Yu-Gi-Oh! Fan Fiction / InuYasha Fan Fiction ❯ Behind The Double Mirrors ❯ Simple stories ( Chapter 13 )

[ Y - Young Adult: Not suitable for readers under 16 ]

~Meg’s P.o.V.~
I stared to the open sky, shocked at what I’d seen. Was it a dream?
My answer was an obvious no as I woke in the wreckage. A child’s crying.. somewhere, close by. A squawking, for his mother, for his auntie.. for anyone.
“Birdie?” I whispered. He squawked his little cries. I heard the exchange of violent words… Jack… and Will…
“You betrayed us all!” Jack shouted. I willed my legs to move but looking down, I soon realized that they were nearly crushed by the weight of some sort of support mast from the broken, blasted ship.
Slowly, as I eased my legs carefully from underneath the unbearable weight, I tried making sense of it all… tried working out the story as I imagined Maxine’s fingers would type it. But that’s what it was, wasn’t it? A story? A reflection?
My hand found a shard of glass and it slowly dug into my palm. I winced in pain and picked it up, staring into it. My eyes stared back… but no, not mine.
“Rose…” I whispered.
I tried to make sense of it all.
Will… Will wanted Elizabeth and his son. He bargained Jack… but when? When this incident had played out with Rose? But the mistake was the crossing of paths. Rose and I crossed paths at Jack. Just as Cat and Max crossed at InuYasha; Kim and Minoko at Kaiba. And why Birdie? Why was he here?
Sarah and Will. Sarah and Elizabeth crossed paths at Will, but they weren’t ever to meet, to really cross, because Sarah had chosen Birdie and Mayank…
And now Will had Elizabeth and his son, but lost them at the hands of Jones… that’s why Jones was after us now. He’d struck a bargain of some sort. All these twisted bargains I couldn’t sort out.

I knew Will had betrayed us all, hadn’t he? He’d handed Rose and Jack…me and Jack straight over to Davy Jones. Jones had gained life from Cat, so as to track down everyone cared for by InuYasha, he wanted revenge on Jack …hurting InuYasha simply as means to seek her revenge… and Cat had crossed every path, weaving a web she never intended.
So history wasn’t repeating itself, not really… it was crossing. I lowered the shard of glass. It was certain as I struggled beside a young woman, her long brown hair cascading down her back as she whimpered, calling her lover’s name.
“Rose….” I whispered again. We stared into each other’s eyes and for the first time, I understood it all.

~Kim’s P.o.V.~
I gasped for air as I reached the water’s surface. Wreckage surrounded me. The ships were aflame… and there on deck. Meaghan…
I willed myself to call her name, but I couldn’t. Then I saw the other.
The name came to my head before I even thought to say it.
Rose.
Rose… here? What was going on?!
I searched fruitlessly for Seto, knowing I’d lost his grip. My thoughts wandered to Maxine… my little sister, where was she?
Instead my thoughts found another’s…
~Minoko’s P.o.V.~
I stared at Cat in disbelief. My friend. My sister.
My eyes darted to the bastard, InuYasha… and his lover? Yet he had belonged with Cat. Not this… this human in front of me. This weak human they called Maxine.
“What…what happened?” I managed to say.
“…I-I’m dying, Minoko…” Cat whispered. I turned to look at my friend, my best friend. “N-no… you’re standing right here.. I.. I don’t understand,” I whispered, tears of confusion and anger burning in my eyes. What was happening to us? It was as if… we were being erased.
The human girl let out a small sob before falling into InuYasha’s embrace, “It isn’t real! Is it?! It never was! …it never was…” she gasped, “I’m sorry. I’m sorry for all of this.”
“It is not your fault alone…” Cat spoke up. I looked at her questioningly. She met my gaze, her voice in my mind, telling me she’d explain it all soon enough. We needed to calm the girl.
“I… I am at fault… for never appreciating what I had..” Cat gestured to Sesshoumaru who looked angry, but his gaze softened as he met Cat’s eyes, “And growing jealous over one I’d wanted…”
“Seto…” I whispered suddenly, “If he’s not dead, where is he?”
“With Kim,” the human girl replied, backing away from InuYasha. He looked so saddened… but why?
“The reflection of you,” Cat said to my questioning gaze, “Kimberley Jean, in all respects is you… she had what you lost, therefore… you never lost him.”
I closed my eyes to sort it out. But instead of the darkness of my thoughts, I saw another’s visions. Two girls… Rose Charter… my familiar friend… and another girl, brown hair, brown eyes. They stood in front of Jack, tears stinging in both their eyes. I looked down and saw, not my own clawed hands, but a human’s hands. I looked into the now still ocean and saw a human’s face. My face. Kim’s face. The same face, different features, but the same face in some way.
I heard the child’s cries, my human hands now clung to a small child. I heard a voice.. my own?.. whisper, “Hush Birdie…” as a blue-eyed, brown-haired girl sobbed at the feet of Will Turner. She shook with fear that she’d lost her only child at the hands of a jealous man, a dream that would never love her… and all she cared for was child.
“Sarah…” the human voice said, collapsing next to the other girl. The child squawked as Will’s eyes turned away. He would not look at the child that too much reminded him of his own.
I realized now I saw through the eyes of this Kim… myself, but not quite so. My creator? Rose and her creator? Standing now together, making a choice for Jack. And Sarah at the feet of Will, with Kim trying to pull her away, Sarah begging Will not to betray them… for the sake of not her child, but his.
And Cat and the other human, the one now clinging to InuYasha as my eyes flung open again. It was as if everything I’d seen had meaning, as if Cat’s voice had flooded into my mind and narrated the things I’d just seen through this Kim’s eyes. Cat and Maxine, that other human girl, they were the narrators, were they not? If Cat had had the power to cross our paths by mistake of thinking old loves had ever died, then surely Maxine, this writer, had the power to put it all back in place.

…wasn’t it just, after all, a simple story? I met my friend’s eyes. “Cat…” I thought, boring into her eyes, “I’m frightened.” But it was Maxine’s voice that answered my private confession. “Don’t be… my friend.”

The world was suddenly darker. Nothing seemed to really matter. Except that time had stopped. And now, I was lying on the soft linens, the familiar noises from downstairs drifting through the floorboards.
His breathing matched mine steadily and I perked up my ears at the lovely sound, peering over the bedspread at the sleeping form next to mine. “Seto…” I breathed. He didn’t stir, but slept on. I listened carefully to the sounds that filtered up to the room we were in.
The room was familiar, a small room… that of a homely inn. A breeze filtered in from the open window, which brought the scent of salty air, mixed with the sweet scent of flowers and pine trees. My silver optics scanned the room… a formal suit, cast on the floor and a silver and white sequined gown lain carefully over a chair.
I slipped the bedspread around me like a cloak and walked toward the window, gazing down. A small smile crept on my face as I gazed out toward the sea in the distance… a ship with black sails, a black flag with a white skull and crossbones… My eyes lowered to just below the window, in the clearing below. A young neko, her silvery hair glistening in the sunlight; her amber optics glistened with happiness as she chased the dog demon with silver-white hair and yellow-ish optics, tackling him the ground. Her laugh rang beautifully above even the growing noise downstairs. The pub had awakened, despite the wedding party having just ended before the sun rose.
~Rose’s P.o.V.~
“Love… do you really think that more rum is a good choice of beverage first thing in the morning?” I asked as that handsome pirate set down 6 bottles of rum on the worn table surface. The coin that hung just over his red bandana, braided with beads practically permanently in his hair, glimmered in the sunlight. He smirked at me mischievously and shrugged lightly, leaning forward to kiss me on the lips. His lips were still sweet and spicy from the night before and his breath smelled of, all things, pina colada. I’d supposed he’d gotten a bit out of hand…but I didn’t complain. I yawned and raked my fingers through my long brown hair, a few small braids falling in my face. Cat’s doing, most likely. She liked to mess with my hair, for some unknown reason… it was just habit, I suppose. I tightened Jack’s coat around me and looked out through the front open windows as Cat’s laughter rang nicely outside. Tifa had opened up the windows… I think because it was a nice day, and perhaps she thought to air out the place a bit after last night’s festivities.
I let my brown eyes scan the familiar pub. It had no name. It never had a name. It was just… ours. Mine, Minoko’s, and Cat’s. No one, even if they wanted to change history or over run the place, could take that pub from us, not truly. It was the same with our lovers. Jack was mine… Kaiba was Minoko’s… InuYasha was Cat’s. And we belonged to them. As it should always have been. And no one… no matter how alike they would ever be to us, could ever win the gracious favour of those three from us.
Tifa, the old bartender, was wiping down the aged bar. Bottles upon bottles of both known and unknown alcohols lined the shelves. The tables were all worn, with stains and stabs. Our usual table was in the far corner, closest to the biggest window where the window seat which Cat had always sat upon was. I remember numerous nights where Cat had curled up on that window seat, resting her forehead against the cool glass windowpane.
Now the windows were flung open and I saw her running around with InuYasha as if she were a child. She beamed brightly. I’d never seen her so happy as she was with him. Despite hurt in the past, she was happy now and that was all that mattered.
Jack pulled me gently into his lap and took a swig of rum, smirking at me, “I think that…. It was a lovely wedding!”
“Love… you think all weddings are lovely if you can get your hands on some rum,” I replied smartly.
“…aye…” he admitted. I laughed a bit and kissed him on the lips, the taste of sweet spice rum meeting my slightly parted lips.
~Cat’s P.o.V.~
I laughed and tackled InuYasha down in the soft green grass, kissing him on the lips. His hands found my waist and he sat up, pulling me into his embrace. I snuggled close and breathed in with him, enjoying the moment.
“Do you think Minoko and Kaiba will have children?” I asked softly.
“They’re bound to do it like little bunny demons, so sure, why not?” he responded wittily. I smirked, nestling myself back against his chest as he nuzzled my neck.
“…do you think we’ll have children..?” he whispered in my ear. My neko ears perked up at the suggestion. “...only time will tell…” I whispered back. For now, I nestled against him, enjoying his presence that I could finally have, smelling in the sweet scent of salt air and pine trees and spice rum.

“Do you think Maxine, Meaghan, and Kimberley will remember us…?” I asked InuYasha.
“I think… they hold onto every memory…” InuYasha replied, “If it weren’t for you, Minoko, and Rose… they never would have met, after all.”
I nodded slightly, smiling to myself. Everything was in order.

What really had happened was when InuYasha, Kaiba, and Jack had crossed that boundary of reality and dreams… our souls were entwined with theirs, so the boundary was never closed. Maxine, Meaghan, and Kimberley had fallen in love, simply because their dreams… were our reality. We shared souls with Maxine, Meaghan, and Kimberley… they were our “authors”.
The bargains made with Kaiba were simply to save it all… but out of jealousy and wrath… out of what Maxine had and I had not…
But for nothing. For dreams and reality would collide without my interference.

Bargains made with Jones, to track them down were simply an interruption in fate. Will would’ve been able to see his beloved Elizabeth and his only son without my “help”. And with Sesshoumaru to kill the child that should’ve been mine, another mistake of mine to think Sesshoumaru would kill Maxine’s child.. so to speak my child; after all, Sesshoumaru still did love me a bit. All a mistake, but now forgiven.
Will’s bargain with Jones, was simply to regain his family again, his freedom. It would’ve happened in due time, I just pressed on for my own selfish matters. I wanted InuYasha so I sent Jones after Jack and Meg, knowing I would hurt Maxine through her friends and InuYasha through Maxine. I didn’t realize I was hurting myself…
Will gained his freedom again. Jack and Rose had told us the night before that Will and Elizabeth were sorry they couldn’t make it to Minoko’s wedding… Elizabeth was too far along with their second child. Rose didn’t seem to mind. Jack didn’t really either. They weren’t all too important in our lives now… Jack forgave Will, but Rose still holds a grudge.
As for Sarah, we knew, from shared memories with Maxine, Kimberley, and Meaghan… that she was fine and Birdie was getting quite big. Mayank visits with his son often.

We knew now that it was alright. I’d simply grown jealous as Maxine would’ve. After all, we shared a soul… as we all did.

Jones lived on. After all, the Flying Dutchman needs a captain. But he never dared terrorize the “Dimensional Witch” again, or her friends.
He never struck a bargain with anyone of the Turner line again. They were as safe as we were.

Sesshoumaru later moved on and found that he’d fallen in love with Rin. He just had to get over me, is all. I was glad he did. They named their first daughter Catalina. She was a beautiful silver-haired girl who looked just like her mother.

The line between dreams and reality was always a fine line, but it had finally been closed. We were still unsure of how it had happened. We believe it simply happened because we finally realized it had been breached. And we fixed it.

Everything was in order and all was finally well.

~Maxine’s P.o.V.~
~20 years later…~
I looked at the pictures with a small smile on my face, flipping through a photo album of Meg’s I’d found in her house.
37 years old, and still friends. I added up the years. Nearly 25 years and still friends now… and never better.
Despite all the confusing memories and stories and photographs and everything we remained friends.
We hadn’t heard anything from Jack, Rose, InuYasha, Catalina, Kaiba, or Minoko in years. We only imagined them… as it should’ve been.
We all felt like we really lived through all of that… so much pain, but just as much..if not more..love.
And really, we kind of had lived through it all, in a sense. The boundary was physically closed, we could never see Jack, InuYasha, or Kaiba again… they were born to love Rose, Cat, and Minoko…
But that boundary between dreams and reality was never mentally closed, never spiritually closed. We counted those memories as parts of our lives… somewhere in between, it all crossed and made sense. At least to us, the ones who’d lived it.

“Mom… Auntie Meg’s going to blow out her candles…” a familiar voice called. My daughter’s.

I walked back inside, meeting Kim’s literal glomp. Even at 40 years old, she was as energetic as always. Meg was preparing to blow out the candles on her cake. 38 years old.
Sarah danced around with a party hat on, blowing a party horn..thing and Birdie rolled his eyes, “Mom…” he muttered, meeting Meg’s humored gaze, “Aunt Meg, honestly, how do you put up with her?”
“Memories… just a lot of memories remind me why I love her,” Meg replied.
“Mom, tell us again how you guys met,” my daughter, Leah begged. It was always this way at birthdays, or any gathering. Kim’s own daughter, Kayla, a few years older than Leah, began the begging as well. But there was no need to beg.
“Well… it all started at this pub…”
“And all those stories that made no freakin’ sense!” Kim added.
“Yea, but those were after it all…” Meg said.
“And they made sense…sometimes,” I insisted. Meg, Kim and I exchanged smirks.
“Oh come on guys...” Meg’s daughter, Rohan, said as she rolled her eyes. She’d heard it before, they all had, but they loved it. “Finish the story, Auntie Max?” Kayla asked, sidling up next to me. My goddaughter. I hugged her in a motherly way and smiled, beginning the story.

“Well… let’s start at the beginning…once upon a time, three girls met, at a ‘pub’ of all places…”