InuYasha Fan Fiction ❯ Wicked ❯ Revenge in Shades of Irony ( Chapter 28 )
[ X - Adult: No readers under 18. Contains Graphic Adult Themes/Extreme violence. ]
By: kanna37 
Anime/Manga: InuYasha Fan Fiction | Genre(s): Romance / Hentai / Drama | Type: Divergence | Uploaded On: 02.23.2011 | Pages: 3 | Words: 4.1K | Visits: 558 | Status: Work In Progress
Anime/Manga: InuYasha Fan Fiction | Genre(s): Romance / Hentai / Drama | Type: Divergence | Uploaded On: 02.23.2011 | Pages: 3 | Words: 4.1K | Visits: 558 | Status: Work In Progress
Chapter 28: Revenge in Shades of Irony
Kikyou woke slowly, confused, she looked around, wondering what had woken her. It was still very early, and the fire was still producing heat, so the cave she and Kagome were in was still comfortably warm.
She wasn't thirsty or anything, either... but something had woken her up, and whatever it was was insistent, as it was still bothering her. A warning tingling feeling that was making her progressively more uneasy as time passed.
Frowning, she cast her miko senses out into the surrounding area, and searched, thinking perhaps that there was a youkai about somewhere close by, and that's why she felt uneasy.
She was right – eyes widening in panic, Kikyou reached over to Kagome's bedding, and shook her awake, holding a finger to her lips so she would know to speak quietly.
“Extend your senses, Kagome,” she whispered. “Do you feel that?”
Kagome, blinking sleepily, did as told, and her eyes widened in a mirror of Kikyou's own. “Oh, crap!” she exclaimed softly, “just what we didn't need. Do you think he sensed us?”
The older miko thought for a moment, and then shook her head. “I don't think so... he's not too close to us right now, and he doesn't seem to be coming any closer.” She frowned, then, concern sharpening her voice. “But I fear he will stay nearby – how will we figure out how to get out of here with him lingering so near?” she asked, impatiently pushing a lock of hair over her shoulder.
Kagome thought about that, brow furrowed deeply, and then shrugged, too tired to worry about it at this point. If Naraku wasn't aware yet that they were there, then she was all for going back to sleep.
“I say we worry about it when we have no choice, ya know? He doesn't seem to know we're here, and I'm too tired to worry about it, even if he did sense us. He's much weaker at this time, with no jewel, and no incarnations, either one of us could take him, and he isn't strong enough to break through even one of our barriers, let alone two,” she finished, eyes drooping as she relaxed back into her bedding and covered back up.
Kikyou stared at her for a moment, and then realized that Kagome was right – there really was no need to worry about it. If the spider hanyou thought to cause problems on the morrow when they attempted to go back through the well, then they would simply spank him and send him on his way.
Easy enough.
“Yes, I guess you are right,” she sighed as she too, laid back into her bedding and closed her eyes. She was tired, as well – the last few weeks had definitely been strange, and tiring. They all needed a good long rest, that was for sure, she thought as she drifted back off to sleep.
Neither noticed, or cared, when a baboon skin-clad spider moved closer, seemingly intrigued by something in the area.
Whether that was them, or something else, they would never know.
-wWw-
Tired out by the little trip he'd made at his father's side and in need of sleep, Inuyasha headed straight for Kaede's hut the moment his father touched back down near the village. He had a lot to think over... seeing his deadliest enemy brought so low had engendered a thoughtful, almost melancholy perusal of the past.
The whole thing is almost over... and in such an anti-climactic way, too. I'd always thought we'd corner the bastard and fight it out in some great big battle. Instead, he dies like the bitch he is, at my father's hand. Never saw that one coming, he sighed as another thought occurred to him. I always, in some way, dreaded the end of the mission, though... because it meant that Kagome might go home and stay there, leaving us all behind. That won't be happening now, that's for sure.
No, she wouldn't be going back through the well and living her life there – she'd be here with all of them, and that thought was the only comfort Inuyasha could find in his father's mating of the woman he loved – or one of them, at least.
Still, her being his father's mate and not his own, was at least made bearable by the fact that he'd never have to say goodbye to her. And he guessed that was the silver lining in the dark clouds above him.
On the other side of things, he was still too conflicted about how to deal with the things he'd learned about his mother, his father, and his brother. That was one crazy triangle right there, and just thinking about it made his head ache.
But as weird as it made him feel, knowing the true story behind his brother's hatred, it made his heart ache, too... for his mother. She'd been used, and nothing more, as far as he as concerned, by his father. He'd desired to bed her because she was beautiful, and that was pretty much it. True, he'd seemed to have grown fond of her, but for his mother, knowing that she had loved someone else, even though that thought squicked him when he found out who, life must have been hell.
She'd died so young, and had her heart ripped away, as she was given away as nothing more than a piece of meat by her father in an attempt to gain favor with the powerful Dog General. Odd as that sounded, there were some of the human Lords that desired alliance with youkai of a certain rank, as well, and apparently, his mother's father was one of them. Once he'd seen Mattaki's desire for his daughter, he'd eagerly given her away as nothing more than a concubine.
So much for honor – it was a good thing that bastard was long dead, or he'd have to kill him.
Oh, he remembered quite well those uppity bastards of his mother's clan back then – he might have been young, but he wasn't stupid, and he was well aware of the loneliness and sadness his mother had suffered after his father's death. They didn't just call him names, but his mother as well, and that had angered him badly back then, though he was too young to do anything about it. The worst of it was, the very names they were calling her, youkai's whore, he know knew were her family's fault in the first place!
After all, they were the ones that sold her off as a concubine – and then to call her names due to their own actions? Just thinking about it made his blood boil... but then it soothed as later memories flashed into his mind.
Just a few years before Kikyou had sealed him, he had gone back to his mother's family's palace, and razed it to the ground. Though his grandfather and all the rest were long dead, he'd watched them basically doing the same thing to another daughter of the house, and when his mother's fate began to play out for the young hime, he took matters into his own hands.
He hadn't killed anyone, but he'd made sure to get his hands on the Lord of the family at that time, and let him know in no uncertain terms just who he was, and his disapproval of their treatment of the young woman. He also let them know, that he would be dropping by every so often to make sure they weren't treating her badly, and if he found they had, there would be hell to pay.
Needless to say, they had tried to fool him, treating her terribly, and then forcing her to lie about it.
Inuyasha wasn't fooled, and that time, he'd killed the Lord of the clan, then made sure the next in line paid careful heed to his words. After that, things smoothed out, but the young hime was doomed, anyway, as she contracted a fatal illness one winter, and died, along with quite a few others that fell that year.
At least that time, a young hanyou child wasn't left behind mourning his mother, and running for his life, so Inuyasha supposed that was the best that could be hoped for.
After that winter, he'd never gone back, leaving his mother's kin to rot as they would in time. He'd made it a point one year to ask Kagome to look up his mother's family and tell him of their fate, and he'd been pleasantly surprised, though shocked, to find that during the sixteen hundreds, the younger daughter of the lord had fallen in love with a youkai, and had borne him a son. Her family cast her out, and she and her youkai lived together for some years before they were attacked and killed by rabid monks – at her family's instigation.
The son was left alive due to the simple fact that he'd been out swimming in the river a little ways away, and the monks had no idea he was there.
Feeling betrayed, enraged, and grief-stricken, the young hanyou blamed most of their misfortunes on his mother's family, and had taken immediate revenge, destroying the family's estate, and killing most of them off.
The family never recovered after that, and their name disappeared into history.
The hanyou also disappeared, not being heard of again - no one knew his fate.
All that to say that his sympathy was firmly with his mother – and, though he absolutely detested even thinking it, Sesshoumaru. He too, had suffered for their father's lust, and had every right, in Inuyasha's mind, to be angry about it.
Of course, he had to admit in all fairness, their father hadn't known of his brother's interest, and his actions weren't done to cause anyone any heartache. And it was also true that their father hadn't taken any action that wasn't prevalent in their time period – most hime were married off as part of alliances, usually not even knowing their husband in advance. Many of them became part of a harem of wives, and lived and died in obscurity, leaving behind no one to truly grieve their passing.
In that moment, Inuyasha could only wish that his mother had been borne in Kagome's time, instead – she'd have had a chance at a much better, happier life... but wishes were just that, and all he could truly do was carry her memory in his heart, in that way immortalizing her.
Keh. At least Kagome won't have to suffer my mother's fate. The bastard loves her, that's obvious, and he won't do anything to hurt her.
He sighed again. It was cold comfort, but it was better than nothing, he supposed.
Finally, tired from his abuse of his body, and his morose thoughts, he drifted of to sleep, a sad, haunted look on his face even in sleep.
-wWw-
For Mattaki, morning couldn't come soon enough, and he stared almost impatiently up into the night sky, watching as the wheel of heaven slowly turned, stars twinkling brightly as though they were diamonds strewn across a black velvet cloak.
It was beautiful, and he could appreciate it – especially after having been dead for so many years. Death taught one to cherish every moment – though, ironically, by the time the lesson was learned, it was a moot point, because by then, you were dead, and life, and cherishing it, was rather pointless – not to mention impossible.
However, it was a lesson that the mighty daiyoukai would have the chance to put to good use, and so, with a sigh, he leaned back and deliberately relaxed, calming his impatience and simply enjoying the sweet, cool air, the night sounds around him, and the skies in all their brilliance.
It was peaceful, and Mattaki relished that feeling, though he did wish his little mate could be here enjoying it with him. Perhaps, after she came back, he should bring her with him into the trees for the night.
That thought sent him of into thoughts about a vacation, as Inuyasha had termed it. He knew his mate was tired, and they'd all been through a lot. Even more so for her, with the stress of his own advent into her life. He knew that he had only added to it, but he couldn't bring himself to regret anything – now that they were mates, she could have all the time she needed to rest and relax and take everything in.
He wondered, idly, if she'd ever been to the mainland, or even further? Had she ever visited foreign lands? He highly doubted it after thinking about it – she was still young, and with as much time as she'd spent here, he didn't think she'd have had the time to go traipsing around the world.
Perhaps that would be a good vacation for her. He could take her anywhere and everywhere in the world she might like to go, and they could spend as much time as they wanted just traveling around.
Pleased with that idea, he made a mental note to speak to her about it as soon as Naraku was dead.
He drifted into sleep with a smile on his face, and his mate on his mind.
-wWw-
Morning found Kagome groggily opening her eyes, and, looking around blearily, she sat up and stretched, mumbling all the while. Grabbing her bag, she rooted around inside it until she found her water bottle, and took a long pull on it before capping it and sighing.
It seemed to be about eight in the morning, at least by her guesstimate, which were usually pretty accurate. Yawning, she decided it was time to annoy her mate, and find out if he'd been successful in figuring out how to unseal the well.
'Knock knock, she chuckled, 'time to wake up, Mattaki. Did you find anything out?'
She could feel her mate's amusement humming along the bond, and growled a bit – the jerk had already been up since daylight, and had merely been waiting on her to wake to impart the information.
'Fine, be a jerk – just tell me how to get out of here and back there!'
'Patience, little one, is a virtue you sorely need to learn,' he smirked at the quite graphic description of what he could do with his patience, and shaking his head, he told her what she needed to know.
When he told her about the fact that they would have been in major trouble had Kikyou not purified Naraku's taint from her, she shivered – she'd have to give the older woman a big hug... once they actually managed to get back to where they belonged.
With that in mind, she quickly woke the other woman, and passed on what Mattaki had told her. Kikyou was quick to agree that it was quite lucky she'd been able to purify her.
“So, all we have to do is go to the well, and purify Naraku's taint out of it?” she asked, seemingly surprised.
“According to Mattaki, it is. What do you say we go give his idea a try?”
Kikyou nodded, a smile crossing her face at the thought of shortly being back where she belonged.
Gathering all their belongings, and making sure the fire was completely doused, the two women dropped their barriers, and cautiously stepped outside, memories of last nights visitation coming to them.
Sweeping her aura around a little, Kagome felt nothing out of place, yet the forest held a waiting stillness, and that told her that wherever he was, Naraku wasn't far off.
Concern dogging all their steps, Kikyou and Kagome made their way back towards the Goshinboku.
It was definitely more disturbing to see Inuyasha pinned to the tree in the full light of day, and Kagome couldn't help the pang of nostalgia as she studied him. I still remember to this day unsealing you and all that happened afterwards. No matter what, Inuyasha, you will always be my best friend...
She caught Kikyou's guilty and sad expression and sighed. “Look at it this way, Kikyou – right now, he's simply taking a nap. At this point in time, he's peaceful, and we both know that's not going to be something he gets much of after I wake him up.”
Kikyou nodded, though she'd didn't say anything, and the two continued on their way, heading for the well, and hopefully, home.
They hadn't taken ten steps from the clearing the Goshinboku was in, when they both at the same time felt Naraku's malicious presence heading right for them, and without saying a word to each other, both women dropped what they were carrying and stood with arrows centered on the approaching menace.
Kagome was actually a bit surprised at how much weaker Naraku was at this time. It seemed that the deadly hanyou of her time, was nothing without the shards of the jewel – she'd taken down stronger opponents herself.
When he materialized under the trees with them, he was understandably shocked to see a woman that looked just like the woman he'd betrayed so many years before – with another woman with a decided resemblance to her.
“What kind of spell is this?” he demanded irately, eyes glittering through the baboon mask over his face.
“No spell, Naraku,” Kikyou replied smugly. “I was given a second chance at life.”
An insectile hissing came from him, and he stepped closer. “Then where is the Shikon no Tama, woman?”
That's when Kagome answered. “Sealed, completely out of your reach, or anyone elses, for that matter. I sent it into the future, and by the time I was done, its aura couldn't be felt even by the one holding its box. You will never triumph, Naraku.”
Obviously angered, the spider hanyou rushed at them, and the two women moved – they had no choice. Weaker aura or not, he was still faster than two human women, and it looked like hitting him was going to be a chore.
Unless... she dodged when forced to, but it was evident that Naraku was more interested in Kikyou than some miko he didn't even know. But that would prove to be a bad move, as Kagome formed a plan that was so ironic it was almost more than she could bear not to laugh aloud and draw Naraku's attention to her.
When Kikyou looked at her as she dodged yet another attempt to grab her, confused as to why she wasn't helping, Kagome put her finger to her lips, and Kikyou seemed to understand, because she turned away, shooting another arrow at Naraku, hoping to keep him occupied until Kagome could do whatever it was she was planning.
Come on, Naraku, Kagome thought, just a little closer... the spider was so busy trying to kill Kikyou again, that he wasn't paying enough attention to the other person under the trees with them. He also wasn't paying attention to where he was at, simply ranting at Kikyou in between passes of trying to claw her to death.
Finally! Kagome exulted, even as she lined up the shot and took it, praying with all her might that it would hit.
With a heavy-sounding thunk, it did, and before the astonished hanyou even realized what had happened, he was just as pinned to a tree as Inuyasha was.
Kikyou's eyes were wide as she stared at what Kagome had done, and then she laughed. “Oh, how ironic, Kagome! I never would have thought to seal him!”
“Well, I think he looks good there, decorating the tree. Makes this little spot so picturesque,” she said facetiously. “What do you think... I could call it 'revenge in shades of irony', or something.”
Kagome and Kikyou continued to laugh, watching as Naraku tried to pull her arrow out of his chest, but to no avail, as her holy power burned him every time he tried to touch it.
“This particular sealing spell is a little different, though,” she said to Kikyou as they watched the bastard finally fall into sleep. “It's timed... he'll wake up in a few days, none the worse for wear – and he won't remember us at all. I didn't want to mess up the timeline.”
Nodding, still laughing, Kikyou said, “It's too bad Inuyasha couldn't see this – he'd have a field day with that,” she chortled.
Kagome snorted in amusement. “Yeah, I could just see that. “Maybe I'll draw him a picture when we get back to cheer him up,” Kagome sighed.
By that time, they had finally reached the well clearing, and Kikyou slumped to the grass to the side of it. She waved a hand at Kagome. “Give me a minute – I'm still trying to catch my breath from all that.”
Kagome nodded and sat down in the soft grass as well, just enjoying the peace and quiet of the morning. There were never enough of those types of moments – moments when you aren't doing anything, and there isn't anything for you to do, and you can just sit back, let the warmth of the sun comfort you, and bask in the scents of flowers and grasses and trees.
Unfortunately, such moments are also usually brief, as was the case this morning. Just as Kikyou was ready to stand up and get down to business, shouts were heard coming from the direction of the village – and they were much too close to hide.
Great, another welcoming party. How wonderful. Now what are we going to do?
Kagome stared as a younger Kaede stalked through the village men holding rakes and shovels as weapons to confront them. How awkward is this? she sighed to herself.
The shock on Keade's face was almost funny as Kikyou winced and said, “Hello, Kaede. I bet you'd like to know why I'm alive, and what's going on, ne?”
The silence in the clearing made Kagome abruptly aware of what the term 'heavy silence' meant as they all stared at each other, not sure what to do.
-wWw-
A/N: Nothing is ever easy, is it? I'm the poster child for Murphy's law – whatever can go wrong, will go wrong. And in fact, even those things that aren't supposed to go wrong can, when it's my life we're talking about. ~bounces head off desk and lays there~ Anyway, though the story is almost over, there's still a few things to accomplish, so enjoy!
Converting /tmp/phpoz2LFV to /dev/stdout
Kikyou woke slowly, confused, she looked around, wondering what had woken her. It was still very early, and the fire was still producing heat, so the cave she and Kagome were in was still comfortably warm.
She wasn't thirsty or anything, either... but something had woken her up, and whatever it was was insistent, as it was still bothering her. A warning tingling feeling that was making her progressively more uneasy as time passed.
Frowning, she cast her miko senses out into the surrounding area, and searched, thinking perhaps that there was a youkai about somewhere close by, and that's why she felt uneasy.
She was right – eyes widening in panic, Kikyou reached over to Kagome's bedding, and shook her awake, holding a finger to her lips so she would know to speak quietly.
“Extend your senses, Kagome,” she whispered. “Do you feel that?”
Kagome, blinking sleepily, did as told, and her eyes widened in a mirror of Kikyou's own. “Oh, crap!” she exclaimed softly, “just what we didn't need. Do you think he sensed us?”
The older miko thought for a moment, and then shook her head. “I don't think so... he's not too close to us right now, and he doesn't seem to be coming any closer.” She frowned, then, concern sharpening her voice. “But I fear he will stay nearby – how will we figure out how to get out of here with him lingering so near?” she asked, impatiently pushing a lock of hair over her shoulder.
Kagome thought about that, brow furrowed deeply, and then shrugged, too tired to worry about it at this point. If Naraku wasn't aware yet that they were there, then she was all for going back to sleep.
“I say we worry about it when we have no choice, ya know? He doesn't seem to know we're here, and I'm too tired to worry about it, even if he did sense us. He's much weaker at this time, with no jewel, and no incarnations, either one of us could take him, and he isn't strong enough to break through even one of our barriers, let alone two,” she finished, eyes drooping as she relaxed back into her bedding and covered back up.
Kikyou stared at her for a moment, and then realized that Kagome was right – there really was no need to worry about it. If the spider hanyou thought to cause problems on the morrow when they attempted to go back through the well, then they would simply spank him and send him on his way.
Easy enough.
“Yes, I guess you are right,” she sighed as she too, laid back into her bedding and closed her eyes. She was tired, as well – the last few weeks had definitely been strange, and tiring. They all needed a good long rest, that was for sure, she thought as she drifted back off to sleep.
Neither noticed, or cared, when a baboon skin-clad spider moved closer, seemingly intrigued by something in the area.
Whether that was them, or something else, they would never know.
-wWw-
Tired out by the little trip he'd made at his father's side and in need of sleep, Inuyasha headed straight for Kaede's hut the moment his father touched back down near the village. He had a lot to think over... seeing his deadliest enemy brought so low had engendered a thoughtful, almost melancholy perusal of the past.
The whole thing is almost over... and in such an anti-climactic way, too. I'd always thought we'd corner the bastard and fight it out in some great big battle. Instead, he dies like the bitch he is, at my father's hand. Never saw that one coming, he sighed as another thought occurred to him. I always, in some way, dreaded the end of the mission, though... because it meant that Kagome might go home and stay there, leaving us all behind. That won't be happening now, that's for sure.
No, she wouldn't be going back through the well and living her life there – she'd be here with all of them, and that thought was the only comfort Inuyasha could find in his father's mating of the woman he loved – or one of them, at least.
Still, her being his father's mate and not his own, was at least made bearable by the fact that he'd never have to say goodbye to her. And he guessed that was the silver lining in the dark clouds above him.
On the other side of things, he was still too conflicted about how to deal with the things he'd learned about his mother, his father, and his brother. That was one crazy triangle right there, and just thinking about it made his head ache.
But as weird as it made him feel, knowing the true story behind his brother's hatred, it made his heart ache, too... for his mother. She'd been used, and nothing more, as far as he as concerned, by his father. He'd desired to bed her because she was beautiful, and that was pretty much it. True, he'd seemed to have grown fond of her, but for his mother, knowing that she had loved someone else, even though that thought squicked him when he found out who, life must have been hell.
She'd died so young, and had her heart ripped away, as she was given away as nothing more than a piece of meat by her father in an attempt to gain favor with the powerful Dog General. Odd as that sounded, there were some of the human Lords that desired alliance with youkai of a certain rank, as well, and apparently, his mother's father was one of them. Once he'd seen Mattaki's desire for his daughter, he'd eagerly given her away as nothing more than a concubine.
So much for honor – it was a good thing that bastard was long dead, or he'd have to kill him.
Oh, he remembered quite well those uppity bastards of his mother's clan back then – he might have been young, but he wasn't stupid, and he was well aware of the loneliness and sadness his mother had suffered after his father's death. They didn't just call him names, but his mother as well, and that had angered him badly back then, though he was too young to do anything about it. The worst of it was, the very names they were calling her, youkai's whore, he know knew were her family's fault in the first place!
After all, they were the ones that sold her off as a concubine – and then to call her names due to their own actions? Just thinking about it made his blood boil... but then it soothed as later memories flashed into his mind.
Just a few years before Kikyou had sealed him, he had gone back to his mother's family's palace, and razed it to the ground. Though his grandfather and all the rest were long dead, he'd watched them basically doing the same thing to another daughter of the house, and when his mother's fate began to play out for the young hime, he took matters into his own hands.
He hadn't killed anyone, but he'd made sure to get his hands on the Lord of the family at that time, and let him know in no uncertain terms just who he was, and his disapproval of their treatment of the young woman. He also let them know, that he would be dropping by every so often to make sure they weren't treating her badly, and if he found they had, there would be hell to pay.
Needless to say, they had tried to fool him, treating her terribly, and then forcing her to lie about it.
Inuyasha wasn't fooled, and that time, he'd killed the Lord of the clan, then made sure the next in line paid careful heed to his words. After that, things smoothed out, but the young hime was doomed, anyway, as she contracted a fatal illness one winter, and died, along with quite a few others that fell that year.
At least that time, a young hanyou child wasn't left behind mourning his mother, and running for his life, so Inuyasha supposed that was the best that could be hoped for.
After that winter, he'd never gone back, leaving his mother's kin to rot as they would in time. He'd made it a point one year to ask Kagome to look up his mother's family and tell him of their fate, and he'd been pleasantly surprised, though shocked, to find that during the sixteen hundreds, the younger daughter of the lord had fallen in love with a youkai, and had borne him a son. Her family cast her out, and she and her youkai lived together for some years before they were attacked and killed by rabid monks – at her family's instigation.
The son was left alive due to the simple fact that he'd been out swimming in the river a little ways away, and the monks had no idea he was there.
Feeling betrayed, enraged, and grief-stricken, the young hanyou blamed most of their misfortunes on his mother's family, and had taken immediate revenge, destroying the family's estate, and killing most of them off.
The family never recovered after that, and their name disappeared into history.
The hanyou also disappeared, not being heard of again - no one knew his fate.
All that to say that his sympathy was firmly with his mother – and, though he absolutely detested even thinking it, Sesshoumaru. He too, had suffered for their father's lust, and had every right, in Inuyasha's mind, to be angry about it.
Of course, he had to admit in all fairness, their father hadn't known of his brother's interest, and his actions weren't done to cause anyone any heartache. And it was also true that their father hadn't taken any action that wasn't prevalent in their time period – most hime were married off as part of alliances, usually not even knowing their husband in advance. Many of them became part of a harem of wives, and lived and died in obscurity, leaving behind no one to truly grieve their passing.
In that moment, Inuyasha could only wish that his mother had been borne in Kagome's time, instead – she'd have had a chance at a much better, happier life... but wishes were just that, and all he could truly do was carry her memory in his heart, in that way immortalizing her.
Keh. At least Kagome won't have to suffer my mother's fate. The bastard loves her, that's obvious, and he won't do anything to hurt her.
He sighed again. It was cold comfort, but it was better than nothing, he supposed.
Finally, tired from his abuse of his body, and his morose thoughts, he drifted of to sleep, a sad, haunted look on his face even in sleep.
-wWw-
For Mattaki, morning couldn't come soon enough, and he stared almost impatiently up into the night sky, watching as the wheel of heaven slowly turned, stars twinkling brightly as though they were diamonds strewn across a black velvet cloak.
It was beautiful, and he could appreciate it – especially after having been dead for so many years. Death taught one to cherish every moment – though, ironically, by the time the lesson was learned, it was a moot point, because by then, you were dead, and life, and cherishing it, was rather pointless – not to mention impossible.
However, it was a lesson that the mighty daiyoukai would have the chance to put to good use, and so, with a sigh, he leaned back and deliberately relaxed, calming his impatience and simply enjoying the sweet, cool air, the night sounds around him, and the skies in all their brilliance.
It was peaceful, and Mattaki relished that feeling, though he did wish his little mate could be here enjoying it with him. Perhaps, after she came back, he should bring her with him into the trees for the night.
That thought sent him of into thoughts about a vacation, as Inuyasha had termed it. He knew his mate was tired, and they'd all been through a lot. Even more so for her, with the stress of his own advent into her life. He knew that he had only added to it, but he couldn't bring himself to regret anything – now that they were mates, she could have all the time she needed to rest and relax and take everything in.
He wondered, idly, if she'd ever been to the mainland, or even further? Had she ever visited foreign lands? He highly doubted it after thinking about it – she was still young, and with as much time as she'd spent here, he didn't think she'd have had the time to go traipsing around the world.
Perhaps that would be a good vacation for her. He could take her anywhere and everywhere in the world she might like to go, and they could spend as much time as they wanted just traveling around.
Pleased with that idea, he made a mental note to speak to her about it as soon as Naraku was dead.
He drifted into sleep with a smile on his face, and his mate on his mind.
-wWw-
Morning found Kagome groggily opening her eyes, and, looking around blearily, she sat up and stretched, mumbling all the while. Grabbing her bag, she rooted around inside it until she found her water bottle, and took a long pull on it before capping it and sighing.
It seemed to be about eight in the morning, at least by her guesstimate, which were usually pretty accurate. Yawning, she decided it was time to annoy her mate, and find out if he'd been successful in figuring out how to unseal the well.
'Knock knock, she chuckled, 'time to wake up, Mattaki. Did you find anything out?'
She could feel her mate's amusement humming along the bond, and growled a bit – the jerk had already been up since daylight, and had merely been waiting on her to wake to impart the information.
'Fine, be a jerk – just tell me how to get out of here and back there!'
'Patience, little one, is a virtue you sorely need to learn,' he smirked at the quite graphic description of what he could do with his patience, and shaking his head, he told her what she needed to know.
When he told her about the fact that they would have been in major trouble had Kikyou not purified Naraku's taint from her, she shivered – she'd have to give the older woman a big hug... once they actually managed to get back to where they belonged.
With that in mind, she quickly woke the other woman, and passed on what Mattaki had told her. Kikyou was quick to agree that it was quite lucky she'd been able to purify her.
“So, all we have to do is go to the well, and purify Naraku's taint out of it?” she asked, seemingly surprised.
“According to Mattaki, it is. What do you say we go give his idea a try?”
Kikyou nodded, a smile crossing her face at the thought of shortly being back where she belonged.
Gathering all their belongings, and making sure the fire was completely doused, the two women dropped their barriers, and cautiously stepped outside, memories of last nights visitation coming to them.
Sweeping her aura around a little, Kagome felt nothing out of place, yet the forest held a waiting stillness, and that told her that wherever he was, Naraku wasn't far off.
Concern dogging all their steps, Kikyou and Kagome made their way back towards the Goshinboku.
It was definitely more disturbing to see Inuyasha pinned to the tree in the full light of day, and Kagome couldn't help the pang of nostalgia as she studied him. I still remember to this day unsealing you and all that happened afterwards. No matter what, Inuyasha, you will always be my best friend...
She caught Kikyou's guilty and sad expression and sighed. “Look at it this way, Kikyou – right now, he's simply taking a nap. At this point in time, he's peaceful, and we both know that's not going to be something he gets much of after I wake him up.”
Kikyou nodded, though she'd didn't say anything, and the two continued on their way, heading for the well, and hopefully, home.
They hadn't taken ten steps from the clearing the Goshinboku was in, when they both at the same time felt Naraku's malicious presence heading right for them, and without saying a word to each other, both women dropped what they were carrying and stood with arrows centered on the approaching menace.
Kagome was actually a bit surprised at how much weaker Naraku was at this time. It seemed that the deadly hanyou of her time, was nothing without the shards of the jewel – she'd taken down stronger opponents herself.
When he materialized under the trees with them, he was understandably shocked to see a woman that looked just like the woman he'd betrayed so many years before – with another woman with a decided resemblance to her.
“What kind of spell is this?” he demanded irately, eyes glittering through the baboon mask over his face.
“No spell, Naraku,” Kikyou replied smugly. “I was given a second chance at life.”
An insectile hissing came from him, and he stepped closer. “Then where is the Shikon no Tama, woman?”
That's when Kagome answered. “Sealed, completely out of your reach, or anyone elses, for that matter. I sent it into the future, and by the time I was done, its aura couldn't be felt even by the one holding its box. You will never triumph, Naraku.”
Obviously angered, the spider hanyou rushed at them, and the two women moved – they had no choice. Weaker aura or not, he was still faster than two human women, and it looked like hitting him was going to be a chore.
Unless... she dodged when forced to, but it was evident that Naraku was more interested in Kikyou than some miko he didn't even know. But that would prove to be a bad move, as Kagome formed a plan that was so ironic it was almost more than she could bear not to laugh aloud and draw Naraku's attention to her.
When Kikyou looked at her as she dodged yet another attempt to grab her, confused as to why she wasn't helping, Kagome put her finger to her lips, and Kikyou seemed to understand, because she turned away, shooting another arrow at Naraku, hoping to keep him occupied until Kagome could do whatever it was she was planning.
Come on, Naraku, Kagome thought, just a little closer... the spider was so busy trying to kill Kikyou again, that he wasn't paying enough attention to the other person under the trees with them. He also wasn't paying attention to where he was at, simply ranting at Kikyou in between passes of trying to claw her to death.
Finally! Kagome exulted, even as she lined up the shot and took it, praying with all her might that it would hit.
With a heavy-sounding thunk, it did, and before the astonished hanyou even realized what had happened, he was just as pinned to a tree as Inuyasha was.
Kikyou's eyes were wide as she stared at what Kagome had done, and then she laughed. “Oh, how ironic, Kagome! I never would have thought to seal him!”
“Well, I think he looks good there, decorating the tree. Makes this little spot so picturesque,” she said facetiously. “What do you think... I could call it 'revenge in shades of irony', or something.”
Kagome and Kikyou continued to laugh, watching as Naraku tried to pull her arrow out of his chest, but to no avail, as her holy power burned him every time he tried to touch it.
“This particular sealing spell is a little different, though,” she said to Kikyou as they watched the bastard finally fall into sleep. “It's timed... he'll wake up in a few days, none the worse for wear – and he won't remember us at all. I didn't want to mess up the timeline.”
Nodding, still laughing, Kikyou said, “It's too bad Inuyasha couldn't see this – he'd have a field day with that,” she chortled.
Kagome snorted in amusement. “Yeah, I could just see that. “Maybe I'll draw him a picture when we get back to cheer him up,” Kagome sighed.
By that time, they had finally reached the well clearing, and Kikyou slumped to the grass to the side of it. She waved a hand at Kagome. “Give me a minute – I'm still trying to catch my breath from all that.”
Kagome nodded and sat down in the soft grass as well, just enjoying the peace and quiet of the morning. There were never enough of those types of moments – moments when you aren't doing anything, and there isn't anything for you to do, and you can just sit back, let the warmth of the sun comfort you, and bask in the scents of flowers and grasses and trees.
Unfortunately, such moments are also usually brief, as was the case this morning. Just as Kikyou was ready to stand up and get down to business, shouts were heard coming from the direction of the village – and they were much too close to hide.
Great, another welcoming party. How wonderful. Now what are we going to do?
Kagome stared as a younger Kaede stalked through the village men holding rakes and shovels as weapons to confront them. How awkward is this? she sighed to herself.
The shock on Keade's face was almost funny as Kikyou winced and said, “Hello, Kaede. I bet you'd like to know why I'm alive, and what's going on, ne?”
The silence in the clearing made Kagome abruptly aware of what the term 'heavy silence' meant as they all stared at each other, not sure what to do.
-wWw-
A/N: Nothing is ever easy, is it? I'm the poster child for Murphy's law – whatever can go wrong, will go wrong. And in fact, even those things that aren't supposed to go wrong can, when it's my life we're talking about. ~bounces head off desk and lays there~ Anyway, though the story is almost over, there's still a few things to accomplish, so enjoy!
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