6Hello everyone, Starry here with a very very special story. This will not be your usual Inuyasha fan fic. No no no sorry to disappoint but this had to be written. It is in fact a fic dedicated to two very good friends of mine. Actually, lol, they're my children but that's another matter completely.
Dedication-
To Inu-chan and Mikomi, may this story reflect your feelings for one another, and may it bring smiles to your faces.
Love always, Saki, your mother. lol
Now, please review and let me know how the story is, as I said it's not a usual Inuyasha fic, and after you read a few bits you'll realize that.
Key- This is normal type. This is flashback type. 'These are thoughts' "These are words"
Just in case anyone gets confused. lol
Disclaimer: Like every other fanfic writer, I do not own the characters. However the plot isn't even truly mine in this case, it was inspired by two very lovely people.
Rendezvous
Five Long Years
A warm almost lazy breeze blew through the forest, rustling the leaves of the surrounding trees. There was a tree however that stood out from all others. Not perhaps the tallest, nor even the most beautiful, just a normal tree that was special, at least to two people it was. It stood like a sentry, it's branches reaching out into all directions, creating an umbrella of shade during those hot summer days, and a cover from storms, during the rainy season. It was protection, life, a friend.
The sun had just dipped below the horizon, leaving behind the lovely twilight sky. Orange and red faded to purple and blue, as all the world turned in for a good nights rest. The village near the forest was soon sleeping peacefully beneath a blanket of black dotted with twinkling stars. The soft sounds of crickets chirping, and nocturnal creatures wandering in search of food was all that broke the peaceful silence of the newly dawned night.
The moon hung, full and bright in the sky guiding those that were still awake safely on their paths but he wouldn't need the moon. The forest was thick, thicker than it had been five years ago, but then again he wasn't sticking to the path that was cut through it. He'd wandered from the road that had carefully been carved through the forest in search of that small clearing, the one with the pond that lingered just beside the special tree.
'It's always trees.' He thought a toothy grin gracing his youthful face.
He was moving much slower than he would have. He leapt perfectly from limb to limb, balancing effortlessly on each one, his nose in the air. He'd remember her scent the moment it hit his nose. But first he had to find the damn tree. There were so many in that forest but only the one would do, only the one. You'd think he'd remember the way by now, but it had been a year since he'd been there, a year since the last disappointment, but he wouldn't give up.
Every year he went to that tree, the same day every year. He'd arrive just after the sun set behind the hills in the distance, leaving the forest in a thick cover of darkness. He'd stand by the tree and wait. It had been going on for five years, the waiting, the hoping. Every year the thought that she might never return would pop into his head, but he would push it away. That was weak, he would remind himself. And Inuyasha wasn't weak.
Landing on the forest floor he began walking his nose having caught the familiar scent of water. He walked slowly, the Tetsusaiga hanging in its sheath by his side. His robe of the fire rat helped him blend in with the shadows, the red fabric appearing darker, more the colour of fresh blood. Shadows fell across his face as he moved. The moons glow was barely visible, closed off by the leaves of the trees that swayed like one large black mass above his head. The soft crunch of the grass beneath his bare feet was the only sounds that his sensitive ears picked up. They swiveled about, tweaking this way and that, in search of a twig snapping, or the sound of rustling leaves, any indication that someone besides himself lurked in those woods.
There were a few trees that stood quite close to one another, almost as if they'd closed ranks against him. The army of wood and roots were barring him entrance to that hidden clearing. He smirked, tempted to treat them like any living being that would stop him from obtaining what he wanted, but stayed his hand when it reached for the hilt of Tetsusaiga. There was no need to waist energy cutting down trees.
He slipped between two tree trunks arriving at his long searched destination. He'd been traveling all day to get to this very spot, but at least he hadn't been that far away like last year. He'd almost not made it that time. Thinking back he remembered arriving at the pond panting, having run all day and most of the night. He'd been late of course, but he knew that she hadn't been there. He would have smelled her. Her scent would surely have lingered behind.
He stood just at the edge of the small clearing staring across at the place where he'd first seen her. The tree always looked the same, but he didn't really expect it to change that much. It was after all a tree. The clearing looked almost as if the forest was protecting it. He wondered if in some strange way it was. Perhaps the trees were alive in this forest; perhaps they knew what had happened in this clearing, what had transpired, and what still waited to happen.
Above the clearing the stars twinkled brightly back and forth, whispering in their own secret language about what was going on below. It was almost like the entire forest was waiting, holding its breath. Would this year be the year? Would his hopes be realized? Would Inuyasha finally get what he deserved? Not even the stars knew. They however hoped like everyone else.
As he moved across the familiar landscape Inuyasha remembered back to the day in question. It had been an evening much like this one. A full moon had loomed over the clearing, reflecting like a mirror off the pond. The pond had almost seemed to be glowing itself. He remembered the fireflies that had been dancing around through the clearing. It was all very magical, almost like from a dream. Or perhaps that was the haziness of his memories.
Inuyasha walked to the tree where he'd first seen her. Raising a clawed hand he gently touched the bark, the memories flooding his mind once more. He closed his eyes a moment and remembered just what had transpired there, almost as if the images were traveling to his mind through his fingertips that were linked to the tree.
He'd been wandering the countryside, searching for the excitement his life had lacked in the years since Naraku's demise. The jewel had been reformed, all the shards having been gathered. Things had calmed down in the way of deadly demons, and his brother had even left him relatively alone.
He'd come upon the village just before dusk one evening, but due to his nature as a hanyou he'd not been able to find somewhere to stay the night, not that it truly mattered much to him either way. He'd left the village, relatively unhappy but that was due to his mistreatment for being hanyou rather than the lack of a decent place to sleep. He'd wandered through the forest, unsure of whether he wanted to stay there or continue walking through the night. That's when he smelled it.
A scent so familiar, so unique, the smell of the tiger lily, mixed with the faint scent of water lingered in the air. He put his nose to the air, breathing in the combination. His curiosity was peeking, his ears tweaking as he stopped, standing at the edge of the path. He couldn't decide whether to follow the scent to its source, or continue on his journey.
"Boy am I glad I followed my nose." Inuyasha mumbled to himself as he opened his eyes and looked at the tree it's trunk only a foot or so from his face.
Taking a seat he rested the Tetsusaiga against his left shoulder and shoved his hands inside his haori. It would be a long night. He leaned back against the tree, making himself comfortable much that way he'd done all those years ago when he would be out with the other's searching for the Shikon jewel shards. Closing his eyes he continued his reminiscing.
After a moment's indecision Inuyasha pushed his way through the underbrush, trying to move as cautiously as he could while making as little nose as possible. He'd learned that these were not times to go parading about, for these were dangerous days, filled to the brim with terror. The air was still, and every bit of noise he made seemed to echo in the night. He'd followed his nose right to the edge of a rather small clearing.
Straight across from him stood a massive tree. Nearby it, probably fifteen feet or so to his right was a pond. It was larger than he'd expected, but somehow it seemed to fit in. The entire area was beautiful everything draped in a hue of light and dark blues. The fireflies danced merrily, moving in swirling patterns through the air, the sight captivating.
He stayed at the edge of the clearing, gazing about. The scent of tiger lilies was strongest here, but damn it all if he didn't see a single flower anywhere. He walked forward, the soft grass padding his steps. He kept his right hand at his side, but his left was fingering the hilt of his sword cautiously. His ears swiveled on his head, his white hair haloed in the moonlight from above. He looked up noticing for the first time the beauty that was the sky above his head. But while his attention was stuck on the stars, he didn't notice the shadow that moved behind the tree.
"I heard you coming a mile away, so you've lost the element of surprise." Called a soft voice from somewhere before him.
Slowly he lowered his head focusing his amber eyes on the tree only a few yards before him. The voice had definitely come from over there. He searched through the darkness; his eyes narrowed slightly his left hand now firmly gripping his Tetsusaiga. The fireflies bounced around before him criss crossing before his eyes, making it harder to search through the shadows for the body to put with the voice.
"Where are you? Come out." Inuyasha demanded in his blunt manner.
"Do you honestly think I'll meet your demands so you can openly attack me?" the voice was that of a woman. She laughed then a soft light laugh that floated on air, drifting across the clearing to his ears.
"Attack you?"
"Don't play innocent. You must know who I am."
"Lady don't flatter yourself." He called out dropping his hand from the hilt of his sword and turning away.
Slowly he started toward the trees though his ears were still perked up, listening for the sound of an ambush, but it didn't come. He heard footsteps light on the grass somewhere behind him and looked casually over his shoulder. That's when he saw her for the first time.
She was standing there in clothes much like his own. Her hair was long perhaps waist length. A pair of dog ears, much like his own, twitched almost imperceptibly as a she took a step toward him. He could see behind her a tail, smooth and shiny, black with a white tip.
Inuyasha turned, facing her and they merely stood there a moment, looking at one another, drinking the other in. She was shorter than him, the top of her head possibly coming to his chin. He sniffed the air and noted that the scent, the one he'd followed, was hers. The sweet scent of tiger lilies that had filled his nose on the road belonged to this demon before him. But even that scent, so unique, wasn't the most striking thing about her.
'No that had been her eyes.' Inuyasha thought opening his eyes to gaze out at the pond.
The moons reflection rippled now, for something had disturbed the surface. He stared at the rippling yellow orb that held so much sway over his life. It had been full that night to. Was this finally the year that he got what he wanted? Closing his eyes he lost himself in his memories once more.
Silver. Like his hair. Silver, a most striking colour for eyes. He couldn't pull his own away from hers for they were so captivating. Her face was void of all emotions save the curiosity that he could see reflecting in her beautiful silver orbs. He knew he looked just as she did, curious. But there was every reason to be curious; he'd never seen someone that resembled him, a hanyou. But she wasn't even fully Inu hanyou. There was something else mixed in, something familiar to him.
"Who are you?" she demanded a moment later.
"I should be asking you the same question." He mumbled.
Her eyes narrowed a moment and he thought he'd angered her but then they softened to their void state once more, losing all emotions once more, even the curiosity they'd been filled with only moments ago. He wondered how much it would take to annoy her. Probably, seeing as he'd already touched a nerve, nor much.
"You aren't from the North are you? Otherwise you would know who I am." She said smirking now. He could see pointed teeth much like his own.
"No I'm not. Got any other questions?" he barked annoyed with the girl before him.
"Not at the moment." She said in a throw away voice turning and walking back to the tree.
Part of him wanted to leave the clearing and never look back, but another part of him, the part that was obviously good at persuasion, wanted to stay, find out more about this mysterious female demon. Before he knew it Inuyasha was heading to the tree where she was seated, seating himself beside her.
He hadn't learned much upon their first meeting, merely that her name was Mikomi and that she was from the Northern lands. He discovered that she was part fox part dog but when he asked why she was out there in the forest all alone, she'd quickly changed the subject. Before dawn that night she'd bid him farewell.
"Will you come back again?" he asked regretting it the moment he asked.
She'd been standing over by the lake, facing the trees almost as if she were ready to leap into the air, but at his question she stiffened. Turning around she looked at him and he couldn't read her expression. She seemed caught somewhere between nervous and pleased.
"Here?" she asked. "But shouldn't you be moving on?"
"I'm not needed anywhere. I can stay as long as I like." He said rising from his seated position. "But yes here, unless you have somewhere better in mind."
"No here's fine." She said with the smallest trace of a smile. "Tomorrow night, after the sunsets. I'll come."
He merely nodded before watching her hop away into the trees, disappearing until the next night. They met like that for five days. She'd return to the clearing where he waited every night around the same time they'd met before. As if they were both magnets they grew closer, learning more and more about one another. With every bit of information they learned Inuyasha's feelings towards her changed. When he'd learned about her fighting abilities he'd admired her. When he learned about more personal matters containing her family he'd cared about her. But when he learned about some of her most personal matters, things that had affected her, scared her, pained her, he'd loved her.
Never did he think that he'd be able to feel those feelings again, to love someone. But her eyes, they were so captivating, a window to her emotions. Once she began to open up he could tell just how she was feeling by searching the silver orbs. When something bothered her, they grew clouded like a crystal ball. When excitement filled her voice and words, they lit up, almost glowing in the darkness that surrounded them.
Sometimes she seemed so vulnerable to him that he wanted nothing more than to protect her. He could see she was hiding something but didn't press for answers. Instead he waited, using the patience he figured he'd never possessed. That more than anything helped him realize what he was feeling was real. She was bringing out qualities in him that no one had.
But at night, after she'd disappear into the forest Inuyasha couldn't help but grow skeptical of his feelings. Perhaps it was all too sudden. There was still so much that he didn't know about her. But then he pictured her face, how beautiful it was, the glow from the moon paling her. When she'd appeared from behind the tree he'd first thought she was a spirit. She'd appeared from the shadows faintly outlined by the light of the moon and stars above her. It was indescribably the most beautiful thing he'd ever seen.
'All good things have to end sometime.' He thought remembering the last time he'd seen her. Five days short of five years ago.
He'd been waiting there as usual only she'd not come. He figured that something had detained her; perhaps she'd had a fight with a demon. He waited there, sniffing the air every so often for her distinguished scent. He was standing, waiting, leaning against the tree. The air that evening was colder than normal. The wind swept through the clearing rustling the leaves. His flowing silver locks were pulled with it, gently fluttering in the breeze as he closed his amber eyes, frustration and fear building within him.
Then he caught it, a short almost inaudible gasp, and the smell of tiger lilies wafted to his sensitive nose. He opened his eyes to see her standing in the shadows by the lake. She looked almost startled by him. She moved forward and he could see her eyes were sparkling. When she drew closer he could see it was from the tears she was holding back. He took a step closer opening his mouth to ask her what was the matter but she smiled a sad and weary smile before closing her eyes and shaking her head.
"It can't continue Inuyasha." She whispered.
"What?" he asked in a soft voice. "What are you saying?"
"It's time for me to go. I'm leaving this land. We won't see each other again." She said still holding back the tears that shimmered in her eyes.
"No." he said finally. He moved toward her wrapping his arms around her and holding her tightly to him. "I won't let you go Mikomi."
She shook in his grasp, but that only made him tighten the hold. They were locked in that embrace for a moment before she pulled away. He looked down and saw the hurt in her eyes, but also the determination. She would be leaving, not he or anyone would stop her he realized. But why? Just when he'd found something to fill the space in his heart, why did it always have to leave him?
"I have to go. I can't stay here. You'll understand someday." She whispered reaching up and touching his cheek softly with the palm of her hand.
Inuyasha closed his eyes at the touch reaching up to cover her hand with his own. When he opened them he saw the same teary-eyed smile she'd possessed when she'd entered the clearing. She was so beautiful, the tears slowly sliding down her face leaving their sparkling trails behind.
"When will I see you again?" he asked softly.
"I'll return on the day we met." She whispered. Then turned and started toward the forest once more.
But Inuyasha couldn't let her leave, not without knowing his feelings. He followed behind her, reaching out he grabbed her wrist gently, spinning her about to face him once more. She looked surprised but merely for a moment. Her face softened as she looked up at him, rendering him speechless.
"Goodbye." She'd said before disappearing through the forest, the only thing lingering behind to comfort him being her scent.
The crickets' chirping was a comforting sound as he remembered his lack of courage that night. He wished now as he looked back, as he had done every year since, that he had told her his feelings. Perhaps she would have remained. But instead he'd let her go, without a word he'd watched her walk away and now he might not ever come across her again. Would she ever return to their special place, their special tree, he would never know.
But he would come, ever year he would come and wait. He would stay for five days, as he'd stayed that year, but if she were to come it would be on the first day he was sure. He'd linger there, hardly straying further than the forest lest she come whilst he was away. He'd wait for her, even if just to see her once more. He still needed to tell her, tell this wonderful silver eyed fox tailed demon something he'd told no one before.
Well, here we are, let me know what you think. Please be nice, again, this fic is loosely based on real people. But I know you all won't be mean, you are lovely reviewers who will be nice to poor old Starry. No goo...shoo go on...you have reviews to write and I have a chapter to start...
Starry