InuYasha Fan Fiction ❯ Once Upon a Time ❯ Voices in the Night ( Chapter 18 )

Disclaimer: Inu isn’t mine, although I wouldn’t mind having a hot hanyou for those cold winter nights….

18. Voices in the Night  

The hanyou emerged from the makeshift hospital area shaking his head. Although most of his companions were asleep around the fire, the person he needed to see was still fully awake. The old woman looked up at his approach. “So, she’s finally sleeping.”

“It didn’t come easy--she’s really worried. That’s what I need to talk to you about.”

She nodded slowly. “As long as we keep our voices down we should be able to talk without disturbing the others. So,” she said as he sank to the ground nearby, “What exactly is on your mind?”

He pulled the chain bearing the Shikon no Tama from inside his haori. “This, among other things. Exactly what kind of power does this thing have?”

Kaede shook her head. “I’m not an expert on the Shikon jewel, Inuyasha. My sister seemed to think that it was powerful enough to make you completely human. I’d say that it could do about anything any of us could imagine.” She looked at him sharply. “Exactly what are you planning?”

He stared into the fire. “I’ve been thinking about this for a long time. Originally, I wanted to become a strong enough youkai so that I’d never have to worry about anything ever again. Then Kikyou tried to talk me into using it to become human and stay with her. I thought that I could do that because it was what she wanted, but it seems to me now that her request says more about her than it does about me: she wanted to make me into something I wasn’t because she couldn’t accept me the way I am.” He shook his head. “For a while I wanted to use it to close down the well so that Kagome couldn’t go back home. I think that would probably be a mistake--she already misses her family, and she’s only been away from them for a month.” He looked up, meeting the old miko’s eyes. “Is it possible to use the Shikon no Tama to keep the well open, not only for Kagome and me, but for the rest of our friends and families as well?”

The old woman looked at him in surprise. “You’ve come a long way, Inuyasha. Never would I have expected that you would choose to do such an unselfish thing. It’s certainly possible. But, before you do this, are you absolutely sure that this is the action that you want to take? Once it’s done, there’s no changing it.”

He shook his head. “I’ve gotten strong, Kaede. Not very much can scare me any more. Just about the only thing that scares me now is the thought of anything happening to Kagome. When she gave me the jewel a while ago she mentioned that she would be going home for the last time after stopping to visit with all her friends: without the Shikon, she would have no way to ever return.”

The old woman was playing devil’s advocate now. “So what? You can still go through the well--you could see her any time you wanted.”

He nodded. “That’s true, but I don’t want to go and see her--I want to be with her, not just for a visit, but all the time.”

Kaede nodded. This was what she had been waiting months for. “So, you can finally see it for yourself.” He looked up, and she could see the same tortured expression that she had been noticing in the girl for a long time now. “In that case, go ahead and do it. We could certainly use some new blood around here.”

“New blood?” That reminded him of something. “While I was recovering from my injury at Kagome’s house, her grandfather told us a part of her family history. It seems that her family was started by a mysterious miko who decided to have a family of her own. He said that nobody remembered her name or where she came from, but that a lot of Kagome’s ancestors were part youkai.” He looked away. “Kagome said that the story proved that Kikyou and I would….”

Kaede laughed out loud. “Kagome got it all backwards, boy. Kikyou was far too traditional--she would never have started a family, not as long as the Shikon no Tama existed. She certainly would never have allowed herself to be taken by anyone with even a little youkai blood, Shikon no Tama or no.”

“So who’s this strange miko?”

“I understand it all now.” Both heads turned to see the girl from the future hobbling toward them using a piece of firewood as a makeshift crutch. “I should have seen it from the start--people have been making that mistake about me ever since I arrived here. My grandfather was never talking about Kikyou. He was talking about me all along.”

The old woman nodded. “Your friends probably understood that the first time you mentioned the story. I don’t think you ever realized exactly how powerful you are--my sister was one of the most powerful mikos ever, and you surpassed her from the first. You could easily be as strong as Midoriko herself.”

That reference to the ancient miko who had created the Shikon no Tama by taking the souls of youkai into herself and ejecting them with her own heart surprised her. “But I’m not anything special!”

“Aren’t you? It’s true that you don’t absorb souls and purify them, but you have shown that you have the ability to heal souls that have been wounded by life. That might be even more important.” At the girl’s blank expression, the old woman continued, “Look at Shippou. When you met him, he had just lost not only his family but his entire community. Right now, he’s probably the happiest kit I’ve ever seen. When you first met Sango, her entire people had just been slaughtered. Just tonight, she was sitting with her brother and Miroku around the fire, laughing. You taught Jinenji what happiness was--he still talks about you to this day. But most of all--”

She wasn’t allowed to finish. “Most of all, you healed me from the poison that Naraku planted in my soul. You showed me the difference between a childish infatuation born of the first hint of acceptance to come in a long time and genuine love. You,” he said, wagging a finger under her nose, “Were willing to step aside because you thought that I wanted to be with Kikyou, even though the idea made you miserable. Hell,” he said, “You’ve had a hand in healing everybody around you. Now it’s time to give up all the doubts and worries and heal yourself. You know that nothing evil will ever touch you--I won’t let it.”

Suddenly realizing what he was talking about, she blushed furiously, looking away. “But I can’t stay here--what about my family?”

“But you can! You can go to see them any time you want. They can even come here to visit--because of this,” he said, holding up the jewel. Since she clearly didn’t understand the implications, he explained. “This was what I wanted to talk to Kaede about. You were so unhappy because you missed them and would never be able to return once you went back that it seemed to me that the best possible use of the Shikon no Tama would be to keep the well open for us, our friends, and our families. I didn’t know if that was even possible, so I was talking to Kaede about it--she seemed to think that it was a pretty good idea. Isn’t that right?” He looked around in confusion when the old miko didn’t answer.

“She left a couple of minutes ago--I guess she thinks I’ll be safe enough here with you.”

“So what do you think? Could you be happy here if you knew that you could go back to see them any time you wanted?”

She frowned briefly, trying to decide how best to explain her thinking. “I don’t think I could be really happy anywhere else, whether I could go back home or not. After all,” she said, resting a hand lightly on his chest, “The biggest part of my heart is here--I don’t think I could live if I left it for very long.”

“I’m glad that you survived. I wasn’t sure how effective my attempt would be--Kikyou was a master archer.”

The pair turned in surprise to see Kagura emerge from the brush, accompanied by her sister Kanna. The hanyou was instantly on the defensive. “What the hell do you want here?”

Kagome suddenly understood. “It was you! You caused Kikyou’s arrow to miss its target and hit me in the leg instead.”

The youkai inclined her head in agreement. “I never trusted Kikyou--she was involved with plots inside of plots. I didn’t know exactly what she was planning, but I knew that she was working toward the end of Naraku, Inuyasha, and you. It seemed a good idea to interfere in a small way.”

Looking at the pair, Kagome asked, “What will you two do now that Naraku’s gone?”

Kagura shook her head. “I don’t know. We just want a quiet, peaceful life. Maybe there’s a farming or fishing village somewhere that could use our skills. After all, I have a certain affinity for weather, and Kanna--she can use her mirror to see distant things as well as to absorb souls and reflect attacks.”

The hanyou shook his head. “It won’t be easy. Most humans are scared of youkai--I don’t think you’ll be able to live near them without a fight.”

Kagome suddenly smiled. “Remember Jiichan’s story? He said that the area around the family shrine started to attract lots of youkai and hanyous. This might be what he meant.” Turning to the wind youkai, she said, “Why don’t you come back with us to our village--we’ll be leaving in a day or so. We’re trying to build a community where humans, youkai, and especially hanyous can live together without fighting. Are you willing to try?”

Kagura closed her eyes, fighting back tears that were too long denied. “I was your enemy.”

Kagome shook her head slowly. “I don’t think you were. Naraku was our enemy--he was controlling you just like he controlled Kohaku and so many others.”

“It wasn’t exactly the same. He knew I was disloyal to him, so he kept my heart. When I betrayed him, he destroyed it.” She shook her head in confusion. “I don’t know what could have happened to bring me back from the next world.”

Kagome and Inuyasha looked at each other. “I think I know what happened--see what Kanna’s mirror shows.”

The others gathered around while Kanna concentrated on her mirror. The surface fogged over briefly, then cleared to reveal the form of Kagura crumpled on the ground. A tall white-robed figure stood over her, holding a sword that pulsed with a pale blue light. The hanyou’s jaw dropped open. “Sesshoumaru?”

Kagura nodded slowly. “It almost makes a strange kind of sense. When I asked him to help me to get free of Naraku, he said that the only people deserving of freedom were those willing to die for it.”

The human girl looked at her. “So, are you going to come home with us, or not?”

The two youkai looked at each other, conferring silently for a few seconds. Finally, Kagura nodded once. “I think,” she said, “That we will try it your way.” She went over to the fire and sat with her sister, looking around at the diverse group of which they were now a part.

Inuyasha shook his head in a kind of mild amusement. “Is life with you always going to be like this?”

She gave him a wry smile. “Probably. My mother always tells me that I’m stubborn--only she calls it ‘determined.’”

That reference made him a little uneasy. “What do you think she’ll say? I don’t want any trouble with her.”

Kagome thought about it for a few seconds. “I’m not sure. I know that she likes you--a lot. I just don’t know how all this will fit in with what she expected my life to be like--and I can’t imagine how she’ll explain it to everybody.” She flashed a brilliant smile. “I just can’t wait to tell her!”

Rather than dwell on the matter, he easily lifted the girl. “Well, you’re going to have to wait. Even if the old woman lets you start traveling tomorrow in the wagon, it’ll still take a couple of days to get back to the village. Now,” he said, turning away from the fire, “Go to sleep. You’ve had a busy night, and you need to rest if that leg is going to heal.” Carrying her back into the open-sided tent, he continued, “I’ll wait here until you go to sleep.”

Neither of them noticed the four pairs of eyes that watched them from the bundles of blankets around the fire. Sango sighed, shaking her head. It was about time one of them made a move--it would have been a tragedy if neither of them could have spoken. Now, if only….