Chapter 13: The Secret
The little rays of sunshine pierced through his eyelids forcing him to wake. Inuyasha got up gingerly, still feeling the pain from his wounds. The sun was about to fall into night, but it lit the room up magnificently, as there the shades were drawn up. He groaned groggily and looked down next to him to see Sango, snuggled up to the position he had arisen from, drawing deep breaths apparently in a comfortable dream state as she was smiling. Her cherry red lips were drawn ear to ear and Inuyasha could not help but stare are her beautiful physique, which had transformed so rapidly over only two nights. However, the transformation was not complete yet, her hair still showed its initial color at the ends, her fangs still not grown all the way and her new muscles were not fully developed yet. Nevertheless he could not take his eyes off her, she was too beautiful to describe. What could he do but stare?
"Sango…" he whispered close to her ear. She shuddered in her sleep, not quite ready to regain consciousness yet. "Sango…get up" he said in a slightly louder voice. She shook, slightly awake now. "Five more minutes…please…ugh…" she said sleepily. Inuyasha rose slowly, noticing his wounds had begun to scab already, knowing that in a days time they would be fully healed. His eyes scanned the bright room, moving from the entrance to the dresser, to the windows and back to Sango. He moved slowly towards the door, a slight limp in his step. Sango's ears perked up at the sound of his movement, her eyes opened lazily.
"Inuyasha, where are you going?" she said softly, shifting position on the bed, the furs beneath her gathering together. He turned around nearly at the doorway, a pain filled expression on his face. "I'm going for a walk, I need some time to think about Spi… think about things…" he said, his eyes shifting not wanting to make direct contact with hers.
"Oh…alright…" she said discouraged, looking down at the floor. He turned back around, limping back towards the threshold of the door, his tattered, bloody clothing swaying as he moved, and turned his head one last time to give his beautiful mate a last, sad glance.
When she could no longer hear him, crawled out of bed, and quietly snuck towards the doorway not making a sound. Following the scent of his blood, she quietly pursued him to the inner garden, a lone elder tree sitting in the center surrounded by tall grass. The tree was old, gnarled at the limbs except for the Inuyasha was now sitting on, which had staved off time and stayed young and limber. He sat quietly, staring into the visible remainder of the sun, which was about to set, dive beneath them and reveal the darkness, the moon and the stars. His sword lay at the base of the tree, dried blood on the sheath. She walked stealthily towards the tree, still not making a sound, her eyes transfixed on the sitting figure of Inuyasha.
"You can stop sneaking around now, I know your behind me, I can smell you from half a mile away, that sumptuous, delicious smell of yours." he said turning around with a small smile. She looked up at his face, staring directly into his eyes and she froze. The eyes she stared into reflected against the moonlight, as the sun was gone, but even then, she could see the anguish in them, the unfathomable pain that no physical wound could inflict. Even with his best efforts to hide it, he could not, "Sango?" he asked, finally after what felt like an eternity, breaking the silence.
"Yes, Inuyasha?" she said a bit puzzled. Her eyes gazing into his, she waited for him to answer back. "Never…never mind…" he said in resignation. "Fine then, Inuyasha, but I have a few questions for you and I want the truth… Who was that Vicious character and who was Spike? Why is he coming after you and why does he not have a scent, I mean he could be here right now and we don't even know it" she said exasperated after not taking a breath during her barrage of questions.
He inhaled deeply and sighed, his mind trying to process all her questions. "First, he does have a scent, no matter how acute it is to you, he does in fact have one, the transformation is not complete yet, so even though your senses are heightened, they're not done developing yet. Now that's the easy explanation." He said with consternation. He looked back up toward the moon, the light flooding his features. So many thoughts raced through his head, but he stopped turned to Sango and spoke again. "Spike… was a 'friend' from my childhood. We grew up together; he was the son of my father's closest lieutenant. For many years we were friendly, but we went separate ways. Even though he was a cat demon, his father proved his loyalty to my father and he was trusted, but his son, however did not follow through. When we separated he joined up with the rebel tiger demons and gave them viable information to disrupt my fathers sovereignty." He said; the smile on his face had long since faded and he now wore an angry frown. Sango spoke softly "But… what happened to him? Why does he hate you much?".
He cleared his throat and spoke slowly, in a stern tone "When the tiger demons attacked, I was at the frontlines and I met him again. I couldn't believe that he betrayed us, he betrayed my father, his father and my friendship and that was unforgivable. We fought each other, the traitorous feline, and I fought him with all my strength. At the moment he was about to slit my throat with his claws, I forced him off me into a crowd of flesh eating demons. The last thing I remember was hearing his blood-curling scream and seeing him swallowed up by the oncoming horde of demons. But he's back now, he's stronger now than before, and although he looks the same, there's a new scar on his body I saw when I ripped his haori. It looked kind of like the Spider mark on Naraku's back, but in the shape of a cat. I think he sacrificed his body for a new one like Naraku." His eyes never broke contact with hers.
"So that means he's like Naraku? But…What can we do, how can we stop him?" she exhaled quickly "This is just getting worse… right after they… di.. died… we get another unstoppable demon?" she stopped and let a strained cry, small tears beading at the ducts and slowly making their way down her soft cheeks. She abruptly fell to her knees, her hands covering her eyes and her small underdeveloped dog ears cropped downwards. Upon seeing this, Inuyasha hopped down from the tree branch, his feet landing softly upon the ground, almost as though he was floating, and it was at this moment Sango looked up. What she was her knight in shining armor, the man who would protect her, love her, treat her like she was his one and only. As he floated downwards that was all she could think about.
He fell to one knee at her level and embraced her, holding her close against the hostility of the unknown. His arms were her castle, her escape from the world into her high tower were no one could catch her. And so they sat for what felt like an eternity, embracing each other tenderly. He sat, crying her quiet tears into his powerful shoulders.
"Inuyasha, tell me that you'll never change… that you'll always be mine… my protector, my diversion from the chaotic world, my lover. Tell me that you'll always love me no matter what." She said, a lone tear streaking down her cheek as she pushed back to face him.
Caught slightly off guard by her sudden outburst, he stopped, his mind residing on her last few words. 'Tell her you love her' he thought to himself 'Tell her everything she wants to hear, you know its true, you can't deny it'. He sat, his mind telling him everything he should be doing, but his body unable to function right, these feelings were so unfamiliar to him even though they felt so right. How on earth could someone love him so passionately? What made him so special to deserve this beautiful woman? And so he sat, his thoughts overwhelming.
Finally he spoke "I…I love you Sango, and I want to be with you forever, I want you to feel safe with me, feel like you do now. I love you… I really do…" he said softly. His mind raced during the ensuing silence, her eyes seeming to pierce straight through his body.
The short glitter in her eyes let him know that she knew it too, that she was accepting this fact. He noticed her body language, the tears silently making their way down her soft cheeks towards her chin. Her breathing was long and drawn out and her languid movements showed her increasing loss of control. The emotion of love was coursing through her veins, creating the hopefulness in her heart, the feeling of warmth, security, freedom from the bounds of reality. And she fell into his sculpted chest, again wrapping her arms around him, tears being soaked up by his haori and her heart mind full of emotion.
"Thank you…That's all I wanted to hear…All I needed to hear…" she said choking back the remaining tears.
Inufreak: Awwwww
Sango: Awwwwwww
Inu: Why do I always have to be so emotional? Crys
Inufreak: Reviews would be lovely at this point