InuYasha Fan Fiction ❯ The Flower Girl ❯ In Memory Of ( Chapter 13 )

[ T - Teen: Not suitable for readers under 13 ]

Disclaimer: I do not own the characters of Inuyasha.

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Kagome climbed up from the depths of the well, and looked off into the forest behind the goshinboku. Eerie lights flashed above the trees in the distance, and a sort of cold sadness filtered through Kagome as she glanced from there to the bouquet of flowers in her hand.

With a small sigh, she slowly walked towards the village, taking the long route so as to avoid any of the group - she didn't want anyone to know she was here, and with Inuyasha being busy, so to speak, no one else would know or care that she was here when she wasn't supposed to be.

The night was clear and cold, the stars shining brightly above her, with a crescent moon hanging low in the sky, and she closed her eyes, taking in the peaceful sounds coming from the forest, and the village below her with a small, rather sad smile.

It's so beautiful here... my era is so different. There's some things that are beautiful there - but not like this. In some ways, I feel so lucky - no one in my time has ever seen the stars like this - except those few that have ventured into space.

Then she came to a halt at the bottom of the stairs to the shrine and stared up.

And then in other ways... I don't feel quite so lucky.

Climbing the steps up to the shrine above the village, she headed for the small shrine within - the miko Kikyou's final resting place.

Standing there, she touched a hand to it, saying a quick prayer, then stooped, and clearing some of the dust from the foot of it, she laid the small bunch of flowers there, then stood, staring at the grave.

Kaede keeps it in good repair, even though the grave was disturbed and Kikyou's remains stolen. It must have been so hard for her when her sister died - I know how I would feel if something like that happened to Sota.

A faint sigh broke from her, and a single tear ran down her cheek.

It's kind of strange to be standing here like this, when part of Kikyou is visiting with Inuyasha off in the trees. But I guess that it's even stranger when I'm the other part of her...

"The not-so-useful part," she finished in a murmur.

"Is that really what you think, miko?"

Kagome was startled by that calm, aristocratic voice, and spun towards it, eyes wide.

"Oh! Sesshoumaru-sama! I'm sorry... I didn't realize you were there - I wasn't paying attention to my surroundings, really," she mumbled sheepishly, knowing she would probably get a lecture on that failing.

Surprisingly, she did not.

Instead, Sesshoumaru caught her gaze and held it. "Tell me, miko... knowing you and your propensity for flowers that mean something," he gestured to the ones she'd laid at the foot of the shrine, "what do those mean?"

"Uh, In Memory Of... sorta. They're mixed zinnia's - they stand for remembrance."

"And what are you remembering?"

"This is the anniversary of the day Inuyasha got pinned, and Kikyou died."

"I see." He looked up at the night sky consideringly. And why do you bother?"

"Because they loved each other," she said, lowering her gaze unseeingly to the grave. "Neither of them deserved the fate they received - so that's why I come here like this."

He snapped his gaze back to her and bowed his head, then turned to leave. Pausing in his step for a moment, he said, "And that is why you are wrong about being the 'not useful' part. This Sesshouamaru has never seen any person with a bigger heart, miko. That is why Naraku will fail - because he cannot hate more than you seem to be able to love."

And with that, he walked away, leaving a completely floored woman behind him. She just couldn't believe that Sesshoumaru of all people had just said... that.

But he did...

Kagome wandered home slowly, so lost in her thoughts that she never even noticed that she had an escort - or the fact that Inuyasha was still with Kikyou.

She had someone else on her mind.

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A/N: Surprising, ne? I wanted to drop a note to warn my readers that updates on all my stories are going to be very sporadic for a while coming up by Jan. My husband is getting medically retired from the army, so we have a lot of things to do - moving in the middle of winter the worst of them. I will try to update as best as I am able.

Amber