Chapter 23: And Time Will Sweep Us Away
Izayoi sat staring pensively into the garden in her private sitting room, not wishing any company at that moment. She'd even dismissed her ladies, not wanting anyone to see her with her emotions so disordered and disheveled. Her new husband, along with her father and brother were busy meeting with the Shogun's newest Lord. He would be staying in Setsuna for a time as his own palace was being built. It would be ready for occupancy just as winter swept in. While here, he would be learning how to be a good ruler from her father and brother.
Her sire had felt that meeting Touga as an ally was enough for the new man at first, deciding to have her join them later so he could take Touga's presence in increasing increments so as not to shock him all at once. And that had suited her just fine – her days here in her home were soon to end, and she was feeling very sad... and afraid.
Touga had really told her very little about his home or the youkai in it; all she knew was that he had a son and that he wouldn't like her. There was also the little fact she had gleaned from the need to keep her rooms in her own ancestral home – more than just Sesshoumaru would not like her and she would be in danger there. She wasn't afraid of being killed; no, her own power was potent and more than enough to take on many youkai at once. Even if all she did was shield herself, she could hold a shield in place for hours, even days if she had a need to, until her husband could come for her. And then there was Touga himself. His power was too great for those other youkai to face him head on. No... her fear was simply of the unknown. It was already upsetting to know you wouldn't be liked simply because of who and what you were, let alone having to live with that hatred day in and day out. She'd never had to deal with that – she was fairly popular in her own home, being a kind-hearted person and besides Michitose no one had ever raised an unkind hand to her.
Oh, she knew there'd be at least one person there who would be happy with her presence, the young kitsune boy she'd saved would be ecstatic to see her, as Touga had told her more than once. Apparently he spoke of her a great deal, and a small smile crossed her face for a moment at the thought. And she would have Kenji, as well, who would not only function as her assistant, but as a bodyguard – he was a very experienced, powerful warrior, and also quite good with his native kitsune magics, too. She only hoped that others there would be amenable to her presence and at least give her the benefit of the doubt, allowing her to prove herself to them.
The hardest part, though, was something that hadn't really occurred to her until after an offhand comment by her new husband, something said in passing in conversation that had caught her attention.
Now that she was bound to him, she would outlive pretty much everyone she knew. Her father, her brother... they would pass on, and she would be separated from them by hundreds, if not thousands, of years. By the time she did die, they would have moved on into other lives and would no longer be a part of her, would no longer remember her. That thought pained her tremendously, especially as she'd already lost one family as Kagome, and it was then, in her own private room, that what she had done in taking Touga as her husband truly kicked in. It was a bittersweet feeling, for while she loved him with all of herself and couldn't see ever living without him, it was a trade off; because of the way things were, she couldn't keep both him and her family. It was one or the other, and the choice had already been made.
Tears slowly ran from opaque eyes as she thought of uncountable centuries with only memories, memories that would slowly grow more vague as immense spans of time blurred the edges of her mind, taking the furthest memories from her and washing them away, bit by bit. I wish there was some way, she thought desperately as she cried, to keep them new in my memories, forever fresh so that I won't ever forget. Oh, father, Ichirou... mama... I'm going to miss you all so much.
She wept soundlessly as it all sank in and settled into her heart and mind; her bond to her family had been severed, and slowly yet, but still noticeably they were drifting away from her, as a river sweeps a fallen leaf away from its birthplace, taking it far, far away before allowing it to find a small niche along its banks and finally pass away into memory. There was only another week or so before they would be forced to leave, and Touga was already showing signs of impatience; not so much to leave her family, but to get back to his citadel to deal with the coming war with the dragons.
Even she, who had never seen a dragon youkai nor been anywhere besides her homes but the shrine, felt some sort of tension entering the very atmosphere around them as war drifted inevitably closer, and she shivered; wrapping her arms around herself, she hugged herself tightly and tried not to fall apart completely. Tears still streamed down her cheeks, but she managed to keep from making a sound, not wanting to let anyone else know of her intense grief and the tension that went with it.
Shaking harder, then, she remembered that the coming war wasn't even the worst of it. No... the worst part was her own battle with the jewel. She had to find the right wish or everything would be lost, and even her loss of her family to the wide river of time would all be for naught; hatred would continue to rule between the races with the destruction of all youkai becoming the final end of a proud race, leaving them as nothing more than children's horror stories and just one more consequence of her failure.
She stood up and moved to the door, staring blankly out at the garden, once again seeing her home burning as she had seen it in her dreams. Even on the day of her arrival home from the shrine, as they'd crested the hill she'd seen the bloody red light of the setting sun illuminate the palace in such a manner that it had seemed to be burning. The sight had given her pause even then, before she'd known anything of her true past as Kagome or what Touga would come to be to her... or about Takemaru's hand in all of it.
The jewel stirs up the hatred around it and has sent madness to the house of Setsuna in Takemaru's form. How can I possibly stop it all from coming to such an end? Will one wish truly finish it? She sighed in despair as she took in all that was arrayed against her – the dragons, the hatred of one race for the other, Takemaru and his madness... and the Shikon no Tama itself, the ultimate form of hatred and madness to guide it all from behind the scenes. And she was supposed to stop it – by herself, because, in the end no one else could take on this burden that the kami had placed upon her. If she failed then all was lost; even if Touga triumphed in his own battles the end would still come for them if she did not find the right path needed to destroy what even the gods seemingly could not.
There was no other explanation in her mind. The gods must not be able to rid the world of it for whatever reason, since they seemed so bent on its destruction and yet raised no hand against it themselves. What could the jewel truly be that they feared to try their own power against the Shikon's power? They wouldn't fear the souls of a miko, a servant of the kami herself, and some youkai, which is what the Tama was supposed to be... so what was really behind it that they left it to a young human girl to try to destroy? And why wouldn't they just come out and say what the wish needed to be if they were so intent on its destruction? She just couldn't understand the role of the kami in all this, nor their seeming waffling on the matter. It made no kind of sense.
She sighed again, then turned away from the view. The gods never made sense, so who could tell? She certainly couldn't, and in the end her questions really meant nothing because they wouldn't be answered, and even if they were, she doubted those answers would give her the ultimate answer she needed – what was the right wish that would destroy the Shikon no Tama.
Impatient suddenly with herself and her morose and painful thoughts, she wiped her tears dry, then went to her basin and gently splashed her face with cool, clear water, drying herself afterward with the soft cotton cloth provided for just that. She didn't want Touga to realize she'd been crying – that was all she needed – the extra stress of a very overprotective inuyoukai demanding to know what was upsetting her so he could destroy it. She shook her head, then... she loved him more with every day they spent together, but sometimes he could be just a little overboard with his devotion to seeing anything that upset her either permanently removed from her presence – or better yet in his eyes, dead.
He can't save me from everything, though he thinks he can, she thought idly as she looked peckishly around her sitting room. I'm glad he's there, and I know he'll keep me safe, but... he really needs to calm down a little bit. She rolled her eyes as she thought back to the thorn she'd gotten in her foot while walking barefoot in the garden the afternoon after their wedding – he'd growled at it the whole time she'd been delicately picking it from her flesh, and the scent of her tiny drop of blood had him snarling, muttering about destroying every thorn-bearing plant here and at his citadel so it would never happen again. He'd taken her foot in hand after the evil enemy was gone, tossed into the small stove for heating her rooms contained so it could burn, and gently rubbed and massaged it, acting as though the pain she'd felt was akin to having a sword thrust through her. She'd been unable to do anything more than stare at him for several seconds... and then curl into herself with laughter. He'd get agitated at even the smallest of hurts, and gods forbid someone say anything that could be taken in the least way as derogatory or mean-spirited towards her – he'd scared more than one person in the courts away from her permanently because of his temper.
Finally, unable to stand her own company any longer, afraid she'd burst into tears again, she swept out of her and her husband's rooms – perhaps some time in the formal gardens, wandering where there were others, at least, would calm her scrambled emotions down. She absolutely refused to break down and cry in front of anyone else, so hopefully wandering around and listening to the gossip the palace denizens seemed so addicted to would numb her mind and heart enough to allow her to regain her normally even temper.
She wandered for a little time, and sure enough, the stupid gossip that always went on around the place heard as she wandered between groups of people calmed her, and after a while she was feeling nothing more than annoyed at the idiocy of half the talk she'd heard. Some of it was a little more than annoying; though there was much speculation that she'd lost her reiki because of her wedding to Touga, exposing her purity to his taint. She really, really wanted to show those fools that she hadn't lost anything, and especially not because she was wed to Touga.
I think I'm going to have father call another court moment out in the yards, just so I can demonstrate the fact that I'm not tainted by my association with Touga at all. Tainted. As if. I'm more tainted by listening to such idiocy! Let them all come out looking like fools as they see their mistake, she thought vengefully, her fists clenched and eyes narrowed in temper, taking note of those talking about that particular subject.
But before she could do more than set that subject aside for further action at a later time, she heard several voices approaching her, and easily recognized her husband, father, and brother, along with the voice of a man she didn't know. Straightening herself out quickly, she rearranged her scowl into a calm expression and then turned to meet the group of males that had spotted her and were now heading in her direction.
Her gaze glanced over her husband, then her brother and father, to land on the stranger with curiosity. He appeared to be between twenty-five and thirty, and while not exactly handsome, there was something that drew the eye. He seemed to be mostly calm in Touga's presence, though she could feel a little reserve, as though he weren't sure what to make of the inuyoukai ally of the Setsuna Lord, but apparently he hadn't thrown a fit about someone 'consorting' with youkai. The overall mood between the men seemed comfortable, with the normal reserve between strangers meeting for the first time.
She smiled politely as her father stepped forward and took her hand, turning to the new Lord. "Ah, Souichi, I would like to introduce you to my daughter, Izayoi," he said, smiling at his guest.
Izayoi nodded and bowed correctly to the man. "Souichi-sama, it is a pleasure to meet you," she said, righting herself and meeting his gaze firmly only to find a suddenly calculating look in his light sherry eyes. "You are a miko?" he asked, his voice light and smooth.
She shook her head. "A priestess, Souichi-sama. With my rank as hime I would never be destined to be a shrine maiden, of course. But I do possess reiki."
"You would be a most useful wife, then, for someone who wished to keep youkai at bay," he said after a moment of studying her, before he turned and bowed slightly to Touga. "No offense, of course. But with as much trouble as lower youkai make.." he let himself trail off, and Touga nodded.
"It is understood," he said in response, smiling gently at his wife as he looked past the human Lord. "Most higher youkai also do not tolerate lower youkai, and I have destroyed my fair share in my life, as well."
"I'm sure," Souichi murmured, before turning back to Izayoi. "Perhaps your father would allow me to get to know you a little better later on," he said suggestively, and she flushed, catching on to the fact that this Lord was thinking that he could possibly win her for himself.
He was far, far too late, of course.
Hiraku chuckled, inwardly rubbing his hands gleefully together at the thought of telling this man just who his daughter's husband was. "Ah, I'm afraid you'd have to ask her husband if that was acceptable to him," he said, pretending that he didn't realize the man was showing interest in his daughter in a personal manner.
That caught the man off-guard; he stared at Hiraku, startled. "She is already married?" he asked.
"Oh, yes," Hiraku nodded, smiling again. "Quite recently – it has only been a few weeks."
"Ah," Souichi-sama responded, obviously disappointed. "They are visiting, then? May I meet your husband?" he asked Izayoi, and she smiled gently.
Izayoi sneaked a peek at her husband, and his eyes were twinkling with mirth. "Oh, but you already have, Souichi-sama," she replied. Just as she was about to respond to the question in his eyes, Touga motioned for her to come to him and she complied, allowing him to answer the obviously confused human male.
"Izayoi is my wife," Touga said after a moment, his voice deep and with a slight note of warning in it. "She is the lady of my heart and of my lands," he finished, smiling a little at her in return.
The man froze, completely shocked. Allying with the powerful Western Lord that even he knew of was one thing. He could even understand it, and admire the Lord of Setsuna for being far-sighted enough to arrange such an alliance. And he was even well enough aware that many human Lords had given their daughters as concubines to youkai Lords. He gave credit to Hiraku that he'd at least made sure that his daughter was no concubine, but a wife; but to give one with reiki, a priestess, to a youkai – that, he did not understand. There were already so few with the power to defend humans from youkai, that to lose one in such a manner...
"Surely, wedding your daughter, a priestess, to a youkai was unwise?" he finally asked, keeping his cool, though they could all tell that he certainly didn't understand. "There are so few with the power to defend our race from those youkai that would destroy it, and for her to lose her power to such a marriage – I do not understand your reasoning in this, I will admit." He once again bowed slightly towards Touga, not truly wishing to offend someone so powerful, but simply unable to not say... something. "Again, no personal offense is intended, Touga-sama," he repeated in his deep voice.
But Izayoi was now annoyed again. After the talk she'd heard earlier, and now this... why did everyone assume that just because she'd been bedded by Touga, that she'd lost her power?
A warning note now in her voice, Izayoi met his gaze quite firmly. "I have not lost any of my power, sir," she said tartly. "Why would you think that I had? What is so hard to understand about the fact that it isn't bodily purity that matters to ones reiki – but the purity of ones heart and soul? I can assure you that if a rogue youkai attacked, I would be able to take care of it very easily." She looked at her father, then. "Would you call the court to the yards again after the noon meal, father? I wish to show every last one of them that I haven't lost anything. I will prove my strength still exists, married to Touga or not."
Touga placed a comforting hand on her arm as her father frowned slightly at her words. "What has brought this upset on, my dear?" he asked, knowing that the new Lord's few words hadn't been what had set her off in such a manner.
She sighed. "Apologies, father, Souichi-sama, Ichirou." She looked up at her husband. "And you, Touga," she said, smiling a little in an effort to calm herself again. The idle thought that she'd spent a good part of her day trying to calm herself wandered through the back of her mind. "I have overheard some of the members of the court speculating on just this same topic, and it upset me."
Touga wanted to immediately go track those people down and rip out a few tongues, but he inhaled deeply and kept a tight control of his temper. Smiling affectionately at her after he'd regained his calm, he said lightly, "Do not worry about what fools say, my love. Those who are important know the truth."
Ichirou spoke up for the first time. "Hai, little bit, ignore those idiots. Most of them couldn't find their way out of the formal gardens without servants to show them the way, let alone have enough power to even raise a sword in their own defense. They are hangers-on who only survive because of our army protecting them. You are above them in every way."
Souichi listened in amazement to the banter between the members of Setsuna's ruling family and their youkai member, as well. It was unheard of for a female to speak her mind so openly in front of males, though he supposed he could understand it a little, since she did hold reiki; priestesses and miko were the exceptions to the rule of women being silent before the men. Still... he was wise enough to know that it wasn't his place to say anything about how a Lord as powerful as Hiraku of Setsuna ran his home – or to a youkai Lord that ruled a greater portion of the island of Nihon. He was curious, however...
"It does not offend you? A woman involving herself in the talk and affairs of men?" he asked Touga.
The inuyoukai scoffed. "And that is why so many youkai do not understand human males in the slightest. You lose so much potential when you silence your females and keep them as little more than playthings meant to warm your beds and bear your heirs. Do you not know that they are just as intelligent as any male? Sometimes more? We youkai are not intimidated by a smart female, and in fact rejoice in the intelligence and power of our females. I've often wondered why anyone would want to breed with a woman if they think them stupid and incapable of wisdom. It would merely make your own heirs foolish." He shook his head as he eyed the surprised Souichi, still totally unable to understand human males. "We youkai males purposely search out the most intelligent, powerful females there are, for the better the female you marry the stronger and smarter your young will be. And I, for one, could never marry a woman who was a fool, or one with no spirit left in her. A mousy, frightened female with almost no personality left to her is most certainly not to my tastes," he smiled down at his practically beaming wife. "My Izayoi is as far from such as it is possible to be, thank the kami. And were any man to raise a hand to her for speaking her mind, they would face my very considerable wrath."
Souichi blinked, then blinked again, before taking in the effect of that little speech on the Setsuna males; they were smiling, obviously pleased to hear the youkai's words. It was apparent that things in Setsuna were very different than they were anywhere else in Nihon. The thought that such a thing might be good crossed his mind and he sighed, then sketched a quick bow to all the family.
"I confess, I had not thought of it in such a way before," he said to Touga, "though it makes sense that you would wish to find a woman with intelligence and power to make your own heirs stronger. I... hadn't ever thought to question the way women are treated in human households, but perhaps I should have. I certainly will from now on."
Nodding, Hiraku looked down at his little daughter. "Still... if you wish to have a demonstration and show your detractors that they couldn't be more wrong, then I will call the court to the yards as soon as the noon meal is finished." He squinted up into the cloudless sky, and then turned towards the doors into the palace, motioning for the others to follow him. "Speaking of which, it is time to head inside – I believe the bell will be ringing momentarily.
They hadn't taken three steps when Touga chuckled and said, "You have an exquisite sense of timing, Hiraku – the cook has just ordered the bell rung." He spoke just as a delicate, airy chiming was heard, and other members of the court stood from their groups and began to make their way inside to the dining hall.
"Just many years of hearing said bell," Hiraku returned. "I imagine anyone else could probably do the same after a few years of such. The meal schedule has always been kept as precisely as possible since my sire's day."
Izayoi followed along behind her husband quietly, not really paying attention to the conversation as it wandered into easy topics. She had been surprised by the new Lord's words and attitude. Yes, he'd been shocked at first that she was married to Touga and was so outspoken, but he'd truly listened to the inuyoukai's words and actually thought about them, agreeing after a moment that perhaps he should look at the other side of the traditional beliefs and treatment of women. That was a very surprising thing, and suddenly she had the feeling that he would make a very good ally for her father, and later for her brother, as well. He was intelligent and had just proved that he was not averse to change – even over something as ingrained into the Japanese male of the time as their treatment of their females. And she could tell by his aura that he was being honest, not just saying whatever he thought he should to pacify the group of males walking with him.
She smiled, then. Her uncle had said that Souichi was a good man, and she trusted Kohaku to know what he was talking about. Her smiled dimmed a little as she thought of the goodbyes she'd said to him only a few days ago as he'd left to go back to his station. She'd been sad and cried, even though she wasn't as close to her uncle as to her father and brother simply because he'd been gone most of her life. She just didn't know him as well, but now with her marriage she probably wouldn't see him again, though she hoped she was wrong. He was family, even if she wasn't as familiar with him as other members of the family.
Quiet throughout the meal, she was busy thinking over all that had happened in the last weeks since her wedding, sorting it all out and filing it away in her mind. Thoughts of her uncle led to remembrance of the soldier he'd executed himself – Touga had, rather reluctantly, told her the story of a turncoat soldier going to Takemaru and offering to become traitor and help him overthrow her father. She'd been thoroughly incensed and demanded that they all be sure that soldier was the only one willing to turn before they left the palace for his home. And so she'd stood by Touga's side as all soldiers were brought into the yard and ordered into ranks so that certain questions could be asked, and then Touga could – no pun intended - sniff out the truth. She was quite pleased and much happier to find that no one else had scented of guilt.
She had also insisted that she personally be allowed to give the soldier that had proved his loyalty the reward her father had deemed appropriate. So it was that after Touga had finished testing the scent of all those soldiers gathered in the yard, she had called out Kenji's friend Gouro, and had presented him his new rank before the gathered squadrons of the Setsuna army – along with a kiss of gratitude on the cheek that had her husband growling faintly. The man was, needless to say, quite astonished; but as she told him pointedly, those who proved their loyalty and honor would be highly valued members of Setsuna's forces, and that kind of loyalty would pay off for them personally, as well, as proven by his nice jump in rank.
A pretty sparkle lit her eyes as she remembered what she'd found out afterward. Apparently, this Gouro had been seeing a servant girl here in the palace, and his advancement in rank along with the perks that came with being an officer had decided him and he was now officially courting her.
The sparkle dimmed, though, as she thought back to her meeting with the girl, who she'd never seen before, named Kikyou. She sighed inwardly, not wanting to disturb the meal that was still going on around her. It seemed that the kami had allowed the Shikon no Tama to separate Kikyou from her and give her her own soul – and now she was being allowed to live another life – a normal life, like she'd always wanted. After meeting the girl and feeling her soul, she'd known immediately that she had once shared the same soul, and hadn't been able to stop the bittersweet feeling of watching Kikyou as she could have been the first time around... had things been different. It was clear the girl was happy, her personality entirely different than it had been in her first life as the miko Kikyou. She was bright and open, cheerful in a manner that she hadn't been allowed to be in that other life simply because of her duty to the Shikon no Tama.
She softened as she thought back to her life as Kagome, and Inuyasha's feelings for Kikyou – if he had met her as she was now, he really would have loved her, and she felt badly that obviously, Kikyou and Inuyasha had never been meant to be – Kikyou would live this life and they would never meet. All she could hope now was that Inuyasha would be allowed to meet someone that would love him as he was. She wondered about his parents... who had they been? She couldn't remember anything about them, and wasn't sure she'd ever known anything about them. She knew that Inuyasha was a very private individual, so it was very possible that he'd never mentioned them. But all she could do was wonder about who they could be... and suddenly, she wanted to ask Touga about hanyou and their aging. She remembered that he'd been pinned to the tree for fifty years, and that he hadn't aged or changed while he was up there, meaning that he'd looked the same when he'd been pinned. But that didn't really tell her anything, except that he had been at least fifteen or sixteen when he'd been pinned.
But with the way youkai aged, she couldn't believe that the weaker blood, i.e. the human blood, weakened the youkai blood so much that it left the hanyou child aging completely like a human. Perhaps they aged slower than humans, but faster than full youkai? Could it be that Inuyasha might already be alive? The thought made her shiver, but she set the whole thing aside to ask her husband later, when they were alone, and turned her attention back to the meal that was finally beginning to break up. Just as she looked up at the rest of the table, her father stood and made the announcement for the court to meet in the yards for a demonstration in half a candlemark.
Excited to be able to show all her detractors that they were fools to think that something like loving someone would strip a person of their power, Izayoi followed her husband from the dining room and hurried through the halls to their rooms to gather her bow and quiver of arrows. She paid little attention to her husband's fond expression as he watched her, her mind all on business, though he did manage to scramble her thinking for a few minutes by stealing a sweet, deep, though fairly quick kiss. By the time she'd readied herself and made her way outside accompanied by Touga, most of the higher court was already in the yard, and wondering what was going to happen out there this time, since in the few months of this summer they'd all seen those yards more than any of them had in the preceding ten years.
With a professional eye Izayoi looked over her bow carefully, testing the tension on the line and then inspecting her arrows themselves to make sure there were no flaws. She found one arrow with damaged fletching and set it aside to be fixed later. Finally, just as her sire and Hikaru, his youkai adviser, who had just returned to his duties after a month spent at home visiting his family arrived, and after he'd carefully checked the time he gave her the go-ahead with a smile, wondering what his sweet little girl – who was no longer a little girl – was going to do. He positioned himself deliberately to watch Souichi's expression, who was standing with Ichirou just to his right. He wanted to see what the man would make of his daughter's demonstration.
Izayoi, meanwhile, had turned to address the crowd standing back from the archery range with angry eyes. "I have been hearing a rather upsetting rumor circulating the palace, lately, and after talking it over with father, have decided to show all those who are ignorant enough to spread such nonsense just how wrong they are." Her eyes, hard and cold in a manner that was very unlike her normal personality, flickered across the silent ranks of the court warningly. "After I am finished this day, I had better not hear the ridiculous idea that I have lost my reiki due to my love of and marriage to Touga. I have lost nothing, and neither has the purity of my reiki changed. It isn't the purity of the body that matters – it is the purity of the heart and soul that counts when standing before the gods, and it is those individuals with a purity of heart and soul that is not matched by others that they gift with supernatural strength. Chastity has nothing to do with it."
With that, she turned her back on the few murmurs heard through the crowd, and sighting down on her first target she immediately began firing, each arrow encased in a brilliant corona of the same bright pink reiki that she'd always had. In fact, to those astonished people watching on, including the new Lord Souichi, her power seemed bright and overwhelming – and even those who had no sensitivity to power or auras themselves could tell that her power wasn't tainted at all. It was pure Izayoi, all warmth and effervescent strength in a brilliant pink aura.
And as each target was hit dead center and exploded from the sheer force of her power, the whispering grew behind her; how could a woman, a priestess who had wedded and bedded a youkai still maintain her power – and more importantly, her purity? For so long the public at large had been taught that a priestess had to remain pure of body to maintain her power – and if they couldn't even take a ningen to their bed and keep their reiki, then obviously, they certainly couldn't take a youkai!
But yet... there stood Izayoi, a young woman who had done just that – and was proving with each twang of her bow that she certainly still had control of her still-pure reiki. Of course, it had already occurred to a few of the smarter ones that perhaps Izayoi was just different from most other priestesses by a design of the kami themselves – after all, she was the only one any had ever heard of that could heal youkai. That could heal in such a manner at all, really, because healing wasn't usually a priestesses province – at least, not healing with reiki. Reiki was normally only a defensive or offensive weapon for use against youkai, and not effective against humans in any manner at all.
One of the older members of the court brought that up as soon as she'd finished her demonstration, and Izayoi had to smile at that, for once, before she'd remembered her life as Kagome she'd thought the same. She'd been taught the same by Miko Kiyoko on the shrine, but the truth was...
"Actually, that is untrue. Reiki can be effective against ningen, as well. It purifies evil, does it not?" she asked the flabbergasted councilor, and he'd nodded tentatively as the rest of the court was dead silent, every last one of them straining to hear what was being said. "Ningen can be just as evil as any youkai, and reiki purifies them of the evil. While it doesn't purify them, as it would a youkai, it does purify the evil intent from them."
It was Souichi that spoke up next. "Then why does it purify the youkai entirely, if not because they are entirely evil?" he asked, obviously trying to think the whole thing through, and genuinely curious.
"It is simply because a youkai is made up of different energy than a ningen, and reiki is a different energy. But when it is used against a ningen the energy is the same, so it only purifies the evil intent and not their being," Izayoi answered.
He nodded after a moment, clearly thinking over what he'd learned, and Izayoi turned, intent on dismissing the group when another question rang out.
"If all that you are saying is true, then why have we been taught all this time that ki – reiki or houriki – is useless against ningens? And how did you figure out that what we had been told was wrong?"
Izayoi turned back, her bow held to her side and her quiver over her shoulder, and met Yoshiro's eye as he stepped out from the rank and file, followed by another monk – the one who had been sent to advise Souichi for the next year. She looked them both over and then smiled.
It was silent for a moment, and then she sighed. "The kami have given me a soul that has seen much that most would not even imagine. The soul I carry has been closely entwined with the Shikon no Tama, which was created when Midoriko cast out her soul to capture some youkai she was fighting. This soul has lived through the future already, Yoshiro-sama – in that future life, I was known as Kagome, and lived seven hundred years in the future. I was cast back to this life as Izayoi after the fact, by a curse of that damned jewel," she said, the shocked cries and questions and expressions on faces all around her phasing her not at all. "In that future, people are people. Beings are beings. Racial hatred and violence as there is now is not tolerated. Kagome... I... held no prejudice because of growing up in that time. To me a youkai is just another being, created by the kami as much as any human is. And so it occurred to me, in that life, that what miko and priestesses, and even monks," she bowed almost mockingly in their direction, "were taught in this time was wrong, and painted in such a manner simply because of the prejudice of this era against anything that was not human."
Both monks looked stunned, pale, and as though things they'd believed all their lives were being overturned. "If that is true, then why does it not work for others who wield power?" Yoshiro challenged. "I have never been able to purify a ningen."
She smiled gently at him. "It's because you don't believe that you can. You know that reiki won't work if a person does not believe in it. There are always acolytes that end up being dismissed from holy training because, though they carry power, they can not bring themselves to truly believe that they do, and so their holy ki will not work for them. It is the same principal."
Yoshiro looked troubled, as did many of the members of the court as they began to file out, but the other monk looked incensed, instead, and Touga tensed at her side as he spoke, his voice shrill. "Insanity! I say this woman is possessed and demand that she be taken to a shrine to be made to repent of her false words!" And then he looked around at the dangerous looks he was getting from the family and the youkai lord, and quailed back. "This family must have been possessed by that youkai to believe such things, and for the Lord to wed his daughter to him! Yoshiro, we must send for our brothers and cleanse the youkai taint from this house. Surely you agree with me," he pleaded, gripping the other monk's sleeve tightly.
Shaking his head, Yoshiro denied his brother monk's words. "No. They aren't possessed. They act no differently, believe no differently than they ever have – even before Touga-sama arrived on the scene. Yes, I have had many beliefs challenged in my time here, but learning new things is a good thing and should not be feared. And hatred is not something that we, as servants of the Buddha, should be teaching," he said sternly as the other monk shrank back. "I do not know how you reached a status of trust with the leader of our sect with your obviously backward beliefs, but you will pack your bags and return to our brothers immediately." He looked over at Hiraku and bowed lightly. "Please, excuse this ones words, my Lord. I will ask to have another monk sent in his place."
Hiraku merely nodded, and with a sigh beckoned the group back inside the palace, the demonstrations now over and Izayoi's point proved. To most, at least, though there would always be those who could not accept what she was saying – because their hatred was whispering too loudly into their ears for them to ever hear anything else.
It is a problem with far too many in this day and age, he growled inwardly, and that makes what we are trying to do, Touga and I, so much more difficult than it really has to be. I have always wondered, though, why is it that hatred has a voice that is so much louder than the one that love has. If only it were the other way around...
"If I may ask," Souichi began, pulling Hiraku's attention back to his surroundings, "how came you to be so open and accepting to youkai?"
Hiraku chuckled. "Ah, that is a question, certainly." After a moment to gather his thoughts, he began the story of his kidnapping and eventual safe return to his parents with the assistance of a raccoon-dog. Souichi listened intently, and after hearing the tale had to admit that he could understand the Lord's acceptance of youkai. After all, he'd had a completely different introduction to youkai than most people, and it had given rise to a very different way of seeing and doing things in the area controlled by Setsuna. Perhaps there was wisdom in this Lord's way of doing things – he was willing to watch and see how things turned out. If this very large gamble paid off for Setsuna then he would be willing to throw his support behind Hiraku, and maybe, just maybe, he would live to see the beginning of a new world for human and youkai alike.
"Actually," he was pulled back to Hiraku's narrative as he continued speaking, "I'm rather surprised that my friend has not shown up yet. He usually visits every so often, and I've been expecting him to visit sometime this summer." He frowned. "I hope nothing is wrong; mayhap I should take a trip to see him and make sure he is doing alright. If he hasn't visited by the time Touga and my daughter leave for his home next seven-day, then I might just have to do that, I think."
The mention of their looming leave-taking from her home had Izayoi once more struggling to maintain herself; Touga, catching on to her upset almost immediately, frowned and excused them from the group so that he could take his little wife off for some time alone.
He wasn't blind to the fact that she was dreading their coming departure from her home, and wished that there was something he could to to lessen the pain. But there wasn't, not really - it was just something that she would have to deal with, and he knew that she would settle down once more after they had removed to his home and gotten her settled in there. It would always be a sadness, he knew, but one she would not become depressed over – not as she was right now, struggling to maintain her cheerful demeanor when she knew that the hour that she would have to say goodbye was inching closer with every beat of her heart.
Frustrated because his little wife was hurting and he could really do nothing to eliminate that hurt, Touga decided to tease her out of her upset by giving her something else, something pleasurable to focus on, instead. With that thought in mind he drew her out of the palace and then took flight to the spot they'd gone to before, when he'd changed into his true form and they'd slept together so peacefully. He knew that just getting away from the palace would perk her up a little, and sure enough, when they touched down on the warm sand she smiled; though it was still tinted with sadness it was a great deal calmer, and for that he was glad, because his wild blood was definitely screaming at him to eliminate what was making his beloved so unhappy.
He watched her closely as she slipped her geta off and dug her little toes into the sand, the salty breeze making her smile a little as it tugged at her hair and sent little strands sweeping back over her shoulders. The coolness of the air made her smile widen, and she felt much better for getting away from the stifling air in the palace. She glanced back over her shoulder at her husband, then back out over the waves and sighed, her shoulders loosening as some of her tension drained.
"It's so beautiful here and yet so peaceful. I'm surprised that no one has ever settled here. Is there any human habitation even close, I wonder?" she asked quietly; Touga barely even heard her over the surf and the breeze, and he knew she wasn't really speaking to him – he answered, though.
"No. There aren't any living beings larger than a few deer anywhere near here," he said, still watching her now pensive form. "It is a beautiful area, but there really isn't any fresh water anywhere close by, and without that, no reason for any human village to rise here."
A soft chuckle made him smile a little at her.
"I see," she said. "I hadn't really thought about that. I suppose I was blinded by the beauty. Still, I'm glad that is the case, then, since humans would just ruin it if they built here."
"A place doesn't need to be a good place to live to be worthy," he agreed softly. "Sometimes just being beautiful is enough. It eases my tension to come here – the peace it gives is priceless. Perhaps I will mark this area as mine and make certain it is never despoiled. That way, when we need to get away and gain some perspective and peace for our souls, we can visit this place."
She glanced at him again with a slight smile and hitched her hakama up above her knees to step into the oncoming wavelets. He watched her wiggle her tiny toes in the wet sand and smiled a little, in return, before stooping to remove his own boots and tabi. Standing back up, his hands went to his sash and he untied it and removed his haori* and his yukata, leaving nothing but his hakama behind, riding low on his hips as his little wife caught his movements and blushed to see him so. He smiled again.
"Why don't you take off your hakama and chihaya and just keep on your yukata?" he asked. "Enjoy the cool air and the water without the excess cloth. There is no one here to see," he teased as she blushed a little darker.
Watching him disrobe and the enjoyment on his face she could do little but agree, and within moments she had joined him above the waterline and was stripping off her top layer with satisfaction. Once both were down to their underclothes, Touga caught his wife's little hand in his own and tugged her down towards the little wavelets again.
They spent some time just playing in the surf and splashing each other in the early afternoon sunlight; the cool feel of the water and the air a calming counterpoint to the warmth of the sun. After a little while Touga swung his little wife into his arms and carried her back up to their clothes as she giggled, and after having his pelt curl up on the soft sand, he placed his slight burden down on the soft fur and watched her smile happily as she snuggled into the softness.
Izayoi smiled as she felt Touga's pelt caress her; holding her arms up to him, she silently begged her husband to come to her and sighed contentedly when he did, wrapping his arms around her and smiling down into her face. She smiled sleepily back, and he chuckled at her. Rearranging their forms, he rolled to his side and pulled her back into his body.
"Sleep, my love. A nap sounds a good idea."
She hummed at him drowsily and snuggled back into him; after that there were no more sounds save the soft crash of the surf and the cawing of the gulls as they both lay there and let it all lull them to sleep.
Some time later, Izayoi slowly blinked open her eyes and yawned sleepily; with a relaxed smile, she snuffled into her husband's skin and inhaled his beloved scent. I could be in a room with a hundred different people and I could still pick out his scent, she sighed drowsily. After a moment she lifted her head and looked around – early afternoon had given way to late afternoon, and she knew that it would soon be time to return to the palace for the evening meal.
She felt much calmer, however, and couldn't help but be grateful to her husband for his caring and his need to keep her happy – she had really needed this time away from everyone and all her terrible thoughts, as well. Her eyes softened with deep affection as she looked upon his still sleeping form. He always took such good care of her and was so careful of her thoughts and feelings, doing everything he could to keep her happy. It felt so good to know that she was totally safe with him, not just physically but emotionally, as well; he was her safe harbor in a world that had long ago gone crazy around her – from the very day she first fell down the magical well on the Higurashi shrine a far seven hundred years away in time.
Lovingly she smoothed her hands over the pale perfection of his chest, her touch gentle and reverent, as was her expression. She loved him so much, and as he shifted beneath her she leaned down and followed her hands with gentle, wet kisses, her eyes heavy-lidded as she gazed upon him with desire.
It didn't take but a few moments before her loving touch woke him from his own sleep, and Touga watched his little wife touch him so sweetly through heavy eyes. He wanted to touch her in return, but decided in that moment to lay back and let her explore for as long as he could stand it – she was obviously enjoying her exploration, and who was he to deny her that which she seemed to want so passionately?
Flicking her eyes up to meet his, she smoothed a soft hand across his abdominals, easily displayed by his low-lying hakama, taking note of every dip and line and running her tongue behind her hands as she tasted what she was touching. Her eyes fell closed as she savored his taste.
"You taste as good as you smell," she said softly, barely more than a whisper.
He quivered just a little as her heated breath hit the damp flesh left behind by her tongue. "And what do I smell like?" he asked in the same soft tone as his hands came up finally to smooth over her back, leaving tingling waves of pleasure to follow his sweeping touch.
"Like nature, and pine, and everything that I love the most," she returned, her voice still soft though her eyes now blazed with arousal. "No taste could ever please me as yours does."
Unable to withstand her any further, Touga rolled them over, coming to rest perfectly between her spread thighs and lowered his lips to hers to kiss her, something about the reverence she was showing towards him wrenching feelings of desperation from deep inside him.
He couldn't get enough of her, his touch only getting more and more passionate as her tongue willingly twined with his, then tasted his fangs, a shudder slipping down his spine as she did; it never failed to excite him when she did so, showing her attraction to a part of him that was so openly non-human, proving once again that she accepted him, loved him, whether he was human or not.
Suddenly needing her in much deeper ways, he twisted his hakama around until the opening was in the front, and then lifted her yukata just until she was uncovered. He smiled against her lips as she opened more to him and he settled into the cradle of her thighs with nothing but flesh to touch flesh between them.
Not even needing to test to see if she was ready for him as he could feel the heat and the damp against his turgid flesh, Touga positioned himself and thrust forward, easily sliding home and wresting a beautiful, low sound of pleasure from his desirous wife.
"I always want you so much, Izayoi," he breathed against her lips as he settled into a swift, deep rhythm. He knew they didn't have much more time as the final meal of the day would be soon and they would need to get back to the palace and clean up before it; but he also knew he wouldn't be satisfied by this tryst. No... he would want her again, and knew that they would be retiring soon after the meal to their rooms where he would spend the rest of the night sating himself in his beloved's body.
Sating her reciprocal need for him.
And if his need of her caused his wife's morose thoughts to get lost in the maelstrom of their shared desire, then all to the better, as far as he was concerned.
~oOo~
The rest of the week passed quickly, as it always does to those that wish it would never pass, and before Izayoi knew it, it was the night before their departure and she was suddenly coming unraveled. Barely able to keep her dignity before others she retired to the family wing with her brother and Touga, waiting for her father to also join them.
She'd said her goodbyes to everyone in the palace that she personally cared for, including Mai, and tomorrow's waking notwithstanding would not see her nursemaid for any length of time again. That had been hard enough, but saying goodbye to her beloved father and brother? The agony couldn't be soothed, and in the last few days she'd become nearly inconsolable, which of course greatly upset her husband.
He'd never fully realized the difficulties she would have in leaving her family behind, but he also wasn't as blinded to her full sadness as some might think, and as soon as they were all sequestered away together, with the excuse to Souichi that Hiraku was taking this evening to spend time with his daughter and her husband as they were leaving on the morrow for their home, Touga helped to calm what was really incipient hysteria with an offer of comfort.
"My love, do not fear! They are not lost to you forever, as you are thinking. Do not take on the future before it even arrives, my sweet. I promise that as soon as we can get away, war or not, we will stop for a visit with your family, alright?"
Tear-drenched eyes met his. "Truly, Touga?" she asked from the circle of her father's arms, her voice a little hoarse from the storm of her weeping.
"Hai, Izayoi. You know I do not lie. I would not keep you from your family, and I am also fond of them and will enjoy any time that we can get to visit. Since I am not dependent on normal modes of travel and can arrive here within a short time by orb, there is no reason that we cannot visit frequently." He shook his head a little in frustration. "Of course, the next little while such chances to visit will be few and far between, Izayoi... but the war will not last long. I will not accept a war of attrition with the dragons of the North, dragging the lands into years-long chaos – I will break their invasion swiftly and be done with it. And then we will come visit bringing tales of our victory to share with your family."
Her weeping stopped, though there were still tears, and the rest of that final night was spent in fond reminiscence of her younger years and affectionate hugs between family members that would not be seeing each other for a while. By the time the two retired to their beds to prepare for the morrow and all that would happen during it, even Hiraku was having a hard time not crying, and he knew that in the silence of the night, once his beloved daughter was gone he would also give way to tears as time swept his little girl away from him and into a different life.
He knew that the pall that hung over the palace would be around for some time to come as they all tried to become used to a life without Izayoi in it. And though one would think it was no different than when she'd gone away to train at the shrine, they would be wrong – for when she'd gone off to the shrine the knowledge had always been there to comfort that at some point she'd be coming home to stay.
And though she'd still come for visits, the difference was that now, Setsuna was no longer home.
Home for the new Lady of the West was the Western Citadel.
A place she had never seen.
~oOo~
The final goodbyes between Izayoi and her family were done before the court, and true to form she kept her dignity, refusing to cry before anyone else. That had actually made it easier, and she silently thanked her father as she watched the Setsuna palace and all those standing on its steps to witness her departure fade away beneath her. She had at first not wanted the court to be present at such a personal moment, but her father had insisted, and now she had to admit she was glad for it.
She watched silently until Setsuna was no more than a dot on the horizon, and then slowly turned her face forward, holding tightly to her husband's arm with mokomoko wrapped around her to keep her warm. Kenji, traveling off to the side with her bags watched her carefully and sighed, relieved, when she kept calm and her aura remained stable.
Izayoi refused to look behind again for the entire trip, though she yearned for her home with every beat of her heart. But she had never been one to hide from what was to come, not even when she knew that it would be unpleasant.
And while she wanted to see her new home and a part of her was definitely excited, a much larger part of her was worried and scared. Scared of the reception she was going to get in this new place filled with youkai... and scared of stepping out of place, causing embarrassment for Touga.
It wasn't long, really, before she could see that they were seemingly heading for a mountain, and she watched, curious and breathless, as the mountain got closer and closer...
When her eyes were finally able to see what they were heading for in all its glory, she couldn't help but gasp, Touga glancing down to see her reaction.
It was stunning.
Huge, built right into the mountain and seemingly hanging right over a precipice, the Western Citadel rose magnificent and proud above the clouds, and Izayoi suddenly felt very, very small.
Touga caught her eye and nodded solemnly towards the gleaming palace that was looming closer with every second.
"Welcome to your new home, my dear. Welcome to the Jewel of the West..."
"... KangetsuYamajiro."*
~oOo~
*KangetsuYamajiro-Castle of the Winter Moon
*Haori-I have looked up the style of clothing Rumiko Takahashi drew Sesshoumaru and Inu no Taisho with, and could not find anything that looked exactly the same, but I did note this-both of her characters are drawn with two layers, an under yukata, and an overcoat. I know that many people have called their clothing suikan, but when I looked that up, I found a page that had pictures and descriptions of every kind of suikan around, and none of them look like what the two are pictured wearing in the least, nor do any of them look like Inuyasha's outfit, which is also composed of only two layers. The thing with suikan is that they all consist of MANY layers, the least I counted being five layers. So, while haori did not look exactly like what they wore, either, it was close, and at least from what I could find, is worn with two layers, the yukata, and haori itself, so that's what I'm choosing to call it.
You know, earlier I got this bug up my rear – I wanted to know just what mokomoko means. So I looked it up, and guess what? It means fluffy and/or lumpy! So when Sesshoumaru calls it mokomoko-sama, he's calling it Lord Fluffy! I about died laughing!
A/N: And the first part of Splinter'd Realities is officially finished! Part II, A Song of War, will begin being posted in three weeks time. I will be taking a three week posting hiatus on this one to allow myself and my beta for this story to catch up a little on it, and so that I can also catch up on some other stories. Between Gods and Devils will continue to be posted on Wednesdays, so there will still be some inupapa to read!
I wanted to thank all the readers, and whoever nominated this fic for Best Drama, and voted for it, as well. It tied for second place this term in that category! Since I love anytime I'm able to bring attention to this pairing, I was thrilled!
Amber
Edited 11/12/13
