InuYasha Fan Fiction ❯ Short Tails ❯ The Veil That Hides ( Chapter 5 )

 

Disclaimer: I do not own nor do I make any profit from the use of these characters. They are the sole property of their respective copyright holders.

 

Originally written for the iyissekiwa LJ community in answer to their "fog" theme, this one was first posted to that community on Jan. 2, 2007.

 

The Veil That Hides

 

Inuyasha stumbled again and cursed the misty morning. He cursed, also, his weakness. He has awakened again to damp cheeks and burning eyes and a pain in his heart he was hard-pressed to ignore.

 

Initially he had bound out into the forest to re-center his resolve and banish the ghosts that haunted him, but also to remove himself from prying, well-meaning eyes. His assurances falling on even his own deaf ears, he had needed a bit of space. Like this fog, he had allowed his grief to become all-consuming; but the veil he had dropped over his memories was not nearly as thick as he wished it was. No matter that memory was all that he had left.

 

: She used to love mornings like this. : The thought sprang unbidden; and, like the vine that blocked his path, he brushed it away, irritated. He stopped as a weak shaft of sunlight illuminated an early blossom. : She would look for things like this, said they were gifts of beauty from the gods. :

 

He shook his head, angry at himself. He shouldn't be thinking about such things. :Why?: The whisper in his head sounded suspiciously like hers. :Am I not worth remembering?:

 

"No," he gasped. "It's not like that."

 

He was wrapped briefly in remembered warmth and the fog cleared from his mind. He allowed himself to remember and found that his pain, no longer wrapped in its silvered veil, receded; and, finally, he honored her as she deserved.

 

Word Count: 250