An Unexpected Love Story

Chapter Twenty Seven:

Part Seven: Tokyo

Chapter Twenty Seven:

That night I dream.

I dream of a blue sky so bright it hurts my eyes. I dream of clouds and grass and a whole little world.

I dream that I am lying in the grass, letting it envelope me in warmth, closing my eyes and enjoying the sun.

A shadow moves across my blind vision, blocking out the endless light.

I can feel his presence, I don't want to open my eyes for I fear he isn't actually there.

"Open your eyes" He tells me, his voice nothing but a whisper. The tears prick, falling from closed eye lids.

"I can't" My voice is nothing more then a trembling shadow.

"Yes you can..." His hand brushes my face, my eyes snap open, and there he is.

"Inu...Inuyasha!" I let the tears fall, leaping to my feet and throwing my arms around his neck. Embracing him tightly I can feel his body under my touch, gently, he wraps his arms around me.

"I missed you" His voice is sweet and soft, his arms much the same.

"I'm so sorry! I'm sorry! I'm sorry!" I yell. He does nothing but stroke my back.

"I know... I know..." Calm, he brushes my hair away.

I didn't mean to leave him, I thought the well would accept us both, that's what was supposed to happen.

We were supposed to cross over to see my family one last time, to say a proper goodbye. Then we were supposed to come back. But the only one who made it through was me.

I left him all alone after an unbreakable promise to stay forever.

And now I'm here dreaming of him while I'm in love with his brother.

"It's okay...everything is alright." He kisses my forehead lightly before pulling away.

"Are you happy?" His question catches me off guard and I don't know what to say at first. Then, it hits me, I am happy. The moments I spend with Sesshoumaru bring me happiness.

"I am"

"That's all that matters" This time with him, is time that I am using to mend what I felt I'd broken. My guilt has been controlling my life and I finally feel like I have closure.

I do not want to live this life I have filled with guilt.

My soul feels lighter, even free, like a little bird in my heart has been set free.

xxx

When I get up the next morning, he isn't there. I don't panic, instead I get out of bed and go downstairs.

I make coffee, enough for two and try to make breakfast, well lunch considering it's far past noon.

Sesshoumaru comes home to me screaming at a pan.

I throw it into the sink, all he does is raise an eyebrow. "I can't cook."

"I know that." I roll my eyes, crossing my arms.

"You don't have to admit it so readily." I whisper. He crosses the kitchen holding onto something wrapped in cloth.

"Here." He passes it to me.

"Put it on, we're going out." Oh god, all I can picture is it's something from his Vegas days that's arrived from Russia.

Leaving the room I formulate a plan on how I will escape whatever he's got in mind.

The kimono within the cloth is breath taking though. Thick with embroidery and layers, I put on as much as I can before admitting defeat.

"Help?" He slides into the room as if he was waiting for my call. Blushing he ties me up.

"Thank you." He's wearing traditional clothes that match my own.

I look in the mirror and finally see something he's seen all along. The fact that we fit, we match.

We belong.

xxx

"Are you going to tell me where we're going?"

"No." He says in a final statement. I see his lip twitch into an unseen smile.

"Alright then." I stay quiet for the rest of the train ride, looking at the people all bundled up.

We get off and I take hold of his hand. He leads me into the centre of a festival.

"This, is a festival held every year for the kind hearted demon who vanquished the villagers of all the vermin that plagued them." He states this matter of factly and I nod slowly, looking at everything.

"That demon, was me."

"Excuse me?" I see his sideways glance.

"My palace was here, right on the outskirts of the village. I protected this place while Rin and her family lived here. The festival was Rin's idea."

Everything is decorated with white, red and gold. Giant characterized dog demons hang in every window and from every lamp post.

"This is all for you?"

"Well the great dog demon of the West." I roll my eyes, what a title.

"It's beautiful." The sun is just setting as the festival begins.

He takes me to the booths that sell food and trinkets, all dog demon themed. One booth even retells the story of the heroic demon through the use of puppets.

Sesshoumaru is depicted as an enormous dog with a large fluffy tail and cold red eyes. We laugh, and he even smiles.

The entire town is covered in streamers, lanterns, and balloons. Women, men, and children wonder through the streets in their finest.

We eat and are stared at by the watching and curious eyes who seem to envy something. "Look, she's staring you down." I tell him over my mug as we lounge in a small tea shop. He shakes his head closing his eyes.

"Wow. She's really fascinated by you. I think you have a secret admirer."

"Maybe she's looking at you?" He's the only one looking at me.

Leaving the shop, we shake her prying eyes, while strolling towards the train in the dark.

"Face it, you're a real head turner." I whisper.

"So are you."

xxx

We come back to the house and it feels full. Like hundreds of people fill every room, even though it's dark as we walk through the door.

I no longer feel so alone in this house. It's as if a weight has been lifted from my weak shoulders.

In a way it has. In a way, I've won the race. I had spent so much time consumed by running away and looking for exits, that I had forgotten my way back. I even forgot what fears I was running from, but I finally found what I was running for.

I was running for freedom from fears and anxieties from the past that no longer exist.

I've finally crossed the finish line, I've finally won the prize. The place where I belong has been here from the beginning, I just never knew.

xxx

Fin.