InuYasha Fan Fiction ❯ It Must Be Destiny ❯ Chapter 26

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

Chapter 26

Amber whimpered as her parents looked at her in a mixture of joy and relief. Inusouta's arm around her waist tightened slightly to let her know he was there for her.

The little boy, Jared, stepped forward and looked closely at Amber. “Are you my sister?” he asked innocently.

Amber gasped in horror. I have a brother?

Belle, her mother, put her hands on the boy's shoulders. “Yes, Jared. She's your sister.”

Inusouta cleared his throat, his face deadly serious. “Excuse me, but how do you know that my fiancée is the daughter you are looking for?”

Fiancée… I like that…

He hasn't even asked you to marry him yet! Pay attention.

The man stepped forward. “She looks exactly like my wife did when we met in high school.” He smiled warmly at Amber, as if there had never been thirteen years of separation between them. She cowered slightly against Inusouta's side.

Belle looked confused. “Amber? Honey? Don't you remember us? We're your parents.”

Absolute cold fury flashed in Amber's gaze. “I remember you,” she said in a voice that could've frozen the sun. “Believe me, I remember you.”

They both looked taken aback at her icy words. They exchanged a confused look. “Darling… what's wrong? We thought you'd be delighted to see us after so long.”

“Oh, I'm delighted. I'll be even more delighted when you leave here and never look back.”

Chris walked forward toward her, pausing only when he saw the deadly protective look in Inusouta's gaze. “Amber, we've come to take you home. Your brother needs you… we need you.”

Amber's sapphire gaze flickered to the young boy looking back at her with identical eyes. “Your son looks fine to me. Now leave.”

“It's not Jared,” Belle said nervously. “It's your other brother, Tristan. He's… he's got leukemia.”

A long moment of silence passed as parents and daughter stared at each other.

Blue eyes looked at her mother in absolute boredom. “So… you had two other children that you decided not to throw away. Was it because I wasn't a boy? Instead of tossing me in a dumpster, you threw me at Obaasan Akina like so much garbage and never thought twice.”

Shock filtered across her parents faces. “It wasn't that at all!” Belle cried in dismay. “Your brother… when he was born, he was so very sick..." she shuddered, as if the memory was too painful to recall. "And then, you started acting strangely- and when you started the nursery on fire, we decided that we would send you to your grandmother until Tristan got better and hopefully you had outgrown your violent streak."

She lifted a hand to her brow and rubbed her forehead. "We figured your odd behavior was because of the new baby, but then… those bizarre lavender flames…” She broke off, shaking her head. “But then Tristan was diagnosed with leukemia about seven years ago… His only hope of survival is a bone marrow transplant.”

Chris nodded. “So we had Jared, but he's not a match. You're our only hope for your brother now. We've been looking for you for six years.”

If Amber had been mad before, she was absolutely livid now. “You… you bastards…” she hissed. Inusouta inwardly jumped a little at her language, but he knew it was well-founded. He was proud of his little vixen for standing up to her parents after the years of agony they had put her through by ignoring her for thirteen years.

The air around her seemed to stir and her eyes flickered, the now-familiar scent of her new youki becoming apparent even to his dulled senses. “I cannot believe the nerve of you people. You show up here after more than a decade of pretending I don't exist and expect me to help the child you did want?”

Chris stepped back, pulling his wife and son back with him. “Belle, she's doing it again,” he said under his breath, terrified.

Inusouta's ears would've perked forward if he had been in hanyou form. It? Again?

He watched his mate as she radiated supreme fury. Her features changed, as they had when she had found release in his arms last night, only with a major difference- her anger. A long, gold tail appeared behind her, bristling in rage. Human ears vanished and two large golden triangular ears tipped with black were suddenly laid back flat against her head, almost blending in with the amber-gold of her hair. Her hands, which now sported long claws, clenched into fists so tightly that blood ran between the cracks of her fingers and dripped steadily onto the courtyard pavement. Her teeth were bared, revealing lethal fangs.

She had transformed into a kitsune hanyou, right before his eyes.

And her family's, as well. Little Jared looked at his sister in a mixture of amazement and curiosity, while the parents stared in horror.

Inusouta gave Chris a bored look. “So you say this happened before?” he said nonchalantly, as if discussing the weather. Maybe I amOji-sama Sesshoumaru's pup…

Chris's eyes were wide in revulsion. “Y-yeah… when she was four. We… we were taking care of T-Tristan… and she got mad for some reason… and suddenly she looked just like that.” He shuddered. “Then she set fire to the nursery- with us in it! As if that weren't horrible enough, it was those eerie lavender flames! She's a freak!”

Ooooo… bad choice of words there, pops. Now you're making memad…

Amber's eyes narrowed, the whites flickering to an emerald green. “Leave,” she growled as she held out her bloody hand toward them, her slashed palm facing the sky. (“Kitsune-bi!”)

Lifting the lavender fireball, she made ready to engulf Chris and his wife and son in flames.

“Chris, please! We still need her to save Tristan!”

A thought managed to filter through the anger in her head. Amber lowered her hand, diffusing the fireball while still glaring at the people who had given her life. “If I go with you to help your son, will you let me return here and never bother me again?” she asked in a low, deadly voice.

They both nodded, terrified. “J-just… change back, okay?” Belle pleaded.

The hanyou girl glanced down at herself, confused. “Change?”

She gasped as she saw the bloodied claws on her hands and the long golden tail stretching out behind her. Whirling she faced Inusouta, who grinned down at her.

Immediately the traits were gone. She was the ningen girl again. Apparently she had no control over her transformations- she wasn't even aware she could change. Hmmm… this bears investigation…

The two humans relaxed now that Amber appeared normal again. She fixated them with a death-glare. “I'll go, but as soon as your blasted son is well, you sign off any knowledge of me. I will be free to go where I want and be with who I want.”

They nodded again. “We understand,” Chris agreed.

Inusouta put a hand on Amber's shoulder. (“Kanojo… you do not have to go. You have no obligations to these people.”) His golden gaze faltered. (“Don't… don't leave me…”)

She gave him a shaky smile. (“Don't worry, you bad dog. I'll be home in no time.”)

Home. With Inusouta.

Still his eyes held worry and sorrow. (“Onegai… I don't want you to go…”)

She turned to the couple still watching them, completely clueless as to the subject of their conversation. “How long?”

Chris cleared his throat. “A week. Two, tops.”

Turning back to Inusouta, she gave him a smile she simply didn't feel. (“There- you see? Two weeks and I'll be back in your arms.”) Then she gave him a weak, private grin. (“And then we can get back to working on making our mating legitimate…”)

Instead of smiling in return, he lifted a hand to caress her cheek. (“I… I don't know how I'm supposed to function without you near me…”)

(“You're a hanyou, 'Souta. You can do anything.”)

He pulled her into a tight hug as Chris and Belle exchanged a glance. (“I… I've got something for you… come here.”) He grasped her hand and led her over to Goshinboku, the last orange rays of the setting sun filtering over the horizon. The three humans watched in silence.

Holding her hands in his, he gazed into her eyes, fascinated at the love he found there. (“I know we don't have much time left… so I wanted to tell you… to ask you something.”)

She raised an eyebrow at him. (“I'm not putting you in my suitcase.”)

(“No! Not that I wouldn't love that, but… it's just that… last night…”)

Amber flushed prettily. (“Yeah. We're mated now, right?”)

Inusouta sighed. (“Well, sort of, according to youkai traditions, hai. But…”)

(“But? Does this have anything to do with the pregnancy thing?”)

He shook his head. (“I… well, I just thought… that maybe… we should get married… you know- a traditional human wedding.”)

Amber stared at him, uncomprehending. (“You're serious.”)

He made an Inuyasha-esque snort. (“Of course I am! I wouldn't have said anything, otherwise.”)

She pondered that for a moment, her finger pressed against her lips in thought. (“I… I don't know what to say.”)

Carefully he reached into his dark blue haori and pulled out a small box. (“I would hope you'd say `yes.'”)

Slowly she opened the box, grinning in unabashed delight. A white-gold ring rested inside, topped with a single perfect diamond.

He flushed slightly. (“I… I wasn't sure if you'd like it…”)

She slid the ring on her finger, amazed that it actually fit. The diamond glittered in the dying sunlight. (“It's perfect,”) she choked out, trying not to cry. She lifted her gaze to his, smiling brightly. (“Just like you.”)

The black-haired hanyou-in-human-form raised an eyebrow at her. (“Shall I take that as a yes?”)

Laughing, she flung her arms around his neck. (“Hai, you bad dog. That's a yes.”)

.oOo.oOo.oOo.oOo.oOo.

Inuyasha grinned down at his son and his mate as they embraced from his perch high in Goshinboku's branches. He was tremendously proud of his boy. Wasn't sure he'd be able to do it… guess it was those nosy bastard parents of Amber's that rushed the situation. he thought as he scratched the back of his ear with his foot, that scene seemed… strangely familiar…

Although,

.oOo.oOo.oOo.oOo.oOo.

Amber stared out the window of the airplane that was flying her back to the States. A black stuffed dog with gold eyes and matching collar sat on her lap, held tightly by the hand that bore Inusouta's engagement ring. Her “mother” sat next to her, having spent the last eleven hours trying to ask her about her life since they had last seen her (when she was only four bloody years old, for God's sake…) only to get that same blank look of complete boredom and apathy. Finally, finally they would be at LAX and then a mere four hour flight back to Wisconsin.

Her grip on the small dog, which she had named Kuroinu (after Inusouta's mother had explained that had been one of the names they had considered for their son when he was born), tightened slightly, wishing she were holding the real-life black-haired doggie she loved so much.

The giant aircraft finally descended and eventually landed, allowing its ningen passengers to disembark. She walked slowly, disheartened, down the ramp and out into the waiting area.

Chris and Belle were talking and smiling as if nothing were wrong in the world, trying to look as if they were simply two loving parents taking their two children on vacation. Amber scowled slightly, then decided the expression wasn't worth the effort.

There was a half hour layover until their flight left for Wisconsin, so they led their children toward the gift shops to pass the time browsing. Amber's gaze drifted over the cheesy merchandise without really seeing it until a bin of stuffed animals caught her eye. Drifting over slowly, she stared at the small stuffed fox gazing back at her with emerald green eyes. The fur was a soft gold-red, with black feet and black tipped ears. Immediately tears filled her eyes. Shippou-sama… Kohaku-sama… I left without saying goodbye…

She picked up the stuffed fox with a half-hearted grin. Now, we're even… Turning, she went to the counter to pay.

.oOo.oOo.oOo.oOo.oOo.

Well, here we are. Halfway around the world from the man we love.

You've got a talent of stating the obvious.

The obvious would be that we made a bad decision.

It certainly seemed that way. She looked around the room Belle had shown her to, bringing her luggage in behind her.

“This is your room,” she had said cheerfully. “We decorated it just for you when you were born.”

Amber had stared at the room in something akin to desolation. It was pink and purple, with a wallpaper border around the top of the wall depicting white rabbits frolicking in foliage. Perfect for a little girl.

Which she was no longer. She was a woman now, who had known the touch of a man, the man she loved. A man she planned to marry as soon as she got back to Japan. Her hand drifted to her stomach- would their one night of mating prove fruitful, as it were?

Belle had tried to hug her as she left, but Amber had just stood there, motionless. Finally, the older woman had left her to sit in her room and think.

Something feels wrong here. We shouldn't have come.

I know. But we have to wait until we do that bone marrow transplant for their son and then use the return ticket to get back home.

Interesting that you refer to him as `their son' and not your `brother'.

He is no relation of mine. He may have the same blood as me, but I claim no kinship to any of them.

Inuyasha-dono… Kagome-san… Izayoi-chan…Suki-chan… Shippou-sama, Kohaku-sama, and little Haku-chan… they're my family now.

Especially my Inusouta.