Yamisui: At last, the final chapter! Maybe now I can get some sleep. . .

# # # THE BEARERS OF THE SHARDS # # #

# # # Chapter 13: Homebound # # #

As the kirin knelt before him, it seemed to him that all the world melted away, and it was only the two of them together, surrounded by a circle of light. He supposed the beast had cast some kind of spell, and his supposition was confirmed when it spoke to him. The kirin had no human voice, but its speech in his mind was like the pealing of bells; thunder ringing in the heavens. For the briefest of instants he felt small and insignificant, a drop in the ocean---too overcome with wonder to do anything but listen.

But when the kirin's first words fell silent, he became angry.

"No!" he hissed. "NO!"

The emotions warring in his heart were almost too much to bear. One hand clenched into a fist at his side, nails digging into flesh so hard that blood ran down his palm. He could speak no further; the blood pounded in his chest and rushed in his ears, threatening to deafen him.

But the kirin did not seem to care that he was angry. It did not rise from where it knelt, but its eyes, luminous as twin stars, rolled upward toward him. Its regard was not without pity, but it was also hard and unyielding.

Once the kirin had chosen, the choice could not be unmade.

(You ARE.) The clarion voice rang out in his head. (There is no denial. From a star of the heavens I was born, plucked from the dance of the firmament to descend. For you, I have come. For you, I kneel. You ARE.)

"What am I?" he demanded, "that the heavens should play this cruel game with me? Go! Choose some other if it pleases you. But do not bind me to that which I am loathe to be bound!"

The gaze of the white beast did not waiver.

(Your father before you bound himself to these lands, and so to Reiyama. Now your time has come. If you do not accept it, then They shall.)

Abruptly, his mind's eye was flooded with images of gray robes, of an army of sorcerers pouring forth from the valley and into the world with their legions of the enslaved. There was no need to ask who "They" were.

The kirin tilted its silken head to one side, giving him the impression that it knew his reasons and did not care.

(Accept it in hatred, if you will. They are yours, to destroy or to defend. You have been ordained.)

"I have. . .power over them now," he said softly. A sense of this power stirred in his chest, warming him. "True power. With it. . .they can no longer threaten with their sorcery. If I choose to wield it. . .there are none left to stop me."

The light around him seemed to quicken its current, like wind rising, and the kirin's eyes flashed.

(Mark well: to become as your father was, you must cast aside this anger or it shall consume you and the ones you rule.)

He was too incensed to fear the kirin's wrath, and spoke down to it harshly.

"My father's nobility earned him the peace of the grave while the Wise made slaves of his children! I will not guard them!"

The kirin's horn lifted from the earth, glinting in the light.

(It is not required that you withhold justice from those who have wronged you. Only take care that you do not follow the path of the sorcerers. . .)

Once again, images flowed through his brain: moving through the city streets, so strewn with the dead that the road seemed paved with them. Then he saw, as if in parallel, gray robes moving through the empty streets, populated by none save souls entrapped---human and demon souls alike. And for the first time in many years, his heart was filled with horror at the sight. The sorcery of the Tatesei was an evil that should not be allowed to spread.

In this moment, he finally understood the magnitude of what it was that he was being asked to do.

"No, not asked," he murmured aloud. "Chosen. Is this not what I have always desired? That I should be chosen?"

(To be a ruler is to avoid being ruled by your desires) the kirin warned. (Mark this well, if you would accept the power and the burden your father bore.)

He lowered his head, so that his silver-white hair shaded his brow, and only the grim line of his mouth was visible. In this moment, with his mind laid bare before the kirin's purity and wisdom, a strange peace settled over him like a mantle.

'I have forgotten my father's honor,' he admitted. 'But I will not do so again. It is not befitting that the son of so great a Youkai let his darker passions sway his heart from its true course.'

Slowly, he lifted his head.

"Rise, Kirin-sama," he said softly, "for I accept."

Gracefully, the white beast unfolded its slender legs and rose to stand before him. Standing thus, it was as tall as he was.

(I ordain thee, then, passing on to thee the rights granted to thee by blood and by honor) the kirin said. (To thee, Sesshoumaru; Lord of the West.)

All assembled parties---the two princes, the Wise, Inuyasha, Miroku and Shippou---watched in shock as the kirin knelt before the tall, bloodstained figure. As they gazed at him in speechless confusion, he seemed to be undergoing some kind of internal struggle. His fist clenched; his face contorted, going from wonder to rage to bitterness to calm. Through all of this the kirin knelt patiently, apparently awaiting some kind of answer from him. Then, at the last, he said in a soft, even voice: "Rise, Kirin-sama, for I accept."

Muttering broke out among the Wise, outraged and fearful.

"A Youkai has been chosen. Why? Why?"

"Is this heaven's judgment, visited upon us by the son of our enemies?"

"What the HELL?!" (This last was Inuyasha's.)

"It's---it's chosen Sesshoumaru?" Miroku had come to stand beside Inuyasha. "Amazing. . ."

"Stupid!" Shippou breathed, peering around Honechi's robes. "Does it WANT the Tatesei to be squashed like bugs?"

Yaburenumaru was the first to break the spell of stillness that had settled over them all. He could not speak because his demon form could not speak, but he let out a bellow of rage that clearly meant: "NO!" Then he lowered himself onto all fours, and his body convulsed. The kirin's head turned to glance at him, and Sesshoumaru looked too, as if aware for the first time of his surroundings. The white demon stood calmly as the ball of flame surged toward him, scouring the ground and sizzling the air. Then, when it had come within a few feet of him, he brought up his hand and held it there, palm out. His hand flared green as the fire broke upon it and disappeared.

Then Sesshoumaru turned toward the Wise, not even waiting to see the somewhat subdued Yaburenumaru retreat backward a few steps. The sorcerers drew back, very much afraid. To the Wise, he said, "I am ruler here; you are bound to me. Release the souls."

Though his comrades' expressions were nervous, Honechi's face went dark with hatred. He glared at Sesshoumaru, and it seemed for a moment that he might dare to defy even his own ruler. But after a moment he said through clenched teeth, "As you wish." To his companions, he said, "Let it be so." The red light pulsating between his hand and Kagome's inert form flickered and dissipated.

The faces of the Tatesei sorcerers were very pale and frightened now. Their eyes were wide with new terror.

"Why are they so afraid?" Miroku mused. "Sesshoumaru's only ordered them to use their magic. After all, his rage seems to have abated. . ."

"'Cause they're gutless little goat-fuckers," Inuyasha snapped. Then, abruptly, he made a dash for the bank of the lake, heading for Kagome. "Outta my way!" he ordered Honechi, who readily stepped aside.

The High Priest nodded to his underlings and then raised his voice in song. At first he sang alone, his rich tenor echoing through the air against the stirring of the souls.

"Kagome," Inuyasha murmured, kneeling in the mud and reaching for her.

Honechi's comrades began to join him, hesitantly at first, but then with growing strength. The souls, already restless since Sesshoumaru's ordination, shifted and blurred as if caught in the wind.

Miroku hastened to Inuyasha's side.

"No," Inuyasha murmured, squeezing Kagome's wrist and pulling her into his arms.

"Inuyasha, give her to me," Miroku insisted. "I know a technique that might---"

"Kagome," Inuyasha said softly. Ignoring the monk, he pressed his face into her hair.

"He's not listening to you!" Shippou wailed, beating at Inuyasha's side with his tiny fists. "You've gotta make him listen!"

"Kagome," Inuyasha repeated brokenly.

"Inuyasha!" Miroku's staff descended over the hanyou's head, landing with a thud. The unexpected blow left Inuyasha temporarily stunned, and the monk was able to wrest Kagome from him.

He laid her down on the cold, wet earth and knelt to push on her chest. Then he bent and pressed his lips to hers.

"HEY!" Shippou cried, now pelting Miroku with a rain of tiny punches. "You're supposed to HELP her, not MOLEST her!"

Miroku ignored him and repeated this process a few more times.

"She's still breathing," he told Shippou, when he came up for air. "But we have to get her conscious again or the cold water in her lungs will kill her."

The monk's reward for his services was a swift and unexpected punch delivered to the back of the head. As he toppled sideways, Inuyasha grabbed Kagome again and crushed her tightly against him.

"Hands OFF, hentai," he snapped.

The force with which Inuyasha had clasped Kagome to his chest put quite a bit of pressure on her diaphragm. Even as he spoke to Miroku, she spit up a great gout of icy water over his shoulder and into his hair. Inuyasha was too relieved to be disgusted. He wound both his arms around her shoulders and held her close as she proceeded to spit all of it out.

"Inuyasha," Miroku protested, sitting up and rubbing his head. "Stop being so violent! The technique was meant to expel the water from her lungs and to get air into them!" He paused, laying a thoughtful finger to his chin. "Though. . .I can't say that I didn't enjoy using it. . ." he added.

"That. . .song. . ." Kagome gasped, peering over Inuyasha's shoulder to see what was going on. "The. . .Wise. . .are. . .?"

"Try not to talk just yet," Inuyasha advised her.

"The kirin came," Shippou piped in. "It must have its horn on crooked or something, because it ordained Sesshoumaru! He's making the Wise set the souls free!"

"Oh," Kagome breathed, frowning. "So that's why I. . ." She broke off into a coughing fit.

"Why Honechi didn't get your soul," Shippou finished for her.

The song of the Wise rose in intensity and began to resonate in the hearts of all present, living and dead alike. It was not like the sorcerers' other spells of binding or destruction, but there was a strange, soaring sound to it that was so pure as to be almost gut-wrenching. The Youkai souls swirled around their captors, hissing and glowing. The faces of the Wise turned upward, and their eyes began to glimmer with a fey, golden brilliance.

Sesshoumaru watched silently, with a face now devoid of bitterness. The kirin still stood at his side, as if awaiting some further command from him. Asano stood listening to the song, unaware of the tears streaming down his cheeks. Yaburenumaru, who stood apart from the others, cried out suddenly and sank to his knees, clutching at his arms with both hands. He had regained his human form. The spirit of the salamander Youkai had come out of him, now exuding the same ghostly green translucence of the others the Wise had enslaved. Its lingered around the boy, and did not rise into the air as the other souls did.

"NO!" Yaburenumaru cried. "Don't leave me!"

The very flesh of the sorcerers was glowing now. Their faces shone eerily from the depths of their gray hoods. The song of the Wise soared into a crescendo, and then the Youkai spirits rose with it. Their forms blurred and melded into a swirling cloud of light, and the cloud rose higher and higher, until it disappeared through the veil of clouds.

Sesshoumaru, watching them, let out a long, slow sigh.

"NO!" Yaburenumaru repeated, stretching his arms upward toward the salamander spirit, which was rising to follow the Inu Youkai. He squeezed his eyes shut and shouted, "I WILL NOT BE DENIED!"

And then the Youkai spirit vanished.

As the light of the Youkai souls disappeared beyond the clouds, the skin of every sorcerer who had taken part in the casting of the spell glowed a brilliant white, outshining even the gold glimmering in their eyes. Though his comrades' faces remained upturned, Honechi lowered his head to glare at Sesshoumaru.

"THIS ISN'T OVER YET!" he cried. "THE TATESEI WILL ENDURE, BECAUSE YOU WERE NOT THE ONE CHOSEN---!" Honechi clutched at his chest as if in intense agony, unable to finish.

Sesshoumaru started toward the sorcerer, anger returning to his eyes for reasons that no one other than the kirin understood.

But then the light faded. Every one of the Wise collapsed to the ground, and the white demon stopped his advance.

Miroku went over to look at Honechi and then announced to all present, "Dead." The monk surveyed the other sorcerers, lying prone on the ground. Their eyes had rolled back into their heads, flashing a sickly white. "All dead." He glanced over at Inuyasha and Kagome. "The Wise died because of the spell, I think. They had bound the souls to themselves so completely. . .that setting them free meant death."

"But why isn't Yaburenumaru dead?" Shippou asked, pointing to where the Tatesei prince stood. The boy's head was lowered, so that his lanky hair obscured his eyes. "He's used the same magic as the Wise. . ."

Sesshoumaru, upon hearing this, turned and flew at the prince so fast that his body blurred. But he stopped short as a small, slender form imposed itself between them.

"NO!" Asano cried, spreading out his hands to block Sesshoumaru's access to his brother. "Spare him! Please!"

Sesshoumaru did not lower his claws.

"Do you think me merciful?" he asked softly. "Do you think me a fool? That boy is a sorcerer."

"No," Asano protested, shaking his head vehemently. "The fact that he's alive proves that he wasn't consumed by the evils of the Wise. He wasn't so bound to sorcery that losing it meant losing his life!"

"Do not think that the freedom of my kin has made me soft," Sesshoumaru warned. "If I must take your life to take that creature's, then so be it."

"He is foolish," Asano murmured, refusing to move from where he stood. "He has let himself be seduced by the Wise. He's come all the way here to kill me, just to get the one thing he was never meant to have." The prince paused, swallowing hard, then said, "But he's my brother."

Slowly, Sesshoumaru lowered his hand. His gaze shifted over the boy's shoulder to the face of the prince behind him. His eyes narrowed.

"Thank you, Asano," Yaburenumaru said in a low, hoarse voice. "But I don't deserve this loyalty. For you are wrong. . .about one thing." He lifted his chin, and his hair fell away from his eyes. His face was hard and cold, and his eyes were red and full of malice. "I would never call a soft little brat like you my brother."

Fire flared outward from every pore of his flesh, reflecting in Asano's wide eyes and illuminating his shocked face. With demon speed, Yaburenumaru reached out with both arms to enfold his brother in a fiery embrace.

With demon speed, a blow knocked Asano to the ground, away from Yaburenumaru's grasp. He hit the earth so hard that it stunned him, and for a moment his vision blurred. When he looked up, he saw what had happened. Yaburenumaru sank to his knees, looking down to see Tetsusaiga's enormous hilt protruding from his chest. Inuyasha stood not twenty feet away, arm still raised from flinging the sword. Standing between Asano and his brother was Sesshoumaru.

"You---" Asano gasped, but Sesshoumaru wasn't in the mood for explanations.

Instead the white demon bent down, stretching out a hand toward Tetsusaiga.

"HEY!" Inuyasha bellowed, rushing toward them.

With one vicious tug, Sesshoumaru yanked the blade free of Yaburenumaru. However, even as he did so he let out a gasp as electricity crackled around his hand. Tetsusaiga clattered to the ground, its transformation reversed because he had touched it.

"HANDS OFF, JACKASS!" Inuyasha hollered at him, swooping down and catching the sword up again. Now that it was in the hanyou's possession, the sword blazed into life once more. Sesshoumaru straightened but made no move to take it back. He merely stared at it, evidently mulling something over.

"I have been named lord of the West," he murmured, "and still the sword does not choose me."

"You're damn right it doesn't!" Inuyasha affirmed. "You're a real piece of work, you know that?! You've been named lord of the West and you still want the only thing I'VE got!"

"Hey!" Kagome called indignantly from the bank. "That sword's NOT the ONLY thing you've got!"

Shippou snickered at this, and Inuyasha blushed a little.

"Yaburenumaru," someone said softly.

Inuyasha half-turned to see Asano kneeling in front of his brother, clasping the dying boy by the shoulders. Yaburenumaru neither attacked him nor pushed him away, but slumped into his arms, already weak beyond supporting his own weight. His head lolled onto Asano's shoulder.

"Yaburenumaru," Asano repeated, taking one of his brother's hands in his own and clenching it tight. "I wonder. . .if. . .I wonder. . ."

"What is it you wonder?" Sesshoumaru asked dispassionately, looking away from Tetsusaiga and gazing at the city across the lake in an obvious effort look anywhere but the sword.

"I wonder," Asano said with sudden anger, glancing up at the white demon, who stood with his cold, beautiful face averted. "What would have become of him. . .had you not brought him to this. . ."

Sesshoumaru said nothing. The kirin was approaching him, silver eyes alight with wisdom---or was it judgment? A wind stirred between them---white beast and white demon---and for the briefest of moments Sesshoumaru's face darkened, as it had when the kirin first spoke to him.

"Do you know, Asano. . .why I killed that child in the northern village?" Yaburenumaru asked, his voice shaking from lack of breath and muffled against his brother's shoulder.

Asano's brow knitted, and his mouth tightened with pain, but he only answered, "No."

Making a faint noise of scorn or disapproval, Sesshoumaru turned his face away from the kirin's blazing regard.

"Ahh," Yaburenumaru sighed, struggling for breath. "I. . .destroyed his face. . .because it resembled yours."

Then he breathed his last, and the fire went out of his eyes. Asano clutched Yaburenumaru even more tightly against himself as the demon spirit the prince had held inside him to the last shot toward the heavens in a glowing column of green. The force of the Youkai soul's exit stirred the robes of both boys---Asano's robes of rich and kingly raiment; his brother's worn to rags and stained with blood and filth.

And then, with the demon's passage, the light died.

With a sigh, Inuyasha sheathed his sword, while Sesshoumaru turned toward Asano.

"Stop your weeping, boy," Sesshoumaru admonished sternly. "Don't waste your sorrow on one who would not have wept for you."

Slowly, Asano loosened his hold until the dead prince had been lowered to the ground. In death, Yaburenumaru's face looked young and very small.

"Will you kill me now?" Asano asked without looking up. "Am I, too to be prey to your vengeance?"

Inuyasha's hand went to Tetsusaiga's hilt again, and he glared at his brother. There was a brief, tense pause.

Then Sesshoumaru answered, "No."

Asano raised his head to stare at the white demon in surprise.

Sesshoumaru's eyes narrowed, and he repeated, "No." The kirin backed away slowly, inclining its luminous head. The white demon's expression was calm. "It was not myself that I wished to avenge. And that is done, for my kin have been freed. But I. . ." He frowned across the lake toward Reiyama, where some of those who survived his massacre stood on the rooftops to see what had transpired. "I have no desire to be king to a race of humans whom I detest. And so. . ."

Inuyasha's hand moved away from Tetsusaiga's hilt.

"Asano, I name you king here in my stead," Sesshoumaru declared, "You, boy, will rule the Tatesei as you see fit. However. . .do not think that I will ever allow Reiyama to be as it was. These lands are now mine; Reiyama is mine. I will watch you, prince of my enemies. I will leave the city, but I will also return in the hour when you least expect me. And when I come, if I see but one trace of the sorcery that has wrought so much evil. . .I swear to you that not even the innocent will draw breath when I have dealt with you."

Solemnly, Asano nodded, ignoring the tears that ran freely down his cheeks.

"I swear to do as you say," he replied. Then he seemed to draw himself up, straightening into the regal posture his people would expect of him. "I will return to the city," he said. "And tell them all that has happened here. And I will take these brave travelers with me." He nodded toward Shippou, Miroku and Kagome, who were still sitting on the bank.

The kirin, which had been watching silently throughout Sesshoumaru's proclamation, now lowered its head before him once more. This time, the jewel shard fell from its horn. It landed at Sesshoumaru's feet in the mud, where it glinted all the brighter. The white demon stared at it a moment, then picked it up and held it between the nails of his thumb and forefinger.

"Hey!" Kagome cried, running toward them.

"Kagome-sama, don't be rash!" Miroku cried, chasing after her. "You can't fight him for it!"

"Wait for ME!" Shippou shouted, chasing both of them.

Kagome attempted to come to a halt at ten feet away from Sesshoumaru, but instead she skidded in the mud, went flying, and landed on her rump only five feet away.

"Er---" she stammered, intimidated now that her proximity was closer.

Sesshoumaru glared down at her, and Inuyasha stepped toward them both, gritting his teeth and preparing for the worst.

But after a moment the white demon only made a scornful noise and flung the shard down at her feet.

"I'm through wasting time with these fools," he sneered, then pointed a claw at Inuyasha. "Do not think that this is over. I will come for the sword, and when I do I will make it choose me over you." This said, he pulled a sharp about-face and stalked off, long white hair stirring as he went. For a moment they all stood there, nonplussed.

Then Kagome and Inuyasha bent to pick up the shard at the same time and knocked heads.

"Ow!" Kagome exclaimed, but she was already pocketing the jewel fragment.

"Damnit!" Inuyasha swore. "You're so CLUMSY! I don't know WHY I put up with you!"

"Oh, really?" Kagome said, turning up her nose. "You had me in your lap earlier. . ."

Inuyasha became extremely flustered and red-faced and backed away from her hastily.

"Well, I wouldn't have had to SAVE you if you weren't so STUPID!" he retorted, folding his arms and looking sulky. "Going diving for Tetsusaiga! You could've been KILLED!"

"Hey, Inuyasha, your head looks like a tomato," Shippou observed.

Fortunately for both Kagome and Shippou, Miroku was ready and managed to lock Inuyasha's arms behind his back to keep him from attacking.

Distracted as they all were by Inuyasha's outraged flailing and swearing, only Asano noticed that the kirin had vanished.

Inuyasha's sullen mood lasted for the next four days. The four of them stayed at their room in the palace thanks to Asano's good graces, but after two nights of rest it became clear that Inuyasha was growing antsy.

"All this damn sleeping," he grumbled, "is not going to find us more shards."

He was short-tempered and irritable for the next two days as they journeyed through the mountains and beyond the valley. This, of course, might have been related to Shippou's endless recounting of how Kagome had been revived. The story made Kagome blush furiously, and finally she took a leaf from Inuyasha's book and threatened the Kitsune with bodily harm if he refused to shut up. Inuyasha's mood improved considerably after this; Miroku's was dampened somewhat. The monk had apparently been quite proud of his little mouth-to-mouth demonstration and had not objected to hearing about it over and over again.

Kagome walked alongside Inuyasha now that he was in better spirits.

"Hey," she said, smiling. "My cold's gone!"

"Huh," was all he said in reply.

Kagome's expression softened. She could see that he was deep in thought, and she could take a pretty good guess what he was thinking about.

"It must have been hard for you, staying in Reiyama," she told him sympathetically. "I know it must've hurt being around the people who were once so cruel to you."

Inuyasha shrugged.

"Well, yeah," he admitted. "But it wasn't all bad. That room we were staying in at the palace. . .I didn't tell you before, but those were the quarters I shared with my mother."

Kagome, surprised by this revelation, lapsed into thoughtful silence. She tried to imagine Inuyasha and his mother sitting on those marble walkways, watching the sun set over the lake. She tried to picture him as a baby, asleep in the princess' arms in the bedchamber. But for some reason, she kept remembering waking up to find Inuyasha holding her in his arms very tightly, while Shippou or Miroku asked something on the order of, "Are you done yet?" Her face burned, and to banish that particular incident she began thinking about what would happen to the Tatesei now.

"You're okay with leaving the Tatesei in Sesshoumaru's control, aren't you?" she asked him, peering up at him to see his face because he was trying to conceal his expression beneath his long white bangs.

"I don't know," Inuyasha muttered. "I guess." He gave up and raised his head, looking pensive. "Y'know, I think whatever it was the kirin said to him, it changed his mind about things. Not just the first time, when he chose to be ordained, but there was another time, too. I think the second time it convinced him to spare Asano and make him king."

Kagome laid a thoughtful finger on the side of her mouth.

"You know," she mused, "I think you may be right." There was a bit of innocent surprise in her tone that raised Inuyasha's hackles.

"Hey!" Inuyasha protested, folding his arms and looking cross. "Don't say that like I'm hardly ever right!"

Kagome was slightly taken aback.

"I'm sorry," she told him. "Anyway, do you really trust Sesshoumaru not to change his mind and finish the massacre he started?"

Inuyasha pondered this for a while. Birds twittered in the trees overhead; the rains, it seemed, were over.

"It's weird, but I do," he finally answered, staring up through the interlacing branches. "You know, he's an asshole, but never in my life have I known him to lie."

Recalling her few past experiences with Sesshoumaru, Kagome nodded slowly. As they walked, she painstakingly withdrew her map from her backpack. She had a hunch, and she wanted to see if it was correct. Studying the map, she saw that it was.

"Wow," she said, holding it up to the light and squinting at it. "The city of Reiyama has appeared on my historical map. This means that the Tatesei still existed in the late feudal era, because the map-maker marked them as a city. There's even a road going toward it through the mountains. I guess this means Reiyama will be okay in Sesshoumaru's hands---at least for a while. . ."

"Oy," Inuyasha said, speaking out of the side of his mouth.

"What?" Kagome re-rolled the map and tucked it away again.

"That day, I thought you were going to die," he muttered.

Bracing herself, Kagome thought, 'He's going to chew me out, or worse: he'll tell me to stay in my time again. . .'

"I'm sorry I let that happen," Inuyasha said quietly.

Kagome glanced off to the side, blushing.

"If I hadn't gotten you into this, none of that crap would've happened," he continued, making her blush deepen. "I'm sorry. It just makes me so mad. . ."

"Th-thank you," Kagome stammered. "But you don't have to be mad at yourself for---"

Inuyasha slammed his left fist into his right palm.

"When you were by the lake, the damn monk's lips were fucking ALL OVER your face!" he growled.

"WHAT?!" Kagome exploded. "THAT'S what you're mad about?!"

"Yeah," he replied, looking sullen.

Kagome sighed heavily, getting her exasperation under control. After a while, she said, "I'm sorry I made you worry. I'll try not to do it again."

Inuyasha didn't answer, but Kagome was almost positive she saw him smile in relief.

# # # Epilogue # # #

More days passed, until finally they reached the village near the Well. Throughout the return journey, Kagome had tried valiantly to avoid complaining, but the pain in her arm was very bad. She had run out of aspirin by the fourth day out of Reiyama. By the time they reached Kaede's she was dead set on going home, with no further adventures until she was completely recovered.

She stole away to the Bone-Eaters' Well by herself, not wanting anyone to delay her, because enough was enough.

Thus it came as a rather unpleasant surprise for her to see Inuyasha seated cross-legged on the well's rim.

"Oy," he greeted her. "Thought you'd fucking get away with it, did you?"

"Thought. . .I'd. . .get. . .away. . .with. . .WHAT?!" Kagome asked, clutching her backpack with her good arm and preparing to make a run for it. There were ten feet between her and the well, but if Inuyasha moved with his demon speed he'd intercept her for sure. . .

"Leaving without me," he said simply. "You see, Kaede told me that you're supposed to take care of sick people. I got too distracted during the trip to do that."

"But I'm not sick any more!" Kagome insisted, waving her good hand frantically in the air and trying to put on a cheerful face. "So it's no problem!"

Inuyasha unfolded his legs and got down from the rim of the well.

"Well, now you're injured," he told her. "Injuries are a lot less gross than spewing snot out your nose. So I'm gonna come to your house to take care of you."

"Ack!" Kagome sputtered. "You will NOT!"

She made a mad dash for the well, but Inuyasha caught her by the backpack straps and stopped her in her tracks.

"Yes, I am," he informed her, glaring.

Before Kagome could utter another word, he scooped her up in his arms, backpack and all, and jumped into the well. As they descended, she briefly considered beating at him with her one good fist, but then thought better of it because he might drop her.

"Hey," Inuyasha said as the light of time passage enveloped them both. "At your house, do you have any more of the crunchy brown stuff?"

# # # Epilogue, Part Deux # # #

Sesshoumaru stood atop the mountain, staring down at the city below. The cold wind ruffled his hair and stung his eyes, but as always he did not care. The kirin's last words echoed in his memory.

(Honechi spoke truly. This is not over, for though I chose you, you are not the one chosen in prophecy. If you will not rule the city, then choose a king who will. But do not abandon the Tatesei. It is dangerous to do so---far more dangerous than you know.)

To the cold night, Sesshoumaru now asked the same questions he had asked then.

"Why does this prophecy the Wise spoke of mention Inuyasha? Why did they fear him so?"

(If you would know) the kirin had answered, (then take this Shikon shard and use it to find the Seer.)

But Sesshoumaru had cast the shard away, giving it to the girl who traveled with Inuyasha. His blood was pure and strong, and he neither needed nor desired the Shikon Jewel. His vengeance had been enough, he told himself. The only other thing he required was Tetsusaiga.

"The Seer? Why should I waste my time seeking another sorcerer?" he murmured. "The only reason they call my weak little half-brother 'chosen' is that sword. Once Tetsusaiga is mine, he will be nothing."

Yet small, nagging doubts tugged slyly at his thoughts. 'Is that it?' they whispered. 'Is that all? The sword is the ONLY answer to these riddles?'

"I am the lord of the West," Sesshoumaru said aloud, to silence them. "There is none other so worthy as I. Least of all Inuyasha. . ."

Having said this, he turned and descended down into the high valley that enclosed his home. He would go and make ready for another journey. It was time to go see a dragon about an arm. . .

# # # Epilogues Forever! # # #

Inuyasha: "Hey, the kirin's heading this way!"

Sesshoumaru: ". . ."

Inuyasha: "It chose YOU?! Is it on CRACK?!"

Sesshoumaru (to kirin): "Go away before I disembowel you."

Kirin: ignore ignore nuzzles at Sesshoumaru

Sesshoumaru: sidesteps to avoid it

Kirin: sidesteps to intercept him

Kagome: "Wow! It's so beautiful and cuddly!" throws arms around its neck

Kirin: still pursuing Sesshoumaru, now dragging Kagome with it

Inuyasha (addressing kirin): "Hey, where the fuck are you taking her, you horny beast?!" draws Tetsusaiga

Sesshoumaru: ". . ." avoid avoid

Kagome: "Kawaii!" squeeze hug

Inuyasha: strikes kirin with Tetsusaiga

Tetsusaiga: BOUNCE (bounces off kirin as if kirin were made of steel)

Inuyasha: "Damnit! How do we get this thing to go away?!"

Shippou: (watching with interest) "Hey, Sesshoumaru, I think it LIKES you. Huh! Who would've known?"

Sesshoumaru: ". . ." worried now

Miroku: "Fascinating! A kirin! approaches it

Kirin: sweat drop

Miroku: reaches out hand toward it

Kirin: more sweat drops

Miroku: within inches of touching it

Kirin: !!!!!!! lashes out and kicks Miroku in the groin, then runs like hell

Sesshoumaru: very relieved

Kagome (aghast): "MIROKU!"

Inuyasha: sheathes Tetsusaiga "Well, REALLY, it shouldn't be THAT much of a surprise. . ."

END OF CHAPTER 13 AND END OF STORY

Yamisui: "The Bearers of the Shards" is over, but the STORY sure isn't. Look for its companion, coming very soon: "Lord of the West." Though the title may suggest otherwise, the story will NOT be completely Sesshoumaru-centric. But he will be in it, of course.

Because I like him.

Because I like to mess with readers' heads (kukuku). . .