InuYasha Fan Fiction ❯ Fuyu no Shimekiri ❯ The Soul that Calls to You ( Chapter 1 )

[ X - Adult: No readers under 18. Contains Graphic Adult Themes/Extreme violence. ]

Chapter 1: The Soul That Calls to You

Sesshoumaru sighed, irritation flowing through his aura as he stalked through the halls of his shiro. As if he didn't have enough troubles lately, what with all the civil unrest amongst the human population of the Western Lands, now he had the Northern Lord up in arms because he had refused his offer of an alliance - an alliance based on a mating to his daughter. Sesshoumaru had no intentions of ever taking a mate based on politics... the only female he had ever considered taking as a mate lay in a shrine here on the grounds of his estate, as beautiful as she had ever been - yet still, undeniably, dead.

The Shikon Miko, Higurashi Kagome.

Turning on his heel, he headed for the shrine he had had built to house her body. Whenever he felt stressed, he would find his footsteps straying in that direction, and he found it was no different this time. She still had the same scent now as she had carried in life, and just as it had then, it soothed his aura, calming him no matter how enraged he was. Lily-of-the-valley and power... that was the scent uniquely her own, and it calmed him like nothing else had ever done.

Strange, he mused, I would never have named power as a scent before her... but that is the only way to describe it. It was like the scent of lightening - power in its purest form, intoxicating and beautiful. And all mine in her death... but I would willingly give everything I own for it to be mine, in life. Her death only pains me... leaves me incomplete. I need to find her again, somehow.

He slowed as he reached the shrine, taking the time to admire it. It was truly a magnificent building, one he had had built to his own specifications, and money had been no object. It was the most beautiful structure on his estate, and that was saying something, as the entire shiro, and all it's grounds, were considered a true prize amongst youkai.

It was not the largest building, by far, but it was ornate, nothing had been too good for this memorial to the miko he'd become entirely obsessed with - and the strange thing was, his obsession with her had only grown after her death, not lessened, as one would have expected. Lately, it had even gotten to the point that he was spending almost as much time here, in the shrine itself, and the small, but exquisite gardens surrounding it, as he spent in his study or anywhere else. Of course, if his people didn't approve, they had by now learned not to object... he'd more than once made object lessons of those few that had over the years.

Sighing, he reached forward and slid the door open, hands lingering gently on the panels. They had been painted, by his own hand, with a scene from that last battle with Naraku... a scene that was forever locked in his mind, of her, hair swept back behind her, in her familiar archer's stance, on a small promontory overlooking the battlefield, sun almost directly behind her. She'd looked like an avenging goddess then, as her miko's aura flared into her arrow... it had been that arrow that had been the finishing blow. He'd never seen anything as beautiful as she'd looked in that moment, shimmering in the full aura of her power as it's potential was finally realized in that instant of time.

A slight smile on his face as his mind was cast back to that time, he entered her sanctuary, sliding the doors closed silently behind him.

So beautiful... his thoughts began to run through all his memories of her - from the first time he'd seen her, hiding behind his half-breed of a pathetic brother as he'd met the un-mother, to the last time he'd seen her alive. She had always thought that their meetings had been happenstance - but of course, they had not been. Only the first time he'd come upon her in her far northern mountains had been - the other times, had been deliberate. He'd not been able to stay away completely, even knowing she still loved his damnable brother.

Inuyasha.

The bastard had haunted his entire life from the moment of his birth. Somehow, he'd always ended up with everything he, himself, wanted, starting with his father's love, and ending with Kagome's heart.

And at the end, I cared nothing for father's love, or the Tessaiga, or anything else. The only thing I truly begrudge him now is her. She's the only thing that matters to me. It's a good thing he's dead. At the time I got my vengeance, I thought it was enough... but it wasn't. I hate him more every year, and only because of her. If she were alive, and mine... I'd not care about him either way, my hatred would be gone, and only indifference remain.

He chuckled dryly. And even though I long ago gave into the knowledge of my feelings for her, I am still daiyoukai enough to be angry at myself for my weakness - but strong enough not to try to change what my heart knows is true.

She owns me...

He looked up then, jerked from his thoughts by a light pulse from Tensaiga. Frowning, he looked down, slightly surprised to find that he was still wearing the sword. He rarely did, anymore... it was usually kept in his quarters, but for some reason, today, he'd grabbed it, almost absently tucking it into his obi as he'd left them this morning.

But what is Tensaiga reacting to? It cannot be Kagome, she's been dead far to long for it to call her soul back... hasn't she? Moving forward, he walked to the front of the building, to the stone slab that held her body, and pulled Tensaiga as it pulsed again, stronger this time.

"What do you want, Tensaiga? Why do you speak again, after so many years? What is it that you seek in this place?" The sword only pulsed again, stronger, with more power, and he looked up at his miko's body as it lay before him. "You make no sense, fang of my father... there are no servants of the underworld here for you to destroy. What is it you want me to do?"

Sesshoumaru was getting confused. The sword was by now pulsing in a measured cadence - almost that of a heartbeat, and he could swear that there was an echo in the room, because it almost sounded as if there were an answering beat...

Coming from directly in front of him. His eyes locked onto the body of the woman before him, and he knew, suddenly, that what he was hearing was no echo. It was her.

Her heart, beating, in time with Tensaiga. And he wondered, shocked, why he had never worn the sword in her presence before. Would it have called her back, if I had brought it here earlier? Has it truly called her back to me now, or is this just a dream?

Not knowing what else to do, he continued to hold the sword over her, and watched as it kept time with the pulse coming from the still form of the woman laying before him. He was sure... there were definitely two distinct pulses, one from the sword, and one from her. And as he waited with bated breath, eyes locked firmly on her, he saw the first breath she took - and his heart began to awaken, hot pain shooting through him as hope, so long denied, shafted through his soul. Hardly daring to believe, his mind cried out to her...

Wake, Kagome, please... come back, back to life - back... to me. Don't let this be a dream, let this be a second chance, for me, for us.

For the first time in his centuries of life, Sesshoumaru prayed, to the Kami, to anyone who would listen, that the woman who held his soul would be returned to life... returned to him. He watched, heart pounding in time with hers, as her heart continued to beat, and her chest continued to rise and fall - as she took in air - something she had not done in a hundred years.

And he stood, sword extended, as her eyes opened, and locked on his...

The kami had heard his prayers, she had heard his soul, and had responded to his call.

She had returned to him, not as a reincarnation, but as herself, and he was stunned, frozen, as she smiled at him and opened her mouth to speak. One word, whispered, but the sweetest sound that he had ever heard.

"Sesshoumaru."