Title: To accept the things I cannot change
Author: landofthekwt
Rating: G
Genre: Introspection
Pairing: Inuyasha/Kikyou
Word Count: 692
Universe: Canon
Warning: Impending doom. Wilted Rose Week 3 -Acceptance
Summary: Kikyou decides that her life as a miko is no longer acceptable and tries to change her life.
"Lord grant me the serenity to accept the things I cannot change,the courage to change the things I can, and the wisdom to know the difference."-- Saint Francis of Assisi
The morning light streamed in the window of her hut. She awoke with a start . It must be some time after sunrise She had overslept. He must already be waiting for her, wondering where she was..
Inuyasha's visit in the middle of the night had been surprising.. He had changed both the time and place that they would meet. She had to admit that his visit had caught her off guard. Most of the night had been spent making sure that the Shikon no Tama was pure enough.
Normally , she would have bathed and purified herself before the ceremony. Because she was late she did what she could to make sure that she did not offend the kami.
She gazed at the Jewel. It had become the symbol of her oppression. Now it was to become the symbol of her liberation. Before the Jewel had come into her life, she had slipped into almost a pleasant routine. She enjoyed healing the sick, playing with the children, raising the herbs, delivering babies and attending to duties of the shrine. It helped her ignore the fact that all of the girls that she had grown up with in the village were married with children. She actually spent more time with the children than their parents.
Since the Jewel it had all changed. Youkai attacked at all hours of the day and night. She had to carry her bow and arrows wherever she went. The children became a subject of controversy. The parents felt that since she and Jewel were the subject of the attacks that the children should not be allowed to be with her. She had to spend large amounts of time purifying herself and the Jewel.
It was the constant fighting that had pushed her to the position she was in now. She was tired pf fighting all of the time. Inuyasha was right when he had told her that she reeked of the blood of youkai. She shot them on sight any more without thinking. None of them were serious threats to her powers, but she was taking no chances. The one exception to her shoot first and ask questions later approach was Inuyasha.
Inuyasha. He was so much a part of her life, so much a part of her dream of escaping the oppression of the Jewel. He had started as a mere annoyance hanging around her looking for opportunity to steal the Jewel. Unlike the other youkai he had never seriously attacked her. She sensed this and made a sincere effort not to kill him. He seemed to want the Jewel, but not simply for power as the other youkai. Maybe it was because he was only a hanyou. Gradually, they came to a truce. They both were loners and needed someone. else in their lives.Now they were inseperable. Inuyasha was her shadow, her only friend and the man she loved.
It was she who suggested wishing on the jewel to make him human. The common belief surrounding the jewel was that if a pure wish was made on the jewel the jewel would disappear.She hoped that they were right. If the jewel disappeared then her duty as a miko to protect the jewel would be at an end. He had told her that he wanted to live together with her as husband and wife. This could only happen if he became human and she was no longer a miko.
She would no longer accept the way things were. She dreamed of a life with Inuyasha Today was the day that everything would change. These thoughts gave wings to her feet and she ran as if the hounds of hell were chasing her. The clearing was just ahead.Their destiny was in front of them. They just had to reach out and grab it. At last they would bothbe happy .and at peace. How ironic that the Jewel which had caused her so much grief would bring her the love, home and family that she had always wanted.