InuYasha Fan Fiction ❯ Listen to the Wind ❯ Listen to the Wind ( Chapter 1 )

Kagome stood at the edge of the cliff looking down at the forest beneath her, her hand resting gently on her swollen stomach. Her brown eyes lifted to the horizon studying it blankly for some unknown object. Or was she just looking for solace? Maybe escape? Who knew? She felt the being that reside in her womb shift a bit and she let her lids drift close, her dark lashes resting against her pallid cheeks. A wind picked up and blew her hair out behind her as it did with her dress, tossing the delicate cloth in a ballet of black sorrow. Breathing deeply, she opened her eyes pulling the breeze into her lungs, trying to get the crisp air to clean her tainted body of it's pain and sadness. She looked down at her abdomen and whispered softly, "Can you hear that?" She looked up smiling sadly at the setting sun licking the sky with it's dying pinks and oranges as it sunk lower and lower. "That's your daddy's voice on the wind…" Her eyes drifted closed and she sighed listening to the wind blowing through the rustling leaves and limbs. "If you listen closely…" she mumbled, her words tumbling over her crimson lips, "He's telling you how much he loves you right now." A single tear plummeted over her soft features in a familiar, worn pattern. A soft memory of a gentle callused hand brushed against the moist trail as the wind harangued against her frail body. She opened her eyes to see the phantom of the man she used to love standing in front of her, his transparent misty hand on her face. Her face twisted in agonizing longing as she reached out to him, but he simply mouthed the words, "Suru…de nai…Nakigoe…Koibito," and drifted away in wisps of apparition on the wind currents. Kagome whipped around trying to grasp at the fading essence of him but only succeeding in stumbling and falling to her knees. She cried out in anguish and lowered her face into her hands and sobbed. Kaede appeared behind her and helped her up, helping the pained girl back to the hut.

Sango held Kagome's hand tighter as she screamed in agony and arched her back. Kaede sat crouched between her legs covered in blood up to her elbows, "Push child! You must push harder!" Miroku stood scowling in the corner, looking at the suffering girl and his wife who looked down at her sadly. His eyes drifted to all of the blood on the floor and he shook his head, "She's not going to make it…" he muttered softly. He turned and walked out of the hut and sat on the fence watching the villagers pass by with smiles on their faces, and envying them. He closed his eyes and lifted his face to the sky having a silent conversation with Buddha. Suddenly he opened his eyes and looked toward the hut trying to find out what had attracted his attention. His eyes widened at the silence that he heard. Suddenly three wails filled the air, one of the blustering winds, one of a grown woman's sadness, and the last was one of a newborn child. Miroku leapt up and raced to the hut throwing aside the curtain that blocked the door. His eyes fell first upon the squalling infant in Kaede's decrepit arms, and then drifted to the flaccid form lying in a puddle of blood. Sango sat with her wilted head in her lap, sobbing. Miroku shifted his gaze away so neither woman could see the tears that stained his cheeks.

Kanashi stood in front of two grave stones his small ears flat against his head, trying to hide them from the wind that blew his hair about his face and body. He fell to his knees and dropped his head against his chest gathering fistfuls of grass and soil in his tiny fists. Young tears dropped onto the graves and his tender sobs rung out through the stormy trees. The demon inside of him wanted to let go and tear through every living thing that stood at the moment, but his human side just allowed him to sit and cry. His head felt heavy as his inner demon's waged a war. His eyes lifted to the horizon. For some reason, he felt that if he closed his eyes and listened, he could hear them… a soft touch brushed against his face and he looked up to see his mother's gently hand outstretched to him. He stared at her for a moment then cried out leaping for her. He fell through the illusion and he looked up to see his mother drifting away on the wind currents, but he distinctly heard her waif voice on the wind, "I love you, little one…" She whispered as tears filled his eyes and he bowed his head, surrendering to the sorrow and cried himself to sleep on the grave of his mother and father… Kagome and Inu Yasha.