Disclaimer: This story is based on "Inuyasha," copyrighted by Rumiko Takahashi. No infringement of copyright intended or implied.
Memorial Day
Steel jaws relentlessly slammed shut. From a transparent pane in its side, she peered out, calling silently as the metal monster began to move, its wheels shrieking against its steely pathway.
"No!" She was leaving. "Kagome!" He had to stop her!
But, his legs would not move. He was being dragged down, into swamp relentlessly sucking, miasma rising, choking his nose, blotting the last of her scent away. He could not move, could not hear, could not smell, could only see the red lights of the monster's tail as they mockingly blinked at him.
Gone! Gone!
… … …
"Father!"
He sat up with a rush, stared at the woman sitting next to him, and lunged into her arms. "Amiko!"
Her arms were as fierce. He clung to her, grateful for her strength even as he was ashamed of needing it. How long had it been since Kagome's death? Three months? And even so much time to prepare: Kagome had died peacefully, from old age, in his arms, and still the nightmares came!
But, he had to keep going. Forcing his emotions down, he released his daughter and stood up, looking out at the first flush of dawn. "I'm going to patrol." Maybe this time, he'd find something to take down…
He found his reach for Tessaiga blocked by her hand. "Father, no."
"Amiko—"
"When was the last time you visited Izayoi's grave?"
He flinched. Visiting his mother's grave was a lifelong habit.
But, it had been over a year.
"You won't talk to me, or my brothers, but maybe you'll talk to grandmother. Take some of mother's peonies—they're just starting to bloom."
"But, I—"
Her expression was Kagome's at its most determined. "Go."
He accepted his sword, accepted her push, accepted the flowers she piled in his arms. "Go."
Author's Note: One of the strongest set of memories I have of my mother is going with her to the cemeteries on Memorial Day to decorate the graves. While we usually had plastic flowers, she would also take fresh-cut peonies (or, in the latter years, as climate change caused earlier blooming, cut flowers stored in the refrigerator for a week) to leave. Consequently, peonies are my favorite flowers, and I have bushes around my place that were taken from her garden, and two times removed from grandmother's garden. Peonies are also popular in Japan, where they are known as the King of Flowers. With the prompt used for this entry to the I-B-4-Y being due on Memorial Day itself, I used the image prompt of a (passenger) train to invoke Inuyasha's nightmares, and wove a story using what the day-and the flowers-mean to me.
Originally posted on May 30, 2011. It won the contest.
