The Path of Forgiveness

Disclaimer: Not mine, only the O.Cs. are mine.

A/N: I'm not going to blackmail or beg my readers for reviews, but I am not above bribery. I had not planned on puting a lemon in this. If I get enough reviews I will put one or more in. Who it is between depends on just how many reviews I get. The more reviews the greater the chance of it being a Sess/Kag. Granted the lemon will be later on in the story, after I get their relationship really going.


Kagome glanced up at the stoic inuyoukai walking alongside her. The magenta stripes and blue crescent seemed to glow from the moon light on his light complexion. He truly was the most magnificent male she had ever seen. She found herself wondering if his skin was as soft as it looked.

She stifled the giggle that threatened to erupt from the random thought. She could almost see the look on his face if she, a mere human, touched him. Over the years she had seen a change in him. The fights between Sesshomaru and Inuyasha had become less frequent, almost nonexistent. Most of the time they just flung insults at each other, which she admitted was better than wind scars and poison whips. Maybe young Rin was having some sort of effect on him.

Sesshomaru looked down at her sideways and raised an elegantly arched eyebrow. “Is there something you need, Miko?”

Kagome blushed slightly at being caught staring at him. “No, I was just thinking, that’s all.”

“Hn.”

Kagome lowered her gaze down to the ground. Even with the almost full moon, it would be easy to step on a rock or root and trip. Sesshomaru had offered her some training, last thing she needed to do was show him how much of a klutz she could be. Not that he probably didn’t know that already, after all she had shattered the Shikon jewel. Her line of thought drifted to Inuyasha. What was going to say? Accepting shelter during a dangerous storm was one thing. Letting her go off for an unknown amount of time with his half-brother was another.

Kaede’s hut didn’t take them long to get to. Stopping before they got too close, Sesshomaru turned to her. “I will be here in the morning for you.” With out awaiting her reply, he headed off away from the hut.

Kagome watched his graceful exit. She was now left to face Inuyasha. She knew he wouldn’t help her explain things to Inuyasha, but a small part of her had secretly hoped he would at least be there when she told the hanyuo what was going on.

Kagome jumped. For a second she had felt the Shikon jewel, or at least part of it. The feeling was so brief; it was like she was being teased with it. That made no sense. Naraku had the whole jewel. She should have felt the whole thing, not part of it.

She shook her head as she pulled back the door flap reveling Sango and Miroku sitting around the tiny fire. Inuyasha was sitting up, a bewildered look on his boyish face.

Kagome stopped in the doorway blinking rapidly at the site before her. It had to be a hallucination. She had spent too long in the hot spring and fried her brain. That had to be it.
“Miroku?” Kagome asked her voice barely more than a whisper.

The monk stood up and smiled at her. The bandage around his head slipped down over one eye. Before he had a chance to say anything or adjust the bandage, Kagome flew across the small hut and hugged her friend tightly. “But how?” she asked after letting him go.

Miroku sat back down next to Sango, their shoulders touching. He unwrapped his hand, showing every one the angry red wound. “It’s gone. The pain was so bad I thought is was time for it to swallow me. But it vanished. I passed out from the pain and hit my head on something. I woke up in a near by village, bandaged and alive.” He turned to Sango, his violet eyes full of emotion. Gently, he touched the side of her face with his uninjured hand, slowly stroking her soft cheek with his thumb. “All I could think of as I left the cave was how little time we had together and how much I wanted more. I regretted not telling you how I felt more often.”

Sango put her hand over his, tears threatening to spill again.

Kagome smiled happily at the couple. With the wind tunnel gone, they could finally be together. She was happy for her friends, but one thing nagged at her. “Does this mean Naraku is dead?”

Miroku tore his eyes away from Sango. “It would make sense that he was, but something about the way the wind tunnel felt as it vanished has me wondering. A curse takes energy to sustain. It felt like that energy was being pulled back. Maybe the arrow hurt him more than we thought.”

“That would explain the husks we found. Maybe he reabsorbed his incarnations to help heal too?” Sango offered.

Miroku nodded. “That means he is still out there some place with the jewel.”

Inuyasha remained strangely quiet.

Shippo and Kaede walked back into the hut with wood, healing herbs and bandages. “Ah, Kagome, could ye help me with the bandages. Inuyasha needs a new drawing poultice and Miroku needs new bandages,” the old Miko asked setting her herbs down.

Shippo happily set down his load of fire wood and hugged Kagome. “Isn’t it great? Miroku’s alive! Did you have a nice bath?”

Inuyasha snorted. “Apparently she didn’t wash enough. She still smells like Sesshomaru.”

Kagome hoped it was dark enough that the others wouldn’t see the blush she felt creeping up her face. “Speaking of Sesshomaru. I ran into him at the hot spring.”
A lecherous grin spread across Miroku’s face. “Oh really?”

If it was possible, Kagome’s face turned an even brighter shade of red. “It wasn’t like that really.”

“What was it like, Kagome? Do tell.” Miroku’s eyebrows wiggled suggestively.

Normally, Sango would have put a stop to Miroku’s teasing of her best friend, but tonight it was just too funny to see just how flustered Kagome was over the encounter. It also proved the bump on the monk’s head hadn’t done any permanent damage.

Trying to speak in her own defense was proving difficult. “He was a perfect gentleman. He even offered to help me.”

She regretted those words the second they left her lips.

Miroku sighed melodramatically. “If you needed help washing all you needed to do was ask me. There was no need to seek out Lord Sesshomaru.”

Inuyasha growled. Sango was trying with all her might not to burst into giggles at the scandalized look on Kagome’s face. Shippo was confused. He helped Kagome wash her back all the time. What was the big deal? Kaede wisely continued mixing the herbs for the drawing poultice.

Kagome stammered for a few seconds before her shocked brain was able to put two words together. “I was there first. He could have left, but no he just had to get in the spring with me.” Judging by the utterly shocked look on her friends faces, she had spoken those words out loud. So much for her filter working at the moment. She had developed a bad case of foot in mouth disease. “He did stay on the other side of the spring,” Kagome added sheepishly.

“Did he hurt you? I’ll kill him. I should just kill him for looking at you.” Inuyasha ranted.

Kaede handed the poultice to Kagome wordlessly. The young miko moved over to the shirtless hanyuo and changed his compress. “It wasn’t a big deal.” She lifted up the old compress gently, as to not to reopen the wound. It looked like this would be the last one he needed. The wound was closing up nicely and wasn’t oozing poison any longer.

Inuyasha glared down at Kagome. “So if he stayed on the other side of the spring, what did he offer to help you with?” He drew in a sharp breath when the new cold new poultice hit his skin.

Kagome finished up and moved back to her original position on the opposite side of the fire from Miroku and Sango. She looked down at her skirt and picked at imaginary bits of lint on the green material. She licked her lips nervously. “He offered to have some one teach me how to defend myself.” She looked up at Inuyasha, her now calm brown eyes locking with his angry amber hued ones. “I accepted.”

“Feh, you’re not going. I can protect you just fine.” He crossed his arms defiantly and bumped the poultice. He hissed slightly at the sharp pain it caused.

“Inuyasha,” she started softly. “I know you can. Its just today you almost died protecting me. I couldn’t live with the guilt if one of you died protecting me. This is something I have to do, for myself.” He eyes filled with conflicting emotions. “Back in my own time I could take care of myself. Here I feel so helpless. I hate feeling helpless.”

Inuyasha tried not to look at his friend. She was giving him a looked that pleaded for him to see things her way and not argue. He hated that look. It always ended up in him feeling guilty over saying no and eventually giving in.

“It might be a good idea, Inuyasha. I no longer have the wind tunnel, so we are down one attack against Naraku. If she learned how to fight, it would help.” Miroku interjected.

“Fine, but I’m going too. I don’t trust him.” Inuyasha huffed in annoyance.

Kagome looked nervous again. “That was the other thing. He didn’t want you there, at least for a while.”

The hanyuo’s eyes narrowed in anger. “The bastard must be up to something; why else wouldn’t he want me there?”

“Maybe because every time someone tries to show Kagome how to fight or defend herself, you decide that you know better. It always ends with you name calling and Kagome not learning anything.” Sango added, her voice tinged with annoyance.

Inuyasha growled softly again. Kagome didn’t need to learn all that stuff. She might hurt herself or worse, be able to protect herself. Then she wouldn’t need him any more.

As if she could read his mind, Kagome moved over to the worried hanyuo. “I’ll still need you to protect me.” She placed a hand gently on his shoulder. “I am only human and it will take me years to become as proficient as Sango or Miroku. It will only give me a little longer till you can get there to help.”

Inuyasha made a noise that sounded like a cross between a sigh and a growl. “Fine, but I still don’t like it.”

Kagome smile at him brightly, her eyes lighting up. “Thank you Inuyasha.” She moved back to her sleeping bag and lay down with Shippo. Tomorrow was going to be a long day.

Kakunou watched through the monk’s eyes as the others in the hut one by one fell asleep. He felt the woman snuggled up next to him stir a bit the return to a deep sleep. The monk cared for her deeply. Kakunou looked forward to taking the soft female the monk so desired. He felt Miroku thrash against the mental prison he had locked him in. Yes, he would claim the woman as he watched unable to stop him. Perhaps he would even conceive a child from it. The body the seed spilled from might be that of the monk, but the seed would be Kakunou’s. That thought caused Miroku to thrash even harder.

Yes, they knew each other’s thoughts. Kakunou even had access to all of Miroku’s memories. That was what allowed him to possess the monk with out kindling the suspicions of the group. Unfortunately, the miko had to go. He was spending too much energy trying to hide the quarter shard in his body from her. The piece practically called to her when she got close enough earlier. Lucky for him a way had presented its self. He had not been keen on the idea of killing the pretty young miko, but his cover had to be maintained. There were other things the miko was good for besides feeding the ground. He smirked as the body he resided in responded to his thoughts of the two girls. Miroku thrashed harder, Kakunou fed off his despair.


***************

Takara cursed under her breath for the hundredth time. Another thorny bush had caught one of the long sleeves of her kimono. She stopped to unhook the material. She wanted nothing more than to yank and let the material rip. Her other clothes had been so badly damaged that she had to get something else. She stopped in the first village she found. Unfortunately, it was almost decimated by the storm, so pickings were slim. All they had was a longer sleeved formal kimono. The only reason it was up for sale was that the person who had ordered it had died. It wasn’t even decorated yet. She had traded two sacks of rice for it that she had managed to go back and salvage from the ship wreck.

Thankfully the overgrown path she had taken started to thin out. It was obvious that no one had been along this path for hundreds of years. Takara frowned to herself. ‘Am I even on the right path?’ she expected the path to the Inu family home would have been better maintained. Maybe she had taken an unused path. She looked at the ancient trees that lined the path. No, this was the main path. Puzzled, she continued up the hill.

At the top of the hill, the trees thinned out to reveal an open valley. On the opposite side of the valley was a plateau. On the top of the plateau were the remains of Sesshomaru’s ancestral home. Mist floated down the valley giving it an even more abandoned feel.

Takara’s eyes widened in shock at the sight that greeted her. Had the proud Sesshomaru truly allowed his ancestral lands to fall into such shape?

*************

Kagome sat out side of the village waiting for Sesshomaru to show up. Had she dreamed the whole thing? No Miroku was truly alive and she had seen him after her return from the hot springs. Was Sesshomaru just running late? Then again ‘in the morning’ really wasn’t all that specific. The sun had just risen. She had a hard time sleeping last night. It constantly felt like something was watching her, yet she couldn’t feel or see anything unusual.

Inuyasha sat on top of the hut’s roof watching Kagome. He didn’t like this at all. Even with all her reassurances, he couldn’t help but feel that his half- brother was taking something away from him. He hopped down when he spotted Sesshomaru approaching. Fixing his most disapproving look on his face, he walked over to Kagome.

“I still don’t like this,” Inuyasha said as Sesshomaru rounded the corner.

“No one asked you, Inuyasha.” Sesshomaru responded. “Come Miko, we have a lot of ground to cover today.”

Kagome looked at Inuyasha. It was clear to those that knew him; he was upset about her choice. Impulsively, she hugged her friend tightly.

Inuyasha hugged her back, looking up at Sesshomaru.

Two pairs of amber eyes locked. Sesshomaru could see the fierce protectiveness in the hanyuo’s eyes. If anything happened to the Miko in his care, it would lead to a fight that Sesshomaru wondered if he would survive.

The Taiyoukai motioned for Kagome to come closer to him after she released the hanyuo. “We will fly. There is no more room on Ah-Un’s back with all the supplies, Rin and Jaken. There for you will fly with me.”

Kagome’s eyes were the size of saucers. She remembered once seeing Jaken clinging to Sesshomaru’s tail as he flew. Was that what he wanted her to do?

Sesshomaru wrapped his arm around Kagome and pulled her in close to him. “There is no time for your false modesty, Miko. Hold tight to my haori.”

Kagome timidly took hold of his silk clothing. She could feel his rock hard muscles through the material. His arm held her securely in a vice like grip. There was nothing tender or gentle in the way he held her. He was all hard muscle and cold efficiency.

As she watched his youkai cloud take them higher, she found herself wondering why she was doing this.

********

It took Takara a better part of the day to get to the ruins. She was glad to see the structure was not in as bad of shape as she had originally believed. It was mainly just over grown. The hardest part had been making her way through the rose gardens. The roses had gone wild. Tangles of rose vines had made it nearly impassable.

Back behind the castle were the memorial grounds and her clan’s ancestral grounds as well.

Takara sighed. Finally, she could put her parents to rest. Her clan grounds were not in as bad of shape as the rest of the grounds. Apparently someone had been taking care of them up until recently. Her feet lead her easily to her family plot. She pulled out the first urn and placed it in the niche that had been set aside for her parents. The next urn slipped into place easily. After starting a small fire of some dried grass, she lit a stick of incenses and placed it in the holder on the monument.

Takara inhaled the scent of the incense focusing on the positive points of her parents’ life together. Intending to meditate for a few minutes, she sat down. The moment she closed her eyes, the strangest feeling overcame her. She felt like she had been pulled through something.

“Open your eyes, my daughter,” a familiar masculine voice called to her.

Takara opened her eyes. Everything around her was grey. The grass, the vines and even the flowers, all grey. And she was cold. She was a demon, she never got cold.

What caught her by surprise the most was both of her parents were standing in front of her. She tried to stand up, but found she couldn’t move.

“Father, mother. What is going on?” She could feel tears start to slide down her face.

Her father chuckled softly. “Some how I knew you would be the one to carry out our final wishes.”

Her mother knelt down beside her and reached out to wipe away the tears. A fluttery, insubstantial touch caressed her cheek. “Don’t cry, we are happy.”

All Takara could manage was a slight nod of the head.

Her father sat a silk wrapped object at her feet. “You have earned the right to have this. All the traits the Blue Lotus clan holds in highest regard you have demonstrated. Protect with honor, my daughter.”

With that the couple joined hands, smiling at each other and walked off, vanishing into the distant grey landscape.

Takara closed her eyes and felt the tugging sensation again. When she opened her eyes she felt very disoriented. At her feet rested the red silk wrapped object her father had left her. To her left she could hear some one babbling about disrespect and in front of her two pairs of brown eyes and one set of golden amber watched her intently.

“Honest, I was just about to leave,” Takara managed to mumble semi coherently before the world started spinning and she passed out.