InuYasha Fan Fiction ❯ Purity 4: Justification ❯ And She Danced ( Chapter 95 )

It was a beautiful day—a brilliant, bright fall afternoon.  Unseasonably warm without a cloud in the clear blue sky: the perfect day for a wedding . . .

Peering up at Cain to reassure herself for what seemed to be the millionth time that she really wasn't dreaming; she intercepted his apprehensive glance and nodded once, absently noting how the black of his ceremonial garb seemed to add a depth to his sparkling eyes, his shining bronze hair.  The scene meshed together in her mind: the scent of incense overlying the slightly dusty aroma in the ceremonial shrine . . . The soft music of the koto players who were hidden behind a white paper screen . . . Entirely magical, really.  The only thing that seemed amiss was the anxiety in Cain's gaze that didn't lessen, and she winced inwardly.

'He thinks I'm overdoing it.'

'Of course he does.  He worries about you.'

Gin wished she could reach for his hand, wanted to assure him that she was fine.

'He knows you're fine, doll.  He just wants you to stay 'fine'.'

'I know,' she agreed slowly.  'Especially after last night . . .'

She'd been roused from her nap on the sofa in the middle of a rather heated exchange between Kagome and Cain.  They were arguing over the purification ritual that should be performed at the start of the Shinto ceremony.  Though Kagome said that the actual rite was more for show than anything, Cain had insisted that Gin was still too weak; that even a ritualistic purification might harm her.  Kagome had begun to protest, insisting that she'd never condone something that might harm her daughter, but InuYasha had grumbled that, as much as he hated to admit it, he actually agreed with 'the damned baka' on the matter.

"Really, Cain-san, it won't hurt her.  It's just part of the ceremony; that's all."

"Maybe, but I'm not taking that chance.  She's still not completely recovered, and I'll be damned if I'll let anything happen to her at her wedding.  She's my mate."

"And she's my daughter," Kagome reminded him in a pinched sort of tone that Gin rarely heard her mother use.

"Keh," InuYasha cut in with a low growl.  "Leave her be.  The damned baka has a point.  Might as well not take the chance."

Kagome heaved a sigh.  "All right; all right.  I'll talk to the priest."

"Oh, my . . . I'm not interrupting, am I?" Sierra asked as she stepped into the living room with a garment bag slung over her arm.

"Not at all," Kagome replied, her normally cheerful tone back in place.  "Thank you for picking up Gin's dress."

"Nonsense.  One less thing you need to worry about," Sierra said, waving away Kagome's thanks.   Kagome took the bag and laid it over the back of a chair so she could unzip it.

"How are you feeling?" Sierra asked as she hurried over to hug Gin.

"I'm fine," she insisted, rising to her feet.  "I'm sorry, Mama . . . You should have woke me up."

"Don't worry about it," Kagome said with a smile.  "How's this?"

Gin grinned and shuffled over to look at the simple white silk knee-length dress.

"I'll have your father drop this off at the shrine.  You can change there before the reception."

Cain snorted.  "Pfft!  What's wrong with the kimono she's wearing for the wedding?"

"It's tradition—" Kagome began.

"A hella stupid one, if you ask me," InuYasha grumbled, ears twitching as he crossed his arms over his chest and wrinkled his nose at the dress in question.  "Why the hell do you have to change fifteen times?"

Kagome rolled her eyes but smiled.  "Hardly fifteen, dog-boy.  Normally it's just three or four . . . Anyway, it's just the one dress.  The kimono would be more cumbersome than this dress will be for the reception."

Cain looked like he wanted to argue that, too.  Gin touched his arm and smiled apologetically.  "I'd feel terrible if I spilled something on the kimono," she remarked.  "It's Mama's."

He sighed.  "One change," he agreed mulishly just before he narrowed his eyes, shifting his suspicious gaze between Gin and her mother and back again.  "And none of those headdresses, all right?"

Gin giggled.  "Mama didn't wear one of those for her wedding, either."

Cain shrugged then grimaced, obviously thinking about the ornate sculptures that some Japanese women wore in their hair for the ceremony.  Though many women wore wigs with the pieces already arranged, a few did dare to arrange the hair style on their own, and while Gin had always thought that women in full traditional garb were pretty, she also wasn't too upset by Cain's decree against the headdress.  "Good.  Those things look painful."

"They weigh a lot, too," Gin pointed out.  "About five kilograms."

Cain thought that over, his expression turning more foreboding by the second.  "The headdress is over eleven pounds by itself?"

She nodded.  "Not counting the wig."

He snorted.

"It'd be a shame to hide Gin's hair under one of those wigs, don't you think?" Kagome quipped, unable to hide the little smile forming on her lips.

Cain snorted again.

Gin smiled to herself and folded her hands together in her lap.

'Poor Cain . . . Yesterday just wasn't really his day, was it?'

Her youkai sighed.  'Not really, and may I remind you that you weren't very pleased with the situation last night, either.'

True enough, she supposed.  When her brothers and cousin showed up not long after Sierra's arrival to escort Cain to Kichiro's house, she had to wonder if he was going to lose his temper.  It didn't help at all, that Kichiro couldn't quite seem to stop smiling about it.  Ryomaru had happily pointed out that it was just for one night.  Toga hadn't said much, but he, too, was grinning.  To be honest, Gin hadn't wanted Cain to leave, either, but Kagome said that it would mean a lot to InuYasha, to spend one last evening with his daughter, and, well, she hadn't been able to say no, either, and in the end, the twins and Toga had escorted Cain out of the house with the reassurance that the tai-youkai wouldn't be far away; just at Kichiro and Bellaniece's house for the night.

'Strange,' she mused with a slight frown.  'I slept like a baby despite not having Cain there . . . Maybe I was more exhausted than I thought . . .'

Gin's youkai chuckled but didn't answer.

Resisting the urge to fidget during the perfunctory reading of the wedding announcement and subsequent prayer, Gin watched in complete fascination as the young miko poured sake into the first of three cups that Cain had picked up off the small wooden stand.  Following the tradition of san-san-kudo, he sipped the sake three times before slipping the cup into Gin's trembling hand.  The miko smiled at her, and Cain carefully steadied her hand as the miko poured more sake into the cup.

Gin sipped the sake three times and wondered if Cain could hear her heart hammering against her ribcage as she set the first cup aside and reached for the second.  The miko filled that cup, too, and Gin sipped it three times.  Cain took that cup and repeated the process before retrieving the last of the cups for the ritual.

'I'm getting married . . .'

The words seemed so surreal, and sparing a moment to peek over her shoulder, she couldn't help but feel the warmth of her mother's smile; the gentle love in her grandmother's wizened face.  Tempered by time and changed by the lifespan that governed humans, Mrs. Higurashi sat beside Kagome with Mikio in her arms.  She nodded at her granddaughter and smiled.  Souta-oji-chan sat on Grandma's other side with his wife, Hitomi.  He inclined his head just a little, and she smiled back.

Her brothers sat further back with their mates.  The rest of the faces seemed to be a blur, with one exception.

InuYasha sat next to Kagome, looking completely familiar in the fire rat clothes, his expression blank, his eyes strangely bright.  She wasn't sure what he was thinking, but she had a feeling that he was trying not to think about the idea that Gin would be moving away.

'It's your wedding day, doll . . . You shouldn't be sad, right?'

'I know.  I'm not . . . Well, maybe just a little . . .'

After sipping the sake from the last cup three times and setting it aside, Gin bowed her head as Cain read the marriage vows.  Murmuring her name after he was finished, she dared a peek at him only to see him smiling down at her before he slipped his hand under her elbow to lead her out of the shrine for the ceremonial offering of tamagushi.  Sweeping her up into his arms, he leapt into the lower branches of Goshinboku.  She giggled softly as she tied her oblation to the nearest branch.  He did the same before dropping back out of the sacred tree.

He set her feet on the ground, smiled at her as he carefully grasped her left hand.  Before the ceremony and with marked reluctance, she'd taken off the engagement ring he'd given her.  Unable to repress the swell of laughter that rose inside, she watched him slip the thin platinum band onto her finger.  "I love you, Gin," he whispered, just loud enough for her to hear.

Her hands were still trembling as she slipped the matching, albeit thicker, ring onto his finger.  "I love you, too," she whispered back, blinking quickly as happy tears blurred her vision.  The breeze whipped his hair over his shoulder, hiding the teal detailing on his left shoulder.  She felt the end of his Mokomoko-sama brush against her leg, and her smile widened as a sense of complete safety washed over her.

"You ready?"

She nodded, letting him lead her back into the shrine building and into the adjacent room where tables were arranged with individual place settings: cups with tiny wrapped packages carefully arranged in the center of the small plates.  The mikos waited until everyone filed into the room before pouring sake into the cups.  After drinking the sake and eating the individually wrapped dried squid and kombu, Cain turned toward her and finally managed a nearly-normal smile.  "Mrs. Zelig . . ." he murmured.

Gin smiled, too, feeling a blush rising in her cheeks as a sudden sense of bashfulness coursed through her.  "That's me, isn't it?"

"You still doing okay?"

"Yes."

He looked marginally relieved, and wrinkled his nose.  "Don't suppose we could skip the pictures."

"You don't want to do them?"

He relented with a soft chuckle.  "I'd rather be someplace quiet with you, but if you feel up to it . . ."

Gin giggled and leaned against his arm, rising up on her toes as he bent down to let her kiss his cheek.  "We don't have to stay at the reception that long," she offered.

"Whatever makes you happy, baby girl."

"You make me happy, Cain."

He chuckled and led the way to the garden near Goshinboku where the pictures would be taken.

"They look so happy, don't they?"

Kichiro snorted and shrugged, watching as Cain fiddled with the chopsticks in his hand.  Gin leaned closer to whisper something to him, and Cain chuckled.  "Yeah, they do," he agreed.

Bellaniece stifled a yawn with her hand and giggled.  "Poor Daddy . . . He wasn't very happy with you last night, was he?"

"You know, it was rather unnerving to wake up in the middle of the night and discover you were gone."

Bellaniece winced.  "I had to make sure Daddy wasn't going to try sneaking in Gin's window or something.  I'm sorry."

Kichiro shook his head.  The click of the door in the quiet house had roused him at two in the morning, and after throwing on the first pair of pants he could find, he followed his mate through the forest only to find her sitting beside her father under Gin's window.  Kagome must have known that Cain wouldn't stay away.  Zelig had a huge thermos of coffee and a couple thick blankets that he'd wrapped around Bellaniece's shoulders.  Kichiro hadn't come out of the shadows.  She might have welcomed his intrusion, but Cain wouldn't.

The youkai looked like he was drawing on the last of his patience, and it wasn't hard to see that the only reason he'd agreed to the rushed wedding was because Gin seemed to be in a hurry to have it done.  Kichiro had a feeling that Cain wouldn't have minded waiting a few more weeks to make sure Gin really was recovered enough for the festivities.  Bellaniece was doing the best she could to comfort him, and Kichiro had left her there with her father.

"So what did you two do all night?" he asked.

Bellaniece stifled another yawn and smiled.  "Just talked . . . reminisced . . . That sort of thing."

"Sounds boring."

Bellaniece rolled her eyes.

"Who's that?" Kichiro questioned, nodding toward the one youkai he didn't recognize.  Tall, lanky, he was older, certainly, though Kichiro could tell that the stranger was probably not quite as old as Sesshoumaru.

Bellaniece followed the direction of Kichiro's gaze and shrugged.  "Him?  Oh, that's Ben Philips.  He's Daddy's business manager . . . and I think he might be one of Daddy's generals, but I'm not sure . . ."

That earned her a probing glance.  "What do you mean, you're not sure?"

Bellaniece sipped champagne and shrugged.  "Daddy's never really said, but that was just the impression I got.  They've known each other forever.  I think he knew Daddy's parents."

"Ben Philips," he repeated quietly.

Bellaniece didn't seem to have heard him, or maybe she simply didn't think it was unusual.  "I think I'm going to go see if I can get Toga to dance with me."

Kichiro grinned.  "Good luck with that.  You scare the crap out of him."

"I'm harmless."

He nodded.  She winked before she sauntered away.

'Ben Philips, huh?  Talk about fortuitous . . .'

Kichiro made his way across the opulent Inutaisho formal living room—it was considered the best place to have the reception since it was easily the size of a banquet hall.  The youkai in question was talking to Sesshoumaru.

"This is my nephew, Izayoi Kichiro," Sesshoumaru remarked, nodding his head toward Kichiro.

"The one who refined youkai marking rituals?"

"Among other things," Kichiro agreed.

"Ben Philips," he said, extending his hand.

Kichiro shook it and bowed slightly as Aiko grabbed her father's hand and dragged him away.

"So you married Zelig's daughter," Ben commented when Kichiro stopped near them.

"I did."

"She's a lovely girl."

"She's a lovely woman."

Ben chuckled.  "I stand corrected."

"I was trying to get a hold of you," Kichiro went on.  "I read an article about Cain's sculpture . . . 'Swan's Song'."

"Ah, yes . . . It's a stunning piece."

Kichiro shrugged.  "Is it her?  Belle's mother?"

Ben's smile faded just a little, and he drained his champagne flute before answering.  "Yes."

"I don't really know how the silent auction works.  I was wondering if you wouldn't mind explaining it to me."

Ben pondered that for a moment.  "You want your wife to have it?"

Kichiro nodded.  "It's her mother."

"I understand.  It's simple.  You decide how much you think that the piece is worth, and you send me a notarized bid."

Ben must have realized that fine art wasn't Kichiro's strongest suit.  He sighed.  "Bellaniece never knew her mother.  That was a shame, though maybe in a way, it was for the best.  Isabelle wasn't exactly receptive to the idea of Cain being tai-youkai.  Even still, I can't believe that Zelig didn't offer her the statue.  It would have seemed more appropriate . . ."

"Zelig's got his reasons, I'm sure," Kichiro allowed.  It registered somewhere in the back of his mind, that he was defending Bellaniece's father.  He snorted inwardly but didn't gainsay himself.

"I can't really tell you anything about the bidding.  It's private, and the process is actually being audited by a firm in New York . . ." Trailing off as he stared at Kichiro, the older youkai nodded slowly, sucking in his cheek thoughtfully.  "As I said, I can't tell you the amounts that have been submitted so far, but I'd say that a sculpture of this nature will not be sold for less than $500,000.00."

"I see," Kichiro mused.  "Can I ask you one thing?"

Ben nodded.

"Did he tell you why he's selling it?"

Ben seemed surprised by Kichiro's question.  "Isn't that simple enough?  He wants to let her go.  This is his way of doing it."

"Thank you, Philips-san," he replied, bowing in deference to the older youkai.

"Your sister . . . She's remarkable."

Kichiro glanced over at Gin and smiled.  "She is."

"We'll take care of her; you have my word as a general."

"I'll hold you to that."

Ben chuckled.  "Absolutely."

Scowling as he watched Gin lean against her father's shoulder, Cain winced and tried not to berate himself for agreeing to the rushed wedding.  'She's exhausted.  Look at her.'

'Exhausted, maybe, but she's really happy.'

InuYasha wasn't a dancer.  Cain could tell from his seat that the hanyou was completely out of his element as he shuffled his feet.  He was doing it for Gin, wasn't he?

'He's just trying to make me look bad.'

'I'm sure that's not why he's dancing with her.  She's his daughter, after all.  Men do crazy things for their daughters.  You used to dance in the rain with Bellaniece, right?  Is that really so different?'

Cain sighed.  Nope, it wasn't any different, at all.  No matter what his opinion of the surly hanyou was, InuYasha was still Gin's father; she loved him, and what was more, there wasn't any denying that InuYasha loved her, too.

He was leaving Bellaniece here under the protection of Kichiro Izayoi, and ultimately in the protection of the patriarch of the family, InuYasha.  In return, he was taking InuYasha's baby girl, wasn't he?

She opened her eyes and smiled at him.  He smiled back, forcing down the swell of panic at the tiredness that seemed to radiate from her.  Was he the only one who noticed?  Surely her father could sense it, too . . .

Or maybe not.

Maybe InuYasha didn't realize it.  Maybe he was too caught up in the hard-to-swallow knowledge that his time with his daughter was drawing short.  They had only planned a short honeymoon at the Izayoi family's beach house before they would be returning to Maine.  As much as he wished it were otherwise, Cain was needed at home.  He'd left too many things undone.  In his self-pitying stupor, he hadn't really gotten a thing done, aside from finishing the sculpture of Isabelle . . .

Still, the drive to the beach house would take at least two hours, maybe three, depending on traffic.  Watching as Gin leaned more heavily on her father with each passing minute, Cain couldn't imagine making her sit in a car for that long a time.

"I trust you'll guard her with your life."

Cain started out of his reverie and glanced over in time to see Sesshoumaru slip into the chair Gin had vacated.  "Absolutely," he promised.

"Then it is as it should be."

"She's tired," Cain muttered, eyes drifting back to the bride once more.  "I should have insisted that we wait another week or two . . ."

"She wanted to be your mate as much as you wanted to be hers.  It doesn't matter now.  What's done is done."

"Maybe."

Sesshoumaru sat back, expression carefully blanked as he tapped his claws against the white silk table cloth.  "She is as stubborn as her baka sire.  Insisting would have availed you nothing."

Cain wrinkled his nose.  "I don't want to drive out to the beach house today.  She needs to sleep, not ride in a car."

Sesshoumaru nodded slowly before reaching into the pristine white haori to retrieve his cell phone.  The inconsistency of the clothes and the electronic device drew a chuckle from Cain.  Sesshoumaru ignored it as he dialed a number from memory.  "Inutaisho here.  I need a favor."

"What are you doing?" Cain asked suspiciously.

Sesshoumaru didn't even bat an eye.  "Your best room for tonight."  His gaze slipped to the side to meet Cain's, and he almost broke into a smile.  "My only niece was married today."

Cain was silent as Sesshoumaru finished his call.  "You have reservations at Le Meridien Pacific hotel."

"Thank you."

"Don't thank me; just take care of my niece," Sesshoumaru replied as he stowed his cell phone away once more.

"I will."

Sesshoumaru nodded slowly, his eyes shifting back to the woman in question again.  "Tell me, Zelig . . ."

"What's that?"

"Are you going to allow your mate to dance with her father all afternoon?"

Cain chuckled and finally stood.  "No, I don't think I am."

Sesshoumaru nodded as Cain strode over to the couple.

"May I?"

InuYasha didn't look like he wanted to let go of her.  "Over my—"

Gin giggled softly and stepped back as Kagome hurried over to grab InuYasha's hand.  "Dance with me, dog-boy," she coaxed, gently tugging InuYasha away.

Gin drew a deep breath as Cain slipped an arm around her.  "You feeling okay?"

"Fine," she replied then grimaced.  "Well, maybe a little tired."

"Maybe you should sit down awhile . . ."

She waved a limp hand and smiled.  "I want to dance with you," she insisted.

"Gin . . ."

"You said I could dance at my wedding, didn't you?"

He made a face.  "Figures you'd remember that."

"I remember everything you said to me."

He heaved a sigh to let her know just what he thought of her stubborn insistence that she was fine.  "Okay," he agreed, "I promised that you could dance as much as you wanted."

"You did."

He nodded.  "Well, I can't break a promise, can I?"

She shook her head.

Her soft gasp was sharp in his ear as he bent down long enough to scoop Gin up, cradling her against his chest.  She slipped her arms around his neck with a giggle, resting her cheek on his shoulder as he continued to dance with her.  She relaxed against him, her contented sigh tickling his neck, the promise he'd made to her echoing through his head as he continued the dance.

"It was the . . . first time."

"What was?"

"The first time I got to dance with anyone who wasn't family."

"Gin—"

"I'm just glad it was with you."

"You'll . . . You'll dance at your wedding, baby girl . . . and he'll be . . . the luckiest bastard alive."

"Cain?"

Blinking as the lingering traces of memory faded, he turned his attention to the woman in his arms.  "Hmm?"

Gin tilted her head back enough to stare up at him.  "What are you thinking?"

An enigmatic little smile toyed at the corners of his lips, and he chuckled softly just before he leaned down to kiss her.  "Just about how precious you are . . . and that I'm the luckiest bastard alive."