DISCLAIMER: I say this to appease the lawyers that are so bored that they have nothing better to than get online and look for copyright infringements. I don't own the Inuyasha characters. NO SUE! I don't own this sone. NO SUE! And I definately don't own Creed. So stay off my ass and let me live in my own little world of music and Inuyasha in peace!
AMP: It's good to have you guys back. I got the day off, so I'm rested up and ready to get started!
Sessho: If I promised you a giant bag of mini Milky Ways would you let me have just one more day away from this?
AMP: Ooooooooooooooohhhhhhh...sorry, no dice. I'm getting reveiws and they demand updates!
Sessho: Very well. Into the closet with this Sesshomaru.
Kags: Well at least I missed you, AMP.
Inu: Suck up! You're just saying that so she'll be nice to you in this chapter!
::AMP rubs her temples and tries to ignore Kags and Inu::
Kags: ::glares at Inu:: AMP is ALWAYS nice to me , thank you!
Inu: Yeah, she is...cause you suck up!
Sessho: Hey, I found the box!
AMP: At least one of you is behaving...
Sessho: What's in it AMP?
AMP: Open it at the end of this chapter and you'll see. So here we go...
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Chap. 4: Can You Take Me Higher?
The first thing he was aware of was the sensation of floating inside a warm pink bubble. He drifted to and fro on a gentle breeze. Even his soft white hair rose and fell around him. Then the steady whoosh of his blood and the peaceful thud of his own heartbeat reached his ears.
His body stirred, sensing that it was time to awaken, but his unconscious mind struggled to remain asleep. Against his will he rolled over. His face landed against a soft cushion and his arm curled around another soft pillow. Wait…if he could feel grass against his hand then where were the silky pillows coming from? And why did he have two heart beats?
Sesshoumaru's eyes flew open and he jumped up from his comfortable position. Immediately he fell back to the ground, wincing from the pain enveloping the entire left side of his body. It seemed as if his body was trying to tear itself in half and he was willing to let it if it would stop this horrifying pain.
The Taiyouki wrapped both arms around himself and clenched his fists, attempting to fight the pain.
"Damn," he thought. "Why does my left arm feel like something has been trying rip its flesh off? Wait…left arm? Through his haze of pain he looked at his newly grown left arm. He knew that youki could regenerate limbs, but that should take a century or more. It had only been a few years since that wench…the wench! Where was she? Was she dead? And for that matter, why was he alive?
A moan from his left startled him. There she was, alive and apparently uninjured. What had happened? Surely he could not have dreamed the spider youki's attack. Feeling put out over the lack of answers he glared at Kagome.
The pain had settled down to a mildly annoying throbbing. He pushed himself to a standing position with less grace than he was comfortable with and wobbled towards Kagome's bag, several feet away. Sitting in the same position as the disturbed miko had he pondered for almost an hour about how she could have managed to dispatch the large youki on her own. Of course she was powerful, but her powers were clearly raw and unbalanced, a situation he planned to remedy as quickly as possible.
"Besides," he thought, smirking, "it would be a terrible breach of honor and etiquette to not repay a life debt in some manner. I shall give her the training and discipline she needs to control her powers and we will be even."
A rustling brought his attention to the untrained miko in question. She was awake and slowly walking towards him. Kneeling to his right, she began sifting through her pack.
"Human, this Sesshomaru would like to know…" Sesshomaru began, but he paused when he realized she was not even hearing him. She merely went about her own business, opening the pouch on her side and producing the contraption that was attached to her ears. He watched fascinated as she proceeded to open the thing, remove a flat, silver circle from the inside and replace it with another. She pressed down on another part of the gadget and his sharp ears picked up on muffled noise coming from the round things on her ears. She did all of this without even looking at him once.
The demon lord was not used to being ignored, but he sensed it was not on purpose, so he grudgingly let it go. Closing his eyes, he concentrated on the noise.
"When I'm dreaming I'm guided to another world
Time and time again
At sunrise I fight to stay asleep
Cause I don't want to leave the comfort of this place"
Kagome's voice reached his ears and he allowed it to lull him. Until Rin the sound of a human voice had made him want to bang his head against a tree and rip his ears out. Rin's soft childish singing was so innocent and carefree that it almost made him feel guilty for dooming her to a life of watching him kill other creatures. With that to live with every day how long would it be before that innocence faded?
"Cause there's a hunger, longing to escape
From the life I live when I'm awake…"
This young girl had also had an air of innocence about here the first time he'd seen her. Had a life of fighting evil erased it completely? He certainly saw no trace of it now.
"So let's go there
Let's make our escape
Come on; let's go there
Let's ask can we stay…"
Would this girl change the circumstances that had brought her here if she could? Would she have fought alongside her companions knowing the horror and destruction she would see on the way? Would she have loved Inuyasha if she had known that this would be the aftermath of his death?
"Can you take me higher?
To the place where blind men see
Can you take me higher?
To the place with golden streets…"
"It does not matter," he concluded. "No one can change their past. They can only learn from it."
"Although I would like our world to change
It helps me to appreciate
Those nights and those dreams
But my friend I'd sacrifice all those nights
If I could make the earth and my dreams the same…"
Except for Inuyasha's last wench. She had been given a second chance to undo the harm she had done. Instead she had decided to cause more pain and destruction. The young miko next to him was the reincarnation of that bitch. So was she fated to be overcome with her own bitterness and pain as well?
"The only difference is
To let love replace all our hate
So let's go there
Let's make our escape
Come on
Let's go there let's ask can we stay…"
This woman still had a chance. If he could only force her back into the land of the living, then maybe she would let go of her pain and be the fiery spirit he remembered her as.
"Can you take me higher?
To the place where blind men see
Can you take me higher?
To the place with golden streets…"
But that was easier said than done. Hopefully she would respond to Rin's warmth and his discipline and training. Then he would at least have a place to start. Speaking of starting, the sooner they arrived, the better. He did not want to risk a repeat of the spider incident. What if the miko's ability to protect herself and feel him had just been a fluke? What if it hadn't? Still, better to not take chances.
"Let's go there
Let's go there
Let's go there
Let's ask can we stay…"
He stood and managed to retain his balance this time. Finding his center he focused his energy into forming a cloud around his feet. Good, he had recovered enough to manage flying. Reaching down, he slung the girl's abnormally large pack over his right shoulder and extended his new left hand to Kagome, making sure to be in her line of vision. She hadn't paid him any attention thus far, with the exception of healing him, and he was sure she would continue to ignore him. He did not relish the idea of dragging her around.
"Up high I feel like I'm alive for the very first time
Sat up high I'm strong enough to take these dreams
And make them mine…"
To his shock, she reached out her right hand and clasped his left tightly, stepped onto his cloud and moved to stand slightly behind him. He glanced over his shoulder and was disappointed to see her eyes still vacant and her face still expressionless. He stifled the urge to shake her until she woke up and concentrated his energy on getting them off the ground and moving in the right direction.
"Up high I feel like I'm alive for the very first time
Sat up high I'm strong enough to take these dreams
And make them mine…"
The wind flung the sound of her voice away, but he was still able to catch the words. "What inspires these humans to write music of this nature," he wondered for the second time since taking in the miko. It was unlike anything he had ever heard. What sort of instruments produced those sounds?
"Can you take me higher?
To the place where blind men see
Can you take me higher?
To the place with golden streets…"
He stored his questions for another time, when she would be able to answer them. Obviously her people had knowledge of things that he had never heard of and he was determined to learn their secrets.
"Can you take me higher?
To the place where blind men see
Can you take me higher?
To the place with golden streets."
But for the time being, he would focus on something he knew almost nothing about: human emotions.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Sessho: Now may this Sesshomaru open the box, AMP?
AMP: Go for it Sessho!
::The box explodes, confetti blows everywhere, happy music blasts from the heavens and a huge banner reading "THANK YOU" comes down::
AMP: Special thanks to Inuyashagrl14 and Sesshomarubaby18! You guys were the first to review and ask for updates! Wish granted!
::Amp dances with Kagome as Sessho and Inu look around in amazement::
Sessho: THIS was what was in that box?!
Inu: Hell, I'm just wondering how they got it IN the box...