InuYasha Fan Fiction ❯ Healing Hands ❯ Healing Hands Part 4 ( Chapter 4 )

Healing Hands Part 4

Inu-Yasha Fanfiction

By: Kittyonnails

Sesshomaru turned to face the intruders. His brother was standing at ready, backed by his woman and two other monks. Again, Inu-Yasha lashed out with the Tetsusaiga. Sesshomaru narrowly dodged, not willing to move so far that the blade could harm Rin's body. She would be harder to revive if she was wounded as well.

"I have to admit Sesshomaru, I thought that you liked her." Inu-Yasha swung again, this time hitting his brother in the shoulder. Sesshomaru managed to slide away from the fang's cut, and so he was not sliced in two. The wound was not small though. The blood began to drip just as Taromaru leapt at the demon lord.

"You'll die for what you've done!" he screamed as he stabbed Sesshomaru in the stomach with a small knife he had pulled from his robes. As the demon lord grunted with effort, he slashed the young monk across the chest with his talons. Taromaru screamed as the poison ate away at his flesh. He landed in a small heap against the wall. Courageously he crawled over to Rin's side.

"Get away from her!" Sesshomaru ducked another swipe of the Tetsusagia as he clawed Taromaru again.

"Stop it" Kagome screamed, shooting an arrow into Sesshomaru's back. He fell forward onto Rin's body. Mushin ran over to Taromaru, trying to save the boy from the poison Sesshomaru's claws had haphazardly distributed.

As Sesshomaru felt his brother raise his sword readying for another blow he thought to himself how he and Rin would be together in death this way, as they should have been together in life. He swore at himself for not making sure that had happened. Rin had deserved a happy life. Sesshomaru didn't mind dying if he couldn't give her that.

"Wait." Miroku thrust his staff in the path of Inu-Yasha's blade. "Something isn't right."

"Now that you mention it," Kagome let down her battle stance and looked over at Inu- Yasha, "have you ever beaten your brother this easily before?"

"That, and look at the girl." Miroku pointed to where Sesshomaru lay panting, embracing the body of the dead nun. "There's not a scratch on her. She's dead alright, but all that blood is from Sesshomaru."

"Hey, yea, what gives?" Inu Yasha tossed the Tetsusaiga over his shoulder and kicked his brother on the shoulder.

Sesshomaru looked up and growled, "Idiots." He reached for his sword.

"That's the Tensaiga!" Kagome gasped. "He was going to revive her, not kill her!"

Sesshomaru grunted and kneeled over Rin, concentrating on his task. He couldn't see the oni who were going to carry her spirit to the land of the dead. He inhaled sharply, feeling how deeply he had been cut. He closed his eyes and focused again. He couldn't find Rin's spirit anywhere in the room. His breathing became shaky.

"No." He mumbled softly, through clenched teeth. Rin was gone. Dead, and her spirit no longer lingered. She had been taken to the other realm where spirits live.

"Rin!" He roared his anguish for all to hear. He caught himself and took a deep breath, looking down at her pale face. He hung his head to hide his face behind the curtain of his icy white mane. Sesshomaru did not want to keep his face calm. He wanted Rin to see how much he needed her back, how much her return had meant to him. He needed to show her, even in death, how much he had never been able to admit to her or even to himself. At the same time, he was aware that he was not alone in the room. With his hair as a screen shielding him from their prying eyes, he hugged her lifeless body to his and let go his stoic mask.

Everyone stared as Sesshomaru grieved. It was clear that they had all made a horrible mistake.

"Come." Miroku beckoned to his friends in a quiet tome, "Let us leave him."

As everyone filed out of the room, Inu Yasha turned to his brother.

"Sesshomaru… I'm so sorry." He said quietly before leaving. If Sesshomaru heard him, he made no indication.

* * * *



"Gosh how awful." Kagome poured tea into small cups the group had found in the kitchen of the mansion. Everyone looked down sadly at the table.

"Why are we even here?" Inu Yasha shot an irritated glance at Taromaru, who seemed to shrink under the half-demon's glare.

"Rin told me she thought he would kill her." He began quietly, but as he gained confidence in his defense he got louder, "And she was right! She is dead isn't she? We didn't kill her and he was the only one there. Even if he didn't cut her or anything he still killed her."

"She wasn't murdered." Miroku looked up from his tea. "She would have known immediately what the limitations of her abilities were. She knew that she was not strong enough to perform such a task without putting the very spark of her life into it."

Mushin grunted in agreement. "She chose to die that way."

Kagome sighed, "And he was going to use Tensaiga to bring her back to life, But we got in the way and the oni took her soul to the land of the dead while we fought. That's why Sesshomaru couldn't revive her."

"This is all your fault, boy." Inu Yasha got up from the table and stormed out of the room.

"It was just a tragic misunderstanding." Miroku tried to reassure the boy.

"No." Taromaru said darkly, "Rin always told me to act like a real monk, and a real monk would not have imagined a future with Rin. I should not have loved her as I did. I've got to go!" He knocked over his teacup in his haste to leave. They all listened to his hurried footsteps as he ran from the mansion.

"Where will he go?" Kagome asked as she cleaned up the spilt tea.

"He will probably go back to the temple. There he can purify his defiled self." Mushin answered.

* * * *

Inu Yasha found Sesshomaru stumbling down the hall carrying Rin's body. He was having some troubles because of his injuries.

"Let me help" Inu Yasha didn't wait for a response to his offer, he just lifted the girl's body delicately out of his brother's arms and nodded for Sesshomaru to lead the way. The demon lord was too exhausted to argue. He led Inu Yasha into the finest chamber in the mansion. He laid out a futon and Inu Yasha spread Rin's lifeless body across it.

"The monks." Sesshomaru said, not taking his eyes off of Rin, who was getting very pale. "have them keep her body fresh."

"What? That won't bring her back. She's gone." Inu Yasha's tone softened with a sudden sympathy. "I'm sorry."

"No brother, she's not so far gone that she's out of my reach." Sesshomaru swept some of Rin's hair away from her face.

"I will go to the land of the dead and reclaim her soul." He reached up to his right shoulder and held the wound with his new hand. "I need those monks to protect her body from decay so that her soul will return to it. You must watch over the western lands. Even now I am too injured to do that properly."

Inu Yasha stared at his brother with astonishment. He had never heard anything like this from Sesshomaru. He had no reply all he could manage to say was, "Let me get Kagome to dress your wounds." As he got up and left the room.

* * * *

Sesshomaru looked around himself, feeling as close a thing to peace as he had felt since Rin's death. He was at the great shrine of Jizo Bosatsu. He was finally healed enough to begin his quest. This was probably his only hope for finding the Land of the Dead as an immortal. He kneeled at the statue and added a stone to the little stacks that surrounded it. He folded his hands and prayed, "O great Bodhisattva, merciful rescuer of souls, hear my plea."

He felt a hand on his shoulder and was startled because he hadn't sensed anyone in the room. He turned and saw a monk in orange robes with a glowing bald head, a long staff with six rings hanging from it and a ruby imbedded in his forehead. The monk smiled.

"Lord Sesshomaru, tell me your tale."

Sesshomaru turned to face the god and bowed low, with his forehead touching the floor.

"I have a desperate need of your service. I need to know how to find the land of the dead."

"And why is that?" The god regarded Sesshomaru with a coy smile, folding his arms into the billowing sleeves of his robes.

"I have to go and retrieve my housemaid. She has died and I continue to require her service." Sesshomaru was trying to hide his love for Rin, he didn't want the great god to know about what was considered an abomination by all the demon upper classes.

"Why do you so desperately need the services of a human housemaid?"

"She… I… How did you know she was human."

"Was she human?" Jizo Bosatsu looked down at the kneeling demon.

"She was human, and a mortal, and she was more than just a housemaid." Sesshomaru hung his head in shame, "She was a very special woman. I cared for her and she for me. I have not behaved as a demon of my stature should have."

"What do you mean, Lord Sesshomaru? Did you touch the girl?"

"No, she was a nun."

"Yes, and you kept your dignity and her purity despite your desire. Because of that, I shall help you in two ways. First, this is for your woman." He produced a peach and held it out to Sesshomaru.

"Second, you should go east, to the place where the moon rises from. That is where the gateway into the land of the dead is. I warn you that it is an appalling place full of suffering. The best you can hope for your little maid is a place of melancholy sadness. Most likely though, you will find her in Sai no Kawara, the dry bed of the river of souls. The oni will take her there because she was so young and still pure. Go to her, your sword will help your quest. Tell her what is in your heart." he shook his staff over Sesshomaru's head, jingling the six rings. Sesshomaru felt his heart and mind open to the sound. He knew his own heart as if it were absolute truth. He knew nothing would stop him from storming the gates of hell and saving Rin from torment in purgatory. He loved her, and he would always protect her.

Jizo Bosatsu was gone. All that remained was the peach in Sesshomaru's hand. He looked down at it and smiled sadly. It was the hand that Rin had given her life creating for him. The god was known for imparting wisdom and knowledge of self with his staff. That was probably why he felt his emotions loosed. He should have known better than to lie to a god. Sesshomaru shook his head as if to scold himself for such foolishness, and then got to his feet. It was time to begin. He would head east, and refine his direction as he watched the moon rise that evening.

* * * *

Sesshomaru contemplated the peach Jizo Bosatsu had given him. It seemed like any ordinary peach, but he knew that couldn't be right. What was Rin supposed to do with the peach? He tossed it into the air and caught it. He guessed that she would know, since it was meant for her.

Sesshomaru had reached the gates to the Land of the Dead a few hours before. Now he sat in a tree near the clearing in front of the gateway. He was unsure what he would find in such a place. As an demon he had never thought of death as it was experienced by humans. Demons had no soul, and so their energies simply dissipate when they are killed. As a human, Rin had an immortal soul that would spend time here in the land of the dead before being reincarnated in some other form. Sesshomaru had never thought about it, but in a sense it seemed that Rin could outlive him. He smiled at the thought. She wasn't really dead, she was simply separated from her body. Rather than wait for her to be born into a new one, he would put her back in her original body.

Sesshomau rose, and tucked the peach safely into his sleeve. The huge oni who guarded the gates were his first challenge. The oni stood ten feet high and wore nothing but loincloths of tiger skin. Each was armed with a seven foot iron club and sharp claws. Their skin was bright red and their short-cropped hair and beady eyes were jet black. Two pointy yellow horns stabbed out of each oni's forehead. Sesshomaru drew Tokijin and leapt at the larger of the two. The oni tried to parry the strike with his club, but the magical blade sliced through. As Sesshomaru cut into the oni's flesh, the other took a swing at him. His assault was clumsy and he missed by several feet. While he tried to retrieve his club from the place it had been imbedded in the earth, Sesshomaru took off the creature's head in one clean motion. The gateway was cleared.

From outside, the land of the dead seemed nothing more than a huge cave, full of inky blackness. Once Sesshomaru stepped inside, he could feel the heat and hear the suffering. The blackness was not so thick as it had seemed from outside. He headed down the steep and winding pathway, wondering what he would find at it's end.

The light in the cavern was a sickly dull greenish blue that seemed to come from no particular place. Sesshomaru turned quickly when he felt something grab onto his shoulder. A man with deep sunk eyes floated behind him. He was glowing with the greenish blue color. His form was well defined around the face and shoulders, but further down it blurred until he had no legs at all. He didn't say a word, he only looked at the demon lord with a desperate sadness.

"What do you want?" Sesshomaru could not help being disturbed by the blatant misery on the man's face. The spirit moaned and reached for Sesshomaru's sleeve, the place where he had tucked Rin's peach.

"Stop it." Sesshomaru pushed away the bony hand and backed into something. It was another spirit. It too reached for his sleeve. More and more of them were coming. Sesshomaru knew he could not let them have the peach, so he ran further down the corridor, pushing past thicker crowds of the hovering, moaning souls.

He eventually came to a crossroads. There were three branches. Straight ahead the pathway became a cliff, reaching out over the great river of souls. To the left the corridor continued down, glowing orange and radiating heat. To the right the path climbed gradually and he could not see where it led. The souls he had pushed past surrounded him once more, pulling and pushing at his body, begging him for the peach. They were all so skinny, he guessed that they were starving. Still, he could not let them have Rin's peach. Sesshomaru drew his Tokijin and swung. The spirits were untouched.

Sesshomaru backed down the narrowing pathway over the river of souls. He could hear the clacking of stones as the oni below toppled the children's little towers. He sheathed Tokijin and tried to push back the spirits with his claws. They were moved aside, but not injured by his strikes. Every soul he pushed away seemed to be replaced by two more. Their long bony fingers reached into every fold of his kimono, trying to retrieve the fruit he carried. He kept his hand tucked into his sleeve and wrapped around his treasure. Sesshomaru was used to fighting one handed, but he was not used to fighting spirits.

He felt the Tokijin being pulled from it's sheath. Before he could reach for it, it was in the hands of a particularly large spirit. The man seemed to gain power from the blade. Instinctively, Sesshomaru drew the only weapon that remained, Tensaiga. He parried a strike from his sword and pushed it back into the vaporous ghost. When the Tensaiga's blade hit the spirit, a flash of fire shot up, and it was no more. All the souls that had crowded him, slid back. Sesshomaru smiled menacingly and lashed out, slashing hundreds of them into little piles of brimstone ash. He was alone on the peninsula. The only glow came from the fast flowing river of souls below. The wandering sprits had fled.

Sesshomaru slid the Tokijin back into it's sheath. Which way would take him to the dry bed of the river of souls? He looked to the corridor that radiated heat. That was surely the fires of hell. The other path seemed less menacing but also seemed unreachable. For some reason, Sesshomaru could not make out the details of where the path led to, or what exactly it looked like. He heard the shrieks of children from below the river. Sesshomaru realized why he couldn't see up the path. It was the road to heaven. Such a place was unreachable to a demon like himself. As a demon he would never attain a higher existence than the one he had. He was now in purgatory, the closest to heaven he would ever get. The thought didn't bother him though. Rin was in purgatory. This was the place he needed to be. The sounds of Sai no Kawara resonated up from the river of souls.

Stretching the Tensaiga out in front of him, Sesshomaru dove into the river of souls. The smell of sulfur stung his sensitive nose as he plunged deeper and deeper, leaving a flaming gash in the flow of the river.

Sesshomaru abruptly fell out of the sky and into a desert. He landed on his feet, and kept the Tensaiga drawn. All around him little children and young women diligently piled smooth river rocks on top of each other. With each rock, they said prayers. This was Sai no Kawara. He scanned the desert plain for Rin. The riverbed seemed to stretch on forever.

A flash of light caught his attention. A small girl clapped her hands and jumped up and down. She seemed so full of joy. An angel lifted the girl and flew off on fiery wings. The entire riverbed reverberated as all the waiting souls chanted.

"Praise to Buddha."

Sesshomaru chose a direction and began walking down the riverbed, searching for Rin. None of the spirits here seemed to notice him. They were all preoccupied with their stones and prayers. At last he caught sight of a young woman with her back to him. It was Rin.

She was kneeling in the dust, praying with her hands folded and her eyes closed. Like all the spirits of Sai no Kawara, she was fully formed, but nude. Sesshomaru sheathed the Tensaiga.

"Rin, come" Sesshomaru placed his hand on her shoulder.

Rin whirled around and stared at Sesshomaru. As she did, a bright light flashed and her pile of stones became an angel. Both Sesshomaru and Rin turned to the angel.

"Come to the arms of Buddha." the angel reached out and with a gesture of it's hands both Sesshomaru and Rin floated off of the ground. A flap of the angel's fiery wings and they were racing across the sandy plain towards a blue horizon.

A green oasis in the desert appeared on the horizon and quickly grew as they approached it. It was a tropical jungle, and in the center sat a great bronze statue of the Almighty Buddha himself. The angel hovered over the statue for a moment, then motioned and slid both Sesshomaru and Rin onto the stone slab in front of the statue. A light enveloped Rin's body and she was dressed in her nun's robes. Rin bowed low, placing her forehead on the stone in front of her. Sesshomaru followed suit, unsure what else to do.

"My child." A voice boomed. Sesshomaru knew instantly that it was the Almighty Buddha himself.

"You are given a choice." Sesshomaru felt the peach in his sleeve evaporate and he rose, grasping at the place in his sleeve where it had been. His body was lifted into the air, and he found himself held hovering alongside the peach Jizo Bosatsu had given him.

"This is a fruit of immortality. It is offered to you by your lord and lover from your recent life on earth. He would like you to live on with him. There is a cost to such a thing. I cannot let you go without telling you what you stand to lose because you are a woman pledged to my services as well."

Rin lifted her head and sat up, gazing into the face of the great Buddha. It continued to speak.

"You may go with him, and live on as an immortal just as any demon of the earth. In doing so you will forfeit your immortal soul. If you do, you will never again know my love. As an immortal of the earth you cannot attain nirvana, or spend time in the heavens. The only life you will ever know is the one you live on earth. When you are killed, you will simply dissipate."

Sesshomaru looked down at Rin. She clung to every word, contemplating her choice. He felt his heart drop. He knew he could not offer her the peace and tranquility that the Almighty Buddha could. All his efforts had been in vain. The thunderous voice of the Buddha continued.

"It is your choice my child. Do you choose your demon lord or your heavenly lord?"