his eyes that seemed to now be glazed over with lifelessness. She looked at him with all the love in her heart.
"Oh, Lord Sesshomaru…" she crooned, dragging his body over to her and cradling it in her arms, "I don't hate you… I don't hate you at all…" She held him close to her. She hung her head down onto his chest and sobbed more.
No, Hanako, No! a voice shouted from inside of his mind, I'm not dead! I just… can't move…!
Sesshomaru tried to sit up, but his body had failed him. He was paralyzed by the shock of being stabbed, and the loss of blood. Hanako and most likely everyone else thought him dead, which he thought was foolish since Inuyasha could never kill him. And he had the
Tenseiga, which protected his life, but everyone had obviously forgotten that.
He could barely see for his vision was blurred, but he could hear fine. His mind remained conscious though his body appeared dead. He could tell however, that it was raining. A strange rain it was, so warm and so salty tasting. It was falling so slowly as well.
No. This wasn't rain. It was tears.
From what he could see, Hanako's head was resting on his chest. Tears were falling from her eyes. Where was he anyway? He suddenly realized that she was holding him.
No one had ever cried for his sake before.
"I wanted to see you again," Hanako whispered to him, touching his silver hair gently, entwining it between her fingers. His hair was so soft, so perfect. "I wanted to see you again… so we could make up… somehow…" She still continued to cry. "And maybe… maybe I could've gone back with you… and…" she began to sob again, barely able to speak, "And everything would have been okay again! But no… I'm the fool…" She brought his face up close to hers, and held him tightly. "It was my fault that you died… all my fault… you should have let that… that thing… kill ME instead…"
Sesshomaru was pleasantly shocked at how close he was to her. He would have gasped if his tired body could manage any less shallow breaths.
"It's all my fault…" she whispered, "You needed not protect me… my fault…"
Inuyasha felt a pang of sorrow for Hanako. He had taken from her someone that was obviously of utmost importance to her. It was so strange to his older brother, who was so cold and heartless, being so loved by someone else. It was a sight he thought he would never see. Most others feared him, but she seemed to have no fear at all.
Hanako held him close, not minding that she was kneeling with him in a pool of blood, or that her white hair was stained with blood along with her clothes. He was still unable to move. He began to feel his mind slip away into a darkness, and he struggled to keep himself awake.
Hanako felt so strange all of a sudden, as if something inside of her had lit up.
"Lord Sesshomaru…" she said, "I…I…"
She couldn't get the last two words out. She thought of something to replace them.
"I wish that I could… save you… somehow…"
She felt it again, the flame inside her chest that was rising upward. Her eyes shot open. A sudden burst of energy. Something ignited in her veins. She could feel the hot blood rushing throughout her body. She could almost see the energy flying out of her fingertips.
All at once, her head began to throb. She brought her hands to her head. It all hurt so badly. She couldn't focus. "Ow…m-my head…" she whimpered.
Kagome began to approach her. "Are you okay, Hanako…?" Of course she was not okay. Sesshomaru had just died before her.
"Don't come any nearer!"
Kagome stopped dead in her tracks.
"I d-don't know… b-but…" Hanako stuttered. She gripped her head and screamed. Her head was throbbing so hard. She could hear her own pulse in her ears, and she could see every tiny blood vessel in her eyes.
Images ran through her head. She saw fire and water. She saw people with pitchforks. She saw death and she saw life. It was all so familiar. There was new information inside of her head, so close and yet so far. Her mind reached out to touch it, but it couldn't reach it. She reached out further. Something, anything just to tell who she was and what the hell was going on…
She looked up at the sky, her eyes opened wide. She could see the image of a man. The darkness of the sky engulfed her vision.
It was the last thing she remembered…
She kneeled with Sesshomaru on her lap, her face still staring into the sky, her eyes opened wide. She let him go and he rolled onto the ground.
Hanako? He thought, what are you doing? Are you okay…?
She kneeled in the pool of blood, her eyes closing.
"Hanako!" Kagome shouted, running to her. She stopped again when she saw something that appeared to be some sort of barrier surround her and Sesshomaru.
"Wh-what?" Inuyasha stuttered.
"A strange aura rises…" Miroku said aloud, "And it is coming from Hanako…"
Sesshomaru sensed the aura as well. He had always somewhat picked it up from her, but now it was stronger than ever.
She stood up. The blood had drenched her white frock so much that the fabric had expanded and it was falling off of her. It hung on her shoulders, just barely covering her. No one dared to come any closer.
The air went dead. There was silence; a silence that provoked something from another world…
Hanako, her eyes still closed, took a deep breathe and…
Above us next to the sun,
"Why the hell is she singing?" Inuyasha asked, raising an eyebrow.
Sesshomaru watched her carefully as well as he could with blurred vision. There was something strange about her now, about everything. It was as if someone, or something, else was moving her body for her.
There lies the child of shame…
Her eyes shot open. Her pupils were completely dilated so her eyes appeared black. In the blink of an eye, they shrunk so much that you could no longer see them.
Let you here his nameIn heaven and out hearts
Her entire body went aglow. Wisps of golden light formed around her and the ground where she stood lit up. Everyone gasped. Sesshomaru watched the events, his mind spinning in turmoil. He had no idea what was going on.
Star of happiness, Star of wonderYou see everything above us…
She lifted off the ground. She floated far off the ground above them. Wind blew everywhere around her. She spread apart her arms. The ground around Sesshomaru lit up as well.
May you contemplate your heart
Always, forevermore…
Sesshomaru felt an energy surge into his body. It was an energy so hot that it almost seemed freezing cold. It filled his body and he felt his pain dissipate. His vision became clearer. He could see perfectly Hanako's figure floating in the sky. He gasped. He gasped again. He could gasp. Everything around him became so bright that he could no longer see anything but white. But he could hear Hanako's high, melodic, haunting voice singing the same song she had sung so many other times.
Always… forever…
Everything was so bright that no one could see. They were all lost in an endless blur of white. Hanako remained in the sky. She stopped singing.
The light blew away with the wind. Hanako opened her eyes slightly. Her head felt so light, and she was exhausted.
"Ohhh…" she moaned. She dropped from the sky, her hands holding her frock on as she fell. She landed on the ground on her back.
Sesshomaru felt so strange. It was as if he had slept a million years, and now had all the energy in the world. His wounds didn't even hurt anymore. He lifted his hand to touch them. His eyes widened. He could move.
He sat up, his hand searching for the place where he was stabbed. He found nothing but flesh. It was most baffling. He lifted his other arm to-
He froze. He gazed at his sleeve.
His other arm had been restored in the process as well.
Inuyasha gasped. "B-but Sesshomaru! You… you were just dead!"
Everyone stared. Sesshomaru got up. Even the tears on his clothes had been fixed.
And you… did this…? Sesshomaru thought, looking at Hanako sprawled out on the ground. He walked over to her slowly.
"Here is what I have sought," he said, "Here is what I have sought from you for so long. I always knew." He knelt down to her and sat her up. She had fainted but her heart was beating silently so she was alive. "I always knew that you were something special from the first moment I laid eyes on you…"
He lifted her with his now two arms. He cradled her in his arms for a few moments, and then stood again. No one knew what to say, or what to do. They had all just witnessed a miracle.
"I will be taking her back now," Sesshomaru said. They all nodded, feeling as if they were talking to the dead. He turned around and carried her back to Jaken and Rin and Chika. They stared at him with the same dumb faces.
"What are you staring at?" he asked them, "We are leaving now."
They all followed him.
Naraku watched them leave. He was completely shocked at what he had just witnessed.
"So," he said, "There is still some of the old you left inside, eh?" He smirked. "Then you have multiple purposes… I can still use you for my original plan…" He reached into his pocket ad took out the small red bead.
"You are mine, Hanako," he said, "Remember that…"