Flowers Of The Night by InutaiyoukaiNichne

Chapter One

Scene One

Flowers Of The Night

She had just come back from her era after all the testing that she had had to do so that she could spend more time in the Feudal Era than in the modern times when she found them. Inuyasha was kissing Kikyo again at the Sacred Tree. She was so tired of playing second best to her, granted everyone thought of her as Kikyos reincarnation but she knew somewhere deep down that she really wasn't. She might have shared a soul with the dead miko (priestess) but there was something about Kagome that just wasn't totally human. Any one that she had ever met told her that she was strange for even a ningen (human) but then she came from 500 years in these peoples future a little strange wasn't a bad thing was it?

She was tired of all the crap that Inuyasha enjoyed putting her through but she still had to up hold her word about finishing the Sacred Jewel, she did break it after all. She hated being compared to a miko that had honestly died 55 years ago but then again she was the best of her time and Kagome did look a lot like her but then looks weren't everything. She was so much more than just the way that she looked on the outside, no one ever gave her a chance well other than her son that was. Shippo was the one reason that when she finished the Jewel that she wouldn't leave this time. He needed her more than anyone else ever had.

She turned to the couple that were still clinging to each other in the forest, better get it over with now. She wanted to finish that damn Jewel so that she and Shippo could start a new life somewhere else. She had talked to her son not all that long ago about it. Her other friends the houshi (monk) Miroku and the taijiya (demon slayer) Sango about it they thought that it would be best if Kagome got away from the hanyou (half demon) named Inuyasha when she was finished with this quest. They had seen her get hurt so many times that they just wanted her to live a life of peace for a change so that her heart could heal. Perhaps they even said that she could find someone that would actually see her, for who she was and could love her, no matter what minor flaws that she might have. She was so tired of the way things were now she was going to tell Inuyasha to get off his ass so that they could finish this and move on with what ever was left of their lives.

She walked up to them quietly masking her scent until she was standing right behind them and then let the spell go so that she startled them. They were so wrapped up in each other that at first they didn't notice that she was there. Inuyasha suddenly caught her scent as the breeze moved through the trees that surrounded them and he turned around to her growling.

"What are you standing there for? Trying to learn how a real woman acts?" asked Inuyasha snarling

"No Inuyasha I was wondering how you could kiss dirt. No matter though we have a Jewel to finish so if you are done here I suggest that we get moving. I am leaving with or without you in 20 minutes in the village. I will see you there. Later Kikyo hope you two were having fun." Sighed Kagome

"We have been waiting on you for a week now you can give me more time with Kikyo!" yelled the now angry hanyou

"I don't care anymore Inuyasha, I really don't now can we please leave?" she asked her patience wearing thin.

"You will never be like Kikyo why do you even think that you can try? You are useless in battle; you have no common sense, no skill other than the ability to see the shards. What the hell makes you think that I will just jump when you say so?"

"Do you want me to say it?" she asked

"I don't care what you say! Say it! Please say it!" he smiled. Unknown to Kagome, Kikyo had taken the spell off of the rosary that Kagome had put around his neck while she had been gone, meaning she could say SIT all that she wanted and nothing would happen to Inuyasha.

"You know what Inuyasha? Why waste my breath? Just come to the village in 20 minutes so that we can leave will you." With that Kagome turned from the hanyou thinking that she was safe in doing so. She was wrong.

"Listen bitch don't ever turn your back on me when I am talking to you!" snarled Inuyasha as he grabbed her by her shoulder sinking his claws into her soft skin, the white of her long t shirt was becoming red from the blood that the hanyou was setting free. She had put on clothing that would allow her freedom of movement before she had come back this time. She had a feeling that he was going to hurt her again so she made sure that the clothes were loose so that any bruises and cuts would be well hidden from the others of their team.

She flinched in pain but she wasn't going to scream for him, it just wasn't worth it it wouldn't change anything. She turned her sparkling gray blue eyes to his and just asked him to let go of her. He didn't instead he sank them further into her skin. She knew that if he didn't let go of her soon that she wouldn't be able to pull the string on her bow. That would be the worst thing that the hanyou could do to her. She would be unarmed for the biggest part of things.

She stayed where she was and let him continue to rant about her failings and her flaws, hoping that he would finish quickly she still had to return and tell her son that she was back. Not like the hanyou cared any about the small kit that they had taken care of these past few years. Though she could hear him she was so hurt all ready that all he was doing was hardening her heart to him. To think that at one time not all that long ago she had truly deeply loved him, that was long gone by now. Too many fights, far too many bruises and cuts to ever go back to the way that things used to be.

"Inuyasha let go of her she isn't worth the air that she is breathing let alone your anger just let the little faker go will you come here into my arms and we will go to the village when we are ready." Came Kikyos dead voice from behind the hanyou.

"You are right Kikyo why waste my energy on something so pathetic. Go to the village we will be there when we are ready to go." With that the hanyou scraped his claws from her shoulder, then moved to Kikyo ignoring Kagome again so that he could make out with the dead miko.

Kagome sighed she was going to have to take care of the wounds on her shoulder before she returned to the others. She walked to the well where she had left her bag, and began working on the puncture marks of his claws once they were bandaged she changed her shirt into a black t shirt that matched her jeans then put the bag on her good shoulder and walked to the village her heart heavy but no tears this time. There would never be any more tears for him he didn't deserve them.

In the trees above

He had seen it all, every word that had been said to the miko with a pure heart, he couldn't believe that Inuyasha could be so heartless. Somewhere in the long journey that they had shared he had grown very cold to the miko that had loved him more than life itself. She had protected him from even himself quite a few times that Sesshomaru knew of. She would be the one that would destroy the hanyou Naraku; he knew that in his heart he could only hope that she didn't become bitter after all that his brother had done to her recently. He knew that the only reasons that she had come back were the kitsune (fox demon) that she cared for as a son and the Jewel, other than that there was really nothing here for the girl that conquered time.

If only she knew what the hanyou had done to her son while she had been gone he was sure that Inuyasha wouldn't have been standing. Then again he knew that Kikyo had released the spell on the rosary that Inuyasha wore to protect Kagome from him, there was nothing to stop him from killing her now. Nothing except him but he wouldn't let any one know that he cared, it wasn't that he really did he just wanted to make sure that she completed her quest even if she might need his help a little. She was an honorable woman he knew that but even she would end up leaving soon if the hanyou didn't stop the abuse to her.

Sesshomaru knew that Inuyasha had been raised better than that but something had snapped in him recently. It was as if he didn't even care about himself any more. No one would be able to stop him if Kikyo made him see her way of things. Kagome would die, that was the only thing other than his brothers death that the dead dirt bag wanted.

' How am I going to make sure that the miko does her duty and doesn't run home?' he thought

'Write her a letter you ass."

'Write her a letter? What the hell for?'

'So that you don't blow your cover. Duhhhh.'

'That isn't a bad idea'

For once he and his youkai were agreeing on something most of the time the other half of him was locked away but this miko had brought it to the surface and changed it, changed him well the miko and Rin had changed him. No longer was he as cold to ningen as he used to be. He watched over her as she slowly made her way to the village that she had called home for the past few years while she journeyed here but he knew that it was no longer home to her, it never would be again.

He turned to return to his castle when he was sure that she was in the village safe from Inuyasha for now then he would return to her later during the evening so that he could leave the note for her so that she would find it. As he took to flight he gave a silent prayer to Kannon the Goddess of the Moon that she would be safe while he was gone from her.

He arrived at the castle sometime later and immediately began to write the letter to her. He kept it simple but still he tried to reassure her that there was someone here that did care about her for her not what and who she might be or have been. He knew that though a portion of Kagomes soul belonged at one time to Kikyo he also was fairly certain that there were many things about the miko that no one knew that no one would know until it was time for the events and the changes in her to begin. He couldn't tell her his name but he wanted to made sure that there was something that would bring a smile to her face. He went to the shelves in his study and began looking for a particular book. It was a book that he and Rin had used when he helped her start her garden the first spring that she had lived with him. " Book of Flowers " he had found it. After a little while he went to his garden and picked a perfect flower and then the second copy of his book and left the castle so that he could be there before she got too far away from the village. Then again she would be lucky if she was able to leave today Inuyasha was planning on mating with Kikyo today, then again that thought alone made him want to hurl on the forest floor.

With Kagome & Shippo

She finally arrived at the village only to be tackled by her son, who wasn't looking all that great himself. Kagome knew with out a doubt that a certain hanyou had hurt the small kitsune. She wasn't sure what she could do about it now though. She just wanted to finish this damn quest and move on with her and her sons' lives. Didn't they deserve some peace for all that they had given up and lost over the years? Sango and Miroku weren't that far behind Shippo but they didn't tackle her, they were scared to touch her for fear that they would hurt her. They had seen some of the results of her and Inuyashas fights, they also knew that she wouldn't be in the mood for a bunch of "emotional baggage" as she called it. She wanted to find a place to rest until the hanyou returned so that she could recover some then she would be all fired up about the jewel shards.

At one time they had thought that Inuyasha had been obsessed with it but it turned out that he was mild compared to Kagome these days. They knew why though she wanted to run but couldn't until she finished what she had to do. Inuyasha had all ready broken his promise to protect her, he himself was the one that was hurting her all the time. So the promise that she made to stay with him forever no longer counted, he had broken his word that he wouldn't hurt her. The emotional scars that she had far out numbered the physical ones that the others had. No one knew how she had taken the abuse as long as she had but they knew that honor wasn't something to laugh at she would do what had to be done until it was finished then she would vanish into the darkness so that she would finally be free to live a peaceful life with the small kitsune who avoided her right shoulder for some reason.

Shippo was sitting talking gently in to her ear reassuring her that she was all right and that he was as well. He wrapped his small arms around his mother and held to her; they were the only two that really knew what had been going on for quite some time. Though Sango and Miroku knew that Inuyasha was getting abusive no one really knew what he had done to the girl how many bandages she had gone through or broken bones that she had had to heal with her miko powers so that no one would know what was going on. It seemed since the episode with Kaguya that things had gone from great straight to hell for her. All because she finally admitted how she felt. Nothing had really gone right since then they all knew it but none better than the kitsune that now held his mother like nothing in the world would ever part them. They watched as Kagome tensed up, there was only one reason that she would now, Inuyasha.

"Hey bitch are you ready to go yet?" he growled

"Yeah, lets move. The faster we get this done the faster you get your precious wish." She said coldly. The only person that she really didn't have that tone with anymore was her son. Nothing seemed to be able break through the shield that she put up around herself now. She didn't even look at Inuyasha but instead looked to the others in their team so that they knew that it was really time to move out. Quilala transformed into her larger size in a burst of red-hot flames and allowed Sango and Miroku to climb on her back. Kagome took the lead and Inuyasha with Kikyo were walking in the rear. No one said a word about the fact that Kikyo had joined them, they all knew that it was just a matter of time before it happened. They traveled for a while before Kagome turned suddenly toward the west, there was a jewel shard not far from them, she knew that Inuyasha would want to take it from the demon so she just led the way he didn't even want her to hold it but since Kikyo couldn't purify them anymore she had to hang onto them until the whole thing was finished. Once it was she knew without a doubt that her life was forfeit unless she got away from the hanyou and hid. Nothing would stop him then from taking the partial soul that she had and giving it back to Kikyo. Truly where had every thing she had ever known and done go so wrong.

The mantis demon had poison dripping from it claws when they approached and as usual Inuyasha went blazing into battle with out a second thought. At one time Kagome might have yelled at him to stop but she had given that up. Now she just watched she was such a burden to Inuyasha that she didn't get into his way anymore, not even to save him, though at one time she would have died for him. Now she just watched to see where the shard was in the demon and then yelled it out at the ungrateful demon in front of her dodging this way and that.

"Inuyasha it is in his head in the center." That was all that she would say every one knew that if he needed help that Kikyo was there and would gladly say something smart to Kagome before she pitched in as well so that the demon fell faster and her lover didn't get hurt.

"You are pathetic little copy, you would let him die?" asked Kikyo as she started toward the battle

"Why not die in battle instead of going to hell with you? Then again I think sleeping with a dead woman should put him there in the first place how gross." Laughed Kagome as she walked further away from the battle in front of them. Unknown to them there was another shard no too far away. She knew that she could get it on her own so she left the others with Shippo on her shoulder.

"Mom where are we going?" asked Shippo

"There is another shard close I figure you and I can get it." She said softly so that the others didn't hear her. No one knew that she and Shippo had been training in secret for a while now and they were damn near right on. They had been preparing for the time when they would be alone with out the others. They knew that the time was fast approaching they were ready.

"Are you sure your ready for this mom?" asked the small fur ball on her shoulder

"Yeah I am more than ready what about you son?"

"Lets show the others that we are ready to take on what comes our way." Smiled Shippo

Above them at the same time

Sesshomaru noticed as he approached that the miko and her son weren't with the others. Perhaps they had decided to cut ties with the baka Inuyasha earlier than he thought that they would. He wanted to see how they would fair on their own he knew that they had been working on joint attacks so that they could truly leave the others if necessary, perhaps this was a test that they were giving themselves. He wanted no needed to know that the miko and her son were going to be all right.

He watched amazed as the little kitsune pulled a small dagger from his shirt, the miko pulled her bow off of her shoulder and knocked an arrow ready for the attack that was coming their way. He silently stood on a cloud above them and watched as the mother and son took out a lizard demon on their own and retrieved the jewel shard. When Kagome shot her arrow the little kit sent his Fox Fire into the magics of the arrow. The combined attack would have taken out a demon twice as powerful as the one they had just taken down. The kit then walked over to the demon and grabbed the shard and took it to his mother who was reaching in that bag of hers to pull out a bottle of water for her and her son.

Shippo held out the shard as she handed him the water that she held, she put the shard into a small bottle around her neck and the kit took a small drink from the bottle. While the girl was putting the bottle back into the bag her eyes changed suddenly. She pulled out a leather bound book and stared at it for a moment.

"Mom what is the matter?" asked Shippo

"This is my moms. A diary if you will but from a really long time ago. What is it doing in here?" she answered

"Maybe she wanted to give you something to help you remember her?" her son suggested

"No Shippo that isn't like my mom. There must be something in here that she wants me to read." Said Kagome

"When you read it can I read it with you?" asked the curious child. The only race more curious than an inu (dog) was a kitsune, smiled Sesshomaru as he continued to watch over the pair on the forest floor.

"I guess there shouldn't be anything in here that you can't read. If there is I will tell you to wait ok?" she asked

"Yeah, mom we should head back before the others think something happened to us."

"Your right, it isn't like we have much of a choice. Wait a minute Shippo do you want to camp with just the two of us tonight?" asked Kagome smiling

"You think that we can? I mean that Inuyasha is the one that usually goes out to hunt."

"We can Shippo, there is nothing to hunting. Relax we will find the stream that we were walking by this afternoon and make camp how is that?"

"We would at least have fish. What about Sango and Miroku?"

"They know that we are getting ready to leave them so we will tell them that we were just out testing to see if we could. How is that?"

"We going to tell them before or after?"

"After Shippo I want to be left alone for a while."

"I can leave mom, I will go to the others."

"No, no my son you stay with me. I meant I want to be away from the other adults or what ever they are. I wont leave you with Inuyasha again."

The small kit leapt into his mothers' arms and held her tight as tears fell from his sad green eyes. Sesshomaru knew that the kit was badly treated by his brother; as a matter of fact Sesshomaru had had to watch over the kit one night because Inuyasha had beaten him unconscious and the kit couldn't watch over himself. He didn't mind, he like Shippo, he liked the miko too if he looked deep enough into himself. He had sworn that night that he would help the miko start her new life, he would help her learn to take care of herself, the hanyou was going to kill her that much Sesshomaru knew for sure now that his brother had mated with the clay toy it was just a matter of time.

He continued to float over them as they moved around the group sitting around a newly built fire, she had masked her scent well if he hadn't been following her he wouldn't have known that she was there. Once she was at the stream she cast a barrier that would only allow the two of them into it. Then she and the kit went to the stream and began trying to catch their dinner. The sight was heart warming even for him the Ice Prince to see the 19 almost 20 year old girl and her demon child trying to catch a fish. A small water fight started, the laughter rang like a song through the woods that surrounded them but they were truly happy for once. Shippo was dunked once or twice, Kagome fell into the water at least once on her own but Sesshomaru was sure that the kit had something to do with the second time. By the time they had one a piece (Shippo had the bigger one) they were soaked but they had laughed the whole time something that she hadn't done around the others in a long time.

She built a fire and began cooking the fish and a couple of packages of ramen that she had brought from her home while that was cooking she and Shippo moved into a more wooded area to change out of the wet clothes that they had on into some dry ones. Kagome came out wearing a white miko shirt and a pair of pale blue jeans, Shippo was wearing something similar, his shirt however said Fox Fire on the back of it. He smiled slightly as the two put their clothes on a nearby branch and sat at the fire and began to read from the leather book.

The Journal Of Nichne

Today something strange happened. I was standing at the God Tree while thinking about the argument that I had with my boyfriend when a strange creature came from the well and asked if he could talk to me. I didn't know who or what he was but I wasn't afraid I said that we could talk.

He was handsome, about 30 I would say but then he wasn't human either, he had a long black tail or something wrapped around his shoulder, he had the most amazing silver eyes that I had ever seen, like pools of mercury floating there in space, his face had two black stripes outlined in silver on each side, a black star outlined in silver on his forehead, he had fangs of that I was certain, his ears were pointed, they also had a faint shimmer to them. His long black hair was down to his ankles in the moonlight it almost looked blue it was so black.

We moved toward the house but the fact that my dad still lived there made me nervous about asking this stranger into our house. I asked him if we could go to the woods that surrounded the house, he said that he would feel much more comfortable there. I asked him where he had come from, he told me the Feudal Era. I asked him how he had gotten here he told me through the ancient well here at the shrine. I then asked him why he had come here. He told me that he had someone for me to watch over for a few years. I looked at him funny; I wasn't even married yet I said I couldn't take care of a child. He told me that it wouldn't be a child that I would be looking after it would be a demon. I looked at him like he was nuts. He simply smiled and pulled his long black tail away from a small bundle in his arm.

There in his arms I found you my dear sweet Kagome. I had no idea what you were at the time, he explained to me that he wanted to make sure that his race didn't die out I guess there was a clan war or something in his time that would have wiped them all out. He told me that she would look just like a human child until the day of her 20th birthday. I looked at him like he was crazy. The child that he held looked like him too much to pass as a human, the only difference between the baby and him was the fact that the baby's eyes were gray and blue, well that and she had a funny aura around her but then hey I cant say that I can see them all that well either. Where his I think was red hers was a bluish silver, other than that they were definitely father and daughter.

My boyfriend came into the wood then and saw the two of us together, it was almost as if he expected us to be there. Shin (short for shinzui or spirit) my boyfriend looked to the demon in front of me and said that he was expected. I think he called him something like Lord Arashi (storms). I looked at the two men, how could Shin expect a visit from a Lord from 500 years in the past? They explained that Shins family had been caretakers of the castle that was being ransacked right at that moment and knew that the Lord was leaving with his only daughter so that she would survive the atrocities that were about to occur. Shin looked at me and told me that I needed to find a place in my heart for the small bundle in the demons arms, that she needed to grown up that she had a great destiny a head of her. I stepped closer to the demon in front of me I knew that I was probably asking for death or at the least a butt whipping but I looked closer at the small angelic face in blankets and fur.

There was no way that I could turn her away, she needed me and I knew that I wanted to be with Shin so the decision was made that night. The demon softly spoke some words over the child; she was now human and would be until she was 20. Once he kissed her he placed her in my arms and nodded at Shin then turned and left going right back to the well that he had just come from.

Well that is how you my dear sweet daughter ended up here with us. Shin explained to me later that the Lord had returned to his death trying to save his 'mate'. So you are the only one left of a mighty clan of black dog demons who can use elemental abilities. You miko powers will come in time, but for now you are just a small infant here next to me, sleeping, perhaps dreaming of your great destiny.

________________________________________

Kagome, I know that this is a shock to you. You will have to do as you had planned and stay there in the Feudal Era they need you. Your father told me that he had a few friends that might help you if you needed it but that he wasn't sure what would become of them. By your father I mean Shin, he knew of one or two of your natural fathers allies but he never told me their names, said that once you changed that they would find you. I am proud of you and all that you have become you are my daughter in every way, I hope that you can find happiness there. The rest of this journal is for you so that one-day you can show me what all has happened to you once you return to this time. Tell your little son to behave and take care of himself. Tell Inuyasha to take a hike. Tell Sango and Miroku to get over it and fall in love or at least tell the other. I know that I am going to be a long way off but honey I know that you can do this. I didn't have the heart to tell you face to face I hope that you understand. I love you always Kagome, your mother Nichne.

Kagome and Shippo sat there for a moment in stunned silence. Letting everything just be absorbed into them, Shippo looked at his mother and smiled he knew that she would make a great demoness. She was a beautiful human, she was kind and gentle unlike some other demons he could name but he wanted his mom to be happy no matter what that meant.

Kagome was in shock she was a black inuyoukai. There was no getting around the fact that her mother wouldn't have lied to her; she had even given her the name that her birth father had given to her. She was on the verge of tears, now she could take care of Shippo forever, now she could defeat that hanyou Naraku, now she would have to learn how to deal with being a demon. It was all almost too much for one human heart to take.

"Mom are you all right?"

"Yeah honey I am fine. Lets eat so that we can go to bed early. We have to be back at the camp at dawn or you know how Inuyasha will get."

"I know mom. When it happens are you going to beat him into the ground?"

"I just might." They smiled laughed and joked while they ate their dinner then rolled out the sleeping bag that Kagome used when she was here and slowly fell asleep. Kagomes arms tightly wrapped around the kit.

They had been quiet while they read the book that Kagome had found in the bag. Something in there had made the girl happy sad excited and lost all at the same time. What ever it was he was sure that he would find out eventually. Once he was sure that they were asleep he placed the note that he had written and a single white rose from his personal garden on the ground by her head then placed the second copy of the book called "Book of Flowers" on top of the journal that they had just finished reading then he leapt into the tree nearest them and watched over them the rest of the night.