InuYasha Fan Fiction ❯ Facets of the Living Jewel ❯ Ita erat quando hic adveni! ( Chapter 60 )

Disclaimer: I do not own Inuyasha or the other characters. Ms. Takahashi does. I do, however, own this story's plot and I know you just LOVE the cliffies!

 

Warning: although there is no lemon in this chapter there are blatant references to sexual situations.

 

Font for Inudemon's speaking voice.

 

Ita erat quando hic adveni!

By Licentia poetica

 

Miroku lazily stroked Sango's hip and thigh as she lay tucked against his side, her head pillowed on his shoulder. She was still trembling from their last session of lovemaking and he smirked in masculine satisfaction. `Buddha's blessings, her supple legs!'

 

She had teased him about his inability to control his urges and he had countered by bringing her to orgasm twice by moving her supple body into positions that would increase her pleasure and prolong his performance. The third time he kept her from reaching completion until she quivered with each stroking touch and was nearly sobbing his name. When he finally lost control and gave in to both their needs she had screamed.

 

He kissed her brow as she stirred against him, smirking again as she sighed and stretched languorously. `So much for my inability to control myself. I have not spent years studying and disciplining my mind and body for nothing, lovely Sango.'

 

“Ow.” She reached up and massaged her temple before rolling over on her back and looking at her injured arm. She was bleeding slightly from the deepest part of the cut.

 

He was instantly contrite. “Gods, Sango! Why didn't you tell me I was hurting you!” He sat up and gathered her into his arms, looking around for her yukata. “We need to get you to Kaede's hut at once!”

 

“You didn't hurt me. I just noticed it.” She looked up at his concerned face and smiled lazily. “It's not bad and the headache you just gave me is going away now.”

 

“I gave you a headache?” He reached up and stroked her temple, feeling guilty.

 

She glowered at him. “My heart nearly pounded out of my chest! That was harder work than any kata I've ever done!”

 

“I am an idiot.” He gently lowered her on to her elbows and sat up abruptly, reaching over to their scattered clothing and throwing aside his kosode to grab her yukata. `Once again I have shown how ill-suited I am in my role as wisdom.' He shook out the garment and held it up for her. “Here, let me help you put this on.”

 

She leaned back against her bent arms, gazing up at him with a lazy smile on her face. “I don't want to move.”

 

“We need to make sure that your arm heals properly,” he urged her with his voice as he shook his head in self-reproach. “Come, lovely Sango.” He began putting the yukata over her uninjured arm. `How can I be so stupid? I am a fool!'

 

She giggled and stayed where she was, making it impossible for him to continue dressing her. “Are you going to carry me? I don't think I can walk after that.”

 

He chuckled and shook his head again, trying unsuccessfully to suppress a flash of male pride. “If I have to carry you as payment for my foolishness, then I will gladly do so to keep balance in our lives.”

 

As he gently helped her sit up Jinx burst into the hut and bounded over, placing a cold nose in his most sensitive spot and making him shoot upwards with a muffled curse. “Damnit, Jinx!”

 

Jinx sat back on her haunches and panted, her tail thumping on the floor as Sango put her hand in front of her mouth to stifle a giggle.

 

“Miroku? Sango?” Shippo's worried voice came from outside the hut. “Inuyasha needs our help. Something's happened to Kagome.”

 

Instantly serious, Miroku and Sango locked gazes for a moment and began hurriedly pulling on their clothes. “What's wrong with Kagome?” Sango asked loudly, all traces of fatigue absent from her voice as she began putting her arms into the yukata.

 

“I don't know. Inuyasha sent Jinx, Bandit, and Runt to get us. Bandit thinks it's bad.”

 

Sango stood up smoothly, frowning as she realized she had nothing that she could use to tie the yukata closed.

 

Miroku glanced at her as he tied his own kosode in place. He whispered “Do you want to stop by Kaede's hut? We could find something for that there.” He bent down to pick up his staff and realized when his back muscles protested that Sango was not the only one with a fatigued body.

 

Jinx woofed at him and gave a little growl, trotting over to Sango and licking her hands.

 

Sango glanced down at the Kai-wolf before speaking loudly again. “Do we have time to go to Kaede's for a moment? I want my armor.”

 

Shippo's voice sounded doubtful. “I guess. Let me ask.”

 

Sango squeaked as Miroku picked her up, handing her his staff in the process. He gave her a half-smile as he strode toward the door and whispered “Balance, lovely Sango.”

 

Jinx trotted ahead of them and pushed open the slatted curtain that covered the doorway. They stepped out into the bright moonlight and saw Shippo nose to nose with Bandit, conversing with the Kai-wolf in soft growls and yips. Shippo looked up at them, his small face twisted with concern, but his eyes widened as he sniffed the air and took in the fact that Miroku was carrying Sango. Jinx gave a series of short yips and Shippo pinched his nose shut, his eyes twinkling with mischief. “Gah! You smell like…”

 

“Shippo?” Miroku interrupted, his voice quiet and deceptively mild as he stared straight into the child's eyes while holding a blushing Sango tucked against his chest.

 

Shippo reacted to the smell of anger coming off the monk and ducked his head. “I know! I know! I shouldn't say anything.” He looked up to find Miroku striding quickly towards Kaede's hut and ran to follow them, his face once again concerned and anxious. “Please don't get mad at me! We have to go help Inuyasha and I'm not sure what's happened and Lady Midoriko can't help us!”

 

Miroku gave him an astonished look, any words of reprimand dying on his lips. “We will help Inuyasha, but why can't Lady Midoriko help?” It took only moments for the monk to reach the hut and he set Sango down on her feet and grabbed his staff before they both entered the hut. “Quickly, lovely Sango.”

 

As she darted to her clothing in a corner of the hut Kaede spoke from the shadows, startling them both. “Can ye see what is amiss with the Lady Midoriko?”

 

Miroku pulled out of the horse stance that he had automatically assumed and lowered the shakujou as Kaede pursed her lips, gesturing to the supine Midoriko. He frowned and knelt down next to the Time Lord as a red glow began to burn behind her closed eyelids. `Gods, what is happening?' He was so intent on Midoriko that he gave a startled flinch when Kohaku touched him on the shoulder.

 

“Something has happened to the shards.” Kohaku gazed at him earnestly. “My shard was burning my shoulder and then it was suddenly like…like the shard was cut off.” He paused and reached back to feel his shoulder, an odd, curious expression on his face. “I've always known it was there. I could always feel it…but…now I can't.” Dropping his hand, he looked down at the still Time Lord. “Lady Midoriko screamed at first but then she went still. The shards are still glowing in both of us, but…” his voice became introspective and almost disbelieving, “I can't feel the shard anymore.”

 

Miroku turned and touched the boy's shoulder above the area where the shard was embedded and immediately felt a tingle. `A barrier?' As the red glow glimmered into existence he felt an answering throb in his cursed hand. He snatched the hand back and stared at Kohaku, then turned to Kaede. “Did you create a barrier around the shards?”

 

“Nay. This is beyond me.” The older miko seemed to be quietly resigned and for a brief moment Miroku envied her ability to remain calm.

 

Miroku sat back on his heels and regarded Midoriko's glowing eyelids, deep in thought. After a few seconds he spoke quietly and firmly. “Something or someone has created a barrier around the shards. That is why Lady Midoriko is no longer capable of movement, and why Kohaku is not in pain. But why are the shards glowing with heat? What has happened to change their nature?”

 

“I believe ye will find the answers with Kagome.” Kaede replied quietly.

 

Miroku turned slightly towards the sounds of rustling clothing in the corner of the hut. “Sango? Are you ready?”

 

“A few moments more.” Her voice was slightly muffled as she pulled leather over her head.

 

Miroku took those few moments to examine Midoriko's face. The smooth features gave nothing away, but as he reached out to her the diminishing glow from underneath her eyelids evoked another answering response in his hand. He pulled the cursed hand back and hid the gesture by running his fingers through his disheveled hair. Jinx pushed her nose into his hand, whimpering, and he gave her an absent scratch behind the ears. `What is happening here and why does the Wind Tunnel respond to the shards? That's never happened before.' A few more seconds went by as Jinx and the other Kai-wolves alternately whined in his face and ran to the door of the hut, bouncing on their front paws in their eagerness to be gone. Finally Sango touched him on the shoulder and he stood up, gazing down at Kaede and Kohaku. “Stay with them, Lady Kaede. I do not know what any of this means, but we will do what we can to find out what has happened.” He grabbed his shakujou and strode to the doorway.

 

“Aye.” As they headed out the door, preceded by the Kai-wolves and Shippo, the old woman's eyes suddenly twinkled and she abruptly said, “Congratulations.”

 

Sango was startled and looked back at Kaede, but Miroku grabbed her by the elbow and pulled so she quickly replied “Thank you, Lady Kaede,” and followed him outside.

 

“Where are Inuyasha and Kagome?” Miroku's voice was serious and determined as he looked at Shippo.

 

Only half-aware of Shippo's answer as they trotted away from the hut, Sango looked around with the hope of finding Kirara so that she wouldn't have to run. `I'm taiji-ya, but I've stretched some muscles tonight.' She gave a sudden gasp as Miroku thrust the shakujou into her hands and picked her up. “I can run! Put me down!” she said breathlessly, but she held on to his staff and placed her other arm around his shoulder to ease the strain on his arms as he began to run with his power enhanced speed.

 

Sango looked forward and saw that they were following the racing Kai-wolves, Shippo riding on Bandit's back as they headed into the forest. She looked back up at Miroku's serious face as he spoke between strong inhalations “I want you to save your remaining strength. We don't know what we will find when we reach Inuyasha. He may still be in his demonic form. You know better than I how to respond to an Inuyoukai.”

 

It became obvious that they were nearing Inuyasha when a strong youki began to permeate the air, causing Miroku to gasp and shake his head a bit. Just before they reached the Goshinboku a loud snarl and a flare of youki stopped Miroku in his tracks. Sango struggled free of Miroku's arms, pausing to slowly hand her husband his shakujou when Inuyasha snarled again at her abrupt movements. The Kai-wolves growled at her and she exchanged a quick glance with Miroku. His face was pinched as if he was suffering from a severe headache and he briefly shook his head, glancing up over her head toward Inuyasha.

 

Understanding his gesture, Sango turned around slowly with her hands away from her body, keeping all her movements sure and unthreatening. Her eyes widened at the scene in front of her in spite of her attempt to remain calm.

 

Inuyasha stood at the base of the giant tree, flanked by Shiro. His scarlet eyes glared at them and his youkai-striped arms were wrapped protectively around a completely naked, unconscious Kagome. Sango blushed fiercely as she became aware that Inuyasha was wearing no clothing either and realized what the couple must have been engaged in when Kagome passed out. She looked around the area and saw the shredded remains of Kagome's clothing along with Inuyasha's haori and hakama. She blushed again as Inuyasha raised his head, his nostrils widening just slightly as he delicately sniffed the air. `It must be obvious to him what we were doing as well. Poor Kagome, I have to help her!'

 

She began moving toward them but froze in position when Inuyasha snarled directly at her and bared his teeth in a caricature of a smile as she came too close. “Where is the TimeLord? Why did you not bring her with you?”

 

“Something has placed a barrier around the Shikon shards within her. The Lady Midoriko is…the body does not move,” Miroku answered for her, his voice sounding slightly strained.

 

Inuyasha glowered at Miroku but snarled again as Sango once again tried to reach for his fire rat clothing. “What are you doing, bitch?”

 

This time Sango answered for herself. Desperately trying to remember everything she knew about Inuyoukai she kept her eyes averted and her head turned away as she said “Kagome is human and unclothed, and she would not want us to see her this way. May I put your haori around her, please?” She kept her face averted and pushed her loose hair away from her neck on the side that faced him. `Please let this be enough. I don't remember whether I'm supposed to lie down or not.'

 

She almost sagged in relief when he answered “You may approach this Inuyasha. Make no sudden moves, bitch.”

 

Moving slowly and carefully, she picked up the clothing and draped the haori over Kagome's shoulders, keeping her eyes averted from Inuyasha's fierce gaze and flinching as his youki clashed with her ki. Moving as slowly as possible, she lifted one of Kagome's arms and froze at Inuyasha's small growl of annoyance.

 

“This Inuyasha will not hurt you, you are Pack!But you are too slow. Finish quickly so that we may help my Mate.”

 

`Make up your mind, will you?' she grumbled internally. She still kept her eyes averted as she finished placing Kagome's arms through the holes at the shoulders of the haori and backed away from him without tying it in place. The oversized garment hid both Kagome's body and enough of Inuyasha's form so that she was able to look at them both without blushing. She gave a sigh of relief, patted Kagome's inert back, and started to step away from the couple. Suddenly she sat down as fatigue and adrenaline weakened her knees. Runt whined and came to sit next to her, nosing her hands and licking her face. She smiled weakly as she felt another Kai-wolf lie down at her back and Shippo's small hands patting her shoulder.

 

`She is relieved. This Inuyasha thanks you.”

 

Miroku stirred. He had been shocked and more than a little amused when they had come upon the couple, but the intense youki that clashed with his holy powers had forcibly reminded him that this was a strong, powerful demon that could kill him in an instant. He tried to ignore the splitting headache that Inuyasha's youki was giving him and asked carefully “She is in contact with you?”

 

Shippo bounded off of Bandit's back and leaped to Inuyasha's shoulder, his tiny woebegone face pinched with worry. “Why doesn't she talk, Inuyasha?” He reached out and patted Kagome's cheek.

 

Inuyasha gave a rumbling growl and Miroku tensed, but Shippo ducked his head and brushed the underside of Inuyasha's chin with his nose, growling back. The two canid demons stared down into Kagome's face, each giving a soft, crooning growl, and Miroku smiled suddenly; the sounds were three octaves apart even though the inflections were identical. He cleared his throat and winced at the flare of pain that the action caused to his aching head. He brought his cursed hand up and pinched the bridge of his nose before carefully asking “Lord Inuyasha. You can speak to Lady Kagome?”

 

The demon looked up and stared directly into his eyes. Miroku dropped his hand and tried to maintain eye contact but Inuyasha's youki flared in response and Miroku felt like his head was being split open. A smile appeared on the demon's face that caused Miroku to glance away. `That is not Inuyasha's normal smile.'

 

“Don't look at him directly and don't smile.” Sango whispered.

 

At almost the same time Inuyasha growled “You are beta, Pack brother Miroku. Do not presume to challengethis Inuyasha.”

 

Miroku rolled his eyes but kept them carefully averted. `I should have known.' He massaged his temples, unable to think clearly as his pounding headache became worse. “Fine. I won't look. For the third time, are you able to speak to Lady Kagome?”

 

“Not in your terms. We have a Mateconnection and this Inuyasha is aware of her, yet her body does not move.”

 

“Kagome? Mama?” Shippo patted his mother's cheek again.

 

“She will not answer, pup. This Inuyasha believes she cannot hear us. She does not respond to the Mate Call,unlike beforewhen the hanyou Called her.Nor doesshe respond to the Pack Call.”

 

Miroku ran a hand through his hair, trying to soothe the pain. `If I could just think. Damn this headache!' He took two deep, measured breaths and asked “What made her like this? Was it something that you were doing?”

 

Inuyasha began to growl menacingly and Sango interjected quickly “We know that you didn't hurt her.”

 

“She is as she was when time held her.”

 

`Time! She's in the Nexus!' Miroku began to move, then froze as Inuyasha's growl continued, low and threatening. Jinx yawned next to him and nosed his hand, and Miroku suddenly realized that the growl was not directed at him. `And to think I thought it was difficult to have a conversation with hanyou Inuyasha. I am walking blind here.' He looked over at Kagome, careful to keep his eyes averted from Inuyasha's, and raised his cursed hand. “May I touch her, Lord Inuyasha?”

 

The demon gave him a disbelieving look. “You are Pack.”

 

“I…don't understand.”

 

Sango reached out and drew him closer just as Jinx pushed him from behind. “He means you can touch her.”

 

Miroku, doing his best to ignore the throbbing pain in his head as he moved closer to Inuyasha's youki, reached out to place his fingers at Kagome's pulse point. Her body was warm to the touch but he could feel no pulse under his fingers. He stepped back and put his chin in his hand, deep in thought, staring at the shining black curves of Sango's armor without really seeing them. Suddenly he blinked as a glow began to reflect off her armor; a glow that had nothing to do with the setting moon and was eerily reminiscent of Midoriko's closed eyes.

 

“There are shards here.” He looked up, scanning the tree in front of him. The glow emanated from a small hole in the bark.

 

“My Mate had them around her neck, but now they are within the tree.”

 

“How did they get there?” Miroku asked, not really concerned with the answer but mildly curious. He reached for them with both hands, feeling the slight tingle of a barrier and a distinct, escalating throb in his cursed hand.

 

“Our powers reacted to our mating.”

 

Miroku paused and closed his eyes for a moment against the images in his head. `Thank the gods I have years of discipline and have learned the wisdom of holding my tongue. I have seen what the demon Inuyasha is capable of doing and I don't think that being in his Pack would save me if I said what I'm thinking.' He glanced down at Sango and saw that she had buried her face in Runt's fur. `I'm sure she's bright red.'

 

“You are uncomfortable, Pack brother. Why?”

 

Miroku opened his mouth to respond that people didn't discuss these things in public, especially in front of Shippo, but he was suddenly struck by the innocence of Inuyasha's question. `He is not ashamed that we found them this way. It is perfectly natural for him and I must remember that he wanted us here. I am expecting human reactions.' He took a deep breath and relaxed, and suddenly his head didn't hurt quite as much. He felt Inuyasha's youki recede slightly and realized that it was responding to his own enhanced powers. He concentrated on his body, deliberately meditating and breathing deeply five times, regulating his heart beat. As Inuyasha's youki withdrew in response to his own control the headache finally diminished to a dull ache. He almost smiled at Inuyasha before he suddenly remembered Sango's whispered warning. Keeping his face turned away he said “I apologize, Inuyasha. I am tired, worried about Lady Kagome, and I'm confused.”

 

Inuyasha snorted. “At least you are not frightened of your Pack Leader any more. I will not harm you.”

 

Miroku cocked his eyebrow. `I wish I could look in his eyes. It is difficult to read him.' He sighed and reached for the shards again. “I think the shards may be affecting both Kagome and Lady Midoriko. I'm going to try to get them out, but there's a barrier.” He tried to insinuate the fingers of his normal hand around the barrier, but the shards were too deeply imbedded in the tree and his fingers were too large to enter the hole.

 

“Here, let me try.” Sango stood up next to him and brought out her concealed gauntlet dagger. With a practiced flip, the sharp point popped the entire sphere of the barrier out of the tree. Sango caught the blue, coruscating ball before it fell to the ground and stared at it in wonder as it hummed in the palm of her hand. “What is this?”

 

Miroku hesitantly reached for it with his cursed hand, withdrawing it quickly as the aching throb escalated. `Why do the shards react with the Wind Tunnel?'

 

“You are in pain. Why do the shardscause you pain?”

 

“I don't know.” Miroku shook his head. “It happened with Kohaku and Midoriko's shards, too.” He frowned at the sphere.

 

Sango gasped as the ball seemed to shrink rapidly, slipping through her fingers. Before she could catch it again Inuyasha barked “Stop. Do not touch it.”

 

The entire group gave a start as the sphere struck the ground, the barrier abruptly disappearing with a slight pop.

 

“My Mate is relieved. This Inuyasha believes it was her barrier.”

 

They peered at the shards as they lay caught in a depression between the roots of the Goshinboku. Something had changed them; no longer angular and pointed, they were fused together and rounded as smoothly as if they had been tumbled in a rocky streambed for years. The portion of the stone that faced them was completely white.

 

Sango gave a gasp and Miroku stretched out his cursed hand for the stone. As his hand neared it the pain became even more intense, lingering even after he snatched his hand away.

 

“I can't pick it up. Not with this hand.”

 

“What is it?” Shippo jumped down off Inuyasha's shoulder and peered at the stone, sniffing carefully.

 

“It does not give off the same aura as the old jewel shards.”

 

Sango reached out and picked up the stone, turning it over in her nimble fingers. “It's black on the other side.”

 

Miroku shook his head and flexed his aching hand. “Black on one side, white on the other, and it doesn't have the same aura. What has happened to the shards?”

 

“Give me the stone.”

 

Miroku, forgetting Sango's warning, looked straight at Inuyasha. The demon snarled at him, but kept eye contact until Miroku looked back at the stone. “What do you intend to do with it?”

 

“It is balance.”

 

Miroku's eyebrows rose as he considered the implications of that remark. “The two shards are balanced? Does that mean they can't be purified or defiled? That they'll stay…” he shook his head again and resisted the urge to look directly at Inuyasha.

 

“This Inuyasha can use it. My Matewishes to form the Living Jewel, but she is growing weary.This Inuyasha can feel her need and her weakness.” The demon's voice lowered incrementally in volume.“I must give up my time and return the hanyou.”

 

Sango and Miroku stared at Inuyasha, both forgetting the need for no eye contact. He smiled and held out his hand for the stone, still cradling Kagome to his chest with the other arm.

 

“You…do you think it will work?” Miroku looked away as Inuyasha's smile became fractionally more intense.

 

“It is balance. Give me the stone.”

 

Sango gave a start and averted her eyes as Inuyasha turned his gaze on her. She handed him the stone, dropping it into his outstretched hand.

 

Miroku staggered and fell to his knees as a wild storm of youki brought back his headache in full force. Shippo screamed and leaped away from Inuyasha, holding his ears as if he could hear a sound that the others could not. Tumbling to the ground, he writhed in pain for a moment before leaping up and running from the area. The Kai-wolves howled and ran, shaking their heads.

 

Sango dropped and grabbed Miroku around the shoulders, wincing as the youki clashed harshly with her ki. She looked up at Inuyasha as he stood rigid in the moonlight, his hair and haori whipping around his still form, and edged backwards as he seemed to pulse with power. His hand had fisted around the stone and he was slowly raising that hand to his forehead. She watched, awestruck, as he touched the rounded edge of the stone to the mark on his forehead. Light blazed from his mark and she was forced to close her eyes, but she felt the stone ricochet off of her head and heard him give a choked cry.

 

It was his normal voice.

 

Suddenly Miroku's body stiffened under hers, and she began to feel an odd probing touch in her mind. She gasped and her body fell still.

 

Shippo, returning to the Goshinboku as soon as the screaming sound of the magic lessened, found the four adult members of his Pack frozen in position.

 

“Mama? Papa?” He shook Inuyasha's arm, noting that the hanyou's ears had returned to normal. The hanyou's arm was immobile. He trotted over to Miroku's still form. “Miroku?” He noted the pained expression frozen on the face of his friend and winced. “Sango?” the kit whimpered as he touched the still face of the taiji-ya. He sat back and tried not to cry as the pack members of the Kai-wolves trotted up.

 

“They are not here,” Shiro sniffed at his Pack Leader. “Their scents are…not here.” Suddenly he whipped around, growling softly at the sounds of someone running along the path. Midoriko ran up gasping, followed closely by Kohaku.

 

“Gods! What happened, Shippo? They're frozen in time!” she practically screamed at the kit.

 

“I don't know! There was this awful sound and I had to leave `cause it hurt and when I came back they were like this!”

 

Midoriko fell to her knees next to Kagome and Inuyasha's still forms, touching her pupil's immobile body. “Gods, Kagome, what have you done? Did you forget your anchor?” She slumped sideways, a shaking hand covering her mouth. “What have I done?”

 

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

Translation:

Ita erat quando hic adveni!: Latin; It was that way when I got here!

 

Thanks, as always, to RPW The Hun for beta work!

 

R&R Thanks:

 

PM: szaugglaughs (and be ready, dear readers, for some editing that you can blame on her. Either that or you can blame my translation of TMI…transcendental maternal incompetence), Neko-sama (x2).

 

 

MM: bluezinthos, Ranuel, InuyashasBiggestFan, Jester08, Inu4Ever, Inuyasha_crazy_fan2, SusyLynn, lunatickat.

 

FF: shaid, Pho Poe, Kortir, Foenixfyre, Fenikkusuken, Inuyasha05, Neko-Lady, kitsune-koinu, GypsyMoon16, Mrs. JediK1, hanyou master.

 

 

Bless you all, and Happy New Year!

iPoe