InuYasha Fan Fiction ❯ Not My Fairy Tale ❯ Maid Maleen ( Chapter 13 )

 

Part Thirteen

Maid Maleen

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Kagome strolled down the overgrown dirt path coming back from the Bone-Eaters well, swinging her lighter-than-normal backpack, and enjoying the humid summer afternoon. The sunlight was more golden than usual, the scent of sweet, dry grass and wildflowers was thick and heady, the embracing warmth more inclusive, as if she was swimming through the air rather than strolling along the meadow path. It was such a beautiful day!

 

Of course, the fact that she'd finally aced one of her big exams thanks to an extended studying vacation had absolutely nothing to do with the sun shining extra brightly, the perfect temperature, the playful breeze, and the world just being perfect in every way.

 

How could anything ruin this wonderful, gorgeous day?

 

Kagome remembered with a wry tilt to her lips, the incredible hardships she'd endured just to get that crucial two-week break! InuYasha and Shippo had finally just gotten over their colds and she had pronounced them fit and healthy enough for Miroku and Sango to return to Kaede's temporarily quarantined home. She had tried to break it to them gently, she'd warned her overzealous protector several times in the last month that this was going to happen and he couldn't stop it anymore than he could stop the sun from rising.

 

Of course, that didn't keep him from trying.

 

His shouts had echoed in the village, scaring birds from the surrounding trees and panicking the villagers into thinking it was the end of the world with all the ruckus he made. It was just two weeks for crying out loud!

 

It was actually Shippo's tears that made her resolve waver. He didn't like it when she left him to begin with but for her to disappear for such a long length of time without sight or word from her would be hard on the little kitsune.

 

With reasonable explanations and the promise to return when her tests were finished she was able to convince Shippo and InuYasha that she would much rather be here with them but the exams had to be done and were unavoidably necessary. The fox cub made her promise not to forget them and to be back as soon as she could, the monk and slayer wished her luck, and InuYasha called her names and threatened the well, her school, and everything else under the sun.

 

A couple Sits later and she was on her way to her dreaded, hours and hours and hours of cram studying, group studying, all-nighter studying, lots of praying for any kind of help or just the best dumb luck that was sometimes bestowed on fools and junior high kids.

 

Thank the kami it was finally all over. Her summer was free to spend however she wished, no deadlines, pop quizzes, weeks of piled up homework, stupid, impossibly bizarre sicknesses to fake . . . It was all over!

 

She skipped along, feeling uncharacteristically giddy, thinking of how excited Shippo would be to see her after her long exile. He'd be even more excited when she brought out the surprise almond-chocolate Pocky and a huge bag of suckers (he couldn't have the whole bag, of course, but that stash hidden in her yellow pack would keep him happy for a long while). She was sure Miroku and Sango would be proud of her too, they knew she'd been studying hard and they understood it was tough to split her time and mental capacity between home, the past, school, shard-hunting, and InuYasha.

 

Ah, yes . . . InuYasha . . . Another frivolous reason to be on cloud nine. She hadn't seen him in ten whole days. She left two weeks ago but got a surprise, crash-visit from him after just three days in which he demanded she return, they fought, Mama-Higurashi made tea and ramen, and they sent him back grumbling about tricky wenches and their trickier mothers.

 

Two InuYasha-free weeks was both a restful godsend and lonesome curse. She could now remember the feel of her soft mattress every time she closed her eyes, the taste of fire-burned fish was finally fading from her mouth, and her heart didn't race with a jumpstart of adrenaline every time she heard her name called. Mixed blessings to be sure. She felt like Rapunzel on her first day outside of her tower, free at last to see the sun, pick the lovely flowers, live in love but suddenly homeless, at loss for the security of her stone walls, and wandering alone, searching for her lost love.

 

But her prolonged banishment from her friends and second home was at long last over. And she was back to see her InuYasha again!

 

Kagome felt a ridiculous grin explode on her face, her cheeks aching from smiling so much. She was hard pressed to keep a very childish giggling from escaping her pursed lips. She prayed she wouldn't run into anyone out here; she was sure she must look like an absurd idiot.

 

The schoolgirl tried to swallow her smile, biting the inside of her cheek as her gleeful skipping broke into a short sprint to the edge of the woods. Kagome hopped to a stop, sliding her back pack over her shoulders and taking a deep breath where the trees thinned and she was given her first glance of Kaede's village in two very long weeks. She caught the salty scent of wood smoke and wet earth, the happy cries of children playing in the fields, the softer laughter of the young women washing laundry in the shallows of the stream.

 

It sounded like home. It smelled like home. In every way it felt like home.

 

She hadn't even taken her first step when a fuzzy little blur of auburn and teal bowled her over, knocking her straight to the ground and landing on top of her stomach with a shout that was both concerned and relieved.

 

“KAGOME! Kagome, Kagome, Kagome, Kagome!”

 

Shippo hugged her tight around her neck, repeating her name, and burying his head in her hair, his grip so tight it was like he feared she was just a will-o-the-wisp and fade if he let go.

 

The young miko pet the back of his head, giggling. “Shippo! I'm glad to see you too!” She tried to sit up but the boy held on all the tighter. “Come on, Shippo, let me up!” She gave him a squishing hug before she hauled the boy away. As she managed to push herself up, and he hopped to her knees, then back to her shoulder, then the other shoulder, scurrying all over her like a frantic squirrel searching for a nut.

 

“Have you been good? Did you listen to Kaede and Sango? Did you miss me?”

 

“Yes! It was so hard, I missed you so much! But I was good, promise! You can't ever leave like that again! Miroku didn't behave at all and InuYasha was sulking forever, Sango sent them both away cause they couldn't be nice.”

 

“Oh? Are they behaving now?”

 

“Nope.”

 

The girl and kitsune shared an identical smile, cracking up without saying another word. Kagome finally stood, Shippo leaping back up to her shoulder. “Did you bring me anything? You promised me a present when you came back!” Even as he said it, he was burrowing into the overstuffed bag.

 

Kagome grasped the fox cub by the tail and carefully pulled him out, tickling his waist. “Yes I did, now get out of there!” She set the boy back on the ground and swung her pack around so she could dig out the box of Pocky and give it to him. He squealed and happily started munching as he led the way back down to the village.

 

Sango and Miroku met them at the river's small bridge, the girls hugged, and they eagerly chatted about how Kagome's tests went, her excellent scoring on at least one of them, and congratulations came from all around. She asked how Kaede was doing and if anything had happened since she left. She pulled out the snacks she'd brought back as gifts from her extended trip home and told them how her family was. Ojii-chan had found yet another “national treasure” or some other strange imitation relic buried in one of the old shrine buildings, Souta's team had won his last soccer match, and her Mama was amassing a huge inventory of supplies for what she believed was going to be a very long summer vacation for Kagome in the Sengoku Jidai.

 

Gods willing, Kagome hoped she was right. She'd love to spend summer vacation here as long as it was all calm and relaxing, but knowing their luck, it would be anything but.

 

“So- where's InuYasha? Jeez, I tell him I have to leave for two weeks and he thinks it's the end of the world and now that I'm back, he's nowhere to be found!” Kagome laughed, turning her bronze eyes on her little kitsune pup. “He isn't STILL sulking, is he?”

 

Shippo's sea-green eyes suddenly dropped away, looking uneasily back into the forest behind the young woman. Kagome cocked her head to the side, curious about his sudden strange silence. She looked up at the couple in front of her hoping for an explanation for this unusual reaction but the monk was avoiding her eyes and had a resigned, almost pitying expression on his face and Sango's mouth was pressed into a thin line, her brow furrowed. Despite the older girl's pursed lips, she still looked the most willing to speak between the three of them.

 

“What . . . happened?” The tense uncertainty that engulfed her companions suddenly swelled around Kagome, swallowing her in a flood of apprehension- Her heart tripled its beat and she held her breath waiting for an answer they weren't willing to give. Anything could have happened- he could be dead, he could be chasing Naraku on his own, he could've gone all demon and was lost to them or maybe Sessou- “Is InuYasha alright? Did something happen to him?!” There were too many possibilities, they HAD to tell her what was going on before her imagination came up with more horrible situations!

 

“No, Kagome, it's nothing like that- He's fine." Sango rushed to reassure the panicking girl. She grabbed her hands to catch her attention before the schoolgirl could think up anymore nightmares.

 

“Then wha-“

 

The rush of relief that swamped Kagome's heart the moment Sango said InuYasha wasn't dead or hurt, left in it's wake a quiet clarity. In the frozen stillness, she felt a tug on her soul, a whisper in her mind.

 

She knew where InuYasha was. She knew what he was doing.

 

And she knew whom he was with.

 

Her friends seemed to recognize the dawning realization in her startled eyes, her bated breath, and frozen stance. Miroku turned guiltily away, as if bearing the burden of InuYasha's condemnation. Sango rested a sympathetic hand on the schoolgirl's shoulder, a speechless promise of support and understanding.

 

“Stupid InuYasha . . !” Shippo growled from the ground, arms defiantly crossed, and glaring at the empty trees of the woods. His angry words snapped Kagome from her trance.

 

“It's okay, Shippo. They were friends long before I came around. It's okay . . .” Her voice drifted off, her gaze slowly gravitating to the edge of the forest, her mind already following the pull of the missing piece of her soul. `It's okay if he forgets me. It's okay if I disappear for a while and he's not here to greet me when I return. I can wait for him but he doesn't have to wait for me . . . he never really has.' Her warm mahogany eyes welled and burned but she didn't want to do that in front of her friends. She bit her lip and took a deep breath, a familiar scarily-fake smile pasted on her face when she turned back to them. “Why don't we go have a picnic in the field and I'll tell you another story, hmm?”

 

Shippo nearly dropped his box of Pocky in surprise. Kagome's emotional one-eighty left him bewildered and unbalanced- but Miroku said he should get used to that sort of thing with girls, and he was trying to, but sometimes Kagome's emotions startled him. The good and the bad. And he wasn't sure which one this was. His voice was a little uncertain but hopeful. “Really?”

 

“Yep, come on, I think we have enough here for a very nice picnic. It's so warm and pretty out today, we should have some fun and enjoy it.” She smiled down at the boy still staring doubtfully up at her. Her smile normally lit her whole face but now it barely sparked in her eyes. But it was enough.

 

“Okay!”

 

Shippo enthusiastically agreed and led the way for the small group. If they all pretended everything was all right, then maybe it would be.

 

The group walked a ways, following the stream down to a spot where the steep bank flattened close to the water. They sat on the grass and Kagome handed out snacks and began Shippo's story while the others ate.

 

“Once upon a time, there was a princess named Maleen and her charming prince and they were very much in love. But the princess's father had already promised her to a wealthy king and refused to let her marry the one she loved. The princess couldn't bear to marry anyone other than her chosen prince and she told him so. Her father was terribly upset that she would disobey him and he locked her up in a dark tower with enough food and water to last for seven years. Then he would let her out and he thought she would have learned her lesson.”

 

“But that's mean! Wouldn't he miss his own daughter?”

 

“I'm sure he did but he probably thought it was for the best, children should listen to their parents, and the king expected no less from the princess. But it turned out that locking her up saved her life, so everything happened for a reason. When the seven years passed, no one came to let her out and she was very scared because the food was running out. So she was forced to dig her way out of the tower which she did just as the last of the food was gone. When she was free, her kingdom was in ruins, attacked by an enemy. She had no place to go-“

 

“Where's her pa?” Shippo's little voice rose from the ground before the kneeling girl, the slightest tremble in it made Kagome pause. The story never mentioned the king again but Shippo liked to hear of loving fathers. He'd loved his so much and lost him so early in life. He needed a decent father figure in his stories, whenever she could provide them. She just needed to tweak this one a little.

 

“Well, he fought bravely for his kingdom but in the end he lost. He was forced to leave with nothing, including his daughter. He didn't want the bad guys to find her so he kept her prison a secret and was sad that he didn't know when he'd see her again.”

 

“Did he find her again? It'd be really bad if he didn't.” The fox cub was pulling on bits of grass, trying to be nonchalant but he could never fool her. Kagome caught his little hand and squeezed his fingers, a smile full of soft affection on her lips.

 

“Don't worry, Shippo, you'll have to wait and see.” She giggled lightheartedly, just like she always did when teasing his impatience. He knew there was always a happy ending, and it would now include the reuniting of a father and daughter, even if the real story didn't. She waited for Shippo's scrunched grin before continuing. “So Maleen wandered for a long time but never found anyone who could help her. She had nothing to eat but wild nettles growing by the road. Finally she came to a far away kingdom and sought work there at the palace.

 

“At the palace there was a festival going on for the prince of the kingdom who was getting married. It happened that the prince Maleen had fallen in love with seven years ago was the one now marrying another woman, though she didn't know it was him at first. They kept her very busy working in the kitchens and Maleen had to carry meals to the room of the new bride and never once saw the prince.” Shippo's secret grin widened, sensing the beginning of the string of coincidences that would make this unlikely, fantastical story a happy-ending fairytale.

 

“The bride was a jealous woman and very ugly and scared of what people would think of her so she never left the room for anything. She had become very cold and mean to everyone. When the day of the wedding arrived, she lied to the disguised princess saying she had sprained her ankle and could not walk through town to the wedding shrine. She told Maleen to take her place and pretend to be the bride but Maleen refused because she didn't want to lie to everyone. The bride offered her jewels and money but she still said no. Finally the bride threatened to have Maleen killed if she didn't take her place. The princess finally agreed and put on the wedding-clothes and the bride's jewelry and everyone was amazed at how beautiful she was.

 

But the princess herself was very sad cause when she saw the prince because she recognized him as the man she had loved and was to marry seven years ago. But he didn't recognize her . . . he'd forgotten and was marrying another girl.” Kagome's soft lilting voice faded, the silence between words was filled with a longing sorrow that seemed almost tangible to the two adults listening in. Shippo's face grew heavier, pulling his lips into a frown as he felt the unidentifiable weight in the air that seemed to make everyone else stop breathing.

 

Kagome's pause only lasted a forgotten moment. She blinked and mentally shook herself out of Maiden Maleen's head, realizing as she did that everyone was listening with bated breath for her next words.

With a small huff she continued in a stronger voice. “Now the prince suspected nothing, since he'd never met the bride before he didn't know she'd been replaced. He was very surprised by how pretty the girl was and how much she looked like his princess Maleen though he knew she must be dead by now. As they walked through the town, the princess whispered to the nettles growing beside the road, “Oh, nettle-plant, Little nettle-plant, What are you doing here alone? I have known the time, When I ate you unboiled, When I ate you unroasted." The prince heard her whispering and asked her what she had said. The princess said it was nothing and she was only thinking of Maiden Maleen. This surprised the prince but he didn't ask how she knew of his former betrothed.”

“But, Kagome, can't she tell him who she really is? Then they really could get married!” Shippo's frown was mirrored on the faces of Miroku and Sango as well but they seemed more thoughtful than upset. Kagome wondered what had them thinking so hard, was there something wrong with her story, was she sounding too melancholy, too sympathetic to the princess like they always said she was, was she crying or look sick?

Besides not being able to feel her heart beating or the numb tingling in her legs, she was fine . . .

“She was in hiding, Shippo, she lost everything and had nothing to prove she was a princess so it didn't matter who she really was as long as she could eat and sleep safely. The prince didn't recognize her anyway, if he had forgotten her then perhaps he didn't love her anymore. Maybe he really loved this new girl.”

“How could he forget her?”

“He thought she was dead so he wasn't expecting to see her. Your mind can play tricks on you if you think you know something is true but if you see something that might make it untrue, you wouldn't believe it, at least, at first. And it was seven years since he'd seen her last, she'd grown older and so did he. Seven years is a long time to humans.”

Shippo didn't seem to like that but he stayed silent and let her continue. His candy sticks hung forgotten in his hands.

“Ready again?” The boy nodded, still deep in thought. “They were about to enter the shrine garden where they were going to be married but they had to cross a bridge to get in. Maleen spoke to the bridge before she crossed, saying, “Foot-bridge, do not break, I am not the true bride.” The prince thought he heard her speak and asked what she had said and again she replied “Nothing, I was only thinking of Maid Maleen.” This time the suspicious prince had to ask her if she knew Maleen. But she told him, no, she didn't. When they got to the shrine door, she spoke to it as she had the bridge. “Shrine-door, do not break, I am not the true bride.”

“Kagome, why would they break? Is she heavy? Is there something wrong with the wood? It's not magic, it can't answer, right? The mirror in the snow girl's story could talk.”

“Nope, they couldn't answer but she was afraid that something bad would happen because she was doing something bad, she was lying and pretending to be someone else. She felt very guilty because of it and those bad feelings can feel very heavy. If something happened, like the door breaking, it would be a bad sign and someone might notice and realize that she was not who she was supposed to be.”

“So did they break?”

“Nope. The prince stopped right outside the door and put a necklace around her neck, as a wedding present for her. They went in and were married but Maleen didn't say another word until they returned to the palace. Then she hurried to the other bride's room, she changed into her old clothes, giving everything back to the mean bride- Everything except the necklace she forgot was still around her neck. That night, the bride went to the prince's room, her face covered by a veil so he couldn't see her face and as soon as they were alone-“

“Ahem,” Sango's voice interrupted, glaring pointedly at the monk sitting nearby. Kagome rolled her eyes at the lecherous look he was giving Sango and his twitching hands. The taijiya reached for the Hiraikotsu and Miroku took the hint, burying himself in a bag of chips.

“Anyway, the prince asked the bride what she had said the nettles on the way to the shrine but the bride had no idea what he was talking about. She told him she would never speak to plants. But the prince said if she hadn't then she wasn't the true bride. The woman figured it must be some trick from Maleen and told her prince she had to ask her maid, since she remembered such things for her. So she left and asked the princess what she had said the nettles and Maleen told her. “Oh, nettle-plant, Little nettle-plant, What are you doing here alone? I have known the time When I ate you unboiled, When I ate you unroasted.” The bride went back and repeated this to the prince.

He then asked her what she said to the bridge but again she didn't know and had to ask Maleen. The princess answered, “Foot-bridge, do not break, I am not the true bride.” The bride was furious and told the princess that her words would cost her life. The bride ran back to the prince and told him what she'd said but he then asked what she'd said to the door. Again the bride ran to find Maleen and again she told her and the bride threatened to have the girl killed. The bride returned to the prince once more but this time he had one last test.

“Where is the necklace I gave you on the shrine steps?” The bride again had no idea, she had no necklace, and the prince accused her of not being the true bride. Quickly, he took off the veil that covered the surprised bride's face and he saw she was not the girl he married. “Who are you?” He demanded and the bride confessed, “I am your betrothed, but I feared the people would mock the way I look so I had the scullery-maid take my place.” He sent the bride to find the mysterious maid but the wicked bride told the servants that Maleen was an imposter and to put her death.

Maleen fought and screamed for help as they dragged her outside and prince heard her and saved her. Once he saw her up close, he saw the necklace around her neck and knew she was the one he had really married. He took her away to speak in private and told her “On the way to shrine you spoke of Maid Maleen, who was to be my beloved bride I lost long ago. He father lives here now and mourns her as dead. If it were possible, I would say she was standing before me. You are like her in every way.”

The princess smiled, knowing now that he did remember her and he did still love her. And we're all happy to hear her father's okay, right Shippo?” She smiled down at him, an amused glimmer in her eyes as she watched his growing excitement. “The princess confessed, “I am Princess Maleen, for your sake I was imprisoned in darkness, I suffered hunger and thirst, and lived in poverty. But today I am free, and today I married you. As we wished before, I am now your lawful wife.” They kissed and lived happily ever after.”

“Yay! The prince remembered her and they tricked the bad lady!” Shippo cheered, bouncing around with Pocky sticks held up like flags.

“Well, she wasn't really bad, Shippo, she was just scared, and willing to do anything to not be made fun of. She made bad choices and went too far. She might have been a nice girl once, but she was probably hurt by people teasing her and it makes it hard to make the right decision when it's so easy to do the wrong thing. You can have some compassion for the bad guy too.”

“But what about the princess? She had the prince first-“

Kagome's breath caught, somewhere between a laugh and sob. “You're right, she did . . . But life goes on and he met someone new. It's understandable if he had to choose one over the other, and he loved Maleen more. The false bride had lied to him and had tried to kill an innocent girl so she did turn out to be the bad person. Ultimately, it was up to him and fate. The gods directed them back to each through almost impossible circumstances. To him, it was like she came back from the dead . . .”

Shippo's brow furrowed as he suddenly frowned, thinking of something. Sango had a sympathetic cast to her eyes and Miroku cleared his throat and flashed an encouraging smile.

Shippo suddenly looked up, revelation like a flash of lightning striking him. “Hey, that kinda sounds like Ki-“ The quick monk and taijiya snatched the kitsune from the ground, covering his mouth with their hands before the full name could fall from his guileless lips.

Kagome hardly seemed to notice. She was staring off into the forest, her mind still distracted by the gentle pull on her heart, the slight dragging from the middle of her ribs. Images of the last few times this had happened haunted the emptiness in her mind.

`Why? Why was I brought here, why did I fall in love with him? It's just as impossible for me to travel five hundred years back in time as it is for a woman dead for fifty years to come back to life- Magic like this doesn't really exist anymore so how . . ?' Her consciousness fell deeper into the bottomless pool of her thoughts. These were questions she didn't bother to ask anymore. There were simply no answers to them, no logic; only the feelings she was left with when all was said and done.

`If not for him . . . why was I sent here? Why is it my destiny to come here, wake a demon from his sealed sleep, to see what no one else can see- to be identical to a woman who lived half a millennium before me? I don't belong here so I shouldn't stay but- I fell in love. Even if it wasn't supposed to happen, it did and I can't turn that off. The gods wouldn't be so cruel to let this happen and then take it away . . ! I can't possibly believe the only reason I'm here, my only purpose in this life is as a tool to finish what Kikyou started. What kind of life is that?' Kagome's eyes slowly refocused on the glittering trees of the woods, leaves tossing in the playful breeze, flashing pale undersides like a cascade of bright silver coins.

“I . . . I think I forgot something . . . at home.” The schoolgirl slowly stood, leaving her bag and all it's goodies on the ground beside her companions as she dazedly stumbled away. Miroku and Sango watched her leave, solemn statues of commiseration, lips frozen and unable to voice their sympathy.

Shippo wasn't so silent, and he desperately tried to break free from the slayer and monk to stop her from leaving again but all that came out was some muffled protests Kagome couldn't hear. She was leaving him again! And he didn't know when she would come back! This was all InuYasha's fault! Even when he wasn't here he still screwed things up!

Chomping down on the young man's hand, the fox cub broke free and was finally able to shout after her. “You can't go, you just got back! Kagome! Kagome!” His broken cries fell short, and he collapsed in Sango's arms, tears slipping down his flushed cheeks.

The distraught girl was already gone.

“Don't worry, Shippo, she'll be back soon. She can never stay away for too long.” Sango tried to smile encouragingly but her eyes drifted towards the trees where the girl had vanished.

“But he promised she'd never leave! He promised!” The little boy sobbed, “She promised . . .”

“She'll be back, Shippo! No need to worry, in a little while she'll come back and be as happy as she always is.” The forced cheerfulness of the monk's voice was as obvious to Shippo as the lack of Kagome before him. Miroku didn't seem to believe himself either. “This . . . sort of thing- happens. Kagome is very forgiving and-“

“It's not your fault, Shippo, Kagome didn't leave because of you or anything anybody said or did. She's just a little sad and wanted to go home for a while. She'll be back as soon as she can.” Sango said in a soft, placating voice but she knew the kitsune knew better.

“But this IS her home! This is all InuYasha's fault!”

“Then you can just blame him when he gets back.” Sango's face hardened as glared at the trees, knowing the hanyou was hiding somewhere inside. She saw the monk at her side counting his pre-made ofuda.

She pulled her Hiraikotsu off her shoulder and a jar of purified exorcism smoke from a hidden pocket. “And I'll help.”