InuYasha Fan Fiction ❯ Embracing Ice ❯ Truth Be Told ( Chapter 19 )

A/N: I apologize for the long delay.

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Embracing Ice

Written By: Yabou

Edited By: FireAngel8723

Chapter Nineteen: Truth Be Told

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"I am cursed." Lady Bishou sat at the edge of the koi pond, dipping her toes into the cool water. The layers of her kimono were pulled up to her knees, and the hemline around her neck was slightly askew. But, even with her slightly disheveled appearance, she was still a vision in shades of black and charcoal gray.


"Cursed?" Kagome whispered, moving to kneel beside her.


"Yes," the demoness replied with tears in her eyes. "I am gifted with the ability of Foresight, but even I cannot see some tales."


Kagome pressed her forehead against the Lady's shoulder. "You don't know why I am here, do you?"


Bishou gave a weak laugh and wrapped her arms around the woman-child that she had grown so fond of during the past few months. "I know what will happen to you, Dear One."


The young miko pulled away, surprise evident on her face. "You do?"


"Yes, I can see all that spans my lifeline."


"All that-." Kagome closed her eyes and pulled away. 'She doesn't see passed her death.'


Lady Bishou smiled and nodded in understanding. "I know when I am to leave this plane of existance."


"Oh," Kagome gave a deep sigh and looked at Bishou once again. "Will you tell-?"


"He does not know." She paused and placed her hand over Kagome's. "They do not know, and I will not tell them. Why should I speak with my Mate or my Son about an occurence that will only cause them grief and cannot be changed?"


Kagome remained silent.


"But now I trouble you with thoughts that are not your own worries. It escapes me now why I strayed from your own story." Lady Bishou smiled a little lighter and squeezed her hand. "I have been granted the Sight to know that you will see your family and friends once again. How I discovered this you will know in time, but for now, it must remain between myself and the red string of Fate. I know that you fear your death in this era, but I tell you now, do not worry. Fate has granted you a special gift, Dear One."


"A gift?"


"Yes, a gift." Bishou's hand grasped the fragment of the Shikon no Tama that hung around the young miko's neck. "This jewel has such an incredible power that will be formed inside of it, but the piece that you now hold is dead."


"Dead?" Kagome stared at the once pink shard and noticed the slight tint of gray that dulled it's former beauty. "What happened?!"


The clawed hand slipped away again. "The Shikon no Tama, even in its shattered form, knows and understands the feeling of being whole. Invisible strings tie together this creation, and when there are no more strings separating the pieces, it is whole. When you fell through the well to this time, the jewel could find no other strings. There were no missing pieces, and so, it granted you, it's protector, a wish because it was complete."


"Complete? But it's not finished. This isn't even a very big shard." Kagome's hands now clutched the item of her destiny like a lifeline. She had been searching for the jewel for so long that believing that it could be dead was like losing her purpose in life. 'What do I do without the jewel?'


"The jewel does not look forward and backward, Dear One. It can only see what is in this present. In this Time. So, the Shikon no Tama granted you a wish because it was complete."


"A wish? I didn't make a wish..."


"Oh, but you did, Dear One." Lady Bishou placed two fingertips to Kagome's forehead and called an image to her mind.


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Much later into the darkness, the woman-child found herself staring at the beautiful patterns of diamonds scattered through the inky black. “I miss you.” She whispered.

‘I feel so lost without them. Is this what it will feel like one day, when I have to go home?’ She frowned.

“Where is home?”

‘Can I pick one time period over the other? I love my friends, but I love my family, too. What am I supposed to do?’

Her hands fiddled with the incomplete jewel’s necklace clasped around her neck.

‘What will I do with the jewel? Can I even wish for anything? Will anyone be able to make an uncorrupted wish that will free me from this duty?’

She let out a weary breath. “Will I even complete the Shikon no Tama?” ‘Will I survive it all?’

“I wish…” She whispered quietly into the darkness. “I just want to see my friends again.”

Her eyelids closed slowly, no longer able to withstand their heavy weight. Somewhere in the back of her mind, she registered an unfamiliar tingling that died away to nothing in less than a second’s time.


(Excerpt taken from Chapter Nine: Only Memories)



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Kagome gasped, "Oh, gods. I'm going to live forever."


Bishou smiled again and gave a small laugh. "No, not forever Kagome, this spell will only last until you are able to return to the era that you belong in."



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Ikris gave a slight nod as she directed the movement of Kagome's hands over the threads. "Just think of your spiritual energy as a thread running through your veins. Allow your blood to become your spirit."


Kagome nodded and closed her eyes, creating a pink overlay to what she imagined to be the location of her veins via a blood vessel chart she could loosely remember from Biology class.


"Now," the older priestesses soothing voice washed over her like a spring mist. Ikris grasped the forefinger of her right hand. "Now, pretend that my hand is a piece of fabric. Let the thread that is inside of you surround my hand."


A faint, pulsing pink light gradually made it's way out of Kagome's fingertip and began to wrap around Ikris's hand.


"Good." She whispered, unwilling to break the spell of concentration that had fallen over her pupil. She placed the three threads in Kagome's hand, all of which was now pulsing with a soft, yet steady, light. "Release my hand and take these. Now, do the same. Push the energy out of your hand, but this time do not simply surround it. Try to strengthen these threads. Make them stronger with your own energy."


Kagome frowned a little, but she managed to cover the tips of the strands in her own energy before a light sweat broke out on her forehead. "H-how do I reinforce it?" Her voice was low and raspy.


"In your mind, when you wash over the strands, imagine that you are sinking into the fiber and leaving a layer of wax behind."


Kagome's magic flowed over the strands in small, rippling waves, but when it receded, they still shone with a soft glow. She had enveloped nearly an armspan of each thread in energy before the waves began to flicker and fade.


"Kagome," Ikris touched her now damp shoulder. "That is enough. Now, allow the strength that is not in these strands to return to you."


The older woman put the pieces away and watched as Kagome opened her eyes, blinking furiously. "You are doing well."


Kagome gave a slight smile. "Can I see it?"


Ikris shook her head. "This is part of your training. You cannot see your work until it is finished because you may try to alter it."


"But how can it turn out right if I don't see it?"


"When it feels right, it is so."


Kagome rolled her eyes and struggled into a sitting position. "I think I need a nap."


"Oh, no." Ikris laughed. "Now we will move on to the more physical side of your training."


"Physical?" Kagome groaned. "But, I'm already tired!"


Ikris tapped her on the nose and stood. "Being a miko is about spiritual, mental, and physical strength. You must be able to control your powers, plan your movements, and accomplish them. If you are out of balance with any of the three, you will hinder your own abilities. Now, to the temple stairs."


"Great." Kagome sighed. "A prehistoric StairMaster."



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The cool evening air washed over her in soft, refreshing waves. Ikris had kept her nose to the grindstone until the sun began its descent into the mountains far beyond the temporary home of the Ruling family of the Western Lands. Dinner had been a quite a rambuncous affair this evening. Lady Bishou and Lady Ikris were two peas in a pod, and their conversation seemed to dominate over the normal discussions of land treaties and war-like excursions.


Needless to say, neither Lord Konton, nor young Lord Sesshoumaru could get a word in edge wise.


Kagome had been quite amused by the sight of two flabbergasted demons attempting to hold what they considered to be a very prosperous conversation over their evening meal only to be pushed aside by two chattering females. 'I wonder how Bishou managed to survive before I came along. The only other females in the household are servants, and she doesn't seem like the kind of person who can survive without companionship.'


Her thoughts turned toward the events she had spoken of with Lady Bishou several days earlier. 'I don't see how anyone can foretell their own death and not want to change it. I don't know what I would do in her situation. How does she manage to surpass all of the sorrow?' Another thought came to her mind, unwanted. 'Does she know about Inuyasha's mother? Will Lord Konton betray her like that?'


"What are you thinking about that makes your face appear so worried?" Sesshoumaru stepped off of the low porch to join her in the side garden.


"Time." Kagome responded, allowing a small smile to draw up her lips.


"The past or the future?" He wondered allowed.


She snorted. "I suppose it would be the future, to you."


"Your time," he whispered. "Is it so different from my own?"


Tears began to build in her eyes at the thought of it. "Nothing is the same."


He laughed at her. "Is the grass still green?"


"Of course," she frowned at him. "That's a senseless question."


"Is the sky still blue?"


"Not quite as vibrant, but yes, its still blue."


"Does the wind still blow the leaves off of the trees when the cold grows strong?" He asked, stepping closer still.


"Yes, it does." She frowned and attempted to turn away, but he caught her chin and forced her to look at him.


"And does the moon still hang above you?" His voice rumbled soft and low.


"Yes."


He smiled and carefully pressed his lips to hers in a light caress. "Then it is not so different."


"There are more bad things in my time." She reasoned. "Everything is not so pure and beautiful as it is now."


Sesshoumaru shook his head and hugged her tightly to his chest. "Any time that holds you must be pure and beautiful."


She tilted her head to look up at him. "Why?"


"Because you bring out the best in everything and everyone who surrounds you. You make them want to be a better being because they know you." His hands ran through her hair. "I am better because I know you."


"You don't mean that." Kagome pulled away; tears finally fell from her eyes.


"I would not say what I do not hold as truth." He replied with a snap in his tone.


She shook her head. "You may now, but you won't."


He frowned at her. "How do you know how I will feel?"


"Because I knew you then. Because I know you."


Sesshoumaru stood, rendered speechless, as she fled to her room.



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"Does he love her?" Konton questioned his wife at the edge of the garden.


"No, not now." Lady Bishou whispered, staring at her son as he stormed indoors.


Konton sighed. "Will he love her?"


"Desperately." Bishou answered, wiping a tear from her eye.



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A/N: I hope you enjoyed this section. If you didn't understand...well, this is a bit-by-bit information line. It's not going to jump out at you all at once.

Comments: I'm glad that someone responded that they enjoyed the way Kagome was gradually gaining her powers. That's the way its meant to be in my mind.

-Yabou