Disclaimer: I do not own anything belonging to the Inuyasha universe save for the plot bunnies and one crazy muse.
A/N: alright so I know I still have to finish the epilogue to TPOB but this idea hit me and I just had to get it out- Squishy has been rather insistent on it really and the epilogue (to TPOB) is taking me a lot longer than I thought it would. I want it to be perfect so please bear with me. That and my computer crashed again and I haven’t had access to the internet and it’s been kind of hard.
I sort of got the idea (a very loose term I use since this is Sess/Kag- but you’ll see what I mean) for this from watching the new Inuyasha season known as the Final Act (YES THEY DECIDED TO FINISH THE ANIME BRING IT ON!) the Episode was titled Kagura’s Wind and for those of you who haven’t seen any of the new episodes you HAVE to check it out. Anywho I hope you like it and just to warn you there are character deaths in the prologue and it starts out kind of weird (well to me at least). Anywho… ENJOY!
Prologue
A heart once so hardened that the barrier surrounding it seemed impenetrable, until one day the death of a mortal child proved that theory wrong; once revived the mortal girl succeeded in spreading the crack until it encompassed the barrier completely.
All it would take is the slightest push and it would shatter; he never thought it was possible but was proven wrong when he watched as the Mistress of the Wind faded before his eyes. He’d tried to resurrect her but his Father’s legacy would not heed his wishes and so she died.
After that he tried to harden his heart once more but it proved a fruitless endeavor. What was the point, he often wondered, in having a heart with no one to care for?
True he still had the mortal girl, but his love for her was that of a father for his daughter. It should have been enough but oddly enough it wasn’t.
So with his adopted daughter, faithful retainers, and loyal pack beast; Sesshomaru, Lord of the West and great Taiyoukai, wandered the land. What he was searching for he wasn’t sure, he only hoped that one day he would be able to find it before it was too late.
“Where are we going today Sesshomaru-sama?” Rin asked from Ah Un’s saddle.
He paused a moment as he pondered her question before putting his nose to the air; after a moment he caught the faintest of scents, and it told him that a battle had been fought and blood had been spilt. Familiar blood, blood he’d sworn to be the one to shed if only to correct an error made well over two centuries ago. “We go east.” He said before taking to the sky upon his cloud.
~*~
She’d been created to carry the heaviest of burdens and succeeded only with the strength and love her friends willingly gave in return for her love and trust. Even during the hardest of times she remained steadfast and determined; never allowing her doubts and fears to rule her, nor would she give into weakness.
Sent 500 years into the past to right the gravest of wrongs while partaking in the journey of a lifetime; it seemed nothing could stop them in their quest, but little did she know that even while fate sought to help them, it conspired against them as well.
She didn’t learn of fates plan until it was too late to go back and change it; there was no chance to find another way, and as her greatest friend and once love lay dying in her arms after the final battle, she felt her heart shatter into a thousand pieces.
It wasn’t supposed to end like this. She thought as she held him tightly; the others had already passed into the world beyond and out of all of them, she was the only one to survive. She couldn’t understand how such a thing could be possible since she’d been directly in the path of destruction that followed in Naraku’s wake.
With her help Inuyasha had been able to administer the killing blow and the completed Shikon no Tama now rested in her palm. They’d succeeded in their quest in the end, but at the cost of so many lives.
“It’s… alright, I’m not… afraid to… die.” He said softly as his breath rattled in his lungs, a trail of blood resting in the corner of his mouth. “I only… worry about… you.”
“Don’t worry about me right now; we have to do something to fix this.” She whispered through her tears as she tried in vain to stop the bleeding. “I can’t lose you Inuyasha.”
“Not… much of a… choice.” He murmured as he struggled to grip the hilt of his sword, and with her help he was able to grasp it and pull it towards her. “Take it…”
“What? But-“
“Take it.” He growled as forcefully as he could before breaking into a fit of coughing. “It will… protect you… since I can’t… anymore.”
She bit her lip against her words as her tears fell freely down her cheeks.
“Don’t… cry… I hate it when… you cry.”
“I’m sorry, I can’t help it.” She said brokenly. “What am I going to do without you?”
“You’ll go on… you’re… strong.” He said as his muscles began to relax. “It’ll be alright.”
“No it won’t, it’ll never be alright without you by my side.” She sobbed as she gripped onto his haori.
“Keh… silly wench… yes it will… you’ll see.” He said then struggled to draw in his last breath. “Time’s up…”
“No Inuyasha please no, you can’t leave me!” She sobbed as she shook him. “Please don’t leave me!”
“S…sorry…” He whispered then trailed off as his last breath rattled in his lungs and he went slack in her arms.
“Inuyasha?” She whispered as she searched his eyes for any response, when she received none she began to cry harder than she ever had in her life as she bowed over his broken and lifeless body. “Nooooo.”
She didn’t know how long she sat there while pleading with him to come back, the only sounds in the near vicinity were those made by her. All around them lie death and destruction, the ground was churned and trodden upon, the grass stained red with all the blood that had been shed this day.
And in the center of it all rested a small crater where the vile hanyou known as Naraku had met his end. But that didn’t matter to her anymore, and if she had known they would defeat him at the cost of her friends lives she would have been tempted to let him keep on living.
But it was a selfish thing to think and she couldn’t help but berate herself for it, Naraku could have never been allowed to live for if he had, the death toll and destruction would have only gotten worse.
Finally after an insurmountable amount of time, she stirred herself from her melancholy. It was only a matter of time before the scavengers would come out in droves and she’d be damned if she’d let the bodies of her friends be treated as food.
So bearing that in mind; Higurashi Kagome, time travelling girl from the future, reincarnation of the Priestess Kikyou, and Shikon Miko, climbed to her feet and began the gruesome task of burying her friends.
~*~
A/N:I know there are going to be a lot of people not happy with the way things ended (i.e. Kagome's friends -Shippo included- dying) but this is the way my muse wanted it, but don't worry i promise they will not be forgotten and I didn't do this just to get Sess/Kag together, i guess the only thing i can say is if you keep reading you'll figure that out. Anywho thanks for tuning in!