InuYasha Fan Fiction ❯ The Flower Girl ❯ Unity ( Chapter 77 )

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

Disclaimer: I do not own the characters of Inuyasha.

---oOo---

I'm getting married... and so soon!

Kagome shivered as chilly air flowed over her skin - she was once again clutched to Sesshoumaru's side as they flew over the terrain on their return to the village - and she smiled happily as he tucked her closer and wound mokomoko around her for warmth.

It's just... wow... it just seems to have come so fast! I'm getting pretty nervous...

The concept of getting married had been in her mind since he'd asked her, of course... but it had seemed such a distant thing...

Until just before they'd left the shiro.

That's when he'd sprung the news on her - they would be wed in ten days - he was unwilling to wait any longer.

Ten days...

She was nervous, excited, scared, excited, terrified, excited... all those things - all at once. Oh, and did she mention excited?

Kami... get a grip on yourself, Kagome, and start thinking. We're going to the well, and he's going to lead me through opening it to my will... and then, he's going to attempt to go through with me to see if it works.

She giggled inwardly. First things first - I should get nervous about this scheme of his before anything else. I can worry about the other stuff later.

"Is something wrong, miko?" Sesshoumaru asked, inwardly amused at her rapidly changing scent.

She wrenched her gaze up to his, then shook her head. "Not really - just nervous. I hope this thing with the well works."

"Do you doubt me, nisou? You should know by now that I do not say something unless I am positive that I am correct... or at least as positive as it is possible to be."

"I know... but how do you know about the well - and using the jewel in such a manner?" she asked, genuinely curious.

"I have been thinking of this for some time, you know," he said slowly. "I knew that you would wish your family to be here for our wedding. So I spoke to Ryozen about my theory, and he agreed that the tama was more than powerful enough to be used so."

He knew I would want my family here... and spent time trying to figure out how to make it happen... she flushed a sweet pink as a shy smile lit her face. He may not have said that he loves me yet, but...

He shows it. And that really means a lot more to me than empty words...

"Thank you for thinking enough about me to spend time thinking of a way to do something that isn't really necessary, just because it would make me happy," she said softly.

He shot a confused glance down at her as they began to lower once more to the ground. "Why would I not do so, miko? This one would always wish for you to be happy, and will always do what is necessary to make sure that you are."

"I..." she sighed as she trailed off for a moment, eyes going distant as they landed in the well clearing, "it's just... sometimes it's hard to believe that anyone could... care... about me enough to do something just to make me happy."

Her gaze sharpened, then, before he could say something about her decided lack of self-esteem, and she stared hard at the well, her thoughts obviously shifting to the problem at hand.

"So... how...?" she looked up at him, and he contemplated her for a moment, then looked to the well.

After a few moments, he said, "As a rose that is red at the center, and then fades to white at the tips symbolizes unity, so must we work in unity to open this portal to your will - and mine."

She looked confused for a minute. "But... you didn't say anything about that before - you just said that I could do it."

"And you can," he said, glancing at her, an almost amused light in his eyes.

"But miko ki cannot do it alone. Have you never pondered on the concept of the unity within the tama? Consider then, the fact that the tama itself is made up of reiki... and youki. Not one, or the other - but both. The truth of the matter, nisou, is that a miko alone cannot use the tama to it's full potential - and neither can a youkai. It takes both."

Kagome's eyes were wide as she thought about that. I... I never even considered that! But... she frowned as she concentrated, he's right! And if it takes two working in unity to use the power of the jewel correctly, then...

"I can't get rid of the tama alone, can I?" she asked, almost rhetorically, but he shook his head anyway.

"No. In order to wish it away correctly, so that it remains pure, but also releases it's power at the same time, we both must make the wish."

She picked the jewel up from her throat, holding the chain up and once again staring at it. She sighed. "Like yin and yang... I understand now," she said softly. "What a trap you made for yourself, Midoriko. For who would have ever thought to find a miko and a youkai that would work together to make a pure wish?"

Sesshoumaru tilted his head to her, not surprised that she'd understood the deeper connotations of the paradox that the jewel represented.

She nodded, then, and looked at the well. "Let's do this, then."

He moved to stand behind her, pulling her gently into him to rest against his back, then took her hands that still held the tama clasped between them, gently into his own.

"Close your eyes, Kagome," he whispered, his breath stirring her hair, and fluttering over her ear, making her shiver. "Now, feel the energies of the well... do you see the thread that holds the power there?"

She nodded.

"Good... now, open your mind to me, and to the jewel... excellent," he purred as he felt the energy in her, and the power of the jewel twine together, and he wrapped his own youki around that upwelling of power...

And then directed it into the matrix of power within the well, merging them, and shaping them to his will, and hers... and as it pulsed obediently, he tied the threads to his own youki and her reiki, then slowly withdrew, leaving the signature of both their powers trapped within the timeslip.

Opening his eyes, he looked down at her just as she looked up at him.

"That, my little miko, is what we can do... together."

Kagome smiled up at him, wonder still evident within her gaze. "We really can do anything, as long as we're together, can't we?"

He nodded at her solemnly.

"Yes."

It seems that only in unity - ningen and youkai, can we truly find ourselves, he thought, almost idly.

The answer is not in the purity of one or the other - but in the balance of both.

---oOo---

A/N: Unity is good... especially if you're being 'unified' with Sesshoumaru... wouldn't you all say?

Oh, and by the way, nisou means priestess.

Amber















red and white rose