InuYasha Fan Fiction ❯ Little Bits ❯ A Midnight Clear ( Chapter 23 )

Disclaimer: This fanfiction is based on “Inuyasha”, copyrighted by Rumiko Takahashi. No infringement of copyright intended or implied.

 

 

A Midnight Clear

 

“It Came Upon a Midnight Clear,

That Glorious Song of Old,”

 

It was a perfect night. Inuyasha found himself crouched on the top of the small mountain, gazing out over the landscape turned silver from the full moon rising high in the sky. Winter had come late, but the storm that had lain down a heavy blanket of snow had cleared away, leaving the sky to the moon and the stars. It was cold, but not excessively so, especially for one wrapped in fire-rat, and there was no wind.

 

It was the kind of night his mother had enjoyed. She had so loved the full-moon nights, summer or winter. On more than one occasion, she had stolen out from her rooms with Inuyasha after the rest of the family and servants had fallen asleep, to watch the moon, either directly or mirrored in a small pond. She would hold him in her arms, and whisper legends about the moon, or stories of his father.

 

Inuyasha blinked back against the sting of tears, fighting the whimper that wanted to crawl out of his throat. The boy looked away from the moon, digging his claws into the bare rock. Oh, how he wished his mother and his father were still alive! How he wanted to feel her arms, to look into his face, to know if his father could possibly be proud of him.

 

A wolf raised his voice in a howl. Inuyasha's ears swiveled to take in the sound, and he looked back up at the moon with a shiver, as something in him wanted to answer that song. Another wolf howled, then a third, and his ears twitched and danced, as the urge to join the howl became stronger. Instincts fought hard-learned caution; his mouth opened, but no sound came out.

 

He gasped for air, and then snapped his head around as he sensed the other. On another mountaintop, not nearly far enough away stood his brother, watching the moon. Inuyasha's ears lowered, and a whine trickled out of his throat as he looked away. Oh, no. Please, no. He didn't want to fight. Not tonight. It was such a peaceful night, his mother's night, even if he was sad, he just wanted to be left alone. Just once!

 

* * * * *

 

It was a perfect night. Sesshomaru found himself staring up at the moon, drawn to move as close as he could without leaving the ground. He remembered other full-moon nights, when his father had led him in mad chases, ending up on mountain peaks serenading the moon. Their special nights, their favorite nights.

 

He hadn't sung since his father died.

 

Grief whimpered in his heart, wishing his father was still alive. He tried to ignore that feeling. He had no need of feelings. All he needed, all he wanted, was power. Power to surpass his father. Power to step out from under the Inu no Taisho's shadow.

 

A wolf howled, then another. A shudder ran up his spine as his inu instincts surged, wanting out, wanting out, smell the snow, the sharp air; the moon, the glorious moon, sing, yes, why not sing, show the silly wolves what true song was, how dare they sing in his presence, had not they always gone silent when the Inu no Taisho's voice rose?

 

He sought distraction, and found it, in the vagary of the non-existent breeze and a whiff of his hated, despised, disreputable, lowly half-brother. Snapping his head around, he glared at the nearby peak, where the red-clad boy crouched. He waited for the amber eyes to meet his, to defy him, to show anger and rebellion against his lowly state. He waited for an excuse to teach the lowly hanyo where he belonged, to find a reason to ignore the instincts surging through his blood.

 

But the boy only looked away, ears lowered, the faintest hint of a whine reaching the inu-youkai's keen ears. Inu instincts surged even harder against the angry, reluctant intellect. Inu-pup was showing proper deference, inu-pup did not know the song, inu-pup should know the song.

 

The wolves howled again, and the inu-youkai growled. His eyes flashed red: for a moment longer, he fought, then gave way, a last thread of thought proclaiming that he did this only to remind the hated wolves, and teach the impudent hanyo, how truly unequal they were. He would not admit, even to himself, as the bonds on his true self released, that his lonely soul wanted this.

 

* * * * *

 

The new howl vibrated through his very bones. With a gasp, Inuyasha jerked his head around, and stared. A huge, white dog, stood where the human form of Sesshomaru had been standing only moments before. The boy gasped and shivered, staring, yearning. So beautiful! So powerful! If only he could be like that! If only!

 

The wolves fell silent. The white dog tilted his head back further, eyes closing, and howled again.

 

Inuyasha's thoughts dissolved under the power of instinct. He couldn't help it, no matter a little voice wailed that someone would notice. He stared up at the moon, his mouth opened—

 

—and he howled.

 

* * * * *

 

The dog heard the pup's tremulous call. An awareness that said the pup was not a pup and should be punished tried to ooze into his mind, but the dog ignored it. The song was all. Of course the pup's voice was weak and tremulous, and pitched far too high. It was only a pup, and it was right that it should at least try. And so the dog ignored the thought, and continued to sing.

 

Soprano and bass, two inus, two sons of the Inu no Taisho sang one of the world's oldest songs. On a midnight clear, in the depth of winter, for the first time, and perhaps the last, the voices of the two brothers rose in harmony and not conflict.

 

And if the spirit of the Inu no Taisho heard, he would have smiled.

 

* * * * *

Author's Note: This was written for the week 169 prompt at the Inuyasha Fanfic Contest (iy_fanfic) community on LiveJournal, for the theme "Winter". The quote at the top of the piece is from the carol "It Came Upon the Midnight Clear.”

 

The story was originally posted on December 23, 2008. It received first place in the voting.