InuYasha Fan Fiction ❯ Sleep Paralysis ❯ The Right Way ( Chapter 46 )

[ X - Adult: No readers under 18. Contains Graphic Adult Themes/Extreme violence. ]

A/n: Ok, time to move on with this story already. Gogo! Don't give up on me, not yet, onegaaaai >////<

Luna-


"...Stop concentrating so hard. It flows, like water. It's life, life just happens. It doesn't focus, it moves along the path of least resistance. So stop resisting," Sesshomaru stood over Sango, watching her lean over her palms. They glowed a faint pink light, flickering in and out like a firefly. She was tense, sweating, trying to force the energy of herself out into the world...

She had wanted to try after watching Miroku. When Sesshomaru had explained to them that morning that they needed to begin learning the basics of such magic, Miroku had dived into it and volunteered to be the guniea pig with more enthusiasm than Sango would have guessed. Sesshomaru had explained, it was only a matter of reaching from within and manifesting it without. Touching something about the chakra center in your solar plexus and allowing it to flow upward through you out to your palm into a ball of energy. And some such stuff. Sango didn't really understand it, and she would have called it mumbo jumbo if she hadn't seen the man create a laser whip.

Miroku had done in with practically little effort, forming a transparent ball of light the size of his palm between his hands that shone a faint midnight blue. He flashed her an accomplished smile, some arrogance seeping through his grin as he gave her a thumbs up.

"It's hard being this awesome, sometimes," he had joked with her, earning himself an easy smack upside the head. "Stop being so proud, baka," she teased, though she secretly admired him. Encouraged by how easily he had done it, she had offered to try next. It had been an amazing feat to watch, and she was never one to turn down a challenge.

And yet here she sat, an hour later, not having made any progress whatsoever. And if Sesshomaru made the water reference one more time, she was going to push him down the flight of stairs in his own house.

Miroku came up to them, watching her calmly as she tensed up further under their inspection. How do they expect me to do this if they're watching me so intently!?

"Sango, my gentle sunflower, you're pulling. Don't pull," Miroku nodded sagely, as if his words made the utmost sense, crossing his arms in a manner all too wordly given the fact he was only 18.

She lifted her head to watch Sesshomaru gaze at him, a single eyebrow arched at him in what seemed to be inquiry. But as Sesshomaru said nothing, she decided what Miroku was saying might be worth listening to.

Sango stopped her efforts as she stared at Miroku blankly, trying to comprehend what he was saying.

"Eh?" she articulated. She was rather confounded, afterall.

"Sango, it's a door! The door reads push, not pull. You're pulling on a door that doesn't open that way. Push it out," Miroku nodded again, seriousness plastered on his face.

"...I'm pulling on a door that wants me to push it?" Sango blinked at him, once more.

"Yes."

"..."

He beamed at her, confidence written all over his features. As if he were sure it would make perfect sense. As if he knew that it would solve all her problems.

Sighing, Sango dropped her head over her hands and stared at them. So, she wasn't supposed to pull. She was supposed to imagine this flow of a river, and push it. Not pull.

Right. Ok.

So, she imagined it, in her solar plexus. This well of energy that was supposed to be there in every human being, avalible and touchable if only you tried. And yet she had tried and tried and tried to pull it out...

So, this time, Sango gave it a gentle nudge, a push...

And her hands lit up, a small orb of pink no bigger than her fingernail in the center of both her palms. It shimmered gently, warming her entire body, emotion rushing through her. Everywhere on her body tingled with a gentle static electricity, lighting up her nerves.

Something so pure, something so beautiful...

Unconditional love...

The feeling of pure love, with no strings attatched. Something never in her life had she felt before, the feeling leaving her cleansed and renewed, washing away all pain she had been feeling, as if nothing in the world could harm her ever again. As if she were being carried in the arms of it all, and she was protected from all the evils of the world.

She felt tears come to her eyes at the astounding gorgeousness of the feeling, and the two males looked down at her in approval.

"...that's what you were searching for, Sango, all along."

Sango leaned over the soft light, drawing it to her chest, this thing that was so precious...

You're right Miroku...

She had been looking for it, all her life.

True love.

And it had been inside of her, all along...

All along.



"...Go fish," Kagome grinned wickedly at Inuyasha, who was comically trying to assort his cards with one hand. Needless to say, it hadn't been working out well, but it was still cute to watch him fumble over it with stubborness. He had refused her help, saying she would cheat if she did, and she had to admit she probably would have.

Not that she wasn't already winning without that kind of help.

He stared at her suspiciously as she drew a card from the pile for him, facing it away from her and placing it in his hand. "Are you sure you aren't cheating, wench?"

Kagome rolled her eyes, tugging on his forelock a bit in irritation as she reassured him, "Yes, yes, I'm sure. Not that I need to, you suck at this game so much anyway."

He snorted at her, leaning away from the way she pulled on his hair. "Hey, I'll have to insist you quit abusing my person. I'm already injured." Kagome rolled her eyes, trying to hide the way the simple statement drowned her in a sea of regret, and she looked back down at her cards so he wouldn't see the truth in her eyes.

"Yea, yea..."

As she was considering her next move, extremely focused on the cards before her, she didn't notice as Inuyasha's hand snaked its way over her own and pushed her hand down so she may look at him, commanding her attention.

"Kagome..."

She lifted those broken eyes to him, eyes she wanted to hide so bad, trying to stay strong for his sake. She didn't want to keep regretting, she was so tired of it... she wanted to move forward, wanted to let go of this guilt but...

...But...

It was too hard.

It was too hard to see him riddled with tubes, knowing the metal that ran along his bones, knowing he might never be able to fully use his arm again. It was too hard knowing that it was all because of her, all because of her fear, all because she didn't trust herself and didn't take her time and didn't do it right...

All because of me...

"Kagome... please, don't cry again..." fingers brushed away at the apples of her cheeks, lifting away moisture she hadn't known was there. She buried her face into that palm, the one that relieved the evidence of her sorrow, sniffing loudly as the pressure in her heart tightened once more.

"I'm sorry... I'm so sorry..." she admitted it, she couldn't deny it, she couldn't...

"Kagome... it's ok. I understand, I would have done the same thing if I were you. I understand, I do..." he reassured her, reaching for her and she dropped the cards onto the bed and leaned down into his chest as she cried out her guilt.

"I would have done it too, if I thought that was the only way to protect you. Kagome, who knows what to do in these situations? You thought you were doing the right thing... These things, they don't come with a guideline. No one tells you how to act. All we can do is follow what our hearts tell us..."

Her sobs slowed, as she relaxed under the fingers that ran through her hair. Beneath her ear, his heartbeat was steady and strong, reassuring her. He was alive, he was going to be all right, he was going to be with her...

Always...

She allowed her hands to push her upper body off of him, as she looked him square in the face. She was certain, determined now... She knew she had to change. She knew she had to be the one to become different, to do things differently if she wanted things to be okay. She had to show him, to do it for him, so for once and all she would deserve the loyalty he was showing her. The unconditional love he gave her, she wanted to be worthy of it.

"Inuyasha, I won't leave your side again. I won't... it only causes problems. I promise, I'll learn. I'll learn everything Sesshomaru has to teach, so I can protect you... like you do for me. I want to protect you..." her voice reflected a tinge of desperation, and she reach for him, this precious person who had given her everything she needed, had brought the thread and needle to stitch back together the pieces of her heart...

She watched something in his face give, the way his golden eyes deepened in color to a burnished amber... the light there so much more, his teeth biting on his lower lip, the way his blood flushed into his cheeks, strong emotion so present there...

She cupped the sides of his face, leaning in toward him, tears spilling down her cheeks once more.

"Ne... Inuyasha... I love you, so much... You know that, right? For so long... so long..." she breathed it, the truth, to him. She watched him nod, as if he were unable to speak beneath the weight of his feeling. She brushed her lips against his, drinking him in, giving him her everlasting gratitude. Her thanks for always saving her, always...

His tongue slipped past her lips, and they locked together in a gentle embrace, silently promising each other things they had said all along.

We will always be together, ne...?




Sesshomaru looked down at Kagome, who was staring at him with something new in her eyes. Something hard, and unwavering. Something steadfast, so unlike the Kagome he knew. Something was different, something had changed during the night he had been gone.

"Sesshomaru..."

She had met him outside the door, when he had arrived. His brother was sleeping, probably due to the effects of the pain medication they had been feeding Inuyasha. But he wasn't expecting the way Kagome had cornered him in the hall, almost demanding his serious attention.

"Teach me."

He blinked quietly at her request, saying nothing, waiting for her to continue. It was unexpected, yet he knew sometime it would come. He just didn't think she would have the courage to do it yet...

"...teach me everything you know. I want to do this, I want to do it right. I'm tired..."

Her hand clenched quietly into a tiny fist, something strong, a fierce desire...

"I'm tired of running away from it all. I want to do it right. I want to... so... teach me. Please?"

He regarded her silently, observing her earnestness. She was dead serious. She wanted this, truly. And he was willing to do it.

"...Yes."

And it was about time, as well.

He knew, someday, she would be asking him for it. He had only left to wonder how long it would take her to ask, and he was glad it was this day.

Yet...

What he didn't expect was when she threw his arms around his chest. He didn't expect the tightness of the embrace as she surrounded him with her graciousness, as she buried her head under his chin and held him fast.

He was so surprised that he barely had time to hug her back, her soft words reaching his ears...

"...thank you, Onii-san."

In the hall of the hospital, the bustling of people around them, unaware of the public display. Sesshomaru revelled in the small thanks, the first true thanks any of them had truly given him for all that he was doing...

He had never minded. It had felt like duty, and nothing more. An obligation, to his Otou-san. To Izayoi... What they had asked him, at their deathbed.

Watch after Inuyasha... please.

It had become his life, their last request. Something he never considered too much, the way he had devoted his life to it. He was never resentlful, never regretted it. After all they had given to their sons, especially Izayoi, who had no obligation to love him as deeply as she had. She became a mother after the mother he had lost to disease, when he had been so young, too young to remember her. She became his own mother, filling the void of need left behind by the woman who had to leave him behind.

And here...

Someone was thanking him for something he felt was only natural all along.

It twisted something inside of him, viciously, as he embraced the girl his brother had fallen in love with. This girl, who had become so much part of their family. His little sister. Someone he never had considered a burden, this girl who had brought happiness to Inuyasha, and soothed away his rage at the world. Who had given Inuyasha a sense of purpose. That he felt all right with feeding and clothing and taking care of after her own family had made her an outcast...

Something he knew about, something he understood.

"Of course... Little sister."

And that was all he could say.

He would always continue to do, what he had done all along.