Chapter 24: Pointless Explanations
"But he just got up and walked away as if nothing happened!" Shippo argued, "And the arm that Inuyasha cut off was back again!"
"That girl Hanako has powers that are obviously not of this world, like many others around us," Miroku stated calmly, trying to ease the frightened fox, "The only reason why Sesshomaru is still alive is because of what she can do. Inuyasha stabbed him straight through the heart…"
"What if she's a demon?" Sango wondered out loud.
"Oh please," Inuyasha commented, "She was no demon. But she wasn't a human either…"
"I'm just glad she and Sesshomaru are okay now," Kagome said smiling, "They both won't admit it now, but they are quite fond of each other…"
"Sesshomaru? Fond of someone?" Inuyasha laughed, "Yeah. Right. Sure."
"You never know…" Kagome laughed, "You just never know…"
(…)
It had been a day since the incident. One long day. It was almost dark now, and the sun was setting. Sesshomaru sat under a tree, leaning against its trunk.
She still hasn't woken up… Sesshomaru thought, peering at Hanako near the crackling fire. She had been asleep ever since she had… whatever it was she did. He still could not believe that such a weak and frail girl could be harboring such an incredible power.
He gazed at his new arm. It was so strange to feel something inside of his sleeve again. And she had given it to him.
He watched her sleep again, but this time she seemed so lifeless, almost as if she were dead. She lay motionless on her back, scarcely breathing a deep enough breath to here. He felt a fleeting pang of sympathy.
"If you want her to wake up so much, why not do it yourself?"
Sesshomaru turned his head. Chika stood directly behind him, gazing at him with her usual blank stare.
"What? It was just a suggestion, m'lord." She looked over to Hanako. "That's what I would do. What if she like, dies in her sleep or something?"
Sesshomaru turned away from her. "If that's what you would do, then you do it."
Chika scowled. "If she can sprout a new arm on you, then what if she sprouts a third on me?" And with that, she turned around and left. Sesshomaru watched her leave, remembering her promise to always respect him. That hadn't lasted long…
It became dead silent again. He still couldn't hear her breathing.
"What if she like, dies in her sleep or something?"Worry began to plague his mind again, the worry that he always hid or ignored, but this time he could not. He stood up and walked toward her. He gazed down at her. Her face did not show any sign of peace at all, as it usually did when she slept.
He knelt down to her, inspecting her closely. He placed his hand on her heart. It was beating quietly. He sat her up slightly, letting her head rest on his chest. He shook her gently. She did not move.
He shook her again. She still would not move. He became slightly frustrated and shook her harder. Her eyes quivered slightly and opened slowly. She gazed up at him, still half asleep.
"Lord… Sesshomaru…?" Her head did not move from his chest.
The look in her eyes left him speechless. They sparkled slightly, and they looked happy to see him. For a moment, he could see nothing but her golden eyes looking back at him.
"But I don't understand…" she said, her voice sounding tired, "I… I thought you… you were… I don't remember…"
"What don't you remember?" He asked, his voice softening.
"Ow… my head…" She placed her hand over her forehead, "My head hurts so bad…" She clung to his shirt in pain.
She doesn't remember anything that happened… he thought, watching her clinging to him. He surmised that she wasn't angry with him anymore.
"Everything's spinning… I can't see… where are you…?"
He sat her up more. Maybe if she were sitting upright then she would feel better.
She blinked a few times and looked at him. She was still confused. It was as if a whole part of her head had been cut out of her, as if there was a huge hole in her memory where something was missing. Did he know? Did he know how she got here? Had everything that had happened, him abandoning her and her being mad at him for so long and him dieing right before her eyes, all been a bad dream? It took her a few moments to gain her sanity. She then realized she was sitting on his lap.
"But I thought… you were dead…" she said finally, her vision becoming clear. Her head came to a stop. Now she could see straight. "Was I just… dreaming?"
"No," he said, "You were not dreaming."
"Then…" she said fearfully, "am I dead too?"
"No," he said, "No one is dead." He moved her off of him and back on the blanket where she had been sleeping for so long.
"Then what happened?" she asked, cocking her head to one side, "I do not understand…"
"You happened," he said. He couldn't think of anyway to describe what had happened. Anything he could even say about it would sound foolish.
"I happened? Me?"
Rin walked through the bushes carrying some flowers. She saw Hanako awake and through them away and ran to her.
"Hanako-chan!" she shouted, sitting down next to her, "You are awake!"
Hanako smiled. "Yes… how long have I been asleep?"
"Ever since you saved Lord Sesshomaru's life!" She smiled at her. She was so relieved that Hanako had woken up at last. She had begun to think that she might be dead.
Hanako raised and eyebrow. "…Huh?"
"You could fly and then you sang a pretty song and Lord Sesshomaru became all better again! Then you fell and you've been sleeping here ever since! But I'm glad you are okay now!"
Hanako stared at the child. What in the world was she trying to say?
Sesshomaru stared a Rin as well. How she had just described what Hanako had done was far more foolish than anything he could've come up with.
"I bet you're an angel, Hanako-chan! That's why you can do miracles!"
Chika came up behind Rin. "What she is trying to say is… you did something yesterday. You have a strange power that even I myself have never seen before, and I have seen lots of things trust me. You healed him… somehow." Chika smiled weakly, realizing how stupid she probably sounded. "Don't you remember anything about yesterday?"
Hanako thought hard. She searched through the hole in her memory for something, anything. An image shot into her mind.
"A man," she said, "I saw a man. He was hurt very badly… and he said something to me."
"You mean Sesshomaru?" Chika said, looking at Hanako closer. Hanako squinted at her. Ah yes, she had remembered this girl as Sesshomaru's new slave.
Sesshomaru became puzzled. He had said nothing to Hanako yesterday because he couldn't move.
Hanako dug deeper into the image of the man. "No…" she said, touching her throbbing head, "It wasn't him. He was… different… more pleasant. Kinder. Loving… and he smiled at me and he said something. And then there was fire…and corpses… and dark water. I couldn't breathe…"
They all stared at her. What she was saying had absolutely nothing to do with what she had done.
Sesshomaru suddenly remembered something she had said before. She only remembered two years of her life. The images she was describing could have something to do with her life before she lost her memory.
If this was so, then was her past life somehow connected to yesterday's events?
"My head hurts again…" she said.
He remembered back to yesterday. She had been complaining about a headache just before she had revived him.
He thought deeper about the subject. She had sung the same song she had sung so many times before. But then, it had seemed to trigger something inside of her. He remembered her saying that she had no idea how she knew that song, and it was just a melody and words that had just come to her and she just knew them. Was that song connected to her past as well?
He had so many clues, and yet they all lead to nowhere. All they told him were one thing:
Hanako was definitely not an ordinary slave girl. And he had known all along.
"I will get you some water," Rin said, running off into the woods. Chika followed.
Hanako sat up near the fire, clutching the blanket. She couldn't remember. Everything she saw made no sense. She saw the same man in every thought she had, his strong muscular body standing straight and proud, his face looking at hers and smiling. His eyes were gorgeous, as gray as the sea.
"I do not believe you," Hanako said to Sesshomaru, "I do not believe I can do such things."
Sesshomaru turned his gaze toward her. The flickering fire was reflecting off her crystal white hair. She looked quite lovely. He admired her for a few awkward moments, and then shook away the ever-growing feeling in his heart.
"Believe what you wish," he responded at last.
She began to stand up. "Now that you have somewhat answered all my questions, I have no reason to be speaking to you any longer. Farewell," she said.
Sesshomaru's head spun around. What was this? She still had the same attitude as before! Even after he almost died in front of her; and she had wept over him and held him for so long.
"You don't need to pretend anymore, Hanako. I know," he said to her.
She raised an eyebrow. "Know what…?"
He smirked slightly. "I was not unconscious when I was supposedly 'dead', Hanako. I heard everything you said." He shot her a playful glance. "You said you wanted to make up with me. You said you did not hate me."
Her peaked face became tipped with red. "Oh… s-so you heard that, d-did you?"
He continued to look at her. It satisfied him to see her become so humiliated. The perfect little revenge, even though he really held nothing against her.
She refused to loose her pride to him. Not again. "Well, then," she stated, "Now at least I won't have to explain it all to your face." She stood up and turned away from him.
Sesshomaru's eye's widened slightly. He had not expected this at all. "You are most confusing, Hanako," He looked away from her, to hide his current emotions that she was always so good at reading. "You said you no longer hated me."
She turned her head over her shoulder. She scowled, her eyes glittering with some sort of mischief.
"Just because I do not hate you does not mean I cannot be mad at you."
Sesshomaru looked at her again. She turned around and began to walk away. She stumbled and fell over flat on her face. She got up immediately and ran from him.
Sesshomaru's spirit's lifted slightly from seeing her fall. She always used to trip and fall whenever they would walk, and he found it most entertaining. Hanako was not what you would call graceful.
But they soon dropped.