InuYasha Fan Fiction ❯ Once Upon an Inuyoukai ❯ Historical Significance ( Chapter 26 )

[ Y - Young Adult: Not suitable for readers under 16 ]

A/N: This chapter is actually mostly taken from a one-shot I wrote for Nebride entitled 'Historical Significance.' It can be found on my profile in its entirety.

Thanks so much to my wonderful beta, ALF, who took the time to do this even though her personal life is not very calm right now. It is more appreciated than she knows.

Enjoy the chapter!


When Sakenmaru pulled him aside several weeks later, Inutaisho was not the least bit surprised. He had known the encounter was coming and had been dreading it.

The lion demon seized his arm in fingers that were still strong despite their age and dragged him into the nearest empty barracks. Then he spun Inutaisho around, grasped his shoulders, and stared him straight in the eye. He was obviously furious, if his narrowed eyes and high colour were any indication.

Inutaisho sighed and resigned himself to the inevitable tongue-lashing he sensed coming.

Sakenmaru did not disappoint him. "Are you mad?" he snarled, punctuating each word with a vigorous shake. "What were you thinking?"

"It was her idea," Inutaisho replied lamely.

Sakenmaru was having none of it. "That doesn't mean it was a good idea! I thought you were smart enough to realize that! I'm sorry to say I've underestimated you." His anger was chilling, descending rapidly from raging heat to ice.

Inutaisho felt compelled to defend himself but could not find the words. "It was a good idea at the time?" he ventured.

That earned him a cheek full of sharp knuckles. He staggered, hand instinctively going to his wounded face.

"This is not something you should be deciding on spur of the moment!" Sakenmaru howled. "You should know better than that! You know what the near future is going to look like! You know what dangers we face when Ryuunomei finds us! And you would be foolish and cruel enough to subject your pregnant wife and unborn child to that? You are an idiot and I ought to beat you from here to Sakhalin Island."

Inutaisho still had no defense. He and Izayoi had talked it over, wrapped deep in the embrace of the night and each other. She had been very clear: she wanted to bear his child, and she wanted to bear it immediately. She had had reasons, and they had made sense at the time. He had not seen any reason to deny her what she so obviously wanted, since he had wanted it just as much.

Now, in the light of day, he saw it for the supremely unwise move it had been. They were at war. There was going to be bloodshed and mayhem everywhere, and she would not be able to defend herself if she was six months pregnant.

Inutaisho listed the reasons again to search for clarity.

One... she said there was no guarantee of being alive or capable of bearing children at the end of the war.

Two... there was no certainty of the war ending this year, either. For all they knew, it could drag on for several years.

Three... she was at prime childbearing age, and didn't want to risk passing her time and losing the opportunity forever.

Four... her intuition told her that it was time.

He looked at the reasons, and realized that they were extremely flimsy. Yes, it was possible that they would not be able to bear children at the end of the war. However, they had not planned on how to raise a child during said war.

They would be bringing an innocent life into an insane world full of gore and death and mayhem. All of their time would be dedicated to bringing down Ryuunomei and his army. There would be battles to fight, training to accomplish, and logistics to keep organized. When would there be time in that for a child?

"You had better not be planning on keeping her here," Sakenmaru growled. "You need to get her away from this encampment, to somewhere she won't be found when Ryuunomei finds the rest of us. You need to keep her safe, Inutaisho. This is your mistake, and you had better make sure tragedy doesn't come of it."

Inutaisho's heart twisted in his chest. The lion was right, and he knew it. He had been foolish and flighty as a starry-eyed youngster, and there would be consequences.

"I have a plan," he said tiredly, closing his eyes.

"Good," Sakenmaru said. "Oh, and by the way? Congratulations." He clapped Inutaisho powerfully on the back, making him stagger again. "Idiot or no, I won't begrudge you this little bit of happiness. It had just better work out well in the end, or I'm going to have to kill you myself."

Inutaisho's eyes snapped open, and topaz met amber with an almost audible snap. "If she or the child suffers from this, you will not have to."

"Good," Sakenmaru said again. "Good. So what's this plan of yours?"

The dog demon ran his fingers through his loose hair. "I found a valley, not far from here if I fly-- but far enough not to be found immediately if and when Ryuunomei finds us. It is at a very high altitude and enclosed on three sides, so unless he approaches from the south, he will not even see it. There is a flat space there that I have cleared. I will build her a castle and take her there. Until the child is born and old enough to be left with a nurse, she will live there, whether she wishes to or not."

Sakenmaru sighed. "I hate to say it, but that's a good plan. She'll hate it, I know she will, but it's the best thing right now. I suppose she's just as much to blame for this as you are, so this confinement can be her punishment."

"I feel very stupid," Inutaisho confessed. "I swear to you, when we were discussing it, it all made perfect sense."

Sakenmaru grinned. "I believe you, pup. You're entitled to make mistakes every once in a while. The last one turned out well, didn't it? I suppose I'll just have to have faith in you."

Last mistake...? Ah, that mistake. The Great Mistake, the mistake that had torn Japan into messy halves and kept it poised on the razor edge of a folded-steel blade. A mistake to end wars, and start them. It too had seemed like a good idea at the time.

Inutaisho smiled at the memory of how his first marriage had begun.

OooooooO

We write with the gravest news and heavy hearts.

Princess Mai's elder sister Mirei has recently passed away due to a lingering illness which finally overcame her. Certain circumstances surrounding her death require that her younger sister assume her duties in her stead. Unfortunately, this means that her engagement to your son Inutaisho must be broken. This is truly regrettable for both of us, however it must be done.

With deepest apologies,

Iruka Pobei,
Aide to Lord Iruka.

Mirei had been promised in a crucial alliance with the Lord of the East, and her death meant that Mai had to go in her stead to marry the Eastlord. The great family of the West was powerful, but as close kin of theirs not so much of a threat as the East was, and maintaining peace with them took precendence beyond a doubt.

His lovely wife-to-be was now promised to another. He fought the urge to shred the missive into ragged shreds, find her, and steal her away to live in the mountains as a hermit with him. We'd have a garden, and whatever I could catch with my claws... and weave blankets of our shed fur for the winter... Stop. There is no point to this train of thought.

The only thing that stopped him was the knowledge of what would happen to her if he did so. If she refused to marry the Eastlord and absconded with him, she would be hunted down, shamed, and most likely either imprisoned or executed. Her rank lay across her slim shoulders like massive iron chains, threatening to break her if she did not move where they directed her.

Agonized, he chewed on his knuckles and stared sightlessly at the off-white scroll and its harsh black slashes of ink.

Over the past few weeks they'd spent a lot of time together, learning the contours of each other and planning a future together. A typical day involved them eating breakfast together, then wandering up to the shores of their favourite hidden mountain lake and talking the day away until the gathering darkness forced them to return. They would bring picnic lunches and dinners and eat whenever they felt hungry, content in each other's company.

The blazing shine of love-at-first-sight had faded, but been replaced with something much more satisfying. They knew now that they enjoyed each other's presence, and knew also that they would be able to live a life of several millennia together peacefully. It was a wonderful thing to understand.

Then, just when they had finally come to terms with everything their obligations had thrown at them, this had happened.

"Father," Inutaisho greeted flatly. Flat, flat, flat as missive written on a sheet of rice-paper.
"You will accept this," Inumaru said behind him in a deep, threatening voice. "You will do nothing. Do you understand me?"
"Perfectly."
"Then you will let this go?"
Inutaisho turned around and met his father's narrow eyes. He said nothing.
Inumaru growled. "If you do anything, anything at all, I will disown you."
Silence.
The warlord snarled and stalked out. Inutaisho listened to him go and didn't care. Even if he had wanted to do something, what could he possibly do that would not endanger Mai?
And yet, he could not bear the thought of losing her to the cold dragons of the East. She would wither there, like a rose in shadow, denied the sun. The East was not a place for one such as her. Away from his side was no place for her, period.
She belongs with me.
All of a sudden, the four thin walls of his room were far too small to hold him. He catapulted from his chair into a dead run, slamming the shoji aside and fleeing the compound of his ancestral home without a backwards glance.
At first he did not know where he was going. His feet did, however, and he soon found himself on the shores of their lake, staring glassily at the unruffled surface of the water. I cannot let this pass unanswered. And yet, what can I do?
His father had already seemed to accept the slight of the broken engagement, perhaps out of fear of an attack against him from the East. In any case, Inutaisho knew he would receive no aid from that quarter. Not that he ever had before.
He could not stomach the thought of thousands of years of life spent with anyone else, and could bear even less the thought of her spending those thousands of years in the arms of another. He was viciously jealous and did not care what others might think of his possessiveness. She is mine! But... ah, but. There is always a 'but.'
Inutaisho sat down on the grassy bank and sank his head into his hands.

OoooooO

He was so lost in thought and deliberation, he did not even hear the person's approach until he or she was nearly upon him.
"Inutaisho," he rasped exhaustedly.
He rocketed to his feet and stared at the swaying figure in consternation. It was a ragged messenger, obviously exhausted and in much pain. What was he doing up there? Inutaisho was fairly certain nobody but him knew of the location of the little lake. That, combined with the lack of an honorific, alerted him that something was up.
"Who are you?" he barked. "What do you want?"
The man stared at him blankly. "Inutaisho...?"
"And why do you call me so familiarly?" he snarled, hand falling on the hilt of his short dagger. He sensed no danger from the man, but felt better when he had a weapon in his hand regardless.
"Don't you... recognize me?" The man sounded desolate and confused.
Inutaisho was just as confused. "Recognize you? A messenger boy from a foreign castle? Why would I?"
Suddenly, light dawned on his face and the man launched into a shocking array of curses. "Bedamned! I forgot to take the glamour off!" He pulled the hat off and threw it to the ground, then formed a complex series of finger-symbols almost faster than Inutaisho could follow.
Magic? What? He drew the dagger and held it in front of him, fully on his guard.
The man's outline began to blur, and his scent changed dramatically... to one Inutaisho knew very, very well.
"Mai?" he asked incredulously. She had some training in the ninja arts by the order of her father. He had thought they might be useful in unforeseen circumstances-- Inutaisho highly doubted, however, that this was what he had had in mind.
And indeed, once the transformation was complete, it was his silver-haired maiden that stood before him decked in men's clothing and dirty-faced. "There," she said breathlessly. "I am sorry about that. Naturally, I could not travel all this way with my own face. I would not have made it past my own gate!"
He was astounded, and completely thrown off balance. Mere hours ago he had been reading the missive that said she was never to see him again and would be given to another. Now, here she was, tired but elated, smiling at him .
What's going on?
Heaving an enormous sigh of relief, Mai sank to the ground in a graceful slump. "I made it. I can hardly believe it."
"Mai..." he whispered, then catching himself, spoke more strongly. "Would you mind explaining what the hell is going on here?"
She blinked up at him owlishly, obviously deeply pleased with the success of her venture. "I disguised myself, replaced the messenger who was supposed to carry the missive, and came to you instead. I will not marry Ryuunomei. I will only marry you."
The sheer enormity and naivete of her words bowled him over, and he fell to his knees in pure shock. "You... what? What?"
She frowned prettily. "Did I explain it badly? I am sorry. "
"No, I think I understand what you did... my question is, why? Are you insane?"
His heart was at war with itself. On one side, he was deeply moved by what she'd done for him and what her act indicated-- she wanted to be with him, and was willing to go through suffering and fear to do it.
On the other, he saw that this would be seen as an act of rebellion by her family-- and that she would be in deep trouble for it-- and was very afraid of the outcome of the situation.
"Inutaisho?" she whispered, taken aback by the harsh tone of his voice.
"Do you realize what you are doing?" he snapped, his fear winning over his joy. "As soon as your family finds out about this, they'll hunt you down and you'll become a disgraced prisoner. You'll suffer, and then possibly die if they see the situation as unsalvageable. At the very least, you'll be disowned and exiled. At the worst, you'll die and the Eastlord will use the insult of your refusal as an excuse to start a war with us in the West. You may have just..." He stopped.
She was crying, silently, hair curtaining her face.
"Mai? Oh, Mai, I am so sorry. I am just afraid for you, is all. You may have just caused your own death, and I cannot bear the thought of that. Ahh, you silly woman. Come here." He knelt and enveloped her in a deep embrace, pressing his lips to her hair and tangling his fingers in it.
She threw her weight into his chest and wrapped her arms tightly around him, sobbing into his chest. "I did not... did not think," she gasped. "I did not think about the possibility of war! I only thought... oh, Inutaisho, I am so sorry!"
"Hush," he murmured, heart breaking at what he knew he must do. Every cell in his body screamed at him to take her away and never let her go, but... He was a practical man "It is not too late. If you go back now, you can convince them that you merely wished to bid me farewell. Everything will continue as though nothing happened."
She stiffened beneath him, as he'd known she would. "What are you saying?" she sniffled, hurt. "You do not want to be with me?"
His breaking heart splintered and drove into the walls of his chest. "Oh, gods, Mai, that is not it at all! I have been thinking about this for the last several hours and I just do not see any way for us to be together in practicality."
"Really?" she gasped painfully, a hurtful chill in her voice: "Not even one way? I will do anything, Inutaisho, even leave the island if I must. I will leave behind my title and royal life without a second thought. Do you think I need everything to be perfect? I do not! All I want is to stay with you, wherever I can!"
His eyes burned and his lacerated chest constricted. "Mai... even so, they will hunt us down. We would never be safe. I cannot bear the thought of you living in fear for your life all your days. Please, my love..." he paused, gulping back the bile rising in his throat, "...go home, and go through with your family's wishes. It is best for everyone if you do."
"I cannot believe you are saying this," she wailed. "I came all this way, and you are going to turn around and send me back?"
He could hear her silent plea not to send her away, not to leave her alone. It tore him to shreds, but he could not give in. The stakes were too high. "Mai, I am sorry," he whispered.
She pulled away, shaking, eyes full of betrayal. "Then I will go," she said, voice suddenly remote and distant, "since you obviously do not want me to stay."
She turned and began walking back to the forest, fists clenched at her sides and shoulders hunched.
He wanted so badly to run to her, turn her around and kiss her until the stars rose above them. The impulse was so powerful that his skin was nearly tearing itself off his obstinate bones, but he knew that if he did so he would never have the strength to send her away. And send her away he must. For her own good, and that of their countries.
She paused and turned her head back. Silver trails of tears clawed their way down her reddened cheeks. "Fare thee well, Lord Inutaisho."
The honorific hit him like a hammer to the chest.
Mai kept walking, and did not look back.
OoooooO

Insultingly, they received the invitation to the wedding in the mail barely a week later.
To the Inu Family:
It is our great honour to invite you to attend the wedding of the Lord of the East, Ryuunomei the Strong, to the daughter of the esteemed lord from the West, Iruka Mai. The wedding will take place on the night of the first full moon of autumn, a most auspicious date, at the ancestral Dragon Palace. Gifts are welcome and appreciated.
We hope to see you there.
Ryuu Yema,
Secretary of State Affairs
Ryuu Family
Inutaisho read it once, then left it on the table and went to the lake.
I am not really considering going, am I? Am I mad?
I cannot believe they actually invited us. It is incredibly callous, considering the situation.
Could I handle watching her being given to him?
No.
A hundred, thousand times no.
And yet, if I do not go, they will see it as an insult and cause difficulty for us. What should I do?
He knew that by now the engagement ceremony would be complete, drinks and gifts exchanged and promises made. For all intents and purposes, the engagement was now unbreakable. It was too late to protest the union, now.
You're really going to let this go? a voice in his head said accusingly.
Hello, conscience, he replied wearily. I do not want to, but what else can I do?
Take her back.
And risk war?
Is she not worth that much at least?
I cannot be the cause of so much suffering. Not for my family, nor for hers, nor for all the people who would die in such a war.
If they start a war, then that is their choice. You could not blame yourself for their stupidity.
Inutaisho was at a loss. What his conscience said made sense, but everything he'd been raised to believe was throwing itself against what he wanted to believe.
Could this really work out well? I cannot help but believe that is could only end badly if I am selfish enough to...
It seems she has no problem with that. She is willing to risk everything-- how can you call yourself a man if you are not willing to do at least as much?
That is a low blow.
You do it to yourself.
Was it just him, or did his own inner self sound smug? This entire situation was driving him literally mad. He had to come to a conclusion, and soon, else...


OoooooO

It was not, perhaps, the wisest thing he had ever done.

However, it was simply insupportable to have his promised wife married to his rival. Though he'd initially come to terms with the concept, he could no longer bear the thought of her in the arms of the serpent.

That was why he was flying to take her back. Yes, a very foolish idea, but he could not honourably act otherwise. Inutaisho's noble conscience would not allow him to do otherwise.

The wedding party appeared below him, bedecked in colourful glowing lanterns and ostentatious silk garb. At the head of the party knelt Mai, pale and subdued, opposite a gloating Ryuunomei. The wedding vows were obviously underway already.

Inutaisho began his descent.

Halfway down, it became apparent that something had changed. Mai was no longer quiescent and beaten. She was holding her head high and saying something that angered Ryuunomei greatly. The dragon lord's face darkened. He yelled something that was almost audible to Inutaisho, then raised his hand.

The dog prince willed himself to fall faster. Almost...!

With barely a breath to spare, he ghosted between his love and her almost-mate, taking the blow meant for her on his own arm.

Thus ensued a brief but vicious struggle, which Inutaisho won after garnering several minor wounds from the dragon's claws.

"Are you coming with me?" he asked his silver maiden, who was staring up at him with joy that was blindingly radiant.

"Yes," she answered, and that was that.

OooooO

So had begun the feud that spanned millennia.

Inutaisho had been laughed at for the foolhardy decision to begin a war for the sake of a woman. Since he had been expecting it, it slid off his skin like rain off swan feathers and left him mostly unruffled. Mai had had a harder time of it. She had been used to the approval and sanction of her family, and it was a new experience for her to be constantly in a state of rebellion.

It wounded her more than she would ever let on when her mother's eyes filled with tears upon seeing her on Inutaisho's arm, or when her father scowled and turned away whenever she attempted to speak to him.

Compared to that, the gossip-mongers of the court were almost mild.

"Surely no woman could ever be worth a war," they derisively said over and over again. "He has made a Great Mistake."

They had stopped laughing at around the century mark, when it had become clear that the woman was indeed worth a war-- ten wars-- to Inutaisho.

He tried to summon up the same confidence in this newest Great Mistake but failed, alarmingly. There were so many more ways that this could end in tragedy, now that there was innocent life involved. What he and Izayoi had done was reckless and irresponsible, and now they would have to face the repercussions of it.

It bothered him to remember the discussion. Deciding so quickly was out of character for both of them, and he remembered feeling swept along in a rushing current that left him no time to think.

Perhaps this is Fate intervening directly?

It was easy to convince himself of that. It rang true to him, though he was not a seer or mystically inclined in any way. All he felt firm about was that the child had to be born. It was the wrong time, the wrong place, the wrong situation, the wrong everything, but somehow he knew that it was meant to happen. The gods had their fingers-- perhaps their entire hands-- into this one, and he was helpless before them.

The child would be born, and destiny would take it from there.

"Show me this valley. I will help you build."

Inutaisho nodded at Sakenmaru, and together they set off. There was little else in their power to rectify the situation, and so, both being men of action, they did what they could.

It would just have to be enough.

XoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxX

A/N: GEEP the new manga chapter! OMG Sessmom! Geepgeepgeepgeepgeepg. OMG.