InuYasha Fan Fiction ❯ Genesis ❯ Eight ( Chapter 8 )

 

 

 

Kagome's eyes fluttered open, and she blinked a few times. The first thing that came to mind was `Am I dead?' The second was `Where am I?', and she moved her eyes around, surveying the empty whiteness that seemed to surround her. Her eyes drifted over the space without interest until she spotted a pile of black, red and silver some distance away from her and she was immediately trying to call out.

“InuYasha,” she yelled, but her throat was bruised and swollen, and her voice was raspy from the damage that had been inflicted upon her. She winced, and struggled to get into a sitting position, her entire body drained. She shakily rose to her feet and tried to take a few steps towards him before stumbling and almost falling. She caught herself and continued, and when she was a few feet away from him she fell flat on her backside. She had encountered some sort of barrier, an invisible wall, and stared in disbelief. This just wasn't fair!

She crawled towards it, feeling for the barrier, and when she did she pounded her fists on it but try as she might she couldn't get through. She slumped against it, and the tears came unbidden, unwanted. She sobbed against the wall and thought `Why? Why?' Even when she was dead she couldn't see him? She couldn't be with him?

“You can't touch him,” came a soft voice from behind her, and she quickly wiped her eyes on a dirty sleeve. She turned and blinked, her eyes widening slightly as she took in the sight before her.

A woman, if she could be called that, stood or rather floated before her. Her hair was long, blue, but it had a sheen to it that made it seem lighter, and reduced the harshness of the tone. Her eyes were soft yet firm, and she looked upon her with a mix of pity, adoration, understanding and awe. Her ears, she noticed, were elongated and pointed at the tips, and were adorned with many jewels and earrings that draped down to rest on her collarbones. She wore a gown of gossamer silk that was draped across one shoulder in a fashion similar to early Roman times. At the top of the strap was a jeweled brooch that she recognized, and realized it was the same pendant as the one she wore around her neck. The gown continued down, a graceful part in the left side of the skirt, and pooled down onto the ground below her. Her hands were folded in front of her abdomen, and she was watching her with curiosity.

Kagome opened her mouth to speak, but all she ended up making was a raspy noise that hurt her throat and her ears. She looked up at the deity before her and motioned to her throat. The woman smiled and waved a graceful hand. Immediately, the stiffness and soreness had disappeared, having been replaced by an odd tingle. She smiled an apology and then got straight down to business in usual Kagome style.

“Where am I?”

“You are in the Resting Place, an area that resides above Earth but below Heaven and the domain of the Gods.”

She nodded slowly. “Why am I here?”

“Because you are dead.” The woman responded, saying it as if it were painstakingly obvious. It probably was, but she wasn't exactly thinking clearly just this moment.

“What happened? Has Earth blown up yet?” The woman smiled at her warmly and she her head, the small movement causing her hair to shift and float around her gracefully.

“You saved Earth in the end,” she said with gratitude in her voice. Kagome blinked.

“M-…Me?” She blurted.

The woman nodded. “Why don't I start from the beginning?” Kagome slowly nodded, as if she was afraid she didn't want to hear the entire story.

“The pendant you're wearing has been carried by the Hunter for millions of years. It is a symbol that stands for peace, humanity, courage, selflessness and most of all, love. Love is the pinnacle on which the human race was created and it was what saved them every time. Love thy neighbor. Love thy enemy. Love is indeed a powerful emotion.

“The love that you harbor, my dear Kagome, was what saved your planet. Your love was powerful enough to banish Genesis to its confines for a long while once again. You lit up the world with your heart and soul, and as we speak, the sun is already restoring life to the barren soil. Your love brought in the sunlight through the clouds, it brought for the sun and shone its light upon the land once again.”

“My love?” She laughed but she wasn't amused. “I've been selfish. I've been a burden. I should have been more supportive of my mother, and I should have been there for my brother when he needed me. I was a burden to InuYasha when I shouldn't have been there to distract him. I've caused trouble, I haven't helped anyone.”

“Ah, yes, but it was you who saved him in the end.” The woman smiled down upon her, and Kagome met her eyes. “You showed him what it was like to talk to someone, to be scared for someone, to care for someone. He has learned a lot from you, yes.

“Tell me, Kagome, when your mother first fell into depression what did you do?”

Kagome thought and answered her, “I held her while she cried.”

“And then?”

“I told her that I would help out until she was better,” she replied, her voice filled with emotions from remembering painful memories.

“And you did help her. You don't realize how much she appreciates you, Kagome. She loves your brother very much as well and she wants to be able to overcome the situation she's in, but she doesn't think she has the strength enough. Every time she tries to pick herself up and fails, she falls deeper in to her depression. When she sees you working so hard, she picks herself up again and vows to do better. You're an inspiration to her, and your love for her carries her. You don't give up because you love them both beyond any comparison, and you keep faith.

“You welcomed InuYasha without judging him based on his looks or his irregularities. You refused to let him distance himself from you, even if that meant you had to do rash, irresponsible things. You didn't give up on him either, Kagome.

“You want to be able to return things to normal, and now they have. Your mother and your brother will be waiting for you when you return home. Things will have changed greatly, but you won't remember it. Your recollection of these events will be erased, and you will be able to live life happily again.”

“No!” She called out, embarrassed at her outburst, but still determined. “Please, I… I want to remember what happened. It's important to me.”

The woman blinked at her, and then smiled, angling her head to her in a gesture of agreement.

“It shall be done, then. We are indebted to you, Kagome.”

Kagome decided to push her luck. Biting her lip, she looked up at the woman and took a deep breath. “Then… There is something else I would like.”

The woman watched her, waiting for her to continue. Kagome raised her head a little higher and kept eye contact with her. “I'd like for InuYasha to live a normal life on Earth, for him to be free.”

The woman was visibly shocked and she looked away. “He was created to destroy Genesis, that's his only purpose. He has never known life outside of his battles and time awake with the creature.”

It's so cruel, Kagome thought. It only strengthened her resolve. “Please. There must be another way to deal with the creature! Isn't there another way to counter it when it's revived? Isn't there another being that could do the job, maybe a messenger of the Gods instead of a person who has been confined for millions of years? He's lonely and he craves freedom, even though he doesn't realize it. Hasn't he done his job for long enough?”

The woman hesitated and played with her dress for a moment before answering. “I… Suppose that there could be another. Are you sure this is what you want?”

Kagome wasted no time in responding, her voice reflecting her conviction, “I'm sure.”

The woman grinned then, and Kagome thought how pretty she was when she actually smiled. She watched with growing wonder as the woman lifted her arms to her sides and pools of wind began to swirl around them. Light soon came, and Kagome's body began to feel light, detached. She never took her eyes off the woman's as she began to float off the ground, and yet her eyes began to droop as a strange tiredness suddenly took over her, and she closed them entirely, giving into the call of sleep.

“May you live a happy life, Kagome.”

 

 

^^

 

 

The song of the birds' glorious symphony slowly roused her. The sounds drifted through the shut panes of her window, and she rolled over in her bed, snuggling deeper into her pillow.

Birds? Bed? Pillow?!

She moved suddenly and froze; and then she sprang into action, jumping out of the bed to the window and throwing it open, the rays of the sun hitting her face with warmth. The birds in the tree next to her bedroom scattered and flew away, chirping their outrage but she couldn't care less. She was too busy gazing over the grounds below her, the grounds of the Shrine where she had lived her entire life. It was back. Everything was back, and she was home. She was moved to tears and was about to slump down in relief when a knock on her door righted her and she wiped her tears.

Her mother entered and closed the door behind her, sitting on the bed, her eyes downcast. Kagome, oblivious to the cloud of gloom and shame floating around her mother, nearly wept again from the sight of her. She restrained herself when her mother started talking.

“Kagome… I-… I haven't been here for you and Sota lately. Kagome, I'm sorry. I'm so very sorry for not being responsible and for leaving you two like that. I'm going to try harder now, so you don't have to. We're going to be a family again, well, not that we weren't ever one, but-”

Kagome throwing herself at her and pulling her into a tight embrace cut her off.

“Mama! Oh, mama, I'm so glad! So glad…” She did cry now, and her mother returned her hug, making her weep harder.

When she pulled back, her mother was smiling at her, teary-eyed herself. She wiped off her eyes with her sleeve and then rose, giving Kagome one final hug before stepping back to the door.

“Breakfast is ready,” she said with a smile, and then closed the door behind her.

Kagome jumped up and did a little dance of victory and overwhelming joy. She was so happy she thought she would burst! She threw open the doors of her dresser and tossed off the pajamas she just realized she had been wearing. Getting dressed in a flurry of clothing, she rushed out the door and down the stairs where her brother blocked her path, just as happy as she was about something.

“Kagome! Kagome! Guess what?” As usual, he didn't give her time to answer, so he went on anyway, “I was invited to Haru's birthday! It's next week!” He ran away in a rush of excitement and Kagome blinked before laughing. It was nice to have her family back again.

She sat down and they ate breakfast and talked about what had happened to them recently, and for Sota, about the upcoming birthday party and all the things that involved going to a birthday party. She laughed and him and her mother chuckled, but he kept on going on about it until they had finished and started to clear the table. Sota ran out the door as soon as he had thrown his plate in the sink, off to school.

Kagome hung back and kissed her mom on the cheek, wishing her a good day at work, and then started off herself. She grabbed her backpack as she walked past it on her way outside, and began to cross the yard. When she was at the top of the steps that led up to the shrine, though, she paused. A singled thought went through her head, and she suddenly felt very sad.

InuYasha, she thought. I wonder where he is? Does he remember me?

She shook her head and walked down the stairs, trying to focus on not tripping and falling the long distance to the bottom.

Did she keep up her end of the bargain? She wondered as she reached the bottom of the steps. She turned right and began walking, automatically filtering in and out between the people that had started heading out on their way to work. The worst part, Kagome realized, is that even if she hadn't kept up her end of the bargain she couldn't do anything about it.

She was so preoccupied that she didn't notice someone who was walking rather slowly in the opposite direction. She was walking quickly, as she usually did when she was deep in thought, and crashed right into them. She looked up from the sidewalk she had been staring at and started to apologize when she paused in disbelief.

She looked at the stranger she had bumped into, and slowly began to realize he wasn't that much of a stranger as she had originally thought. Where amber eyes had once stared back at her with defiance and stubbornness, eyes of a purple hue that were softer, more open replaced them. Midnight-black locks, with bangs that still framed his face, had replaced silver hair; the rest was pulled back into a low ponytail. His ears were human, at the side of his head, and he was smiling a smile that pulled at the corner of his lips. He was wearing an old white T-shirt, with faded denim jeans, his hands casually in his pockets.

While she was busy looking over him, she had become filled with a sense of wonder that she didn't know she could ever experience. An emotion that was quickly replaced by joy, and the fact that he was here; really, truly here. She lifted her eyes to meet his amethyst ones, and she was sure her own reflected the joy she felt.

“Hey,” he said, his tone casual but everything about him called her to him, told her things that hadn't been said and he knew she could hear them.

She beamed at him. “Hi.”

 

 

End~