InuYasha Fan Fiction ❯ Uptown Girl ❯ Chapter 43 ( Chapter 44 )

 

As Sesshomaru oversaw the investigation of the crime scene, contemplating his next move, as well as placing a call to Miroku's law firm, eight hours away at the ranch, Jak walked back toward the ranch house, his mind reeling at what Jade had told him about his own brother and that Ban would throw her back to the abusive wolf. “What the hell was he thinking?” Jak thought as he headed toward the ranch house, deep in thought.

 

As he strode down the dirt lane, Jak spied a rather sullen looking Ban moving across the green grass of the back yard, a bag of ice to his right eye. It wasn't the ice pack that shocked Jak, it was the way with which Ban moved, with his head and shoulders slumped forward as if he'd been defeated, not just in body but mind as well. “He looks like shit,” Jak thought as he made his way toward his brother.

 

 

Ban continued down the dirt lane, nearly oblivious to all that was around him as he made his way back to his home. “How could I have let her get to me like that… to blow my stack to wish her back to him?” he thought as he continued down the lane.

 

Scuffing a shoe purposely in the dirt lane, catching Ban's attention Jak yelled, “Hey, Bankotsu… Long time, no see!”

 

Ban's head snapped up to see his flamboyant brother stride toward him, in his business casual attire, which was completely ill fitting the styles of a working ranch. “Jak, when'd you get here?” Ban asked, slightly surprised at his brother's sudden appearance.

 

Pulling abreast of Ban, Jak replied, “I just got in… wanted to check out my old room before heading up to the main house to get something to eat.”

 

With a slightly suspicious look in his good eye, Ban countered, “Then why are you coming from the direction of the barn and corrals? You hate getting your high priced loafers covered in horse shit and hay.”

 

Feigning innocence, Jak replied, “I was feeling a little home sick and so I thought that I'd take a whiff of the barn to get it out of my system. Besides… I have my reasons and don't have to explain them to you, `Big' brother.”

 

Still not believing his brother, Ban continued, “So what brings you back to this hell hole on earth? I thought that you were headed to Paris or some other place for another show?”

 

“I needed a break… it's a lot of pressure to come up with new designs every season. Besides… I heard tell that a certain red head was back at the ranch and I wanted to see her,” Jak replied off hand, as they moved closer to their cabin.

 

Hearing the last bit, Ban stopped dead in his tracks, the wheels in his mind whirling as fast as they could, as he asked, “How did you know that Jade was here?”

 

Unable to lie to Ban, Jak replied, “She called me when I was flying back from Milan. I decided to come here instead of New York for a break. Why, does that bother you?”

 

Feeling a little jealous, that Jak hadn't come to see his own brother; Ban asked with a little pain and resentment in his voice, “So… what did she have to say about this morning?”

 

Falling for the cleverly set trap, Jak replied, “That she gave you a black eye.”

 

Slightly irked by his response, Ban said, “I knew it… you saw her before even coming to see me. How could you Jak? How could you listen to what she had to say before your own brother?”

 

Whirling to face Ban, Jak seethed as he replied, “How could you tell her to go back into an abusive relationship with her fiancé instead of staying here with you? I know how much you love her, even though you deny it every chance you can.”

 

Ban blanched to a sickly shade of white as he looked at his brother, eyes wide open as he asked shakily, "What the hell are you talking about? Where did you hear that?!"

 

Jak sent him a look stating he wasn't going to drop it until he got an answer. Ban sighed dejectedly saying, "It's not what you think, Jak... I was mad, hurt and confused. I'd never wish for her to be hurt, much less go back to that piece of crap!"

 

“Then tell me what happened?” Jak asked, his temper having returned to an even tone once he saw the look upon his brother's face.

 

Running his hands through his bangs, Ban sighed as he recounted their conversation the night before when they had gone for a ride, ending with her running away from him, crying her eyes out. “I knew then that things were still a bit rocky between us, but when I brought it up this morning… during our sparring, she brought up loving that guy. Saying that she was claimed by another and that I was `stuck in the past… a past that would never happen.' I spilled my heart out to her after that, Jak… I told her the truth of what happened that day as well as the fact that I wanted to marry her. I'm guessing that I'd caught her off guard since she actually hit me,” Ban recalled, tenderly checking the bruise under his right eye. “I guess that was when I blew up and told her that, but I didn't mean it… If I could take it back I would.”

 

“So why don't you go and tell her instead of moping around here?” Jak asked a slight smile upon his lips at knowing that he'd won.

 

Turning to Jak, he slapped him hard across the back saying, “You're right, Jak… I'll go and find her before she takes off to far.” He sprinted back to the ranch house, hoping to catch Jade eating breakfast or coming down from a shower.

 

Seeing the enthusiasm return to his brother, Jak called out, a second to late, “She's not there…” as the rest of the sentence died on his lips. “He'll find out the hard way, I guess,” he thought as Jak followed his brother back to the main house.

 

 

After having left the confinement of the corrals, Jade had let Kami loose, allowing him to run his heart out as she headed toward the relative solitude of the cabin. “How could he be so cold and heartless?” Jade thought as Kami had slowed once he'd reached the edge of the forest. “After all that we'd been through, I would have thought he would have fought harder to keep me then to throw me away like that,” she continued, once she picked up the most direct trail to the mountain cabin.

 

“I guess that I was wrong. But that doesn't matter anymore,” she thought a bit sadly as she enjoyed the wildlife around her. “Now it's time to get the plan in gear and get my wolf back.” Quickly, she encouraged Kami a bit faster down the road, taking a short cut to the lake of which she'd gone fishing. Within about thirty minutes she pulled Kami to a halt at the glacier fed mountain lake.

 

As she over looked the lake, Jade thought of all that had transpired in her life at the lake. “Back then, things were so simple, so real,” she thought rather sadly.

 

Flashback… four years ago…

 

“Hey… wait up Jade!” Ban called out as he chased down the elusive wolf demoness.

 

Calling back over her shoulder, Jade replied, “Only if you can catch me!” She headed for the safety of the lake shore of the little lake, knowing that if she had to take a swim he most likely wouldn't follow, considering how cold the water was.

 

As she neared the edge of the lake, the snap of a twig to her left caused her to run, knowing that Ban was not far behind. “Damn it,” she thought, nearly to the shoreline as she quickly threw off her jeans and tee-shirt, revealing a simple one piece suit. “He's faster than I gave him credit for.” Suddenly, without warning Ban tackled her into the sand of the shoreline, falling with her to where his body had covered hers, effectively pinning her to the slightly wet sand.

 

Knowing that he'd won, Ban raised himself up on an elbow to look into her azure eyes, a huge smile across his lips as he replied, “I caught you… now I want my reward.”

 

With a devious smile, Jade replied, “Come and get it, lover boy.” As Ban leaned forward to claim her lips in his well deserved kiss, Jade used his own boy against him to throw him off of her supine form, landing him square into the water behind her.

 

“Ahhhh!!!!” he screamed as the cold water seeped into his jeans and tee shirt, soaking him to the bone as Jade flipped back onto her feet.

 

As he slowly moved his way from the water to the shore, trying to rub some feeling back into his cold limbs, he glared at the young woman. “How can you stand swimming in that water? It's freezing!” he demanded.

 

With a slight smirk on her lips, Jade replied, “I go in a little bit at a time, Ban. Not full body like you did. Besides, I can handle the cold a lot better than some people.”

 

End Flashback…

 

“I taught him how to swim in the cold water that time… much to his insistence,” she thought as a smile slid across her lips. Turning her attention from the lake to the cabin a ways of the hill a tear came to her eyes as she saw how majestic it looked against the mountain side.

 

Without another thought, Jade urged Kami around the edge of the lake and up to the cabin, eager to see her old room and check the supplies. Within about ten minutes, Jade had reached the cabin, tying Kami to the top rail of the corral as she entered the cabin. She eased her key into the back door. Once she unlocked the dead bolt and door handle, Jade walked into the kitchen, noticing how nice and clean that it was, as well as a drop in the temperature by a few degrees.

 

“Home sweet home,” she thought as she moved from the kitchen to the living room, pausing long enough to look out the huge picture windows that overlooked the lake. After a few minutes, she ascended the stairs to the second floor and moved to the room on her left… the room that she hadn't seen in four years. Her eyes misted over slightly as she saw the bedroom was nearly as she had left it that fateful day. The blinds had been drawn, allowing the sunlight to flood the room from the huge sliding glass door that opened out onto a nice balcony which overlooked the lake.

 

She looked to the bed, noticing that the log cabin quilt her grandmother had made in blacks and whites still graced the wood framed bed. Unable to take anymore of the memories that flooded her mind, Jade moved to the bed, throwing herself across the quilt as tears streamed down her face. “How could I have been so stupid all those years ago?” she thought, as she cuddled one of the pillows from the double bed to her chest. The scent of crisp clean mountain air, having permeated the fabric to calmed her some what as she drifted off into a troubled sleep.

 

Flashback… dream of four years ago…

 

“I can't stay Ban,” Jade said as she slipped on her jeans, her back turned toward the man who lay in her bed.

 

Leaning on his left arm, his chiseled tanned chest gleaming with a slight layer of sweat as the sheets pooled around his waist, Ban asked, “What are you saying Jade?” His azure eyes locked onto her back, sensing that something was wrong.

 

Turning back to her lover, Jade's own eyes had changed to green as the pain of his betrayal seeped into her thoughts. She slid her tee shirt on quickly as she replied, “I forgot that I'd accepted a commission in the Army at the beginning of summer, but had asked to wait until the end of August to leave.” The tears in her eyes betrayed her as she spoke, causing Ban to sit up on the edge of the bed, his hand upon her wrist, pulling her to him.

 

As he pulled her into his chest, he rubbed her back, cooing as he said, “Why didn't you tell me? I'd be more then happy to say I'm dating an officer.”

 

Pulling away from him, despite his vice like grip, Jade turned away as she replied, not wanting him to see the tears as they streamed down her face as she continued her lie, “It slipped my mind, Ban. Besides… I don't know if… or when I'll be back. For all I know, Bankotsu, I may never come back. They may ship me to the farthest reaches of the Alaskan wilderness or even Germany or Japan… I just don't know.”

 

Hearing the pain in what she said, Ban moved from the bed, the sheets wrapped tightly around his waist as he pulled her into his chest once more. With his lips to her ear, he replied, “I'd follow you to hell and back, Jade. Why are you being so stubborn in not wanting me to be with you?”

 

Turning in his strong, warm embrace, Jade looked into his eyes, seeing the pain of what she had said etched into their azure orbs. “I'm sorry, Ban…” she whispered before she whirled, breaking his embrace and flew down the stairs, and out of his life.

 

End dream/ flashback…

 

Tears slipped down her cheeks onto the pillow Ban had used that night, the pain of her decision still evident four years later.

 

 

Ban looked all over the ranch, only to come up empty handed in his search for Jade. What made him even more upset as the fact that Kami was missing as well. “She could be anywhere,” he thought sullenly as he headed back to the ranch house. Within a few minutes, Ban entered the kitchen to see Jak still stuffing his face with scrambled eggs, home made biscuits and orange juice.

 

Seeing the look on Ban's face, Jak commented, “I tried to tell you she had already left. Apparently you didn't hear me.”

 

Glaring at his annoying brother, Ban growled, “You could have tried harder, Jak. And I suppose you know where she went?”

 

With a shrug of his shoulders, Jak replied, “This is a big ranch, Ban. She could be almost anywhere. It's not like she told me where she was going or that I'm a mind reader.” He shoveled more eggs into his mouth, eating as if it were his last meal before execution.

 

Pulling up a stool, Ban replied, “I guess that I'll just have to wait until she gets back. That shouldn't be too long, considering that she'll have to eat eventually.”

 

Shina shook her head as she bustled around the kitchen, washing up the breakfast dishes that Jak currently wasn't using, preparing for the dinner meal. “She knows how to eat off the land, Ban… you should know that almost as well as everyone else. Jade can stay for days out in the wilderness and never go hungry.”

 

As the realization of what Shina had said, he slumped a little farther onto the bar stool, berating himself for his thoughtlessness. Seeing his brother dejected caused Jak's heart to ache as he commented, “I needed to head to town for some supplies anyways. Why don't I buy you a drink at the Waterhole?”

 

“I guess that would work,” Ban replied, as he laid his head upon the table upon his crossed arms, feeling as if this was the longest day of his life.