Never Forgotten
By the easily peeved: Artemis
Chapter Three
"Wow." That was the only word that passed through Aya's lips when they arrived at the Western Castle. She gaped at the enormity of the structure in amazement while the boy next to her just looked on with no emotion. "You live here?"
He nodded stoically as they passed the gate guards who bowed to him. "With my mother, father, and adopted sister." She began chewing on one of her fingernails, a nervous habit she had developed as a child.
Juro led her up a grand staircase that lay just inside the gargantuan front doors. Her head began spinning as she tried to remember all the passageways they went through.
He came to a stop before a shoji screen and tapped three times. "Enter." Said a deep voice from inside. He slid the screen open, stepped inside, the motioned for Aya to follow behind him.
"Reporting so soon, son?" The voice revealed no emotions, and she couldn't see the speaker due to Juro, who was standing directly in front of her.
"More of delivering something strange found in the forest, father." Aya sighed at the formality of the father-son conversation…was there no love in this family?
"Well? What is it?" Juro's hand clamped firmly around one of her wrists and he swiftly drew her in front of him. 'Oh my…' She thought as she gazed upon the man in front of her. He was sitting behind a desk, and still managing to look as regal as an emperor. The only true thing distinguishing the difference between herself and this older man, was his blue crescent moon marking on his forehead and the magenta stripes on his cheeks.
"Your name?" He asked, snapping her from her contemplations.
"Aya. Aya Higurashi." She lifted her chin boldly and met his gaze, determined not to be intimidated. "I'm looking for my mother who went missing. Have you seen Kagome Higurashi around at all?" He looked at her with wide eyes, the first reaction she'd seen from either son or father, but then quickly retracted back behind his mask.
"Kagome Higurashi has been dead for thirteen years. You must be mistaken." He stated after clearing his throat. Aya's jaw dropped as she gaped at the older man, she seemed to be gaping a lot that day.
"No. Way!" She gathered her wits about her. "She has not! I saw her yesterday while I was having my birthday party, then she just vanished in the well house in a blue light." She began pacing as she rambled on about her journey before turning on him. "You must be the mistaken one. She's been with me for the past thirteen years." She stopped and glared at him. "Who do you think you are, lying to a girl like that? This is no joke!"
"I am Lord Sesshomaru of the Western Lands." He responded with an air of superiority. Her eyes became the size of saucers as eh began to gape once again.
"No…that can't be…" She spluttered, shaking her head. "That means, they're all true. That means…SHE LIED TO ME!" She stomped her foot once on the floor before promptly fainting, landing with a thud.
Juro looked at the girl at his feet before turning back to his father. "Who is Kagome Higurashi?" Sesshomaru winced lightly at the name, sending his son's mind into confusion. For the first time in his entire life, he saw the weariness in his father's face. "Father?"
"I'll explain everything later. Take Aya to a guest room and let her sleep. I have something I need to do." Before completely leaving the room, he looked back at his son. "You should complete your surveillance."
Juro stared after his father in complete shock. A light snore shook him from his befuddlement. "What a pest…" He threw her over his shoulder and left his father's study, barking orders to a random servant along the way.
He dumped her unceremoniously onto a bed in a chamber and walked back out, determined to find his mother. He wanted to know precisely who this 'Kagome' was and why her name got that reaction out of his father. Surveillance be damned.
"That's the western castle, we have to be very careful now." Kagome said in a low voice to the man beside her. Her happy-go-lucky normalcy had vanished due to unwanted memories and lack of sleep. All that was left was a very irate demon who had no time for petty complaints.
Aidan realized the change in his friend when she had held him against a tree by his neck after he had joked around by saying she needed to work out more often. After that, he kept to himself to keep from invoking her wrath once again.
"I think I need water. I'm totally parched." He said, more to himself than to his companion. She pointed wearing to his left.
"Be careful." She hissed out, more to emphasize the warning than out of anger. Aidan winced anyways, then went to the stream nearby for a drink.
"She needs to lighten way up." He mumbled, taking another gulp of stream water. The water was chill, even in the dead of summer, and his dehydrated lips burned from the cold. With a sigh, he sat back on a flat boulder. "I just want to go back home. Jake's probably waiting up for me…" He whined childishly.
With a groan, he pulled himself up and went back to his friend for another night of silence.
He placed the flowers he carried at the base of the stone structure before him. Still kneeling, he traced the words carven there.
'Lady Kagome'
Sesshomaru pulled his hand back as if he had been burned, but no emotion was expressed on his face. Balling his fingers into a fist, he clenched his hand until he could feel the blood dripping from the gashes now there.
He only vaguely glanced at his palm before turning back to the shrine of the only woman he would, and could, ever love.
"That girl must be lying. My heart's been dead for over thirteen years." Slowly, he regained his feet and turned away, hoping the mini female clone of himself was awake. Sesshomaru needed answers, and that girl, Aya, was going to be the one to give them to him.
Yo! I'm back! And as promised, I updated this beautiful chapter on this lovely warm Sunday…yes…I said warm. Texas weather sucks…earlier this week, the car door was frozen shut when I tried to open it to drive to school. It was around 20 degrees for about four days, and now it's somewhere in the 80s. Does that make sense to you? Because I've lived here all my life, and it still doesn't make sense to me…
You people are lucky, too. I was going to stop the chapter right before this last bit because I already have the other chapters written out on paper, but then it turned out to be way too short for my liking (I like each chapter to be AT LEAST 1000 words…) so I added that little part, though it was meant to be the beginning of the next chapter, but it added a little nicely.
I'm going to warn you all now, in a couple of weeks, I'm going to be gone. Therefore, I won't be able to update until the Tuesday I get back. This chapter isn't as well written as I would have liked it to be, but meh, what can ya do? I didn't have the time to go through and change EVERYTHING I wanted to change. I might go through and re-write it another time, but I'm way too lazy right now. I think I'm also going to do a little one-shot christmas special thing...it's kinda on the back burner right now though, but it will be, of course, Sess/Kag, and it will have a lot to do with christmas...still thinking on it though.
So, Aya's met Sesshomaru and Juro is going to get Umi's view on Kagome in the next chapter. (yes, the next chapter is already written and just waiting to be typed up) This isn't going to be a very long lasting fic, maybe somewhere around ten chapters, but I'm also not completely sure, because it's not done being written. If you can guess what's wrong with Aidan, I will give you a kudos bar…because there is something that's going on with him. The scene I have written out with him that happens later is hilarious. I can't wait to get to it.
I'm demanding at least another 15 reviews for this chapter, I'm tired of seeing all these fics that just plain suck getting around 20 reviews per chapter, and it's starting to make me mad…on a serious level…So yeah, no more chapters until my review counter hits somewhere around 30. crosses arms
Loves!
Artemis
Any questions that you want answered automatically, just email me. I'll respond almost automatically, and I just love emails. smile But don't just not review because I answer your question through email...then I'll have to hurt somebody...
Reviewer Responses:
Kagome21: Yes, Juro is Aya's brother…and, do you ever get those lumps on your forehead from banging it too hard?
Drea-chan: Yes, I found that threatening not to update until my demands are met is very, very effective. I actually got one more review than I truly asked for…I'm so proud of my readers…pokes them Aren't they just adorable? .
Kikyo61: Thank you…I love the fact that my story "fucking rules". Which makes you people "fucking awesome" in my book. 8D
Destiny's Destination: Juro is technically 16 and Aya just turned 13. So basically, 3 years (give or take a few months). The story behind everything should be cleared up soon…but I haven't gotten around to writing that part yet…the first person who learns will be Juro…and that's actually coming up within the next two chapters…
Thank you to: s0ymlk, tasha600, and DocBevCulver for the encouragement.