Disclaimer: You people really know how to bring a girl down. . .
Moonlit Lives
Chapter 2
The castle was large and looming, with every wall decorated in some way, and every hall not without a secret passageway to make a trip across the estate a bit faster. There was a spacious courtyard planted in the center, and underground were a series of small, private hotsprings that Kagome didn't learn about until bathing time. There was a garden as well, above ground, in the back part of his incredibly large, kingdom-like, castle, as well as an underground garden, filled with dark and beautiful things that grew and prospered only in the darkness.
In the large, open garden above ground, there was a river. In some places where the flowers grew, the water ran shallow and sluggishly, while in other areas, where it ran through irrigation ditches, two or three feet across, it's surface level rose, running a bit faster. The vast garden had various plants and flowers growing, mingling together when it was possible. Depending on the needs of a certain flower, it was stationed in a specific place near the river, or far from it, as the case may be.
And then there was the area that Kagome loved most.
She had discovered it on her first day out of the castle, which Sesshoumaru had made her memorize by heart, taking almost two weeks. Here, in the back of the garden, grew large sakura trees, a sort of orchard. There were maybe fifty of the trees, placed in a sort of chaotic order. The brook seemed to wind in and out of the trees, somehow managing to pass each tree once. The water was clear and shallow, revealing the water life beneath the surface. Kagome had wandered around this place for hours, finally finding a spot where she sat. In the very back of the orchard of Sakura trees, she had stumbled upon a secluded sight, a small, clear lake with a small, poignant waterfall rising two, maybe three feet above the lake, feeding from the stream. Almost as if it had been planned, a sakura tree stood off to the right of the stream, it's trunk split into an almost perfect seat. The lake's bottom had deepened to a six foot depth, the entire floor made from a white/golden stone.
Kagome sat within the split trunk of the Sakura tree beside the lake, thinking of the last few days. Two weeks had passed, and there had been no sign of anyone coming to retrieve her. They had promised that once her destiny was fulfilled, then she would be reunited with her family and take her place among them. However, though she was certain that she had done all that was expected of her, there had been no clue as to what was to happen now that she was abandoned by unknown fellow pawns.
No news was good news, right?
Kagome put it from her mind, as she had been doing a lot. She looked darkly at the water in front of her, envying it for it's endless serenity, it's ability to just be. She wanted to be the water, wanted to be on her own, slow schedule. She wanted nothing more than to have no worries, no one to please. She sighed, and then, on an incredibly instantaneous impulse, and jumped up and in to the water. The simple blue kimono around her lithe frame sagged, heavy, and she untied the obi, allowing the cloth to float to the floor of the small lake. Naked and pleasantly cooled by the water, Kagome smiled a little bit, barely a ghost of a smile.
She rolled her head back, floating on her back, and she remembered the famous American novel she had read, Their Eyes Were Watching God. She studied the sky, scattered with white clouds. Briefly, she wondered what the date was, but knew that it didn't matter. The clouds moved sluggishly toward an unknown destination, and like she had wished to be the water, Kagome wished to be a cloud, never hurried, at it's own pace.
Thoughts of Inuyasha and the others ran rampant through her head, but she didn't cry. Instead, she pushed the thoughts back, knowing that she would not be able to handle them quite yet. All she could do was to try to forget, because that was the only chance she had for happiness.
'Sesshoumaru.' she thought, almost smiling. He was approaching, and was very close.
"Kagome." He said, knowing that he had been sensed. He stepped from the tree's, greeted by Kagome's naked body floating lithely in the water. He harnessed his carnal instincts to take her, and sat down, still staring at her.
She had been watching him, watching him watch her, and now she turned from him, suddenly shy and embarrassed. "Sesshoumaru, you lecher." She said to him, only because she was not sure what else to say. He said nothing in return, and when she peeked over her shoulder at him, he was still staring at her. She looked briefly down at her kimono at the bottom of the lake with utter loathing.
However, she was not going to expose herself freely to a carnal and lecherous animal whose only thought was mating when the youkai had taken over. And so, with as much dignity as she could muster, she drew in a large and overstated breath, then dived into the clear waters, deeper, deeper, until she had reached her clothes. They were heavy and hard to put on under water, but Kagome managed to make herself decent. When she arrived back up to the surface, Sesshoumaru was gone, but his haori remained.
Kagome smiled despite herself, incredibly grateful to Sesshoumaru at that moment. She slipped the haori over her sopping wet kimono, smelling Sesshoumaru's scent all over it. Carefully, she looked around for anyone that might see her, then took a deep breath, taking in the wonderful smell. Her eyes were closed and her shoulders raised to her chin, and she was smiling, though she didn't know it.
From up in a tree, Sesshoumaru watched the interaction between Kagome and his haori, secretly envying it for the attention it was receiving.
Kagome spotted Rin playing among the flowers, completely oblivious to the demoness slowly stalking up upon her.
And then it was too late, and Kagome was upon her, smothering the girl with her wetness as Rin Laughed out openly at the surprise. "Kagome-neechan!" she squealed happily, not minding that she herself had become wet. Kagome was laughing openly as she tickled a squirming Rin. She giggled, bursting out in squeals when Kagome hit a sweet spot.
Sesshoumaru, who had caught sight of them a little earlier on, found himself walking quietly towards the two, a smile tugging furiously at his lips. When he stopped, it took a moment for the giggling two to notice him.
"You two are going to get colds."
Kagome looked up first, the smile fading from her face momentarily before reappearing. Rin saw him next jumping up in front of him to bow. "Rin is sorry she is wet, Sesshoumaru-sama. Please forgive Rin?" She said softly.
However, before Sesshoumaru could respond to her plead, Kagome's voice sounded out. "Don't apologize for having fun, Rin. If it's anyone's fault that your wet, it's mine." She smiled gently at the girl who stared up at her with wonderment. She then turned to Sesshoumaru, serious. "I am sorry that Rin and I have ruined our clothes. I will bring her back to her chambers so that she may change and then return to my own so that I may as well." She bowed, surprising Sesshoumaru with her civility.
He had expected some sort of outburst about one thing or another, knowing her from his few visits to her and his half brother's camp. He was half disappointed, but soon it was erased when she turned around on her way back to the castle. "Oh, and we're going to have to have a little talk about this, Sesshoumaru-sama." She said, then turned back with Rin holding her hand, and continued her walk, dripping wet and hardly dignified. However, Sesshoumaru knew that those innocent words held a great chastisement for him in the future. Though valuable soldiers had died for less, he knew that somehow, he was going to be put in his place later. And somehow, that didn't bother him at all.
Kagome had wanted to cry at the incredible amount of submission and meekness that Rin had addressed Sesshoumaru with. It was as if the girl was truly scared of being banished from him if she messed up. Kagome did not know what had instilled this fear in Rin, but she was convinced to resolve it. As she walked with Rin, hand in hand, she decided to strike up conversation with the unusually bright girl.
"Rin-chan, what is wrong?" She asked, noticing that Rin had become quiet.
Rin paused a moment, as if thinking about the answer. Kagome waited patiently. Finally, she looked up with a pair of eyes that swirled with fright and anxiety. "Rin is scared that Sesshoumaru-sama might not want Rin anymore!" She cried, suddenly desperate. "Rin has never gotten wet out of bath before, and Rin is scared that she might be not allowed to be with Sesshoumaru any more! And now Rin is scared that Kagome-neechan might be not allowed to be with Sesshoumaru-sama any longer either. Rin is sorry, Kagome-neechan!" She suddenly threw herself at Kagome's chest, who was now kneeling next to the anxious girl. Rin buried her face in Kagome's neck, wailing desperately, saying sorry over and over again.
Kagome patted the young girl's back softly, murmuring complacent things in Rin's ears to sooth her. "It's alright, Rin-chan. Sesshoumaru-sama is not angry with us. He cares for you too much to throw you from his care."
Rin looked up with watery eyes, now shimmering with a bit of hope. "Really?" She asked in a small voice.
"Really."
Rin's tears vanished and she smiled brilliantly. "Sesshoumaru-sama isn't angry with Rin!" She cried in happiness, hugging Kagome. However, she refused to let go of Kagome's neck, and the demoness ended up carrying the girl to her room. Rin looked up at her mischievously. "Rin told you Sesshoumaru-sama wasn't angry. What on earth could have given you that idea?" She said coyly.
Kagome laughed openly, happy that Rin had recovered so easily. Rin laughed as well, merrily and carefree as a child should be. When Kagome reached Rin's room, She found a demoness waiting patiently at the door. She was staring at Kagome curiously, her crimson eyes narrowed, calculating. Those eyes reminded her briefly of Kagura and Kanna, the two who had mysteriously disappeared after the defeat of Naraku. However, This kijo's hair was a deep purple, cut short around her ears to frame an impish, pale face.
"Lady Kagome, I presume." She addressed Kagome, Bowing low before her. She then looked up and said. "I am Rin's personal handmaiden, Rio. I will make sure that she is decent." She told Kagome, stretching out her hands to take Rin From Kagome's arms. The young demoness relented easily and gave Rin over to Rio. Rin waved hello to the other woman and goodbye to Kagome before turning towards Rio's chest and playing with the golden necklace dangling about the woman's neck.
Smiling in thanks, Kagome thanked Rio and turned to find her way back to her own room. Though she was not dripping anymore, she was getting a chill from being wet.
Kagome headed back to her chambers, soaked and shivering in the cool air of the palace. She had just turned the corner of a hallway when a high pitched squeal made her start. She turned to her right, seeing a young fox demoness hurry toward her. The girl had bright green eyes and fiery, short red hair tied back by a forget-me-not blue ribbon. Shippou's face flashed before her eyes as she saw her young, personal servant, Kaji.
"Kagome-sama! You're soaked! Why are you wandering around like this in Sesshoumaru-sama's halls? You'll catch a chill! Here, I'll take you back to you chambers to change." She said, as if talking to a child. However, Kagome didn't care at this point and was grateful to be relieved of the task of navigating these headache rendering halls on her own.
When they reached the shoji doors that belonged to her bedroom, she grinned wildly and pounced Kaji, effectively dampening her clothes. "Oh, thank you, Kaji! I don't know what I would do without you!" She cried, hugging her tightly. She finally let go of an extremely frazzled Kitsune-kijo and helped her up.
She admitted that the thanks had been a bit over dramatic...
"You're perfectly welcome, milady." Kaji smiled, still stunned by Kagome's odd behavior. She had, after all, never been embraced by anyone but her mother. "Would you like me to help you change into a new kimono? Lord Sesshoumaru is expecting you for lunch. That's only fifteen minutes away."
Kagome smiled in gratitude and entered the room with Kaji close behind. After she heard the shoji door close behind her, she let go of her loosened kimono and let it slide to the floor to gather in a wet mass, which Kaji immediately picked up. She was handed undergarments and changed out of her wet ones and into the soft dry ones.
She took a second to looked around at her chambers once again, for the hundredth time. It was simple, but breathtaking at the very same moment. The floors were of bamboo, a youkai silk shielding the feet from harm but not the eyes from the exquisite sight. The rice paper walls were framed by bamboo as well, and the rice paper itself was decorated with a mural of a bamboo forest painted in soft tones.
She had a bamboo wardrobe in the south-eastern corner of the room, containing a remarkable amount of Kimono's and traditional Japanese sandals, Some made of the traditional wood, some made from the finest marble stone. A large slate of glass that acted as a mirror, it's surface rippling with youkai magic, was located in the south-western corner. Behind that mirror, there was a trap door, leading to a narrow hallway which was the way to her own personal underground hot-spring. The door was in the north-western corner, it being the only part of the room not decorated with bamboo.
Sitting in the center of the eastern wall was a large, white laden futon, equivalent in size to a queen sized bed in modern times. The north-eastern corner had a small bamboo table, round and unremarkable, graced by the presence of several white candles and a tea set, it's porcelain surfaces decorated with bamboo.
When she turned around, Kagome found Kaji holding a Sapphire Kimono with white sakura flowers scattered across it's surface and a pure white obi. Held by it's beauty, she allowed Kaji to slide the kimono onto her figure and mechanically held it in place while the other demoness tied the obi in an intricate bow that left the ends long enough to drag behind Kagome on the floor. Kaji then ran a comb through Kagome's hair, securing the ivory thing behind her left ear when she had finished with it. She tried to apply make-up, but Kagome refused stubbornly.
Kagome looked into the youkai reflective pool set in her room, stunned by how the deep blue kimono seemed to darken her oceanic eyes. She smiled, her fangs gleaming in the light. She turned to the red headed demoness behind her and widened her smile. "Thank you very much, Kaji."
"Of course, milady." Kaji bowed low. "Shall we go, then? I will escort you to the dining room." She said, walking to the rice paper and opening it smoothly. Kagome laughed a bit and exited her room, waiting to follow Kaji to the dining room.
The first few minutes of their walk was silent, used by Kaji to muster up enough courage to ask a question. "Kagome-sama?" She asked unobtrusively.
"Yes?" Kagome answered serenely.
"I do not recognize your markings. . . but it is said that you are of the Moon Wolf Clan and that your father is Taiyoukai. Is this true?"
"Hai. It is." Kagome said, nodding in affirmation.
She heard a gasp, knowing full well that being in the house of the moon wolves was something to be commended for. Her father's power rivaled even that of Sesshoumaru, though he did come in a close second in battle. No doubt her brother was powerful as well. This thought brought a pang of longing in her gut, and she suddenly wanted desperately to see her true family again. Her adoptive, mortal family had been very understanding and loving, but saying goodbye to them for the last time was somewhat of a relief to her, for it brought the knowledge that she would soon see her father and brother and mother again.
She was brought out of her reverie with Kaji's voice. "Milord Sesshoumaru, the Lady Kagome has come as requested." She spoke to the shoji door.
"Good. You are dismissed." Sesshoumaru said in return.
Once again, Kaji bowed low to Kagome and scuttled off to her chores. Kagome took a calming breath and slid open the door, steeping inside, and closing it.
"Sesshoumaru." She greeted, bowing half way to him.
"Kagome." He returned, bowing as well. Sesshoumaru had stood for her entrance and now sat. He was located at the end of a Shokutaku (Japanese traditional dining table). He motioned for her to sit at the corner right of him, and she complied.
They sat for a few moments in compatible silence, as they had when they had first had a conversation. Finally, Kagome had to say something. She decided Rin's odd behavior was a good place to start. "Sesshoumaru, I promised you we'd talk, and I intend on talking." She said, meeting molten eyes with her own icy gaze. "I don't think it's healthy for Rin to be so submissive around you. At her age, she shouldn't feel that she needs to apologize for having fun. It is in her nature and I'll be damned if she is going to become a lifeless doll like Kanna was." She told him heatedly.
Sesshoumaru continued to hold her gaze, passive as always. Once again, his respect for her grew. As a human, she had earned his grudging respect, something very few demons ever achieved. In fact, Sesshoumaru didn't believe that there was current demon, other than Kagome, that had his respect. Now that she was youkai, his respect grew with each word that she spoke. However, he was not going to be told that it was his fault that his ward acted the way she did.
"It is out of her own accord that she is as such. She believes that if she is not perfect, than I will abandon her, as she believes her parents did. I cannot ask her to immediately trust me. Rin is not an ordinary child, and will not be an ordinary woman. But I to will be damned before she becomes a shell as Naraku's incarnation was. Do not patronize me as if I am an incompetent peasant." Sesshoumaru raged in is own, calm way.
Kagome sat back, shocked at Sesshoumaru's words. She knew that it was not her place to tell Sesshoumaru what to do. "I am sorry, Sesshoumaru. It wasn't my place, after you have been so hospitable." She bowed her head. "I will not speak so condescendingly of you again, milord." She said, her eyes softening. "You truly care for Rin, don't you?" She asked suddenly, meeting his gaze once again.
However, this time, instead of two fierce elements striking the other in their intensity, they seemed to lull the other. Baby blue, soft and oceanic, met an understated sunflower yellow, beautiful and subtle.
It took Sesshoumaru to come to grips with what she was asking. The young wolf demoness in front of him gazed at him imploringly, softly. Finally, after feeling a moment of total peace in those blue eyes, he met her eyes totally, saying nothing, needing to say nothing.
Somehow, in the few days that he had truly known Kagome, human and not, the great, handsome, cold, Taiyoukai had come to trust her. It was something about her that was totally understanding and open, something that made even him want to tell her his life story and cry into her bosom. But he, being the emotionless man he was, would not. But he would allow her his trust. Kami forbid she betray it.
-The stray cat mewled mournfully
for the home it had known
but when it was given good food,
it purred contentedly-
and let me stroke it's back-