InuYasha Fan Fiction ❯ Simple and Clean ❯ Last Symphony ( Chapter 34 )

Wow. Just, wow. The response from the ff.net people this week was absolutely amazing. ELEVEN REVIEWS?! UNHEARD OF!!! I applaud you all. Thank you also to my reviewer on mm.org as well Thank you so very much, all of your comments were so warm, it really reminds me of one of the big reasons I post my stories. Ah, which comes to the explanation of why I haven't updated in a million years…-looks around guiltily for a corner to cower in- finals, then sickness, then second semester starting… it was all very harrowing… Oh yes, and the Numa Numa song is awesome. ;) (see how I skillfully avert the subject elsewhere) …

 

Recap:

Mentally scolding himself, he righted the robe and stood, wondering why on earth something as little as that could have caused him to flush. About to slide the door shut once more, this time on an empty room, Sesshomaru almost jumped as Rin moaned softly in her sleep. He looked down just in time to notice the expression she sometimes wore when she thought he wasn't looking, a lonely, sad sort of look as if she knew something tremendous that no one else could even hope to comprehend. Had she always looked so-mature when she did that?

Sesshomaru set off to find the rest of the travelers and Naraku, wondering how he was going to explain to Myoga about Rin, and deciding that it was just a trick of the dim lights that made him think these insane things.

Chapter 34

Last Symphony

 

Thank you to

Archerelf, my mother named me.....i think , Akeryou, AngelEyes1223, xobabygurl4lifexo, PrincessAngel , Berserk619 and Kittencutie14 who reviewed… huggles for you all!!!

 

-I-

Kagome grimaced at Naraku's mottled flesh, forcing herself to keep her eyes on him. “I don't think you quite understand the situation,” Kagome forced out, hoping Naraku wouldn't catch her bluff, “My shield is much stronger than any demonic aura you posses, and if you come near it…” She searched for something that made sense, and remembered a story Kikyo had told her when she was smaller about the Shikon no Tama…

The jewel glistened in the sunlight and Kagome reached out to touch it gently in her cousin's palm. “It's beautiful, isn't it?” Kikyo asked her softly shifting the jewel in her hand. “Only priestesses with pure hearts could protect the jewel, and those who did hold that honor possessed enormous Miko powers. That's why it was so important for the protector of the jewel to be pure of heart, so that they could purify the evil from it and keep it from those who would use it for their own self gain.”

“…If you come near it, it won't just burn your other arm off, I'll make sure you are purified entirely.” Her voice steadied and Kagome hoped that the yarn she was spinning wasn't just an invisible hope. Naraku chuckled and Kagome felt her heart start to sink into her stomach, “I see you've done your homework girl, but this power you speak of cannot be wielded by someone as pathetic as you.” He laughed, but Kagome couldn't hear him, the hope inside her had escalated to a roaring wave in her ears. She stood stepping over Inuyasha's body and held the jewel between her palms, her hands pressed together in a sort of prayer. She smiled as warmth flowed back into her cheeks. “No, Naraku, I probably wouldn't be able to wield it the way I was before I met all of these people who came with me on this journey,” She glanced back at Inuyasha before focusing stubbornly on Naraku, “But now, now I'm strong enough, and I'm not pathetic! And I know how cheesy and ridiculous this is going to sound, but I don't even care anymore, because people love me,” She closed her eyes and shouted through her bubbling laughter, “and I love someone and you're not going to ruin this for me.”

To both of their surprise, Great beams of light shot out from the center of the jewel, forcing their way through the slits in Kagome's fingers to whip her hair violently around her face. Naraku watched horrified as a transparent face appeared over Kagome's, Kikyo's unmistakable smile shone back at him before it dissolved in the holy light that illuminated his entire body. And as it touched his body, he felt a strange sensation as if every part of him was floating apart. He tried to clutch his fists in attempt to keep himself together, but the force was too much. Time seemed to slow for a moment before he completely dissolved into nothing. His last thought before he was gone echoed through oblivion… Kikyo… I finally understand… it was love…

-II-

Sesshomaru braced himself as a giant wave of power washed over the mansion. He felt its presence, a pure, untainted power like the ending chord of a massive collaboration of celestial instruments. For some reason, it made him feel warm and he had to force himself from letting his lips curve into a smile. And then he realized exactly what it was: love. This power that engulfed him like a plague was love, and as his life flashed before him, replaying like a black and white movie, Sesshomaru realized what exactly he had missed along the way. How he managed to evade it surprised the man, because, he realized, it was in his grasp all along.

He glanced down at the girl, to frown in surprise. She had somehow nestled against his chest, one hand resting on his collarbone, a small smile on her face. In that moment, all of the black and white movie seemed outdated, forgotten in the passage of time. What was the point in basing your entire outlook of love on the lack of it? He touched the girl's face hesitantly, as if he was afraid of rejection, and let his smile free from his control. He wasn't quite sure how exactly he felt, but he knew that there was all the time in the world to find that out.

He felt hands on his face, ethereal touch warming his skin. Midoriko stood before him, “I didn't think you would be able to do it,” She told him frankly, smoothing out Rin's hair in a warm, motherly way. “Take care of her won't you? She's no girl anymore, but she's not quite a woman…” Sesshomaru nodded, suddenly understanding exactly what Midoriko's prophecy for him had been about. She brushed her lips against his forehead, “My child, you have grown with her as well…” She pulled back, smiling as the two were engulfed in a familiar light, vanishing from the dark world that had kept them hostage.

Midoriko exited the room and made for the courtyard, “Just two more, very intertwined prophesies to watch be fulfilled.” She whispered, almost sadly, “and then the worlds will be righted. Be strong for me Kagome…”

-III-

Kagome collapsed onto the ground, fatigue ebbing the strength from her body. She felt warm hands pull her into a tight embrace. Inuyasha's hoarse voice whispered softly into her ear, tickling her ear, “Oh God Kagome, stay with me…” She turned her head, pressing her cheek to his, the only way for her to assure him that she was fine without completely blacking out. “…You scared me so much but… oh, Gods Kagome, you did it!” She tried to laugh, but tears came instead, tears of relief, sadness, happiness; she didn't even know anymore.

Inuyasha pulled her closer, and she buried her head into his warm, firm chest. She took a deep breath, letting it all wash over her as if she had been watching her journey from someone else's eyes. She was so young when she had started, caring only about everyone else around her, never stopping long enough to see how she was doing herself. Now she let her heart break of the fear of losing herself in her own emotions, and she savagely kissed Inuyasha with a strength she didn't even know she had.

He sat there, stunned at first, but gradually returned her fierce passion. They seemed to ebb together in a dance, the emotions playing a song just for them. Kagome wasn't the only one who had grown through it all. Inuyasha had loved, and lost, and loved again. Yet, this time, it was different. There was no tiptoeing around their feelings, as if they were afraid that recklessly abandoning their masks of superficiality might show something that scared each other, or for that matter, themselves.

Pulling back from Kagome's warm lips, he smiled at her, “I love you Kagome.” She smiled back, her heart feeling like it would burst out of her chest, “I know Inuyasha,” She sat back beside him and just watched. Gazing out at the view that spread out before her, like a map of her heart, or more accurately, a map of their journey, she sighed. “I love you too.” And as the words left her lips, from the clouds that covered the sun, rain began to fall.

The two sat there, listening to the music of the rain, and the song of their hearts beating together, two separate entities in rhythm, but each different. The battle that had happen before them only moments before seemed like something that passed in a fleeting dream, a storm cloud that in the end brought something new and beautiful. And as the rain fell, the grass that had stopped growing so many months before, began to inch through the soil, newly cleansed, to break into the air. Like a movie on fast forward, vines circled the castle, flowers bloomed and the hillside that was covered in snow began to shimmer with color, a haven from the cold, blank snow.

The lovers felt a mother's embrace as they dissolved into the colors, a warm light engulfing their star crossed hearts. And when they were gone, Midoriko sat in the field of life and color and lifted her face to the rain as if challenging all the forces to work against them, because she knew those two could, and would, overcome all that challenged them. Running a hand over a bud, she helped it open, and smiled as it bloomed on its own. The powers of lust and evil and deceit were strong enough to bring Naraku to another world, yet love, and friendship, and knowing yourself were so much stronger that they engulfed the evil altogether. In two worlds that seemed lost in war and sorrow, eight people who found love and themselves in the process connected these worlds and lit a candle that did not flicker in the strong gale winds of destiny, but instead fought against it to clear a path in the dark.

End of Chapter Notes

Wow, that was an amazing experience... So, I bet you're all thinking, “oh no, it's over!” ha! Psyche! I have one more chapter, but then it will be over. No need to be sad though, I'm coming out with a new story as soon as this one is done, and I have another one in the making after that one. I'm not quite sure if they will be as long as this one is, but I'm confident that this upcoming one will use all of the improvement that I found while writing Simple and Clean. Looking back at chapter one, you'll see that it's actually quite a lot… -grimaces at how horrible first chapter was- okay… maybe don't look back at the first chapter and just take my word.