Author notes: No, this wasn't abandoned. It was SO FREAKING HARD to translate this chapter, it took me over a month! TT-TT and I'm sorry about that. But hey, I did it! And it's a really long chapter so I hope you enjoy it xDU
All my incoherent speaking will be at the bottom of this LOL I hope you enjoy the epilogue! =D and don't worry, all your doubts will be cleared in here ;D I hope at least.
Disclaimer: Besides the plot line, I don't own anything. Inuyasha belongs to Rumiko Takahashi and Yomiuri TV Corporation. I'm not getting any profit from this story; this was just made for fun.
Warning: Maybe there is bad language? I'm not so sure what you consider bad language... ^^U
Thanks to: My beta reader, PandaStarz, for her wonderful work on this chapter.
Slavery.
Author: MikoAucarod
Epilogue: Freedom.
Watching them work so hard made him feel like a burden.
Well, no matter how much everyone said that he wasn't a burden, he couldn't help but feel that way sometimes.
How long had it been? How many years had gone by since Naraku's and his minions' death? Ten – no, fifteen years.
How funny it was to realize that now time didn't matter anymore, when before he had counted every second of his "imitation of life", as he used to call it, and remembered every single second that he was a Slave. A despicable and miserable Slave.
But not anymore.
Sesshomaru smiled with calm, resting his head against the trunk of the tree he was sitting at that moment. His favorite tree of the entire house.
A Sakura tree.
His gaze darkened for an instant, because of the sudden memories that came to him. Mrs. Abi used to joke about it, that she was sure that he would never have Alz-heimer's because not anyone could endure over a thousand years of memories.
Yet, he didn't need to go that far. He only used to remember the last 5 or 6 centuries of his existence. Sometimes to calm himself and other times to punish and torture himself.
He distractedly moved his left hand, which had a ring on his ring finger, until he touched his neck, where he began to trace imaginary lines where the shackle used to be.
A shackle that he no longer used.
"Sesshomaru!" He heard Kagura's calling for him inside the house. "Where has that man gone now? Sesshomaru! Hurry up or we're going to be late! We need to go with Kagome and the others!"
"It's no use if I go," he whispered, half smiling. The only thing they had been doing the last five years was unburying graves.
And he wasn't allowed to help because every other man preferred for him to take care of the girls or maintain control over the place.
He wasn't fooled. The only thing they wanted was for him to not dig because that meant that he would take off his shirt for comfort, and that only managed to make the girls forget completely about the world.
No, he wasn't egocentric, but that was his only conclusion. Why? Because that was what had happened the first time they went to search Slaves in the graves. Even Inuyasha's wife had been looking at him with awe and curiosity, and the next day, Miroku, Kouga and the half-demon had asked him – mostly begged him and tried to force him – to take care of the girls or transport material.
As the years passed those tasks had changed to taking control over everything, supervising everyone, and making sure that they were doing their jobs, and giving instructions and directions to the carriers, maintaining order and respect for the dead bodies that were exhumed and organizing the trips and excavations from all over the world.
He was a complete business man.
Yet, he felt that he wasn't doing anything. This wasn't his style, he preferred physical work and wanted to make sure that the Slaves that were rescued from their graves received the attention that their bodies needed.
He wanted to make sure that she wasn't there.
"There you are," spoke a young woman. Kanna, 23 years old now, had a beautiful and long silver hair that reached a little below her waist. Her face had matured but still showed that sparkle from her adolescence. The girl was standing at the door that led towards the garden. "My sister is looking for you, uncle Sesshomaru. She says it's late."
"I'm coming, Rhin."
"Rhin?" asked Kanna, with a small frown. She looked at him with pity, but soon she moved her gaze towards somewhere else. She knew he hated it when people pitied him.
Sesshomaru face palmed softly. Because he had been so suddenly brought from his memories he couldn't help but associate his niece with the one that had been his daughter… how would she look at her age? Would she be as beautiful as Kanna? Would she have grown up as a lady with manners? Would she look like Sarah…? So many questions…
"Do you think- you think that she may be at one of the graves?" asked the young albino, timidly.
Sesshomaru closed his eyes and sighed. He didn't know what he preferred: To not find her at all, to find a grave that belonged to her… or to find her as a Slave that had spent over five hundred years inside a grave, completely alone and surrounded by putrefaction.
He didn't know what he wanted.
"Let's go," was all he said while standing up and getting away from the only place in the entire house that could bring him peace.
Miroku woke up, shaking. He just had another nightmare. Shippo, the 'small' adoptive child of Inuyasha and Kagome had stolen Sango from him and she had said that she preferred to be with a strong and sexy young youkai instead of with an old and stupid monk.
That had been a low punch.
"Miroku, go back to sleep." Sango yawned when she felt her husband moving at the other side of the bed. "We have-" she stretched her arm to take and look the clock of the bedside table. – "… we have to deal with a furious Kagome for oversleeping! What are you waiting for? Move your lazy ass!" After her scream she began running around the entire room, searching for her clothes and stuff that would be needed today.
In less than two minutes, Sango had gotten dressed, ran to the kitchen and now was jumping around the house with a piece of toast in her mouth, her hair brush in her left hand and some bags in her right hand while trying to put her tennis shoes on.
Miroku was still sitting on their bed, staring through the dormitory's room at how his woman was moving around. He couldn't help but smile at her. He looked at the clock. It was 2 PM.
Oh well, he could later explain their friends why had they overslept, even if that meant that his gorgeous wife would be hitting and kicking him all the way later.
A gorgeous wife that hadn't been easy to get… honestly, after they had given him his freedom, let's just say that all the 'stay away from my butt' orders were no longer effective on him… it had been a big mistake for him to use his 'cursed hands' excuse while Sango's father had been watching.
The hard part hadn't been to deal with him – he was already accustomed to hear his claims because of his 'perverted ways' with all the ladies – but the man had almost thrown him from the house, even when Sango had sworn that Miroku would never do that again.
… It was a bad thing that Sango sometimes swore over things that weren't entirely true.
Finally, a couple of years later, Sango's father had allowed them to go out and a year later they had gotten married.
His wedding was also a really cool story, oh, just remembering all those beautiful ladies of honor…
Why had he woken up so suddenly? He couldn't remember it anymore.
Miroku yawned and began to get dressed, thinking on what they would need to do today.
"Maybe we'll do the same thing we've been doing the last five years."
Yes, they had spent the last five years unburying graves where they knew Slaves had been forced to stay, with their death owners.
That task would have taken them centuries to accomplish if it weren't for the valuable help from Mr. Kei who during his travels and investigations had found a couple of elder youkai slaves who were hidden around the world. They had registered, almost since the beginning of time, every single Slave that had been buried with their owners.
They had been taking those registries hoping for the day that those Slaves could be saved from their fate. That time was now.
It was so easy, but the task would have definitely been impossible to accomplish if it weren't for they. And Kagome and his friends were really grateful that people – youkai – like them existed and had perfectly done their job.
"Kouga, do you think I look fat with this suit?"
"Of course not, Ayame. Besides we're going to be among dust and mud the whole day so I don't think that appearances are the most important thing right now."
"I'm a person who works in a very, very important place at the government, Kouga. Obviously, I must look impeccable."
The ookami punched his head against the steering wheel, irritated. Ayame was sooooo stubborn.
"Watch out were you're driving, idiot!" yelled the red haired girl, and at the next moment, the car veered sharply, dodging an old woman that was crossing the street and Kouga continued driving as if nothing had happened.
"I don't know why you are so worried," he spoke, faking innocence and staring at every part of the street, except towards the girl sitting beside him.
Ayame snorted with irritation. If only she could throw him against a wall or something! Kouga was sooooo, sooooo childish.
… Maybe that's why it had taken him over ten years to propose to her?
Stupid Kouga.
"Oh, come on, Ayame. Don't be mad."
"I'm not mad…"
"Furious."
"Thank you."
A few seconds later they were both laughing insanely. Those situations were so common between them.
"Today we're going to work at the North District, right?" asked Ayame, after a moment, visibly relaxed.
"That's right. That's one of the last areas to check up, according to the registries. Anyway, it was only thanks that this movement got a wonderful response from part of the society and politicians, social groups and that stuff, that we managed to do this around the whole world. Heck, in other countries they've even finished. They work better than us, I'm telling you. You, with your 'oh so important place in the government' should already know that."
Ayame stuck out her tongue at Kouga playfully and began to read her papers.
At first, when Inuyasha had explained to them the secret to releasing Slaves, Kagome had insisted on releasing everyone. But that wasn't an easy task at all.
As the years passed they had finally discovered what to do, but it was only them, their families and friends. The group had grown when the people from their jobs began to help them too. It was a large group, hundreds of people, maybe, but that wasn't enough to go against the entire world.
Inuyasha was the one who had to make Kagome understand that at least at that time it wasn't possible for them to do something as big as that.
That's why Kagome hadn't said the order yet. Not until all of the Slaves were safe and sound.
With time, the whole ordeal of the search of freedom for the Slaves was a hot topic into the society and in the end things began to finally move forward and go as Kagome and the others had wanted.
Now, in the present, there were a lot of organizations around the world doing the exact thing they were doing. This had turned from a 'movement of a bunch of teenagers' into a social concern in the world.
Kei had helped them a lot when the problem of digging the tombs came out to the light. It had taken them years to received the permission to open the graves, build the group of people who would be doing so, get materials, and above all, have a very decent position in the world. Only being a group of teenagers and young adults wasn't going to move anybody.
And they weren't a bunch of teenagers anymore. They were professionals; they had studied hard and had escalated into the high ranks of society.
For the first time in their lives, they accepted that what Kikyo had once considered to be the most important thing in the world was now helping them a lot. Without power and money, this would never have worked out.
"All right, I'll begin with these catacombs," spoke Inuyasha, while tying his long and silver hair in a low ponytail. Then he took a couple of daggers – he worked best with his claws and small weapons than with those 'stupid and ridiculous shovels that can break with the slightest effort'.
Kagome, a beautiful woman of 30 years old, smiled at the man in front of her and began to organize the people that were already in the place, telling them which tombs to register and how to proceed if they make any discovery.
"It's weird. Sesshomaru's never late," she spoke, a few hours later, walking towards her thirsty husband, who gratefully took the canteen with water that she had offered him.
"Well… he may be scared. Have you ever thought-?"
"That Rin could be in any of these places? I did, and I also revised every single one of the name lists of the Slaves buried with their owners, and even the name lists of the people buried in here. In none of those places was Rin's name."
"Maybe as the years passed they changed her name. As I was once calledIsrael, Rin could have been easily called Rinka or Amelia… or I don't know, Maria."
"Inuyasha don't be ridiculous," smiled Kagome. It was highly improbable that Rin could have eve been called Maria. "She may not even be in here, just as Totousai said… Rin may be dead since over 500 years ago."
Inuyasha kept digging absently. That was probably the true but… even if Sesshomaru would never admit it, the only reason why the youkai had accepted to be so active with this was to find any clue that could give him hope to find her alive… or to confirm once and for all her death.
"Until we can't find her body…" whispered Inuyasha, mentally adding the possibility that if the youkais had eaten her, their search would be futile and endless.
A while later, Sango and Miroku finally arrived at the place. Sango was at the border of hysteria having already imagined over 300 ways of death at her friend's hands.
That's why Shippo had come to her rescue and distracted Kagome asking her for help allowing Sango to hide between the people already working.
Sesshomaru and Kouga, with their respective mates arrived a few minutes later. Sesshomaru, as usual, studied the registries of that day, began to organize the people who was arriving at the moment, read informs and notifications of advance in the rest of the world.
God bless wireless internet.
"I just received a report from Kikyo, in Egypt," Sesshomaru spoke in loud voice, getting the attention of the people near of him. "The quantity of Slaves over there is huge. In the first four hours today, they have already found seventy slaves."
"That gives us over 130,000 on this year." Kouga sighed with irritation. From all the ancient cultures, China and Egypt had been the most problematic for them. They had had this habit of always burying the pharaohs or high society people with their servants and Slaves. AtChina, the emperors were buried with their warriors and sometimes they were even killed. At those places, 70% of the graves contained only mummies and remains of glowing stones, despite the fact that they knew thanks to the records that there had been Slaves in those places. "It was a good thing that Inuyasha insisted in find a deserted island that could be adapted to the necessities of a society to send them there. I don't know what the people ofEgyptwould do with a sudden elevation of 130,000 people in a year."
Sesshomaru nodded slightly, at the same time that he wrote a message to Kikyo, thanking her for all her hard work and effort and hoping that they weren't having any trouble over there.
"At first I thought that it was because of that marathon of Gilligan'sIslandbut the idea wasn't bad at all. The islands near Oceania and a few more between Europe andAmericacame in handy and were perfect."
"We have found a grave with three kids in it! I repeat, we have three Slaves in here!" They could hear from the radio in Kagome's hand. Everyone stopped at that instant.
"Where are you?" asked the woman with a mix of happiness and fear. Kid Slaves? They hadn't had found too many until now and it was always so painful to think that could have they gone through.
"We're at Sector Seven, right after the fountain of- Ah, Mr. Sesshomaru, thank you for your help." They could hear again and everyone looked with disbelief how a small cloud of dust was spreading over the spot where a few seconds ago the taiyoukai had been standing.
"…he could be more discreet." Kouga sighed while returning to his labors. Everyone smiled softly and continued with their tasks.
A few minutes later, Sesshomaru returned to that place, carrying in his both arms two small kids and clinging on his stole a small girl. The three of them seemed to be more scared than sick or malnourished.
"These ones were lucky. There wasn't a restriction order and a small spring leaked into the grave and from it they kept drinking water. They weren't a lot of years inside of it either, only thirty years, nothing more."
Nothing more?
Yet, no one asked that. They had already found Slaves, including kids, woman and old people who had spent centuries with no food, no water, and without being able to die because the order had been given to 'Always keep watch over the body'.
And to be able to attend them at the hospitals specially prepared for this, Kagome had to start repeating the long and endless monologue that proved that she was the responsible – and therefore, some kind of owner – of this whole movement, giving them the opportunity to get out of the grave without suffering because of the stone.
At first, Kanna had asked why couldn't she just order them to die and take off their shackles at that place? She then received a response from Miroku, who said that because of the deplorable state of their bodies, resurrection would only bring them suffering for seconds, maybe minutes, maybe even hours, but then they would die from the brutal starvation.
If they weren't dead yet, besides the order of keeping watch over the body, they were hoping to have a second chance to live.
And that's what Inuyasha and the others intended to give them.
"-in front of the law and therefore in front of the society, in which you are formally part of since 7 years ago, I'm the one in charge, therefore you can understand that my word is the law, for everyone. That's why in the terms of Slavery, I'm also your owner. That's why I order you to ignore any previous order that can be chaining you to this spot or that could hurt you if you get away from this place and also I order you to come with me so you can receive the necessary treatment for your survival." A couple of hours later, a really tired Kagome was reciting in front of a man who seemed to be around the age of 40, but according to the registries he had already spent 300 years inside that grave.
There wasn't even a body to take care of!
That's what hurt them the most: knowing the fact that those Slaves had to stay for all eternity inside a closed space, taking care of a body that would disappear in ten years, maybe.
What was wrong with the world?
That's why it wasn't weird to find out that lots of the Slaves had already decided to die. If there wasn't an order not to kill or hurt themselves, obviously as time passed they had preferred to end everything once and for all.
More than one time, thousands of times, they had opened graves where the rests had already rotted and there were only remnants of stone and metal as a proof that inside that place had been someone suffering without being heard by anybody.
This wasn't easy to understand and even less to see.
That's why Inuyasha was the one who used to take care of the most ancient tombs, because of fact that he didn't felt as bad because he was able to understand them. He didn't feel sadness or pain about it, on the contrary, even if it wasn't something good to kill yourself, he was at least calm knowing that they hadn't continued suffering and agonizing in solitude for so many years.
That's why he was shocked with what he found at the tomb number thirteen that he dug that day.
"...you remind me of a time…" Inuyasha was singing softly, while breaking the stone. "...when I felt ali-" Inuyasha stopped dead in his tracks. There was a scent coming from the inside of the tomb he was digging in. It wasn't only dirt and dead bodies. There was someone alive in there.
"Slave found inside the grave 49 of Sector 5! Prepare the equipment to take him or her to the hospital," he spoke through his radio and began to dig again after receiving a response from Kagura, who was closest to him.
Suddenly, the ground collapsed and Inuyasha fell inside some kind of underground cave. It wasn't so weird, since the recent graves were built over ancient lands. If it wasn't for those blessed registries they would have never found this place.
Coughing a bit because of the dirt and dust, Inuyasha stood up and began to inspect the place. It was dark and not even with his enhanced sight could he distinguish anything.
He took out the lamp from one of his pockets and turned it on, illuminating the stretch passage which led to a wall on which a message was written, completely illegible because of the time but it was without any doubt the entrance to that grave.
"Inuyasha! Are you down there?"
"Drop a rope and be careful, the stone is weak," he called out through the hole above him. The place was at least 10 meters underground.
The hanyou walked towards the great wall and, after a small prayer and a thought of 'forgive me for entering your resting place' – that was the very least that they had to do, because many religions had all snapped at this 'barbaric act' – and with his hands in fists he punched the wall and made a great hole in it. It was so easy.
Inside the place, there was a completely rotten wood coffin. It gave the impression that if he touched it, it would fall into dust.
"Who's there?" An old woman spoke, his voice raspy.
Inuyasha moved the lantern towards the voice, careful to move slowly so the light wouldn't hurt the vision of whoever was in that place. There she was; an old and decrepit woman with long gray hair and some kind of purple tunic covering her battered body was trying to stand, with no avail.
Thanks to the light from the lantern and the one entering through the hole Inuyasha had made, she could distinguish the silhouette of the man in front of her. When she saw his ears, her tired eyes widened in surprise.
"Is that you, Inuyasha?" she asked, scaring the half-demon.
Now that he thought about it… that scent…
"Tsubaki?"
The old lady's eyes almost popped up from her head and then tears began to form on them. With weakened steps, she got closer to Inuyasha, studying him.
The man was no less shocked than she.
"What the hell happened to you?" he asked, not able to entirely believe that she was there.
"Inuyasha," Kagura spoke, getting inside the grave. "The stretcher is in position and we can move out the-" the girl fell silent when the old woman began to cry and, with so much pain, she hugged Inuyasha's waist. Her head barely reached Inuyasha's chest.
"I'm so sorry, I beg your forgiveness! For all this time I-… I had no idea that-… I was such a stupid, please forgive m-" A cough attack reached Tsubaki's throat and her legs lost all her strength. Inuyasha placed his arms around her, avoiding her fall. On his face there was no repulsion, no hate, only worry for the person in his arms.
"Inuyasha, who is she?" asked the red-eyed girl, observing Inuyasha softly patting the woman's back, helping her to control her cough.
"Kagura, you're witnessing the reencounter of an ex-Slave with his first owner." He almost laughed at Kagura's shocked expression.
Tsubaki managed to calm down and control her cough. It was then she realized her position. She was ashamed and incredulous at the way Inuyasha was treating her: softly and gently. If someone had ever said to her that he would someday treat her like that, she would have laughed in their face.
"What was your last order?" asked the hanyou, looking at the old woman. She really looked so delicate, fragile and weak.
"Take care of the body," she whispered with hate, staring at the remnants of the place where the body had been.
"As you can see, there's nobody in there anymore, so there's nothing trapping you in here. Come with me." Inuyasha spoke calmly, surprising Kagura and Tsubaki. After a few shacky steps outside the crypt, Tsubaki closed her eyes hoping for some kind of pain or a punch, but nothing happened.
"… what are you going to do with me now?" she asked, while they walked through the tunnel. "How is it you're here? Am I already dead? Is that the famous light at the end of the tunnel?"
Inuyasha couldn't help but smile at her comments.
"No, you're not dead. We will take you to a place where they'll attend you until you recover all your strength and then… well, we'll see." He spoke with a small smile on his face.
"If everything turns out well, we'll give you your freedom." Kagura added. She was looking towards Inuyasha out of the corner of her eye.
She knew Tsubaki's story and she knew about everything that witch had done to Inuyasha and yet, there he was helping her? She couldn't help but think that at any moment he would hurt her or take away the shackle, or something. Anything.
But nothing like that happened. Inuyasha was just helping an old woman to walk.
"What happened to you?" he asked while helping her to lay down on the stretcher, placing then a cloth over her eyes, so that the sun's light wouldn't burn her eyes after spending so much time in the darkness.
Tsubaki touched the cloth and sighed, with pain.
"… My father. He wanted to create a bond with the domains of the west. But I- well… I didn't want to get married with the son of that landowner." Inuyasha managed to read in between lines: 'I was totally obsessed with you.' "My father knew about that… that's why without me noticing it, he told you that I had died and ordered you to leave, giving you to that merchant who took you to who knows where, far away from me. I never allowed that man to have me and before he could do anything to me, I used one of my spells. I turned into this decrepit woman, thinking that I could escape this way… but then they confused me with one of the women that worked there and I was soon turned into a Slave… I was denigrated to work for the man who should have been my husband. After some time, they discovered I could use the Black Magic and forced me to forget everything I knew about it. I could not turn back to who I was… and then when he died, the four of us who served him were forced to be buried with him."
Inuyasha looked again towards the crypt, if there were more Slaves in there, then he had to-
"… the other girls killed themselves a few years later. They couldn't endure the agony, the endless hunger and thirst… I'm the only one who remained. As the years passed I could understand you, Inuyasha and I discovered that what I did was terrible. I don't know what the hell I had been thinking…" Tears began to flow from Tsubaki's eyes. "I thought that- I thought that if I remained that way, maybe someday I could be forgiven for all the atrocities I had done to you and everyone else."
Inuyasha took a seat next to the stretcher and looked at Tsubaki with pity. Her voice sounded so broken and sincere. If that was all true, and he didn't doubt it was, Tsubaki had spent over 500 years inside that crypt. Alone. Having only her sins, remorse and thoughts keeping her company. She had been completely alone.
"You were very brave for not taking the easiest way," Inuyasha spoke after a few seconds, pulling the rope softly, letting the people outside now that they could already pull out the stretcher. "It's already over, Tsubaki. Everything's over. Everything's going to be okay."
Tsubaki nodded in the middle of her crying and the people outside began to move her out of that place.
Once the people helping them took her to one of the hospitals, Kagura walked towards Inuyasha.
"I'm honestly surprised for your maturity… before you couldn't even stand to hear her name, and now… you forgave her so easily, even after everything she did to you."
Inuyasha, who had been staring at the hole over them and then, with a soft smile, looked towards Kagura.
"In some kind of twisted way, if it wasn't for her I wouldn't have everything I have now… with the passing of the centuries she learned things and learned them the hard way. Her apology, her pleading was sincere. If it wasn't for her I wouldn't be here, helping the others. I wouldn't have you guys. I wouldn't have Kagome."
Kagura smiled and hopped on Inuyasha's back who with a simple jump took them out of that place without any trouble. Now came the most boring part of the job. Fill again the tomb.
Even if there nothing had been in that place since centuries ago.
All right, things hadn't been easy and the work had been really hard. But they had finally managed to finish with all of that. After over fifteen years of work they had finally found all the Slaves that had survived until now and they all had a new place to live in the outside world.
Almost all of them had been placed in the group of islands that they had adapted for them. This came in handy for the ones that had spent centuries locked at their graves; the modern society would have been too much for them.
It was like having small villages in the middle of the forest: not poor, and well-established without being that consumerist and capitalist society that governed the world almost completely.
Since this was a 'new country' or continent, or whatever they liked to call it, they had a new political regiment: An absolute monarchy, where only one person had the entire authority over all and her word was the law.
They had decided that Kagome should be that person. The idea had been originally from her and knowing her, Inuyasha and the others were sure that this would make her really happy. If she could be able to release them, she would be very happy.
After Naraku's death, everyone had dedicated to study inside the policy branches and their derivatives. They managed to get people who followed the same ideal as them and thanks to the support of Ayame's parents and Higurashi's name they had managed to get a very good position inside the Court of Justice. They were able to create what was now coming to an end.
A new law, a new constitution that made it clear that Slaves where part of the society now and had the same rights as any other living person, because they were alive.
This was a new country, a new regiment.
Once they were sure that all the Slaves were out of danger because of their health, they managed to get to the final step of their plan.
Now it came the most interesting and the most dangerous part of everything.
Give them their freedom.
"Everything's ready, Kagome. I'm sorry, I should say Queen Kagome," announced Miroku, with a playful smile on his face, making the woman standing next to him frown.
"I must remind you, Miroku, that this 'kingdom' of mine won't last even half an hour. It will be the shortest kingdom you have ever seen."
The former monk smiled again and took Kagome to the balcony where Inuyasha, as always giving her his support, was waiting for them.
They had built a headquarters in that new country formed for the Slaves and from there she would give the first official order of the absolute monarchy.
The first and, hopefully, the last.
Reporters from the entire world were there, broadcasting in live to the whole world. Each and every one of the Slaves would listen to this. They had made sure of that.
Sesshomaru was at that moment in the principal square of Tokyo. Kikyo, Ayame, Kouga, Kagome's mother, everyone, even Kei was helping them from different parts of the world. The entire world was watching this.
And this HAD to work.
Kagome walked closer to the rail of the balcony and, taking Inuyasha's hand, she placed in front of the lectern, looking at the people who were there. All the Slaves who had been relocated there were watching her expectantly. They trusted in her.
This had to work!
"I, Kagome Taisho, formerly Higurashi…" she began to speak with a strong and clear voice through the microphone, "…formally present myself before you as your queen, in front of this newly founded government, this absolute monarchy in which above every law I have authority. Without arguments. Not even from your own owners." She added looking straight towards the cameras, clearly speaking for all the Slaves that were out there in the world. "I know that this is crucial for a lot of you and that even some of you won't see this as a good thing. But, since seven years ago, the Organization of the United Nations and the International Organization of Human Rights established a new point that clearly states: 'Any living creature until now known as Slave has the same responsibilities and rights of every single human being.' This means that in front of society and in front of the entire world you're now part of it and you have the same rights as anyone to preserve your dignity. You have the right for the law to protect you and have the same responsibilities as the rest of the world. Your freedom ends when the freedom from the other ones begins. If you want respect, respect others. You're not objects, you – humans, hanyous, youkais – you're living beings. This is written. This is the law."
Kagome was interrupted by the strong applause and claims that emerged from the Slaves with joy. Inuyasha slightly squeezed her hand, giving her comfort.
Truth be told, her nerves were destroying her.
"And because of the earlier said, in front of the law and therefore in front of the society, in which you are formally part of since seven years ago, I'm the one in charge, therefore, you can understand that my word is the law for everyone. That's why in the terms of Slavery, I'm also your owner. And for that I order you, Slaves, to remain calm and to die."
Silence fell over the place and everyone stared at Kagome with incredulity. If it weren't for that order of remaining calm, Inuyasha was sure that at this exact moment a new war would be around the entire world.
Just then a girl of no more than fifteen years raised her hand, and Kagome allowed her to speak.
"We thought that you would help us. You promised that everything would end. Was this what you meant? By killing us you would end with all the trouble?" There was an unmistakable tone of pain and hatred on her voice.
Inuyasha was the one who walked towards the lectern and began to speak in place of Kagome.
"I'm Inuyasha Taisho. I was a Slave and the proof is in my hanyou condition. I'm a hanyou who was born over 500 years ago; my parents were the commandant Inu-no-Taisho and the Princess Izayoi, from the west lands."
Some of the oldest youkais in that place gasped when they recognized him.
"As you can see," he continued, ignoring the murmurs, "I'm not carrying any shackle or stone at this moment." Standing over the rail of the balcony, he picked up the end of his pants and showed his ankles, then his wrists and finally his neck, proving them that he was no longer captive of the Slavery.
Taking his original place behind the lectern, he observed Kagome.
"I got my freedom thanks to this person you see standing next to me and it took us some time to discover the key. I can assure you that she's only looking for the best for you. So please, trust in her when she tells you that you must die. I know it sounds crazy, but it's the truth. With this, you'll get your freedom."
"This is for real?" A new voice could be heard and only Kagome, Inuyasha and Miroku were able to listen to it. It came from the radio that they were carrying.
"Where did that come from?" asked Miroku, taking the artifact from his pocket.
"It came from our side," responded Sango's voice. She was atTokyowith Sesshomaru.
Miroku then ordered the reporters to broadcast what was occurring at that place. There was a big screen at the wall of the headquarters, and from it they could see Sango, kneeling besides an astonished Sesshomaru who, at his feet, had a small girl grasping firmly onto his pants at the height of his knee. She was no more than eight years old, that was for sure, and her eyes were staring at Sango and Sesshomaru with longing.
"What that lady is saying is truth? Can we really be saved?"
"That's Hiroko!" They heard again from the radio. This time it had been Kanna, who was with Kagura atLondon.
Sango then looked at Sesshomaru, who couldn't keep his gaze away from that girl.
There was no doubt. That girl was identical to Rin.
"Are you a Slave, sweetie?" asked Sango. The girl nodded and showed her left ankle. There was a small shackle with a red stone.
"My mom doesn't know that I'm here so please don't tell her," she suddenly said, making the black haired woman look towards the cameras that were pointing at them. There was no way that the mother of this girl wouldn't notice.
"Was it your mom who turned you into a Slave?" she asked, a bit afraid, but Hiroko denied it with a shake of her head.
"I've always belonged to her family, when they have a girl and she can't get married or can't have kids, I'm turned into their daughter."
"What's your name?" asked Sesshomaru, feeling how his body began to tense up. It was becoming clear…
"Depending on my new mom my name is changed. I'm Hiroko at this moment, before this I was Sayuri and before I was Kayla, and before that I was-"
"Have you ever been called Rin?"
"Sesshomaru!" exclaimed Sango. Yeah, it was highly probable that this kid was Rin, but she hadn't reacted at all at Sesshomaru's presence.
The girl frowned a bit, remembering.
"A few years ago I was called Rinoa, but the name of Rin… I can't remember even been called that," she assured, looking again at the taiyoukai. "But, are you really going to release me? I will be able to grow up and be with my family as a normal girl?"
"Well, you'll see-"
"Hiroko!" yelled a woman, going out from the multitude and running until she reached the small kid, hugging her then and moving her away from Sango. "What are you doing with these people? What do you want to do with my baby? Why has that crazy woman ordered them all to die?"
"… if you haven't realized, no one has died yet, lady." Sesshomaru answered coldly, making all the Slaves look between them.
Back in the island, the Slaves were beginning to whisper things like 'It's true, we can't die.' 'No dying, no love, no resuscitate, those are the three orders that we can't grant' 'Then why did she order us that?' and more whispers were left to hear.
Sesshomaru then walked towards the women and kneeled besides the girl, looking at her fondly. That frightened all those who knew him – and the whole world was precisely watching that.
"Everything will be all right, trust in me, ok?"
The girl nodded, not exactly knowing why, but she did. There was something in him that gave her a sense of security.
Almost as if he was her father.
Sesshomaru then took the girl's shackle between his claws and broke it, making the girl fall instantly towards the floor but the taiyoukai was faster and before the mother could even yell he was already standing with Rin safely between his arms.
Because no one could fool him. It didn't matter how many centuries had passed and it mattered even less if she couldn't remember him anymore. That was Rin's scent.
That was his Rin.
A lot of people, during the term of fifteen seconds began to shout alarmed, other ones were angry, and the lady on the floor began to cry, bereaved.
But then the fifteen seconds passed and the girl began to breathe again, opening her eyes and stretching as if she had only been asleep.
"Why is my mom crying?" she asked then, looking towards Sesshomaru. The woman looked at her, with surprise.
"It's nothing, Rin. It's nothing," answered the taiyoukai, placing her on the floor. A lot of reporters moved towards her immediately but Sesshomaru and Sango managed to keep them at bay.
"Let them question her, Sesshomaru, one at a time," spoke Kagome from the other side of the radio, watching like everyone else what had happened.
Sango allowed a young girl reporter who looked less aggressive to pass and she walked towards the small kid.
"Tell us, dear. Did you suffer when they took away the shackle? Did you die? What happened during those fifteen seconds?"
Rin looked with confusion towards Sesshomaru.
"I'm pretty sure that I spent entire days watching my crystals and talking with that woman," she spoke, completely taken aback.
Inuyasha then spoke again through the microphone, catching again the attention from all the cameras. This was some crazy thing for the television people, he was sure.
"When they take away our shackle we enter to a place that you could denominate as a limbo. There's a guardian whose job is to take us to the afterlife or to help us to obtain a new chance to live. That will only happen if there exists an order that directly contradicted tells us: 'Live'.
"Yeah! That's what I did!" exclaimed the small girl, looking towards everyone who surrounded her. "She was a very pretty woman, actually she looked like you, dad." She added, looking again at Sesshomaru, shocking more than one person.
"Rin…"
The girl walked towards her mother and hugged her tightly. Then she whispered some things in her ear, and after a few moments, the lady began to release more tears, but she nodded and after giving her daughter a kiss on her forehead, she stood up, asked Sesshomaru to take care of her, and left.
Just then, Rin stood in front of Sesshomaru.
"Even if I'm a very intelligent girl and I have experienced a lot, I couldn't have been able to remember so many years… five centuries is a long time, but at that place, the guardian told me that I could watch all my memories inside those crystals and that's what I did. I'm so sorry, dad. Please forgive me for forgetting you and sorry for turning out into a Slave. I ran away from those monsters, just like master Jaken told me to, but then I fell into a river. The village I found later was soon attacked by some bad people and they killed us all… since then I had been changing owners."
"Oh, my dear…" Sango spoke, with tears in her eyes. "You have gone through so much."
"The good thing is that years later I was able to find mister Ryukotsei." She continued her tale. "But we never found mister Totousai again and as the centuries passed, mister Ryukotsei asked me to go with a family that he had studied. Their Slaves weren't mistreated and the owner was a good man. Mister Ryukotsei was dying and he needed to make sure that I would be safe. That family received me and since the lady of the place had always wanted a daughter, that's what I became."
Sesshomaru then kneeled besides the small child and hugged her tightly, releasing a drowned sigh. He wouldn't cry and even less in front of the cameras – it would have been a complete joke – but he had to accept that it took a lot of his self-control to not break in there. He had his daughter back, he was holding his small child between his arms.
He had recovered Rin, for all the sacred things in the world!
Exclamations at the island were heard through the television stations while several Slaves left aside their doubts and fears and removed their shackles. Many others were still skeptical and frightened when they saw the fall of multiple Slaves to the ground, lifeless. But as the fifteen seconds passed and they stood up, some with tears and other ones with smiles on their faces, the doubt began to disappear.
Inuyasha observed how Tsubaki was doubtful at first, but then she took the shackle between her hands and took it from her neck. A young man besides her avoided her fall towards the floor, and when she woke up, the hanyou was glad to see the first sincere smile projecting even through her eyes.
At the end everyone was convinced, and all the Slaves on the planet got their freedom.
That was the best day for everyone. And the next days, they needed to work really hard, but as in everything, things would always have the good and bad moments.
A 'Happy Birthday' song could be heard near the beach. Behind a big window there could be seen a small child of black hair and fluffy dog ears at the top of her head. She inhaled with all her might and then expelled the air with all the force her little lungs allowed her to. Five candles at the top of a cake were off.
"Already five!" she exclaimed with a big smile, showing her small fangs at the same time the people around her began clapping.
"Don't make such a scandal, Kaede," Inuyasha said, taking his daughter into his arms; meanwhile, Shippo began cutting the cake and giving pieces to everyone.
Keitaro, his first blood son – and the second in family, since Shippo would always be the eldest – of 12 years old was identical to his father both in looks and in character. He approached Inuyasha and took her sister's hand, taking her then to play with the other kids: The twin sisters Satsuki and Satsuki – daughters of Miroku and Sango – of 8 years each one and their little brother Tarou, of 5 years old. With them there was Kouta, the only child of Ayame and Kouga of 2 years old and Rin who had already turned 13 on last spring but kept playing with the kids to take care of her little brothers: Seijin – 3 years old – and Mayu – a small girl of barely 1 year old.
"This wasn't a scandal at all, Inuyasha," spoke Kikyo, smiling while drinking from her glass. "You saw Rin when, for the first time in over 500 years, she finally celebrated her ninth birthday. First she cried and then smiled; then, she couldn't believe it, and then she cried more. Sesshomaru and Kagura had never been so upset about not knowing how to calm her."
"I don't even want to know how it is going to be for her fifteenth birthday." Miroku smiled, observing all the kids running around the entire beach house.
Inuyasha and Kagome had decided go to live in that house; there, their story as a couple had begun, and it was a beautiful place were their kids could grow up.
It had been already five years since the release of all the Slaves, twenty years already since Naraku's and the seven warriors' death, and, step by step, things had been turning into a relatively normal life.
At least there hadn't been any war or social revolution, and neither had it been a world wide war – as Kouga had predicted it would be, which earned him a few punches from his wife.
It hadn't been easy, and in fact there had even been some conflicts, – some other Slaves died during the next years and a lot more didn't want to use the order of 'death that can bring you to life' – but things had ended well in the end. They had fulfilled the goal they had tried to accomplish.
Inuyasha had said that those Slaves who didn't wake up had been already tired and the only thing they wanted was for their souls to finally rest in peace for all eternity. The Limbo's Guardian wouldn't have let them condemn themselves, he was sure of that. She would have done everything in her power to help them get what was best for them.
Kagome walked towards him with a vase of lemonade and placed it on the dinner table. Inuyasha then hugged her and kissed her forehead softly.
"Do you think everything's all right?" He heard his wife's question and looked at her curiously.
"Why that sudden question? Everything's perfect. They'll know how to redo their life."
Kagome nodded. It was all right. Those former Slaves deserved this second chance after so much suffering during their Slavery.
"We must begin preparing everything for Christmas," Inuyasha commented suddenly, waking her up from her daydreaming.
"So soon? It's not even December yet. We're barely in the middle of November."
"Maybe, but your mother will soon come to visit, also, Kei is coming and you know how crazy she gets if she doesn't see at least a pine tree in the room."
"…A pine in the middle of the beach… who understands my mum?"
Both smiled again and allowed themselves to enjoy the moment.
Kagome's craziest dream had come true, and they had released all the Slaves from their cruel destiny. She had the man she loved and had a beautiful family with him. Her friends were still with her all the time and even if the death of Kaede and old Myouga over a decade ago had hurt them, things were still going as they should. They had both had a long and happy life. Their souls deserved to rest.
And so, Kagome and her friends would go on with their lives, always living a new adventure, having the security that no one and nothing would be able to destroy their happiness.
What else could she ever ask for?
…Maybe the courage enough to tell Inuyasha that soon they'd have another child running around all over the house?
And it wasn't because she was scared of his reaction. On the contrary: she hated being treated as if she were made of crystal when she was pregnant!
"I swear you're sometimes incorrigible…" she whispered with a hint of playfulness in her voice, making Inuyasha look at her with confusion.
"Now what the hell did I do?"
"Nothing, nothing…"
She would eventually find a way to tell him.
For the time being, she had to go and save Sesshomaru, since all the kids had decided that it was time to play with his stole.
"What a family," she said. "What a family!"
Author Notes:
When I first wrote this chapter it took me over two days to write the part of the graves… I don't feel this is THE epilogue I was looking for, but maybe because it was really tiring to write it. I didn't want to get all corny at the end, but then I couldn't get it out of my head to do a family reunion, still don't know why. Anyway this is the result, and I want to thank you all for reading and waiting patiently for this upload. Thank you so much for all your lovely messages.
And yeah, for all of you asking about Rin. That was your response ^^ I hope you liked it! That's what was originally intended with that character X3
Thank you so much for all the alerts, favorites, reviews, and your patience, this was my first English project and I think I did my best. I really enjoyed doing this.
I'll publish the 'extra' of Kaede later, I hope it'll be easier to translate and it's about Inuyasha, Miroku, Sesshomaru and Kouga's life with her and it's something I really liked, I hope you like it too ^^ thank you so much again!
But officially The Slavery has ended. ='3