Devotion and Sacrifice

By Danyealle

(fanfiction/angst)

Chapter 11

Explain!

Kagome and Sesshomaru were the first to arrive in Edo.  His cloud could travel much faster than the others could.  When he touched down Kagome gave him a light squeeze, looking up into his face, smiling, “I love you Sesshomaru.”

Eyes softening, he brushed her hair behind one of her ears, “And I you Kagome,” he told her tenderly.  Inclining his head, he kissed her softly.  After breaking it off, they walked into the village.

What they walked into was utter chaos, people talking excitedly and rushing around.  Ignoring the hustle and bustle, they made their way to Kaedes’ hut.  When they got there the old miko was surrounded by villagers that she was barking out orders to.  Staying out of the way, the couple waited for the villagers to disperse.

After the last of the people left the old miko glanced their way.  “Kagome and Lord Sesshomaru!  Ye have returned!  I hope this means the others are well.”

“They’re fine Kaede and should be arriving soon.”  Kagome told the old woman.  Glancing around at the people rushing about, she asked, “Has something happened?”

“Ei child.”  The old woman replied dejectedly.  “Inuyashas’ grave has been desecrated and his body taken.”

Exchanging an ‘uh-oh’ look with Sesshomaru, she turned back to the older woman, “Uh, Kaede…”

Before she could get any more out she was cut off by another voice, “That’s because I ain’t there anymore you old hag!”

Whipping around, the old miko stared at the hanyou, mouth open and clutching her chest, “Inuyasha?”

“In the flesh.”  The smirking Inuyasha said as he stepped forward.

“How is it ye are here?  Ye were dead!”

“That’s the question we are all waiting to have answered.”  Sesshomaru said smoothly, eyeing his half-brother.

Inuyasha just grinned.  “Food first then I’ll explain it the best I can.”  Eying Kagome he said, “You better have some ramen woman!”

Grinning, she replied, “OH, I think I may have a couple packages of it in my pack.”

While the water was heating Inuyasha went and cleaned up then changed clothes.  When he returned his noodles were ready.  After gulping them down he settled back and tried to explain the best he could what had happened.

“When Naraku hit me then released the miasma he did a serious amount of damage.  No, it wasn’t a lethal blow but it was bad enough that it probably would have taken a month or more for me to heal.  If that had happened we would have all been sitting ducks.

“After I was hit I could feel tetsusaiga calling to me.”

“In what way calling to you?”  Sesshomaru asked, genuinely curious.

Looking over to where his half-brother was sitting with Kagome perched between his spread legs, leaning against his chest, he shook his head, “It was a male voice is all I know, I don’t know whose it was.  It just told me to let my spirit slip into the sword, that way my body could heal and I could still keep my promise to protect Kagome.  I didn’t have much time to make a choice so I trusted that it knew what it was talking about.  After extracting the promises from the monk and saying my version of ‘goodbye’ my spirit slipped into it.

“Even though I was out of a body that was badly damaged I was still weak and would need a bit of time to recover.  One of the first things I was counting on to do that was Kagome going home.  Knowing her the way I do I figured that she was going to be hurt enough that she would go home for a while.  That would give me time to start to regain my strength.”

Stopping, he looked over at the little miko, a guilty expression on his face.  “I’m sorry Kagome.  Well, sorry to all of you for the hurt it caused, but especially to you Kagome.  You’re the one that suffered the most.  But at the time I did what I felt was the best thing.  It was the only way I knew to keep the promise I made you and your mom.  I figured that the grief would be forgotten when I came back and explained things.”

Of course Kagome smiled at him and nodded.  Though she hadn’t heard the whole story yet the reason he had given was one she could understand.

Nodding at her he then went on with the tale.  “I’ll tell you what though, listening to how hurt and miserable she was has to be one of the hardest things I’ve ever had to endure.”  He said, shaking his head, ears drooped a bit.

“Anyway….  When I did this I didn’t have a lot of time to think it out.  After slipping into the sword I realized that I could very well have made the biggest mistake of my life.  That’s when I began to count on several things.  The first was that the monk would keep his promise then the one with Kagome.  The next one had to do with the Ice Lord over there.”  He said, jerking his head Sesshomarus’ direction.

Though he arched an eyebrow at the name, Sesshomaru said nothing.

“I assumed after not having sensed me or run across me for a while he would show up.  Although we don’t get alone I am still family and that dictates that he pop up once in a while.  I figured when he found out I was gone the first thing he would ask about tetsusaiga.  That is where one of the big things I was counting on came in.  I know him well enough to know that he has honor.  I hoped like hell that when he found out I left it to Kagome for her protection that he would understand and honor my wishes.  Thankfully he did.  Even after a certain wench offered to give it to him!”  He said, shooting the little miko a mock glare.

She just grinned at him and stuck her tongue out.

“The wench about gave me a fucking heart attack when she did that!  If he had picked it up he would have known I was in the sword, or at least that part of me was.”

“Wait a minute….”  Miroku said, holding up his hands.  “Explain that please!  We all know he can’t even pick it up; the barrier around it rejects him.  Even if he could pick it up how would he have known you were in it?”

“If he had taken it when Kagome had offered it to him, he would have been able to wield it.”  The hanyou explained quietly.

“How?  How would that make any difference?”  Sango asked, confused.

“Because Inuyasha isn’t the true owner of fathers’ fang.”  Sesshomaru answered quietly.

More confusing crossed the faces of those sitting there.

“He’s right.”  Inuyasha said grinning.  “Kagome is the person who owns it, not me.  She’s the one who pulled it.  I’m able to wield it because she chose to give it to me.  If Sesshomaru had accepted her offer he would have been able to wield it as well.  Then he would have felt my presence and known something was up. Maybe not exactly what was going on but that something wasn’t right.

“Knowing Kagome the way I do I knew she would eventually come back, it would just take time.  That was fine, I needed time to heal.  I didn’t expect her to be gone as long as she was.  Nor did I think she would stuff tetsusaiga in a closet!  Damn woman!”  He said grinning.  “If she had kept it close, not necessarily on her, the things she felt wouldn’t have been so startling.  It would have been a gradual build up as I regained strength.  It would have been the same with everyone else if she had come back sooner.

“When she did come back and Sesshomaru decided to teach her to use tetsusaiga the next thing I was counting on was that no one would be stupid enough to try to teach her to use anything besides the Windscar.

“The Windscar was something she would be able to learn to do, although I would be able to help and make it easier for her.”

“Wait!”  Kouga said, staring at the hanyou.  “That was your voice we heard the first time she managed it!”

Grinning sheepishly, Inuyasha nodded, “Yeah, it was me.  She can do the Windscar on her own but with my help she would be able to do it whenever she wanted, not just when she saw it.  That’s what happened, I helped.  For me it was second nature to howl out the name as loud as I could.  I forgot not to do that and I automatically shouted t out.  That’s what you heard.”  He chuckled.

“Anyway, back to the other strikes….  The Windscar was something she could do.  The others were things I had to earn or learn another way.  As Sesshomaru told her, she wouldn’t be able to master them.  But if she got made enough or was trying to defend someone else I was sure she would at least try to.   When she attempted that is when I would return.  Those strikes would act like her calling to me for help.  Because of my promise to her and her mother to protect her, asking me for help was the way to be released from the sword.  I just hoped like hell that I would have a chance to fully heal before that would happen.”

Stopping again, he grinned wickedly and looked around at the group, “I must say, the lot of you have some interesting conversations.  Especially when you think no one is listening!”

Looking completely appalled, eyes bugging out, Kagome squeaked, “You could hear everything?”

Grin widening, he nodded, “Everything!”

Groaning, she buried her cherry red face in her hands.  All Sesshomaru did was smirk, eyes twinkling a bit.  But he did rub her back a bit to comfort her.

“You two have some discussions I only understood about a 10th of what was being said but they were interesting to listen to!”  He chucked.

Kagome giggled at that, “Maybe I’ll explain it to you some time.”  She said, winking.

Groaning, he shook his head.  “No way!  It would just make my brain hurt!”

Since he had covered the basics of what had happened a barrage of questions followed.  He would readily admit that there was a lot he didn’t know, like how his body joined his spirit or exactly how his ‘dead’ body healed.  Sesshomarus’ suggestion of a deep hibernation sounded on the right track but he couldn’t be sure.