A/N: And here we are again, the final chapter of the story. I think that for this chapter, we'll have everyone read the disclaimer. Seeing as this is the last chapter. Alright, take it, minna-san!

Everyone in the Cast and this Fic: Aki doesn't own Inuyasha, for the LAST time! She never has and never will, no matter how much she's wished it! She doesn't own Naruto, Star Wars, or Memoirs of a Geisha either! She's just a fan girl of a variety of things. Now you lawyers will leave her alone as she won't have anything she'll be writing on for quite some time. Unless she changes her mind of course. But anyways, it all depends on her. So before we begin, this disclaimer has now made the fic reach page 247, and is now officially longer than "Mei Lhi: Inuyasha's Unknown Younger Sister". Aki wishes to thank you all for your love and support while writing this fic and says she will see you again in the epilogue. Now onward to Chapter 24!


Chapter Twenty-Four: Escape

Tsukimisou rose from her pleasant slumber, finding the room she occupied completely empty. Dressing quickly, she walked outside, her eyes frantically searching everywhere for signs of life. The morning was still and silent. Mist blanketed the rice fields, the air held a bitter chill. Shivering slightly, she slipped on her zori and began walking around the village. Reika was nowhere in sight.

'It was just a dream…' she thought sadly.

It seemed so real. She lived out at least a year of her life with her geisha idol. But that was dreams, she supposed. Time didn't exist in dreams. It could pass by fast, or slow. She supposed that she had the dream simply because she missed the girl so desperately that now her subconscious began to torment her with false images which seemed so tangible that she could touch them. With a sigh, she walked away from the hut she was occupying during her stay in the village, still searching for her friends and family, someone…anyone…

"Inu-oji-san! Kagome-oba-san!" she called out. "Mei-oba-san! Kyo-oji-san!"

There was no answer.

"Aneue! Chichiue! Hahaue! Tsu-chan!" she screamed out, now sounding desperate.

Her voice echoed across the fields, and still, no one answered. She was terrified. She was all alone in the village.

"Miroku-san! Sango-san! Kohaku-kun! Minoru-chan!"

"Daijoubu ka?" A voice asked warmly.

The young youkai girl turned towards the voice, running towards the source. The girl found herself staring at a tired looking young woman who was no more than a few years older than Rin. The woman wore a beautiful silk kimono with an elaborately patterned obi; her face was kind, and familiar, yet the Inu child could not tell nor place the face, for the fog obscured the woman's features. Tsukimisou flung herself at the woman and started to cry.

"Iie! My family is gone! They all left me!" The Inu child bawled.

The woman was quite shocked, but nonetheless comforted the small child. "Now, now, what do they look like? I've been up for a few hours and I saw a group of people leaving to go hunting. Perhaps that was them?" she said with a soft smile.

"Anno…my Inu-oji-san has long silver hair and dog ears on top of his head, and he wears red. My Chichiue has long silver hair too, but he's a taiyoukai, and he wears white-" The child began.

"Hmmm…did there happen to be a monk in dark robes with a demon slayer?"

"Hai! That must be Miroku-san and Sango-san!"

Tsukimisou looked hopeful and eagerly stared up at the older girl.

"Well then I definitely saw them. Your mother must be the miko-youkai, Hana, right?"

"Hai! That's her! Where is she?"

"She's tending to some ill people on the other side of the village, but I assure you she's perfectly fine."

The fog cleared slightly as the sun began to rise. Tsukimisou gasped and blinked repeatedly, now seeing the woman's face. Those violet eyes…how could she ever forget them?

"Reika-sama…?" she asked scarcely above a whisper.

The girl glanced down and slowly nodded. "Tsuki-chan…?" she asked.

Tsukimisou nodded fervently and chirped a happy-sounding "Hai!" Her face broke into a grin.

The girl's smile faded, and the Inu child looked at her geisha idol with almost a sort of suspicion. The small girl pinched herself, satisfied that she felt pain to know she was in fact awake, and proceeded to poke at her geisha idol.

"Silly Tsuki-chan, what are you up to?" the girl asked.

"Checking if you're real. My dream last night tricked me. I thought you came back. I want to make sure you're really back this time." Tsukimisou replied matter-of-factly.

"Well, do I pass?" Reika inquired.

After a few more seconds, Tsukimisou looked up and nodded. Reika smiled and gave the child a hug, releasing her to look over the girl.

"You've grown in the time I've been away. You look like your Kaa-chan."

"Well you missed a lot Reika-sama! Everyone had more pups except for Hahaue and Chichiue! I think they're happy with the three of us. You have to tell me everything!"

Reika sighed and nodded. "Hai, I do owe you that, and an apology for leaving so suddenly. These past few years, well, it's been interesting to say in the least. I'm at jyuu rank now, and I finally became strong enough to put that bastard Haru in his place. Oh, gomen, pretend you didn't hear that just now," The Inu child giggled and nodded, urging her idol to continue. "Anyway, I've been focusing on my geisha duties recently, and I'm trying to not use my powers. I'm hoping they'll go away over time. I hate my element…" she said, sounding slightly bitter.

"Hahaue said you died. How come you're back?"

Reika sighed. She knew that that was the question that had been nagging at the girl's mind forever. "My element is death, anti-life. When I was at kyuu rank, I could only hold so much power of the anti-life within me. Any more of it, and it would have done horrid things to me. So, I was half anti-life, and half Ryuuyoukai. I was almost a hanyou, if you think about it, really. But you see, when your oba-san was supposed to die, I gave up my living spirit, my Ryuuyoukai side, to save her. And all that was left was death. What is dead cannot die again. I was revived through a sort of rebirth, if you want to call it that. Whatever Ryuuyoukai blood I had left, it was removed, and I became the anti-life entirely. But in order for me to survive, I had to gain a rank so the power wouldn't overwhelm me. It has taken me quite longer than I expected to get used to my abilities. I'm terrifyingly powerful. So powerful that I'm afraid of myself. I've been trying to live a normal life as a geisha, and I pray everyday that my power will leave me and go to someone else. I wish for the burden upon my shoulders to be lifted. The weight of grief is one too heavy to bear."

The Inu child's eyes looked downward, nodding in understanding. "I see…" the small girl said finally. The girl brightened up and she smiled. "Well, now that's all cleared up, it's alright now!"

Reika smiled, happy that her young friend understood.

-

"Arigatou gozaimasu, Hanajima-sama! Your help was greatly appreciated!" A villager exclaimed graciously.

The miko-youkai beamed and bowed politely before leaving, crossing to the other side of the village, seeing the others return from their hunt. She waved, returning to the hut where she had left the children, only to find that Tsukimisou was gone. The woman set down her herbs that she had brought in a corner of the room, following the girl's scent, finding her conversing with a geisha.

"Tsuki-chan! What have I told you about talking to strangers?" The miko-youkai chided.

"But-!" Tsukimisou began to protest, only to be cut off by Reika.

"Farewell dear child, it was a pleasure meeting you." The older girl said politely, bowing before turning on her heel to leave.

Once Reika was out of earshot, Hana turned to her daughter.

"Don't wander off or talk to anyone you don't know. There are people who want to get to your father, and if they find out who you are, you have no idea what lengths people will go to by means of you! Do you understand me?" The miko-youkai said sternly. (A/N: Everyone but Tsukimisou thinks Reika is dead. So they don't know she's still alive.)

"Hai, Hahaue…" Tsukimisou said glumly.

Seeming satisfied, Hana said no more, taking her daughter's hand, leading her towards the approaching group.

-

Reika sighed, watching the small girl walk away with her mother.

'It's my fault that Hana-san dislikes geisha. It's all because of me. I wonder if it would have turned out different if she never saw me dancing…' she wondered somberly.

Soon the young geisha's thoughts drifted to memories of the past that she had long buried, memories that she had fought with herself to rid of. But they kept coming back. And now those memories and feelings had resurfaced once again with a vengeance.

'I don't want to remember! Please! I don't want to see it again!'

But no matter how hard she fought against it, it was no use. Her struggles only made the demons of her past that much stronger. And soon, she was overcome.

'"It is time for you to take your rightful place of rule over your element, dear child." Ame said, her tone serious.

"What do you mean?" Reika asked, sounding confused.

"The time has come for you to overthrow Haru. You exceed his powers, and it is time for you to take your rightful place of management. It is your element now, not Haru's. You have gained the ranking and power to surpass him and it is about time that you do."

"How shall I do this task that you so ask of me?"

"Find Haru, find him and by any means necessary, supplant him from his wretched throne. Do this, and all the horrors of your past will no longer trouble you." The silver-eyed Fate said seriously, her eyes imploring and gazing into the girl's intently.

"I understand." Reika responded obediently.

Bowing respectfully, Reika left, heading down the halls, her steps heavy as she made her way to the horrid place she had once called home. The place where she had lived apprenticed to Haru. The mere memory of that wretched man brought hot tears of hatred to the girl's eyes, memories of her so-called 'punishments' haunting her on her way.

And then she stood before the door. The door into hell. Her hell. Slowly she took a drew a long calming breath and slid it open, a knot in her stomach forming as she took a small uncertain step forward.

"Reika! My, my, is that you my dear? It's been far too long. Why, look at you, you're nearly a grown woman! Has time passed so much already?" Haru said sounding surprised, his tone oddly warm.

"Cut the act, Haru." The girl replied bitterly, putting as much anger and hatred into her voice as she could muster.

"My, my, not too happy today are we? But then again, you never really were the happy type, were you, you insolent little girl?"

"I was happy once! But you took my happiness away! You made the mere act of living seem like it was an endless hell, you bastard!"

"Are you talking about that ridiculous little boy? What was his name? Koji?"

"His name is Toji, you son of a bitch! How dare you dishonor him by even attempting to mention him!"

"Dishonor him? Reika, that worthless piece of trash is exactly that! Trash!"

"That worthless piece of trash as you so say is more than half the man you will ever be! You have some nerve trying to compare yourself to him! When I first met him, I did not know how to trust, how to have friends, or even know how to love! He taught me these things, and my entire world just changed, and Kami-sama, he was and still is the most beautiful thing I have seen in my life! And I refuse to allow anyone, even you, try and defile his beauty and goodness!"

"You are trying my patience, girl. Hold your tongue on these matters, your dear master does not wish to hear this talk from you."

"I will never answer to you again. I no longer need to hold a candle to you. If anyone is to be called 'master', it will be me! From now on, you answer to me."

"Keep dreaming little girl, I highly doubt any of your words are true. But in the meantime, do show some respect for your betters."

Reika's hands balled into fists, her anger permeating through her entire being. A dark aura began to form around her. Into this aura, she poured her hatred and fury. The ominous intent of the aura was so massive, it filled the entire room. The sense of anguish was so thick it was choking.

Haru seemed to have sensed it at last. "Do you plan on killing me, little girl?" He spat venomously.

"No, it wasn't what I'd had in mind. I originally planned to strike you down and take over your place and have you be my servant for all eternity, but your idea is so much better! I won't have to deal with you again if I kill you. Why, you're so incredibly smart, Haru. So, how shall you like to die?" Reika replied in an all-too-cheery voice that sounded very out of place and rather creepy. (A/N: You know how there's someone who's like really happy? I mean like, REALLY happy that it seems impossible to be so happy that because they're so happy it's scary? Well, yeah, let's just say Reika-chan is just like that right now. Pretty scary, yeah? I'm pretty scared myself, seeing as I can hear the voices in my head as characters speak, so I'm pretty damn creeped out.)

"Fool. I can't die. You cannot kill what it already dead." Haru said in a matter-of-fact tone.

"Oh really? Well, last time I checked, if you bring what's dead back to life…" The girl began, raising one of her arms so that a glowing white light could be seen hovering above her palm. The light illuminated the girl's eyes, which were a deep crimson. With a grin, Reika saw her former master's eyes flicker with fear. "What's wrong, Haru? Finally realizing that the end has come?"

"That's not possible! How can you have this power? It cannot be so!"

"I'm a Jyuu rank, Haru. I can do a whole lot more than this. And let me say that it will be an honor to test out all my new abilities on you, you bastard."

These words seemed to give Haru a newfound strength and confidence. With his renewed resolve, he countered back viciously. "Reika! I've been a good provider! I've taught you everything you know! I cared for you like a daughter! And you have the nerve to show me such insolence! After all I've done for you! Who took you in with open arms after you killed your parents when you were born? I did! Who cleaned up the mess? Who went and risked his own life to show the elders in charge that you weren't a hazard to us? That you weren't a murderer? I did! Who protected you from the opposing elements that tried to destroy you? Who kept you hidden all these years to protect you from harming others? I did! Who paid for your schooling? Who sent you to geisha school, or whatever that place is called, huh? Who paid all your fees for you? I did! How can you loathe me when all I've done is given more than I have to make you happy? You ungrateful, selfish little bitch! I've given you all that I have and more, and still, you wish to take more and more from me? You want to take all that's left of me? I just can't give you enough to satisfy your hunger, can I? I suppose I never will! You'll probably never stop until I'm dead too! And in fact, you stand before me today to not only take over my place, but also to kill me as well! How could I have been such a fool to say that you were not a murderer? This proves that everyone else in the past was right about you. I had been warned numerous times that you were dangerous. But I was such a fool…I didn't believe them. I believed that I could change you. I believed that I could make you into something magnificent. How wrong I was…I know now to never make that mistake ever again! So if you want to kill me now, then kill me. But know this: if you kill me, no one will be able to protect you from the fate you will be condemning yourself to. You will be forbidden from this place for all time! Do you really want that, Reika? Do you know what it means if you're forbidden from this place? It means that you'll never get to see that boy that you find so precious to you anymore! So go on, kill me Reika! Take away what's left of me! Go on! Hit me with that light! Go on! Do it! Condemn yourself to hell! Come on, I know you want to!"

Reika's arm dropped, the light extinguished. Guilt and regret settled into her stomach, her already weighted being growing heavier. Haru looked pleased walked towards her.

"See? You made a good decision. You won't have to be punished for this. You no longer have to worry about condemning yourself." He said in a level voice, an arm reaching out to grasp her shoulder.

Punishment. Reika's eyes narrowed. No man who ever harmed a girl in such a way should be allowed to walk the earth. The fire in her was reignited and just as Haru's arm was about to touch her she struck it back, much to Haru's surprise.

"Don't you dare touch me again!" She screamed at him, her anger evident in her voice.

Without a second thought, she rushed him, an arm extended with an open palm, the light laced between her fingers. It made contact, and Haru crumpled.

"Why…?" Haru choked out, clearly in pain.

"You hurt me in such a way that should never be done. That is your sin. I hope that when you are judged, you will not be forgiven for the acts you have committed. You do not deserve forgiveness. Nor have you earned it. You deserve to suffer. Suffer as I have while being stuck with you. Go to hell!" She spat back, her voice filled with loathing.

The girl moved to stand over her dying master and with as much strength as she could muster, she delivered the final blow.

The bright light filled the room, and when it finally faded, a teenage boy with silver hair and pale skin came into view. He laid at her feet, seemingly asleep, his expression peaceful. Looking at him, Reika almost pitied him.

"How could someone so beautiful turn out to be so horribly cruel?" she asked silently. No one answered her. She knelt down and touched the face before he began to fade away into ash and dust. As he melted away, she felt the weight upon her shoulders lighten.

It was done. Haru was gone. He would haunt her no more.

She came back to reality and sighed. She had been so brave, and such a coward at the same time. She ran away from her responsibility to control her element. She ran away like the coward she was and never looked back to face her demons of the past. To everyone in the North, Haru just disappeared. No one knew how it happened, and now those in charge of life had to take over the job of not only giving life, but ending it as well. Thus, she gave the man she loved no other choice but to experience the horrors that she had when she had once done her duty of taking life away.

She stared into the sky with regret, tears brimming in her eyes.

"I'm sorry…Toji…"

-

Anger writhed painfully fierce within Tsukimisou's insides. Ever since she wanted to become a geisha, her mother had always been against it no matter what. Now she was forbidding her from talking to geisha, whether she knew them or not? She hated the excuses, the lies, and the scolding. It wasn't fair.

'I want to live my life the way I want to live it! I don't want someone else controlling me or picking and choosing what they think is best for me! It's my life, not theirs! Kami-sama, why did you have to give me such a person for a Hahaue? Are you punishing me? If not, why are you doing this? I don't deserve it! And if you are punishing me, what have I done so wrongly that I have offended you? What did I do to take myself from your favor, dear Kami-sama? Do I not pray to you enough? Worship you enough? Devote myself to you enough? Have I been to mean to my brother? To my sister? Is it the anger I feel towards mother? Please! Stop it! I don't want to have to deal with this anymore. I want to be free, free like the birds in the sky. I want to be free, free like the fish in the rivers and streams. Kami-sama, if you're listening, please, grant me this wish. It is all that I ask. Just do me this one favor, give me my freedom, and I will honor and worship you forever. Give me my freedom and allow me to become a geisha, I promise you, I will devote myself to you as much as I can. Please…'

Little did Tsukimisou know, her prayer would be answered…four years later on a rainy spring day…

-

Rin, Tsurugi, and Tsukimisou sat together in a room, watching the rain fall in sheets through the window. Sesshoumaru and Hana were in conferences and meetings all day. It was already late afternoon. There were still another three meetings or so before they would be over for the day. The sky was already growing darker.

Tsukimisou sighed. She was bored out of her mind. There wasn't much that a ten-year-old girl could do. Without a word she left the room, her brother and sister inquiring as to where she was headed off to.

The Inu girl replied with a simple "I don't really know" and continued on to her room, deciding to practice her calligraphy for a little while. But soon, she got bored with that as well and put away her calligraphy utensils, her eyes falling upon the pair of fans her geisha idol had given her so long ago. With a grin she took the fans out, flicked them open and began dancing.

In mid-step, she paused. A sudden idea occurred to her. Now was her chance! She would have to wait until nightfall before she could launch her plan into action. She was going to run away and become a geisha. She remembered when she was six and she had met Reika again, she had told her where to find the okiya. Immediately, the girl began packing a few articles, her plan in mind.

-

Nightfall had come. The children were told to go to sleep. At that moment, Tsukimisou's plan sprang into action. Leaping out of bed, leaving it in disarray, she threw off the outer layer of her sleeping kimono, letting it lie in a heap. The rest of her clothes soon followed. Afterward, she put on a simple kimono that would have looked royal on a peasant. She made false tracks and tore through her window, grabbing her sleeping kimono, and leaping out through her newly-made exit, into the pouring rain.

-

The servant coming into Tsukimisou's room screamed and ran, her feet carrying her to her liege lord and lady.

"Se-Sesshoumaru-sama! Hanajima-sama!" The servant gasped, attempting to catch her breath. "Tsukimisou-sama…her room is empty and it's in disarray! I think that she's been kidnapped, milord!"

"Nani?" Sesshoumaru said suddenly, on his feet. Hana gasped in shock and was on her feet as well.

The two youkai excused themselves from the meeting which had halted the moment the servant girl burst through the door, and moved quickly to their daughter's room. The scene that met their eyes was horrifying.

"She-she's gone!" Hana exclaimed, grabbing the outer layer of her daughter's sleeping kimono that lay sprawled on the floor. Tears came to the miko-youkai's eyes; the emotion welling up in her eyes was unable to be held back.

Sesshoumaru moved to his mate's side, comforting her, attempting to quell the woman's cries with soft reassurances. "I'll go wake Inuyasha and we'll go out and look for her right now. You can come along too. If she has in fact, been taken, she may be injured, so your assistance will be necessary." He said finally, lightly placing a hand on his mate's shoulder before turning to leave.

Hana nodded, her knees buckling beneath her, crumpling to the floor, clutching tightly to Tsukimisou's kimono, sobbing into the soft material.

Sesshoumaru returned with a slightly groggy Inuyasha a few minutes later. Inuyasha let out a yawn and stretched, exposing his canines briefly before his mouth closed.

"So why'd you wake me up again?" The hanyou asked.

"Baka! I told you that Tsukimisou's possibly been kidnapped!" Sesshoumaru growled.

The hanyou sighed. "Right…so…where do we start? It'll be hell to find her out in this weather. The rain will wash away all tracks and scents; I don't see why we can't start tomorrow when the clouds clear up…" He muttered.

With those words said, Hana whirled around, her eyes aflame. "You idiot! You're going out there to find my daughter, because whoever took her can't have gotten far, so you're going to catch up to them and get her back! Do you understand? So stop wasting time and get out that god damn window!" She screamed at him.

Inuyasha's ears flattened to his head and he nodded, a small whimper escaping his throat. Hana seemed satisfied, and got to her feet at last, her daughter's kimono still clutched tightly in her hand. She proceeded out what was left of the window and the wall that surrounded it, Sesshoumaru following, Inuyasha not far behind.

-

'Ten miles…' Tsukimisou thought.

The girl had stopped to catch her breath at last. She'd been running and laying false tracks for at least an hour.

"Well, now's a good time as any to start leaving a blood trail…" she muttered, raising her exposed wrist before running her claws across it.

Blood dripped into the soft soil, and the girl began to run again, silently thanking her youkai speed and stamina the whole way.

In the next half hour, she'd put another five miles between herself and her home. She stopped again, dropping the sleeping kimono she had been wearing earlier onto the wet earth. The Inu girl rolled up her sleeves and dug her claws into her arms and abdomen. Blood pooled around her, and she found her strength leaving her. Her mind faded in and out of consciousness, until at last she gave in.

"Tsukimisou!" A distant voice called out.

The Inu girl's eyes snapped open. She got to her feet at once, noticing that her wounds were mostly healed. There was a considerable amount of blood on the ground. She ran, leaping into a tree, spotting a river nearby in front of her. Looking behind, she could see her uncle. She increased her speed, diving into the crystal blue water, which instantly began to turn red. When the water flowed aquamarine once again, she leapt out, not turning back, watching the night sky slowly lighten. She didn't have a lot of time until her resting place would be found. The okiya was still quite a long way from where she was.

-

Inuyasha continued searching, his ears flicking at the slightest sounds, his eyes constantly glancing to and fro, while his nose kept him on his niece's blood trail. He scented the area, his eyes widening as he smelled a large amount of blood.

"SESSHOUMARU!" He yelled.

The taiyoukai appeared as lightning forked across the sky, illuminating him.

"Nani?" He asked.

"You smell that?" The hanyou asked.

Sesshoumaru looked off to the side, taking a whiff of the air. "Tsukimisou!" he said suddenly, running quickly, Hana following after him.

The sight was not pretty at all. Hana's eyes took in the surroundings, and she found herself go weak in the knees once more.

"She's dead, I know it! She's dead! They've killed her, and now they're probably…pleasuring themselves with her body…" The miko wailed, as anguish penetrated every fiber of her being.

Sesshoumaru didn't want to admit it to himself, but he knew that what Hana said was most likely true. Steeling his emotions and pushing back his pain, he went to his mate to offer words of consolation.

"Hana-chan, I promise you, I will find whoever did this to Tsuki-chan, and I will make them regret everything that they have done." He said in a level voice.

Hana looked up at him with teary eyes and slowly nodded, choking back sobs before her eyes once again looked at the pool of blood and clothes lying at her feet.

"I hope…I hope that-that she didn't suffer…" Hana stammered, trying to force herself from allowing her grief to overwhelm her. "I hope that it was quick and painless…I don't want my baby to have suffered…at such a young age…" The miko-youkai trailed off and said no more, gathering the bloody garments into her arms, as if embracing them would make her daughter return.

Inuyasha had no words to speak. Everything had just hit him like a brick, and it was still trying to sink in. It was a long while before anyone spoke. All eyes were on the pool of spilled crimson, peering into it mindlessly.

"I…I'm sorry for your loss…" Inuyasha said finally, breaking the uneasy silence. At this Hana rounded on him.

"Sorry? You're sorry? What the hell good does an apology do me? My daughter is dead! And now in death I know she'll be condemned to hell because of the sick degenerate men who exist in the world! They'll continue to torture her body until it can be tortured no more! For all I know they may have done this torment to her while she was still alive! Oh Kami-sama, she must have been so scared…I'm so sorry Tsuki-chan. I didn't want this to happen to you…" The miko yelled bitterly, eventually trailing off.

"It's not so bad-" The hanyou began.

"Not so bad? You IDIOT! My daughter is dead and you seem to not care that your niece is dead! Not only that, I've failed to protect my child! I've failed as a mother! If I couldn't protect Tsukimisou, then I'm a failure to protect Tsurugi as well! I should have never been given these children to begin with! Why would Kami-sama do something so cruel to me?"

Inuyasha was starting to get irritated with the woman's rant and soon lost his temper and patience with her. "Who are you calling a baka? You're the baka! You're not a failure as a mother, dammit! It wasn't your fault that you couldn't protect Tsukimisou! You had to attend to business all day! Parents and adults can't always be around to protect the pups! It's just not possible! You're not a failure to any of your pups! This thing with Tsukimisou is simply a lesson for you to learn to do better next time and learn from your mistakes! Now shut up and stop bitching about it! And you say I didn't care! You have some nerve to assume that Hana-baba! You have no idea how much I truly care! But unlike you, I don't mope about it until the end of time, making sure everyone knows how stupid I was and how miserable I am to have let Tsukimisou get kidnapped and murdered! For the love of Kami-sama Hana-baba! It hurts now sure, but you don't have to live the rest of your life thinking that you're a failure at everything just because of one cruel thing that happens! If you didn't notice, that's just how life is! It's kind, and it's heartless at the same time. It can be fair one second, but then the next it's as unfair as it could possibly get! So get used to it!" He snapped bitterly, not realizing that he was actually speaking.

Hana was stunned; Sesshoumaru was quite taken aback as well. Actually, all three of them were in various states of shock. An awkward silence settled in as the three of them stared at one another. The only sounds heard were the birds and the howling winds.

At last Hana spoke.

"Everything is going to be different now, ne?" she asked, her voice quavering.

Sesshoumaru turned to her and nodded curtly. "Hai…"

Inuyasha looked to the sky, a drop of blood falling into the tip of his nose. The child's scent penetrated his senses, and in an instant lead settled into every corner and fiber of his being. His vision blurred as hot liquid pools of emotion permeated his line of sight. His tears were lost in the rain, just as a little girl named Tsukimisou was lost in the same rain as well.

The hanyou couldn't admit it to himself, he wouldn't believe it. He could still hear her laughter; he could still see her smiling face. He could feel that she was still out there, and he was powerless to do anything to try and find her. Sesshoumaru and Hana believed what they believed, and changing that would only further their grief. He didn't want to admit it. He didn't want to surrender his feelings to something he had to accept to be true, even though he felt in his heart it was all a lie. But he knew he had to.

"She won't come back."

-Owari

Completed 4:34 PM PDT, Monday April 03, 2006; Revised Friday April 7, 2006 1:37 PM PDT.


A/N: And there it is…the end. Stay tuned for the epilogue. I apologize for the long delay. I've been rather busy with school, and I have Kingdom Hearts II, and I'm still in the process of beating the game. I'm almost finished, but if anyone can give me any pointers on how to complete everything in Jiminy's Journal or even the battle with Sephiroth, I will be ever grateful. Alright, I'll quit rambling. Until next time, ja ne! Thank you everyone for reading and sticking with me until the end! XD