InuYasha Fan Fiction ❯ Heartless ❯ Under the Thunder the Flowers Light Up the Earth ( Chapter 18 )

Disclaimer: I neither own Inuyasha nor make any monetary gains by torturing him.

 

Author's Note: Last week, I flew to the other side of the world again. Reunion with family and friends takes a lot of time, so I am afraid it will take a little more than two weeks to post the next chapter. However, I will do my best to not make you wait long and stick with my plans to finish this story before Fall.

 

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Special thanks to my lovely betas Ai Kisugi, Hedanicree and MadMistress65.

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`Thinking'

“Talking”

Dreams or memories

 

 

 

Chapter 18: Under the Thunder the Flowers Light Up the Earth*

 

 

Lightning flashed above the dense forest, illuminating the gloomy sky for a fleeting second. Thunder boomed; the ominous sound drowned out the heavy patter of rain. A strong gust of wind shook the Goshinboku's branches that hovered over the devastated woman.

 

The rain beat down on her mercilessly, though Kagome took notice of nothing but the lingering vision of her husband in her mind as she stared at the now empty path he had taken. Warm tears got lost in cool droplets before they dripped down her chin.

 

“That baka,” she whispered. Her voice was scratchy after hours of crying.

 

The kitsune's hold on her arms finally relented, and she collapsed to sit on her heels with the loss of her support. Shippo shuffled to her side, leaning down to see her face. “I'm sorry, Kagome,” apologized the boy for the millionth time. “Are you going to be all right?”

 

The miko's eyes never wavered from the path she expected Inuyasha to return from as she shook her head and folded into herself more. It hadn't mattered how much she had cried or begged the fox to let her go, to take her after her hanyou. The boy had been adamant in his resolution. Kagome had no choice but to wait.

 

So, wait she would.

 

The heavens continued to weep with a vengeance; she only blinked as raindrops trickled down her eyelashes. The wind whipped her tiny form, chilling the drenched woman down to her bones; she just wound her arms around her tighter. Thunder castigated her with its resonating boom, but she didn't cower.

 

She never looked away from the path that took away her love.

 

An hour passed, or perhaps it was only a minute; the miko couldn't tell. Every second would be an eternity until her beloved returned to her.

 

If he returned to her…

 

Her hands turned into fists, digging her blunt nails into her cold skin. She couldn't think like that. She had to believe him when he promised he would come back to her.

 

Inuyasha would die to keep his promises.

 

And that was what scared Kagome the most. What if his wound got worse on the way? What if something went wrong and he couldn't defend himself? What if he fell into Keiko's trap and she got her hands on him again? What if he didn't make it in time to save their friends? What if he blamed himself? Anything could happen, and she wouldn't be there for him.

 

She had to go after him.

 

If Shippo didn't help her, then perhaps she could convince Kirara. However, she would have to get past the fox demon first. She peeked at the boy from the corner of her eye. He was sitting with his back against one of the nearby trees. He looked exhausted after the long journey he had taken from the castle. Now that he didn't need to restrain her, he seemed to be more relaxed and close to dozing off at any moment. `If I wait in silence a little longer…'

 

A soft sting on her neck broke through her thoughts, and her hand reflexively flew up to smack at her skin. She brought it up close to see a flattened flea lying in her palm. “Ouch,” the flea grumbled before he popped back to his normal size.

 

“Myoga?” asked the miko in surprise.

 

“Why, hello, Lady Kagome! It's great to taste you again so soon! I would have returned sooner, but no bird in its right mind flies in this weather. I had to jump the rest of my way here,” Myoga said as he bounced up and down in Kagome's palm. “I see young Shippo's back, too,” he continued as he jumped toward the kitsune.

 

“Don't even think about it,” growled Shippo as he stopped the flea with the point of his claw.

 

“Oh, well.” Myoga sighed dejectedly and hopped back up to sit on the miko's knee.

 

“Shippo came to tell us about Miroku and Sango,” explained Kagome. “They were caught and they are going to be…” She paused as she tried to swallow the lump in her throat before she finished with a frightened whisper, “…executed.”

 

“I see,” the old flea mumbled glumly. Then, his eyes widened as he appraised the miko's appearance for the first time. “I'm afraid to ask, but where is Lord Inuyasha?”

 

Kagome opened her mouth to answer, but instead of words, a small whimper crossed her lips. Seeing her state, Shippo piped in, “He went to save them.”

 

The tiny demon huffed in irritation. “I leave for a few hours, and he already left! And, I warned Kirara to not let either of you to leave!” He glanced around quickly before he grumbled, “Where is that useless fur ball anyway?”

 

Feeling the need to protect the neko against the flea's growing annoyance, the miko explained, “I told her to stay in the house. Inuyasha and I needed to talk in private.” When the old demon continued to mutter under his breath, she asked, “What is it, Myoga?”

 

“Well,” started Myoga as he scratched the back of his head with one hand. “Miroku sent me off with his last request when he was cornered in the castle.”

 

“His last request?” gasped Kagome. Even the thought of it was terrifying to the young woman.

 

The flea nodded grimly. “He asked you to meditate here.”

 

“Meditate?” asked Kagome in confusion as she wondered why her meditation skills would be of interest to the monk at a time like that. “Here?”

 

“Yes, meditate,” Myoga confirmed quickly. “Here, under the Goshinboku.”

 

“I don't understand,” the miko started, but the little demon had no patience left.

 

“He said it was very important,” the old retainer insisted before adding for good measure, “It was his last request.”

 

It was obvious that Kagome wasn't going to get any more information out of the flea. With a resigned sigh, she nodded. As the two demons silently watched from a few feet away, the miko sat down under the Goshinboku, facing the ancient tree's large trunk. With her palms up, she placed her hands on her knees and closed her eyes. She took in deep breaths, trying to relax as she exhaled slowly.

 

It wasn't long before she forgot about the presence of her friends, the booming sound of thunder and the insistent battle of rain against her drenched skin. No matter how much she tried though, she couldn't put a stop to her mind's turmoil. With every breath she took, a new question popped up. Were Sango and Miroku all right? What was Keiko planning? Was Inuyasha's wound healing? Would he be able to fight if he had to? Could he really save their friends alone? How far along was the hanyou in his journey? Could she still catch up to him if she left soon? Why did the monk want her to meditate there?

 

She opened her eyes with a huff. It was impossible to concentrate. She couldn't clear her mind; the fear of impending doom wouldn't let her. It didn't help that Kagome didn't understand what she was trying to accomplish. But, if Miroku thought it was important, then it had to be important. The miko knew better than to ignore the monk's wisdom.

 

Deciding to try again, she shook her head and rolled her shoulders. Just as she was about to close her eyes, her gaze fell on a breathtaking sight. To her right, under one of the protruding roots of the God Tree were two little flowers, blooming with all their glory despite the destruction the storm inflicted around them. Protected by the Goshinboku's root over them, they lived and they glowed with beauty.

 

Kagome smiled for the first time in hours, feeling lighter at the sight before her. If flowers could grow under shadows, then good things could happen in the darkest hours.

 

She just had to have faith.

 

With renewed determination, the miko closed her eyes. It wasn't so hard to concentrate this time, and when she did, she felt the slightest push against her aura. She focused on that barely noticeable power until she recognized what it was: a barrier.

 

Kagome gasped in surprise before she jumped to her feet to get closer to the source of the barrier. It hung high on the tree's trunk, above the mark left from the arrow that had pierced Inuyasha's heart long ago. She climbed up to stand on the tree's roots and carefully prodded with her fingers only to find out that the barrier diverted her touch from the area. “A protective barrier,” she mumbled absently. “Protecting what?”

 

“Kagome? What is it?” asked Shippo's concerned voice, but the young woman shushed him immediately.

 

Closing her eyes once more, the miko attacked the invisible shield with her mind. She pushed and pushed, completely focused on her task, until finally she broke through. Once the barrier was gone, she could sense the presence of another spell. She put her hand on the tree, but what her fingers came upon was not the scratchy surface of the tree's bark. She glided her hand left and right, trying to make sense of it with her touch even as she searched with her mind. It was a rope — an imbued one — wrapped around the tree's trunk.

 

Kagome knew that spell.

 

She had been subjected to it before...

 

...by Kikyo.

 

When the deceased priestess had tried to take Inuyasha to hell with her, she had hidden Kagome's presence from the hanyou's senses with the same spell. The miko from the future had never been glad to have lived that day until now, but as she stood before this enigma, she felt lucky that she knew how to break it.

 

Holding onto the rope, she attacked with all the power she could harness. Her aura clashed against the unyielding force of the spell. Sweat broke out on her brow, and she gritted her teeth against the resistance. But, she didn't give up; she only pushed harder. Finally, with one last wave of spiritual energy, she broke through.

 

What she felt then brought the miko to her knees.

 

“Kagome!” exclaimed her friends at the same time. Shippo was at her side in an instant with Myoga jumping up and down on his shoulder in fear. The kitsune reached down to help the gasping woman stand up.

 

Once she was steady on her feet, Kagome pulled away from his grasp. Her eyes were wide with wonder and disbelief, and the sting of tears was back. “That sneaky bitch,” she whispered as a huge smile broke on her face. Now that the hiding spell was gone, she could easily feel it just like she had always been able to in the past.

 

The presence of her children.

 

She scurried around the Goshinboku, following the rope wrapped around its trunk, until she reached the other side. Then, she started laughing hysterically.

 

“What is it?” asked Shippo, scared with the miko's crazed behavior.

 

In reply to the kitsune's question, the young woman cried out in joy, “She didn't kill them!”

 

“What?” the demons blurted out in unison. Shippo came to stand at her side, and both the kitsune and the flea looked up at where her glistening sapphire orbs were trained. “Kami,” whispered Myoga right as Shippo muttered in shock, “Damn.”

 

There, bound to the Goshinboku with a rope wrapped around their little forms were Reika and Raiden, the hanyou and the miko's precious babies, sleeping with two ofudas plastered over their hearts.

 

“She didn't kill them,” choked out Kagome this time, and she collapsed on her knees. Her initial joy quickly gave way to horror when she realized that her babies had been bound to a tree for almost ten years. Her hand covered her mouth to suppress the sobs that threatened to take over as tears spilled down her eyelashes.

 

“What did she do to them?” Shippo asked as he gazed at the peaceful faces of the spellbound children. They hadn't grown an inch since the last time they had been running around the village. The chubbiness of their cheeks was not gone despite having been without food for years. Apart from the unnatural sleep that claimed their souls, they looked completely healthy.

 

“It must be a seal similar to the one Kikyo used on Lord Inuyasha,” muttered Myoga.

 

Still stupefied with their finding, the kitsune questioned absently, “How come they didn't age?”

 

“Because they have been bound to the Goshinboku,” explained Kagome in a barely audible voice as she looked at the twins with a strange combination of terror and wonder in her blurry eyes. “Like their father. Inuyasha didn't age, either.” She blinked to clear her vision from tears, sending two more droplets down her cheeks. Now that the barrier was gone, the kids were exposed to the elements. Long, silver strands flew in the wind. Rain pelted down their little forms, but they didn't even flinch. Not even one tiny doggie ear moved.

 

They were so lifeless.

 

The miko jumped to her feet. In the blink of an eye, she had climbed the roots and was tugging at the ropes with all her might. She cried out in frustration when the binds didn't let go. Shippo was quick to come to her aid, cutting the offending ropes with his claws. And then…

 

Her babies were back in her arms.

 

“I've got you,” the relieved mother whispered before she turned and glided down the tree's trunk to sit with her back against it. “I've got you now. I'll never let you go again.” She murmured endless apologies and promises to their unhearing ears while her hands caressed their silky hair. “I swear I'll never let you go.” Each breath felt like her first after almost drowning as she greedily took in their scents. She placed soft kisses on their temples reverently, all the while praying to every deity she knew in gratitude.

 

“Lady Kagome, perhaps we should see if you can wake them up?” suggested the old retainer from his perch on the teary-eyed kitsune's shoulder when the miko quieted.

 

Kagome was reluctant to release her hold on the kids, but she had to break the seal to have them back for real. For that, she needed at least one free hand. She gave the flea a curt nod before she carefully laid the pups on the ground between her legs. “Mama's with you now,” she mumbled as she swept Reika's bangs off of her forehead lovingly and tenderly stroked Raiden's ear. “Mama will protect you. You will always laugh and be happy and you will always…” She paused as she took a hold of both ofudas and willed with all her being before she cried out, “…live!” With that, she pulled on the seals, detaching them both at once.

 

The once imbued papers turned into dust in her hands as furry ears twitched and dark eyelashes fluttered gently. Raiden was the first to open his eyes. His golden orbs were hazy with sleep. “Mama?” he asked dazedly.

 

“Mama, is that you?” came Reika's sweet voice as the little girl looked up with half-lidded eyes.

 

“Yes, baby,” choked out the miko, caressing the kids' ears soothingly and trying hard to keep her tears at bay.

 

Kagome was pushed back slightly with the force of her son's weight when Raiden jumped to her arms in a flash of silver and red and with a cry of, “Mama!”

 

She embraced him tightly with one arm and extended her free hand to her daughter. “Come here, baby.”

 

As Raiden buried his face into his mother's neck and clung to her wet shirt with his little claws, Reika crawled to her lap and started crying. Alarmed by the kid's tears, Kagome asked, “Baby, are you hurt?” She stroked her precious girl's back soothingly as her panic rose. “What's wrong? Where do you hurt?” However, the girl shook her head and pressed closer to her mother's chest. “Rei,” pleaded Kagome helplessly. “Why are you crying?”

 

When his sister only whimpered in reply, Raiden touched her shoulder with his tiny fingers. “Don't cwy, Wei,” he whispered. “See? Mama came back.” He then looked up at his mother with frightened orbs. “You falled to the well!” he exclaimed as he flailed his arms and made a show of falling back, but Kagome's arm on his waist kept him safe. “Then, you wewen't in thewe! Bad well ate you!” he cried out before he snapped his jaw and roared, showing his tiny fangs in a rather amusing imitation of a lion.

 

As Shippo and Myoga chuckled at the boy's antics, Reika sniffled and looked up with tears on her chubby cheeks and snot running down her button nose. “Keiko said you weren't coming back,” she whispered, tightening her grip on the miko's shirt.

 

Kagome gritted her teeth to keep in the expletive that threatened to escape her lips against the priestess' cruelty. Sensing her anger, Raiden's ears drooped with guilt and he asked, “Awe you mad, Mama?”

 

The young woman's face softened immediately. “Why would I be mad, baby? You didn't do anything wrong.”

 

“But, we went to the well,” the boy explained before he looked down at his hand, rolling a lock of his mother's wet hair between his fingers. “You told us not to go thewe.”

 

The miko smiled sadly. She had prohibited the children to play near the well, telling them that they would get hurt if they fell. In fact, she had been more scared that the well would take them away and she couldn't follow. “No, honey,” she reassured. “I'm not mad.”

 

Raiden peered into his mom's blurry orbs as if in question. His eyes widened as he traced his mother's face with his fingers. He was trying hard to keep his tears from spilling; Kagome could tell from the glistening of his golden orbs and the way his lips trembled as he asked, “Why did you go, Mama?”

 

The miko gazed into the golden eyes of the son she thought she would never see again, and the sadness she found in them broke her abused heart. They thought she had left them when she had fallen into the well and disappeared. She couldn't fathom how that had scared her precious babies. She took their hands tenderly into her own and brought them to her lips to place gentle kisses before pressing them to her heart.

 

“Kami, I never wanted to leave you, babies. I never wanted to go. Keiko, she…” Her words trailed off as tears broke through her resistance and cascaded down her cheeks. Trying hard to keep in her sobs, she hugged her two children.

 

“She's bad, Mama,” mumbled Reika into her mother's chest. “She was mean to us.”

 

“She was!” interjected her brother and raised his head to look at the miko with frightened eyes. “She yelled at us. Made me go into a bad sleep.”

 

“Oh, Baby,” murmured Kagome and cupped Raiden's face with her hand. “No more bad sleep for you. Mama and Papa will protect you.”

 

The boy nodded as tiny tears started to form at the edges of his eyes. He wiped them away with the sleeve of his red hakama before they could fall. Like his father, he tried not to show emotion if he could help it.

 

Reika sighed against her mother's bosom. “Mama?” she asked sleepily.

 

“Yes, baby?”

 

“I had a dream about you.”

 

Raiden looked at his sister in astonishment. “I saw Mama and Papa in my dream, too!”

 

“She had a pretty dress in my dream,” boasted Reika. All the sleepiness left her features as her ears perked up and her eyebrows rose in challenge. “Did she have one in yours?”

 

“Dunno,” muttered Raiden disinterestedly. “Papa was playing hurt again. We had to get…”

 

The boy's explanation was cut short when Reika completed his sentence in excitement, “…had to get Mama to help Papa!”

 

After sending the girl an amusing glare that was meant to be scary, Raiden turned to his mother with an irritated huff. “The old man told us to take you to the well.”

 

“His name is Grandpa!” chastised Reika as her brother shrugged stubbornly.

 

Shocked to hear the familiar title from her children, Kagome gasped before she repeated in disbelief, “Grandpa?”

 

Reika nodded excitedly. “He played with us all the time! He has big huts and lots of pretty beads!”

 

“He didn't let me play with his swords,” grumbled Raiden, pouting and folding his arms on his chest in a perfect imitation of his father.

 

“Kami,” whispered Kagome as she glanced at Shippo, who was kneeling in front of her with Myoga on his shoulder. “That's my Grandpa,” she said with wide eyes. “He knew!”

 

She looked back to the kids when Raiden pulled on the collar of her shirt to get her attention. “Did you help Papa?”

 

Kagome smiled wistfully as she looked lovingly at her two babies. They had always been scared when their father had gotten hurt, and having Inuyasha as a father meant seeing him wounded every once in a while. To spare their kids the fright, the couple had taken to telling them it was a game they played. It hadn't been hard to pretend since Inuyasha always denied his pain no matter how bad it was. “Yes,” she said as she stroked their backs tenderly. “I helped Papa. He's all better now.”

 

Reika bit her lip. “Mama, why was Keiko so mean to us?” she asked, bringing the conversation back to the wicked priestess.

 

“She huwt us!” piped in Raiden.

 

Kagome shook her head adamantly. “She won't do it again, babies. Your father is very angry that she hurt you. He's going to make her stop.”

 

“I don't want to sleep at her house anymore,” mumbled her son as he gave his mother the puppy eyes he knew she couldn't resist.

 

The miko clenched her jaw, remembering all the times she had willingly taken her children into the lion's den whenever she had been upset with her mate. She still couldn't believe how blind she had been. “No,” she said. Her voice was hard with self-reproach. “You won't go to her house anymore.”

 

“I'll kick her if she comes to us,” declared Raiden as he jumped off of her lap. “Like Papa teached me. See?” He kicked the air, bringing his bare foot up until it was level with his waist and losing his balance in the mean time. He fell back to his mother's lap with a giggle on his lips.

 

Unable to resist her little hanyou's antics, Kagome chuckled softly. “Don't worry, Sweetheart. You won't see her again.”

 

“Mama?” asked Reika, absently combing the lock of hair that fell over Kagome's shoulder with her tiny fingers. “Where's Papa? Is he okay?”

 

Kagome looked at her daughter's wide eyes and her son's twitching ears as they waited for her reply. She knew she would be lying if she told them there was nothing to worry. However, she didn't have a choice but to reassure her children. “Papa's fine, Baby,” she said with a sigh. “We'll go to him soon.”

 

It wouldn't be soon enough for her tastes when they could go to her stupidly stubborn but dearly loved hanyou, though. Once the initial surprise and giddiness of finding her kids started to wear off, more pressing matters took precedence in the miko's mind. She tried to send Shippo after Inuyasha to let the hanyou know that his pups were alive and well so that he would perhaps think twice before endangering his life. However, the kitsune adamantly refused to leave her side, saying that now the pups were with her as well, Inuyasha would kill him if something happened to them in his absence. She found that begging Myoga to help her would be of no use either when the flea kindly reminded her that no bird or cat demon could fly in the storm. As a result, Kagome had to accept defeat and wait until the storm subsided.

 

On their way to the house, the pups asked why Shippo was much bigger all of a sudden. The miko didn't know how to explain how long they had been asleep; neither did she want to let them know exactly how bad the `bad sleep' they had been forced into was. Instead, she told them that the fox demon had eaten all his meals without complaint while they had been sleeping.

 

“See?” Reika goaded her brother from her mother's arms. “You didn't eat your carrots before you went to sleep. Now you can't catch Shippo, you sleepyhead!”

 

“I'm not a sleepyhead!” countered Raiden from his perch on the kitsune's shoulders, causing the adults to chuckle and shake their heads.

 

“Are too!”

 

“Am not!”

 

“Are too!”

 

The kids' bantering did not stop until they reached the house. Once they saw Kirara though, they immediately forgot about their verbal battle and teamed up to catch the neko's tail as if they hadn't been arguing for the last fifteen minutes.

 

Kagome was stirring the broth she made and watching the children play with the full demons when she heard voices outside rise above the constant patter of rain. The door opened, revealing a completely drenched Kohaku and his nephew and two nieces.

 

The miko's happiness over seeing Sango's younger brother and children for the first time after so many years was soon replaced with apprehension as she pondered how to tell them that the slayer and the monk's lives were at stake because of her and her husband. She was relieved to learn that they already knew. It turned out that Myoga had found the group during the night and relayed the bad news, advising them to stay out of sight for their safety.

 

However, neither Kohaku nor his sister's offspring had any intention of staying back. Despite the miko's and the old retainer's objections, they were adamant to go after Inuyasha and assist him in any way they could. In the end, it was decided that they would leave all together once the weather permitted.

 

Sleep claimed every single soul in the house but Kagome once everyone was sufficiently dry and all bellies were filled with warm broth. For hours, she watched her children sleep as the bliss she felt over having her babies back warred with her fear for her mate. Finally, she dozed off listening to the even breathing of the two little half-demons tucked at her sides. The last thing she remembered before her eyes closed was taking Raiden's thumb out of his mouth.

 

With dawn came the rays of sunlight, chasing away the clouds and giving the miko hope. After a hearty breakfast, the large group left the village. Kohaku rode Kirara with his nephew and nieces while Kagome safely nestled on Shippo, who transformed into a huge balloon and held onto the neko's tail. The miko kept her children in her arms while Myoga amused the kids with his exciting stories, exaggerated facial expressions and four flailing arms.

 

As they flew over forests, farms and villages, the young woman's gaze was fixed on the horizon and her heart was fluttering in anticipation. Today, she was going to get her whole family back.

 

 

End of Chapter 18

 

 

***Raiden: Thunder and lightning, Reika: Lovely flower***

 

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All reviews are deeply appreciated; they are the little flowers that bloom in the dark, giving the author the courage to continue writing. ~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

 

*The title of this chapter belongs to D.G. Jones.

**Thanks to Ai Kisugi for her help with the pups' speech.