Secret Garden by Lord Ringorius

Chapter 1

Originally posted on FF.net, reposted on Dokuga ^^ Enjoy! Feel free to leave a review (:

1.

The trees had shed their leaves, and it was against the morning's white did Sesshoumaru climb the mountain.

With quivering hands, the agent reluctantly told him of the uninhabited, remote location on top of Sakoku, hidden beneath the withering greens.

He took graceful leaps, feeling the surge of exhilaration that came with being free in the wilderness, and a spark of a faded feeling threatened to overwhelm him.

He reached the top and took a deep breath-

Sesshoumaru paused.

His sharp, golden gaze stopped at the thin figure sitting there, alone under the tall cotton tree.

"Miko." His voice a low tremor and the young woman sitting under the tree shivered as well.

She turned around, eyes wide and lips open in surprise. Her mind was working quickly, and her bright blue eyes were almost hungrily devouring his image, as if she was trying to clasp a fragile illusion with her bare fingers. Her eyes were wide with desperation, glazed over with something slightly fanatic before she spoke-

"Sesshoumaru."

She replied back, before patting the spot next to her. Sesshoumaru raised an eyebrow, before stepping over to stand next to her. The girl looked up at the tall Inuyoukai and met his gaze. She noted the regal, traditional dress she had seem him clothed in, centuries ago. Wringing her hands, she shook away painful memories. "I haven't been addressed like that term for a while."

Sesshoumaru glanced down at her through the corner of his eye. "The same could be said for this Sesshoumaru."

2.

She was toying with the petals of a flower, fingering the wide-mouthed orchid's broken smile.

"This Sesshoumaru was told this mountain was uninhabited." He remarked finally after a precarious silence. Kagome smiled sadly.

"Then I suppose your informant was mistaken. It is not often that you are second best."

Sesshoumaru's mouth turned down slightly, his eyes flashing due to the left-handed comment. "For what reason did you leave your home?"

Kagome shrugged absently, fingers still tracing the dulled azure petals. "Too many memories."

There was another long silence, only disrupted by the biting wind that chilled the trees.

Sesshoumaru looked down at the still miko, and an unfamiliar feeling of curiosity moved him to pose another question. "Why here?"

Kagome lips quirked in that imitation of a smile again. Loftily, with just a tinge of amusement in her voice, she responded softly, "I was told this mountain was uninhabited."

3.

He had chosen to stay on the high mountain top, not for the company, but the ability to move again, to almost feel alive in this familiar wilderness. Sesshoumaru thought that this was also one of the reasons the miko had resided in this forest so long, though she claimed she had left her original homelands because of painful memories. She was trapped in the present, estranged from her beloved friends as their purpose had been fulfilled...

She was nearby, on the quiet hilltop, in a small cottage beside an open grove of vivid black-ribbed blue bells that had only just started to bloom. Sesshoumaru's acute senses could easily pick up the opulent smell of smoke, and moved to go find her.

Kagome was stirring a kind of soup, he presumed, and the smell of fire hastened his motions to leave, before her soft voice caught him in his exit.

"It's odd, that we would meet each other on this mountain, in this point of time." She commented, picking up a handful of herbs to drop in the pot. "How can there be such a coincidence?"

Sesshoumaru did not look at her, but could imagine the thoughtful expression on her face. He inwardly scoffed at the meaningless question, but found the words slipping out. "Then, perhaps it may be something greater than mere coincidence."

Maybe he stayed for the company as well.

4.

The question had plagued her for nights, echoing through nightmares. Strands of distant voices threaded through her dreams questioned her endlessly.

It was when they were both outside, regarding the expansive night sky did she finally voice the question, to someone who would know the answer.

"What happened to all the youkai, Sesshoumaru?"

When he stiffened, with his lips tightened, and his jaw clenched, and the silence so deafening, the pressure overwhelming, crushing her… Kagome knew the answer.

And on that night, she cried.

Sesshoumaru was silent.

5.

He found her again, sitting by the fireplace, with salty tears sliding down her cheeks. He could hear tidbits of words throughout her tears and mumbling. She was running through memories, fleeting images of travels and laughter and her friends. Flashes of twitching ears and brushing her hand through soft, familiar silver hair..

Sesshoumaru watched her, refraining from breaking the tenseness of the air, the sorrow laced between the smothering atmosphere of the sweltering room.

The taiyoukai who did not smile, and the miko who could only smile sadly. They stayed in that room, in the same positions for many hours, before Kagome spoke.

"It hasn't been very reclusive since you've come, you know." Her voice was slightly scratchy.

"Would you like this Sesshoumaru to leave, then?" Sesshoumaru asked with a raised eyebrow.

Kagome stiffened, and with pursed lips and a clenched jaw, she grew silent.

6.

The birds shivered beneath the eaves, and Kagome shivered along with them in the crisp winter morning.

"Miko, what would've happened if you grew ill, alone on this mountain?"

Kagome turned to him, sending him a remorseful smile.

"Died alone, I suppose."

Sesshoumaru gave her a slightly disgruntled look. "Hnn. Though, your assumptions are no longer correct."

Kagome blinked rapidly and her lips quirked in the ghost of a smile, and leaned against the tall cotton tree. "But, I don't seem to get sick anymore. Perks I probably got from being the Shikon carrier." She pondered thoughtfully.

"This Sesshoumaru does not fall ill, as well."

"Oh?"

Sesshoumaru gave her a flat stare, and Kagome's eyes scanned the demonic stripes across his cheeks.

"Oh."

7.

He would not deny their strange friendship now. They were both caught, unwilling, unable to leave what time had already left behind.

She would open up to him occasionally now and he could feel the familiarity of company he enjoyed, the eeriness of nostalgia reminding him of the assortment of company he had once traveled with.

And sometimes, before she noticed, she would slips. Secrets that should have disappeared, and reminiscences of things that were no longer here would fall out.

And then Kagome would crash and burn, and she felt like she was falling. But she still craved to see the warmth of blue light catching her, transporting her away..

He would close everything, bury it into the mesh of traditions and lands time had ravaged. He knew that for this, he was second best.

The miko could afford to slip, and exhaustively claw her way back out of that darkness, those memories that threatened to overtake her…

Sesshoumaru could not.

8.

When he heard her high-pitched screams, Sesshoumaru felt something twist within his stomach, something unnatural, something unfamiliar.

It curled in soft tendrils around him, and sent his heart racing as the feeling drove him to burst off in impossible speeds towards the miko.

Trees raced past, his heartbeat was thundering in his ears, and that uneasy emotion shook him hard as he searched for her, senses on high alert. His eyes were still, for he simply had to follow her scent.

He burst into a clearing, and felt time stop when he saw the thick, scarlet liquid that trailed down her arms as she sat there unmoving on the muddy, dirt floor.

But he stopped to calm down, to pay attention.

It was not her blood.

The strange feeling uncoiled from him, hissing quietly as it retreated.

Next to Kagome was a large wolf, and strangled sounds of shock were coming from her mouth. She was unconsciously running her hands through the brown fur, quivering and muttering.

He walked towards her and reluctantly lifted her up, almost certain her legs would collapse on her, but she stood.

She shook violently, but stood up and met his eyes.

Holding eye contact, he could feel her search through him, seeking something hidden, feeling that she was recognizing something in him he could not.

She still shook, but took a deep breath and began to leave the clearing. She paused, looked back to him with a soft smile.

"Thank you."

Sesshoumaru nodded in acknowledgment, and they left to return home, together.

9.

The odd pair created new memories too, in snapshots of pleasant days spent under the warmth of the sun.

Wiping the sweat from her brow, Kagome clapped her hands as she admired her work. She swiveled her gaze upward to meet the stony-faced youkai, pointing at her accomplishment.

"Isn't it pretty, Sesshoumaru?"

Looking downwards, he felt his chest tighten with something almost bitter. "Hnn."

Kagome blinked, frowning slightly. "Do you not like flowers?"

Sesshoumaru almost thought about the innocent girl that had trailed after him, beaming as she presented him with a bouquet of sweet-smelling flowers. He almost thought about the fondness with which he nodded. He almost thought about the fragile little girl he had lost to time.

"Perhaps."

Kagome snorted in an unladylike manner. She sighed, before meeting his stifled gaze with clear, blue eyes. She smiled sadly, biting the bottom of her lips.

"I like them too." She said gently.

Sesshoumaru did not correct her, because she was right.

10.

Then it was many, many winters and summers later when Sesshoumaru held the small miko in his arms, for the very first time.

His tone sounded almost amused, and the image, or illusion, of his lips pulled into a slight smile danced across Kagome's eyes. "Miko, you said you did not fall ill."

Kagome coughed, and for the first time, gently touched his shoulder and corrected him. "Kagome. And aging is not an illness."

"Kagome." He said quietly. "Perhaps it seems so, to you humans."

The frail priestess laughed, her wrinkled face shifting as she smiled. "I suppose I must widen my perspective then." She took deep, rapid breaths.

Kagome stilled. "Don't stay here forever, there are wonderful places far away from here, you know."

"Then this Sesshoumaru will not stay here." He paused. "Forever."

The weak miko laughed again, and reached out to touch his clawed hand briefly, before her hand fell away.

Kagome was silent.

Sesshoumaru carried her, to that open glade of black-ribbed blue-bells, and set her down on the soft grass.

Sesshoumaru was silent too, for a very long time.