InuYasha Fan Fiction / Sailor Moon Fan Fiction ❯ The Guardian of Destinies ❯ Chapter Four ( Chapter 4 )

The Guardian of Destinies

 

Sitting in a semi-circle around a small room of a small home sat two demons, one hanyou, a miko and a miko-in-training, a demon-slayer, a priest, and a small boy. The boy was separated from the others by the largest space. Sitting on his knees, he bowed his head in shame. Before him sat none other than the person that he had wanted to see the most, and the person whom he feared seeing the most. Kohaku, for that was his name, clenched his fists harder in front of him. No matter how much he fought, the tears wouldn't stop.

 

“You must be brave, always doing what is right. All evil acts must be atoned for until forgiveness is received. No reward will be expected of doing good things,” these were the things that his father had taught him. Kohaku decided right then and there that he would do what was right.

 

“Please,” was the first word spoken in the deafening silence. Everyone's eyes turned to him in shock. “I know that what I've done to all of you, especially you Sango-chan,” here he looked up at his sister before lower his head in more shame than he could express, “is unforgivable and irreparable, but I ask that you will forgive me. If there is a price, I will pay it, but I believe that there is nothing I can do to fix those pains that I have caused.”

 

Approximately five seconds passed before Sango jumped to her feet and ran to her brother. Tears flowed freely down her face just as they were down her brothers. A few tears slipped past Kagome and Kaede at seeing the young demon-slayer so happy. Then Sango whispered, “You haven't done anything that we need to forgive. Now you're free from those past deeds that were committed, not by you, but by the one who tried to take you from me.”

 

The others all slipped silently out of the cottage to let the two siblings talk. It seemed that they would be camping outside tonight, even Kaede. Sango and Kohaku never noticed them leaving because they were caught up in the happiness that came from their reunion.

 

***

 

Sesshoumaru surreptitiously glanced behind him again. It seemed that the girl was aptly named after the rabbit for her entire being radiated a…well, there's no other way to say it… she was practically bouncing her way down the path. Something had happened last night, but he didn't know what could have occurred. She hadn't left the clearing and no one had come to see her.

 

He had set the same grueling pace as the day before. Yesterday, she had been tired due to her night wanderings, but had kept with him well, even if she fell back about eight or so paces. Today, she was walking directly behind him, almost stepping on his feet at various times. So, he had quickened his pace so that it was hard for Jaken to keep with them, but she still remained on his heels.

 

“I hope that we will be there soon!” Usagi exclaimed. “I really would like to see Rin-chan again. Do you think that we are going to be there by lunch?”

 

“We are almost there,” was his monotonous reply to her inquiry. Usagi's dialogue had yet to stop since they had started the journey that morning. Sesshoumaru almost let a sigh of resignation slip past his guard as her non-stop `prattling' continued, but he had too much control to slip like that. Rolling his eyes slightly in astonishment at his odd behavior, he thought, not for the first time that morning, about how glad he was that the day's travels would be done by noon.

 

The girl behind him had taken to singing Rin's favorite past-time song as of late: “…Jaken-sama, Jaken-sama loves the pretty flowers, Jaken-sama, Jaken-sama, loves to dance for hours…” over and over again.

 

He tuned out her mindless singing and focused on what was to come next. Her final test of truthfulness was about to be given, although she did not know it. The castle was enchanted so that humans could not find it. The precaution had been set into place by his father, back when he had fallen in love with the human, to protect her from those who surrounded her and did not want the union. It was set so that she could come live at the palace in safety. However, this never happened, for Inu-Taisho was killed before she was able to be leave her family. Thus, neither she, nor Inuyasha, had ever seen the palace.

 

Once they crested the next hilltop, the grounds would be visible, but if she was lying, she would not be able to see it. If a human were to come to the palace of the moon, they would see a barren wasteland instead of the lush green, cultivated land that was truly before them.

 

Climbing the steep part of the hill seemed to require Usagi's complete attention, for she had finally become silent from her constant chatter. Sesshoumaru noticed that, while she was able to stay with him, some parts of the hill required such a high level of effort that she would use her hands to help balance herself. Taking this into consideration, after all, he had been pushing her very hard for the past two days; he slowed his pace just ever so slightly. Apparently, however, she didn't notice him slowing, because she almost bumped into his back in her effort to keep up.

 

Sesshoumaru reached the top first and looked at his home. It had been years since he had actually looked at the beautiful structure. His grandfather had it built many years before even his father was born. The palace of the moon had lived through hundreds of generations of humans, and three generations of demons. This was an amazing feat, in so much as most places of beauty and splendor were destroyed before age could add its beauty to the structure.

 

The ivory colored turrets of the palace had been raised high into the sky and, when the moon was visible, would shine as brightly as the silver globe above them. Marble was the choice his grandfather had made for the steps in the courtyard and the pillars that held the palace up. The inside of the palace was adorned with gold and grand tapestries, along with artwork done by the greatest artists of his father's and grandfather's times.

 

As Usagi caught up to him, she was a little too exhausted to look forward immediately. Once her head eyes rose from the ground, Sesshoumaru was pleased to hear her gasp of amazement. Usagi was filled with astonishment at the beauty before her. She couldn't think of any way to express her amazement at the awe-inspiring vision that lay in front of her. Trees that were both cultivated and aloud to grow freely covered the courtyard, and the grounds were filled with wild flowers that only added to the magnificence of the palace itself.

 

A smile spread across her lips at the beauty that lay before her. She was truly happy that something so wonderful still existed. A flash of a memory of her long-forgotten early childhood resurfaced at the slight familiarity of the place that now stood before her. She had been running, running as fast as she could with joy bubbling over. Through marble and ivory, reds and blues, she went, trying to find…something…someone…her mother! Then the memory was gone. Usagi shook her head to get rid of the odd feeling of de ja vu that had spread over her a moment before.

 

Close to a quarter of an hour later, they were approaching the front of the palace. The servants, who had been warned by the return of master's ward, were already assembled to greet Sesshoumaru in front of the massive building that rose towards the sun. Rin, whom the servants had forbidden to run across the grounds to meet Sesshoumaru and Usagi, stomped on the foot of the current servant who was holding her back and ran to Sesshoumaru. Once she reached him, however, her manners had kicked in, if only for a second, and she bowed. “Welcome back, Sesshoumaru-sama!” she squealed in her childish voice.

 

Turning to Usagi, however, she became energetic and happy again and ran to her. Giving the blond a hug that would have squished the life out of someone of a lesser constitution, Rin squealed, “Usagi-chan, welcome home! Will you play with me? Will you, will you, will you?”

 

Usagi laughed and said, “We can play later, but first, let's see if we can find anything to eat!”

 

Later that day, Kagome walked silently up to the well. The excitement of the morning had prevented her from leaving until somewhere close to three. “Man,” she whispered, “there's no way that I'll pass that test tomorrow.” She sighed to herself as she prepared to jump over the side of the well.

 

“Kagome,” was the whisper of a word that stopped her. Smiling to herself, she turned her head towards the speaker. There stood none other than Inuyasha. “How long will you be gone?”

 

Frowning, Kagome realized that he was only there to make her come back quickly. “I told you before, Inuyasha,” she said a bit irritably, “only three days. I will be back soon to help you find the rest of the shards.”

 

“Oh,” Inuyasha looked a little taken aback, but quietly turned to head back to Kaede's.

 

`Perhaps,' Kagome thought, `maybe he didn't come to hurry my return for the shards.' “Inuyasha,” she called out while jumping off of the side of the well and walking towards him. “Why don't you come with me? I have to go to school tomorrow, but you can offer your company to my mom. She likes to see you every now and then.”

 

Even though Inuyasha didn't show his excitement on his face, his ears twitched and Kagome let out a small giggle. “What?” he huffed at her.

 

Smiling secretively, Kagome replied, “Nothing. Let's go Inuyasha. Mom's waiting for us.” Inuyasha picked Kagome up princess style, bag and all, and pecked her on the cheek before jumping into the well.

 

Behind a tree stump sat none other than the monk. He had wondered to the well hoping to say goodbye to Kagome, and ask her to bring some things back from her time, when he had come upon the scene of Inuyasha and Kagome. Hiding had seemed the best option at that moment in time, and now he was glad that he had. If there was one thing the monk knew that this was, it was blackmail information on the hanyou. `Now,' Miroku thought to himself, `I will finally be able to extract my revenge.'

 

Meanwhile, the beauty of the day had not been overlooked by the two recently reunited siblings. Currently, they were reclining against a rather large cherry blossom tree just outside of the village. Not much had to be said after the night before. Sango had made it very clear to her younger brother that he was not the one to blame for all that had happened. Naraku, whom they had killed, was the only one who could be held even slightly responsible.

 

A small sound began going through the little clearing that they had been resting in. Sango looked towards the disturbance and smiled. Kohaku had fallen asleep in his position against the tree. His head had tilted ever so slightly to the side and his mouth fell open. The scene was so comforting that a part of Sango almost said that this had to be a dream, that it couldn't be real. She hadn't been so happy in such a long time.

 

Recently, though, there had been some disturbances in her emotional balance as of late. Frowning, Sango thought about the one enigma that she couldn't figure out. He, Miroku, had been chasing after her for a long time, but something was different recently. She couldn't quite pinpoint the difference. Suddenly, as if thunder had struck, Sango knew what it was. Miroku, ever since the appearance of the one whom Destiny had sent, hadn't tried to go after any other women. He was still charming, but not in the same way. As a matter of fact, he had been starting to cool down in that area since the defeat of Naraku.

 

However, the warmth of the sun, and the beauty that surrounded her, along with the singing birds above, didn't allow Sango to be confused for very long. She soon joined her brother in the land of dreams and happy endings.

 

Somewhere far from there, “Jaken-sama, Jaken-sama, loves the pretty flowers, Jaken-sama, Jaken-sama, loves to dance for hours!” Two voices echoed across the meadow that stretched before the magnificent palace of the moon. The owners to the voices were currently dancing in circles with flower crowns gracing the top of their heads. One was a small girl about the age of eight while the other was a young woman no younger than twenty, but whose age is beyond that of most living mortals.

 

Dancing together, the two didn't notice that the said `Jaken-sama' was currently darkening his shade of green in irritation at the two. “Why did I get this duty?” he mumbled to himself. “Of all duties to be done, I am stuck babysitting these two weaklings.

 

Suddenly, Usagi stopped abruptly. Looking toward the east, she said, “Rin, go over to that tree and hide behind it. No matter what happens, stay there.” Jaken was too busy to notice the change in one of his `charges.' Rin, knowing an order when she heard one, immediately did what she was told.

 

As soon as Rin had gotten out of sight, a large Centipede demon appeared from the woods to the east. Finally, Jaken noticed that something was happening, and, turning towards the disturbance, saw the large monster that had appeared from no place in particular. Screeching, Jaken, on first impulse, ran towards the area that Rin had hidden in. However, he decided that a better course of action would be to use his staff. “Hey, girl,” he yelled to Usagi without even look at her, “take the human and go find the Lord Sesshoumaru-sama!”

 

Usagi, however, didn't hear anything that he had said. She had been gathering power ever since Rin had run from her. Chanting to herself in such a low voice that no one heard it, Usagi called forth her power with these words, “Strong as Steel, Loud as Thunder, Colder than Ice, Depths of Fire, Your mistress calls you out of need. From the sky, through times past, Out of the ocean, as cool as death's touch, come protect the one who pleads.” When she finished saying this, a large tempest of sorts arose.

 

Usagi's head shot up from her prayer. Fire lit in her eyes as the skies darkened, “Mars!” she called. What appeared to be a ghost of a girl with long black hair appeared. She smiled at Usagi and then lifted a bow of fire. This mysterious girl called out two words, “Flame Sniper!” An arrow of fire shot towards the demon, and it was incinerated.

 

The sky lit back up, the tempest waned, the winds died down, and Usagi collapsed. The power taken to do what she had done didn't affect her nearly so much as the image of her closest friend had. She hadn't used this power in such a long time that she had forgotten that the one she called on would appear. Tears flowed down her cheeks as the memories of her closest friends came back.

 

Tentatively, Rin came out of her hiding space. Jaken was just staring at the place in which the ghost girl had been. Rin, seeing how upset Usagi was, ran to her side and, after a moment of silence, gently placed her hands around Usagi's neck. “It will be all right,” she whispered in her childish effort to comfort the older girl. “Please don't cry, Usagi-sama!”

 

Sesshoumaru had felt it. Some demon had the power, and the nerve, to pass his border. What creature, he didn't know, but they were dead the moment that they had endangered the lives of those under his protection. As he moved through his grounds, he felt a surge of power that couldn't be compared to anything he had yet felt. It wasn't the same as that piece of jewelry that the humans and lesser demons were fighting over, and yet it was. It wasn't the same as when a powerful demon, such as he and his father, transformed, and yet it was. There was no real way to describe it.

 

As soon as he reached the clearing, he saw Rin holding Usagi who was on her knees. It appeared that she was just getting over a fit of tears, for there were streaks down her face to show the path in which the tears had fallen. Rin, as small as she was, appeared to be trying to comfort the girl. Jaken was the one that appeared to be acting strange. He was staring at a particular patch of earth with his mouth hanging ajar. It appeared that specific patch of earth had been severely scorched very recently, and the smell of fire was still in the air.

 

Looking at Rin, who seemed the most apt to answer him, he said, “What happened.”

 

Rin jumped at the startling sound of his voice. Apparently she hadn't noticed that her lord had joined the rather shocked group in the clearing. “Sesshoumaru-sama!” she called to him. Her voice was laced with something akin to desperation, which was neither expected nor wanted. “Sesshoumaru-sama, is there anything that you can do. Usagi-chan won't stop crying and Rin is worried!”

 

Turning to the blond girl who was sitting on her knees, he noticed that she behaved as if there was no one in the field of flowers with her. She hadn't heard the pleas of the small girl that had previously been trying to comfort her, and was currently trying to shake the soul right out of her body. “Rin, stop shaking her now,” Sesshoumaru commanded. Immediately, she ceased her actions.

 

Rin took a step back to allow her Lord to wake Usagi-chan up, to make her stop her daydreaming as Jaken so often refers to it. Sesshoumaru walked up to Usagi and knelt down slightly. Using his forefinger and his thumb, he took hold of her chin and brought her face up to his. They were so close that he could smell the salt of her tears mixing with her own unique smell. “Usagi,” Sesshoumaru said in a slightly softer voice then was normal, however, if Rin or Jaken noticed this, they neither said a word. “Usagi, you must wake up. There is no good in staying like this. It is time to return to the palace for a meal, and you must be present tonight.”

 

Usagi blinked a few times and really looked at him. Then, she did the last thing he was expecting, she screamed and threw herself backwards. However, as she did so, her feet flew from under her and right into his legs. The unexpected movement caused Sesshoumaru, who was half kneeling, to loose his balance and fall right on top of her. The mayhem ended with Sesshoumaru on top of Usagi and straddling her legs. Their faces were mere centimeters apart. For one moment, neither knew what to think or do. However, a small giggle brought them out of that single moment that was now lost in the waves of time.

 

Immediately getting off of the small woman beneath him, Sesshoumaru had complete control over his composure. The odd movement had brought Jaken to his lord's side immediately, “Sesshoumaru-sama, are you all right?”

 

Usagi, on the other hand, was blushing like mad, but she had enough composure to whisper to Sesshoumaru, “I'm sorry. I hope you're not hurt.”

 

“This Sesshoumaru is fine,” he replied. Then, turning to his servant, Sesshoumaru said what had been the original intent of his visit before the appearance of an odd youkai, “Jaken, we must return to the palace at once. The other lords will be joining us for dinner tonight. Tomorrow is the beginning of the peace talks, this you know.”

 

“Hai,” Jaken nodded as he scampered after his already departing lord.

 

“Usagi,” Sesshoumaru stopped and turned back for a moment, “when you are better able, I will like to be informed of what has happened here.” Usagi didn't say a thing, she just nodded. Sesshoumaru continued to the palace to finish the preparations for the other lords.

 

Shortly after Sesshoumaru and Jaken disappeared over the hillside, two figures came walking towards them. They were wearing what appeared to be furs for clothes, but they walked like they held some nobility in them. Usagi immediately went on guard, but she sensed no evil from them, so she held her attack in.

 

As soon as they noticed this, both of them held up their hands in a gesture of surrender, or friendship. The one on the right said, “We're not here to hurt you. Our lord is already here, and since we had nothing better to do, we decided to take a walk. When we passed by Sesshoumaru and Jaken, they were talking about an attack that was able to pass through his barrier!”

 

“Yeah,” the other one agreed. “We just came to see what happened.”

 

Usagi nodded and relaxed just a little bit. “If this is true,” she said to them, “then give me your names.”

 

This time, the one on the left took the lead and said, “I'm Hakkaku, and this is Ginta.”

 

Suddenly, realization hit Usagi. These were the two wolves which had so many times saved the life of Kagome. They were with Koga, the wolf who was in love with Kagome, or at least thought that he was in love with her. In all actuality, his heart belonged to another, he just needed to release his heart to find out whom. Usagi smiled and said, “You're from the wolf tribe of the north, correct?”

 

They looked surprised, “How do you know that?”

 

“I know Kagome,” Usagi explained.

 

“Oh,” they both said simultaneously.

 

Upon the word, `wolf,' Rin had hidden very far behind Usagi. Soon, she was shaking so hard that Usagi couldn't control her own legs. Rin was shaking so violently that her legs were pulled a long. Prying the little girl's fingers off of her, Usagi didn't release the girls hands while she turned and knelt before her, “Rin-chan, what's wrong?”

 

“Wolf,” she whispered so quietly that Usagi could barely hear it. “The wolves killed… everyone… the village… my friends… Rin-chan…” The shaking was so bad that she could barely talk.

 

Usagi immediately understood. These two, while not knowing it, had been a part of what had led to this, but she could forgive them because they had changed. Picking the small girl up was not hard. She whispered things in her ear to calm her down. Soon Rin stopped shaking, but fear still filled her eyes.

 

“These two wolves,” Usagi said once she placed the girl back on the ground, “would never hurt you. You trust me, right?” Rin nodded, “Then you can trust them, ok?”

 

“Hai, Usagi-chan,” Rin said. She ran over to the two, and, although she was scared, said, “Rin is very pleased to meet you! Will you be Rin's friends too?”

 

The two looked a little bashful. Ginta scratched the back of his head while Hakkaku tried to hide the small blush on his face. Then, Usagi came up and said, “You two can't be more afraid than this little girl, can you?”

 

Then, Hakkaku bent down and said, “I'll be your friend if you'll be mine, is it a deal?”

 

“Hai,” Rin grinned up at him. Then she turned her attention to Ginta.

 

“Me too,” was all that Ginta was able to see. Rin let out a laugh and then nodded. Grabbing both of them by their hands, she led them to a particularly thick grove of flowers and proceeded to instruct the two on the best ways of making flower crowns, necklaces, and other such trinkets. Usagi couldn't help but let out a smile.

 

Soon, the laughter of the three on the other side of the field faded, and Usagi's mind turned to the odd event of the day. Where had that demon received enough power to cross over the barrier that protected the palace? It hadn't possessed a shard of the Shikon no Tama, and Usagi wasn't sure, but that power flow had felt familiar. `There is something coming,' Usagi nodded in determination, `I better be ready when it gets here.'

 

To be continued…