An Ancient Vow by dreamcatcher

Prologue

Disclaimer: I own nothing but my plot and my new created figures

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A/N: Sorry for any any mispellings and my bad grammar. I´m german and have my difficulties with the language. I would be happy to find a beta for helping mir.

A/N: I think the characters are a bit OCC, but I think that life changes people. You can´t experience some thinks without changing. The story takes place at the end of the series at the moment wenn Inayasha and Kagome are freed from the Shikon, when Inayasha was brought back to the past through the well, while Kagome is left behind in the future. In my story the well closed forever.

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Dawn touched the land with caressing rays of sunlight. The darkness was fading and the first light of the day tinted everything in warm reddish and golden colors. The white shiro, lone and superior, almost seemed to glow as the sun kissed the stones. In the window of the top level stood a tall, static figure.

His face showed not the slightest emotion, the eyes seemed to be as cold as the fresh snow that cowered the surrounding lands. For a moment he had the feeling the spring was back in his gardens and he could see his little girl again, running through the flowers.

In his mind he saw her again, how she was skidding to a halt, turning and waving giggling at him. Softly he shook his head, chasing the pictures away. He was waiting, the whole night had he been waiting and he knew that now the end of it was near. After a soft knock the door was opened and his retainer entered.

"My Lord?" he squeaked. The male slightly turned his head, indicating that he was listening. His silver hair gleamed as the sun played over it. "It seems, the time is near, my Lord." Tears glistened in the bulging eyes of the small creature.

"I know." The tall figure left his room calmly, went down the corridor and entered the familiar room. The smell of the near death and sickness stood heavy in the room. She had forbidden that the servants opened the windows and the curtains.

"You should let the sun in, dear." With a silent motion the door was closed behind him.

"You came!" With a smile she turned her head slowly to him.

"Indeed!" He nodded, slowly taking a seat next to her futon. "How do you feel?"

"Better now, it is time. There is no more pain. Tell me, has the snow come?" Her face was calm, a slight smile gracing her features.

"In the night." He nodded again.

"How fitting, don´t you think? I´ve never been made for the winter. I was more the summer." The deepening smile lined her aged face in what seems to be thousand wrinkles. "Don´t be sad. We both knew this day would come. I had a wonderful life."

His hand moved on her own, taking her small one and squeezing it softly.

"I had such a wonderful life. Thanks to you I had a life." Her gaze was full of love for him. "I laughed, I whined, I was loved and which is the most important thing I´ve been loved. I´ve been loved by him, by my friends and especially by you, chichi-ue."

"It´s been a while since you used that name." His features softened slightly.

"You didn´t like it that much." Her eyes, they looked still the same even after all this years, were shining with amusement. "I have only one regret."

He lifted one single, perfect arched brow.

"I haven´t said good bye to her. I´ve never thanked her for all she´d done." It was easy to hear her sorrow for this.

"As none of us has, dear." There was no need to ask whom she meant. So often they had talked about this. "Maybe it is better, that she couldn´t come back. She was never meant for this time, so she made a good job to adjust herself here. But I don´t think she would have been happy here, especially when she would have lost him so soon."

"Such a long statement from you." Again a smile wrinkled her features. For him these will be forever the features of his little girl. "Who would have thought, that he would defeat our enemy, only to die five years later out of all sudden. Do you miss him? I still do. He was, after all my uncle. But I miss her even more. While you became my father, giving me my faith again, she became a mother to me. The only one I´ve ever known."

His hand was stroking hers. Only she knew how much she had softened him.

"Promise me something, will you?" Hope gleamed in her deep brown orbs.

"Everything." His deep, smooth voice soothing her as it had always.

"You don´t even know yet what it is. Shouldn´t you ask first?" She asked with a soft laugh.

"It will be your last wish, so it shall be granted. Whatever kind of wish you will made, I vow to fulfill it." He gave her a small nod.

"Thank you!" She lifted her hands, cupped his cheek and locked his gazes with hers. "Find her for me. I know you can. You are still so young for your kind. Find her and become her comfort and her protection. Be there for her as you have always been there for me, will you? Never let her be alone again. Take away all fear from her. Please!"

"This one can´t do this, for he is no comfort." A frown touched the flawless face.

"Please! This is my last wish, my last sorrow. Please take it away from me." In her eyes shone her fear, her concern for the lost one. "At least try it, for me!"

He hesitated for a second, than he nodded. It was her last wish and he had vowed to fulfill.

"Oh, thank you!" Tears brimmed her eyes, the smell of salt mixing deeply with the smell of her death. "Now I can go without any fears. For I know, that she will safe and well. One last thing, chichi-ue, look for the boy. He is still to young to be on his own. It is important, that he also is safe and well, for her and for me. He is my best friend. Keep him with you, protect him."

"I shall grand your wishes, dear, as they are your last." His gave her hand a careful squeeze. "I vow to keep the boy like my own son as I´ve done for you all this years. When the time will be granted I also shall try to find her and become her bridge over troubled water. I will try to take her under my care and she will never suffer for anything."

"That is all I wish for. Don´t be sad, I don´t wont you to mourn for me." Lifting her Hand she stroked his cheek one last time. "Behave, my Lord, be well and keep me and my love for you in your heart, but don´t look back."

"Forever, dear, forever."

These were their last words. They had no need for a farewell, no need for other words. They had made their peace. He sat with her till her breathing slowed more and more. Finally her breathing stopped, her vision broke and he couldn´t hear her heart beating anymore.

He knew she was gone and it was right. Slowly he bend down, softly stroking over her forehead, down over her eyes, closing them. Gracefully he rose, casting one last look at her and left the room without any word oder any look back. He went to find the boy, fulfilling the first bit of his vow.

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A/N: First part ready. Please read an review. Feedback is my fuel to write. Thanks!

A/N: Edited for better reading and to erase minor misspelling and grammar mistakes