InuYasha Fan Fiction ❯ The Mysterious Little Visitor ❯ Scroll Seventeen: The Passionate ( Chapter 17 )

Disclaimer: We both know I don't own Inu-Yasha. (But I do own Little Inu and his siblings). Got it?

A/N: Yeah, evil cliffy last time I know. Once again, don't threaten me. If I'm hurt, I can't write. And that means NOTHING gets finished, not this or even the beloved OaL. Oh, and Sage in my author's note last time: he's just Sage. He's not Sage from Ronin Warriors, though he does look like him. I just happen to like the name. You'll learn more about him at another date as well as his ladylove-and yes, her name is Mia, but that was not done intentionally. He's my original character (nothing like Sage from RW.) Oh, and 'kukuku' isn't Naraku's exclusive laugh. It's sort of a generic bad guy laugh in Japan. Time to get on with it…

Scroll Seventeen: The Passionate

Inu-Yasha dove, lungful after lungful of frigid air filling his chest cavity and harassing his face ruthlessly. The voice had been Tsaku's coming out of that putrid soul who'd whisked Kagome off into the treacherous Fire Soul. Her screaming pierced his eardrums more heartbreakingly than any other sound had before.

It was Kagome's scream.

She was in danger…terrible danger.

And right now she was no more than a speck of black, green, and white several meters lower than he.

"Watch over Kagome well," Little Inu said quietly, his gold eyes flickering to the girl below their tree branch once. The gaze rested on Inu-Yasha, who peered back, attentive and staid. "There will be very hard times in the battles and conquests ahead that…

"…she may lose her life."

Inu-Yasha tried to shake away the admonitory memory that raced across mind. Thinking of Kagome's death was much too horrendous to even consider, especially right now. I will not let her die, he contemplated resolutely, speeding faster as Kagome and Tsaku's spirit disappeared into the cavern.

The sacred waters glaringly reflected the sun's dying blaze along with the growing sapphire sheen from Fire Soul as the half-demon passed over.

Miroku was right; Jumiyo's barrier was quickly vanishing.

That left the hanyou with very little time and a rising sense of consternation.

Soaring into the dark the cavern, Inu-Yasha hit the ground running, following the serpentine tail of Tsaku's soul.

"INU-YASHA!" Kagome continued to shriek from ahead of him. Echo after echo of his name resonated off the tunnel walls in a feral refrain.

"I'm coming, Kagome!" The dog-demon accelerated, sliding around the corner, gradually gaining ground.

The shadows lifted as the torches lit in the specter's fiery wake. The luminosity still seemed tainted with some internal darkness, mixing with the rising glow of the mountain itself, a battle of purity and impurity. Dust continued to cloud his cerulean-tinted vision as the rumbling of the ground made Inu-Yasha stagger slightly, though it didn't stop him at all even as hunks of rock crashed around him at a threatening immediacy.

He could see the spirit had wrapped flaming rings about the girl's body, carrying her away faster. He continued to bound after them, until he reached another chamber. Fire Soul pulsed, the temperature increasing and the tremors with it. Floating with Kagome in his grasp was Tsaku's spiral-flame spirit.

She struggled, but it was ineffectual. Her cobalt eyes were widened in fear, and it was clear that, regardless if she said it aloud or not, she was trying to call out to the hanyou.

Inu-Yasha snarled angrily. "Let her go, you sick fucker!"

It chuckled. "Not-so-soon, whelp…. Just a bit longer and-you both will go---to the other world…together…" it hissed ominously.

Fresh beads of sweat dotted the boy's brow as he glowered, the heat growing as terrible as it had in the pit. Before he could think out his action, Inu-Yasha rushed forward, claws bared. "Sankon Tetsusou!" he shouted, bringing his strike over the circles of fire. Instantly, his fingers were scorched and he recoiled; the simple warmth Tsaku's spirit was emanating was unbearable. He hated to think of how badly it was effecting Kagome.

Then an earth-splitting chasm ran up the floor. It fractured in numerous places, leaving the ground rutted.

Tsaku chortled more. "Jumiyo's strength is spent, as is my worthless slave's. They shall perish as you and this girl shall." Inu-Yasha growled but said nothing as his hand involuntarily twitched to Tetsusaiga's hilt. "Too much alike…."

First it was steam that rose up from the breaks, making the air more vague and difficult to breathe, and the towers of fire followed not long after. The inferno danced about the bare chamber, like a painting of hell. Without warning, the whole place filled with a blinding light, making Inu-Yasha cover his eyes with his sleeve.

Tsaku's strident cry filled the hollow. "No! Not there…! My plan…!"

His spirit body coiled out of the walls of fire, straight at Inu-Yasha's face; the boy dodge just in time to watch a streak of whitish light overtake the soul in a glowing heap. He would have sat and gawked at the screaming evanescence if he hadn't heard Kagome calling out to him. "I'm coming!" Inu-Yasha dove uncaringly through the blazing wall, shielding his face with the haori sleeve again. He landed in a roll and quickly got into a crouch. Kagome sat only a few feet away from him on a patch free of flame.

She saw him, and, scrambling to her feet, hustled over. She grabbed onto one of his arms as he stood, her eyes still wide in the aftershock of terror.

"We have to get out of here!" the half-demon said above the cacophony. He hunched over so she could hop on. "This place is going to collapse.

She hesitated. "What about Jumiyo and Shiokki?" Kagome asked earnestly.

He pivoted his head to look at her. "I haven't a damned clue where they are…" The floor gave a violent teeter, opening more spray of flame and steam. "We really gotta get out of here."

Nodding, even now tentative, Kagome climbed aboard his back.

Just as Inu-Yasha pushed off, the ground completely fell away, and a burst of air harshly set them aloft.

The detonation was so severe that the cavern walls gave way, and the pair was thrown out with the stones; the sacred waters of Fire Soul came into view, shimmering in its undisrupted serenity. They spun as they hurtled downward; this point in time had begun to dawdle entirely for them it seemed.

"Inu-Yasha…Kagome…thank you…"

"Huh?" The teenaged girl looked up from the hanyou's back, where her face had been planted, to see a smiling Jumiyo. Appearing next to her was Shiokki, also looking very content.

"It's alright," Shiokki now said, placing an arm around Jumiyo. "Time is waiting for you."

"That means it is safe for you stand," finished Jumiyo, drawing herself closer to her lover with a giggle. She laughed a little louder at their dubious expression. "Come on," she melodiously coaxed, "it's alright. Go ahead."

Gradually, Inu-Yasha and Kagome stood side by side. The girl immediately grasped hold of the boy's upper arm, having caught a glance of the still waters beneath them. "Is…time frozen?" she asked breathlessly, now spotting the speck that would be their friends astride the stationary Kirara.

Nodding, Shiokki put a hand on Jumiyo's hip after circling his arm around her waist. "We wanted to thank you for reuniting us. After so many centuries, we are finally able to continue on and pass to the next life, thanks to you and your friends."

"Inu-Yasha," the pure maiden turned her gaze to the half-dog-demon, "do take care of her. Your love for one another is strong."

"Uh…" He blushed over the bridge of his nose. He was quiet for a bit, albeit aware of Jumiyo's piercing green stare. "I will," he whispered softly. "I'll protect her always…."

Kagome peered up at him gently, fuddled.

"And you, Kagome," the young woman said, now turning to the girl, "keep an eye on him. Men like him require a lot of care and love and attention; you must be sure to help him grow easier in his feelings, and confident of yours." She bit her lip slightly, looking at Inu-Yasha. "I will. I promise."

"You two must trust each other. Love without trust is not love at all, for that is no unconditional." Shiokki smiled at them both. "We know you were worried about us, about what Tsaku said, but we took him with us, and he; however was condemned to Hell."

"So…you did die after all…" Inu-Yasha murmured, face unreadable.

"I have no regrets now that I am with Jumiyo once more. That blast that occurred would have killed you, yet we decided to intervene."

"It was our last act as members of the living world." Jumiyo held a steady gaze with both of them, before stepping close to the hanyou and whispering in his ear, "Your parents smile when they see the man you are."

Even though his jaw remained firm, the expression in his gold pools told how glad he was. "Safe trip to Nirvana then, eh?"

"Yes…"

Kagome came forward and hugged each of them, feeling the coolness that was a spirit in transition from a living body to a freed soul. "Goodbye. It's good to know you're happy again."

They both smiled.

"Yes," Shiokki whispered, "it is…."

Suddenly, they started to fall again, and Inu-Yasha caught Kagome in the cradle of his arms. He turned her so she was not quite parallel to him. The sounds of Kirara's roar, Shippo's frightened yelling, and the rest could be heard as they tried to reach the couple before they would get swallowed up by the water.

There was only a few seconds fall left away, and the boy said, a smirk on his face, "Take a deep breath and close your eyes."

Then they crashed into the sacred waters of Fire Soul.

~*~*~*~*

Miroku and Sango watched as the pair broke the surface of the lake, jettisoning a tall spray of water. They flew closer, praying that their friends were well. Skimming over the slow-paced tarn, a few seconds passed before wet strands of silver and black hair bobbed up, and the sound, gentler, of the surface being disrupted as the accompanist.

Reaching with his staff, Miroku hauled Kagome, and then Inu-Yasha, onto Kirara's back. "Are you two ok?"

They looked to each other for a moment, communicating something very deep by gazes alone, before Kagome turned to the monk and said, mellifluously, "We're fine."

~*~*~*~*

"So, Lady Jumiyo and Lord Shiokki passed away in the blaze at the very end?" Kaede was asking, having listened to the entire tale-the quest of Hakushinmu herbs.

The group had a much easier time returning to the old lady priestess's village in the late afternoon than when they'd left originally-which hadn't been too far from their adopted home-for Fire Soul. Everyone had recuperated on the trip--the young dog-child had been quiet, only waving little sparkles over certain places the passed over the Eastern territories--, and a sense of ease had come over them; though the calm was not without a lingering tension.

Kagome and Inu-Yasha had started to stay a little closer to each other-nothing substantial-but closer together, like while seated together at this very moment on the floor of Kaede's hut. Other than that, not much of their attitudes had changed. He still complained about the shortage of ramen, while she had to explain that with an extra person in the group, the noodle-ration had gone down a bit faster. Nonetheless, their gazes did; however, loiter a little longer, a little sweeter, than before, and for that Sango and Miroku were very relieved.

"Yeah, they died, but I think they died without regrets," replied Inu-Yasha. He leaned back on his right arm a tad, catching a whiff of the soothing lavender from the girl beside him. "After all…" he paused, sliding a slant-eyed glimpse to Kagome, "they trusted each other."

Grandmother Kaede nodded her head once, grinding an herb with white petals with her pestle in her clay bowl. "Then that" she said, pouring a touch more water into the small basin, "truly is what made their love so profound." Her one-eyed gaze slipped to the small, dog-eared boy in the darkest corner of the room.

For a while now, she'd noticed, he was playing with something in his hands; lamentably, with her poor eyesight she could not make out what. Instead, the elder woman turned her attention to making the Hakushinmus she had into an even, thin paste.

Little Inu had paid half of his attention to the conversation going on, but he was too anxious to recall much of it. He turned the blue pouch over in his palm again, feeling the sand-like powder through the fabric. His mother had firmly instructed that he use it as soon as he had the springs and their medicinal counterpart before he could use it.

It felt oddly heavy for being only powder, of what he couldn't remember, and the young dog-child's insides were churning ill-fatedly.

What if this whole journey had been for naught?

What if the venom had run its course faster than expected?

What if Father was already…dead…?

Shaking his head vigorously, Little Inu bit at his lower lip, peering at each member of the contingent fondly, yet it made his heart ache and sink all the more. "Lady Kaede," he called out softly.

"Aye, child?"

He chewed his lip a tad more; making a started face when he felt his fang punctured it slightly. "A-are you finished yet?"

"Nearly. Have some patience, even now." She gave him an assuring, knowing look. "Your father sounds like he is strong willed. It will take only a time longer."

With a soft sigh, he leaned his back against the wall. Memories of his family kept prancing throughout his brain, and all he yearned for was to return to his home beyond the Bone-Eater's Well. There were so many things he wanted to see again, but mainly-his parents.

And, how ironic it was, he was sitting in the same room with the two people that would one day be lovingly called "Momma" and "Dad"…

"Little Inu?" Kaede inquired, getting the boy's attention; he glimpsed at her with a lethargic gaze, shoving the pouch into the chest compartment of his haori. "I have finished with extracting the healing juices and mashing the stems and petals. The cream is in this jar."

He got to his feet leisurely, and walked over to the old lady with even strides. Taking the earthenware container, fingering the cork stopper, Little Inu smiled gratefully at her. "I really do appreciate this, Grandmother Kaede." Leaning forward, he hugged her.

She was only mildly surprised, but she returned the embrace nonetheless, a half-smile on her weathered, careworn face. "Are you going to return to your home now, child?"

Little Inu pulled away and glanced at Inu-Yasha and Kagome. "Yes. I want to bring this to my father first thing." He gestured with a bob of his cesium-haired head at the aforementioned couple. "I need to speak to you both separately. So…could you step outside for a minute so I can say good-bye to everyone else first?"

"Why should-" started Inu-Yasha in half-annoyance.

"That's fine," Kagome kindly interrupted, earning a 'humph' from the hanyou. "Come on, Inu-Yasha." She got up and padded out to the entryway of the hut, sliding her shoes on.

Snorting, he followed after her, tucking his arms within his billowing sleeves. "Feh. Whatever, kid."

Kagome watched the villagers go by, giving a friendly "hello, Lady Kagome!" or a "Lady Kagome, would you please say a prayer for my child?" She smiled and nodded at the customary happenings of the small village she'd come to love as a second home. Not second in rank, just in order of appearance.

She spied Inu-Yasha exit from the corner of her eye. "Things sure have changed, huh?" she asked breezily.

He shrugged. "I guess."

"…You know I've really come to love this place. The Sengoku Jidai, I mean."

One of the dog-demon's ears tipped to the side. "How come?"

"I found a lot of people I love and trust here. Having to part from any of you…well, it's a really scary thought." She let the wind touch her skin tenderly as she rather laughed. "Even though we both know who Little Inu is…deep inside…it still is really awkward, isn't it?"

Inu-Yasha took one of his clawed hands and grasped hold of one of hers gently. "You'll never leave me…." He paused, looking down. Gradually, he allowed his gold pools to wash into her cobalt ones. "And that makes me happier than anything else possibly could."

Little Inu exited the hut, listening to the exchange for a moment beforehand. "I'm ready." He followed a few paces after them, fine sand tumbling from his hand and catching into the wind and circulating about the village.

~*~*~*~*

The threesome made their way through the Forest of Inu-Yasha in silence. Words would only clutter up their already jumbled minds, and the reflective serenity was enough to put them all at some form of truce with the odd pleasures of Fate and Time. Each held some connection to this place, a binding in which they could all find solace in.

The only action of any importance was Little Inu slipping in between Inu-Yasha and Kagome and joining hands with them as they passed the Goshinboku. Neither the miko-in-training nor the gruff-dog-hanyou made any objection-merely squeezed his minute, clawed hands.

The Bone-Eater's Well came into view, and Little Inu swallowed anxiously. With each step on the soft, familiar grasses, the surroundings became more illusory. He closed his eyes, smelling the familiar scent of the wood and stone of the well; the feel of the hands he held, one large and calloused while the other was petite and silken, and the aromas of something ruggedly wild mixed with quiet vibrancy , Little Inu almost thought he was strolling with his parents again.

Still, the boy opened his eyes and reluctantly released his grip on their hands-and his security-as he turned his back to the Bone-Gobbling Well and faced them. "I know you both know that I'm…that I'm your youngest son," he said faintly, not able to bring his gaze past the hem of Kagome's skirt. "But, I wanted to let you know that…you're great parents when you get older, and you'll be able to defeat Naraku and take care of Kikyo and….

"Sango and Miroku are my aunt and uncle" he continued to ramble, now seeing the top of Tetsusaiga's scabbard. "Their oldest kid, Haku, is my best friend. You'll like him, too." Little Inu managed to bring his little eyes up to the spot below Inu-Yasha's chin. "And…we'll be really well-taken care of…and…

"I love you, Momma and Dad."

His gold eyes shimmered with tears, but he kept his gaze fixated on their faces resolutely even as his body trembled. Reaching into the front of his haori, he retrieved the indigo pouch, dreading having to use the last of its contents right then.

"I don't want to do this, but Momma said that I have to make you forget this whole thing," he explained, wiping away his tears with the back of his hand while they watched him wordlessly. "At least until 'the time is right' she said." He poured the powder into his palm; it caught the sunlight and glistered in faint tints of purples and blues. "Remember…trust and love go hand in hand…"

Little Inu brought it level with his mouth, whispering, "Daddy taught me that." Then he blew the reminiscence-expunging dust at them.

Like everyone else at the village, Kagome and Inu-Yasha fell asleep, falling into the grass.

Climbing over the lip of the well, only sparing a quick, backwards glance, Little Inu vaulted inside. "See you in a few years."

~*~*~*~*

A/N: I've finished this…wow… I've actually finished something. I'm going to work on the epilogue, so when you see this, both this and the epilogue will be out at the same time.

Ja ne,

~Moonlight Shadow