InuYasha Fan Fiction ❯ Collected Works ❯ Link ( Chapter 45 )

[ T - Teen: Not suitable for readers under 13 ]

Title: Link
Author: LuxKen27
Genre: General
Universe: Canon AR (divergence from Chapter 552)
Rating: T
Warnings: None
Word Count: 1699
Summary: Ten years after the well closes forever, Sesshoumaru offers Kagome some much-needed answers to her unresolved past.

Entry for: ebony_silks [Sess/Kag] Week #81, “Ghost” prompt

Disclaimer: The Inuyasha concept, story, and characters are copyright Rumiko Takahashi and Viz Media.

A soft knock sounded on the door of his office. He inclined his head as a servant opened it slightly, poking his head in. “Your guest has arrived, my lord.”

“Thank you,” Sesshoumaru answered tonelessly, eyes dropping back to the documents before him. He sighed, scratching a quick signature across the bottom of the lot. I shouldn’t keep her waiting, he thought, tossing the papers on top of a growing stack ready for delivery. After all, it’s only been five hundred years.

He shrugged into his coat as he left the study, straightening his tie as he walked along the dimly lit corridor. He came to a shuttering halt in front of the massive library doors, staring at the dark wood for a long moment. He could feel her aura, weak though it was behind the solid doors, prickling against his latent youki. He closed his eyes and took a deep breath.

This would be harder than he anticipated.

“I hope you have found everything to your liking,” he announced as he threw open the doors with little flourish. His guest rose from her seat at his entrance, turning to face him –

– and he exhaled sharply at the very sight of her. God, if he didn’t know better…he would’ve sworn he was staring at his beloved Rin.

“Sesshoumaru?” she queried, her expression a mix of surprise, awe, and wonder. “Is that really you?”

He managed to find his voice. “Indeed,” he replied, approaching her with languid strides, motioning for her to sit. “Kagome.”

She fell back into her seat, still eying him with disbelief as he settled across from her. He shifted uncomfortably under her scrutiny, but decided to let her look as long as was necessary for her to believe it. Yes, she really was sitting across from him, five hundred years after they had parted. Yes, she really had been invited into his home, via exclusive invitation, to be granted the first interview he had given to a journalist in years.

He couldn’t prevent a small smile from creasing his lips. “You look like you’ve seen a ghost,” he remarked, pushing a hand through his curtain of hair.

“I just can’t believe it,” she sputtered, her mouth opening and closing rapidly. A slight blush tinted her cheeks as her eyes fell. “You don’t look a day older.”

“Hm.” He quirked a brow. Surely by now she realized that youkai aged far slower than humans?

She continued to study the notebook in her lap as the realization dawned over her. “Why am I really here?” she asked softly.

“You don’t believe the reclusive author-in-residence wishes to finally give an account of his past twenty years in seclusion?” he replied sardonically, his smirk only increasing. She always had been a smart one.

Her aura flared as she glanced up at him. “It’s been ten years since the well closed,” she bit off. “Why now? Why did you let me suffer so long?”

He heaved a sigh, unleashing his youki, allowing it to fill the room with an icy chill, lest she have any ideas about punishing him. “The cloak-and-dagger tactics were strictly by order,” he explained. “Apparently my brother thought ten years a sufficient mourning period for humans.” He wrinkled his nose as he observed her reaction. “Obviously, he thought wrong.”

She had been ready to jump out of her seat at the slightest provocation, but the mention of Inuyasha brought her up short. “This was all Inuyasha’s doing?” she asked, her hand closing at her throat.

“Indeed.”

She cast a suspicious glance at him. “And you went along with it? Why?”

It was his turn to look away. “Let’s just say I knew where he was coming from. Grief binds the most unlikely people together sometimes.”

He could smell the tears behind her eyes, and his heart took a painful beat. Silence stretched out between them as she digested this information, this unexpected change in plans. She’d come for an exclusive, yes, but it wasn’t the one she thought she was getting. He watched her struggle to contain her emotions, and his heart almost went out to her.

Was she ready to confront the past?

“All this time,” she muttered. “I’ve felt like it was wrong, that I couldn’t return to him, to my friends. Why? Why did the well close up forever?”

“That was Naraku’s last wish,” he said quietly. “To separate you two forever, to strand you on opposite ends of time.”

She shook her head, squeezing her eyes shut against the tears stinging at her eyes. “Why didn’t he survive, like you?” She sniffled, her implication clear though she could not give it voice: Didn’t he believe in the power of our love?

Sesshoumaru leaned forward. “Losing you broke him, Kagome,” he murmured. “He spent the rest of his life close to that well, never straying far, on the off chance that you’d find a way to break the curse and return.”

Tears trickled down her cheeks. “And Sango? Miroku?”

He frowned, wanting to reach out to her, but finding himself unable to offer comfort. Such had never been his strong suit.

“They married and raised a brood of kids,” he replied. “They lived in the village with the old miko Kaede…and Rin.”

She glanced up sharply at the mention of his former ward’s name. “Rin didn’t stay with you?”

“I sent her to the village to learn how to live among her own kind again,” he said. “Besides, I had my own plans and ambitions.”

“Oh?” She watched as he stood and strolled toward the window, his profile as stoic and impassive as always. “And what did you do with yourself after the battle with Naraku?”

He permitted another small smile. “I ruled the world.”

Kagome blinked, a vision of him in full armor and swords flashing before her eyes.

“And then?”

He shrugged. “I ran a youkai empire second only to that of my father,” he mused, his expression softening as he thought back to his glory days. “I did what was honorable: I took a mate. I attempted to bring Inuyasha into the fold, but failed due to his dejection. I even gave that little fox brat a spot in my army. He turned into quite the valiant warrior.”

Kagome wiped her tears away. “And Rin? Did you return for her?”

His expression closed. “No,” he admitted, “but she found me nonetheless, when she was old enough to understand the consequences of her actions.” He spared a glance over his shoulder in Kagome’s direction, memories of that sudden reunion flooding over him.

Kagome’s eyes widened as she met his gaze. “You loved her very much, didn’t you?”

He returned to his seat opposite her. “It was only after losing her that I understood the depth of Inuyasha’s despondency.” He quirked a grim smile. “So, in a way, you have her to thank for this meeting even taking place.”

She continued to study him, her expression unreadable, unnerving. His youki flared defensively, though he fought to rein it in.

“So how did you go from being a taiyoukai of the highest caliber to a notoriously reclusive author?” she asked, allowing her eyes to slide over his features.

“You know your history,” he replied shortly. “Along with the rapid rise of your human development came an end to the taiyoukai population. Wars were fought among my kind as human civilization advanced into our territories. Demon-slayers grew more and more skilled as their weapons were enhanced.” He shook his head. “I found that I’d built my castles on pillars of sand, and that if I was to survive, it would be among the population of men.”

“That must’ve been quite a shock for you,” she assessed. “To go from a great youkai leader to an anonymous member of humanity.”

“One of my strengths has always been my ability to adapt to the situation at hand,” he replied, his tone matter-of-fact, not boastful. “After losing Rin, my life was an empty shell, so it wasn’t that hard to start over. I promised Inuyasha on his deathbed that I would stick around for you, to give you the link to the past he always thought you’d desire from this side of time.”

She reached for his hand and squeezed it impulsively. “I find it really admirable that you did that for him,” she said.

“I didn’t just honor that vow for him,” he murmured, allowing his fingers to close around hers. “After awhile, I found myself quite looking forward to this meeting. I’ve reinvented my identity so many times in the last two hundred years, that it’s refreshing to be around someone who knew the real me, all those centuries ago.”

She glanced down at their clasped hands. “Was that the real you?” she wondered aloud.

He shrugged. “Maybe, maybe not,” he replied. “But if you want your link to the past, that’s all I can offer you.”

Her aura was bright as she fought within herself, considering his bargain carefully. She could leave it at this – after all, her latent curiosity had been satisfied by their conversation today. She knew the facts of what had happened to her friends, her beloved hanyou, and even a sketch of the life of the youkai lord who sat across from her.

Sesshoumaru stood once more, leaving her to her inner battles. He crossed the room to a large desk, one used for studying oversized books and maps, and pulled open the drawer underneath. He took out a wrapped object, holding it reverently as he returned to his confused and quiet companion.

“At the very least, take this,” he requested, laying the object in her lap. “If it’s any consolation – it is yours by rights, as Inuyasha’s inheritance.”

Kagome touched the hilt of Tessaiga lovingly, her other hand wrapping possessively around the silk that encased its sheath. “No,” she replied, shaking her head. “You keep it.”

He was taken aback by the swiftness of her rejection, along with the determined resolve in her eyes as she stood, facing him once again, pressing the sword back into his arms.

“I’d rather have a living, breathing link to the past,” she vowed.