InuYasha Fan Fiction ❯ Pieces of The Sun ❯ The Smell of Roses ( Chapter 14 )

[ T - Teen: Not suitable for readers under 13 ]

The Smell of Roses

Grace and Ease. Power and Skill. Perseverance and determination. These were the only words to portray her practice.

Practice. Practice. Practice. Through the day, the woman and the weapon became one, moulding a child, into an extraordinary protector. They would move as one, be as one. A lethal dance, faster than the wind, more beautiful than the geisha, stoic as the Noh mask, which speaks a thousand words in but one expression.

Never tire. Never take a break. Learn. Practice. Be perfect.

Her father would often laugh at her; tell her to take a break. But she would unfailingly touch her weapon. She was addicted to it, or rather to the power in it? It was like an unceasing lover, training her, testing her, and rewarding her. Her insane zeal of being a saviour, a heroine burned in her like a flame, and her relentless practice only fanned it.

“Take a holiday, daughter.” he said. “Learn to smell the roses. Devotion is important, but family is too. We will be gone someday; wouldn't it be nice to create memories?”

But she never would. Her talented weapon implored her, begged her to use it. And she reveled in the power it gave her. Every demon killed, was a milestone marked, a triumph written in blood and toil.

She didn't care about anything else.

A lone woman, broken, adrift, sat near the very place where she had the memories of her childhood. The houses were shattered; the people were gone, leaving just a trail of ruinous madness. And in their midst, an infinite line of graves, stretching into nothingness. Brittle flowers lay like paltry stones on them, flowers she laid long ago.

They should have been on hers too.

She had been too late to smell the roses. Too late to take a holiday.

Who was to blame? Mea culpa, she knew.

Bone and the smith's labour spoke to her again. She kisses it, caresses it, then flings it away.

She will never kill gain. She will finally, finally take rest.