InuYasha Fan Fiction ❯ Vying for Dominance ❯ Perfect ( Chapter 25 )

Perfect

 

 

“Are you sure about this?”

 

The miko's words were hushed as she tried to keep her voice from the acute hearing of those gathered around, but not hushed enough. They had heard her. Even if they had not, they could see the way she fidgeted nervously, smell the anxiety permeating her scent. He knew why she would ask. After all, he had told her himself that the choice was not hers to make, and it was by her revelation of her abilities that had brought them to this. But he had already committed himself to it, already accepted the aid she had so freely offered him on more than just this occasion.

 

He wanted this. For her, so that she would no longer look upon him and feel shame or remorse for the scars left to them by a past that seemed so far removed from where they stood now. For them, so that even had they not been moved by her remarkable displays of power, her proud words and gracious poise, or even her brilliant light, that they would see how truly incredible this mortal priestess was in that she would offer her healing hand even to a youkai, the ancient enemy of her kind. And for him, because it meant more than the power he would regain from the act, more than the arm he had cast aside as a constant reminder of a loss that no longer held any meaning, more than image, honor, pride.

 

It meant that no mater where their lives would take them when what fate deemed must be came to pass, no matter what the future may hold or how many years it would keep them apart; that always would he have a small part of her with him, something real that would remain even when time clouded his memory and stole from him this impossible dream. His miko's gift, something only she could give, something he would accept from her and no other.

 

Giving a curt nod to the young miko as his only response, Sesshomaru moved to the top of the hill, turning to address the gathered crowd.

 

“My brothers,” he lifted his voice to draw all focus to him. “We have come together in celebration, joining our strengths as one as we welcome the new members of our clan and vie for the favor of those we would have stand with us and give new life to our great community. Such was my father's vision upon so many years ago. And yet, I remember a time when we looked upon each other and saw not friends and brothers; but the enemy.

 

“We have grown beyond those days, become so much more than those petty differences would allow. We have come to know the strength of our combined might, the prosperity that could only be granted us when we set aside our differences and worked together for a greater cause. I stand here now filled with pride, honored to be a leader amongst leaders, to hear our mighty call and know that there is no power greater, and no cause for which I would fight harder for.

 

“You hear my words, knowing them to be true; and even so, I know that there are those of you who would wonder how I can speak them when standing with me now is a not just a human, but a miko, what has for so long been known as the enemy of all our kind. Then know this: for three years I have hunted a creature that would see not only our great community turned to ruin, but all of that which is. This beast, this Naraku, is a coward, filth, a scourge upon our lands that I will see purged. However, it is not this creature that threatens us, but the power not its own that it would use to corrupt and tarnish.

 

“The Shikon is destruction. It holds no power that is not born of selfish desires and weak wills, and yet there are far too many that would be lured by its pull, that would feed its destruction. It is a threat not only to us, but to all creatures. And because of this, because I know that she fights for more than her purpose and more than her kind, I accept this mortal child, Kagome, Miko of the Shikon, and I call her my ally.

 

“That she stands here now, in this place that still whispers of the courage, leadership, and great sacrifices of our ancestors, not as an enemy, but as one who extends their hand in truce and peace; I can not help but be reminded of those visionaries that have paved the way for us to walk into tomorrow. We stand here now, together, to commemorate those who have fought for all our cause, and to welcome those who will fight in the days ahead.

 

“But as once there was no welcome for those of us who stand now as brothers, so too has been the welcome bestowed upon this miko. And yet still she stands, still she offers aid to those that were once her enemy. So with your own eyes see what more strengths can be gained through cooperation and trust, and see not an enemy, but an ally, and a sister to our cause.”

 

When he finished, there were no cheers or calls, no followers to the voice of the leader. It was silence that met his ears, silence even when standing before the crowd. But it is the place of a leader to know the path, to walk it before any other can even see its course. And as a leader, born and bred, his life fashioned to it, by it, for it; he would not, could not, allow the hesitations of the masses to cloud his judgment, to make him second guess his directives.

 

Because he knew that this was the right path. He knew that Kagome was the only one that could purify the Shikon, knew that her strength was needed for the battle ahead. And he knew how much she sacrificed to fight for a world not her own, for a land and a people that could never know her true self. He knew her as no other could or would, and he knew that as she would give her gift to him, by the words he had spoken here he had given her of the same. To be remembered, her name given respect for the battles she had fought to have a terrible wrong set right. This was his gift to her

 

And when he turned to her, beckoning her closer so that they could begin, when he saw the moisture lining her sapphire eyes with sparkling tears, he knew she understood.

 

“That was beautiful.”

 

Her words were whispered with such reverence, such incredible awe; and he wished he could tell her that it was she who had inspired his words, that had moved him to speak for her when she could not for herself. But he couldn't. Now was not the time for such things.

 

Instead he simply said, “Then do not disappoint.” Though he knew that she never would.

 

Pulling back the fine silk of his garment, he revealed the remains of his severed arm. It was strange to look at it now. For so long he had simply become accustomed to having nothing more than a stub that protruded from his shoulder, and yet after having spent even what moments they had been allowed with her, now he looked and saw his arm already regenerated nearly to the elbow. It truly was remarkable, she truly was remarkable.

 

She stepped closer, lifting her hands, but paused in uncertainty just before she came in contact with his skin.

 

“It will hurt.”

 

No. It would be excruciating. But though the pain meant nothing to him, for her, to be the one to cause it, was unbearable.

 

“It matters not.” And it didn't, not when there was so much more to gain than any amount of pain would have him loose.

 

He couldn't give her any words of encouragement, couldn't help her take this next step. It was left to her to prove him right, to take this step to heal more than simply his arm. She could do it; and though he said nothing, did nothing, silently he was urging her forwards.

 

The soft heat of her trembling touch when she finally brought her hands in contact with his skin was even more incredible than he remembered. Where before she had been his sin, a temptation so sweetly addictive he simply couldn't deny it; now she stood as his equal, openly declared as his ally, a champion to the rights to claim his favor. And still she was more. He knew it in the way his senses were ignited by her mere presence, the way his body was sent reeling by the welcoming heat of her touch, and in the knowledge that he trusted her so completely that he would allow her powers to bend and shape the responses of his own.

 

She was hesitating, her hands shifting uneasily against his arm, reluctant to draw up her powers. He could see the way her eyes darted around her, feeling more than hearing the unrest that carried through the onlookers in the crowd over her dangerous proximity to their Lord. It was unacceptable.

 

“Kagome, do not look at them.” It was an order, and a silent request. Look at me. Because he needed to see her, needed to be able to focus on her and her alone, needed to look into her eyes and know that no matter the pain and no matter the urge to strike out against it, that it was for her, he could endure it.

 

And when her eyes pulled away from her nervous sweeping of the crowd to finally find his, when he saw the soften and the tiniest of smiles lifting on her lips; he knew that even though they stood surrounded by the crowd, as he looked and saw only her, she looked and saw only him.

 

Her eyes never left his. Even when she called upon her sacred energies to flow from her hands and sear against his skin, even when the fire within him lashed out against it, even when his eyes bled crimson from the heat of the flames, even as she shook against the strain and broke out in a light sheen of sweat as she pushed herself beyond her limits; never did her eyes leave his.

 

The pain was unimaginable. There was no reprieve from the relentless tear against his skin or the searing burn that scorched through to his very soul. With every surge of his own power that fought against her light, she only poured more of her own against him to contain it, forcing its flow to carry down from where there had been nothing, her hold on it so powerful that she let nothing escape, the pressure building and growing to such heavy thickness that substance began to form in the wake of fire and light.

 

But through it all he knew only her, saw only the beautiful sapphire of her eyes, felt only the gentle heat of her hands as they brushed against newly forming skin; and in the light, in that which was forbidden, feared, what should have meant death for one of his kind, he knew only her gentle soul, knew that whatever pain he felt her spirit wept for him, reaching out with invisible hands to try and sooth the wild burn of his own spirit as he fought to contain its fury.

 

What time passed could not be measured. It might have been a moment or an eternity; but caught in the tides and flows of such incredible power, it was the pain that lasted only a moment, and those things beyond names and beyond feeling that became their eternity.

 

Their hands joined together, his fingers growing the final inches until he could entwine them with hers, holding the hand that had given him back his own.

 

Only then did she allow herself to fade, to draw back into herself the strength of her spirit fro where she had wrapped it around his own. Her breathing was shallow, too faint to replace what she had lost, and her eyes strained to open from where they had lidded heavily.

 

But still a trembling smile rose on her lips as she whispered the words, “It's perfect.”

 

He knew it was coming; so when her consciousness slipped from her and her body fell limp, his arm had already been wrapped around her back to pull her tightly against him.

 

Crimson eyed and fueled by the new power running through him, he let those gathered know of the beast's reign as he snarled at them in warning. Any that approached would not be shown mercy by its wrath, and not one standing there was foolish enough to test it.

 

Tightening his hold on his little miko, Sesshomaru lifted them into the sky. Across the lake, away from the gathering, towards the cliffs and caves of the mountain peaks where she could rest and heal. He had lifted her legs, cradling her against him as he shielded her from the tear of the winds against his speed with the strength of his embrace. With both arms to hold her, at last he could feel what it was like to have her truly held against him.

 

Setting down in his own shelter, he blocked away the rest of the world; a barrier to keep it out so that all that remained was him and her.

 

“Kagome,” he called her name softly as he leaned down to gently nudge against her neck. With reluctance, she stirred from her induced slumber. But though he would not deny her the rest she needed, he wanted just a moment of this closeness with her. “Can you stand for just a moment so that I my help you out of these layers?”

 

She murmured softly, her eyes still too heavy to open; but that he knew she was awake, though only hardly, he lowered her carefully to her feet. She swayed in drunken balance, but he was there to steady her, wrapping one arm securely around her back as the other worked to untie the knots that held the heavy layers of cloth to her.

 

With gentle, steady motions, he maneuvered her out of the layers of her dress until only one remained. Every brush of his hands against her brought her further from the capture of her healing slumber and closer to him. She was moving with him, shrugging out of the fine silk even as he pulled it away. And as his hands were on her body, she had lifted hers to touch him as well.

 

She lingered on his arm, her fingers stroking so adoringly against it. “Was I…” Her words were so hushed, so drawn by her exhaustion and fogged by half-sleep, that even he had to strain to hear them. “Was I alright?”

 

Alright? After everything she had done, everything she given to him, and still she thought she needed to seek his approval?

 

“No, Kagome,” he breathed out as he pulled back from her. His eyes held her steady in his gaze even as he joined his hand with hers and lifted it to his lips. With tender kisses of devotion for the hand that had healed him, he smiled for her. “You were perfect.”

 

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I know it's short, but I'm too tired to write any more tonight. Besides, I rather like that ending for this scene. And I am rather curious what people thought of it, which, admit it, would quickly be forgotten had I ended off on a lemon ;P So, this is what you get for now.

 

Till next time.

 

Shadow