Title No Direction Home

Author landofthekwt

Rating K

Prompt "Don't confuse being 'soft' with seeing the other guy's point of view."

Word Count 1436

POV Shiori

Warning mention of character deaths

Summary Shiori prepares to return home

Neither Shiori or Inuyasha said a word after Rin's funeral. Sesshoumaru had dismissed them without a word. He did not thank them for being there because frankly he had not wanted them there. Their being there interfered with the time he had left with Rin. Now that she was gone and he had all the time in the world her wanted them gone.

Sesshoumaru arranged passage for them by taru kaisen to Osaka and higaki kaisen from Osaka to

Edo. Inuyasha was sure that Sesshoumaru found pleasure in the fact that they were on a boat transporting sake. Ostensibly they were in the crew's quarters More like a prison cell with slop bucket and no futon. Sailors were a tough lot. Many were forced into service. That would explain the like of decent accommodations.

.He had laid his fire rat robe down for Shiori to sleep on. No need for her to sleep in the filth and squalor. At least Sesshoumaru had not forced them to serve on the coastal boat to earn their passage. Neither he nor Shiori had ever been on an ocean going vessel. She had left the fishing village where she was born and never looked back.

Shiori stared out at the sea. It seemed to go on forever. When she was young, she dreamed of being a fisherman's wife. She would sell the catch that her husband brought in after keeping enough for their family. They would live that little hut with her mother and together they would be happy.

She barely remembered her father. While he had been alive, the bats had stayed away. She wished she could remember him and those happy times, but she did not. All she remembered was being beaten by the children so long as she could remember. The parents did not need to tell them not to play with her. They had all learned their lessons of hate well.

She thought that things could not get any worse. To her horror she discovered that while humans might hate her, the Hyakki bats were true monsters who lived off the flesh of people like her mother. Only Inuyasha's intervention had saved her and her mother. When he left she and her mother left. The village was destroyed. The bats were dead. Everything they had known was gone.

Her excuse for the journey had been the return of her mother's ashes. The real reason she left was to get away from the pall which had descended upon the taijiya village. All she could see was death. When she saw her children and her grandchildren, she saw their graves, not their lives. The last year of sitting beside Kohaku as he slowly died had slowly warped her view of humanity.

The path she had taken was hard. Past the grave of Inuyasha's mother. Past the burial of her own mother's ashes. Ending with Rin's death. She had tried to get away from death, yet it was everywhere she went there were graves. Her mother's death had happened long ago. She had never known Inuyasha's mother, but Rin had been someone she remembered as a young vibrant girl. To see her as old and wrinkled brought back all the horrors of the last year with Kohaku.

She needed to talk to someone. Someone who would understand what she was going through. When she invited Inuyasha she did so out of a memory of a youthful crush which had driven her to find him so many years ago. Somehow she thought her feelings would recreate the fantasy she had of him. Instead he had been surprised by her feelings. She might want to get past Kohaku because of the pain associated with his death, but Inuyasha was not ready to let go of Kagome.

Where did that leave her? She could return to the village and resume her place as mother and grandmother to the taijiya. Kohaku had been so proud of what they did together. She could not very well abandon his life's work just because he was dead. The thought of seeing her children and grandchildren did have an appeal to her. Not everyone was dying. With each generation there was new life and vibrancy in the village.

The harbor of Edo was coming into view. Soon they would be back at the Sunset Village. Inuyasha's home. It had been her home for a short period of time until she married Kohaku. She thought that a trip would do her good. Take her mind off the death she saw all around her. Instead, all she had seen was death. Worse yet she had been there when Rin died. Watching Sesshoumaru go through everything she had gone through as Kohaku slowly died.

She looked up when Inuyasha came up on deck. The fire rat robe did help against the cold. She would miss it when they parted. It had made her feel closer to him. He gave her no allusions that he felt for her the feelings that she once had, but she would like to believe that they had grown closer over their time together. Soon, they would part and she would not have an excuse to see him again. Was she ready to give up on him so soon?

:"Ready to go home?"

Shiori shook her head " It was nice to get away from the village. I had not left since I married Kohaku. But my children and grandchildren are there. They need me"

Inuyasha interrupted her "One thing I learned after Kagome died was that life goes on. Humans will grow up, get married have children, live their lives and die whether I am there or not. I need them more than they need me. They are all that is left of Kagome. She loved them so much. So long as they are there, she will be there."

Shiori put a hand on his arm. He did not have to finish his thought. Eventually, a generation would be born which had no tie to Kagome. Would Kagome truly die then? She had wanted to get away from the village because she saw Kohaku everywhere. He was desperately holding onto the village because it was all that he had left of Kagome. He looked at her and nodded knowing that she understood what he was going through.

When they returned to their villages, they would assume their roles as parent and grandparent as if nothing had happened. It was what was expected of them. In return they would receive love and companionship from their progeny. No one would ask what they wanted. Their children would see what they wanted to see and give the love and time that they could spare in their busy time.

Shiori was not ready to let go of her time with Inuyasha just yet. When she had tried to kiss him on the beach, his facade had cracked just for a moment. Maybe just maybe he had more feeling for her than he claimed to. Their time together had been too brief and filled with death. She needed an excuse to see him again. Perhaps on the anniversary of Kagome's death, she could come again. He would be feeling down and might appreciate the company.

"I enjoyed being with you." She trailed off as she caught his attention. Waiting for some reply was agonizing. What would he say? Would he reject her as he had on the beach? Slowly, he put his arm around her and hugged her. She looked up into his eyes.

"Keh" he snorted. She laughed. He might have this tough guy image, but she had seen him with Kagome and their children. It was nice to know that he had not changed from the hero who had stole her heart as a little girl. They really did not know each other, but they had something in common. Their children and grandchildren would all die before they did. It would nice to have someone you turn to in those times who truly understood what you were going through.

Home. She would go home, but it would not be her prison. She might be a mother and grandmother, but she was Shiori. A woman who had wants and needs that had not been satisfied

She was not ready to roll over and die. There was more to life than being what her children and grandchildren expected her to be. Her time with Inuyasha had shown her that there was a big world out there waiting to be explored. Maybe he would explore it with her.