InuYasha Fan Fiction ❯ Facets of the Living Jewel ❯ Amor animi arbitrio sumitur, non ponitur ( Chapter 42 )

Disclaimer: I do not own Inuyasha or the other characters. Ms. Takahashi does.

 

 

[Inudemon]

(Inuhuman)

`Inuyasha or others'

 

A/N: Two things. ONE: I would like to thank inuyashaloverr (for nominating) and Amanda Mitchell (for seconding the nomination) for this story for Best AU. Thanks to FieryFaerie for nominating it for Best Lemon, and to inuyashaloverr for nominating it in the Best Characterization: Inuyasha category. These last two have not been seconded, and the seconding closes in two days (I think). If one of the IYFG members reading my story would second in these categories (if you think I deserve it), the story can move to the next level. Otherwise, it won't move on, and I will be…hhmm. I'm not sure how I'll feel. You see, I still have a hard time believing that people are reading this, and I'm up against people like Sueric (now I know how David felt when he walked out to take on Goliath). But I truly do appreciate the nominations and the second! I've had a smile for days!

 

TWO: Not to get you all solemn and pensive, but please read the following passages before reading the chapter.

 

“Some say that the self endures after death, some say it perishes. Both are wrong and their error is most grievous. For if they say the self is perishable, the fruit they strive for will perish too, and at some time there will be no hereafter. Good and evil would be indifferent. This salvation from selfishness is without merit.” Buddha: The Sermon at Rajagaha

 

“But now remains faith, hope, love, these three; but the greatest of these is love.” 1 Corinthians 13:13

 

 

Amor animi arbitrio sumitur, non ponitur

By Licentia poetica

 

Kagome was adrift.

 

Floating in indifference; no emotions, no feeling, no true sentience, she was aware of the body below her as she waited. It did not occur to her to wonder what she was waiting for, because she had no sense of time, and there was no urgency to act.

 

She had left the body so easily, slipping quietly from the prison of broken flesh, and she still was tethered to it by the slightest of connections.

 

She began to float as if caught in a current, and the connection wafted with her. She became aware of other souls in her immediate area, tied to their flesh. One of the souls, a swirling mixture of glowing white and blazing ebony, seemed connected to the tether holding her to her body, but it did not occur to her to wonder at the phenomenon. It just…was.

 

Her sense of her surroundings expanded. The souls of the villagers, the Kai-wolves, and a mysterious, brooding spirit impinged on her awareness. She remained indifferent.

 

Then a warm gold and silver light bathed her in radiance as she became aware of a pillar of creative force. It battered at her consciousness, forcing a memory to surface.

 

`I'm anchored. Boy, am I anchored! What now?'

 

`Remember to anchor first, then reach for the others. Do you think you've got it?'

 

`It's actually…easy!'

 

The Goshinboku. Her anchor for any time, any place, even death. It seemed to whisper to her. “Have faith.”

 

Yet still she drifted.

 

The tsukai appeared, and she realized that she had been waiting for them. Yet they did not touch her. They seemed reluctant, as if contact with her would harm them.

 

She continued to follow the current. As her awareness expanded, she realized that she was being pulled. The tsukai followed, hesitantly, their eyes focused on her.

 

The gold and silver colossus coaxed another memory from her.

 

“The Nexus is a vibration in time between the two worlds, caused by the birth of Kagome, and by the power of the Shikon jewel. Kagome and the jewel are at the center and they create a resonance in the time threads. Time will keep coming back to the center until the one thread is found that can exit the ball.”

 

Her mother. The Nexus. The Shikon no Tama.

 

Suddenly she became aware of the time threads. Many were vibrating, threatening to disintegrate. All were being pulled in the same direction that she was going. The other anchor of the Nexus was causing the current, drawing Kagome and the time threads into itself. She knew where the current was taking her: the polluted Jewel.

 

The evil of Naraku and the hanyou that battled Midoriko began to color her perceptions as she drifted closer to the Jewel. She recoiled from the taint as it pained her spirit, and she wondered at the magnitude of an evil that could harm even the dead.

 

Then it hit her. `I'm dead. I'm dead? I can't be dead, not yet!'

 

A feeling of horror began beating against the indifference which weighted her soul. `Naraku will be able to use my time powers and my miko powers. He will be able to cross time.'

 

Yet still she was enervated, unable to take action.

 

The Tree whispered encouragement. “Hope.”

 

She began to fight the current, forcing her consciousness to focus on to the delicate wisp that still connected her to her body. The tsukai moved closer, threatening her with the small staves they carried. She ignored them, and placed her will against the flow.

 

It was not easy. The black miasma beckoned. How simple it would be to follow the flow, to let her self be absorbed, to give up her will, her choices, to be forever relieved of pain and consequences.

 

She gritted her teeth. `Pain is how I know I'm alive.'

 

A blast of pain and need hit her, threatening her grip on the miniscule tether. `Inuyasha!' She could feel his anguished cry resonating through their soul bond.

 

The Tree whispered again. “Love.”

 

She tried to create the mind meld with Inuyasha. She could not make it form, though she tried with all the power that she could spare from maintaining the connection to her body.

 

She was caught midway between her body and the Jewel. Unable to move forward and refusing to be drawn into oblivion, she watched helplessly as the tsukai moved toward her, some raising their staves over the connection to her body.

 

She recognized that she could create another jewel utilizing the corrupt power of Naraku, the original polluted Jewel, and her own time powers. Her training and abilities made it possible, and she knew that she was facing the same decision that Midoriko had been forced to make: to leave everyone she knew and loved behind, but to save them all from certain destruction.

 

`I have to save them.' She was about to form the new jewel when the Tree compelled another memory.

 

`His weapon and the Tenseiga created something that the miko Midoriko calls a space-time rip. It threatens my Packs and must be destroyed, but the Tenseiga can only reduce its power. It is surrounded by the miko's barrier and alchemic magic, but she and Yourei Taisei must guard it to prevent it from escaping. She stated she requires your help to close it, and you will accompany me.'

 

`I can't form another jewel! Everyone will just die anyway!' Desperate, she tried to reach anyone, anything, with a mind meld. `Help me!'

 

The Goshinboku answered.

 

The tsukai disappeared as an androgynous humanoid form appeared within the light of the tree, glowing with silver and gold highlights. The eyes were unfathomable, a deep, profound black, and they held her gently with their gaze.

 

“Have faith and hope. Choose to love.”

 

The being held out its hands to her, smiling. The radiance of that smile pierced her, but the sensation was exhilarating, not painful.

 

“Trust. Let go of what seems to be.” The being's hands were so close that they almost touched her, yet it did not close the remaining distance between them.

 

`It wants me to let go of my connection? I will truly be dead then.'

 

“Choose. Faith is not based on proof. Hope is not rooted in fact. Love believes all things.” The being radiated power beyond anything she could ever understand, yet it waited for her response.

 

A profound sense of peace filled her as she smiled back. She understood.

 

She chose to have faith, and hope, and she chose to love.

 

She reached for the being with all of her strength.

 

And let go of the tether to her body.

 

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

 

Kagome's body rose in the dim hut, scintillating gold and silver racing over it as if lightning had come to earth and was trying to take human form.

 

Inuyasha and Sesshoumaru backed away, shielding their eyes from the blinding radiance.

 

(What's happening to her?)

 

[We need to protect her.]

 

`From what? We don't even know what this is. It might not even be Kagome.'

 

The radiance began to dim, and Kagome's body, standing vertically now, appeared as a shadow within the glow.

 

Sesshoumaru began to growl, and drew the Tenseiga again.

 

“Stop, Inu no Taisho.”

 

“This Sesshoumaru will not let an undead miko walk again. Once is enough.” But Sesshoumaru waited, curious to see what the magic would reveal.

 

A gentle breeze stirred their silver hair as the light began to pulse and a subtle but throbbing sound filled the room.

 

A heartbeat.

 

The breeze stirred again, and Inuyasha gasped.

 

“Her scent. Put away that damn sword, baka! That's her scent!” He took a deep breath, reveling in the clean, gentle scent that was Kagome. Mixed in with her scent were the subtle undertones that indicated she was his mate.

 

She had smelled of blood and death, but it was gone. He leaped forward, knowing what he would find, disregarding the remaining lightning even as it shocked his skin when he touched her. “She's alive!”

 

She fell into his arms and he pulled her head under his chin.

 

`Kagome.'

 

She took a sudden breath, and a massive blue barrier erupted around her, throwing both Inuyasha and Sesshoumaru back against the wall.

 

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

 

Translation: Amor animi arbitrio sumitur, non ponitur: Latin; we choose to love, we do not choose to cease loving. (Syrus)

 

A/N: Before I get flamed for mixing Christianity with Buddhism, most religions agree that the Supreme Being is a source of energy in the nothingness from which the universe was created, and Mahayana Buddhism (the form of Buddhism that Miroku follows...he doesn't have to stop being a monk because he's been with women; he can even get married!) would accept the Christian teaching.

 

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

R&R thanks:

 

Inuyasha_crazy_fan: thanks for the e-mail!

 

FF: Archangel Gabrielle (Sami!), jcnkitten (actually, I found the comment that I should be eaten hysterically funny), sassysango26, Photographing Poetry, Lady Niltiak (no, my chapters aren't getting shorter, they've ranged from 2 pages to 9 or 10…if it fits within the chapter, I write it there, if not, I don't...this one's 5…a nice average), lunerfox (yup, you're right, that's what it is!), billysgotagun, Moomoogirl1 (here I must digress)

 

No, my beta is not a Siamese fighting fish! She's a wonderful person who owns some fish (ooh, the evil eel and arawana). She is still ill and needs everyone's good thoughts. A beta is someone who reads my story and tells me everything I've done wrong…plot holes, grammar mistakes, spelling errors, idiocy, blathering, etc., but Inaqui is in need of a different kind of R&R right now. `Sokay, don't feel bad…I still think WAFF stands for “woefully abysmal fan fiction” given most of the stories that have WAFF in their summaries.

 

FF (continued): The Painted Lady (are you referring to these lyrics: “Spend all your time waiting for that second chance. For a break that will make it okay, there's always some reason to feel not good enough and it's hard at the end of the day….Oh beautiful release memories seek from my veins” (!!!!!!!) “and may be empty oh weightless and maybe I will find some peace tonight in the arms of the angel”??? I agree, spookily appropriate!), kikyo-kagome2000, Lynxes (who is Bigfoot? Ooh, I feel another Star Wars…umm sort of…story morph coming on!!)

 

Alternate story line:

 

Darth Sesshoumaru unsheathed the Tenseiga and faced Kagome's body. Focusing his eyes, he waited for the appearance of the tsukai, wondering what he would become after he saved her.

 

They appeared, and the horror overwhelmed him. Screaming in terror, he backed away from Kagome's body, dropping the Tenseiga from nerveless fingers. He ran out of the hut, never to be seen again.

 

Inuyasha grew confused.

 

[Use the fang, Inuyasha!]

 

As he drew the Tetsusaiga, the voice came again.

 

[Not that one, idiot. You'll just pulverize her body with the Wind Scar! Use the Tenseiga!]

 

Inuyasha picked up the Tenseiga, and used his youki to focus on the tsukai. He gasped in horror as he saw them.

 

The Teletubbies. All of them. Tinky winky, Dipsy, Laa-laa, and…most horrific of all…Po. (Disclaimer: I don't own them and never would want to!)

 

His demon withdrew, gibbering in terror, never to emerge in his consciousness again. Inuyasha fainted.

 

Kagome was adrift. She became aware of the pull of a current, and awoke to the horror of her situation. A vacuum cleaner with plate-sized eyes was sucking everything it could reach inside it. It glared at her balefully.

 

“Augh! No! Not the Noo-noo!” But Kagome was too late to anchor herself, and was sucked into oblivion.

 

(The rest of the story line follows the one from a few chapters back…you know, everything dies…except the Noo-noo. It even sucks in the time rip. If you don't understand, don't worry. You don't want to! It just means you don't have little children and haven't been forced to watch that program! No wonder I'm half-crazy!)

 

Ahem. Oohh, kaay. Back to normal, sort of….

 

MM:

HopelesslyEscaflowne: Thank you! I appreciate the comments. Do people think this story is too long? Hhmm. Well…maybe longer than most.

 

mel f: Sorry, no can do! I'm only one chapter ahead of you guys and I post immediately after writing it….

 

Jessbit: I hope Rin and Kagome have stopped battling in your brain…it must hurt!

 

kt: Well, now you know what happened to Kagome…oh wait, do you? Why did she attack Sesshy and Inu? (Evil laugh resonates in cyberspace)

 

Tevrah: I like Sesshy and Rin, too. But not in this story, she's too young!!!!! Maybe a sequel…

 

Selina: yyyeeeeeeaaaaaaahhhh! But are you sure she's alive? She let go of the life line.

 

FieryFaerie: When I get a chance I'll read “Remember.” I don't mind the self-promotion, in fact I'll do some of my own! HEY! IYFG members reading this! No one has seconded Best Char, Inuyasha and Best Lemon, and the seconding closes soon! Although I realize I don't have much of a chance, I would appreciate your second (and a third)! There, see? I did some, too!

 

Pairikan: Thank you. I'm glad you like the story line, and you write English well. Actually, my English friends say I speak American. However, I'm not sure what you mean by reduction…?

 

Yugiogirl03: Did you used to sic your teething babies on me at AS? You sound familiar.

 

Inu4Ever (Wow!): I know that was you, even though there was no user name. Namaste, my friend! By the way, for those wondering what namaste means, it's essentially “I acknowledge your inner light.” Inu4Ever and I have been exchanging that greeting for a while now…

 

Leo-mae: Ya know, the pregnancy isn't even established yet. People don't seem to realize that it takes 3-5 days for implantation to occur…no miscarriage, at least not yet…

 

Tara222: Did the e-mail I sent you help? Sorry, but there's no magic way to do the translations. It just takes work. And research. And time. Like these R&R responses!

 

parvatilotus: No, I wouldn't want you to cry all the time…just sometimes! And laugh, or smile, or frown. Otherwise the story gets boring.

 

Frani1375: Thanks!

 

 

Thank you all for reading!!!!!! L.P.