InuYasha Fan Fiction ❯ Shadow's Warrior ❯ Dressing in Style ( Chapter 7 )

Painting on a face of who she is not.

Painting on a face of who she can't become.

The memories of cover-up, of hidden faces reminds her

about the lies that must be told.

- - -

A twig snapped under her foot as Sango walked down a path near the village. It was a pleasant morning after a hard week, but in her opinion it was a week that ended far too soon. Tonight was the night of the banquet.

For the last four days she had continued her well learned routine of tracking Miroku that had proved as fruitless as the days following her first night. It meant that tonight had to go well for her mission to progress.

"Can you tell us how to get to Agnus?" An old, hunched poorly dressed Empire farmer with a worn cloak pulled low over his eyes stood at the edge of the path; near him stood a woman of elderly appearance in similar dress with a bow slung across her back. Between them sat a handcart filled with goods and covered securely with a blanket. It was the woman that spoke.

"We need to visit an old lady who lives there. We require her assistance." The woman implored in a high irritating voice at which the man winced slightly.

Sango raised her eyes slightly at the couple and motioned for them to follow her.

"I presume you are looking for the Kaede." Sango replied to the woman as another farmer passed the group going towards town.

The woman eagerly nodded and waited for the man to pass.

Leaning closer the farmer woman spoke again this time with a different voice. "How do we look Sango?"

Sango bit her lip to keep from laughing. "I love the disguise, but lose the bow, banned for women to have them."

Looking at the hunched over man she spoke kindly but in the irritating voice. "Come this way, I'll lead you. The journey isn't too much farther. If you are too weak to continue just tell me and we'll stop and rest."

A golden glare met her from underneath the hood. "Wench." The man grumbled at her mockery.

The small group continued along the path towards Kaede's house gaining little more than a passing nod from soldiers they passed.

When they arrived at Kaede's the bundles on the cart were carried swiftly inside and the cart was stored securely behind the house.

Once inside a string of expletives were let loose by Inuyasha as he was finally allowed to stand up from his hunched position and drop the old man act. Throwing his cloak into a chair he stretched out his arms and back.

"We HAD to be a goddamn old couple, didn't we?!? Couldn't be something where I didn't have to practically walk on all fours all day?" Inuyasha grumbled.

Kagome also shed her cloak and rolled her eyes at her companion. "No one suspects an old couple. How else were we to get all the stuff here?"

Giving cursory glances over the merchandise brought in Kaede spoke, "I am glad you guys made it without getting caught. I didn't think Lord Sesshomaru would allow you to bring the supplies when there is a mission it could jeopardize tonight."

"Keh, like they could catch us."

Kagome snorted lightly, "I made the call to go through with it Kaede. It was no more dangerous than usual and I brought with us supplies for Sango."

Sango, who had been patiently waited for an explanation on finding her friend dressed as an old woman toting what seemed to be an illegal load, couldn't wait any longer. "What are the supplies?"

"Come children lets all sit down while we talk. I'm getting to old for all this activity." Sitting down, Kaede motioned for Kagome and Sango to sit down as well. She didn't bother persuading Inuyasha who took his customary position leaning against a wall listening over while keeping watch of the windows.

"Sesshomaru thinks it is a good idea to equip Kaede with sufficient supplies and ammunition incase the situation with Naraku becomes dangerous." Kagome answered her friend's question. "After seeing the papers you sent back with us he believes that we need to start preparing ourselves.

"We wanted to get the stuff here as soon as possible, so we chanced going through the village during the day."

She got up and walked over to a pretty dark red bag with embroidery along the top. Bringing it back to the table she set it down. "We also brought some stuff for you."

Reaching into the bag Kagome drew out a silvery grey dress. It had long sleeves and a high neck with a high waste. It was decorated with a vine of delicate pink and green embroidered flowers that wound up the left arm and across the front finally circling the bottom creating a hem.

"I decided on a dress that you could hide your black fighting outfit under incase something comes up." Kagome said motioning to the neck and sleeves.

Sango looked at the dress slightly open mouthed. The dress was made of a very fine cloth that was light and flowed easily. It must have been expensive.

Kagome absently continued her explanations of the dress. "I found this while looking through some storage a few days ago. It looks to be your size and we have enough time to alter it if needed."

"This is so generous of you, Kagome." Sango thanked still staring slight agog at the gown.

"Don't thank me too much; it was lucky that I found it." Folding the dress on the table she reached back into the bag again and started drawing out brushes, powders and various pieces of makeup. "I also brought plenty of supplies to help you get ready."

Sango took a look at the beauty supplies and the glint in her friend's eye and groaned.

- - - - - - -

"Sango, Sango where are you?"

A ten year old Sango dodged behind a chair as her nurse came into the room looking for her. She never liked the crotchety woman that Naraku had insisted her mother hire to help with her care and tried to avoid her whenever possible.

"Sango come here right now! It is time to get ready."

Her nurse walked into the next room in search of her charge. Using the nurse's exit to her advantage, Sango made a break for the door.

Sliding it open she slipped out into the spring weather and breathed deep. She had made it.

"Sango are you running from Rebecca again?" Her mother's soft and kind voice held a bit of humor in it as she watched her daughter freeze guiltily.

"She wants to dress me up in stuffy clothes and brush my hair but she doesn't do it right. I need to go practice, Miroku is going to show me a new way he invented to throw people. He says it is a really cool move and that I haven't never seen anything like it before. Please mom, don't make me go back." The young girl pleaded with her mother.

The woman stood from where she had been sitting on the front steps of their house and hugged her daughter.

"I'm sorry you can't go practice today. We have to go make your father look good at the banquet, but lets make a deal. I'll help you get ready and tomorrow you can go practice with Miroku all you want."

Sango nodded, "Mama why does that woman have to live with us?"

Her mother's eyes fell a little and she gave her daughter a weak smile, "Not everyone understands our family, Sango. They don't know why you prefer fighting to playing with dolls or why I enjoy working instead of sitting idle like the other officers' wives. They want to change us so that they don't have to worry about us being different."

Standing she took her daughter's hand and started to lead her inside, "But don't worry my little warrior they won't succeed. I'll talk to General Naraku about declining Rebecca's services, if you dislike her so much. Would you like that better?"

Sango nodded eagerly and gave her mother a hug. She could always make things better.

Her mother smiled brightly at her. "Now how about getting ready, you want to make your father proud don't you?"

Again the girl nodded vigorously as she skipped into the house leading her mother by her hand.

- - - - - - -

The sun still shone in the sky but it had already started making its downward descent. Kagome was finishing the final touches on Sango's outfit as they discussed the mission that night with Kaede, Inuyasha and Kouga who had arrived not long before.

"So, should we use the entrance you found or scout around the cliff for the ventilation openings?" Kagome asked as she pulled a pin from her teeth and secured a piece of hair with it.

"I say we scan the cliff and waterfall area. There has got to be another good opening around there." Inuyasha suggested as he went over the already well known map that had been laid out on the table.

"How many people will be a part of this tonight?" Sango asked impatiently waiting for her hair to be done so that she too could look over the map.

"I'll be staying here." Kagome replied while absently trying to decide where she should place a stray piece of hair. "Inuyasha, Kouga and a few of his men will be searching the hidden base."

"Ginta and Hakkaku should be here soon to help us." Kouga was looking out the window for signs of his men arriving.

"Keh," Inuyasha snorted, "Help you, you mean. I can manage by myself."

Kouga spun and started a stare down with Inuyasha, "What's that suppose to mean?"

"BOYS!" Kagome snapped irritably, "Now is neither the time nor the place to get into a battle of testosterone. You have a mission tonight, together. Deal with it"

Sango bit back a smile at the three of them. "I would give you advice on where you should enter but working at a different angle from mine would probably uncover different things. Just a warning though, the rocks near the water fall are slippery and that the cliff has an unstable edge."

"There you're done." Kagome finally satisfied with her work stepped back. "Now put your dress on. Miroku said to meet him at the fort?"

Sango grabbed the dress and walked behind the curtain separating the next room. "He mentioned this morning he had a lot of work to do before the banquet and would be getting ready at the barracks. I mentioned that Kaede was helping me dress so we decided to meet at the banquet."

"Hmph, well that isn't very romantic."

"Kagome this is just a mission, nothing more." She stepped back into the room and pointed at Kagome. "You are the one that said I am going so to keep an eye out for Naraku. There is nothing romantic about this… Why are you guys staring at me?"

The staring could only be the expected result of the people in the room. After a number of hours under Kagome's control, Sango's transformation into banquet material was impressive. Gone was the worn clothing she had been wearing in Agnus and gone was the fighting gear that she nearly always wore in Celedig.

The silver-grey dress that Kagome had brought gave her an otherworld appearance like a shadow. The winding flowers accented her curves and the dress seemed remarkably risqué though no more than her head and hands were left bare. Even with her fighting outfit underneath the dress fit like it was made only for her.

Her hair proudly crowned her head in a grouping of pinned back curls that sat high on the back of her head with a few strands falling down. Sango had lost count at the number of pins that now held her hairdo in place, but she could safely say Kagome put enough in to hold her hair during gale force winds. Her face was bare except for small bits of accenting that brought out Sango's natural beauty amazingly well.

The four in the room were staring at Sango with various looks on their faces. Inuyasha and Kouga had there jaws slightly ajar while Kagome looked at her as an artist looks at a finished masterpiece. Kaede was looking at her with gentle pride and happiness.

"My child you look so much like your mother right now, absolutely beautiful."

Sango colored slightly in embarrassment at the compliment. She wasn't used to the amount of attention she was receiving for her looks.

"Wow Sango, you look… you look." Inuyasha stumbled over his words seeing Sango for the first time as a pretty woman instead of one of the best fighters he knew.

"She looks great, amazing." Kagome finished, "Of course she does. Sango always looks amazing, now she is just in clothes that show it off."

Sango fidgeted under the close scrutiny that was being placed on her. Kaede smiled in understanding. She stood up and walked over to the young woman. Touching her on the shoulder she motioned for her to follow her to the second floor.

"Come child I have something that should belong to you."

Sango followed the older woman up the stairs and into a room with a quaint bed and a chest in the corner. Carefully bending down to kneel in front of it Kaede slowly opened the musty old trunk.

"I am old and so have a lot of keepsakes and belongings I have gathered throughout my life. Today it is time to return one of them. It gives me great pleasure to do so."

Bending over the trunk, she pushed some things aside before finally grabbing a small, decorate carved box. Brushing the dust off of it, she leaned back onto her heals and slowly rose.

"This was your mother's room when she lived with me here. That is how she met your father in fact. I worked for Lord Sesshomaru's father at the same position I now hold and your mother was my assistant much as Kagome is now. When she left with your father to another post I did move back to Celedig, but upon hearing of her return I returned as well. I changed little of this room in all my travels, however. I always wanted to leave a piece of your mother's past open. Call it sentimentality but I could never bear doing anything with her old trunk."

Sitting down on the bed she patted to the side of her for Sango to sit down as well.

"Here," Kaede spoke as she opened the box revealing a delicate silver choker with a small pearl in the center. "It was your mother's, a gift to her from the reigning Lord. She felt she couldn't keep it after she married your father, so left it behind."

Sango took the necklace and held it in her hand. It was a connecting delicate chain of silver with a pearl that looked like the moon in the center.

"It has not the shine in once had." Kaede continued speaking of the pearl, "Pearls absorb the oil from skin to look polished. They are selfish pieces of jewelry, requiring to be worn often to look their best."

Picking up the necklace from Sango's hand she motioned for her to turn so she could put the necklace on the young woman's neck.

"This necklace has not been worn for many years; it is about time for it to find use again." Kaede closed the necklace and Sango turned back around facing her old friend.

Sango's eyes glistened slightly as she made a simple reply, "Thank you Kaede."

Smiling back with eyes not completely devoid of tears themselves Kaede stood, "There is nothing to thank, child. The necklace is rightfully yours."

"Still, thank you for everything."

The two women departed the room quietly and went to join their companions downstairs.

- -

Two Shikon fighters dressed in Empire clothing stood in the kitchen quaking while their superior chewed them out.

"You two are late." General growled at his men.

"We…we're sorry Kouga. We got lost and we aren't very fast as it is, nothing like you Kouga." A nervous Ginta stuttered back.

Kouga smirked at the compliment but continued to berate them, "Well next time…"

"Let them be Kouga." Kagome interrupted the general, "Ginta, Hakkaku I am glad you made it." She addressed the two men.

Kouga looked miffed for a second but consented to Kagome's interruption. As Kaede had told Sango earlier that week, Kagome really did have large amounts of control in the council. Without her it was doubtful Inuyasha and Kouga could ever work together.

"Where are the old woman and Sango?" Ginta asked after glancing around.

"The old woman is right here." Kaede called from the doorway as she followed Sango into the kitchen. "Now is everyone else here now."

"Keh, finally. You can tell who trained these two birdbrains with following maps." Inuyasha muttered under his breath that was soon after knocked out of him by Kagome's elbow.

"Yes Lady Kaede, we are all here." Kagome replied sweetly.

Kaede walked over to the table and took her seat in front of the map. "Good, we don't have much time and we need to go over the details again."

- -

"Sango stop touching your hair." Kagome ordered as her and Sango stood at Kaede's door saying goodbye for the night.

"Now," she continued, "I have your supply bag. If anything goes wrong you'll be able to find your hood, sword and a number of other useful things, under the large tree directly back from the fort's rear entrance."

"Thank you Kagome. Will you be going on the mission tonight?"

Kagome shook her head, "No I decided against it. There are enough going as it is, they need some people to stay back here. Kaede and I have a lot of things to discuss."

Sango nodded, "Well I need to leave. Be safe Kagome."

Kagome smiled and hugged her friend, "I will be. Now go have fun. You are beautiful, go steal his heart."

"Kagome this is completely business, I am not going to have fun. Miroku is just my way of getting in."

Kagome gave her friend an almost sad smile, for what Sango couldn't guess, "If you tell yourself that enough do you think you will ever believe it? This may be an important mission Sango, but you don't have to destroy every good part of your old life with the bad. There is more to life than avenging your family."

Kagome gave Sango one last hug and sent her on her way.

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