Title On the Job Training
Author: landofthekwt
Rating: PG-13
Prompt: Kikyou + Kagome conversation a gift fic fo Kmoaton
Word Count 3045
CU post manga
Pairing Inuyasha/Kagome
Warning None
Summary: Kikyou is sent by the kami to learn what it means to be an ordinary woman
She had the house all to herself. Inuyasha left with Miroku early in the morning. Souta was visiting with Sango and the girls. At last she could get some housework done instead of chasing hanyous around to get them to do what she wanted.
The floor was filthy. The laundry was piled to the sky. Dirty dishes were everywhere. A garden full of weeds. Time for Spring cleaning She changed into old clothes which were already dirty and set to work. The dust flew fast and thick. Dogs did seem to have the ability to track in lots of mud. The dust began to cloud the entire room.
As the dust settled, a bright light slowly began to illuminate the dust particles. They almost seemed to sparkle. A form began to coalesce in the center of the dust cloud. When it cleared, a naked female form was sprawled across the floor by the fire pit. Kagome screamed. She was back.
Kikyou stared groggily at Kagome. One minute she was being interrogated about what she had learned in her life. The next she found herself here. Her answers had not satisfied the questioners. She was not sure why. Apparently, she was here to find out what she had missed.
When Kagome finished screaming, she finally realized that Kikyou was lying naked on her floor. She found the priestess garb that Kaede said belonged to Kikyou and thrust it at her. Kikyou hauled herself to her feet and donned the outfit. Kagome was filled with a sense of deja vu. How could this keep happening to her?
"Kikyou, I thought you were dead. What are you doing here now?"
Kikyou stared at her. Finally she found the will to speak. " I was told that until I learned what it was to be an ordinary woman I was not ready to move on. I thought that when I died I had become an ordinary woman. Apparently not. There is something that I do not understand. They told me that I was given a gift that I did not appreciate it. Until I do, I will stay in limbo not able to move on. Apparently, you are an ordinary woman. They told me that if I follow you around that I will be able to learn what that means. What is so special about you that I was forced to come here."
Kagome was not sure whether she was being insulted. She could never tell with Kikyou. In a way she had been relieved when Kikyou had finally died. She had always compared herself unfavorably to Kikyou. Always thought that she was second in Inuyasha's heart.
Mount Azusa had been a revelation. She had to tell the false Kikyou that she was just as good as her in order to survive. She had to believe that her experiences with Inuyasha were just as important as hers. It was the only way out.
Yet only one week later her heart was still burdened with pain about Inuyasha's relationship with Kikyou which was not helped by his deep desire to die with her. No wonder Kaou thought her pain was greater than Inuyasha's. She just would not allow hers to be revealed. Her heart was her own and her pain was hers to keep to herself.
All those emotions flooded back. Why now. She and Inuyasha were happy at last. No ways she wanted go through Kikyou . She bit her lip and turned toward Kikyou.
" I do not know anything about being an ordinary woman. I just live here with my husband and my son. I chose to come back here because I wanted to be with Inuyasha. I could not live in the world without him."
Kikyou stared at her. " I did not mean to bring back all of our past difficulties. This is not about Inuyasha or Naraku or the Jewel. This is about something I do not understand. The kami believe that I will come to understand by living with you and doing what you do. Apparently, I am supposed to follow you around."
" Won't it be difficult if you are recognized? People still remember Kikyou. You have a shrine on the hill. A grave. You won't be able to go anywhere or do anything."
"Don't worry about that I am only visible to you or persons you want me to be visible to. I am yours to command."
" How will explain you to Souta? What if we run into Miroku or Sango or Kaede?
"I am sure that you can find some fiction that your son will believe. Children have a way accepting things that adults never do. The monk and my sister will be more difficult. They might sense my presence even though they cannot see me. It might be better if you avoided them."
" Miroku is on the road with Inuyasha right now. I train with Kaede on a daily basis. I cannot simply avoid her."
" Maybe I can watch your son while you are training with Kaede. I am sure that what you are learning from Kaede is not what the kami want me to learn. Perhaps I can watch Souta while you are there."
" I am still not sure how I am going to explain you to Souta. How long are you going to stay?"
" I am supposed to stay until I understand."
"Inuyasha will be a problem."
"Then I must complete my mission before he comes back. I have no desire to interfere between the two of you. We may have loved each other, but our time has passed. All I would do now is give him pain and I have no desire to do that"
Kagome sighed. This was going to be hell. Just another burden she would have to endure. She raised her eyes heavenward. Why me? But no one answered. Better get to it. Those chores were not going to do themselves.
Kikyou interrupted her thoughts " What should I do first?"
" Why don't we start with the laundry? I hate that the most. It may go faster if the two of us concentrate on it. By the way, if anyone asks you are my cousin, Yuki from Kyoto. That should keep most people happy. We just need to remember to avoid Kaede."
They took the laundry down to the stream. Kagome had often wished that she could just put the clothes in the washing machine. Sometimes she even dreamed about it. Even a wringer would be better than beating the clothes on rocks. Kikyou took up the work in silence. It seemed that she had not forgotten her domestic skills. They had been hard won for Kagome. Painful lessons that she would soon forget. After a few hours they finally finished.
" I will need to go down to Kaede's. for lessons. Could you hang the laundry on the line while I am gone?"
"What should I do if Souta comes back?"
" If you could tell him a story and put him down for a nap that would be great. He has probably been terrorizing Miroku and Sango's children all morning. He might be tired enough to nap. If he is hungry, you can heat up what was left over from last night. It needs to be eaten before it spoils
Stay here and stay out of trouble."
She left leaving Kikyou in her wake. The former priestess looked around the room. What a mess. Her mother never would be tolerated such sloppiness. Could this be what she had been sent back for to teach her reincarnation housekeeping? Laundry. The laundry needed to be hung on the line. Best to get to it. Then she would get to work on the house.
Kagome ran as fast as she could to Kaede's. She found the old priestess weeding the herb garden with Rin. They both looked up from their tasks and greeted her warmly. Kagome bent down to assist them. When they were finished, they broke for tea. Kagome decided to broach a delicate subject.
"Kaede, do the kami speak to you?"
"They speak in their own way. You just have to be willing to listen."
"Have they ever appeared to you?"
"Only in my dreams."
"What would you do if they did?"
"It would depend on who they were and what they wanted me to do. What is this about?"
" The kami have asked me to teach someone."
" I don't see the problem"
"I have never taught anyone."
"What do they want you to teach?"
"They want to make someone understand what it is to be an ordinary woman."
Kaede froze. Only one person could make Kagome this crazy. Why was Kikyou back? What did she want this time? It had been hard enough seeing her the first time. She had felt every bit of her pain.
" Kagome, I would never call you an ordinary woman, but if anyone can help my sister, you can. You saved her body. You saved her soul. I think that is why the kami sent to her to you. Despite all that went on between the two of you, you shared a soul. Nobody else has a bond like that. I trust in your judgment to do the right thing"
" Who are you? You smell like Mommy."
Kikyou stared looked down from hanging the laundry to stare at a dark-haired boy with golden eyes. He must be Souta. She had often dreamed of having Inuyasha's children, but they were always human in her dreams. From the looks of the boy he must be 1/4 demon. She struggled to remember what Kagome had told her.
" My name is Yuki. Your mother told me to feed you and tell you a story before a nap."
"I am a big boy. I do not need naps."
"Even the Peach Boy took naps before he went to defeat the ogres. Do you know about the Peach Boy?"
"Mommy always lets me act the parts when she tells me the story. She lets me play the part of Momotaro. I have a pheasant, a monkey and a dog who help me."
"Why don't you bring out your friends so that we can go conquer the ogres?"
Souta gathered his animals while Kikyou went to put water and stew on the fire to heat. She added some wood to the fire while she waited for him. Soon he returned with his animals under his arms.
He and his animals were scattered about the floor anxiously awaiting the story. She had always loved story telling to children. It would have been wonderful to have children of her own to tell them that story, but that was not her lot in life. It was amusing to watch him act out the story.
When she finished the story, she gave him a bowl of stew. When he finished, he crawled into her lap. She brushed his hair back and gently patted his ears. Eventually he fell asleep. Kikyou gently put him on his futon and covered him.
As quietly as she could, she began to sweep out the house. When she was finished, she did the dishes. She was outside gathering the laundry when Kagome finally returned.
Kagome eyed her cautiously. She wondered how Kikyou had occupied her time. The visit to Kaede and then Sango had taken longer than she expected. When she entered the house, she found Kikyou seated in front of the fire pit folding laundry.
The stew pot and water pot were on the fire pit. The house was cleaner than it had ever been. All of the dishes were washed put away. She checked on Souta. He was sleeping soundly and his toys were all put away
Kagome picked up her sewing and walked over to where Kikyou was folding the laundry. Kikyou offered her some tea which she quietly sipped while waiting for the elderly priestess to talk to her. Finally, Kagome could wait no longer.
" Thank you for cleaning the house. I know it must have seemed like a windstorm blew through. I have never been on my own. I helped my mother, but I never had to keep house. It is still a learning experience for me."
Kikyou finally looked at her " It is amazing the things that come back to you. All those years taking care of Kaede surely came in handy."
" So Souta was no problem."
"No, he was an angel. He played with his toys while he listened to the Peach Boy story. I love the animals. His version added a lot to the story. You and Inuyasha are really lucky to have such a good boy."
" Yes we are."
" I dreamed that Inuyasha and I would have boys with black hair. I figured yours would have silver hair."
Kagome squeezed Kikyou's hand. It was one of those "if only" one has where they regret what has happened and wonder what if. Of course if Kikyou and Inuyasha had lived there happily ever after, she might never have been reincarnated or brought back by the Jewel by Kikyou's lingering affection for Inuyasha. She would never have married Inuyasha and they never would have had Souta. Fate was kind to some and cruel to others.
Kikyou sighed and gave Kagome a puzzled look. " I do not understand why I have been sent here. All the things that you do I used to do every day when Kaede was a child. I do not understand how doing daily chores will teach me what it means to be an ordinary woman."
The truth hit Kagome like a thunderbolt. It was amazing that someone as intelligent as Kikyou could not see what was as plain as the nose on her face. She had been an ordinary woman all along. She did not have become one. Inuyasha did not make her one. She had not made Kikyou an ordinary woman by saving her soul. It was not a matter of losing her powers that caused her to be an ordinary woman.
Kikyou did not realize that all the work that she had done is raising Kaede was what every ordinary woman did for her child. She cooked and cleaned. Told her bedtime stories. Took care of her when she was sick. For all practical purposes Kaede was Kikyou's child. The only thing she had never had that other women had was a husband. Naraku had seen that she would never be married. Never be intimate with a man. She had known love, but never fulfillment. Slain on her own wedding day. Her fiancé slain by her own hand.
" Kikyou, you have always been an ordinary woman. They blinded you when they told you that a miko could never be an ordinary woman. Everything you did with Kaede shows that you were a great mother. Look how well she turned out. You loved Inuyasha you were both ready to sacrifice everything so that you can be together as husband and wife. You did not need to wish on the Jewel to be an ordinary woman or be together as husband and wife. The Jewel would have twisted your wish. Naraku was created specifically to prevent you from purifying the Jewel, but it forced him to return the Jewel to prevent him from unbalancing the Jewel. You looked for a way to become an ordinary woman when it was inside you all along."
Kikyou looked anguished. Kagome thought for a moment she was going to cry. She stared into the cup of tea in her hand.
"So all of my plans and schemes were all in vain."
" Your heart was in the right place. It was your love for Inuyasha that brought me here to bring him back to life."
"I am sorry I was so jealous of you. It was just that you were doing the things that I wanted to do with Inuyasha. Now I am brought back to see you living the life I wished for with Inuyasha. At least now I realize that I was always the woman I wanted to be. Thank you for your help. Give Inuyasha and Souta my love. There is someone I wanted to talk to before I return to the kami."
They hugged. Kikyou got up and left the hut. Kagome looked over at Souta. She was lucky. She had the man and the life she wanted Life was good. Lucky she had discovered early where her heart lay. If not for Kikyou's love for Inuyasha, the Jewel would never have brought her back to this era. Thank you, Kikyou. I will take care of Inuyasha for you until we meet again
Kaede woke with a start to see her sister staring at her. Kikyou put her hand to her lips. She leaned down and hugged her.
"What was that for?"
"Kagome made me realize that I was an ordinary woman all along. I never appreciated my life with you. I did not realize that my life with you was no different that any widow raising a young child would have. I just thought that I was doing my duty to raise you after our parents died. I was so caught up in my duty as a miko that I never appreciated our life together. Thank you for being my sister."
"Your welcome sister, I loved you more than you will ever know. You were like a second mother to me. That was why it hurt so much to see all the suffering you went through after you were resurrected. Hopefully we will be together again someday."
"I would like that, sister." As they embraced Kikyou slowly faded. Rin looked up at Kaede as she was standing there. It was nice to have a mother again.
Inuyasha came home that night to find his wife asleep by the fire pit. He could have sworn that he could smell Kikyou's scent. He shook his head. That was impossible. He picked her up and carried her to their futon. As he bent down to kiss her, Kagome opened her eyes and yawned
" Kikyou told me to tell you she loves you."