True to Your Heart
Disclaimer: Don't own it.
AN: Just for reference, when the words are in italics, it means the characters are speaking in a different language.
Ch. 2: Reflection (XD)
The sky was showing early signs of sunrise as beautiful hues of pink and orange started appearing in the great dark expanse. At this time, the United Kingdoms were at complete peace, despite the fact that their only means of protection (besides the king's army) had been broken just the day before. As of yet, the kings messengers had yet to deliver the notices that their emperor had ordered them to. And so, no citizens knew about the breach, and thus, were still at peace, sleeping in their warm beds.
Except for one place. Loud crashing sounds resounded through a home, complimented by angry voices yelling at each other in incoherent barks and growls. It was the language of the canine demons.
"I still don't understand why it has to be me who has to stay behind! Any other of your officers are just as capable, and more qualified according to 'His Majesty's' standards!" Inuyasha's voice boomed, shaking the foundation of the fairly large stone house seated just outside the Emperor's castle. He put emphasis on the Emperor's name, making it sound like in insult more than anything else.
Taisho looked at him with a frustrated glare, rubbing his temple as he sat in his overly stuffed chair in his meeting room. Inuyasha had stalked around every inch of the large space, and picked up and thrown almost every piece of valuable glass or pottery. Obviously, the younger officer had a bit of a temper problem.
"The Emperor himself chose you Inuyasha, why can you not look at it as an honor instead of an insult?" By now Taisho had given up on trying to yell some sense into the boy, favoring to close his eyes and massage his headache away.
But his words fell on deaf ears, for Inuyasha had taken to pacing around the room faster, looking at the ground with a furious stare and growling things that even his father could not understand. His thoughts though, were a bit more organized.
'Why can't I fight too? Why do I have to be the one to stay back and train a bunch of no good novices!' It just made absolutely no sense to him. He was one of the best fighters in the entire Imperial army, third only to Sesshoumaru, who was only second to their father. And yet he was worth keeping back? Really! He couldn't believe the audacity that that old man of a ruler who called himself an Emperor had!
Sesshoumaru chose that time to enter the room, his eyes closed serenly as he closed the door silently behind him. He had just returned from speaking with the Emperor, and checking on the guard posts around the village. Everything at the moment was fine, as far as he could tell.
When he opened his eyes, he first looked at the fuming Inuyasha, and then at his father. The older inu youkai looked at him with a face that said 'I can't get him to shutup'. Sesshoumaru shook his head, closed his eyes and approached his brother.
Inuyasha looked up when a pair of black armored feet appeared in his line of sight. He growled at Sesshoumaru, who looked at him with an air of authority. "What do you want?" he growled at his elder brother.
Sesshoumaru's eyes narrowed dangerously and he stalked forward further, forcing his brother backwards until the back of his knees met a chair that sat in front of his father desk.
"Sit." Sesshoumaru growled back, in a calm voice that seemed more menacing then any of Inuyasha's barks.
Inuyasha glared at the Leautenant something fierce, but did as he was told and plopped down in his chair with a low throaty growl. Strangely, the only one Inuyasha would really take orders from, was his older brother. Even his father had to tell his hanyou son to do something in a softer tone, despite being general of the entire Imperial army. The brothers had that weird bond, most of the time of hate and contempt. But sometimes, a few flickers of respect could be seen glowing in the eyes of the brothers, held only for each other.
Of course, Inuyasha respected his father too; he just didn't take orders from him. And at times such as these, he was thankful he had an elder son with such a self controlled attitude. If anyone could talk some sense into the younger boy, it would be him.
Sesshoumaru turned to stand next to their father while Inuyasha looked at him with a glare that could kill. The elder officer's fur shoulder ornament billowed behind him in an invisible wind.
"So, he isn't accepting his responsibility I take it?" Sesshoumaru asked their father in a tone loud enough for Inuyasha to hear as well. The older man nodded, closing his eyes to rest his mind. He waved his hand in an 'I'll let you take it from here' manner.
Sesshoumaru turned to his younger brother with an even gaze, his hands clasped behind him. Inuyasha was looking to the side, his lips pursed in a frown and eyebrows drawn together. The elder walked back around the desk, never taking his eyes off his hanyou brother.
"You're going to accept this." Sesshoumaru said in canine youkai tongue. His brother only looked at him through the side of his eye with his teeth bared.
"Why does everyone keep telling me that? Why should I accept this?" Inuyasha turned in his seat to glower at Sesshoumaru, gripping the arm rests of his chair in a vice grip. His ears stood stalk still upon his white haired head, waiting for Sesshoumaru's answer.
"Because you will." Sesshoumaru answered simply, walking around Inuyasha toward the doors. "Come." He commanded softly as he opened a door and walked out into the hallway. Inuyasha blinked in surprise. It didn't last long though, as it was replaced by mildly subdued anger. He looked back at his father, who still had his eyes closed, feigning slumber.
"Dammit." Inuyasha growled as he stood up and followed after his brother, stomping his feet the entire way.
Taisho opened one eye when the door slammed shut, watching as yet another vase, this one made of Chinese porcelain, fell from a shelf and shattered on the floor. He sighed tiredly and let his eye fall closed again.
"Izayoi my darling, if only you were here."
Inuyasha followed Sesshoumaru silently, walking through the halls of their large home. He didn't know what his brother had in mind, but he followed nonetheless. Sesshoumaru obviously had a desired destination, he would just have to wait and see where that was.
They turned a final corner and Inuyasha found himself stepping out the ever open doors of that lead to the walk in garden right outside. Sheer white curtains gently billowed in the early morning breeze, creating a ghostly illusion that filtered through the two brothers minds.
Sesshoumaru took up the lead again and walked out onto the flagstone pathway that meandered through out the shrubbery and exotic flowers. Inuyasha blinked owlishly for a minute before following.
Mother's garden? Why did Sesshoumaru want to go there?
Inuyasha's ears were bombarded with the noises of early morning. Birds twittering, squirrels chipping and even the dew settling on their blades of grass. From inside the walls of the garden, they all seemed far away, like they were completely secluded from the world.
Inuyasha stopped suddenly, in front of a particular flower. It didn't seem special in any way, not displaying any of the beautiful variations of colors that were upon the other shrubs in the garden. It was a simple white lily, plain and dull apart from the spark of yellow barely noticeable in the middle. It had to be the most boring flower in the entire sanctuary.
And yet, it was the most special.
Inuyasha stooped down next to the flower, the anger that was coursing through his veins just minutes before momentarily forgotten. His eyes obtained a shimmering far off quality to them as he stared at the lily, gently tracing the edges of its petals with one of his claws.
"That was mother's favorite wasn't it?" Sesshoumaru spoke up from behind, reverting to using the human language he had grown accustomed to.
Inuyasha had completely forgotten about his brother's presence, and thus was slightly startled when the elder inu youkai spoke up from directly behind him. His claw slipped, slicing one of the lily's petals slightly. Inuyasha's eyes narrowed before he stood up, his bangs sweeping over his face to hide it.
He continued walking into the garden, not bothering to answer Sesshoumaru's question. Soon he found himself standing in front of a fair sized pond, decorated with water lilies and lotus blossoms. A trickling waterfall was hidden behind some tropical water palms, creating a mysterious air that settled comfortably upon the hanyou's head. The water was still dark in the shadows of the looming wall, not letting any of the morning sunlight shine upon the dark depths of the small pool.
Inuyasha looked down into it, unable to find any hint of his reflection in it. Sesshoumaru stepped up behind him, and for some reason, Inuyasha found he was able to see Sesshoumaru's reflection in the water, though just a little. But yet, it caused a frown to crease his forehead further. He shoved the thoughts away as he looked to the side, pulling his gaze away from the pond. Sesshoumaru watched his little brothers movements for another minute then walked around him to sit cross legged at the edge of the pool. Inuyasha looked back at him out of the corner of his eye, and through some compulsion, sat down next to the elder youkai, in a much less graceful way.
Sesshoumaru had his eyes closed and his back was perfectly straight as he sat there. Inuyasha watched him from where he sat, hunched over with his arms stuffed in his slightly baggy sleeves.
"Do you remember what mother said Inuyasha?" Sesshoumaru said so suddenly he made the hanyou jump slightly yet again.
Inuyasha breathed in silently to calm himself down before replying. "What are you talking about?" he looked away from his brother's visage, leering at the lush dark green bushes across from them instead.
Sesshoumaru's eyes opened slightly, looking down at the still dark waters of the pond. "What she had said about that flower. Why it had been her favorite." He said calmly.
Inuyasha's eyebrows knitted in concentration as he tried to remember what his mother might have said to them. He could remember her telling him it was her favorite, but for the life of him, he couldn't remember why it had been. A memory of his mother flashed up in his mind, her lips upturned in the gentlest smile. They moved, and yet he could not hear anything that came from them.
"No, I can't remember." Inuyasha finally replied.
Sesshoumaru took this in calmly, crossing his arms as well, tucking them into his sleeves. He turned his head slightly, looking at his younger brother. "Although it held the least color, and was the most boring, and seemed to have nothing special about it at all, it still seemed more beautiful to her than all the others combined. Do you know why that was?"
Once again, Inuyasha answered with a negative, shaking his head slowly from side to side. Silently he wondered why Sesshoumaru was bringing this up, now of all times, but did not dare to interrupt him.
Sesshoumaru continued. "She said that it told a story. Even though the flower had not much beauty to it, being only a plain white, in its center it still had that dash of yellow." His face turned heavenward, watching as the sky became ever brighter, chasing the darkness of night away to the other end of the world. "It reminded her that there was something special in everyone, in everything." His gaze slowly turned back to his brother, whose shoulders had sagged even further, his gaze falling to his lap. "A strength that sometimes lied so deep, so buried beneath other things, they appeared to be too ordinary to really be worth while…"
Inuyasha looked up towards the waters of the pond, the light of morning finally started to reflect off its surface to show the brilliant blue of the sky. And yet still, he could somehow not see his reflection. It probably had something to do with the fact that he was seated too far back.
But that did not bother him. It was what Sesshoumaru had said, that last part didn't seem to fit with what he had been talking about before. He lifted his head and straightened his shoulders to question his brother only to find he no longer sat beside him. He turned around and saw the retreating form of his brother, back still perfectly straight.
"True strength can only be found if you have it Inuyasha. And even then, you must search hard to find where it lies."
Inuyasha barely caught his words as he disappeared back within the confines of the house. His eyebrows drew together and his mouth turned down in an obvious frown. What was that supposed to mean? Was he implying that he was weak?
"Keh!" Inuyasha turned around with a grunt and stuffed his hands back into his sleeves, glaring at the water as though it would evaporate it he tried hard enough. Nothing happened of course, and after another seven minutes of pure brooding, Inuyasha found himself growing weary and slid down to lay beside the waters of the pond. The trickling of the waterfall started to lull him to sleep, somehow reminding him of his mother's sweet lullabies from when he was a child.
And suddenly, Sesshoumaru's words from back in the house came flying back at him. "You're going to accept this. Because you will." The drowsiness that had slowly started fogging Inuyasha's mind vanished instantly and he returned to brooding. He laid there on his back, staring up at the sky with a frown.
Then he went and called him weak! Sometimes he just wanted to take out his tetsusaiga and slash his brother to pieces.
Then again, perhaps he felt that way the majority of the time.
Oh well, it didn't matter anyway. Inuyasha turned on his side, resting his head on his arm as he looked at the pond water once again. For some reason, he just could not get the darned demon sword to work for him. His father had demonstrated it many times for him before, transforming the blade and using it with great ease. He wouldn't tell his son the secret to it either, claiming that it was something he had to find on his own. Whatever the heck that meant.
"True strength can only be found if you have it."
Sesshoumaru's words popped into his head again and Inuyasha shook it violently, angry that his brother's voice kept reverberating inside his skull. It was beginning to grate on his nerves. He would pay absolutely no mind to what his brother had said, it meant absolutely nothing. All he had been saying was that Inuyasha was weak, which was totally untrue.
"I'm not weak." Inuyasha muttered to himself, glaring daggers at the small fish and tadpoles in the pond. They quickly swam away, as if sensing the hanyou's irritation.
The movement caught Inuyasha's attention, and he leaned forward to look into the water for the third time that day, looking for his mirror image.
The frantic flips of the aquatic animal's fins caused the water to ripple, making it impossible for the hanyou captain to see his reflection.
AN: Weee! I finally got around to writing another chapter for this story! After watching Mulan again, I felt momentary inspiration for this story. I know what you're thinking by the way, why in the world is Sesshoumaru speaking that way? No way would he say something that mushy! WELL TOO BAD! I wanted him to be the one to say that to Inuyasha so he did! Nyah! Haha, well, I hope you liked it, please review and tell me what you think. I'll be redoing the first chapter soon. I re-read it a day or two ago, and really don't like how I had done it. So be expecting that! XD