InuYasha Fan Fiction ❯ The Flower Girl ❯ Gratitude ( Chapter 17 )

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

Disclaimer: I do not own the characters of Inuyasha.

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Kagome shivered, wrapping her arms around herself, she rubbed her hands up and down them, trying to warm her skin with a bit of friction. She'd been cold since she'd woken... apparently, the chill of death hadn't quite left her flesh yet.

Not only that... but I remember - I saw what Kikyou saw. Inuyasha... you didn't even care that she'd killed me. All you cared is that Sesshoumaru threatened her.

And then...

At first, Sango had been reluctant to tell her why Inuyasha was gone, but after a few moments of enduring her friend's weighted gaze, she'd explained how Inuyasha had attacked his brother for Kikyou's death.

In that moment, as Sango's words had echoed through her heart, through her soul, Kagome's entire world-view had changed.

It was then that she knew that she and Inuyasha would never be.

While she would always care about him, she would never again be able to trust him. He'd had her heart - and he'd forsaken it, caring more for a golem made of clay and bound by hatred, than for her, a living, breathing woman that had loved him with everything she had.

While she would, eventually, forgive his betrayal of her, she would never forget it.

And that, really, said it all.

She looked out across the meadow filled with poppies, and sighed, knowing that that field had almost been her bed in eternal sleep, and thought about the fact that it wasn't - and why it wasn't.

Sesshoumaru.

It seemed that the mighty daiyoukai wanted her alive. He had saved her because he wanted to, and because he could. At least, that's what he'd told the others.

She found no reason that he would have lied about the matter - Sesshoumaru had no need to lie. It was an act he found beneath him.

If he didn't want you to know something, he just didn't tell you.

She found it ironic, in a deadly sort of way, that he had cared more for her in death, than Inuyasha had, in life or in death.

Who would have thought it, ne?

She chuckled dryly. It seemed her whole life could be summed up in that sentence... Who would have thought it.

Answer?

No one.

She stood, and walked slowly towards the sound of running water, the loss of love a painful hole in her that a deep ache was swelling to fill.

Will I someday find something besides pain to fill that hole inside me? I can only hope...

Her thoughts trailed off into silence as she came across a small flowering bush - one that she was surprised to find here, so far from anyone that could care for it, and wondered how it had come to be here - and how it was surviving.

Roses were usually rather delicate flowers, and grew far better in sheltered gardens where they could be tended, than in lonely places in the wilds.

Odd, that. But you know... if this small rosebush can survive here - maybe I will survive this, and grow stronger for being wounded by the thorns.

Something flashed through her mind, then, and she smiled a little, gently picking several of the pretty blossoms - a gift of gratitude for the one who had restored her life...

And her hope.

Once she had the flowers, she turned and made her way towards camp, walking slowly, just enjoying the feel of the slight breeze across her skin as her flesh warmed once more, back from the cold of death.

As she stepped into the camp, it fell silent, and her eyes went immediately to the beautiful youkai Lord that she owed her life to. She smiled, and walked closer to him.

Drawing the blossoms to her face, she drew in their sweet scent for a moment, then with a slight blush across her cheeks, she held them out to him, waiting for him to take them.

Sesshoumaru watched her walk into camp, look for him, then move towards him, enjoying the way the breeze flirted with her dark locks, glad that such a simple thing was even possible - he searched his heart and found no upset within him that he had beckoned her back from death.

He was pleased with what he had done.

He cocked a brow when her smile deepened as she held out the flowers she had in hand, and after he looked at them for a moment, he reached out and took them from her.

"They mean gratitude... its my simple way of saying thank you," she said softly. "There's really no way I can ever repay you for giving me back my life, but I will do whatever I can, Sesshoumaru-sama." With that, she bowed deeply, respectfully before him.

"Stand, miko. You should not abase yourself before anyone here - you are below no one in this place." His voice was quiet, calm as deep water, and just as beautiful, and she looked up in surprise. The gasps from those in the camp did not escape her... what he had just done was to claim her as an equal.

It was an unprecedented move, and she blushed deeply as she stood straight and caught his eye.

There was no mockery there... he meant every word.

As he gestured for her to sit near him, she bowed her head, then smiled shyly at him as she sat, not sure what to say, and he beckoned to Rin, waiting silently for the child to come to him.

When she reached him, he handed her the flowers, and said, "Place these in your book, Rin... as a memory of the day I saved something worthy - for the second time."

Rin beamed as Kagome gasped slightly, eyes going wide, and somehow, in that moment, almost defenseless. "Hai, Sesshoumaru-sama! Rin will!"

Kagome's eyes lowered from his, her mind buzzing with random thoughts and questions, but one standing out above them all...

He thinks I am worthy, and an equal?

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A/N: There will be several more chapters to come that will touch on her death and resurrection, as it is a pivotal point in the story.

Amber