InuYasha Fan Fiction ❯ Bittersweet Affinity ❯ Greetings ( Chapter 1 )

Disclaimer: I don't own Inuyasha… Honestly, if I did, would I be spending my time writing fanfiction?

Warnings: This story contains M/M, yaoi, lemon…I think you get the idea.

Bittersweet Affinity

Greetings

“The fateful slumber floats and flows

About the tangle of the rose;

But lo! the fated hand and heart

To rend the slumberous curse apart!” ~William Morris

Greetings, dear little brother.

 

I have finally returned. Against my better judgment, I stand before you at the edge of the forest bearing your cursed name. My eyes narrow as they scrutinize your appearance. Nothing has changed during this last half century. Your pitiful miko would have been proud of the spell she had placed on you. Nevertheless, her hold over you will crumble with the simplest touch of my hand.

 

Slowly and passively, I near your motionless body nestled against the sheltering bark of the tree. A thousand thoughts shift and sway through my mind as your scent grows stronger, intoxicating my senses. And for a moment, I am lost; I am drowning in your beckoning aura. It caresses and soothes my loneliness…and I drift.

 

My honey touched eyes slide lower, a lost, distant look in my gaze. I hear music, such soft, sweet music. It weaves and dances in the light breeze of this night graced with a full moon. You look enchanting as your silver tendrils whisper across your forehead as if calling me.

 

Feeling something firm in the grasp of my slender hand, my eyes flutter open. I observe the tight hold I have around the arrow embedded in your chest. Yes, it has preserved you perfectly—your innocence, your naivety, your beauty.

 

A disposition of anger takes over my being, thoughts of hatred whirling toward the deceased miko that did this to you. How much pain has she caused us? How much suffering has been inflicted upon us by her hands? Her former presence in your life boils my blood…humans. What untrustworthy creatures. What greedy, deceitful beings that inhabit this earth. Their same emotional aspects surge through your veins as well. This is the blood that defiles the proud essence of youkai that dwells within you. However, this is a small oversight. I can forgive you for the wretched taint of our father's blood, for without its existence, you would not be the same hanyou that haunts me.

 

With a determined yank, I pull that blasted arrow from its niche in the bark. It turns to ash in my hands; if it had not, it would have burned from the look of hatred in my glowing eyes. A split second later, your still form slips, and for the first time in half a century, I cradle you gently in my arms.

 

Cautiously, as I seemingly hold my breath, I brush away the locks on your forehead. My heart begins drumming in a frenzied beat. In the still of the moonlit night, I fear all the world can hear the hammering of my heart. My breath escapes as I let a sigh of relief wash over me. My normally strong limbs quake and tremble at the feeling of you against my chest. I drop to my knees as my form weakly shakes.

 

A crystalline tear, the first I have shed since our father's death, rolls down my cheek. I am thankful, merely thankful. Your still form is solid and reassuring. You are here…with me, as it should be.

It is then with a slight sharp intake of air, I notice the rise and fall of your chest. You are still asleep, blissfully lost between the land of dreams and the realm of reality. A rare sight is now seen—I smile wistfully at your childlike face. How wrong I was to judge you for the actions of our father, for the innocent participant that was your mother. I cannot hate her for loving a demon, just as I cannot continue loathing our father for his choices. What a burden you must have carried. And like the fool I am, I let you bear it alone.

 

When you needed assurance, I sneered at your weakness.

 

When you needed guidance, I sent you away.

 

When you needed comfort, I laughed at your plight.

 

When you needed love…I drove you away…

 

What a fool I am. A few more droplets freely fall from my eyes; they roll down my marked cheeks. One falls from my pale face onto yours.

 

I tenderly chuckle as your face scrunches up. I shift you in my arms and sit against the tree that sheltered you when I would not. You settle down once more into a light rest; I expect you to stir from it soon. I lean my head back against the bark; my thoughts drift once more to you and your former plight.

 

Fifty years ago, I had once stood before this tree. My bumbling servant had informed me of your dire situation. A miko had cast a spell on you, sending you into your endless slumber. I had traveled as swiftly as I could to your resting place.

 

When I arrived to find you pinned to the tree, I became confused with my emotions. Why had I rushed to this spot to reach you? Why should I have cared what became of you? Surely, the miko had done me a favor by ridding me of you. But as I am wont to do, I immediately turned my confusion into resent and anger. You deserved the end that fate had dealt for you. You betrayed me the moment you pledged your affections of that undeserving human filth. I then became enraged that the miko had been the one to end your existence, not fully, but close to it. I was the only one who would decide when you left this world. She had never earned that right. Yet, I wondered why I should free you?

 

So, unable to find an answer, I retreated from the sight of your resting form, and I never looked back—until you began to haunt my thoughts from afar…

 

So here I am, finally repenting for my sins that were committed when I turned my back on you so long ago. I let my gaze fall upon your porcelain face. Suddenly, I feel compelled to be closer to you. Your aura pulses again, its sweet, sweet song embracing me. My lips lovingly touch upon your forehead. You begin to stir. Your eyes finally open from your slumber, and you stare at me in wonder.

 

In a quiet tone, I whisper, “Greetings, dear little brother.”

 

tbc…