InuYasha Fan Fiction ❯ The Nature of Sacrifice ❯ Stormy Weather ( Chapter 6 )

AN: I am SO sorry for the long interval between chapter five and six but some personal issues have disrupted my muse BIG TIME.

 

I've lost my job recently over something really freaking stupid, but no worries, loyal reader! I'm searching out new employment, and will continue with the tale I have spun despite the fact that it brings back horrible memories. Luckily, I was going to focus more on our main characters and back away from the shared place of employment anyway before this whole mess. ^^ It was as if my muse, before he packed up and went on vacation for a while, knew that I would be canned. (Yes, it is a he, and his name is Sergio, and goregous.. tall, dark hair, green eyes, a body to die for and the most beautiful accented baritone voice... And yes, this is what happens when you have a vivid imagination and you've been single for FAR too long. *Giggles.*)

 

So, have fun with this chapter, and the ones following! Take me away, Sergio! *Winks and is wisked off by a very attractive abstract.*

 

 

 

DISCLAMER: I DO NOT, NOR HAVE I EVER, OWNED INUYASHA. I'm simply borrowing the characters and putting them through hell. ^.^

 

Happy Reading!

 

 

***

The Nature of Sacrifice

 

By Evie Lovejoy

 

Chapter Six:

Stormy Weather

 

***

 

Two weeks. Two weeks he had been let back into her arms and her constant company. He was home. At least, he would have been, had she not have that haunted look in her eye. Kagome always gave him a special smile she gave no one else, one that twinkled in her cornflower eyes and quirked her full lips. For that Inuyasha would have given the moon and stars to be graced with that forever. It wasn't that that made him worry. It was that look when she stared off into space, when she thought he wasn't looking, that one that held all her fears and dark thoughts. And he couldn't make it go away.

 

Inuyasha had tried to get her to talk of it, but she would smile a smile that never quite reached her eyes and tell him there was nothing wrong. He could smell the lie tainting her fresh, heady scent. But he would see the fear and regret in her eyes, and couldn't press the manner. But his instincts that knew her better than he knew himself told him that there was something deeply wrong and he needed to make it better. Kagome was his mate and he wouldn't be the proper alpha male if he let his alpha female suffer.

 

But those eyes... He tried to force the words out, demand to make things right, but her eyes.. And they would die on his lips.

 

They spent every moment they could together, either watching a movie at her home or going on walks together. Though his blood burned for her, he never went past the point of making out, and he knew that was pushing it. It wasn't that she didn't want him, he could smell her arousal, but he felt as if it wouldn't be right, not yet. She was still affected by her past, and only time could heal those wounds, time and love. And both he had to be willing to give in abundance.

 

That and everytime they were close to becoming passionate, something would interupt them. First, when they would hang out at his apartment, it was his roommates. And he instantly regretted asking Miroku and Sesshoumaru to help with the rent by moving in. Yes, it was a big apartment, big enough to hold another two people, but it was still close to comfort.

 

Every time. Every damned time that they would kiss.. it was her scent, her taste, the feel of her close to him.. And his youki demanded to claim her, his human heart aching to be this close, too close.. In would pop Miroku for one reason or another, and joke around, asking if they would name their first son after their good friend, himself. Both Inuyasha and Kagome would jump away from each other and turn a lovely shade of red, Inuyasha being a bit more vocal about 'knocking before you enter my room, you perverted bastard', throwing shoes and such. The perverted roommate would leave, but the moment would be shattered for a good long time.

 

Soon after those few times, they would watch a movie at Kagome's home, a rather spacious house in which she lived alone, or walk along the beach, simply enjoying one another's company. He honestly didn't understand why she lived without anyone else. Sure, the house was paid for in full, she had mentioned that when she spoke of what happened at age fifteen, that sophmore year in which she was absent. But she had also said her mother and father had died in that very house. How could she live there knowing that? Once he had brought it up, and the strangest far away look came into her eye. Her answer had been strange as well, her voice soft and almost amused, "Because.. they weren't my parents.. they never were. Just two humans that took care of me when I could not take care of myself. They fed me, clothed me, but no-- they were not my real parents. Maybe by blood, but not through spirit." He had blinked at that, but knew that Kagome was a spiritual person, and if anyone could know that, she could.

 

She had a very powerful aura, always had, and it had only gotten stronger with age. Instead of training with Shinto priestess' or priests, or even Buddists, as Miroku had as a child, she went a different route. She had discovered European pagan traditions early in life, and stuck with them. When her mother and father would fight when she was only ten, she would simply take the bus to town and spend the rest of her day in the library. There her eyes were opened by the numerous tomes laid before her. At age eleven, she had moved from the classics of literature to spiritual books. She studied all religions, you name it, and she had studied about it. Christians were too hipocritical, she found, though the true believers she admired for their true faith. The Jewish had too many rules that made no sense to her, as had the Christians. Buddists had intrigued her, but in the end, their trust fell too heavily on karma, though karma was truely part of life, she found. The Islamic teachings ended up being rather backward in her eyes as well, so that route was ruled out.

 

And then, one day, as if it had been meant to happen, she found a book on Wicca. Almost immediately, she was wrapped up in it's teachings. The idea that the human race was, and would always be one with nature had rung in her heart. Kagome had always felt connected to the earth in quiet moments, alone in a wooded area, or out on the beach. In that stillness, something would stir inside her, pull at her and bring a smile to her lips. It's rules were instinct to the young woman, never to do harm to another unless defending yourself, and never with magick, a concentration of one's ki, or personal spiritual power, and the strength drawn from the elements. The rule of three was never a problem for her as she always tried to do good, but she only wished that three times that kindness would be returned to her.

 

And once she had come home, more than a year after her fifteenth birthday, to that empty house and her horrible dreams, she immersed herself in the faith she had come to have in nature itself. It calmed her somewhat, but didn't bring her true peace. No, she knew that would only come with the mate to her soul, and to protect him, she denied herself that peace, and him the same. If only he understood.. But he couldn't, at least not yet.

 

No, he didn't understand, and his smile became sadder every day. It wasn't as if she was blind to him; no, it was quite the opposite. She was as sensitive to him as she was her own aura and ki. And Kagome felt his suffering as accutely as she felt her own, as she remembered his still face, and liquid eyes going dull with death.. But she needed this, she needed to protect him. And yet, it would all fall apart around her soon, that carefully constructed veil of lies would fall to shreds, and if she wasn't carefully, he would hate her when it was all said and done.

 

Shippo remembered, and as he had, he begged his mother to spend more time with Kagome. This was no problem for the overworked kitsune vixen, as she regretfully was working too hard to spend any time with the boy. He constantly asked Kagome why he couldn't talk to the others about their past lives', and the only answer she could give was that it wasn't time. Shippo always commented that Inuyasha was different in this time; he was much more calm, kinder, gentle.. yet, he still had a temper and often didn't say the right thing. They kicknamed it 'Inuyasha syndrome' in this time. It was the fact that he thought something up in his head, but when it passed his lips, it was completely backwards and wrong. Yet, he was the same, at the heart. Sango and Miroku were also very similar, but seeing as they spent more time with each other than the small kitsune, he didn't know exactly how different they were. Shippo wanted the old Inu-gumi back together, and Kagome didn't have the heart to tell him that it would never be the same. No, each one of them were different now, and while friends, their dynamic had changed.

 

They weren't bound by revenge of a common enemy, not this time around. No, bound by friendship, Inuyasha and Kagome since elementary school, then Miroku moved to the town in seventh grade, Sango in eigth. They were inseperable for the longest time, even after Kagome's dissapearance, staying a strong core group with new friends added and subtracted through high school. Sesshoumaru and Inuyasha fought with each other almost viciously through their adolescence, but once the older half brother had met his mate, a young wind youkai with a passion for emotion and a temper as short as Shippo was at his young age, he seemed much more at peace and tempered his brother much more easily. Yes, a much different group, but it was the same souls in each of them, and as far as she knew, none knew her secret. Well, just Shippo now.

 

That was what scared her, it had been something Midoriko had warned her in the few moments before she formally made her wish on the jewel.

 

Flashback

 

The beautiful creature in battle attire asked with a crystalline voice, "Miko, are you certain you want this? There are concequences that I see that might destroy you."

 

Kagome, hugging her waist tightly, shook her head, tears flowing down her cheeks. "Midioriko-sama, they deserve this chance for happiness! Even if at the expense of myself.."

 

Midoriko frowned softly, her voice rather emotionless when she spoke next. "I warn you then, Kagome, the dire concequences of your actions. You will not be able to keep them from remembering as you say you will. I tell you, that your destruction will be upon you if you do not stop these events from happening. It will begin with a child's questions. But it will not end there. Soon will come wisdom's confusion, and if you do not stop it, courage's fear will follow. And finally, true love's loss." She looked at Kagome with pain in her eyes, and a deep knowlege that scared the young woman to her core. "Kagome, the only way to end this path is to give them their memories back, to let them deal with the pain that you will suffer. I understand you want to protect your pack; your sister, brother, mate and kit respectively, but they will all suffer much more if you allow them to discover this on their own, and it will destroy you.."

 

End Flashback

 

It would happen in the order that they died in. Shippo had been first, but not the last. Miroku had died protecting his love, and what would have been his future wife. Sango had died valiantly herself, fighting to her last breath. And Inuyasha.. he had protected her to the end, as he had promised to do. Shippo remembered on his own, but he didn't hate her. But, she had a sick feeling in the pit of her stomach that it would only get worse if they remembered on their own; she believed Midoriko-sama, even then. Yet then, she hadn't cared, only wanting to erase their dead bodies from her memory, to bring them back to life, to make sure they were happy, together. She hadn't thought of the concequences, she knew that now. And now, it was too late to reverse anything. It was done.

 

Her thoughts continued to progress in that morbid fashion as said young woman, much older than she was physically, sat on the floor, barely two feet from her large floor-to-ceiling windows. She wasn't looking out on the landscape, not really. A large oak tree grew from what seemed like the middle of the large, weathered deck. Kagome thought of it as her own Tree Of Ages, as it had seen so much, yet stood strong and tall through it all. The dark clouds made it look more like seven in the evening, than seven in the morning. The backyard, normally lush, green, and sprinkled with sunlight, was dark this day, the plants moved around violently by a cool, moist wind that smelled of a storm. Kagome knew long before a storm would let go upon the landscape from the feel of the atmosphere, while Inuyasha could tell by scent.

 

Inuyasha. A constant in her thoughts, as he had always been. He was a part of her, and forever would be. He had been so gentle and caring with her, but his eyes.. They worried her. That vibrant gold was dulling with worry, and had been for too long. Had all her trying to protect him been for naught? Had it been... pointless?

 

And as those thoughts crossed her mind, the first crack of thunder sounded loudly overhead, slightly muffled through the building that she sat within. Moments later, a jagged flash of lightning streaked across the sky, Kagome making out some of the beautiful electricity through the expansive branches of the large oak tree. And almost as if that was it's cue, the heavens let loose their tears upon the earth, crying life upon it's counterpart, giving needed moisture to the land below. The wind kicked up, bending and waving the bendable plants, the old tree creaking slightly in it's base, the higher branches, being younger, bending easy to the strong zephyrs' will. It was an age old dance, as ancient as the earth itself, raining life from the skies to the land, which nourished it's children. It was exquisite, beautiful, perfect.

 

So caught up in the tango, she never reacted to the door opening and closing quietly. Bundled up in a thick, warm blanket, she looked tiny and frail, the only thing that would distinguish her from the olive green blanket was the thick mop of ebony hair falling down her back over the covers, slightly damp from the shower she took after that night of work. Yet, she never moved, large doe-like blue eyes concentrated on the action beyond the glass, seemingly unaware of the amber eyes watching her worriedly.

 

"It's beautiful, isn't it?" She spoke softly, startling the hanyou behind her. He thought she hadn't heard him enter, but then again, she could feel his youki, but he didn't take that into account. Inuyasha heard the slight smile in her voice as she went on after a pause. "Sky Father cries down tears of being seperated from Mother Earth, nourishing her with his grief."

 

He nodded, though she couldn't see him, sitting next to her in front of the window. She spoke again, not glancing over at him, her face unreadable. "You should be asleep now, you have graveyard with me tonight."

 

Inuyasha shrugged, looking out as she was, watching as the wind toyed with the foliage in Kagome's backyard. "So should you. I couldn't sleep, myself."

 

She nodded absently, and he saw this through the corner of his eyes. "Neither could I. I learn to work on little sleep and a lot of coffee." A slight smile curved her lips at her words, but it never reached her eyes, now as grey as the sky through the glass barrier to the tempest outside.

 

He looked over at her longingly for a moment, looking out at the stormy weather with clouded eyes. "Why couldn't you sleep?"

 

He had no real idea how loaded a question that was, she mused silently. A natural reaction almost passed her lips, simply saying she was an insomniac and there was nothing to be done about it. But the lies had dirtied her soul for far too long, and after a long moment, she said softly. "I dream."

 

Glancing over at the young woman, his eyes widened. Inuyasha had become quite used to her eyes looking guilty and responding something that he knew to be a lie. This was.. new. Not that he was complaining, not at all. She was opening up to him, it was slow, but it was something. Trying not to sound too eagar, he nodded, his voice subdued, a soothing baritone. "What about?"

 

She knew that was coming, she knew it deep within her, but she had spoken the truth.. And seeing the spark in his facial expression to the side of her, she couldn't keep lying. Lies were what kept them apart, and lies would destroy them, Midoriko-sama said as much so long ago. Training her eyes on the landscape outside, she answered him, the gentle alto tamber smooth, but unsure. "I dream.. of many things. Not all bad, and not all good. But it's so clear.." Her eyes misted slightly, causing her to pause, her voice softer as she spoke once more. "It.. unnerves me. And so, I cannot sleep peacefully when I dream." She turned a bit toward him, the smallest of smiles on her lips, looking so peaceful in that moment it startled him. "And I always dream."

 

Gold met blue-grey, their gazes meeting and the air seemed to thicken. As if to add drama to the moment, thunder crashed through the air, a flash of lightning simultanious with the loud crack, but neither one of the couple seemed to notice. It was as if they were searching for something in the other's eyes, trying to find something precious, lost. Inuyasha wanted to see her smile, really smile for him again. And Kagome wanted the same for him. And as they stared softly into one's another's gaze, they slowly leaned closer, almost unnoticeably they crept nearer. Inuyasha reached out a hand slowly, almost afraid to break the spell they had unknowingly cast between each other, gently cupping her cheek. After a moment, she leaned into his palm, her eyes lidding and his wish was granted. She smiled. She really, really smiled. It was small, but it was a fully content curve of her lips. And it was contagious, soon, smiling a bit himself. She slid open her eyes a sliver, and there was a moment, the barest of moments, where she felt light, not weighed down by her responsibilty...

 

His lips brushed against hers, a soft sigh passing between them. It was perfect. All she could think was that he felt perfect. His scent surrounded her, the taste of his lips better than the world's finiest chocolate and felt like a drug; not numbing her senses, but bringing them into focus. Leaning toward him, she slid her arms around his neck slowly, melting against him, and in that moment, they both healed just a little. There would be more trouble ahead, wounds to heal, scars to fade. Yet, in this moment, the rain beating a rhythm on the roof, it was perfect, warts and all.

 

***

 

AN: Hopefully, that will help ease the pain of this long between updates, my dear, dear readers. *Blows kisses to them all.* I will update as soon as I can, so savor this fluffy moment with our favorite miko and hanyou, there will be calm before the storm... *Cackles and runs off with Sergio.*

 

~Evie