InuYasha Fan Fiction ❯ Broken Fates ❯ And Two Steps Back? ( Chapter 15 )

[ X - Adult: No readers under 18. Contains Graphic Adult Themes/Extreme violence. ]

Chapter 15: And Two Steps Back?

Kagome stepped out of the shower and dried off, then taking another towel, wrapped it around herself and stepped from the bathroom, heading for her room. Just as she turned towards her door, her mother topped the stairs and spoke to her, startling her.

"Oh, there you are, dear. You should hurry and get dressed. Sesshoumaru will be stopping by soon, and he said he needed to speak to you."

She stiffened, for a moment, at that. What could he possibly have to say to me now? I thought I said everything that needed saying the last time we spoke.

With a frown, she turned her head and looked at her mother. "Did he say why?"

Her mother shook her head. "No. Just that it was very important."

Sighing, Kagome nodded, then pushed open her door, preparing to enter her room. "Fine. I suppose I'd best hurry, then, since I still need breakfast, and then I have to work with grandfather in the shrine."

"Alright, dear. Breakfast is ready when you are." Aiko smiled and turned back down the stairs. I wonder what Sesshoumaru is up to, she mused idly, as she went back to her daily routine. He's such a mysterious person...

Kagome dressed hurriedly, wanting to get the meeting with the daiyoukai over with as soon as possible. The truth of the matter was, seeing him was painful. She didn't react badly to him because she was angry at him, after all, he'd had nothing to do with Inuyasha's betrayal. She avoided him because he reminded her of that which she'd lost... and that Inuyasha was dead - and the rest of her friends, as well.

It was as simple as that.

Leaving her room and heading to the kitchen to eat a quick breakfast, she thought about her friends... Miroku and Sango - and Shippo and Kirara. It hurt to know she'd never see them again... and she wondered if she'd ever find out about their lives. A surge of anger went through her at Inuyasha - he'd destroyed more than any possible relationship between them when he'd pushed her through the well: he'd destroyed everything from the years she'd spent on that side of the well chasing jewel shards.

Shaking off those thoughts for the time being, she ate her breakfast, and headed outside - she figured she may as well head to the shrine and begin helping her grandfather while waiting for Sesshoumaru, but she hadn't but just made it out the door when his aura surged over her, and she sighed in annoyance.

Turning, she asked, "Is there a reason you have to make the dramatic entrance, Sesshoumaru? Can't you just walk up the shrine steps like a normal person?"

With a raised brow, Sesshoumaru stared at her for a moment. "I am not a 'normal person', miko, you should know this by now. I do as I please, and it pleases me to avoid walking up all those stairs."

Kagome chuckled. "Lazy? I'd have never guessed that about you, Sesshoumaru."

With a slight sniff, he glared slightly at her. "I do not mind exercise at all, miko, however, it should be useful exercise, and walking up all those steps is not useful to me. It may be good exercise for your ningen body, but for this Sesshoumaru, it is a waste of time."

She rolled her eyes. "Okay, Lord Sesshoumaru, if you say so. So, what was so important that you had to come see me? I need to hurry here, I have to get to work with grandfather."

Sesshoumaru shook his head. "No, miko, you do not. I have already spoken to your grandfather and he has given you this day off. I have brought someone to see you. He has waited for many years to be near you again." With that, he stepped to the side, carefully watching her face.

Kagome stared at the person revealed as Sesshoumaru stepped aside, completely shocked. While she wouldn't have recognized him from his features alone, since he had still been a child the last time she saw him, she did recognize his youki... not to mention the tiny fire-neko sitting on his shoulder.

Shippo stared at her, almost overwhelmed. She looked the same as she had the day they defeated Naraku, and even though he knew, from Sesshoumaru, that for her, it had been only a matter of weeks, still, for him, it had been five hundred years, and it was difficult to reconcile the differences in the timeline.

Kirara, however, didn't have any difficulties with it, leaping from Shippo's shoulder straight at the miko with a tiny mew of joy, she landed right into arms that had automatically come out as soon as she'd seen Kirara jump towards her. Purring mightily, Kirara rubbed herself all over Kagome, obviously overjoyed to see her, and the sentiment was completely returned by the human girl.

"Kirara... Shippo..." her voice choked itself off, a huge lump taking up residence in her throat, leaving her unable to say anything else as Shippo launched himself at her. Tears pouring down her face, she hugged both of her beloved friends to her with all her might, content to stay right where she was for the rest of her natural life.

Sesshoumaru felt a warmth shift through him at the sight, glad that he had been able to find something that gave the girl so much joy... kami knew that it had been a commodity in short supply in her life lately. Turning, he cast one last glance at the three, then walked away, leaving them to be with each other.

This was their day, and he would not interfere. Casting his gaze into the goshinboku, he met his nephew's eyes, and forbid him to bother them with a sharp look, then, when he saw that his point had been made, he continued towards the entrance to the shrine, heading home.

He would find out the outcome of the day later.

---cCc---

For Yasha, watching the reunion going on before him was bittersweet. On the one hand, he was overjoyed to see her happy for once - he hadn't seen a true smile on her face since she'd come back through the well and it had sealed, and all he could think was that it was about time the kami gave her something to make her happy.

On the other hand, it was somewhat of a bitter draught, that he, who loved her so desperately, and wanted to bring her joy with all his heart, should only bring her pain. And even though, lately, she had mellowed from her original reaction to him, indifference wasn't that much easier to deal with than the hatred she'd originally thrown at him.

And then there was the other side of watching the three together.

For Yasha, seeing those three particular people in one place was almost like a very eerie case of deja vu. With all of the memories of the years spent on the quest for Naraku and the shards, came the vision of Shippo, as a child. But now, staring down at them, there was a grown version of the kitsune that his mind was telling him was a child...

Not very comfortable.

Kirara, on the other hand, didn't cause the same reaction, simply because she looked the same as she did in his memories of Inuyasha's life. Even so, it was still odd seeing her here, and he hoped that the two of them, Shippo and Kirara, would find it in them to get along with him - he'd like to be their friend, in this life as well... and hopefully, they wouldn't hold Inuyasha's actions against him - the actions that had ended the friendships between the group on that day, five hundred years in the past.

With a still uneasy sigh, he sat back against the trunk of the goshinboku, in the same spot that he had loved so in his life as Inuyasha, and settled in for a long wait.

He could well imagine that they would be spending the entire day together - and Yasha wasn't about to leave her without his protection... even if she didn't know he was there.

His previous self had let her go - he wasn't so inclined.

---cCc---

Leading Shippo to the bench under the goshinboku, Kagome grinned, and shook her head. "I was just thinking about you guys earlier, Shippo - I can't believe you guys are actually here! I've missed you both so much..." she choked, tears beginning to pool in her eyes as her emotions began to overrun her again. At least this time, the tears were mostly happy... although there was also pain, down below, at the thought of the two that were missing... Sango, and Miroku.

Shippo sat down and pulled her back into his arms, rocking her and humming one of the lullaby's she used to sing to him when he was still a tiny kit. He could feel her smile against his shoulder.

"Yeah, I never forgot any of the songs you used to sing me to sleep with. Sometimes, when I'd get lonely, and miss you, I'd sing them to myself. Pretty pathetic, huh?" he asked with a chuckle.

Kagome shook her head. "No. I'm so sorry you were alone, Shippo. I'd never have left you alone if I'd had a choice, you know that, right?" She pulled away then, to look him in the eye.

He smiled at her happily. "I know, Kagome. That's why I'm here. I was never mad at you... none of us were. We knew whose fault it was that you'd gone." He frowned, then, and let out a small growl. "After he came back alone, holding the jewel, we knew... all of us. I swear, Sango almost killed him - the only thing that stopped her was Kaede. She told us the reason he sent you away... but none of us cared."

He looked away then, anger obvious in his gaze. "After Kaede finished speaking, Inuyasha made his wish, and of course, Kikyou was brought back to life. I guess he thought that we were all okay with it, since Kaede was behind them, so he was pretty shocked when Sango told him how we all really felt. You could tell in that moment... she hated him, and as soon as she finished saying what she wanted to say, we all grabbed our stuff, and left. We never went back - any of us."

Kagome looked down, unsure how she felt about that. In some ways, she was glad, and yet, she knew that was wrong, so she also felt shamed that she felt that way. Then there was the sadness that things had ended so badly for the rest of the group... all the time they'd spent together, destroyed by one person's choice.

"I... don't know how to feel about that, Shippo. I guess it's just going to take some time to come to terms with it. Anyway, so what did you guys do then?"

He laughed. "We went to the slayer's village and fixed it back up. It didn't take long, really, before it was once again a thriving place, and, besides all of us missing you, you could say we were happy." Shippo glanced back at her. "Sango never got over the fact that she'd never see you again, you know. She was devastated, even more than me - because I knew I would see you again."

At that, a tiny mew was heard, and Kagome glanced down at the neko in her lap, to see Kirara staring at her solemnly, agreeing with Shippo.

A choked sob broke from Kagome then, and her head lowered, tears blinding her. "I miss her so much... she was closer to me than any sister could have been, and it hurts that I'll never see her, never hear her voice," she let out a choked half-laugh, half-sob, "hear her yelling 'Pervert!' at Miroku..." her voice broke off, throat tightening 'til she could barely draw air.

Tears flooded Shippo's eyes at that, and Kirara rubbed against her comfortingly as the kitsune pulled Kagome back into his embrace. "She told me to tell you when I saw you again, that she loved you... blood or not, you were family to her."

Kagome lay against his chest, helpless to stop crying as a huge sense of loss rolled through her, and reality finally, truly sank in: they were gone. She would never, ever see them again. And she hadn't even gotten to say goodbye.

In that moment, the walls she'd tried to build around her battered heart once again collapsed - and she hated Inuyasha with everything in her.

Loving him had literally cost her everything - her friends, her family, and even her very sanity.

Bitterly, she thought, then, that it wasn't worth it... he wasn't worth it.

And something within cried out with that thought, breaking down even further into pieces... shards so tiny, they may never be able to fit together...

Ever again.

---cCc---

Shippo just held her, and rocked her, until she finally cried herself to sleep, hurt, but knowing that she had to know the things he'd told her. It hurt her, but at the same time, it was a part of the healing process - she needed to grieve, and apparently none of the bakas around her had figured that out yet. They kept insisting on hiding things from her, and trying to keep her wrapped up in wool.

What they weren't figuring out, was that lying to her, whether straight out, or by emission, was only going to make things worse for her in the long run - teaching her that she couldn't trust any of them. She'd already lost enough, she didn't need to lose her family here as well - even through their own stupidity.

So, he'd told her what she'd needed to hear, even though he knew the others would probably be furious, and that, at least for a while, it would look like things were worse for her. In the end, it was true. Things were worse for her - but that was the way things worked. They always got worse, before they got better, and he was prepared to stand by his decision to tell her the truth - they'd see when she began to come out of it that lying was never the best policy when dealing with a situation like this.

Straight up.

Besides... who gave them the power to take away her right to grieve for her friends - for the loss of people who she had loved? If they had been killed in an accident in this era, no one would have denied her that, so why did they just because it was in another era?

Even Kirara agreed with him.

With a sigh, Shippo picked the sleeping Kagome up and walked towards the house, wanting to get her settled into her bed so she could sleep. She was exhausted - and sleep would do her good.

---cCc---

Yasha was scared, and angry. He'd never expected the kitsune's visit to make things worse with his beloved. Her broken-hearted sobs had broken off several more pieces of his own heart, but he couldn't really find it in himself to be angry at what the guy had done.

Because the truth was, her grief and pain was traceable back to only one person: Inuyasha.

Probably the best person right now to help her heal was the kitsune, and the neko, of course, as much as it hurt to know that it wasn't himself that she would turn to in her grief, he was prepared to step back. He would do anything to help her - even if that meant leaving her in someone elses hands to begin healing.

With that in mind, he hopped out of the tree, and walked up to the house, sliding the door back and entering, he removed his shoes, and entered the living room. With a sigh, he sat down on the couch, prepared to wait for as long as it took for Shippo to come back downstairs...

He had a question for him.

---cCc---

Shippo smiled wryly at Kirara, shaking his head. What a way to introduce yourself to someone - bringing in their daughter who's asleep in your arms.

At least Kagome's mother hadn't panicked - much. Once she'd realized that she was just asleep, she'd ushered him upstairs with nary an arguement, watching while he'd laid her on her bed, then smiled and led him back out of her room.

Once outside it, with the door shut, she'd introduced herself, and invited him to dinner, apparently eager to get to know the kitsune her daughter had loved so much.

As they walked down the stairs, however, he got quite the shock when his gaze lighted on the person sitting on the couch in the living room...

Despite the differences, he could tell immediately that this was Inuyasha's reincarnation...

The two males stared at each other, and it was up in the air how they would decide to react.

Aiko shuddered as she watched, hoping they decided to get along - for everyone's sakes.