Legacy

TITLE: Legacy

CHAPTER: oneshot (in theory.
Last time I did a Sesshou POV introspection oneshot it turned into
two popular yaoi stories of 30+ combined chapters...)

AUTHOR: Ankh Ascendant (
setosgirl0 / neferseti0 )

DATE: 7-5-09

FANDOM: Inuyasha

DISCLAIMER: I don’t own
Inuyasha. Rumiko Takahashi does, and she makes all the money, not me (happy now?). Just imagine how it would have gone
if I owned it...

PAIRINGS: none

TYPE: Dramatic introspection

RATING: G

WARNINGS: angst, a little, and
spoilers.

OCs: none

BETA: none

WORDS:1100

SUMMARY: Sesshoumaru
contemplates his father and the inheritance swords and his
relationship with Inuyasha.

NOTES: I recently finished
reading the manga of Inuyasha, and was struck by the fact that Rumiko
Takahashi apparently... well, hated Sesshoumaru. That's the best
reason I can come up with for her treatment of him, anyway.
Everything he mentions is canon. Even his bitterness seems to be
canon. The angst, too, but maybe not as much. Then again, it's
Sesshoumaru, I'm sure most of his angst is concealed.

* * *

Legacy

Chichi-ue-sama... I don't understand.
Why do you despise me so? What have I done to deserve your scorn? I
did not turn my sword or claws against your precious offspring in
your lifetime. I did not destroy your filthy human mistress and the
child she bore, though it would have saved us both from this. I paid
you no insult, no challenge.

I hear
it constantly spoken of how terrible I would have made his life, had
I been left unchecked, or had I been given Tetsusaiga. Why? Do you
think it is my nature to torture such a pathetic thing needlessly?
What is the worst I would have done? Kill him. Perhaps him and his
pathetic human mother... but I would have swiftly removed his
polluted blood from your line, and put him out of his misery. I could
not have designed a more painful life for him than he had as it was.
He lived for two hundred years unmolested by me... the humans did
enough to torture him, I am sure. Then, which of us is more merciful,
father? I, who would have ended the pain of his life, or you who
forced him to endure it?

But I
am sure you would have made his life better, had you lived to raise
him. He and his mother in places of honor at your side, learning at
your hand to be the master of your lands. It seems he was always
intended to be your heir.

But
instead you were killed, and now there are no great lands for him to
inherit. There are only these swords.

Why,
why then is it such a
terrible thing to be attached to your heirlooms? Should they not have
a place of honor? Even knowing this is a mere fragment of a sword,
given to me only as a means of strengthening him, I still carry it.
Do I mean so little that even my honor is an insult? I have been told
by those who knew you better than I to relinquish my attachment to
them, even to Tenseiga... is this because you held no attachment to
me? Perhaps they are intended only for him and I am foolish to still
want them, to want to give the symbols of your power the kind of
bearer they deserve. Should I be as Inuyasha, openly disrespect your
grave, deny any attachment to you, speak disrespectfully at every
mention of your title? I could not. You offered me no respect in
life and less in death, yet I cannot. I have been used and slighted
and betrayed by you, yet I cannot.

How
should I have been? I was and am a proper son. It is I who honors
your memory and your power. It is I who carries your blood and the
true power of your line. It is I who carries on your legacy of
strength. It is I who can see the true power of your artifacts. It is
I who can master even the meidou... It is I who am a true daiyoukai
and not a half-human animal. Yet, I am insulted and struck down by
your will at every turn. What is it that he has that I do not, that
makes him worthy? Is the fact of his mortal heritage so much more
important than all else?

You
certainly knew I had skill, intelligence, power of my own. You knew
that it would be I who discovered the secret of your grave, kept even
from the flea. You knew it would be I who went there and led him to
his inheritance. And you knew that he would be able to touch it,
where I could not, and no doubt you knew we would fight for it. I
doubt you foresaw him taking my arm. Perhaps you assumed he would at
least escape and have gained the confidence to use your sword. What
did you think then? You must have known I would not be deterred so
easily. Did you think that I would be the constant enemy against whom
Inuyasha would train his sword? You did, didn't you... it falls so
perfectly together. I cannot be killed while I hold Tenseiga, and his
power lies in desperation... Each time he was pushed near death he
would miraculously tap his power and push me back, training the sword
more, training himself more, growing bolder. In my anger I would be
pushed to perfect the meidou... the attack you always intended him to
take back. He would finally break my sword, and take it, leaving me
with this cast-off fragment, with this power I have scarce use for.
No doubt it is left to me to keep it from the hands of a 'truly
merciful heart' who would use it indiscriminately. Or... is it your
intent that Inuyasha should cut Tenseiga again and take even that
power, making him a god among mortals and leaving me with truly
nothing, save the knowledge that you despise me even more than I do
your prodigal mutt? Would you have me give him everything and take my
own place as the banished and unwanted, or forced to accept the mercy
of his human heart? Would you have me, finally, kneel before him and
accept him as my master?

Does
Tetsusaiga truly have any purpose but to subjugate me?

You
did not count on Naraku, but still, I have played my role well. I
have tested him time and again. I have learned the Tenseiga, better,
I am sure, than you would have expected. I faced your own test and
walked through the darkness of Hell itself, and felt more pain than I
have ever done before, to perfect that power... I returned it to
Inuyasha without even being killed for it. I have acknowledged his
power, acknowledged him as master of the Tetsusaiga... acknowledged
him as your heir. I will not challenge him for it again. I will
always covet it, but how could I? It is truly his. The weapons I have
to fight him with do not compare. Tenseiga is a sword that would only
prolong my agony, and Bakusaiga... The sword of my power cannot
defeat the sword of yours. In time it too would be broken, and he
would gain my infinite cut as well. His power grows ever stronger,
and will continue to grow stronger with every enemy he defeats, yet
mine... would only be lost to him.

Is
that what you want? Do you hate me so?

Why?

Chichi-ue-dono,
I do not understand...