Blanket Disclaimer: The writer does not own any characters created by Rumiko Takahashi but like everyone else wishes she did. All original characters or concepts are the author's Inuma Asahi De's (with the exception of historical figures).
Chapter Twenty-Six
The Younger Sister
The room grew absolutely silent. The name on the old woman's lips and the curse that had left the Captain's own mouth were gone, dispersing into the air in the same way clouds dissipate in the sky after a thunderstorm. Inuyasha's ears twitched on his head, taking in the sound of each individual heart beat that sounded in the room. He could hear Miroku's confused thumping, Sango's nervous flutter, Shippo's steady unruffled rhythm, Kagome's pounding cadence of uncertainty and Kaede's cadence of knowledge, of truth, each woman possessing one side of his current spectrum, his current hell. And underneath those sounds of beating hearts laid one he was used to ignoring but now found to be the hardest to ignore, it was the loudest out of all of them, it was pounding ridiculously.
It was his own.
It was a loud and thundering pounding, a thumping in his chest that reminded him of a rabbit as it runs frantically from the jaws of a raging wolf. Moving, panicked and scared though the underbrush of an unknown forest, wanting nothing better than to inexplicably disappear before it was swallowed by a metaphysical predator. And that predator, the one that was chasing the rabbit attacking it and thus attacking him was the answer that the old woman before him had just unwittingly revealed.
He closed his eyes for a moment, his heart pounding harder in his chest as he took deep breath after deep breath, attempting to control the constant unrestrained hammering. "No," He told himself wordlessly as the demon in him grew silent, not uttering a word as if it had known all along and had wished not to rub it in. "It can't be true, maybe they just look the same—yeah—," He continued to deny, the demon silently shaking its head in the back of his mind. "She got confused because they have the same face. That doesn't make Kagome—."
"Kikyo?"
The old woman's whisper came to his ears again, closer now, she was approaching them coming towards Kagome, he could tell by the sound of her footsteps. Snapping his eyes in her direction he stared at the old woman, taking her in, comparing her to the girl he had once known, the small baby that had followed her sister with adoration and a sweet grin.
"Sister! Inuyasha!" A little brown haired girl with a soft smile called after them, both of them turning to view the small hindrance. A hindrance for him who was wooing and a hindrance for her who wished no one to see. "Wait for me?" The babe called, sweet and innocent, her two chestnut eyes vibrant unlike her sister, unbiased unlike her sister, accepting unlike her sister.
Staring at her now she looked old, an old human who had apparently lived a very hard life. "An eye patch." Inuyasha felt his hands shake as he stared at the old woman, the evidence of some great atrocity apparent for all who took in the sight of her patch covered worthless and incapable iris. "How did she lose it? When did she lose it? It must have been after I left but—." He clenched his teeth together horrified at what that meant. "If I hadn't left that eye, would it be unhurt?" He heard his conscious say as he studied the old woman's blackened covering. "Would she be unscathed?" His mind repeated as a haunting scream filled his subconscious hitting him hard like a slap to the face.
"Sister!" He could almost hear her crying out for the long departed comfort of Kikyo. "Inuyasha!"
He flinched as his psyche threw his own name on the girl's youthful lips until he could almost see her, little and scared wishing for her sister and himself to save her but they never came because one was dead and the other—might as well have been.
"Inuyasha—." He could see her falling to the ground blood running down her face as she called to him hurt and scared. "Where are you?"
He shook the voices away, "This old woman and that child are two different people." He reasoned with himself as he looked at the frail creature before him with guilt still ravaging his heart. "They're different by the course of fifty years." He continued to tell himself. "For all I know she lost her eye as an old woman, not as a child." He licked his lips. "Or at least I can hope." He gulped at the very notion. "I just hope—she doesn't hate me now." Needing to feel reassurance to that affect he smelt the air, trying to gauge the old woman by her scent. He licked his lips as he took in all the scents in the room hovering around him a guide to his world. Quickly, he moved over the scents of Shippo, Sango and Miroku their familiar smells easy to ignore, then briefly he allowed himself to smell the airy fragrance of salt and flowers, letting Kagome overcome his senses, calming him down enough so the next smell didn't throw him into a complete anxiety attack.
Inuyasha's eyes closed shut tightly as he took in the next smell; it was just as he remembered.
Soft and gentle, whimsical and alluding, like the leaves of a willow tree that hang above a lagoon's edge, flitting in a friendly gentle breeze. "She still smells like a little girl." He dimly registered as he took in the smell of her emotions, she smelt calm, tranquil, and not the least bit confused or surprised. "She knows."
As if waking from a nightmare Inuyasha's eyes snapped opened and looked at the old woman standing before Kagome. Her one good eye was trained on the girl, taking her in with such love and adoration that for a second he thought he was in the past seeing that same little girl look at her sister as if she was the greatest heroine to ever live. "Kaede." He tried to speak but his voice came out so quiet that not even he could hear it.
"Kikyo?" Kaede repeated again unaware of his presence as she approached Kagome, her hands extended towards the young girl, reaching for her as Inuyasha looked on from behind them standing in a state of complete paralysis, watching her approach, unable to either move or speak.
"Kikyo?" Kagome parroted completely and utterly baffled as the old woman came towards her taking her hands into her own wrinkled ones, holding onto her tightly as if the old woman was afraid Kagome might disappear. "I—I'm—ah—sorry," She stuttered startled by the sudden contact. "But I'm not—Kikyo?"
Inuyasha winced, even Kagome sounded unsure of something he knew she knew nothing about but perhaps subconsciously her soul was already aware, awakened, and knowledgeable of the situation. The thought did not sit well with him.
The old woman recoiled at the sound of Kagome's voice, bringing her hands away much to Inuyasha and Kagome's surprise. She blinked several times looking at Kagome in utter astonishment, as if she couldn't believe what the young girl had said or perhaps had simply not understood it. "Kikyo?" She whispered again softly, saying the only word she had spoken so far, her voice faint and airy as it slipped past old cracking lips. Cautiously, she reached out and touched Kagome's cheek, holding the soft skin until it tinted red with Kagome's embarrassment.
Behind them Sango stepped forward standing on Kagome's right side placing a hand on Kagome's shoulder to get her attention. "She might only speak French." Sango whispered as she looked towards the woman in question who seemed to be in a daze. "Most people here don't know English or at least not very well." She added as she turned back to Miroku for confirmation, he gave it in the form of a distracted nod his eyes looking elsewhere at the only person who had yet to contribute to the conversation.
He focused on his father, his Captain, his friend, taking in the frozen statue that was Inuyasha. Miroku shuttered at the look of Inuyasha's eyes as they stared between the two women, completely focused and yet appearing vacant, just as they had earlier as they were walking—dead. "What's going on?" Miroku wondered as he glanced at the old woman who still appeared to be in a state of shock, her eyes unable to leave Kagome for anything, not even the sound of Sango's whisper had drawn her away from Kagome's visage.
"Who are you?" The words echoed in his mind as he looked over his shoulder at Inuyasha, his eyes taking in the older man's every feature. He looked nervous, anxious, perhaps even a little—scared—but more than that, he looked at the old woman with eyes of recognition as if he knew her. "This is the person we're here to see." He turned back to the old woman quickly as understanding dawned within. "This is his old friend but—if this is the friend then—why is the Captain so freaked out?" Miroku narrowed his eyebrows at the thought. None of it made sense.
"Maybe," The sound of Shippo's voice coming from his place in Kagome's arms brought Miroku back to the current situation. "She's deaf'd, my Grandpa acted 'ike that and he was deaf'd." The small boy suggested causing Kagome to hush him.
"Shippo that's very rude," Kagome chastised as she looked up at the old woman sending her an apologetic look only to find herself looking into hopeful eyes that were transfixed solely on her. Kagome felt her heart clench in her chest at the sight.
"Just saying." Shippo mumbled while crossing his arms in a clear pout unaware of the tension that was currently surrounding him. No one paid him any mind, however, as they all continued to focus on the old woman before them, each lost in a world of chaotic thought.
"Someone needs to translate." Sango mumbled to herself as she watched the old woman her mind racing as she attempted to figure out what to do. Personally she spoke only a little French, having been born in England and educated by a Welsh tutor she had not been privileged to learn the diplomatic language. However, there was always one person they turned to in times like this, a man who knew every language she had ever heard, "Captain!" Quickly Sango spun her head around, taking in the sight of her Captain, only to find exactly what Miroku had only moments before her.
The Captain appeared frozen in his spot, his eyes staring blankly, not moving, trained on the situation but appearing as if they were not seeing anything that was happening in front of them—like they were stuck somewhere else, like they were seeing something that wasn't there anymore, another time perhaps or another place.
"Captain?" She whispered and blinked surprise when his ears didn't even twitch. "Can he hear me?" She questioned as she lifted her hand slightly, waving it in his direction, he didn't even move a pupil. "Something's not right." Slowly she looked back at Miroku her eyes locking with his own, communicating with him silently by tilting her head to the side, motioning with just her eyes towards the dazed Captain. "Miroku," She breathed giving him a meaningful look. "Why don't you translate?"
Miroku glanced at the Captain as prompted by only licked his lips, he had already known that the Captain was behaving oddly. "Sure." He nodded as he shot her a meaningful look, a look that said 'we'll talk later,' Sango knew he meant it.
Hazily the conversation seemed too register in Kagome's head as she took in the sight of the old woman's watery eyes. "French?" She mumbled as if just realizing what Sango had said. "I speak French." Kagome shook her head violently at the thought, "Stupid Kagome." She mumbled to herself as she put a hand up to stop Miroku who was just beginning to step forward in order to speak to the old woman.
"It's not necessary." She informed as she looked into the old woman's eyes her heart clenching at the sight of those deep chestnut brown pools. "Je ne suis pas Kikyo." Kagome said her earlier phrase again, this time more forcibly and in the beautiful French language much to everyone's surprise. "Je suis Kagome." She pointed at herself for emphasis, hoping the much older woman understood her meaning, understood French and wasn't deaf as Shippo had suggested.
Behind them Inuyasha seemed to come back to himself as the sound of Kagome speaking French hit his ears, causing them to twitch on his head, making them move for the first time since the conversation had started. "She—," His mind slowly came back around, as if waking from a dream. "Speaks French? Where'd she learn to speak French?" Feeling light headed he closed his eyes pondering silently on the question but no answer was truly forth coming. "I'll have to ask her, the next time we're alone." For now, however, he knew it was best to focus his whole mind on the conversation at hand, there were far more important questions to be answered than just how Kagome Dresmont learned to speak French.
Back at Kagome's side Miroku glanced at the girl impressed but instantly berated himself for having forgotten that Kagome had a French mother. He remembered briefly meeting the woman when they had dropped Kagome off after dinner at Port Royal. Although it had not been explicitly said, the sound of the woman's accent was very much French, therefore, he could only assume Kagome's mother was a French native and had taught Kagome French when she was a child.
As that thought left him Miroku glanced at his father behind him, "He wasn't there when we met her mother. He didn't know." He acknowledged as he took in the surprised look of the Captain. "Interesting." He mused as he bit his lip. "Would it change anything if he knew that she—that they have more in common than just the sea?"
Miroku didn't have long to ponder the thought, however, as the sound of the old woman speaking instantly drew him from his own inner dialogue.
"Kagome?" The old woman whispered as she brought her hand away from Kagome, bringing it to her heart before letting it fall completely, her voice going silent as she stared at Kagome with her one good chestnut eye, studying her intently. "Your name might be Kagome now," Came her old ragged voice. "But what is not now was once."
Kagome gulped, the woman spoke English, perfect English, "Maybe she was just—too stunned to speak. Maybe I look a little like Kikyo and it was a shock seeing a familiar face." She thought as she watched the old woman nod her head as if confirming something, a thought perhaps. "She is old, maybe her eyes," Kagome paused looking at the old woman's patch before correcting. "Eye isn't good." It seemed plausible to Kagome. "Kikyo must have been important to her though," Kagome added as an afterthought. "So important that seeing her caused the old woman to freeze." Kagome narrowed her eyes at the thought. "Maybe it was a friend of hers or a family member, maybe a sibling?" Kagome shrugged at the thought. It didn't really matter, after all she had no connection to this old woman or the woman called Kikyo, so other than pure curiosity it didn't really affect her.
It was then that Kaede's words seemed to really strike her, sucking her down with them, just as a tidal wave sucks a poor swimmer into the sea.
"Your name might be Kagome now but what is not now was once."
"Wh—at?" She shook her head attempting to understand the strange words. "Is she saying that I'm Kagome now but," She blinked several times staring at the old woman between each movement of her eyelids. "I wasn't always? What is not now was once? I wasn't always—who—I am now? I wasn't always—Kagome?" Instantly a wave of self consciousness ran through her as she wrapped her arms tightly around herself a form of protection as she stared the old woman down. "If I wasn't Kagome then—who was I? You can only be one person, you can't be someone else, that's impossible."
She bit her lip roughly, her eyes intent as she spoke. "What are you talking about?" She demanded, her voice a little shaky.
The woman only continued to look at her with her piercing chestnut eye boring into Kagome, making her feel distinctly vulnerable. More vulnerable than she ever had in her life, more vulnerable than when she had been marked, more vulnerable than when the Captain kissed her senseless, even more vulnerable than when she had been abducted by Manten, she felt completely helpless under this old woman's gaze. "What is she looking at?" Kagome wondered as she stepped back, bumping into Sango, stepping on the other girls feet.
"Ouch." Sango hissed as she drew away, not really physically hurt but only surprised by Kagome's sudden retreat.
"Sor—rr—y," Kagome stuttered as she turned away ignoring the woman in favor of apologizing to her friend, handing the young Shippo off to Miroku for fear she might hurt him as well in her current susceptible state.
The light laugh of the graying woman caught Kagome's attention however and before she could help it she turned, her eyes lighting on a smiling wrinkled face. "Pardon me," The old woman mumbled drawing all of them back to her, surprised by her sudden change in tone. "I've startled you." She said with a wave of her hand as she turned, walking back to the bar slowly dismissing everything that had transpired in the past few moments with a wave of her hand.
It was only then that Inuyasha finally gained control of his voice once again, stepping from his frozen state to stand directly beside Miroku. "Did you look at her soul?" His voice resounded, booming loudly off the walls, startling everybody, making them jump as his deep baritone range in the tavern hitting every crevice harshly.
The old woman didn't appear fazed as she turned back around, her one good eye lighting on him, appearing oddly unaffected. "Inuyasha, you've finally woken up I see." She breathed out totally and utterly unhindered by his voice before her eyes narrowed, "Never thought I'd see you again." Her voice wasn't harsh but it diffidently notated some displeasure.
"Never thought I'd see you either." Inuyasha stated harshly, crossing his arms over his chest, his heart pounding so hard that he could feel it on his inner arm. "You've grown old." He eyed her dryly. "You're 'un old hag—ei—Kaede?"
The old woman clicked her tongue. "Only demons such as yourself remain young forever." She bluntly stated as she walked behind the counter of the bar grabbing a nearby broom to begin cleaning the shattered glass that she had dropped in her initial shock. "I can assume it's this girl," She inclined her head towards Kagome. "That brings you here now?" She questioned as she swept this time casting her eyes towards Kagome, the deep black depths peering into Kagome's own bluish grey ones. The scrutiny made Kagome gulp and shift uncomfortably.
"Yes." Inuyasha confirmed sternly, his eyes staring at her wavering slightly in the candle light, a deep milky gold that appeared standoffish and hard. It was a sight that neither Sango and Miroku, nor Kagome could ever recall seeing.
The Captain's eyes were usually full of life, a spark living in them or at worst a certain amount of sadness or depression, as they all had on occasion seen but now—they appeared guarded, angry, hurt, and—slightly mystified. Kagome brought a hand to her chest as she studied the Captain, his words perplexing.
"Did you look at her soul?"
Kagome blinked rapidly. "Did he mean, my soul, why would she look at my soul?" Her eyes shifted through the room, to take in the sight of Sango and Miroku who were both as confused looking as she, the sight of the Captain who appeared like a cage animal (if he could have paced he would have) and then her eyes shifted to the sight of the woman, "Kaede?" Kagome let the name sound in her mind. "Who are you and why—how would you, look at my soul?" She felt a slight stirring in her heart as an answer seemed to come to the surface of her mind, one that only fit indistinctly and yet was easy to apply to the question all the same. "The only reason you look at something is to see something. What do they want to see?"
"You're a fool." The woman said bluntly bringing Kagome out of her thoughts as Kaede bent, picking up the shards of glass she had swept into a pile, studying them one by one with interest as if debating what to do with them before she gingerly set them down on the counter.
Inuyasha pulled his ears back to his head and scrunched up his nose at her statement. "What the fuck would you know?" He growled out as he looked away from her staring off at a nearby wall his temper close to the surface but the demon in him almost sound asleep—not willing to partake in the human emotions fueling his rage.
"I know that in fifty years you have not come to visit me once." Kaede said as she studied one particular piece of glass, her good eye watching it shimmer in the light before she set it on the counter. "Where have you been?" Her voice grew slightly irritated as looked at him with displeasure in the very line of her lips. "Stuck to a tree or something?"
Around them everyone watched stunned as the old woman berated the Captain like he was a child caught thieving.
Inuyasha blinked rapidly as if he hadn't expected this to happen at all and scratched the back of his head in shock. "What—wh—um I've been around." He winced at his own words, his earlier guilt amplified by her statement. "Man—I really did screw up." His ears went to the back of his head. "She was just a little girl the least I could have done was check on her from time to time," He felt his ears fo back even farther to his skull. "If I would have I might have been able to stop her from hurting that eye—or at least known when it happened."
"You never came to visit once, not in fifty years, long time to go without a simple hello." Kaede mumbled again under her breath. "And then you finally show up but," She added sharply. "Only because you need me for your own selfish reasons," The old woman sighed. "I had thought I was more important than that."
"Who the hell is this woman?" Miroku found himself saying under his breath Sango, Shippo, and Kagome all three looking at him as he said it.
"That's what I want to know." Sango added her own two cents worth as Kagome dumbly nodded at her side.
"She's not a demon." Shippo contributed his green eyes looking back at the old woman. "But she does smell real old. You think the Captain knows her?"
"Yeah," Miroku said with a firm nod. "He does."
"But how?" Sango questioned as she watched transfixed as the Captain looked everywhere except at the four of them and the old woman, as if he was evading all of them. "She made the Captain stutter."
Slightly dazed Kagome mumbled back, "It's not that hard." Causing both Sango and Miroku to turn towards her with interested eyes, Kagome turned slowly looking at them as if just now realizing what she had unwittingly said aloud. "I mean, a—we should really be listening."
"Sure." Miroku drew out with a sly look on his face. "Whatever you say."
The Captain shifted uncomfortably back and forth his continued stuttering bringing the four back into the conversation, "Well—um—," He laughed awkwardly. "I just don't get to this side of the world often, you know?"
Kaede only ignored him and continued ranting. "Never have you paid me a social call. Never once have you come and said," She shrugged her old shoulders. "—let's have a drink together or even a cup of tea, no—you come here and want me to work!" She turned to him pointing her finger accusingly. "You're just as bad as I remember and I was only a little girl back then!"
"Ah—," Inuyasha tried to speak but she cut him off before he could get a single word in.
"You can't worm your way out of this one." She told him bluntly as she came back from around the counter. "Fifty years without a word and then you bring this girl here?" She waved an old wrinkled hand towards Kagome and then much to everyone's surprise smiled. "You really haven't changed," Her tone went soft as did her face. "Have you?"
Inuyasha lifted an eyebrow completely confused stuttering as he tried to figure out what to say—unsure of how to deal with such a drastic change from anger to almost love. "I—well—no." He settled on and much to everyone's surprise his eyes grew downcast, refusing to look at the woman as if he felt ashamed for his actions. "I haven't changed. I still have no desire to be here."
Her eyes grew even softer at his words as she stepped forward her demeanor seeming to be instantly altered, caring. "I can understand that." She replied calmly. "I've never wanted to return for a second but unlike you I don't have the luxury to even leave."
Inuyasha lifted his head and sighed deeply as he eyed the patch that covered up right eye his heart constricting in his chest. "It must have been hard." He said under his breath as he looked at her with hooded eyes hidden by choppy bangs one hand motioning to her eye absently.
The old woman looked at him as his words left his mouth, her eyes appearing to grow wide in apparent bewilderment. With old wrinkled fingers she reached forward and to the shock of everyone in the room touched Inuyasha's cheek, he didn't back away. "I was wrong," She softly whispered. "You have changed."
Inuyasha moved his hand up, taking the old woman's hand roughly, albeit gentler than he normally would, removing it from his cheek and pushing it away from himself the action appearing harsh but the execution sensitive. "Just," He began eyes hidden by his hair as he stepped back away from her, as if she might burn him. "Tell me what I want to know."
"Are you prepared for what you'll see?" Kaede asked her whole demeanor changing once again, this time to a ridged almost annoyed form.
Inuyasha raised his eyes then for everyone in the room to see, they were uncertain, shaking almost and wild as if he was a caged animal. He blinked several times and then very plainly bit his lip before turning his eyes away from the old woman, shifting them slowly toward Kagome.
Kagome felt herself shiver involuntarily as he looked at her, those eyes staring at her sharp and poised, as if he too was trying to look beyond her at something he shouldn't have been able to see. "What's going on?" She wondered as she brought a hand to her heart, holding the material of her shirt above her chest tightly. "Why is he looking at me like that—like—he's in pain." No, it was more than a look of pain it was a look of remembrance, a look of loss, a look of love, a look she had seen before; a look that had accompanied a violin and a heartbreaking song.
"Love of mine where have you gone
Have you gone into the sea?
I would follow you my love
But I can't sail those leagues."
She remembered the way he played, his body an orchestra as he swayed the song on his lips, singing of someone he had loved, someone he had lost. "He lost someone," She felt the whisper all the way to her toes. "Someone he loved, someone he knew he couldn't get back."
"Love of mine where have you gone
Have you gone into the sky?
I would follow you my love,
But a sea man can't fly."
"He couldn't get them back because—." The thought reverberated within Kagome, "They—no," Kagome involuntarily shook her head as she stepped slightly backwards, her own thoughts a source of disbelief. "She died." Kagome felt her heart quicken in her chest as it all came to her, as the words of the song sunk in completely.
"Love of mine what will I do.
If I can't find you again?
I will simply sail the sea
And search till the moon waned.
What else can I do?
What else can I say?
If only I could go,
To the place you now call home."
"After she died, he began to sail the sea." She concluded in her head as her heart tightened in her chest. "He was lost and sad, and confused, and hurting, so he disappeared, and he never came back." She bit her lip her eyes searching out the old woman, the world moving in slow motion as her thoughts ran wild, moving faster than the scene before her. "He left, he ran away. And this woman knew, she wasn't the one that died, but she knew her, she knew the woman he loved." She felt something in her chest begin to rip, a tightening and a release she had never before experienced. "And that woman, she—could she be," The feeling was jealousy, ripping at her as she realized the truth. "Kikyo?"
Unaware of Kagome's epiphany Inuyasha continued to speak. "What would I care of what you see?" He said as he stood straight, his shoulders back and his chin held high, his body calm but rigid, as if a mask had just been carefully woven back in place. "Just get the hell on with it already."
Kaede only smiled at him as if amused before turning to Kagome, giving the girl a deep look, a protruding look. Her one good eye staring at Kagome hard, intense, demanding as if she was trying to see through Kagome, straight into her soul—in fact she was. Slowly, tantalizingly so, a pinkish power seemed to leave her body, surrounding her with a tinted angelic glow that seeped from her sparking in the air, an unknown natural electricity.
Inuyasha shifted uncomfortably as he felt the energy surrounding Kaede reach out. He knew what the power was, the energy was Miko power, the same power that the older sister had possessed and that Kagome possessed and apparently Kaede possessed as well. He heard the small whimper of Shippo who had found home on Miroku's shoulder after leaving Kagome's arms. He glanced at the tiny cabin boy, knowing that the kit's full blood would be affected much quicker than his own half. Gritting his teeth he turned towards the woman and growled low in his throat, his protective instincts awakening at the kits whining.
"Kit hurt." Shippo growled in the tongue of ancient demons as he clung to Miroku's arm looking whiter and whiter, the energy that was surrounding all of them seeping into his small body, slowly purifying him. His small green eyes turned to Inuyasha, growling distinctly in the ancient tongue of foxes, a tongue that Inuyasha universally understood. "Alpha male help kit."
"Kaede," Inuyasha grunted instantly drawing the old woman's eyes towards him, which widened in surprise at the sound of the man's calm interruption. "Be careful of the runt." He nodded towards the child. "He's too young to handle it."
Kaede looked at the child noticing his form for the first time and then nodded before she turned back to Kagome her eyes focusing on the young girl knowing that she need not look any further anyway. The answer had been all too easy to find. "She looks like her, doesn't she Inuyasha? They have the same power." She whispered as her expression grew to hold nothing but peace and love as she looked on at Kagome before turning towards Inuyasha expectantly. "That's why you've brought her here, you already knew, didn't you?"
Inuyasha gritted his teeth as all eyes turned to look at him confused except Kagome who continued to look at Kaede trying to understand desperately what was going. "I've seen it but—,"
"That's not the answer you seek." Kaede interrupted as she watched Inuyasha with her one chestnut eye, calm and collected.
Inuyasha growled out with true irritation hitting his eye pore. "Am I right? Did you see—," He glanced at Kagome, his eyes a dark and pensive gold. "The origins of her soul?"
"The origins of my soul?" The words struck Kagome oddly, "My soul always been here with me, it originates in me." Kagome felt her heart beat pick up even more in her chest becoming almost painful. "Why do they need to see my soul? What aren't they telling me? And—and—who the hell is Kikyo!" Kagome closed her eyes tightly as her emotions took over, "They want to see my soul." Her mind raced to comprehend all the information. "He loved a girl named Kikyo." More and more information pilled into her head making her dizzy. "She died and he loved her." She bit her lip feeling sick to her stomach. "This old woman knew her also." The thought shoved at her mental barriers, tearing them down, "I look like her, this old woman thinks I look like her." She opened her eyes feeling dazed. "Is she senile?" She questioned but she already knew the answer without having to ask. "And on top of everything, they want to see my soul?" She brought both her hands to the sides of her head, attempting to massage out the impending migraine. "And they're talking about it like I'm not even here," She felt her anger overwhelm her, a floodgate about to overflow. "It's like I'm back home where my thoughts and feelings don't matter!" She brought her hands down hastily clutching her fist at her side, the knuckles cracking at the gesture. "I don't know what's going on but—if it has something to do with me, then they better tell me, damn it!"
Lifting her head in complete determination Kagome stepped away from Sango and Miroku coming to stand between the old woman Kaede and her Captain Inuyasha.
"What's going on?" She stated drawling both Inuyasha and Kaede towards her. "If this has something to do with me," She pointed at herself. "Then I have the right to know. So tell me, what's going on with my soul?"
"This doesn't concern you." Inuyasha said without a thought as he brought a hand up to Kagome's shoulder pushing her back towards Sango and Miroku lightly, his actions once again harsh but acted out with care.
Whether Kagome noticed the gentle nature of his movements or not was hard to tell as her eyes widened and she dug her feet into the ground refusing to move even one little inch. "Pardon?" She got out through a clenched jaw as she raised her eyes to meet the Captain's gold ones. "This has everything to do with me if you're talking about me, Captain." She pronounced the rank slowly as if mocking it as she came to stand chest to chest with him, her head a good foot or so under his own but still stern and firmly held up high, challenging. "So why don't you take five seconds and tell me what's going on." She finished demanding, the earlier anger and hurt in her heart fueling her words now.
Inuyasha raised his eyebrows his mouth opening in surprise as he took in her words, his need for dominance and control surfacing instantly. "I don't have to tell you shit." He shot back his face drawn in a line of disgust.
Kagome matched the line of disgust with her own disgusted look, the hurt doubling in her chest as he took out his own overflowing emotions on her. "Yes you do," She snapped. "This is my soul we're talking about so I have a right to know what's going on with it."
"Keh!" Inuyasha snorted as he turned his head to the side his voice condescending when he spoke, the demon in him reawakening, the lure of its mate and the will to dominant her drawing it back out from the shadows. "It's my soul," He told her firmly. "I marked it."
Kagome gritted her teeth so hard that she thought for sure that they might crack under the pressure. "Listen here you." She ground out as she poked a finger into the Captain's chest. "You don't own me."
"Yes I do damn it!" Inuyasha yelled back, the demon in him surfacing more with each passing second, it was angry that she was denying him, angry that she was fighting him, angry that she didn't understand, angry that the human in him felt guilty about something that happened fifty years ago, angry that it couldn't make the feeling go away. "You're mine, I claimed you." He continued to shout his blood coming to the surface, the demon pushing at his control begging for the chance to prove to its bitch that she was claimed. "The evidence is on your shoulder, you can't deny it."
Kagome openly snorted, a very unladylike gesture but it seemed the more time she spent with the Captain the less ladylike she became. "You might claim this body, you might even do it for good reasons," She added honestly having come to terms with the reason behind the claim long ago. "But my mind and my soul are my own and no one can tell me what to do with them."
"Don't you understand!" Inuyasha screamed, literally screamed so loud that everyone else in the empty tavern except Kagome stepped back in fright, afraid of the demon that was so close to the surface. He reached out placing a strong hand on her shoulder, his claws ripping her shirt and jacket somehow managing to not touch even one ounce of skin as he ripped the fabric open enough that her mark was clearly visible. "You see this," He screamed in complete fury his confusion and anger and sadness and guilt all unloading onto Kagome. "You're mine and I'll do what I want with you. Like it or not, bitch!"
It was with that last word that Kagome seemed to finally completely snap, a natural anger she had kept held in check for many years bursting from her as she stepped towards him. "I am not a bitch." She shouted, matching his earlier yell with ease as she pushed him in the chest with one soft looking hand, the other people around her watching her terrified. "My name's Kagome. KA—," She pushed him with one immaculate hand, "GO—," Another sharp push to his pecks. "ME!" She finished rearing her hand back all five fingers opened to clearly and soundly slap him straight across the face, causing his head to snap to the side, something Inuyasha was sure had never happened to him in his life.
The room froze, shock running rampant through everyone, Kagome Dresmont had just yelled at and slapped one of the most dangerous men on earth without a second thought.
"Kagome." Sango whispered out as she clutched Miroku's arm, her body trembling. She knew the Captain was a good man and would never hurt a woman but still—to see someone (in public no less) actually yell at and slap the Captain was like seeing a fish walk on land. "Fuck."
"Fuck." Miroku agreed with Sango's barely audible curse with a parroting one of his own as he watched his father and Captain stare at the wall with wide and surprisingly, suspiciously, not angry eyes. "What the—?" Miroku questioned as he watched the Captain's anger dissipate, something that shouldn't have happened, it was counterintuitive. "Captain?"
Inuyasha didn't move, his eyes staring in the direction his head had snapped, unfocused as if he had just been hit by lightning and couldn't yet move. "Kikyo would never do that." He found the words ringing in his mind, a chorus of truth. "We never yelled, we never fought, she was always calm and collected and never showed any emotion but Kagome." He brought his hand up, touching his sore cheek, he couldn't recall the last time someone had hit him hard enough that it actually stung. "She's different," He could almost feel the smile forming on his face. "She's Kagome. Why didn't I notice?"
"Because you were afraid." Was the demon's gentle whisper, it too, as counter intuitive as it was, had been soothed by the hit from its claimed.
Gradually Kagome came back to herself, her eyes huge with shock. She had just slapped him, hard, his cheek was even somewhat red from where her hand had connected with his flesh. "Inuyasha." She whispered, Sango and Miroku both picking up the sound of her addressing him by his name, no title or honorific, no nothing, just a bare name.
Kaede's laughter stopped Kagome from speaking further, the cheery odd noise bouncing off the walls mirthfully. "I never thought I'd see anyone hit you and not die." She wiped a stray tear from her eye. "But I guess this means, your fears were unfounded." Kaede spoke her eyes coming to look at Inuyasha who was slowly turning his head back around, blinking slowly as if trying to wake up.
"My—fears?" He looked at the woman, fully realizing now that Kaede knew everything. She had figured it all out without him having to say a word. He blinked slowly taking this in while studying her. "She knows that I—," He glanced in Kagome's direction unable to say, even in his mind, what he was thinking.
Instead he chose to focus on the girl, the girl who was slowly becoming the center of his world, whether she realized it or not was something entirely but for now, he found himself admiring her, taking her in, breathing her in with both nose and eyes. She was gorgeous to see, petite and youthful, with sparkling happy eyes that looked like the sea he loved in all its forms, from calm and collected to stormy and raging, "I've never seen such eyes." Faintly he heard Kaede chuckle but he couldn't bring himself to notice as he took in her scent, Kagome's scent, the scent flowers from his home, the scent of the sea from his life, the scent of everything that had ever gone right in the entirety of his existence, all of it was in Kagome Dresmont's scent, "She's amazing. Kagome you're amazing."
"This girl is different, isn't she, Inuyasha?" Kaede's softly spoken words drew him away from his thoughts. "No one else would have the nerve to slap a man like you. Even if you did deserve it."
"No one else," Inuyasha heard the words as if they had been shouted. "She means Kikyo. Just how much do you know about me and your sister?" He narrowed his eyes slightly. "I know you were there but, you were a little girl, how much can a little girl know?"
Not waiting for an answer Kaede turned and looked at Kagome, her eyes gentle and kind. "Kagome," She said gently, her voice sounding reassuring as she spoke. "You may have Kikyo's soul but your mind is all your own."
"What?" Kagome backed away from them her adrenaline leaving her as the situation cooled down enough for her to think again. "I have someone else's soul? But that's not possible."
"It is not possible to you," Kaede began just as cryptically as before. "But that does not mean it is impossible to others."
"That was vague." Sango mumbled from the sidelines but no one appeared to hear her mumbled words as they all stared at the old woman bewildered.
"A western human does not understand the practice of reincarnation." Kaede smiled her one eye closing as she did so. "But that does not mean it does not exist."
"Reincarnation?" Kagome said out loud, the word strange and foreign to her vocabulary. "What's that? A reincarnation?"
Not the least bit surprised Kaede merely continued to smile as her explanation began. "When we are reborn after death, it is called being reincarnated." She supplied, her eye looking at Kagome intently, watching the girl for any signs of discomfort or recognition. "In other words, we do not go to heaven nor hell, instead we are born on this earth again, as someone or something else."
"The same soul in a new form?" Miroku whispered from his spot next to Sango, he had heard of this, reincarnation, he had read about it in a book from Europe that they had picked up some years back, a book on eastern religious philosophy. He had thought it all ridiculous at the time but now, he found himself wondering if it might have been true or at least possible.
"Yes, the same soul in a new body." Kaede nodded her head towards Miroku impressed that the man had grasped the concept so quickly. "Kagome," she began turning towards the wide eyed girl. "You were once another girl, a girl I knew from the moment I was born, my sister, she died fifty years ago."
"She died." Kagome repeated the words as the last piece of a puzzle suddenly fell into place. Kikyo had died fifty years ago, Kaede was her sister, she had known Inuyasha who had known Kikyo, who had loved Kikyo, who had disappeared heartbroken when Kikyo had died, Kaede had not seen him since, and then fifty years later out of the blue that changed, it changed because Inuyasha met Kagome, and Kagome mysteriously looked like Kikyo.
"Your name might be Kagome now but what is not now was once."
"Your name might be Kagome."
"What is not now was once."
"—was once."
"Once."
She closed her eyes as the haunting words hit her. "I wasn't always Kagome," She interpreted as she felt those words enter her very being. "I was someone else—I look like her, I was—her. I was the person he lost, the person he loved, I was—,"
"Kikyo." Kagome said the name out loud before Kaede could even speak another syllable. "You're saying that I'm—," The young girl looked at the old woman in disbelief her mind trying to comprehend something that was impossible, something that changed everything, something that if it was true—would turn her whole world, her new happiness upside down. Once again the world was telling her that she was not allowed to be herself. "I'm Kikyo's," Kagome felt her voice leave her body but she was sure she had not told it to. "Reincarnation."
It was a statement not a question.
End of Chapter
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Congrats to NaNaNelly for being review 600!
Edited for Content 6/10/2011, 7/29/2012, 7/31/2012, 8/2/2012
Translation of French:
Je ne suis pas Kikyo. Moi, c'est Kagome: I'm not Kikyo. I'm Kagome.
Bonus Point:
"Were you stuck to a tree or something?" I know it's easy but what's the significance of this quirky comment by Kaede?
Last Chapter's Bonus Point:
Kaede lost her eye when Kikyo shot an arrow attempting to kill a demon that was attacking the village. The impending explosion caused Kaede to lose her eye. Congrats to the winners!
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Next Chapter:
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See you then!
UNEDITED
POSTED 6/8/2011