InuYasha Fan Fiction ❯ A Lifetime Loving You Part 1; Seasons in Owari ❯ What "Mika" Means ( Chapter 24 )

Chapter 24; What "Mika" Means

(Inu-yasha's POV)

I ran into the kitchen where Larma sat at her table pulling the feathers from her geese. She looked at me as I shook the snow from my mane and jacket, and flicked the snow from her shoulder. Her yellow hair was up in a bun held together with two hair sticks. I sat down before her and looked at the bag of goose feathers.

"Are you going to use these for anything?"

Larma looked at me with her large red eyes. "You have plans?"

I smiled and closed up the bag before swinging it over my shoulder. "It's almost Christmas!"

The demoness looked at me as though I had lost my head. "What?"

I didn't answer her and rushed out the door back to the barn. Larma wiped her hands and rushed out to gather her sister to ask them what they thought the term meant.

Signora looked to Polaris with her large lime eyes and messed with the braid in her purple hair. "Perhaps it is ceremony of death? Some one will have to sacrifice a lamb."

Asina, the youngest sat down with her tiny doll and thought as she played with her red hair. "What if it is a great feast? A feast where we eat lots of dumplings and rice?"

So the sister began fighting and bickering over what the term was, each one saying it was a ceremony of sacrifice, a feast, or even a time of fasting."

Suddenly, Kagome ran into the room and looked at them all as they sat there bickering. Polaris sat in silence and turned her head up to spy her guest. It only took her a second to raise her hand and for the sister to quit their bickering and sit down with their heads bowed and their hands in their sleeves.

I opened the door to the loft to look for the cloth Kuroki kept in storage and fell silent when I heard Polaris speak. "Miss Kagome, perhaps you can explain what this event Inu-yasha is speaking of. Would you tell us what 'Chrismoz' is?"

I snorted and covered my mouth as I crawled to find a crack in the wall. I watched as Kagome sat before them and smiled as she explained every detail of Christmas and its meaning to them, from the tree to the food and the fireworks to the presents. Each sister was amazed as Kagome explained the meaning behind the holiday and I smiled as I watched her face brighten with all of the joy she held in her heart.

I nodded and picked up a small piece of white cloth and any scraps of colored cloth I could find. Then slowly made my way back to the barn where I began to sew the mattress for the cradle in the hay loft.

As I worked I found that I wasn't alone, when I picked up the scent of the sisters. Polaris looked up and smiled, and I returned it. "Nephew, what can we do to make this wish come true?"

I grinned and jumped down as I put my hands on my hips and looked at all of them. "We've got a lot of work to do. Some of you can help Larma in the kitchen, and I'll need the rest of you to help with the decorations."

"And the presents?" little Asina called out as she hugged her doll, and I smiled as I rubbed her hair.

"Polaris, I need you to do a big favor. You have to keep Kagome occupied while we work in here and get everything ready."

~~~~

(Inu-taisho's POV)

I sat on top of the boulder that warm summer night and looked at the dark sky with a crescent moon in the sky. It was backwards compared to Sesshoumaru's though. This moon was nearing the end of its cycle and the moonlight lacked making the garden's pond less luminous, but the reflection still held value.

A moment later I heard footsteps coming my way and I turned my head to find Mika in her night yukata and a robe around her arms and shoulders. Her hair was down and she smiled at me as she made her way to my side. "The moon looks so beautiful tonight," she whispered.

"Yes," said in my newfound language which took me less than two weeks to learn. "It's at the end of its cycle tonight, and a night with no moon will come."

I watched as Mika's face suddenly filled with sadness and she looked down at the ground. "The night with no moon...yes, that is coming isn't it?"

I looked at her and jumped down to my feet and walked over to her and took her hand. She looked at me and her eyes were beginning to fill with tears. I was taken back and lifted a finger to wipe the tears away from her face. "You cry?"

Mika put on a fake smile, and I saw through it. She left my side for the boulder and looked at the ground once more before returning to my gaze as I sat at her feet. "Inu-taisho, do you know what my name means?"

I cocked my head to the side. "Mika means you; it is a name, your name, is it not?"

She laughed a little as I stood up again to look at her at eye level. "Yes, it is my name, but it also means 'New Moon', the night when the moon is dark."

She looked at the sky and shed one sparkling tear. "I was sent to this shrine so that no man could take away my purity as a princess of Japan's throne. I am bound to only one man in my life, and that will be the man I marry. My virginity must be saved until my wedding night, which will be the night of the new cycle. The night the new moon rises in the sky, will be my wedding night and I will become queen."

I looked at her and felt that strange emotion go through my body. Since when did I start feeling all of these emotions for her? I was hard as stone before I met her, and now I had some how become soft. Mika had healed the wounds I had suffered in my past and all of the pain I had endured.

Her eyes turned to me. "I hate these walls, and I will hate living my life in the walls of a man who does not love me for who I am. I long for a life that is better than this. One where I can love the man my heart desires the most. A man, whose kiss makes me feel warm and safe, and not cold and worth only what someone will breed from me."

I watched as she began to cry and I lifted her chin once again so I could gaze into her eyes. My heart started pounding and I touched the chain that held my neck. "Let me show you, what you can not see?"

Mika looked at me completely lost, but her tears stopped as she watched me go to the tree. I picked up my chain and held it out to her. "Free me, and I'll take you beyond these walls for one night."

Mika looked at me and touched the chain. "Do you promise not to runoff with me?"

I nodded, "I give you my word as a demon lord."

She smirked and looked at the chain. "My father told me to never trust a demon's words."

I brushed my nose against hers and had her look at me again, and found her mouth open as it once was before. "Then, I'll swear by my heart, that I will bring you back her unharmed."

I felt Mika's hand grasp the links bellow the collar and the links that bound me to the tree broke free into a rusty old chain on the earth.

I felt the weight lessen somewhat, and I looked to the sky before returning to her. I took her hand in mine and climb to the top of the boulder. "Climb on to my back."

She looked at me for a moment, complete unsure. "I might be too heavy to carry."

I smirked, "I'm a demon, Mika. Just hold on to my shoulders."

She took hold of my hand and I lifted her on to my back and took hold of her legs as they wrapped around me. "Can't we just walk?"

I snorted and leaped into the air and began my run through the garden heading toward the walls of the shrine grounds. From the moment I leapt into the air, Mika's arms hugged my shoulders and her legs wrapped around my hips and waist. I smirked and took things up a notch as I quickened my pace and launched into the air picking up speed.

Mika looked down at my feet and found white clouds beginning to form at my ankles. She grasped my neck for a moment and turned her eyes to the shrine walls. "You need to jump," she told me.

"We're not jumping over them."

She gasped and griped me tighter as I brought my strength to my feet and pushed and put air between my feet and the earth. Mika held on to me and squeezed her eyes shut. A moment went by and she realized we weren't coming back down to the earth again.

Slowly, Mika opened her eyes again and gasped as she saw the skyline a head of her. "Oh Heavens!" she whispered in my ear and my heart began to pound from the softness in her voice. Then, she looked down and held on to me tighter. "Oh Heavens!" she said a little bit louder and gripped me again.

Her face was in my mane and I turned my head to look at her. "It's easier if you look ahead. You'll get used to it that way. I promise I won't let you fall."

Slowly, Mika opened her eyes again and looked into the horizon as her hands wrapped around my chest and shoulders. Her left hand, however, stayed over my heart and I couldn't control the pounding enough so that she wouldn't feel it. I couldn't help it, and felt better just knowing that her heart was pressed to my back, thumping just as hard as mine.

I flew toward the horizon and wove through the air as the wind played in her hair and my mane. I soon found her cheek brush against my ear and her breathing slowly began to steady. Slowly, her legs softened around my hips, but they still held on.

I lowered to a river and followed it as Mika took in the beauty that surrounded her. Slowly, she let one finger each the watery mirror only inches away from my breast and watched as tiny fish popped out of the water in her finger's wake as she cut through the water. She laughed as the tiny golden fish jumped.

I drew upward and flew toward the waterfall that was not too far ahead. I followed the water and drove down with it as Mika gripped me again, but not as much as before. I pulled up as I slowed to a simple glide over the basin of water below.

I pulled my body upward again and headed for the clouds as Mika's hand covered my heart once more. I cut through the clouds until I reached their tops and leaped over their peaks as Mika looked at the stars.

I felt her cheek press to mine now and her legs curled around my hips a little more. The feeling I had that ran through my body made me feel lighter than the wind itself. My chest couldn't stop pounding, and my heart should have lost its urge to beat long ago.

This was it. I didn't care about my vision anymore or power. I cared about this. I found myself dreaming of being inside of Mika's hips and her warmth. I wanted to be the man she would share her wedding bed with, and share the feelings that this other man wouldn't give her.

The emotion I felt for her was so strong, and I found the power I longed for. I wanted the power to make her happy. I wanted her to be at my side.

~~~~

"For Always" From The A.I. Soundtrack --Written by John Williams --duet with Lara Fabian and Josh Groban

I close my eyes and there in the shadows

I see your light

You come to me out of my dreams

Across the night

*

You take my hand though you may be so many stars away

I know that our spirits and souls are one

We've circled the moon and we've touched the sun

So here we'll stay

*

For always, forever

Beyond here and on to eternity

For always, forever

*

For us there's no time and no space

No barrier love won't erase

*

Wherever you go

Is to know

In my heart you will be

With me

*

From this day on I'm certain I'll never be alone

I know what my heart must have always known

That love has a power that's all its own

*

And for always, forever

Then we can fly

And for always and always

We will go on beyond goodbye

*

For always, forever

Beyond here and on to eternity

For always, and ever

You'll be a part of me

*

And for always, forever

A thousand tomorrows may cross the sky

And for always and always

We will go on beyond goodbye

~~~~

I felt Mika's nose rub against the bend in my jaw and neck, and my eyes fluttered as they closed to take in the feeling that ran through my blood and into my chest. I the feeling took me over and my chest began to rumble with a low growl that mixed with a slight moan. My hands found her waist and they trembled as they touched the curve.

The cloud that formed at my feet brushed against her feet and it sort of gave Mika her own wings to fly with until I could turn over and land on the top of the highest cloud. My chest was pounding so hard that I struggled to contain my urges.

Mika had done this to me so easily, and I wondered what this emotion was that made me feel this way. I had never desired something this much in my life. My eyes opened again and I looked at her as her eyes opened half way.

"Mika?" my voice groaned.

"Yes?" she whispered sweetly as my ears dropped.

I hesitated to ask her for a moment and my lips trembled as the words came to my tongue. "What is a 'kiss'?"

I felt Mika's nose brush against mine and she stood before me. "It's when you press your lips to another's. It's when two people love each other so much that they can't bare to hold it in and they gently press their lips to the others to share their emotions that way...or through other ways."

Mika's hands ran over my arms and chest and I found it hard to breathe. My eyes wanted to fall shut and my lips were starting to part more, just like Mika's were.

"If I were yours...would you share your kiss with me?"

Mika's eyes shimmered in the star light, and my heart continued to threat to burst. "Yes!"

I felt warm and found myself desiring more of her wistful voice. She had this collar around me that pulled at the sound of her voice, but I couldn't see it, or fight it even if I wanted to. I found these emotions that only humans possessed to be so warm and yet heavy.

I liked it!

Mika's eyes closed again and her nose found the groove in my neck and jaw. Her breath was hesitant, but hot with moisture.

"If you could, would you share your wedding night with me? Would you be my mate, and fill this void in my chest?"

Mika's nose came to mine again, and my eyes closed. "If I had the power to...I'd love you beyond this time."

I let a rumble erupt from my throat again and make my chest quiver with all the feelings I was having. She did this to me so easily and mostly because I was enjoying the feeling so much that I didn't have the will to stop it. I didn't want to have the will to stop it.

"I've loved you before time," I whispered to her. "I've spent all this time searching for you, and now I have you."

I felt her lips brush against mine, and in my inexperience I wasn't sure how to react in anyway possible. I was scared that I might do the wrong thing. "I don't know how to kiss you," I said in a sad voice.

"Then learn from mine."

It only took a second, but it felt like an eternity before I felt Mika's lips hug mine and then I felt a light pressure. My heart never felt so alive; so warm. It felt like I had done something beyond my power. I had watched myself transform from a lonely male demon for nothing to live for in his life except a vision of becoming something greater, to wanting to spend the rest of my life in Mika's embrace, touch, and now more than anything her kiss. I wanted more of this.

When the kiss ended, I was lost and my lips followed hers as they pulled away until they broke free. I didn't want the feeling to end. "Why did you pull away?"

Mika smiled sweetly. "To breathe," she told me.

I brought my hand up to the back of her neck, and looked into her eyes. They were cloudy, and the violet seemed to look like a deep grey hue. Her eyes closed and her lips waited for mine. I hesitated to make sure she wasn't resisting when my lips touched hers, and a warm tingle ran through my body from that one simple touch. I hugged them with my own, and pressed gently and moved them until they felt right with hers.

Mika's hands trembled and gripped my kimono, then moved to let her fingertips race the line of my jaw. It felt so good; so pure and soft were her lips as they moved with mind to deepen our sweet kiss.

I broke it to breathe, and continued to steal another taste of her warm lips. She was so perfect with all the warmth I could have ever asked for, and so much more.

"Mika...what is this? My people have no word for this emotion. It's so strong though, I wonder why my kind has no knowledge of it."

Mika's lips curled into a sweet smile. "It's called love, Inu-taisho."

I whispered the foreign word over her lips when they touched again. "Love..."

~~~~

I floated back to the gardens and touched down between the boulder and the nut tree with Mika in my arms. I looked into her eyes and gently nuzzled her face. "Come to me in the morning? Bring your kiss and your love with you?"

Mika smiled brightly, "I swear it!" and let me steal one last kiss from her warm soft lips. I wanted to kiss her for the rest of the night, until I felt her move away from my arms and my link connect with the chain again, but even that chain was broken, nothing would make me leave the garden that night.

She slipped out of the kiss and my arms and followed her until my chain pulled straight. "Let me be with you? I swear I won't escape. Nothing will make me leave you."

Mika smiled as she made her way through the garden. "I can't let my nurse see you with me. She'd surly tell my father and you would be killed if she knew who you were."

I sat dog style on the earth. "Then, I'll make sure she doesn't tell a soul."

Mika shook her head. "A human live isn't worthy of something this strong. You'd have to kill so many others; my kind!"

I looked at her and stood on my feet again. "I swear to you that I will never harm one of your people again. I will protect you, and thus I will serve them and forsake the demon life."

Mika looked at me with large sad eyes. "They will forsake you in return."

I grinned, "It matters not...as long as I have you at my side."

Mika smiled and made her way down the path. "Good night, my love!" she whispered to me.

"Good night...my heart, for you will have it with you tonight, and always."

Mika disappeared into the shadows and then opened the door to her room and closed it as she began to touch the door and then her lips. She smiled as she turned around and acted like a child.

Only, she act this way until her eyes feel on her nurse staring at her with cold and accusing eyes. "Have you gone mad, Child? Sharing such desires with a demon? You are a mortal woman, and he is a beast of evil."

Mika shot her glare back at her nurse. "You will not speak of this...I love him, and he loves me! There is nothing you can say that will force me to leave him."

Her nurse shook her head, "Foolish child, he has cursed you with a spell of sorts."

Mika beat her chest. "You are the fool! I love him! I love that man!"

Her nurse curled her nose and point to her. "He is a monster! A demon!"

Mika held back her tears and forced her words out loud. "Inu-taisho is not a demon, he loves me!"

The nurse stepped back in fear and her eyes widened in fear. Mika gasped and covered her mouth discovering her mistake. The nurse glared.

"We will release him in the morning, and you will keep your promise to your father and your husband to be. You will wed a man and become queen as you swore to all. You would aid your people, and spooning with a demon, the Phantom Beast himself, will not aid you people."

Her nurse stomped to the door. "Once he is gone, we shall leave for Kyoto at once, and he shall never find you again."

Mika fell to her knees. "No! Do not take me from him. Do not take me from the man I love."

Mika's nurse had the priest lock her door to the garden, and then lock the door to the corridor. Mika ran to her door and beat her fists against it. "Let me out! I won't let you take him from me."

The nurse looked to the priest. "The beast must not find his way back here and follow her scent."

"Then I will rub a herb into his nose so that he will never smell again," said the priest, and handed her the keys to Mika's door.

They had under estimated us though. They had underestimated the power of out love. For our love was stronger than any holy herb and promise to a mortal man.