InuYasha Fan Fiction ❯ Heaven and Earth ❯ The Journey Home ( Chapter 19 )

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

Chapter 19: The Journey Home
 
Baka - fool or idiot
 
Sesshoumaru was dreaming again, this time a much more pleasant one. In his dream he was in a large pool of hot water, someone was gently washing his hair. He tried to turn to see them, but they always stayed out of sight and he couldn't tell who it was. He relaxed and didn't worry about it, the soothing sensations at his scalp making him feel good and he moaned softly at the gentle caresses.
 
“Sess,” he heard a voice say as if it was a long way off, he kept his eyes closed concentrating on the feel of the fingers in his hair. “Sess,” a little louder now and he frowned. He didn't want to wake up. “Sesshoumaru!” He opened his eyes, startled. His brother was looking at him in the darkness of the hut.
 
“What?” he asked groggily. “I was having a nice dream, why did you wake me?”
 
“You were moaning, I thought you were having a nightmare or something.” A nice dream? What kind of nice dream was he having to be moaning like that?
 
“No,” he sighed, wishing he could just go back to sleep. He sat up, completely awake now, knowing he was going to be staying up.
 
“What was it about?” Inuyasha asked curiously.
 
“What was what about?” Sesshoumaru asked back.
 
“Your dream, idiot. What was your dream about?”
 
“Why should I tell you when you're being so mean?” he retorted a bit testily at being called an idiot.
 
Inuyasha puffed out a huge sigh, crossing his arms in front of his chest, “Don't tell me then; see if I care.”
 
Sesshoumaru let out his own sigh, “Someone was washing my hair in a big pool. I don't know who, whenever I tried to look they disappeared. But it was nice,” he purred softly.
 
Inuyasha's eyes widened. That was us, he's remembering that time in the pool at Lady Joshin's castle. The hanyou said nothing, waiting to see if his brother would tell him more. “Anything else?”
 
“No, that's it. You woke me up, baka,” he grumbled, as he rose to put his clothes on.
 
“What are you doing? It's still dark out.”
 
“I'm up, now. I won't be able to get back to sleep so I might as well get dressed. What about you, are you going to go back to bed?”
 
“No. I'll get up with you.”
 
Both boys found their clothing and began dressing quietly, not wanting to wake the others. Sesshoumaru glanced at his brother as he changed; almost hypnotized by the way Inuyasha's muscles rippled and moved. Why do I feel attracted to him? It's wrong, isn't it?
 
Yes, don't look, replied the voice in his head. He'd be disgusted if he catches you.
 
Sesshoumaru looked away quickly before his brother could notice, a small, niggling feeling tickling the back of his mind. That dream, there's something…I can almost remember…
 
“Do you need help putting on your armour?” Inuyasha asked, noticing that Sesshoumaru had left it by his blankets on the floor.
 
“I'm not going to wear it, damn things heavy,” he told Inuyasha, his mind distracted by the question, making him forget what he was thinking.
 
“If I'm a lord, why am I running around with two swords and battle armour. Wouldn't I have an army to fight for me?” he asked.
 
“I don't know, it's always just been you, Jaken and the kid,” Inuyasha answered. “I've never been to your castle so I don't know if you have an army or not.”
 
“You've never been to my castle? Not even to visit me?” Sesshoumaru asked, confused.
 
“No,” he said simply.
 
“We really didn't get along did we,” Sesshoumaru stated sadly. “Why?”
 
Inuyasha sighed; this was just too complicated to explain. “We just didn't, for a long time. We get along now so that's fine.”
 
“It was my fault…that we weren't brothers,” Sesshoumaru mumbled.
 
“Do you remember something?” Inuyasha asked, the way his brother had said that making him curious.
 
Sesshoumaru had had a quick flash of a young boy, sitting out in the rain, alone. He thought he was there watching but not helping and it made him feel ashamed. Was that him? Did I leave him out alone in the cold? “I'm not sure,” he replied flustered, feeling like a jerk. “I don't want to think about this anymore, it makes my head hurt.”
 
“Sure, let's go find something to eat before everyone else gets up,” Inuyasha suggested, his stomach growling.
 
Sesshoumaru smiled at the noise, “Sounds good to me.”
 
They went to the kitchen area to find Mahoutsukai already awake and preparing breakfast. “How do you feel, Sess?” she asked.
 
“Fine, fine,” he returned, waving his hand in the air as if he was brushing the question aside. “Why does everybody keep asking me that?”
 
“Just checking,” she smiled at him. Sesshoumaru and Inuyasha helped the sorceress get everything ready. The demon lord then went and woke up his retainer and the little girl. He came out from behind the screen after a few moments with Rin dressed and her hair in a little pony tail at the side of her head.
 
“How can you do her hair with just one hand?” Inuyasha asked, impressed.
 
“She helped,” Sesshoumaru answered, smiling down at the small girl.
 
“Yes, Rin put the hair band in while Sessy holds her hair,” she told her lords brother.
 
Inuyasha barked out a laugh, “Sessy? Now that's just too funny.”
 
Sesshoumaru's face turned bright pink and he scowled at his chuckling brother. “It's not that funny, and she can call me whatever she likes.”
 
“Really?” Rin replied hopefully. “Can I call you chichi-ue?” she asked shyly, her little cheeks turning pink as well.
 
Both brothers looked at her in surprise. “I'm not really your father,” Sesshoumaru told her, feeling dismayed when he saw her face fall. “But I don't mind, if you want to,” he quickly added.
 
Rin gave him a huge, toothy grin and wrapped her arms around his neck, hugging him tightly.
 
Sesshoumaru gasped for air and Inuyasha helped him pry the joyful child from his neck. “Okay, Rin, your choking your chichi-ue,” he laughed, grinning more when he saw his brother's face turn that adorable shade of pink again. “You're very cute when you blush,” Inuyasha whispered to him as he unwrapped Rin's arms.
 
Sesshoumaru looked away quickly, his heart gave a loud thump and his stomach did a little flip. He thinks I'm cute.
 
He's only joking, it doesn't mean anything. Sesshoumaru's eyes glazed somewhat.
 
“Hey Sess, you okay?” Inuyasha asked worriedly, seeing that blank expression start to come over his brother's face.
 
“Uhh…yeah, I'm okay,” he said, giving his head a shake. “Let's eat and then get ready to leave. You want to go home, Rin?”
 
“Yes,” she smiled up to him. She ran off to get Jaken, and after eating, the two brothers went to say goodbye to the sorceress and thank her for her help and hospitality.
 
“I'm always here if you need me, my lords,” she told them, making both feel uncomfortable at the use of the honorific. She just smiled and sent them on their way.
 
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They had decided to walk to the western lands even though it would take them a couple of days. It was so nice and warm and there was no real hurry and Jaken had told Inuyasha that it took a lot of his brother's energy to fly. The hanyou decided he didn't want his brother to stress his recovering body so walking was fine.
 
Even Jaken, who hated walking as his legs had to move twice as fast as everyone else's to keep up, relaxed. This was mostly due to the fact that his master was being very talkative and kind to the toad, something that had not happened before. Maybe he could just stay this way, Jaken thought happily, staring up at his master with adoring eyes.
 
As they walked along, Jaken instructed his lord in what would be expected from him when they returned.
 
“Kami, it sounds so boring,” Sesshoumaru complained. “Don't I have people to do this stuff for me?”
 
“No, my lord, you always take care of these things yourself.”
 
Sesshoumaru sighed heavily.
 
“I'll help you my lord,” Jaken told him.
 
“Thanks, Jaken,” Sesshoumaru replied, still irritated by all the work his retainer told him lay ahead of him.
 
Jaken smiled joyously at the appreciative words, his eyes sparkling and tears of happiness appearing.
 
Inuyasha rolled his eyes at the green demon. “You're pathetic, you know that,” he scoffed.
 
Jaken just stuck his tongue out at the half demon and then moved quickly to the other side of his master when Inuyasha gave a warning growl.
 
They stopped by a stream for lunch, and after Rin had a swim in the cool water and had dried off, they continued on until evening. They set up camp not far from a small village in the forest. There was a well house nearby so they had plenty to drink. They had decided to go through the village in the morning to buy a few supplies for the next day's trek.
 
After Rin was tucked in for bed, Jaken by her to keep guard, Sesshoumaru and Inuyasha had some time alone to talk.
 
“Do you recognize anything?” Inuyasha asked his brother as they sat on the grass under a large tree.
 
“Sometimes I think I do, it's like déjà vu. It's very…disconcerting.”
 
“That's good that you're remembering.” He really wanted Sesshoumaru to remember him so he could tell him about being mates. Though out that day, there had been many times that Inuyasha wanted to touch or kiss his brother and he was having a hard time to be patient. Now being one of those times. As he sneaked peeks at his brother he noticed that Sesshoumaru had his hair hanging down long, and he was dying to braid it as he had done before.
 
“Tell me about yourself, Yash. We talk so much about me; I really don't know anything about you.”
 
“It's Inuyasha, first of all, and second, there's not much to tell.”
 
“Tell me about your mother.” He suggested, trying to get his brother to open up about himself.
 
“Her name was Izayoi, a human. She was a great mom,” he said wistfully. “She always knew how to make me feel better.”
 
“You had a hard life, huh?” asked Sesshoumaru quietly.
 
Inuyasha squirmed under the question, “I guess,” he mumbled self consciously. “Most people don't like half-breeds,” he told his brother in a self depreciatory manner.
 
“Who called you a half-breed?” Sesshoumaru asked, hoping it wasn't him.
 
“Pretty well everybody. Demons didn't like me because I was half human, humans didn't like me because I was half demon. I didn't really fit in anywhere.”
 
“You had no friends?”
 
“Not until I met Kikyo.” Inuyasha had no idea why he was so willing to tell his brother about his past but it seemed right and he only felt slightly embarrassed. “She was a priestess, I…loved her.”
 
“Oh? What happened to her?” Sesshoumaru asked, noticing his brother talked about her in the past tense.
 
“She died.” His younger brother said this so sadly that Sesshoumaru put his hand out and took Inuyasha's.
 
“Don't talk about it if it's hurtful,” he told his hanyou brother gently.
 
“It's okay, it happened a long time ago,” Inuyasha then proceeded to tell his brother everything that had happened to him. How he and Kikyo were tricked by Naraku, how he was pinned to a tree for fifty years, how he met Kagome and the others of his group, playing down the fights him and Sesshoumaru had had until he came to the point where Sesshoumaru was turned into a human where he stopped his narrative. He did, however, tell the demon lord how he became human on the night of the new moon.
 
They were now lying under the tree side by side, still holding hands. “Wow,” Sesshoumaru breathed, impressed at the adventures his brother had had, so engrossed in the stories he was hearing that he didn't even notice their fingers were still entwined. Inuyasha did, but was not about to break the contact unless Sesshoumaru wanted to.
 
Something was tickling at the back of the demon lord's mind. It had started when Inuyasha told him of becoming human. He almost had the memory when an evil voice taunted from the darkness of the forest, “Well, well, isn't this sweet.”
 
Inuyasha leapt up, drawing Tetsusaiga, “Naraku, what the hell do you want?” He tried to keep himself between the evil hanyou and his brother. How did the two of us miss him, we both should have felt his aura or smelt his stench.
 
Naraku had a new trick, he could mask his presence and he found it most useful, especially when he had chanced upon the two beings he wanted to destroy more than anything. He had found it quite amusing to see the two of them lying like lovers on the forest floor, unaware of how close he was.
 
“Is this the one you told me about?” Sesshoumaru asked, drawing his sword as well and standing by his brother.
 
“Yeah, but I can handle him, stay back.”
 
Naraku laughed wickedly, “The likes of you cannot defeat me. You're nothing but a weakling half-breed.” He moved fast and struck out with his tentacles trying to ensnare the inu hanyou. Inuyasha moved just as fast and avoided them, trying to lead Naraku away from his demon brother.
 
Sesshoumaru grew angry at the term the evil demon had used against his brother. He knew that word hurt Inuyasha deeply and his eyes began to turn red.
 
He leapt after the two hanyou's. He was faster than the both of them and cut the tentacle that had almost encircled itself around Inuyasha's leg, growling loudly. His anger was beginning to take over his mind and his claws and teeth lengthened as he saw another tentacle strike his brother and smash him to the ground.
 
He stood before Naraku intent on protecting his brother, snarling and baring his fangs.
 
“There's something different about you Sesshoumaru,” Naraku drawled out, seemingly unconcerned. “Where is your control? You seem quite out of sorts.”
 
“How do you know me demon?” Sesshoumaru snarled out.
 
Naraku stared at the agitated inu before him, “We've been acquaintances, don't tell me you've forgotten? I'm hurt,” he jeered.
 
Sesshoumaru's eyes glazed over for an instant. He had a momentary image of this demon giving him an arm and then it was gone. Why would I deal with the likes of this? He asked himself, wondering what kind of person he had been before.
 
While Sesshoumaru hesitated, distracted by his own thoughts, Naraku's tentacles pulsed out and wrapped around him, drawing him towards the baboon pelted man, making him drop the Toukijin.
 
Inuyasha sprang from the ground intent on cutting his brother out of the flesh that had encased him.
 
“Be careful, mutt. You don't want to slice your precious brother in two do you?”
 
Inuyasha growled fiercely, “You won't get away with this, Naraku. I'm going to kill you!”
 
Confined within the grip of the tentacles, Sesshoumaru struggled hard. The sensation was so like his nightmare that he began to panic. Something inside of him snapped and complete and utter blood lust took over. His normal demonic control that he had mastered years ago was completely gone because of the forgetfulness, and although he didn't physically change into his demon dog form, mentally he was nothing more than a beast and he slashed out with his claws and fangs.
 
He broke free in a shower of blood and flesh, Naraku's eyes going wide at the strength and power flowing unchecked out of the demon lord. Such vigour and energy, why have I never felt this before in him? He is different, why? Naraku could sense a change in Sesshoumaru's aura. It was wild and fierce, completely uncontained. I have to have it, he thought to himself, but then stepped back in terror when he looked into Sesshoumaru's eyes. In the empty red depths, he saw his own death.
 
Naraku retreated hastily in a ball of miasma, Sesshoumaru hot on his heels until he couldn't reach him as he took to the air. Sesshoumaru, in his state of mind, not realizing he could have taken flight as well to follow him. The enraged and frustrated demon snarled and barked on the ground below, spit flying from his mouth.
 
“Sess, Sess, are you okay?” It was Inuyasha, and when his brother turned and cast those blood red eyes on him, he shuddered, standing rooted to the spot. To the hanyou it was like looking into the eyes of a predatory shark, there was nothing of his brother in them.
 
Sesshoumaru dropped to all fours and began to stalk forward, keeping his eyes locked onto his brothers.
 
Holy shit! If I run, he'll catch me and kill me for sure. “Sesshoumaru stop, it's me Inuyasha,” he hoped that somehow his brother could hear him.
 
The demon continued to advance forward. Inuyasha could see his muscles tense to spring and he brought the Tetsusaiga up before him. “Don't make me do this Sesshoumaru,” he cried out, fear beginning to lace into his voice. Is this what I'm like when I turn? Kami protect me.
 
Sesshoumaru moved faster than Inuyasha was expecting and he was pinned to the ground before he could even think of using the wind scar. The sword flew from his hand and landed on the ground out of his reach. Shit! Fuck! Damn! “Sesshoumaru, Sess, please don't. It's me, please remember,” he exclaimed. His instincts took over and he lifted his chin exposing his neck to the fanged creature above him.
 
He felt Sesshoumaru's hot breath on his neck and he closed his eyes waiting to be torn apart. Instead he felt a warm tongue lap at his neck as he heard a soft whine. He opened his eyes to see Sesshoumaru above him, his eyes flashing between gold and red.
 
Inuyasha reached up with the one hand Sesshoumaru wasn't able to pin and stroked his brother's neck where he knew his marks were, instantly calming the raging demon above him. Sesshoumaru's eyes went to gold and stayed there. He looked down at his frightened brother and passed out, falling on Inuyasha and knocking the wind out of him.
 
Gasping, Inuyasha crawled out from under his brother, visibly shaken. He had never seen Sesshoumaru look so fierce. It was terrifying to feel all that raw power with nothing to control it and he realized he had come very close to being killed, probably only a hairs breadth, by the one being he loved with all his heart.
 
Why didn't you kill him, screamed the being in Sesshoumaru's mind.
 
No, I love him, I will not do it.
 
Stubborn fool, if he's gone, all your problems will go away.
 
NO! Sesshoumaru struggled to get loose of the grip he was in. He felt its hold loosen, slightly.
 
Stop, I won't let you go.
 
Sesshoumaru continued to struggle, growling low in his throat, he felt that grip disengage a bit more but he was still unable to break completely free. He began to tire.
 
There, there, that's a good boy. Stay calm, just relax.
 
I will get free; you cannot keep me here forever. I remember him, he is my mate.
 
Hush now. We've had this conversation. You know he doesn't love you, he loves the miko wench.
 
I do not care. He is my mate and he does have feelings for me. He is with me now and he would not be if he did not care.
 
It's only his sense of duty.
 
It is more than that. Do not try and trick this Sesshoumaru. I will not listen to you.
 
He felt whatever was holding him detach a little more just before he slipped back into the darkness.
 
He woke with Jaken fussing over him. “My lord, you're awake, how do you feel?”
 
“Ungh, my head hurts,” he replied, trying to sit up and seeing stars and lights dance before his eyes. He felt slightly nauseous. “Where's Yash?” he asked, holding his head in his hands as he finally sat up fully.
 
“He's asleep over there,” the toad pointed to his brother who was dozing sitting up, his back against a tree close to where Rin lay.
 
“He's okay? I…I didn't hurt him…did I?”
 
“You remember what happened?” Jaken asked, passing his lord a drink of water. The little toad had been more than surprised when Inuyasha had returned carrying an unconscious Sesshoumaru. The hanyou had told him what had occurred and then had left him to care for his master at Jaken's insistence.
 
“A bit, I remember fighting with that Naraku guy, he had grabbed me,” his brow creased in thought, “And then I was sitting on Inuyasha, I think I wanted to…kill him,” Sesshoumaru finished quietly. He drank deeply from the gourd his retainer had given him. “He isn't hurt?”
 
“No, my lord, he's fine. You didn't hurt him.” Jaken looked at the marks on his master's neck, they were more pronounced. He had had a hard time to see them before but now, although still faint, they could be seen more easily and he wondered about that. I'll have to talk to the hanyou about this.
 
“Rest yourself for now, my lord. It's only a few hours till dawn and we still have a days walk ahead of us.” The toad continued to fret about his lord, trying to get him to lie back down.
 
“Okay, okay, stop fussing like an old woman,” Sesshoumaru grumped, settling down and falling asleep within a few minutes.
 
Jaken sat up the rest of the night, watching over all of them.
 
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They had an uneventful walk the next day and were now strolling though Sesshoumaru's lands about a half day from his castle. Inuyasha was surprised and impressed at the villages they passed. Most of the inhabitants did not seem to fear the taiyoukai, but they did give him the utmost respect as he went by. All stopped whatever they were doing at the time and bowed to the lord as he went by. The villages seemed prosperous and Inuyasha knew that was probably in thanks to his brother. Many lords tended to tax the villages bare but it seemed his brother had been fair in that respect. He was also surprised to see most of the inhabitants were human.
 
They stopped to rest and eat as Rin said she was hungry. Jaken approached Inuyasha, “Did you notice his marks are more visible?” he asked the hanyou.
 
“No,” he returned, surprised.
 
“Did you do something?” the toad asked in an almost accusatory way.
 
“No,” Inuyasha returned, frowning and blushing at the same time. “Wait, I did touch them, when he was…changed,” he replied, thinking a bit more. “That wouldn't make a difference, would it?”
 
Jaken just rolled his eyes, “You have a lot to learn about mating bonds. By touching the marks you're re-establishing the connection between lord Sesshoumaru and yourself.”
 
Really, Inuyasha thought, putting this bit of information away for now. That might be helpful.
 
Soon the party was on their way again. Sesshoumaru began to remember more and more about the area he was walking through. He recognized features of the landscape and soon he was in the lead, certain of where he was going.
 
They finally reached the castle just as the sun was setting. Inuyasha was impressed by his brother's home. It wasn't ostentatiously large but it seemed roomy. It was set into the landscape like it belonged, not distracting to the scenery in any way. When they entered, Rin ran off to her room to have a bath and get ready for bed. Sesshoumaru promised he would check in on her and read her a story from one of the hundreds of books he had given her.
 
Jaken had not entered with the others, he had gone to put Ah-Un away in his masters stables.
 
Inuyasha wandered around looking at the inside of the castle. It was well furnished and airy. The hanyou didn't know what he was expecting but he kinda thought that Sesshoumaru's castle would be dark and dreary so he was pleasantly surprised at the cheerfulness he found reflected back from the various rooms. I wonder if this has to do with Rin being here? He asked himself as he continued his tour.
 
Sesshoumaru watched him amble around, feeling a bit of pride at the way his brother seemed to appreciate the décor. The demon lord was pleasantly surprised himself. He remembered his whole castle and he gave a small sigh of relief at the familiarness that surrounded him. “You like my home?” he asked his brother.
 
“Yeah, wow, it's pretty good,” Inuyasha told him. “You seem to know your way around, you're remembering?” he asked.
 
“Yes. Well at least my house. There's so many familiar things here, it's comforting,” he answered. “Hey, let me show you to the room you can stay in,” the demon piped up.
 
He took his brother upstairs and they went into the room beside his own. It was not as large as Sesshoumaru's and didn't have a balcony, but it did have similar rice paper on the wall. The scenes depicted were of the forest so the room was slightly darker and cosy. There was a nice, thick futon on the floor and various chairs and a small table. A small closet was off to the side of the futon. Three large windows allowed plenty of light and air to enter and the breeze that was coming in moved and fluttered the long curtains.
 
“So do you like it?” Sesshoumaru asked, hoping his brother would be pleased.
 
“This is really nice.” He smiled his appreciation of the room to his demon brother.
 
“You relax, I'm going to go tuck Rin in and I'll be back. There's probably some clothes in the closet. I have too many, pick something you like if you want. Jaken will be up too, he can show you where to bathe,” he rattled off quickly. Sesshoumaru was pretty excited to have Inuyasha there with him and his new personality didn't mind showing it.
 
Inuyasha just grinned at the retreating form of his brother. When he finally remembers everything, I hope that he doesn't go back to that cold way of his. It's kind of nice having him be like this. Inuyasha lay down of the futon, enjoying the softness and plushness until Jaken arrived, squawking about the dirt he was getting on the coverings and making him head to the bathing pool.