InuYasha Fan Fiction ❯ Embracing Ice ❯ My Son ( Chapter 2 )

EDITED: 7/10/05

In response: I will continue, and the story will most likely be 30 to 50 chapters (leaning more toward 50).

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Embracing Ice

Chapter Two: My Son

Written By: Yabou

Edited By: FireAngel8723

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She could feel the hundreds of years of history trapped beneath her fingertips as her hands delicately played across the top of the garden scene on the shoji screen of the far wall. Lady Bishou had only left a few moments before and had explained that this particular piece of work was what Lord Konton had been retrieving when he had happened upon her lying in the bottom of the well. She was amazed by the intricate patterns.

Sweeping cranes that blended perfectly with the early morning’s sky watched the many koi in the pond beneath her fingers, just waiting for one to leap out of the water and into their awaiting bellies. She smiled as she gently traced a beautiful water lily. It seemed so out of place and alone in the far corner of the painting, but Lady Bishou had explained that the water lily was the symbol of purity and peace in a world of war. Kagome smiled at the idea. Water lilies had always been her favorite flower.

The youkai Lady of the house had agreed that she would take Kagome to see the real water lilies in their own garden whenshe felt that she was well enough to travel past the boundaries of her room. She tiredvery easily, and the Lady still feared for the state of her returning health.

Kagome released the painting and wandered back to her pallet. She had been confined to the room for an additional three weeks after two initial attempts to escape back to the well, but after hearing that she was nearly twelve days away she resisted the urge to fight first and think later. It would do her no good to die out in the wilderness. She had to survive.

She had a jewel to complete.

She rolled her eyes and plopped down into the soft, feather mat with that thought.

‘So, I’m in the 700s with nothing to do but sit and wait. Will Inuyasha be able to come back and find me? Am I trapped here?’ Such questions led to what seemed the inevitable over the past few weeks. ‘Why am I here in the first place?’

Her mind attempted to refocus on a voice that she had heard upon first falling into the well, but the sound was weak and without definite syllables. It was useless.

Over the last few days, when she had been the most conscious and lucid, she had been able to gather that the Japanese capital, Nara, had only recently been formed, and therefore, she was only in the very earliest of stages of the Nara Period. Oh, joy.

“Damn it.” She whispered into the room, stubbornly kicking her pallet for good measure.

The well shouldn’t have tossed her into this new time period. She was supposed to stay in the Edo Period and finish gathering the Shikon shards that she had scattered throughout the nation. She was supposed to have been able to go through the well once the jewel was complete to finish her high school and university educations while visiting the feudal friends that had become family over the four year journey.

She was supposed to one day knock some sense into that stupid hanyou, and he was supposed to realize that he couldn’t live without her. Then, she was supposed to have a huge traditional white wedding on the shrine steps in front of Goshinboku before falling into the past to repeat the event for her adoptive family.

And finally, and most importantly, she was supposed to live happily ever after with the hanyou of her dreams and have many, many children.

But unfortunately, she first had to find a way to get out of the room in which Lady Bishou had imprisoned her. What a waste.

She snorted at her own impossible thoughts. Even if she did manage to find a way out of this new time period, she highly doubted that one bop over the head would bring the stubborn hanyou to his senses. It was all just a product of wishful thinking on her part.

“Why did you do this to me?” She questioned the distant time portal.

No answer…as if any were to be expected.

Well, she had hoped…

Pushing away a past that could not currently be dealt with, since it was the future and all, she looked at her immediate future. ‘Oh, that was a confusing thought. I can’t think about my past because it’s the future? Or, I can’t think about the future because it’s the past?’ “Urg!”

She sighed. This had to be what was often referred to as ‘cabin fever.’ She was going crazy in her pretty prison.

“I just need to feel the wind on my face.” She closed her eyes and imagined a gentle breeze brushing back the long strands of her ebony hair, tickling her cheeks and nose. “Yes.”

With a resolute nod, the young miko forced herself into a sitting position. Once the initial dizziness had subsided, she made a quick fight to stand and took a few swift steps toward the door, afraid that slowing down would cause the nausea to catch up with her. 

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Lady Bishou carefully swept a loose lock of her long silver hair out of her eyes and stared into the small, polished silver mirror. Her hands trailed carefully over the prominent crescent moon and maroon stripes.

Ever since the arrival of the strange young miko, she had been nearly on edge. The woman’s whispered words of her first awakening had been frightening. No one was supposed to know of the young Lord’s existence, and yet this woman spoke of him with a familiarity. She was shocked to say the least.

Sesshoumaru was in a constant state of danger in the ever changing world around them. Youkai everywhere feared losing their powers to the rapidly growing human population, and the battles that were being thrown about like child’s play killed by the thousands. Bishou feared that her young son would not live if he were to be discovered.

Lord Konton was only a third of the way through Sesshoumaru’s training, and there was no way that he could fight against so many that wanted him dead so much.

The weak minded humans did not realize that her Lord and her Son were not the source of their problems. Many feuding daimyos in the north had been the reason for the most recent outbreak. They fought over a small plot of fertile soil and wealthy trading villages.

She sighed. The outcome was inevitable. Her Lord would be forced to fight in the place of his under-trained son. She knew that he would not risk the death of his only child and heir when he still thought himself quite capable of defeating many.

“I pray to the Kami of Nature that you will be well, My Lord.” Her knuckles turned white against the mirror’s delicately crafted handle. “I pray to the Kami of Nature that my Son will be as strong as My Lord.” A tear slipped down her cheek. “Please, do not let my love die.” 

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Kagome giggled happily as the small fish nibbled at her toes. It felt good to dip her feet into the cool water of the brook.

“What are you doing in the water, Kagome?” Lady Bishou wiped the remainders of watery weakness off of her cheeks. “You will allow yourself to become sick with such foolishness.”

Kagome smiled. “I’m sorry, Lady Bishou, but I couldn’t help myself. It practically called to me.”

“Nonsense.” The woman gave a slight roll of her eyes and a gentle grin to soften the bite of her words. “I will not have My Lord’s work be in vain. Remove yourself from the water this instant.”

Kagome nodded and wadded to the edge.

“What are you doing away from your room?” She questioned. “Who allowed you out?”

Kagome frowned. “I didn’t know someone was supposed to be guarding the door. I’m tired of being in that room. It’s awfully beautiful, but it’s very hard to stay in the same place for so long when I am so used to moving about constantly.”

“You must refrain.” She responded methodically. “You are still far too weak to be gallivanting about in such manners. It is beneath your position, Miko.”

“Why?”

It was the Lady’s turn to frown. “Because it is considered so.”

Kagome couldn’t help herself. Her head fell back in laughter at the pure ridiculous nature of the statement. Trailing slowly to the bank, she gathered the tabi socks in one hand and sat at the edge of the breezeway.

Lady Bishou brushed a few pieces of imaginary dust away from her shimmering green kimono and came to stand at her side. “Why do you laugh?”

“Because, what you said made no sense.”

“It did make sense.” Lady Bishou reasoned. “It would not be considered appropriate by others if you were seen traipsing about in such a manner. It leads people to doubt your credibility.”

Kagome’s eyebrows raised at her reasoning. “So, you don’t think it’s inappropriate, personally?”

Lady Bishou let out a light laugh. “I did not say that.”

Kagome giggled. “But you meant it.”

“Maybe, I did.”

“You did.” Kagome found herself staring at the demonic markings covering the woman’s face once again. She had not tried to question her again, mainly for that fact that she had been in and out of consciousness for the last few weeks.

Lady Bishou’s eyes became somber. “Why did you say the name Sesshoumaru when you first awakened?”

Kagome frowned, not knowing whether or not she could answer the question honestly. “I…Your facial markings remind me of a demon that I once heard of named Sesshoumaru.” Well, it wasn’t a complete lie.

“Ah.” She nodded. “I see.”

“Why?” Kagome interrogated. “Do you know him?”

The youkai frowned. Slowly, she nodded. This young woman could be trusted. She could feel it.

“How?”

“He is my Son.”

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-Yabou