GOD'S WILL

The breeze wafting off the sea was different, the threads of air carried an unfamiliar scent, an unknown she didn't quite have the language for. The mainland, Kagura knew, a whole other world beyond that shoreline.

"Is everything ready to go or what?" Behind her, Momiji's voice was grating, a trilling inflection when she called to others, the two men inside the carriage making sure everything was secured enough to fly. The whole thing trembled with every movement they made, and Kagura wasn't sure if it had been the best idea to have them working on it. Momiji caught her gaze when she turned to look over her shoulder for what must have been the tenth time.

"Not homesick already, are you?" The oni's voice purred in her ear when Kagura turned back around. A little too closely for her liking, but Kagura stood her ground.

"No," she said, "the sooner we get off this island the better."

"Oh, I agree!" The oni yawned, stretching her arms over her head. "It's been so long since I've gone back, but it's sure to be lovely. I know you'll just have the best time."

Kagura hummed in affirmation. It wasn't the first time she'd been told something similar. The oni had been ecstatic when they'd finally met again, cooing and purring at her and waxing poetic about how beautiful the sights were, and hearing the oni tell her tales that may have all been the same if she really cared to listen. And through all of that, her grating and fried voice, the oni saw fit to keep reminding her how much she'd enjoy it, as if she might change her mind. Most likely it didn't help that she'd been a little less than happy to see them, but she didn't care what kind of time she would have, she just needed to get away from the breeze pulling at her sleeves.

"We'll absolutely have to visit the Dragon King's palace, though that might be on the way back, oh, I know the perfect little place to―" Kagura hummed and "is that so"ed right along with Momiji's babbling, not really processing the information as she chronicled all the fantastical things she'd seen on her travels to the mainland and how wondrous it all was. It wasn't as if traveling the world didn't sound appealing, she simply had more pressing matters to concern herself with.

A shadow crossed Kagura's vision, blotting out the sun for the briefest second. She shielded her eyes from the light as she looked up, but Momiji was quicker, interrupting her own monologuing.

"What's a crane doing out at sea?"

The muscle of her cheek popped as Kagura clenched her jaw. Her eyes glued to white feathers that gleamed in the sunlight, glittering and sparkling and oh so perfectly groomed.

Speak of the devil. She had half a mind to shoot him out of the sky, but she took a deep breath and when she inhaled there was warmth in the breeze. The bird flew several loops above their heads before finally descending into the forest a few hundred feet up the hill behind them. Kagura turned her head to look over her shoulder, upwind, and there, just within the tree line…

"I'll be right back."

She'd purposefully ignored his presence, that he'd been edging closer and closer the last few days, but now she supposed she didn't have much choice. But still, she took her time, and was glad to see that he retreated into the shadows of the forest at her approach. She made her way up the hill and tried her damndest to make it very obvious how she felt about the little farewell party with every heavy step. She let out the smallest breath of relief when the green god was nowhere to be seen, his aura faint on the breeze. Which only left three figures standing there in the shadows, a man, a girl, and a fucking bird.

Bya―Shinatsuhiko, whoever―gave her a warm smile when she was within the treeline, and she responded by crossing her arms and throwing her shoulders against the trunk of a tree. The girl who'd-once-been-Kanna's eyes flickered to her, but her face remained neutral and she said nothing, and the crane looked as cantankerous as usual. The man opened his mouth, but she wasn't going to let him monopolize this.

"Did Fuujin send you?"

The smile faltered just a little when he exhaled sharply. He shook his head.

"Didn't like the little offering I left him?" she spat.

The crane looked disgusted and the girl had no expression at all, but the man merely sighed.

"Humans die in storms all the time," he said, a little callously. But there was something… His voice was different, a calmer lilt to it, not the typical teasing tone she'd grown used to. "I didn't come here to scold or punish you, if that's what you're thinking. We've both done our fair share of questionable things."

"So then what the fuck do you want?"

"You're leaving, aren't you?" Someone else had asked her something similar once, and she'd been too tired and delirious to properly think about the connotations of the phrase, but standing there in the summer sun she was lucid and altogether pissed off. Her patience had already been worn thin when she'd spotted Takahiko flying loops above her head, but it was hanging by a thread now. She snapped her head to glare at the bird, and was only a little warmed by the fact that he flinched under her gaze.

"You." Kagura jammed her fan in his direction. "Fuck off."

Takahiko hesitated and then turned to his master―

"No, don't look at him, you ass, get lost."

If having the spat out bits of a goddess inside her was good for anything, the crane's bullshit little excuse for a bow was almost sweet as he backed away and took to the air. His master watched him go and turned back to her with a furrow in his brow, he didn't ask the question, but she could sense his confusion.

"I'm going, and?" She opened her arms, palms up, expecting a plea or a lecture on why she shouldn't.

"The last time I didn't get to see you before you before you went."

Guilt churned in her gut and she almost felt bad for snapping at him, but she quickly buried the feeling.

"Okay, bye then." She wiggled her fingers at him.

He took an audible breath and rolled his eyes and then leveled her with a dull stare.

"Cut it out."

"Cut what out?" She could be halfway to the continent by now, but instead she was here talking to him. She'd already made her decision.

"Doing that, you always get like this when―"

"I don't do anything!" The winds lashed with her anger. He was going to reprimand her? What a fucking liar. "I don't need you―whoever the fuck you are―or Fuujin or that fucking bird telling me what I do or what I need to do or what the fuck ever I am."

"Nee-chan―"

"Shut up." Unfamiliar with the concept, but the way he said it, the softness in his voice, made her think it might be affection lacing his tone. Somehow that made it worse. Kagura closed her eyes, tired of it, the spot just behind her brows throbbed, and looking at those violet eyes brimming with so much concern didn't help anything. Why couldn't he just leave her be? Things had been easier when they'd been tepid allies, the camaraderie they'd shared had been comfortable when she could still hold him at a distance. They'd shared the same experience then, but she didn't need his miserable concern or whatever it was lacing the air now.

She turned to look over her shoulder, to see the progress the others had made on the carriage and was disappointed to see not much had changed.

"If you're mad at uncle, I don't blame you," he said, "but I understand why he did it the way he did."

She rolled her eyes. Fine, she would bite. "And why's that?"

"With us gone he had to do more work." He shrugged. "And you've always been the more stubborn of the two of us, I doubt you would have gone along with it if he'd told you from the start."

"You don't know me." The retort sounded pitiful when she'd had the same thought.

He chuckled. "I won't argue it, but you trusted me before, didn't you?"

Kagura grimaced and kept her mouth shut. She had, but being reminded of it now had her clenching her hands into fists. She'd trusted Byakuya, and she wasn't altogether sure if the man standing before her now was even the same person.

"My sister," he started, seeming to struggle with the words, "you think you're different, but you aren't. A millennia of being a goddess, under our father's thumb, obligated to our family, brothers and sisters who were just as likely to kill us for some perceived spite. Forced to perform our duty for the wellbeing of the natural world. Tied to a shrine so long as the humans made offerings, or stuck up in heaven where the wind can't reach. Putting all them before ourselves. You wanted your freedom from Naraku, you think it was any different for her?"

Kagura tapped her fan against her thigh. "And what makes you so sure that I'm really her?"

"Besides the attitude?" He snorted. He held up his hand in front of his face, twirling his fingers as the wind danced between them. "She was a bit better at hiding it, of course. But we're twins, you know, still have that sixth sense when it comes to you."

She did know. It was how she'd found him in the underworld, how she always knew where he was, even when she didn't care to. How, now that he was close enough, she could almost tell what he was thinking.

"I didn't mean for things to end up this way," he said softly, "I didn't know you'd gone after the mirror, didn't even know it'd been stolen until I couldn't sense you anymore…" Kagura looked up, but his gaze was glued to the dirt. The girl was still silent beside him, her eyes on the middle distance and the mirror in question nowhere in sight. "It wasn't until you'd transformed that I was able to find you, and then, well, you can guess how that turned out."

He waved his hand in front of himself in a mocking display, a snide grin pulling at his cheeks.

"You were always better at combat," he said, he twirled his fingers again and a rose appeared in his palm, "I'm more suited to the delicate work, but I suppose I was a little cocky when I confronted him, thought that knowing what you'd become would change something." The rose tore itself apart, petals swirled on a breeze, and though she knew they were nothing more than an illusion, Kagura thought she could smell their sweetness. "I'd ask you what happened if I could, but I can only assume it was the same for both of us. Not even we can stand up to the mirror's power."

Beside him, the girl's face was as blank as before, and she didn't acknowledge when he turned to look at her.

"I suppose we weren't the only ones who were changed, she never had a human form before."

Changed? That's how he wanted to put it?

Kagura shut her eyes and took a steadying breath. "Are you going to make me go back?"

"No," he said, and let out a soft snort through his nose, "the opposite in fact."

She looked up at him, her brows furrowed.

"I think so long as I'm here it won't be much of a problem." He reached into the lapel of his furisode and pulled out a long chain, it jingled with the movement until he tugged it free and revealed a jagged shard of glass dangling from the end of it. She stepped back when he took another forward, but he snatched her hand and held it up between them so he could place the shard gently in her palm, and then closed her fingers around it. His touch was cool against her skin. He released her quickly and stepped back. "Go. Do what you need to. But take this with you, in case you do change your mind."

Something pinched painfully deep in her chest as she held the shard between two fingers in front of her face. With the sun behind her, it reflected the bright light into her eyes for a second, but when her vision cleared, it wasn't red eyes looking back at her. Her mouth felt dry.

"What do I call you?" Because as much as she hated it, as much as her head ached, she certainly felt a little lighter than she had yesterday.

"You can still call me Byakuya, if you like," he said, his gaze drifting up to the sky, "I don't think either really fits anymore, I suppose I'm both, maybe neither."

Kagura ran her tongue along her teeth, a question sitting heavy in her mouth. Embarrassing, almost, that it was suddenly so hard to speak. Maybe what he said was true, maybe if she took the mirror with her, it wouldn't matter, but still, curiosity burned down her spine.

"When you…" the words stuck in her throat, "did he give you your name?"

His eyes softened, a crease forming between his brows. He opened his mouth, but let out a sigh before the words came. "No. He let me choose."

She nodded, keeping her eyes on her feet.

"Nee-chan…"

"He named me," she said softly, "'Kagura.' A dance for the gods. A sick joke, I suppose."

"It isn't your true name." If he meant it as a consolation, it didn't make her feel any better. She turned just enough to see his face, but kept her head down.

"Maybe not," she swallowed, "but it's the only one I've known."

He took a step forward, and the barely there contact of his hand on her shoulder made her flinch. But she didn't push him off. His hand was warm despite the layers between them.

"Nee-chan, you…"

"I'm not―" her voice hitched. "He gave me this name to spite me, spite her, but it's… it's the only name I've had while I've been…" Free.

A soft sigh left his lips as he stepped forward, inside the bubble she'd placed between them. She kept her eyes fastened on the collar of his furisode, just below his throat, but she could still see the soft smile pulling at his red lips.

"Keep it then, take it and run."

"...what?"

"Were you not listening to me? I just told you to go," he snorted, "it's not like you to be so conflicted."

She straightened. "No. I suppose not."

The glass sparkled in her hand, if she squeezed hard enough would it simply shatter or would the edges bite into her skin and turn her into something else?

"Do you regret it?"

"Hn?" Byakuya raised a brow. "Regret what?"

Drinking from the water, whatever you were made to do, what you've become. But instead she waved her hand. "All of it."

He barked out a laugh. Maybe he understood. "We live too long for that."

She had to shut her eyes as the world began to spin around her, the back of her neck went hot. Kagura had only lived less than a year, but inside that glass shard was countless centuries lived by a stranger. She'd known death and violence and torture, darkness and pain, and there had been times when it hadn't been so bad, when she'd made her own choices and lived as herself for herself. Was it worth it to give that up for the possibility of pleasant memories? If what he said was true, she'd only be gaining more chains.

The eyes that stared back at her from within the mirror's shard were her own, regardless of the color and shape, but she already knew the decision behind them. She slipped the chain around her neck and hid the shard beneath the layers of her robes. It was cold against her skin, but warmed quite quickly.

"What will happen to her?" she asked, patting her chest to settle the shard and gesturing weakly at the mirror girl.

He tilted his chin. "She'll return to stay at the shrine, it's where she belongs."

"Is that what you want?" she asked, never taking her eyes off of the mirror girl as she crossed her arms. She needed to be sure. Kanna blinked, and finally something like recognition flashed through those silver eyes.

"The shrine… is home," her voice hadn't changed, still just as soft and careful, and somehow Kagura took comfort from that. "You will go."

"Yes," she nodded.

The girl's expression remained neutral, cold and calm and somehow that was a greater consolation than anything Byakuya could have said.

"No one's going to come looking are they?"

Byakuya shrugged and snorted. "Maybe, I can't speak for anyone else in the family, but I think you'll be alright."

She nearly breathed a sigh of relief―

"But…" he sucked his lip between his teeth, and through whatever bond they shared he must have felt her irritation. "There is one, well, person…"

He straightened and quirked his shoulder, pushing it forward. "Stop hiding, would you?"

Kagura craned her neck, her eyes a little wide and brows bunched together, trying to see whatever it was he spoke to. It wasn't until he completely turned his back to her that she could see the white fuzz clinging to his vest, spanning the entirety of his torso. No, not white, patches of black stained the fur and thin stretched skin―

"You!" The bat from the shrine.

It flinched at her voice, and clung tighter to the fabric along Byakuya's shoulder blades, it's eyes scrunched tight and it's body shaking, it buried its face into his spine. How she hadn't noticed it there…

"Urue," he said, reaching over and gently prying it's fingers from his clothes he pulled it over his shoulder until he could hold it upside down in front of his face. It only hid itself within it's wings. "Stop that."

Slowly, the speckled thing unfurled, first a nose poking out from behind it's wing, and then a single blood red eye.

"Has that been there the whole time?!" She'd gone soft if she hadn't noticed that clinging just behind his back.

"She's your familiar," Byakuya said, and just as suddenly dropped it. The bat didn't seem to mind, though it hit the dirt with a solid thud and quickly prostrated itself before her. "She's been ill for awhile, but I think it's finally settled."

"Please forgive me, Shinatobe-sama!" It's voice was muffled in the dirt, though there was an edge of tears, just a little bubbly. "I was unable to assist you when you needed me and now this is the result. This form may not be as appealing, but I swear that I will atone! I will uphold your will and will serve you as a faithful and obedient―"

"Oh, shut up." Kagura covered her face with her fan and gave Byakuya a wary glance, he shrugged.

"I told you we weren't the only ones that changed."

"Were they both this annoying before?" The bat shrank in on herself.

"My apologies! I will try to―"

"Stop stop stop." Kagura waved her fan. "What are you expecting me to do with it?"

"Take her with you, obviously."

"What? No. Why the hell would I do that?"

"If you leave her behind she'll probably die."

She rounded on him. "'Probably'?"

He shrugged. "Never seen it happen, but neither of them were doing well while we were gone."

At least it would explain why the crane had been looking so sickly and was now miraculously healed. Kagura gave the flying fox a disdainful look down her nose, fighting the urge to wind up and kick it beyond the line of shrubs, if the little idiot was so eager to please it might just let her do it.

Huh. Maybe something like that wouldn't be so bad.

"Fine," Kagura finally bit out. "I'll take her."

The bat smashed her face into the ground further than Kagura thought possible and muttered something that was probably just more devotion and promises while Kagura gave Byakuya a look that said "are you serious?" He returned it with a mischievous smirk, but she could sense the underlying edge of gloom behind it.

"Are you really fine with this?" she heard herself ask. Because as much as he said that it was fine that she go, she knew he didn't really mean it. The thread that connected them was still strong, but distance would wear it thin, and she could feel his fear of it.

"Who am I to stop you? I'm just your brother." He held up a hand before she could open her mouth. "I know, I know, 'I'm not your sister'," he mocked, "whatever. Maybe you're not, but I'm still your brother."

She was glad she'd sent the crane away, that the bat still had her face in the dirt and Kanna stared off somewhere beyond the horizon, because she was sure that she was showing more on her face than she cared to, given the way her eyes stung. Byakuya didn't comment on it, though he could probably feel it regardless of what he saw. She shut her eyes to will it away and after several silent seconds finally opened her eyes again.

"Thanks."

"Don't get all sappy on me now." he said, and chuckled when she schooled her face into a grimace. "I think they're calling for you."

When she turned back she saw Momiji waving at her. Her heart clenched, an unbidden thought telling her that she didn't have to go, but another answered just as fiercely that she'd already made the decision.

"I should get going."

He huffed out a sigh. "Just be careful, would you? I don't want to have to traipse halfway round the world looking for you again."

"I'll be sure not to need it this time."

"Everybody needs somebody, even gods and youkai, or both," he said, "just keep in mind, you may be a goddess by right, but you may as well be a child compared to what you could do before."

"Hn." A grin overtook her face. "I suppose I'll just have to learn it all over again. I've got the time."

He mirrored her expression, his lips pulling away from his teeth. "I'll see you around then."

"Yeah." She wondered if he expected a hug or some other form of affection, Kohaku and the taijiya had always done things like that, hadn't they? But Byakuya shook his head and gave her a small wave, for which she was silently grateful.

Kagura gave Kanna one last glance, and for once the girl met her eyes, though her expression didn't change but she supposed that that was the most extreme goodbye she could expect. Feeling awkward, she gave Byakuya a weak then turned on her heel stiffly and started on her way down the hill, the bat's soft footsteps following after her. She felt his gaze burning holes into her back, anyone else she might have minded, but somehow it only felt warm.

"Your lover?" Momiji tittered when she was close enough, a mischievous smirk playing on her lips.

"No, he's…" Kagura shook her head and found that the truth was easier than a lie. "He's my brother."

A much less titillating answer than the oni had expected, Momiji gave the bat trudging along behind her the briefest glance, and then turned away with a shrug and a shake of her head, she gave three sharp thuds with the butt of her fist against the carriage.

"Alright, let's head out!"

Kagura plucked a feather from her hair, declining to ride inside or on top of the carriage with the others. She gave one final glance back, catching sight of Byakuya and Kanna standing in the shadows of the trees. He gave her one last wave that she returned with a nod before tossing the feather into the air.

The wind lifted her up, the eddies buoying her until the carriage joined her in the sky; the flying fox wasn't too far behind, though she struggled on weak wings, still unsure of her new form. Kagura would have let her be if she didn't look so pitiful.

"You won't be able to keep up like that." She heard herself say, and gestured behind her with her chin, indicating the empty space left on her feather. The bat gave it a glance and then nodded.

"Of course, Shinatobe-sama." She drifted close enough to settle her weight along the spine, unaware of the sneer that had pulled at Kagura's lip.

"Don't call me that."

Urue looked up at her, her mammalian features more intelligible than that of the crane's, a tiny crease in her brow as she tried and failed to make the appropriate eye contact. The little bat nodded again and dipped her head low.

"I understand," she whispered against her folded wings, "Kagura-sama."

Satisfied, she turned forward and kept her gaze steady on the horizon, ignoring her passenger and the eyes on her back, the safety she could return to if she wished. Ahead, the mountains of the continent were still nothing more than specks above the water's edge, but she could feel the change in the wind as they crossed the sea, the winds of her homeland tugging on her sleeves, pleading for her to return. She kept on, the sea spray tickling her feather as fingers carded through her hair, over her skin, eyes and lips, mapping every inch of who she was; the stranger in their lands.

Not a god. Not an incarnation. Not youkai or wind witch.

She turned to the wind and smiled.

…

Hey everyone! So this is it, the end of part II. Will there be a part 3? 4? Tbh, i don't know. I have a handful of ideas for stories that span the 3 year gap, but right now nothing is fleshed out enough (or in any kind of chronological order) for me to feel comfortable starting on it. I am going to mark this as complete, but maybe if anything I'll do non-chronological vignettes to get the most important stuff out of the way? Probably would be updated sporadically, but if anyone has any asian myths (specifically Southeast, South, Mongolian, Chinese, or Korean), folk/fairy tales, interesting 16th century history (~1550), or prompts/something they'd like to see touched on, feel free to let me know! I know a lot about Japanese culture/history/religion, but not so much the rest of Asia, so I'm very open to ideas!

Now, all of you who were looking out for sesskagu goodness, don't worry! I'm not giving up on the sequel, so if everyone would just kindly leave a review/fave/kudoes etc, and then head over to my profile, you will find the first chapter of the sequel "Sastruga" has been posted and should already be visible on my page.

To all of you who have been keeping up with this, reviewing and favoriting, thank you all so much! It really means a lot and I hope this has lived up to your expectations!