Disclaimer: Avril Lavigne, people. XD This song just fits like a... well, whatever matches well with something.
Chie: The day you've all been (impatiently) waiting for... Dundundundun! Three or four weeks have passed!
Chapter twenty-three – My happy ending
"Would this one look better here, what do you think?"
Mrs Higurashi tilted her head, appraising.
"I think it should go there, yes, Rin-san."
The black-haired small woman flashed a brilliant smile.
"You will do the ceremony and stand in the eastern side. Sesshoumaru and Kagome-chan will be facing east. I will stand with Kouga on the north side and Rin and Hitachi will be facing us."
"I know, Ayame-chan, I've been well-trained," Abi muttered.
"Sorry. I'm just so happy."
"Everyone is, Ayame-chan. We have been waiting for this day for centuries."
Kagome stood in the centre of it all. The taiyoukais had done the preparations very well and the courtyard of the shrine was beautifully decorated, although the decorations were not yet complete. Rin and Kayade were taking care of that, working together with her mother. Her aunt Shaere had kindly prepared food together with Abi who turned out to be an excellent cook. Who would have guessed?
"Kagome-chan!"
Kagome flinched at hearing her name. She had been deep in her own thoughts. Tomorrow was the big day. Tomorrow already...
"Yes, Ayame-chan?"
"Come with me and Abi. It's time to change."
Kagome quirked her eyebrow – a habit she had picked up after living with Sesshoumaru too long.
Neither one of the two demonesses answered her unspoken question. Kagome shrugged and followed them inside. They led her up the stairs into the room that had been hers before she had left her home behind to live on her own.
"Here," Ayame said softly and smiled at Kagome. "I finished it last night."
Kagome gasped at the sight.
"But Ayame-chan! This is beautiful..."
"Thanks, I did my best," she answered with a wolfish smirk.
"Now let's get you changed, Kagome-san."
It fit perfectly.
"It really suits you," Abi praised.
"Sesshoumaru's eyes will pop out," Ayame snickered.
"I would not like that," Kagome replied, smiling. "I like his eyes."
"Oh yes, they're pretty eyes – when he's not glaring."
"Ayame-chan, that wasn't so fair."
"Truth is hardly ever fair, Abi my friend."
Kagome closed the door behind her. She took off her shoes and walked to the big and well lit living room. She sat down on the sofa and snuggled against the big fluffy pillow. Kirara and Shue appeared from somewhere, both cats mewing for her attention. Kagome chuckled.
"And where were you?" a husky voice asked.
Kagome turned to see Sesshoumaru.
"I went to check upon the preparations."
"You need not to worry. They know what they are doing."
"I know... But I just wanted to look."
"My curious little Kagome." Sesshoumaru smiled and sat down next to her.
"Now where were you, mister?"
"I had to go to a meeting held in my office and after that I had some guests to receive."
"Guests?"
"Well after all the mating ceremony is tomorrow, little darling. And I still am the Lord of the Western lands. A few demons of the West have arrived to be witnessing the mating ceremony."
"More demons? Great. Grandpa will be delighted." Kagome muttered.
Sesshoumaru chuckled.
"Do not worry. Everything will go just fine."
"And the rehearsal?"
"There's still time before that," he assured, picking Kirara up to his lap.
"But there will be rehearsal, right? I don't want to screw anything up tomorrow in front of the audience."
"Do not worry, my dear Kagome."
"Sesshoumaru..."
"Yes?"
"Why is Abi doing the ceremony?"
"It's a tradition," Sesshoumaru answered. "Besides, for the circle to work, the East must face West."
"The circle?"
"The circle that represents the bond you will share with your mate. A circle will be drawn onto the ground. The taiyoukais will all stand on the frame of the circle. East in eastern side, West in western side, North in northern side and South in southern side."
"Oh..." Kagome frowned.
"You'll understand better once you see it," Sesshoumaru assured. Then he got up.
"We should get going now."
"What? There's still an hour before the rehearsal starts."
"Precisely. An hour time to take my beautiful mate-to-be out for a dinner."
"Liar. You just want to show me off," Kagome smirked.
"So what if I want?" Sesshoumaru teased her back and offered his arm. "Shall we?"
Kagome stood in front of the mirror. She was dressed in the azure coloured silken kimono which Ayame had made. The silver embroidery glimmered in the dim light of her room. Her midnight black hair was arranged in an old fashioned style, which too was done by Ayame's hand. She looked like a hime from centuries ago. It felt funny, to see herself dressed like this. Somehow it seemed to remind her of something. Remind.. But about what? She could not quite grasp it. The throbbing ache started to spread behind her eyes and she hissed in pain.
"Kagome? Are you all right, sweetheart?"
"Yes mama.. I'm fine," she managed to answer, smiling despite the pain she felt inside. Somehow.. For some reason.. Her heart felt hollow.
"Are you nervous?"
"A bit, yeah," she answered, turning back to watch her reflection in the mirror.
"Everything will go just fine."
There it came again. The same line Sesshoumaru had been repeating to her the day before. Could it be.. Had Sesshoumaru tried to convince himself with those words? Was he feeling nervous, too?
"I'm sure it will," Kagome replied softly. She turned away from the mirror.
"You look so pretty," Mrs Higurashi said, gazing her daughter.
"Thank you."
A strangled sound escaped from her throat and she took few rushed steps to close in their distance. She pulled her daughter into a tight embrace.
The sudden gesture surprised Kagome completely.
"Uh, mama, some air.."
The woman smiled and let her arms fall to her sides.
"I'm glad to see this day."
"So it doesn't bother you?"
"What would bother me?"
"Mom, I'm about to marry a demon here!"
"So what? He's a really considerate, nice young man. And I have to say, if I were any younger... He's an excellent catch," the elder woman admitted, a hint of mischievousness in her gentle eyes.
"Mama!"
Mrs Higurashi laughed merrily.
"You should hurry, dear. Father is waiting."
"Jii-chan... How is he taking this all," Kagome frowned.
"Father cares not even if Sesshoumaru is a demon. After all the choice is yours. He only wants you to be happy."
"Mama..."
"Yes, dear?"
"Thank you for everything," she whispered, hugging her mother.
"Go, my dear. They are waiting you."
Kagome smiled and left from her room. In the stairs she met her grandfather.
"Are you ready, Kagome?"
"As ready as I can be, jii-chan," she answered, placing her hand on his offered arm.
She walked down the aisle, escorted by her jii-chan and her mother. All three stopped when they reached the circle. Abi was in the east corner, the Goshinboku right behind her back. She was facing the guests gathered in the courtyard. Sesshoumaru was standing with his back to the crowd, facing Abi. Kouga and Ayame were standing in the left, in the northern side as Hitachi and Rin stood opposite to them. Mrs Higurashi recognised their traditional kimonos immediately; they were the same ones they had worn in the earlier ceremony as well. The colours probably represented the lands they were ruling. Good thing Kagome had happened to hook up with the Western Lord. Blue really suited her.
Mrs Higurashi bowed at the same time with her father.
"Higurashi Kagome," called out Abi's melodic voice, "enter the circle and take your place on the side of your future mate."
Kagome bowed gracefully and took a step forward, stepping on the fine line in the ground.
"Unite thy hands like thy souls shall be united on this day."
Sesshoumaru took Kagome's small hand in his own. Their fingers intertwined. Sesshoumaru squeezed her hand reassuringly.
"Look closely at this pair, my people, for they shall never be apart again. On this day thou shall witness how these two souls will be bound together, united, 'til the end of times comes and 'til death doth them apart.
Lord of the South, raise thy voice!"
Hitachi turned his head to stare at Sesshoumaru.
"Lord of the West, do you swear before these people that what you say is all the pure truth?"
"These words I speak come from my very heart. They are as true as the red blood in my veins."
"Lord of the West, do you swear before these people that what you say will be said by your own will alone?"
"These words I speak are mine. My free will agrees with my heart."
"Lord of the West, will you raise this woman to be you equal?"
"This woman shall rule by my side and will be known as the Lady of the West throughout all Japan."
"Lord of the West, will you protect this woman from any danger?"
"I shall protect my mate. My own life I am willing to sacrifice, for her to gain a chance to live."
"These vows thou have made, these vows thou must not break," Hitachi said.
"Lord of the North," Abi called, "raise thy voice!"
Kouga turned his head to stare at Kagome.
"Lady of the West, do you swear before these people that what you say is all the pure truth?"
"These words I speak come from my very heart. They are as true as the red blood in my veins", Kagome replied clearly.
"Lady of the West, do you swear before these people that what you say will be said by your own will alone?"
"These words I speak are mine. My free will agrees with my heart."
"Lady of the West, will you abide to the will of thy mate?"
"My mate is my lord, him I shall obey."
"Lady of the West, will you grant an heir to the Western Lands?"
"I will bear the child of my mate and he shall be the heir to the Western Lands and the heir to the inu-clan."
"These vows thou have made, these vows thou must not break," Kouga said.
"Lord of the West," Abi called, "Doth thou love this woman."
"I love this woman from all of my heart."
Kagome bit her lip, not to shed the tears glimmering in her eyes.
"Lady of the West, doth thou love this man?"
"I love this man from all of my heart."
Sesshoumaru squeezed her hand tighter.
In the front row, Mrs Higurashi was wiping her tears away with a tissue. On her left side Souta sighed in annoyance.
"South and North, step forward!"
Hitachi and Kouga walked across the circle. Hitachi stopped before Sesshoumaru and Kouga before Kagome. Both lords bowed shortly to the pair. Then Kouga raised his hand to gently rest it on Kagome's inky black locks. Hitachi's hand was placed on top of Sesshoumaru's head.
"Lord of the West, art thou willing to take this female as your mate and give her your heart, your life and your soul?" Abi asked.
"Kagome will be my mate."
"Lady of the West, art thou willing to take this male as your mate and give him your heart, your life and your soul?"
"Sesshoumaru will be my mate."
"Lord of the South, raise thy voice!" Abi commanded.
"I will bless this male!" Hitachi spoke loud and clear.
"Lord of the North, raise thy voice!"
"I will bless this female!" Kouga said gently.
"I will bless this union," Abi declared. She bowed to Sesshoumaru and Kagome. Then she straightened herself to all of her height and spread her arms, now looking at the crowd. "Behold! The binding shall be made!"
Hitachi raised his hand and something followed with it. It glimmered with pure silver, like a lock of his long hair. But it wasn't Sesshoumaru's hair. It was something far more powerful. The thin string followed Hitachi's hand as the neko taiyoukai slowly made it spiral around his left arm.
Kouga now raised his hand and an azure string followed his hand from inside of Kagome. He wrapped it around her right arm.
"These parts of thy souls shall now be bound together! May thou never break this union."
The strings of their souls started to move down their arms, spiralling down.
The crowd gaped in awe how the strings of their souls danced lower to meet themselves. Above their united hands the two different souls met, azure mingling with silver. Its glow brightened and brightened. And then the strings were gone.
Kouga and Hitachi bowed again, and then returned to their places in the circle.
"Hisakata Sesshoumaru, Lord of the West," Abi spoke out. "Thy soul is now bound to thy mate."
"This I have done willingly."
"Higurashi Kagome, Lady of the West. Thy soul is now bound to thy mate."
"This I have done willingly."
"By these words of mine - "
She nearly gasped at the sudden sharp pain.
" - shall you two be from now on - "
His grip of her hand tightened.
" - bound to each other by this link - "
It felt as if a stream of ice-cold water would have been trailing down her back.
" - of your hearts, of your souls - "
As his grip tightened yet again the pain in her head increased.
" - forever."
Such a sound as a large crystal bowl would have been shattered into millions and yet millions of pieces echoed all the way through her mind.
For a moment she stood rooted to her spot, thoroughly stunned. Sesshoumaru turned to her, the ceremony would end be sealing their bond with a kiss.
Kagome looked at him, wide-eyed. Then her knees gave in and fell down onto the ground, crying.
The power was overwhelming. It wrapped itself around her, it seemed like a dam would have been destroyed and now the powerful stream was free to run again. The endless, overwhelming stream of memories. They filled her mind, waves of thousands and yet thousand of memories hitting her so that she lost her breath, images after images flashing before her eyes, and it caused pain, her heart ached...
She now remembered. Remembered it all.
Miroku's lecherous grin and groping hands, his stance when he was ready to fight, clenching his staff, pulling out the rosary and using kazaana, his worried eyes over Sango's unmoving form, frown on his face when was trying to solve a problem.
Sango slapping Miroku's cheek, sitting on the floor Kirara in her lap, throwing the huge boomerang at the enemies, killing a random youkai. Her soft voice and worried eyes when she asked if she was all right, she was standing, eyes filled by unshed tears, screaming out her brother's name.
Shippo arguing with Inuyasha, he snuggling closer to her body, his wide fox-like grin, he playing with Kirara, shouting out "Kagome!", his voice filled with fear for loosing something precious.
Inuyasha sitting, sulking expression on his face, waving tetsusaiga, growling, in his human form, his head resting in her lap, he pinned against a tree by Kikyo's arrow.
The ghost of "Keh!" floated in her ear.
Her knees gave away, her vision blurred, hard sobs making her whole body tremble and she didn't seem to notice she had not fallen onto the hard ground. She doubled over, curling up, trying to set a wall between her and the mean world, she was still sobbing hard and her hands tightly clenched the cool fabric.
Gone. Permanently. All. Died. She. Alive. Alone. No way back. No denial. No escape from the fact.
They all had died.
She had run away. Letting them die. She was the one to blame. She had done nothing to help them, nothing...
She had no purpose. She had no friends. There was no one to share this pain. Nobody who would know and understand the greatness of her loss. Nobody to comfort her.
Eventually her sobs died out. The world around her slowly came back alive again. She realised she was not lying on the ground. She let her grip of the cool fabric fall. She blinked, and raised her head, now suddenly surprised and confused in the middle of the depth of her sorrow.
He was watching her closely, a worried expression on his face.
"Dear, are you all right? What is it?"
First she noticed the amber eyes.
"I..nu.."
Then she noticed the markings on his face.
He was Sesshoumaru.
Where was she? What was happening? Why was Sesshoumaru holding her, calling her 'dear'...? Wait.. Sesshoumaru!
Kagome gasped, her eyes widened in fright.
"Do- Don't kill me! Stay away, Sesshoumaru!"
She wiggled out of his grasp, backing away from him, eyeing wildly the terrain around her. She needed to find an escape!
It was the shrine. It was her home. There was a circle on the ground and in the circle standing demon she did not recognise, save for Sesshoumaru and...
Her eyes widened as she rushed over to him.
Kagome buried her face into Kouga's shoulder as the violent sobs once again ran through her small body.
"Oh Kouga-kun!" She cried out, clinging to him like a drowning person to the hands of her saviour. "It's all my fault, all my fault..."
Sesshoumaru's growl reached their ears. Obviously the demon lord did not like his mate being so close to another demon male.
Kagome yelped, only clinging tighter on Kouga.
"Please, Kouga-kun! Don't let him kill me, please."
Kouga raised his gaze and looked straight into Sesshoumaru's glowing amber eyes.
The dog demon was next to them in an instant and pulled Kagome back to him, not minding her struggling.
The woman now sobbed against his chest, trying to break loose. But Sesshoumaru's arms held her tightly in the place.
Sesshoumaru gazed at the taiyoukais, a look in his eyes which could only be described as helpless.
The seal on her memories had been broken.