A/N: Sorry for the late upload. So here you go. Thanks for sticking around :)
*Italicized bold* - Sesshomaru communicating mentally in Inu form
Italicized lines - Sesshomaru's thoughts
Italicized paragraphs are flashbacks.
The Sky Above
"Just a little bit more, Sesshomaru-sama," the girl pleaded from behind the large canvas, "please, just a little bit more."
His floppy white ears flicked in irritation. He had been holding an itch for quite a while now in this Inu form, but seeing her in such intense concentration, her brows knit together as her wrists flowed from palette to canvas, made him stay rooted obediently to his spot.
He huffed in annoyance.
This simple human who aged like him, who had the appearance of a mere twelve-year-old, had him, a promising InuDaiyoukai, on his knees with one command. Perhaps it was his fondness for the girl? Ever since she was born, his father had to make weekly visits to the Higurashi shrine. Sometimes they would even go as often as twice a week, with other youkais and humans, of course, to settle matters of the peace treaty. And as the days passed by he realized he did not mind the unwelcome glare of the Higurashi patriarch, the threatening aura was slowly being drowned by a warmth that greeted him every time he set foot on the grounds of the ancient shrine.
She was there, the little shrine girl, who would always welcome him with a smile as warm as the summer breeze. She would reach out to him like the rays of the sun that streamed through the fire trees, always eager to touch.
Her laughter would fill his ears, when he would reach back and smile at her, bounding like a little puppy, greeting him in welcome.
The girl finally shifted, and with a final flick of her wrist she looked at him and she smiled. "I'm finished." The Inu sighed. In one swift movement, he found himself gravitating beside her, always beside her- and she peeked at him shyly.
"What do you think?" she asked.
*It's beautiful.*
The girl beamed proudly at herself, as he took a step back to observe her creation. Before him was a large portrait of him in his Inu form, sitting in the soft grass, looking up at the sky. The motion of his fur being captured by the wind, as his golden eyes were lifted up to the endless heavens-
The sky was electric blue, the grass looked like liquid, swaying gently with the lull of the breeze-
How the clouds seem to float like a distant dream, passing by the ever constant sky. It looked so so surreal, so beautiful. Every brush stroke, every little detail of the fleeting moment she had magically captured, and it made him wonder.
In her eyes, did she really see the world as beautiful as this?
"Gomen nasai, Sesshomaru-sama." She looked down in humble modesty. "It may not do justice with the actual you, but I tried my best-"
He fondly leaned over and nipped at her ears. *Stop berating yourself. It's perfect, Kagome.*
She blushed heavily, her usual reaction whenever he said her name instead of her pet name, Shrine Girl. She looked down, nervously playing with the brush in her hands. She stole another shy glance at him, and slowly leaned to his warmth. If Sesshomaru were in human form, he would have smiled at her subtle attempts.
It all started when she was the age of sixty, in a warm midsummer afternoon. She had just finished clearing the leaves from the thousand steps when she suddenly turned to him and confessed.
"I like you, Sesshomaru-sama."
He could recall it as if it happened just yesterday, the sound of her voice as crisp as the maple leaves that crushed under his feet during that red and golden sunset.
She stayed still after that for long moments, until he realized she was waiting for an answer. He just smiled at her that day, and reached out to mess her hair. "Sesshomaru-sama, you idiot," she mumbled, her pout only igniting a laugh from him. How else could he have reacted?
It was hard to take those words seriously, especially if those sentiments came from the mouth of a girl who looked like a five-year-old.
So Sesshomaru took her confession as a childhood crush, a silly infatuation.
One day he accidentally found an etching she had made behind the Goshinboku. It was their initials, S&K inside a heart. He had teased her about it for weeks, much to her embarrassment. But she never erased it, instead, as time passed by, the etching grew deeper and deeper.
The Inu decided not to dwell on it. She still looked so young, and although he knew she aged like him, physically slowly, he was still aware that her mind was as pure as the water in the Higurashi well house. Untouched and untainted, and the portraits she had painted so beautifully was the most transparent reflection of the contents of her mind.
She saw the world as a sheltering place, where love could heal all things and friendships lasted forever.
Her mind will change, once she emotionally matures.
Then she will learn that the world is an unforgiving, unfair place…
He heard her gasp from beside him. Her bodily warmth left him, and she darted away from his side. Her laughter drifted through the open field as she pointed to the blue sky.
"Sesshomaru-sama, look!" She yelled excitedly, and he lifted his gaze up. It was one of those new human inventions, flying contraptions they named airplanes, tearing through the sky. "Ah, I wish I could fly too!" She turned to him, her eyes full and expecting.
Sesshomaru sighed. *I will have that ability when I reach a hundred and fifty. If you are patient I can take you with me-* before he could even finish his sentence she engulfed him in a warm embrace, the span of her arms not even enough to encircle his large Inu form. She buried her face in his hair, and he felt her genuine smile through his fur.
"That's a promise, okay?" She said almost quietly, and he nudged his muzzle in her hair.
*You ask too many favors from me. One day I might decide to collect payment,*
She laughed, as she released him and laid herself on the grass. The two friends settled close beside each other, too close that the girl's ebony hair splayed on his platinum white, creating a beautiful contrast of light and dark, mingling together in perfect harmony, swaying with the soft song of the wind, dancing with the trees and the grass and the flowers around them.
The shrine girl beside him suddenly fell quiet, as she stared longingly at the sky. And he fell into that same spell, basking in her mere presence. For a small creature like her, she was filled with so much love that the warmth of her aura overflowed in the air around her. He hummed in contentment. He knew what was coming when she started to get silent.
"Just look up, Sesshomaru-sama. Look at the white trail of clouds that the airplane left," she started, and he held his breath.
She was about to describe the world through her eyes.
She pointed up, "Look how they expand… reaching across the borderless sky, without fear into the unknown," she tried to catch the clouds with her hands, "one could not imagine what lies beyond…the places it would drift to,
It's such a big world… and I feel so small under its sheltering dome. How many people right now are like us, looking up, touched by the same thought?"
If there was something that she fiercely showed her passion towards aside from her silly infatuation, it was her love for the sky. Her mother had perfectly said it, that warm summer day he met her; she loved the fierce orange sunrise, the lonely golden sunsets, and the lazy blue afternoons in between.
Many summers ago he had gifted to her an expensive brush set, some paint, and canvas. He had asked her to paint the sky as she saw it through her eyes, and since then he felt he had finally seen a part of her she was trying so hard to show him.
"Why do you love watching the sky?" He asked her.
"Its an infinite canvas that changes hue every hour, and you are helpless against its flow- " she said, "The moment you wake up, it spills its magnificent streaks of red, orange and pink into your life, and you just stand underneath its warmth and let it soak your soul.
The orange subtly bows down to the royal cerulean, like a prince to his lover… embracing it until the euphoria of colors that were shooting in your eyes lull you to a lazy blue afternoon. You watch the clouds drift by… And before you know it, everything is quiet and still.
Sunset has arrived, and the blue afternoon nods its head wearily to golden hues. The world slowly sinks into blissful indigo, and the stars begin to peek into the night sky, plunging into dark blue, adorning itself with eternal heavenly lights.
And it resets into a blank canvas, readying itself for another day of ever-changing hues, another day of orange sunrises, of golden sunsets and lazy blue afternoons in between.
Sesshomaru-sama, sometimes the sky cries, sometimes it comforts, sometimes it hurts your eyes… but it's always constant; it's always there. And it always reminds me that I am home,"
She paused and looked at him.
"More than anything, I love watching the sky, because it reminds me that wherever we are in this world, we are underneath one heaven."
She held her breath. "It gives me comfort to know that Sesshomaru-sama and I, no matter how far apart we are to each other, are standing under one sky."
The Shrine Girl suddenly blushed, and her aura seemed hesitant. But a flare of courage washed away her fear, and he heard her take a deep breath beside him.
"I still like you, Sesshomaru-sama… I like you very, very much," she almost whispered.
"Just wanted to let you know, in case you forgot."
The two friends lay quietly beside each other for the rest of the afternoon, lost in their thoughts.
Two summers had passed by, and nothing had really changed between the two friends. His father still made his visits, Kyoshiro-sama still held that same quiet loathing.
But the shrine girl made everything bearable. She always welcomed them with her constant warmth.
That afternoon was like any other, but before they even set foot outside their estate, his father had told Sesshomaru of the news that was circulating the town.
"A renegade youkai is on the loose," his father warned, "he managed to escape the prison where he was bound for in years. He gets his strength by stealing the souls of other youkai. The worst thing is, he does not consume his hostage soul immediately. He stores it in a void to slowly suck out its life. Such cruel torture…
Be careful, son. At these times, do not leave the Higurashi Manor alone."
The whole council left the shrine for an extensive investigation, leaving Sesshomaru at the Higurashi dwelling with the humble auxiliaries tending to the Shikon Shrine.
Sesshomaru slipped outside the mansion, but when he took his first steps out, a small hand grabbed his wrist.
"Sesshomaru-sama," It was the shrine girl, looking up at him with immense worry slathered thickly across her face. "Where are you going?"
"Outside," he shrugged. "I'm going to the river to see if our lilies grew."
"But it's dangerous!" She tried pulling him towards her with her puny strength. "Sesshomaru-sama, didn't you hear about that blind youkai who steals souls-"
Sesshomaru merely chuckled. "I'm a daiyoukai," he said as he pulled his arm away from her. "Are you coming with me?"
"Sesshomaru-sama," she warned, her voice growing dangerously low. The absolute distress in her voice was irritating him, and a soft blue light glowed on her hand. "You have to stay. Or else… or else…"
"What, you'll purify me?" He smirked mockingly,
"I only want you to be safe," she whimpered as her voice shook, and he sighed in exasperation.
"Damn it Shrine Girl, are you going to cry again? Stop being so pathetic. You're a hundred years old, and you're still the same immature child,"
He watched as her jaw fell open and tears flooded her eyes. She stepped away from him. Her sudden voluntary distance left a hollow feeling inside his soul.
He then realized, he had unwittingly hurt her.
"I'm not an immature child," she whispered. "Sesshomaru-sama, you big idiot… after all these years," she shook her head and ran away.
Sesshomaru felt annoyed more than anything. He still couldn't imagine himself in any romantic involvement with the Shrine Girl. Although she held the appearance of a fourteen-year-old, he still saw her as that silly little five-year-old on the shrine steps, ridiculously confessing her immense like towards him.
She was still that little girl that wore ill-fitting, rag-colored yukatas that were always too large for her, that same warm-hearted child with paint on her cheeks that bound to him like an eager puppy whenever he was around. But a certain guilt gnawed at him, and he found himself restless.
He followed her to apologize.
But seeing where she was headed towards, he thought of it pointless. She went into the outdoor hallways, the one that connected the mansion to the large shrine. She had her brush set on her hands.
She was going to attend to the large mural that she was working on at one of the walls of the temple.
So Sesshomaru decided to head the other way, out towards the Maple and Sakura forest where the small, shallow river was. And as he neared, he did not expect to see someone hunched over by the lily bed that they planted.
Warning bells rang inside his head when he realized that the figure was a blindfolded man.
The man grinned at him. The moment he did, Sesshomaru felt his limbs lock painfully.
"Mmm, a young daiyoukai." The blind man rasped, "just in time for dinner."
His legs gave way, and he fell on the ground like a limp doll. Sesshomaru thought he could hear the Shrine Girl's voice call out his name,
And his world was engulfed in darkness.
Is this all a dream?
He woke up into a strange, limbo-like place, where the sky was a confusion of angry reds and shooting purples. The very ground was unstable and teetering, and the air was tentative and suffocating.
His feet and hands were bound in chains in a shallow lake-like body of water, soaked only to the ankles. And he could see, from around him, numerous other people bound like him.
His eyes widened in panic.
Not a dream… a nightmare, a horrible nightmare…
Some were on their knees. Some had already slumped on the water, their face shoved on the weird, dark liquid- unmoving, with no other sign of life. His eyes searched in panic at the hopeless faces around him- they only looked back with empty eyes, resigned to their miserable fate. Sesshomaru tried to move.
But every movement he made sent a wave of intractable pain that came shooting through his very soul. A fear like never before started to consume him. He opened his mouth to call for help, but his voice was non-existent.
Suddenly, a familiar aura hovered close by.
The warm energy reached out to him. It hit a barrier that sealed the dark lake like a dome, but the familiar power persisted, trying to make its presence known, trying to comfort him,
And then it dawned on him. It was her, the Shrine Girl.
The dark dome rattled and shook as her power clashed against it. Her holy force was trying to break the dome open. The lake rippled beneath his feet, and the ground shook at the impact. Her energy wrapped around the fortification once again and struck with such dominance it was terrifying.
Since when had she become this strong?
"You can't do that," a voice echoed sonorous across the empty void. "The Inu's soul is already bound to mine. If you destroy me, you also destroy him."
What kind of nightmare is this…
"Please," Kagome's voice was so distant it felt surreal. He realized she was crying again, and his heart constricted as it always did whenever she shed her tears. He always hated it when the Shrine Girl cried.
"Take my soul instead," she pleaded,
Sesshomaru's eyes flew wide in panic.
Wake up, Sesshomaru, wake up!
"I don't consume human souls, dear Miko." The voice answered. "I find them quite disgusting."
"Is there anything else I can offer to bring him back," She sobbed. "Please, bring him back to me…"
Sesshomaru did not realize his own tears were running down.
"I don't know," the sly, disgusting voice slithered on Sesshomaru's skin like living muck.
"Next to the soul of the Inu you hold so dearly, more than your life… do you have something else you consider priceless?
Something that I don't have that you can give me…
do you have that, Miko?"
He could see the warm energy teeter in fear above him. It drew back, hesitating. And it shook, her warm, familiar energy trembled in uncertainty.
And suddenly… it stabilized.
"Yes," her voice was shaking, trying to contain her immense fear. "Next to the Inu, I have something I hold dear, something that you don't have… are you willing to take it?"
And another wave of pain suddenly shot through him. The dark barrier shook, and the warm energy broke inside.
He realized he could feel the shrine girl's hands wrapping him in a warm embrace.
"Ah, you're finally awake."
He woke up to a golden sunset. They were not by the river. Kagome was standing before him, her back facing him, at the clearing where they would always lay down to watch the sky. Sesshomaru let out a heavy breath of relief,
So it was all a dream?
"How are you feeling, Sesshomaru-sama?" She never really looked back at him. Her gaze was kept heaven-bound. She was clutching something in her right hand. Her messily-bound hair was swaying gently in the breeze, the torn, worn-out material of her hand-me-down yukata drifting with the sway.
"Good." He managed, and he could see the grip on her hand tighten.
"I'm glad," she answered.
Something suddenly dripped from her clutch… and slowly, a tight, constricting feeling held at his throat.
The dripping liquid was her blood.
Sesshomaru stood up and stepped forward. His bones were aching, and a despair like none other threatened to swallow him whole. He roughly grabbed her bloody hand. Even with that, her gaze remained to the sky. He pried her hand open and saw what she was holding.
It was one of her precious brushes, broken in half. She broke it in half, that was why her fragile hands were bleeding.
It wasn't a dream.
"What did you give?" Sesshomaru braced his hands on her shoulders and shook her, "Kagome what did you give?!"
"Nothing I can learn to live without," She said, looking away, hiding her eyes with her messy bangs.
"Damn it, Kagome-" he cursed, and his gaze shifted to a distance, to that certain spot where she would usually paint. Her canvas was there, and her brush sets lying scattered on the grass instead of being carefully settled in its silken case. "Your brushes-" He turned back to her, and saw a forced, bitter smile break her serene face.
"Leave it there." She said.
"But the material will-"
"Just leave it there... I have no use for it anymore, Sesshomaru-sama. So just.."
Her sentence faltered, and her voice broke. And Sesshomaru stepped forward, as the tight feeling in his throat strangled at him, making it physically harder to breathe. He pulled her to face towards him,
And he felt as if his breath was knocked out of his lungs.
She still had her eyes glued to the sky. But it was not the quiet contentment, nor the bright euphoria whenever she gazed up. She was crying, those blue eyes full of confusion and fear- and it was then that it dawned on him,
The crushing realization.
"I'm sorry," Sesshomaru seized her in his arms, "Kagome I'm so sorry," he cried, his heartbreak soaking on the material of her worn-out yukata.
"Sesshomaru-sama," she whispered, fresh tears spilling from her expressive blue eyes, her gaze still heaven-bound. "Can you do me a favor? Can you look up at the sky?" Her voice shook again, "Look up, and tell me what you see..."
Sesshomaru clung to her tighter, biting his tongue down to contain the whimpers that were threatening to escape.
"Is the sky golden? Or is it a mixture of rich violet? Have the first stars peeked out yet?" She searched the vast canvas before her, but she did not find what she was looking for.
Her eyes only reflected blankness, just like the empty void before her.
And Sesshomaru could not fathom what he was feeling, what she would have been feeling, he could only hold her tighter, unable to form any words.
She gave up her sight in exchange for his soul.
"Sesshomaru-sama..." she said softly, tears running down unchecked on her soft cheeks, "Stop crying…" She reached out and ran her hands across the outline of his face, searching for his tears and wiping them away with her bloodied hands.
"I'm here now, aren't I?
And you're standing beside me. That's all that matters."
How unfair,
I'm the one who is supposed to be comforting you...
He took her hands and pressed it to his lips, she was crying herself, but desperately trying to hold it all in for his sake. His face was smeared with her blood, but he did not care. He ran her hands over the outline of his face again, letting her feel every dip and curve.
And she smiled despite herself, as she tried to memorize his features. "You're standing beside me," she repeated, "That's all that matters."
And finally the sun had set, the golden had nodded its weary head to give way to dusk.
Sesshomaru cursed at himself for his stubbornness and ignorant pride. He cursed at her for her selflessness and unwarranted devotion.
And he cursed at the sky for being so beautiful at that moment, as it bled gold, with laces of purple curtains of red,
The sky she so loved, the sky that she will never be able to see again.