InuYasha Fan Fiction ❯ Mika- the Inu Ookami Hanyou ❯ Returning Home ( Chapter 26 )

ReturningHome

 

As the light of the early summer sun peeked over the mountain summits of the little valley surrounding Opal Lake, Mika stirred in her slumber. Taking notice, Akane snuggled closer to her daughter, smelling the fresh blood, and purify energy from a miko. Knowing that her daughter needed sleep, she placed her head gently upon the young woman's chest, growling softly in a soothing manner, lulling the semi conscious girl back to the healing depths of sleep.

 

Later that afternoon, with the rumble and aches of hunger overriding the soothing growl of her mother, Mika awoke to the sun gently beating down on the valley from on high. Mika rolled on to her side, glancing at the eternal fire as her eyes focused on the surrounding area. She noticed the lack of her grandfather's presence, which cause her heart to fall in despair at the thought of his abandonment of her.

 

As if by magic, a slight presence touched her mind, easing her troubled heart as it said, “Do not fear, my dear. I will return this evening for one more lesson. For the rest of the day, just relax and heal for your injuries last night were very great. You went through more than I thought you would, and that I'm very remorseful for. I should have been there to protect you.”

 

Mika smiled slightly, for that was almost what Koga and Inuyasha had said, as well as Sesshomaru's actions. Taking a deep breath of the clean mountain air, Mika inwardly replied, “Don't fret, Opa. I knew what I was getting myself into and your guidance is what kept me safe. I only underestimated my opponents, especially the clay witch. Next time, if there is one, I will not hesitate to dispatch her.”

 

A chuckle passed through her mind as she envisioned a smile crossing his gentle face. “Rest, allow your wounds to heal. I will be back at dusk.”

 

Mika moved slowly into a sitting position, wincing as pain wracked her back and shoulder, protesting the movement. Once she sat cross-legged on her sleeping bag, Mika took stock of what provisions she had left. She also noticed sitting near the foot of her sleeping bag the gray and black timber wolf. As she took an MRE from her pack, Mika commented to the wolf, “Slim pickings for breakfast, although…” she glanced at her watch, seeing that it was well after noon, she continued, “I guess that this would be more like lunch.” Mika glanced at the MRE, reaching for her buck knife, slowly opening the light brown envelope as she removed the contents. “Mmmm…Cheese Tortellini with wheat cracker and jalapeno cheese, one of my favorites. I guess you can have the lemon pound cake, even I wouldn't eat that.” She slowly opened the contents of the food envelops, eating her fill and giving the blue eyed wolf the offered pound cake. Once most of the food was eaten, Mika put the garbage in a bag to be thrown out once she reached civilization.

 

Slowly, she removed her shirt, taking in a great breath as the cold mountain air touched bare skin. Mika looked at her shoulder, noticing that despite having been hurt in her dream world, that since it had been bandaged there, they had transcended her dreams to reality. She slowly touched her shoulder, thinking of the tenderness and care with which Inuyasha had taken to wrap her shoulder. Carefully, she moved her hands to the bandages covering her stomach and moved them more toward her back. A smile crossed her face as she realized the love that she had felt from all the members of her group, whether from the vocalization of that love, or from their actions. Suddenly she thought of her father and his concern when she had left his dream.

 

“Was that actual concern, or was it more pity? He's hard to figure out, I guess. Well maybe by showing him what I've been through will soften his feelings toward me? But then again, I know that he wouldn't hurt me, that much I got from my brief encounter with him,” Mika thought. Having checked the bandages as best she could, Mika carefully put her tee shirt back on and laid back into her sleeping bag, allowing the healing properties of sleep take over her weary body.

 

As the sun moved across the clear blue, cloudless sky, Mika slept fitfully, allowing her body to heal from the previous evenings events. Akane lay near her daughter, soothing her with a loving growl as she slept, knowing that her grandfather would return soon, and hoping that he'd bring something back that was more appetizing than the lemon pound cake that her daughter had tried to give her.

 

With the orange streaks of the setting sun announcing the arrival of dusk, the great dog demon lord returned to the camp as promised, carrying a couple of sage grouse that he'd caught while on his way to the camp. Seeing that his granddaughter was still deep in a healing slumber, Inu no Taisho cleaned the two birds, much to Akane's delight and placed them over the eternal fire. After a half hour or so, the birds were done and the smells of the cooked flesh assaulted Mika's nose, drawing her back to the world of the awake.

 

“I hope that this is to your liking,” he commented, handing Mika a plate with half a sage grouse on it. “I wasn't able to bring in anything bigger.”

 

Taking the proffered plate, a look of pure bliss crossed Mika's face as she eagerly took in the delicious aroma of the tender bird. “Thank you, Opa. Lunch was not the best and it was a while ago.” Quickly Mika dug into the bird, savoring every last bite as she noticed that he gave the second bird to the wolf. After finishing her first half, Mika eagerly dug into the second half of the grouse, cleaning every last bit of meat from its scrawny carcass.

 

After both birds were eaten, and the bones removed from the camp to the timberline for other scavengers, Mika glanced to her grandfather, noticing a sad look across his face. “What is the matter, Opa?”

 

Glancing at his granddaughter, a smile crossed his face as he replied, “It's nothing. I just wanted to honor my part by showing you the way of concealment for your return trip to Japan.” Carefully he etched a design on the ground with a stick, as he explained, “This is a concealment sutra, and this will obscure your appearance from prying eyes. However, if this was ever permanently applied to your body, it would purify your body and leave you in your human form forever. Washable ink is preferred for this method, and it lasts for a reasonable amount of time.”

 

Once she saw the design, Mika took a pad from her rucksack as well as a pen and carefully drew the design that was on the ground. With her shoulder still wrapped tightly, Mika took the extra care to making the design perfect, knowing that it would help her on the return trip to Japan.

 

As she put the pad away, Mika thought of something else from the previous night, before her dream hopping and a slight frown crossed her face. Turning toward her grandfather, she asked, “Am I to late to be able to see my mother?”

 

Noticing the slight look of disappointment and a hint of sadness in her voice, the demon lord moved toward her sleeping bag, placing a hand upon her uninjured shoulder, he replied, a slightly amused sound to his voice, “She's been here the whole time, my dear,” as he pointed toward the wolf.

 

Mika stared at the wolf in amazement, as she commented in disbelief, “She's been her the whole time?” Slowly the wolf moved toward Mika, nuzzling her face then licking her cheeks to wipe away the tears from them. “Oh, mother,” the hanyou cried out, wrapping her arms around the wolf's neck drawing her into a loving embrace as the wolf let a loving growl escape her throat.

 

Slowly, without any explanation, the wolf transformed into a beautiful woman with blazing red hair and wrapped her arms as well around her daughter, as tears also streamed down her face. After a few minutes the two women pulled apart to look at one another. Mika noticed her mother's blue eyes, long red hair and wolfish smile, so similar to Koga's that it was uncanny. “Mika, you're all that I've expected you to be, and more,” Akane commented as she pulled her daughter into a hug once more.

 

“But how do you know about me mother? I don't understand,” Mika replied, crying into the older woman's shoulder, leaving tear stains on her armor.

 

Pushing her daughter away to look into her face, Akane explained, “With the fang, at my request, that Koga took to Totosai for your pendant is the way that I've been connected to you, honey. I've always been a part of you through the pendant.”

 

As the realization crossed her face, Mika pulled her beloved pendant from her shirt, showing her mother the howling wolf for the first time. “This is supposed to be you?” she asked quietly.

 

Taking the pendant in her hand, Akane gently inspected the pendant, noticing the name written in the crescent moon. “I don't recall asking for the name, but yes this is suppose to be me, your guardian angel of sorts,” she replied, running her thumb over the intricate detail as she thought, “Totosai did a wonderful job. I'm glad that I had this done for her.”

 

Mika commented, “The name was Koga's idea. He said that he wanted me to have a name that `family' gave me. He thought that you would approve.”

 

Smiling at her brother's thoughtfulness, Akane returned the pendant to her daughter, deep in thought of all that her daughter had been through. Despite not having a physical body for the years her daughter grew up, through the pendant she was able to feel all her pain, sorrow, and joy. She pulled her daughter into another powerful embrace, trying to draw all the physical pain Mika had into her self, helping the hanyou heal as quickly as she could.

 

After a few minutes, the pain lessened in Mika's back and shoulder, however she still retained her human form as Akane slumped exhaustedly onto the sleeping bag. “That took a lot more out of me than I expected,” she said, placing a shaking hand to her head.

 

“Mother, why did you try and heal me like that? I'd be fine in a couple of days,” Mika replied, easing her mother onto her sleeping bag as gently as she could.

 

Akane looked weakly into her daughter's face as she replied, “I've wanted to take all your hurt and pain away since you first were born. I know that your life was not the easiest after your parents died and finding out about where you actually came from was even more traumatic. But I knew that by helping you heal from your ordeal last night would be a step in the right direction.”

 

Seeing that she didn't have much more time with her mother, after she gave a lot of her energy to her daughter, Mika asked, “Why Sesshomaru, mom? What was so special about him that you'd risk death to be with him?”

 

Turning her blue eyes toward her daughter, love poring out as she replied, “When I found him in the forest, injured from a previous fight, I couldn't help but fall in love with him, for you see he was, as is know, a demon god among men. Despite his arrogance, he was a wonderful lover and would have, I believe, stayed with me for life because of the kindness and compassion that I showed him. However, once his sense of smell returned and he smelled my human side, he turned on me.” A note of sadness entered her voice as she recounted her last encounter with the demon lord before he left her, pregnant and gravely injured.

 

She turned her eyes once more back to her daughter as she continued, “He has changed a lot in the last few years, since the young girl, Rin has been with him. He's not as selfish as he once was, although if you were to put him on the spot about it, Sesshomaru would deny it to his last breath. Seek him out and get to know him, Mika. Under his rough exterior, he's a worthy father, and I know that you've impressed him with your abilities from your adoptive parents.”

 

As Akane began to fade, having used the last of her energy she looked one last time at her daughter, she saw tears of sorrow race down Mika's cheeks. With a smile and a gentle touch, Akane soothed her troubled daughter as she said, “Don't worry, honey, for I'm always with you. When you need my help, I will be there for you, as will your grandfather. When you see your father, tell him that I still love him, despite his part in my death, that I forgave him with your birth. Good bye my `new moon,'” Were her last words as she faded into non-existence.

 

Mika cried for her loss, but only for a minute as her grandfather placed a gentle hand to her shoulder. “She is right with you, as she always have. Now it's time for you to return to your home, Mika. I'll help you get packed up and on your way, for you need to return to Japan as soon as you can. Don't worry about things here, for they will be taken care of in time.”

 

Seeing the smile across his ruggedly handsome features, Mika also smiled, slowly collecting her gear as she prepared to return to Jerome. After a few minutes, the old general shouldered her pack and sleeping bag, seeing as her left shoulder was still injured, as she carried her little cooler back to her truck once the fire was doused. Once all the gear was returned to her truck, Mika turned to the old demon lord and embraced him in a hug, as tears slid down her face. Placing a loving hand on her shoulder, he soothed, “As your mother said, I will also be with you when you need me. Seek my eldest son, and give him the opportunity to get to know you. He'll be a bit hard to get along with at first, but he'll grow on you, I hope.”

 

“Thank you, Opa. I really needed this opportunity that you gave me to show my extremely dysfunctional family my past, especially my father,” she said as she gave him a kiss. Once she got situated in her truck as the light began to fade quickly from the valley, Mika turned once more to her grandfather as she said, “I'll see you later, Opa.”

 

Carefully with only one good arm, Mika drove back to Challis along the dirt road of Panther Creek road. She thought of all that she'd been through and her grandfather's final words about not to worry about her stuff and home in Jerome. “I wonder what he meant by that?” she thought, as she pulled into the parking lot of the hotel and restaurant that she'd stayed two days before.

 

After a filling meal and a goodnight's rest, Mika awoke the next morning feeling refreshed. As she took a warm relaxing showing after waking up, Mika removed the bandages from her shoulder and back, revealing almost healed wounds. With a glance in the mirror, however, she noticed that her human appearance had not changed, as she had hopped it would. “Apparently the clay witch's fiery was more than I thought with long lasting effects. I'll still pick up the India ink when I get home though, just in case I change before I get back to Japan,” Mika thought as she packed the rest of her gear into her truck.

 

Six hours or so later, Mika arrived home to her friend Amy. Over a couple of pizza's Mika explained what had happened at Opal Lake and her sudden human appearance, as well as her new set of wounds. She also explained that she was still going forward with the sale of her home, but that she would come back to pack after another trip to Japan to visit with her father. Once a few more phone calls were made, Mika packed for her return trip to Japan the following morning, grateful for friends such as Amy and her dysfunctional family in Japan.