InuYasha Fan Fiction ❯ Simple and Clean ❯ Fated ( Chapter 29 )

So, if anyone was so bored that they read my profile (on Fanfiction. net), they would know that I'm working on a new story (which hasn't been published yet) using the characters of Rurouni Kenshin. I also said that it would be up in September… okay, I lied. I hate working on two stories at the same time, especially since this one I'm working on has a lot of detail that I don't want to screw up. Anyways, I probably won't publish it until Simple and Clean is completed (don't worry, I promise not to rush the ending!), so sorry about that, just wanted to give everyone a heads up!

Also, thanks so much for the warm response from all of the FF.net people. Media Miner viewers, I think you need to be challenged a little because you guys have started to wimp out on telling me your opinions through reviews. I got a record high review count from FF.net though… so there's no excuse for you not to get on it too! ( ;

Recap:

The scene that enfolded on the vast blue-white expanse, the two forms embraced as one on the field of pureness and frigid cold, would have been something quite mind boggling. As the man and the woman held each other close, as if holding on to each other was the only way they knew how to live, they began to glow. Not the light that the snow reflected, cold and heartless, but a warm light that came from within their bodies, turning the snow and the sky and the moon to black and white. Then, as sudden as the light had appeared, it was gone, and with it the two lovers.

From her perch on a rock, stroking the head of a docile monkey, Midoriko smiled. “You have fulfilled your prophecy… but will the rest share your fate?”

 

Chapter 29

Fated

 

A big thank you to Brandtishot, and AkeryouSesshoumarusMate, Caity-Chan, who reviewed and to gossa and windgall who not only did that, but added me to their author alert lists!

 

-I-

Sesshomaru made his way down the rocky slope towards the glowing form of the very familiar woman. Settling himself beside the monkey, he raised an eyebrow, surveying the now empty clearing. “So spirit, I see you're more involved than I thought,” He was not surprised to see that Midoriko was expecting him to be there. She smiled coyly, “Well, you are the ones who I have entrusted something very special, so I keep a watch on you just to be sure. I don't control what your fate is though-sadly I don't have that much control over my lovely little heroes- as you may have witness tonight.” She petted the monkey absently, looking up to the sky. “You mustn't worry about your companions though, they are safe now,” She stood to go.

“Where are they now?” Sesshomaru asked, his voice seemed unconcerned, as if he wasn't in the least bit curious at all. Midoriko cocked her head to one side, “Nosy nosy,” the monkey trilled slightly, as if scolding the man, “That's for me to know…” Her voice echoed as she disappeared into the darkness. “That woman has too much time on her hands,” Sesshomaru told the monkey as he leapt down off the rock. This is going to be interesting to explain…

-II-

“WHAT?!” Inuyasha yelled, his voice echoing off the rocks and shaking the scraggly birds from their skeleton-tree havens. “You have got to be kidding me. You're so full of bull--”

“Sango and Miroku vanished?” Kagome cut Inuyasha off, her voice penetrated by an occasional shiver, “How?” Sesshomaru sighed, sifting a clawed hand through his snowy hair. “You'd better get Kikyo and Kouga too so that I don't have to explain this more than I have too.” Anxious faces watched Sesshomaru as he recounted the tale of how the two were taken away in a sudden blast of light, and the conversation that followed.

“So Midoriko does have something that she needs us to do,” Kikyo muttered loudly, looking around at the silent faces, she lidded her eyes in thought, “The question is what…” Inuyasha scowled and shifted slightly on the cold rock that he was perched. He watched Kagome trail a pale hand across the surface of the hot spring, sending ripples dancing across the surface. They were like those ripples. Making an indentation somewhere, but slowly disappearing to continue on into another time and space. None of them seemed to have a place to go, a certain thing that kept them going in their lives. They were all just drifting along. That is, until they came here to this strange muddled fantasy of a world.

The group, now dwindled to a mere five from eight, sat in silence; each person thinking their own thoughts, wondering why on earth they were chosen for such a strange fate. Kagome felt the cold begin to stab into her, prodding and pulling at her warmth until it began to drain slowly out of her body. Getting up quietly, she headed for the hot spring, hoping that the cold she felt was only physical. Letting her clothing puddle at her feet, she wrapped Inuyasha's haori around her bare skin, feeling a warm fire sprout and warm from beneath her skin . The crunch of snow behind her woke her from her dream-state.

She heard a sharp intake of breath and a muttered, “Oh…” She looked over her shoulder, haori falling off to one side so her upper back was exposed to the chill air. Inuyasha stood there, his face in shocked surprise, a blush beginning to creep across his cheeks. “I-I'm sorry,” He said hastily, “I didn't know you were here, I'll go…” He made to turn but Kagome felt a small sound form in the back of her throat. She thought that he might not have heard it, but after a second, he stopped.

Wrapping the haori around her, she ran to him, slipping over the icy surface, her bare feet not feeling the cold. Something like tears began to well up in her eyes and her voice caught in the back of her throat. Inuyasha's arms held her in a strong embrace, and she felt that if he let her go, she might just dissolve. “Don't disappear,” She whispered into his chest, the fear that she had only just realized beginning to envelope her, “Don't disappear.”

Inuyasha buried his face into her hair, “I'm not going anywhere. I'm staying right here with you.” Kagome pulled away from him enough to lift the haori off of her shoulders. Inuyasha tugged her hands back down again, a tendril of fiery passion fighting to be let out. “You don't have to give me anything,” He ran his hand against her too-pale face, “You're perfect just as you are.” As a torrent of tears began to fall onto the snow, it began to melt. And as it melted, it formed a small puddle, every drop causing the surface to ripple. We may be just ripples in the surface, but it's part of something much bigger…Inuyasha thought to himself as he drew the girl closer to him.

As he felt her relax into his arms, he realized just how cold she was. “Kagome,” He said urgently, handing her the long white under-haori he was wearing, “Put this on now over your other clothes, you're freezing. I'm going to go get Kouga, this isn't normal.”

-III-

Wrapped in her bedroll and three layers of clothing (thanks to a now freezing Inuyasha), Kagome shivered and tossed fitfully in her sleep. Kikyo and Kouga sat up watching her, Inuyasha having failed at his midnight vigil, was sleeping curled up almost like a dog at her feet. As Kikyo watched her, she felt a growing unease as she realized that with each passing hour, the girl's aura had become brighter and brighter until by the false dawn she had begun to almost glow. Kikyo knew that someone who was experiencing any kind of thing that weakened their bodies would surely have a weakened aura, but hers just continued to grow.

Kouga sat next to Kikyo, feeling her anxiety, and the strangeness emanating from Kagome. Not having the powers that Kikyo now possessed, Kouga could not see how strangely Kagome really was changing, but he sensed something from her that was not only different, but bordering completely alien. It was as if it wasn't human anymore, something unearthly and unexplainable

Sesshomaru watched from a distance, sharp nose and hearing picking up almost to the same extent as Kikyo. “Could this be a gift, or a curse?” he wondered aloud. Kikyo's still form spoke quietly, “I was thinking the same thing…” She sighed, shifting her weight and standing, finding her balance after hours of sitting. She raised her head to survey the sky. “What if Midoriko's mission isn't just to help us find a way home. What if in the process we're supposed to have some higher calling?”

The two turned towards Kagome as she began to stir. Her eyes opening slightly, Kikyo watched as they focused and unfocused. She girl moaned slightly, clutching her side as though it was paining her. Kouga leaned towards her, callused hands removing her soft ones to examine the soft skin of her navel. There framed in porcelain, a sphere of rosy light emitted from her. Kouga frowned, motioning for Kikyo to take a look. “What is that?” Kouga asked, his voice tainted with concern.

Kikyo's brow furrowed as the words slipped from her mouth, “The Shikon no Tama…” Kouga looked up from Kagome's body in surprise, “What?!” Sighing, Kikyo sat back, staring at the light. “The Shikon no Tama… Kagome's body, to protect the jewel, must have unconsciously fused it with her body.” Kikyo glanced up at the castle atop the mountain, “It seems to be having some strange reaction to the miasma emitted by that place.”

Standing, she picked up her bow, shouldering her quiver of arrows that had hardly been used. “I'm going to go relieve Inuyasha, he's been standing guard since she's been asleep.” Kouga just nodded, his eyes still riveted on Kagome, waiting for any sign that she might break free of the icy hands that held her in what he hoped wasn't a deathly grip. “Kagome…” He whispered, stroking her waxen visage softly.

She looked so peaceful in sleep, the dreams that had shaken her small form earlier had ceased, Kouga not knowing if that was a good sign or a bad one. Her raven hair shimmered as it splayed gracefully out of her blankets, curling around her face like vines on an old house. But she seemed frozen, the tips of her hair frosted and her eyelashes held tiny snow flakes speckling them like glitter. She was the snow queen, condemned to sleep until someone woke to warm her, and even if they did, she might just melt away. Kouga felt the sudden urge to breathe life into her lifelessly cold face, to give color to her blue tinged cheeks.

He leaned down and leveled his face to hers, feeling her almost icy breath permeate the outside of his own lips. Her eyelids fluttered, opening slightly, and she let out a sound like a sigh that had long been held in the confines of her chest. “Inuyasha?” She asked, the slur in her voice assuring Kouga that she was barely awake. He put a finger to her mouth, “Shhh, I'm here.” He felt a stab of something that he knew must be guilt, but he forced it back. Taking his hand away from her mouth, he cradled her head in his palm, kissing her softly on her chilly rose-petal lips. She retaliated with a kiss of her own and Kouga felt the warmth of longing run through his spine, scattering its blood red petals as it went. But with this warmth came the prick of blackened thorns upon his heart. He eased away from her slowly, setting her head back down gently so as to not wake her from her ethereal slumber.

He knew it wasn't right. There was something plainly wrong with him being with her, but yet he longed for her, and this hunger threatened to devour him. And then he realized, the reason dawned on him. The first person to really show him kindness, to talk to him honestly and sincerely, instead of objectively, it was Kagome. It seemed as if she never had any place that she needed to go to, no time limit or obligations. She was the person who had made him feel like he didn't have to worry about anything, just immersing himself in the moment. He wasn't attracted to her because he loved her, but more of that he felt that he needed to fill a niche that wasn't filled just yet. As he watched the girl's chest rise and fall in a steady motion, the color returning slowly to her pale face, he knew: there would come a time when that space in his heart would be filled, but he would wait until it found him.

Inuyasha watched quietly as Kouga held Kagome's milky hand, hers so small and fragile in his strong ones. He felt no anger, only a subtle aching sadness that was not for himself, but more for Kouga. He knew how it felt for the woman you loved to be loved by another man. He lowered his head, as if in respect for the man's lost hope, to focus his gaze on the ground.

“I think Kagome's ready to give you your shirt back now,” Kouga said, turning to face Inuyasha. The younger man's face jerked upwards, glaring at Kouga in defense. “What the hell do you think you're doing, taking advantage of her like that you perverted bastard?” Inuyasha said, raising his voice. He had never felt completely comfortable around the young doctor for one reason or another.

Inuyasha's eyes widened, “What the hell?” Kouga only smiled, the light that was beginning to overcome his body, drowning out and blurring him altogether. “I see what Midoriko meant now Inuyasha, our fate may be laid out for us,” He said, voice beginning to disappear as well, “But there is still time to change your destiny.” Inuyasha ran towards the light, feeling the odd sensation as though he might loose something special if he didn't, “What the hell are you talking about you bastard, come back right now and explain it to me!”

“…Take care of Kagome for me,” Kouga was all but gone now, “If I hear about you mistreating her, I'll…” Inuyasha never heard the rest of the sentence because Kouga's voice had become inaudible. He was gone. The light began to dim, and he ran for it, trying to find a way to pull Kouga back, before it flared brightly again. He shielded his eyes against the intense glare. A throaty laugh filled his ears, “I could think of something ironic to say here like, `Don't walk towards the light, Inuyasha', but I won't. And don't expect any sappy speeches, Disney isn't paying me that much,” Midoriko's mocking outline appeared against the light, “I'll leave you with this: follow the path that is set for you, other's destinies hang in the balance of your choices.”

Falling to his knees on the icy ground, Inuyasha dug his nails into the snow, glaring at the image of the smiling man now burned into his head. The snow seemed to silence even his screaming thoughts.

-IV-

Because parts of this chapter may have seemed a little risqué (namely the hot spring scene), I feel it is my responsibility as a writer to confront the fact that I didn't mean for this chapter to be lemon-ish. I hope that you, as my readers, can understand the true beauty of loving someone so much that you don't have to do things that you wouldn't necessarily do for them to approve of you. Oh, and sorry for the swearing… if that's not your cup of tea. Anyways, I thought that you all deserved some Kagome/Inu-baka fluff and also some angsty Kagome/Kouga fluff-stuff as well(;

 

Ah! I just realized that September 11, 2005 is the anniversary of one year since I published Simple and Clean on ff.net! Okies, now you all have to review. You have no choice, the anniversary chapter commands you!!