Chapter 15 – Revelation
Two days after the rain had begun, it eased up enough to allow two irritable figures to emerge from the cave they had occupied for the rain's duration. One carried an aloof indifference about her, while her companion looked ready to either throttle or kiss the woman. His attempts to engage her in conversation fell flat, seeing as she never bothered to even acknowledge his presence, let alone his voice. Yet, if he had been standing before her, he might have seen the pain in her gaze.
Kagome was running out of time; she had to find Kikyou soon before she let the cat out of the bag. True, she was being crueler than usual to Inuyasha, but if she wanted any chance of keeping her self-imposed bargain she had to keep him away. That morning she had decided her next plan of attack, and was glad for the let-up in the rain because it allowed her to implement her decision quickly. No doubt they would spend the remainder of the day in the village where the others were holed up, stocking up on supplies and getting in one last day of rest.
She couldn't allow Inuyasha to follow her, so it seemed that luck, or fate, was on her side when the rain had trickled to a stop. She was going to have to take advantage of Inuyasha's 'muffled' senses during the night of the new moon, to confront the one person who had placed her in such a position. She could feel the walls she'd built against Inuyasha diminishing with each new day, and after what he'd done for her in the cave… the wall was barely existent anymore. How was she supposed to be brave and give him the one wish that was within her power to grant if all she saw was candlelight?
0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o
When the rain had ceased during the second night, Sango had refused to sleep, thinking their missing friends would take the rain's respite to get into more reliable and comfortable shelter. Miroku caught her yawning around midnight and coerced her into resting for a few hours by promising to take her place waiting up for their friends. The promise had been upheld for two hours before he succumbed to sleep as well.
They awoke almost simultaneously; he with a silly grin on his face, and she with cheeks tinged in embarrassment at being caught sleeping on his chest. Promised or not, it simply wasn't done before the vows were final… or so she'd been told. She had watched other couples in the passing years and until she had met Kagome, none of the women she had seen were openly affectionate with their men.
Kagome's influence within their group had begun to rub off after prolonged exposure and Sango, for one, wasn't unhappy with the results. Sango was a product of her era and as such, she had a hard time showing her feelings, doubly so as a taijiya. Before her village had been slaughtered, she had believed she would marry within her clan since it was hard for those outside their profession to understand their ways. But now… now she had to look elsewhere if she wanted a family.
Never would she have even dreamed of falling for something that was, by law, forbidden. That alone had been something to work her mind around. While it was not common, it wasn't exactly uncommon for monks to marry. Miroku would not be in existence if not for his father's marriage and she may have never discovered the pleasure, and pain, of loving someone so completely.
She finally overcame her embarrassment when he placed a gentle kiss to her brow and bid her a soft "Good Morning." Smiling, she pushed herself off the 'houshi-pillow' and glanced around. The smile was quickly lost when she noticed they still lacked two members of their group. Judging from the shadows on the tatami it was about mid-morning; she hoped they were on their way now. Pleasant as it was to have time alone with her betrothed, she still worried for the pair she'd come to view as siblings.
By mid-day she caught the faint telltale sounds of Inuyasha's bickering but, if Kagome was answering she was being quiet about it. Sango opted to simply wait on the steps of the inn with Shippou and Kirara, not wanting to venture into volatile territory just yet. She had to admire Kagome though; not many would have put up with Inuyasha's foul mouth and behavior for as long as the miko had. Personally, she probably would have knocked him back to Musashi for the rude comments he was currently slinging. But as they came into view she could see why he was being, for lacking of a better term, an ass.
Kagome walked before him and judging from her posture she was completely ignoring the hanyou. No wonder he's spouting insults, Sango thought. She was about to wave a greeting when she caught sight of the kotodama rosary resting openly on his chest. That had to mean Kagome knew the rosary was still active, right? Why doesn't she just 'osuwari' him? He certainly had it coming if Kagome's clenched fists were any indication. Perhaps she didn't know that Kaede had restored the spell to the beads? That could account for her silence.
Her heart went out to the young miko when she caught a glimpse of Kagome's face beneath her hair… wait… her hair was unbound. Was this a good thing? Considering the pained look in her eyes, Sango would have betted that the two details were somehow related. She was thankful they had arrived when they did, because it would give her a chance to talk to Kagome. And from the look of things, the younger woman could really use a nap and a bath.
0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o
"Sesshoumaru-sama, Rin has been thinking about the lady who doesn't smile. Do you know her?"
The taiyoukai paused and turned back to look at the small child seated upon Ah-Un with Jaken. His retainer was sputtering some nonsense about the impropriety of asking the youkai such blatant questions to such an extent that Sesshoumaru half contemplated pegging the annoying toad with another rock if Rin weren't in the way.
"She looks familiar to Rin. Have we seen her before?"
Sesshoumaru kept silent, waiting to see if the girl could figure things out on her own. She was still a child, but she wasn't stupid and often asked questions that, if left unanswered, she eventually discerned on her own. When minutes dragged on and her brow remained scrunched up in concentration, he finally deigned to answer.
"The woman Inuyasha travels with is her reincarnation."
Rin's eyes grew round as saucers as she absorbed that revelation, then narrowed as she nodded. He could almost see her mind working around the information, trying to put some sort of puzzle together.
"Kagome-sama," she whispered more to herself than for confirmation. "Rin knows!" She suddenly exclaimed with a smile, hopping in place on the dragon's back, reminding him once again that she was barely into puberty.
"She was with the winged lady when Rin died. She was nicer than she is now." The statements were made with such concrete conviction that he knew he'd never dissuade her otherwise despite knowing that the undead miko had been resurrected long before he'd ever met Rin.
If Rin had indeed seen what she claimed, then it would stand to reason that the clay woman was not truly the woman she had been in life. The undead miko was anything but nice, which meant that whatever gave that figure the ability to walk was not what Inuyasha thought it to be; at least not completely. He ran her words through his mind once more, pausing over her last comments. He had only ever seen the demons of the underworld when wielding Tenseiga, yet Rin saw a woman with wings?
"Winged lady, Rin?" He was of two minds as he awaited her answer. Part of him hoped the answer was anything but what the other part of him wanted it to be. If her description were anything close, then it would only confirm the suspicions he'd developed from his brief encounter with the fleeing miko.
"Hai!" She smiled, oblivious to her lord's inner turmoil. "She was tall, long hair like yours, but color like metal. Pretty eyes too! They were blue like the sky just before the sun sets." She frowned as she paused, obviously trying to remember everything. "Oh! Her kimono had the funny symbols like yours, too!"
Anything else Rin might have said was lost as he felt the world drop out from under his feet. He had asked, hadn't he? And the answers had been exactly as he predicted, prayed for yet prayed against as well. Back then he had not wanted to believe that she was truly gone, even when Chichi-ue had bestowed Tenseiga to him along with a letter of explanation. Everything he had wanted, dreamed of, had died along with her that day. He had viewed his father's bestowment of Tessaiga to Inuyasha as an act of uncaring for his eldest son's request; a request so that he could at least have the satisfaction of revenge against her murderer.
A gentle yank upon his empty sleeve roused him from his dark thoughts. He glanced down to the girl who was kindly oblivious to the real reasons she had been befriended and revived.
"Sesshoumaru-sama… Rin didn't mean to upset you."
Later, when he looked back on it, he would find no answer to why he gave in to the weakness of comfort. Perhaps it had been her eyes pleading for forgiveness for a slight she only imagined, or perhaps it had been his own heart betraying him into seeking the solace when he had denied himself of it for so long. Either way, he knelt on one knee and pulled her into an awkward hug, his forehead resting on her shoulder as he allowed himself that brief moment of selfishness. He would be thankful later that he had not further disgraced himself with tears.
0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o
She was surrounded by blackness; no walls, floor or ceiling, just an endless scenery of night with only a silver pool of water at her feet to illuminate. The image of Sesshoumaru and Rin wavered as the water was disturbed. Touching hand to cheek, she pulled it away to stare at the wetness on her fingertips.
Tears? For him? I can't remember ever crying before… Does this mean I know him?
She sighed softly and returned her gaze to the pool of water at her feet. She watched as the man – no, youkai – released the child and stood. She waved her hand over the water and the image shifted to show his face once more. She didn't understand, but for some reason that cold impersonal mask he wore bothered her… no, it made her sad.
Why should I care?
Before she could allow herself to dwell upon the mystery of the youkai's identity, she bade the waters shift once more. This time the faces of a quartet appeared and she smiled at the scene. A small kitsune youkai seemed to be irritating an inu-hanyou with persistent questions and accusations about the state of another's being. The solitary human male was attempting to keep the peace, but when he was ready to give up and resort to physically ending the bickering with his staff, one of the human females wordlessly took the kitsune from the hanyou's grip and walked off with the second female. Effortlessly their names came to her, as well as their relation to the woman who had shouldered the burden to mend the wrongs of another.
So self-sacrificing, Kagome. I wonder if you will realize your wish was granted long ago. Stubborn hanyou.
She shook her head ruefully, knowing that there were many possible outcomes, but for this particular dimension there were only two. Which one it would be rested in the hands of the young miko.
Time is not on your side, I fear. The weakening barrier reflects your heart, child. I pray you realize this before it is too late.
One last time the image wavered, this time to reveal a woman of physical similarities to the miko of the future. Unlike the previous people, this woman stirred only anger within her. This woman… this thing… had dared to break an oath without a single care for the consequences or pain it would cost. It wasn't the broken oath that bothered her; it was the callousness in which it had been done. Kikyou had no remorse for her actions, but the creature wearing her face wasn't exactly Kikyou anymore either. It was no more the past miko than Kagome was, but it was harboring the memories and hatred of her past.
A soft sigh escaped her lips as the waters cleared to show her own reflection. Only here could she be in the form she felt was truest. To walk as one with the rest of the world she had adopted many false guises. One for each era she visited, which was not often. She never really bothered before to notice that she avoided certain eras like the plague. The era Kagome visited and the two before it…
My mind says stay, but my heart says go.
She had not been at her post for very long, but she clearly remembered the rules she'd been given. Her predecessor had broken the rules and therefore resided elsewhere now, stripped to a mindless husk of what he'd once been. The memory of his dejected form kept her from ever thinking of even bending the rules. And that's where her memories began… or was it ended?
She wasn't even sure of her own existence since her first memory was of the ones who bestowed upon her the mantel of Keijigakari, and a new name. If she was their creation they'd never said. They'd never forbidden her from visiting those eras, but that didn't mean they hadn't put the compulsion to stay away in her. If there was ever a time she wished she could speak to them, it was now.
Who was I before then?
A/N:
Keijigakari – Timekeeper
YAY! Beta'd!
I'm reworking this entire story by adding a few things and rearranging others.
Question to all my readers: Should I release the edited/final versions now or after I finish the entire story?
For those of you who fell in love with Terri Botta's "The Lucky Ones", I'm betaing Barachan22's continuation of that story.
She DOES have permission to do a continuation folks.
I'm actually in need of a beta for another story I'll be releasing after finishing Fated Existence. It's IY/Kagome of course, read up the brief summary for Second Chances in my profiles to see what story I'm referring to. Until next time!
P.S. I really really really hate FFnet screwing with my formatting.
Reviewers
MMorg
InuyashasLoveLorn(mm works again! Woot!) sutlesarcasm (Thanks! Your review meant a lot.) madosie(Not discouraged yet )
BabyGabby (LOL calm down, girl! I've no intention of dropping the story like so many other authors. Promise.)
FFnet
Drake Clawfang(No problem) AkeryouSesshoumarusMate Strike Redkite Nimue2416 CrystalRose crimsontide
BlueMoon Raithya dizappearingirl
To the anonymous reviewer that called me an "ACE author" in their book, my thanks. Your review means a lot.