Chapter Five
"Lana! Karmila!" Inu Yasha hollered from the bottom of the stairs. Lana growled impatiently. "Its not my fault!" She yelled from her room. "Karmila is being slow again! Hurry up, will you? Its not like we're going to the flipping beach!" Lana said, grabbing her bags and storming out of the room.
"Well, I want to look good to attract cute campers, Lana! Unlike you, I can get a man." That's it! Lana thought, storming up the stairs to their room. Grabbing a small suitcase, she swept her arm across the vanity table and dumped everything into the suitcase. Lana shoved the suitcase at her sister and, knowing that the rest of her stuff was packed into the van, pulled her sister out to the van.
"She's got your impatience and temper, Inu Yasha." Kagomae said as she watched them scream at each other. He only chuckled when Lana flattened her demon ears against her head and bared her fangs. Karmila only turned her back on her sister and pouted snobbishly.
"Well, Karmila's got a lot of Sesshomaru's traits. And the others I don't recognize are probably from her mother." Putting an arm around Kagomae, they strode out onto the battlefield and managed to restore most of the peace and begin their journey.
One Hour Later
Karmila blinked when they parked at the shrine. "What are we doing here?" She asked, looking around, trying to shake an eerie feeling of déjà vu.
"This is where our trip begins." Inu Yasha said, unloading stuff from the back. Lana hopped out and looked around. "But this is just the town shrine. There's nothing special about the town shrine, Daddy." Kagomae came behind her daughter and tapped her ears, an annoying habit that Lana was trying to get her to break. "There's more than you know to this old shrine, dear." She said, picking up her old bow and arrow set.
"Sure, Mom." Lana said, rolling her eyes. "Daddy, what are we really doing here?" Lifting some suitcases effortlessly he said, "You'll see. Now grab your things."
Kagomae started for the shrine and stopped at the well. Feeling her stomach knot slightly, she jumped down. "Eww! Don't tell me I have to jump into the dirty old well. I just did my hair!" Already losing patience with her sister, Lana pushed her in. "Better think fast before you land on your pretty face." Avoiding her father's wrath, Lana jumped in seconds after she'd pushed her sister in.
Feeling the familiar feeling, Inu Yasha jumped in after them and looked over the land. "Hasn't changed much, eh?" Kagomae nodded. "Lets get our things to your old place and find the rest of the group." He could see it made her uneasy to be back. "You know, we could just turn back." Inu Yasha whispered in her ear.
Shaking her head, she sighed. "No, we have to do this. She needs to know. Both of them need to know and we might as well get them while we're here." Inu Yasha kissed her forehead.
"Your right. It's going to be okay, though."
"I hope so. I really hope so. I don't know how well they could cope if we came face to face with any demon like we faced before." When they reached the top of the hill, Karmila squealed with delight. "Is that where we're staying? Please say that's where we're staying!" Smiling, he nodded. "That's where we're staying alright." Karmila squealed again and Lana covered her ears.
"Shut up!" Lana shouted, trying to plug her ears.
"Oh it looks so cozy and quaint!" Karmila declared, picking up her bags and running down the hill to the house. "Think she likes it?" Inu Yasha asked sarcastically and ducked when Kagomae would have smacked him. Following her sister's voice, Lana stopped in the doorway beside her sister.
"Hi. I'm Lana. Who are you?" She asked suspiciously, eyeing him. The man with the long, white hair smiled. "Suspicious just like your father." Moving her ears defensively, she gave him a hard look. "How do you know my father?"
Karmila elbowed her. "Who cares? He's gorgeous." She whispered. Rolling her eyes, she stepped up to him. In a blink of an eye, Lana was behind him, holding a handmade dagger to the strange man's throat. "Once again. How do you know my father?"
Narrowing his eyes, he flipped her over his shoulder. Lana's dagger stuck into the wall just as the man's cloak fell, revealing a spitting image of Karmila. Landing on her feet, Lana was taken aback for a second, then, deciding he was obviously an imposter, charged at him.
Managing to knock him off his feet, she took his sword and held it at his throat.
"Clever girl. You're pretty good for such a young one." In the doorway, Karmila just stared at a mirror image of all her facial features. What in the world is going on here? o:p /o:p
"You've got a very clever, girl here, Inu Yasha. Got a lot of your fighting skills, very quick on her feet, as well." For once, he was glad to see his brother alive. Karmila stepped up, pushed the sword out of the way and stared into Sesshomaru's golden demon eyes.
"Who are you? Who am I?" Looking at Kagomae, Karmila gave her a pleading look.
"Karmila, honey, that's your father." Getting up, she shook her head. Turning to Inu Yasha, she looked from one to the other. "But, you're my daddy. I don't even know you." Kagomae stepped up and laid a hand on Karmila's arm.
"Honey, we were only looking after you until it was safe enough for us to return. Living with us was only temporary." Looking from one man, to the other, her head spun. Feeling the sting of tears in her eyes, she shoved past Kagomae and Inu Yasha and ran off.
"Guess we messed up." Inu Yasha said, looking in the direction she ran off to.
One Hour Later
Karmila wiped her eyes and sniffled. Looking out at the sunset, she gathered her knees close and put her head on them. How could this happen? This isn't fair.
Sesshomaru walked up beside her and plunked himself down. "I'm sorry." Karmila looked at him. "Why? What do you have to be sorry for?" Looking out at the same sunset at she had been, he sighed. "For putting you with them." Karmila gave him a puzzled look.
"Well, I'm sure it was for good reason. Right?"
"It seemed so at the time." Still feeling slightly confused, she inched closer.
"Well, what was the reason?" He smiled a bit before answering.
"Well, yours, mine and your mother's lives were being threatened by a powerful force. I couldn't think of any way to protect you from something that I didn't know anything about."
"So, was it safe to come back now?" Playing with her hair, he said, "I think so." Sighing, she looked at him. "So your really my dad, huh?" Taking her hand, he led her down the hill to a nearby stream and said, "I think our reflections can answer that." Sighing, she sat back.
"I don't know what to do or say. I don't know how to act. I've never had this problem before." Sesshomaru nodded. "I understand. You are my rightful daughter as much as you are Inu Yasha's and Kagomae's." After a prolonged silenced, he stood, kissed her hair and said. "Think about this and your future living place. You're free to go back with them or to stay here. I will not pressure you into anything about this." With that, he began the walk back to where he was staying.