Final Tears
"Now, Inuyasha!"
The time had come, and he didn't hesitate.
Everywhere around them, the battle waged. Blood soaked the ground and covered the broken limbs of the trees in a blanket of crimson. Demon fires ignited with and against sacred flames scored deeply into the earth. The sky was black with smoke and ash, blocking out even the light of the day behind a suffocating cloud thick with fetid poisons. Screams rose up across the battlefield, horror and agony piercing through the angry clash of blades.
But her voice carried above it all, and Inuyasha lifted his sword. The battle so long in the coming was finally here, and now the time had come for him to keep his promise. He could see her, ahead in the chaos of the battle. Sesshomaru was guarding her with a ferocity that Inuyasha had never seen in him before. His form was perfect, and nothing broke past his defense of his mate, nor did anything survive after he unleashed his attacks. But he had brought them close enough to the dark hanyou, that Kagome had found her opening.
Naraku was in his sights, the evil bastard that had taken so much from them all. He focused on his enemy, blocking away his thoughts of what he knew would happen. The enemy had turned towards him, expecting his attack, preparing to shield against it with his stolen power and return it blast to tear through all of his allies.
But Naraku was a fool. Power had driven him mad, blinded him of the truth. And the truth was, in the end, he was alone. The only power he had, he had because the Shikon had infused him with it. And he had used that power, abused it, made it do despicable and disgusting things, and forced his will upon others in his merciless reign. But without the Shikon, he was nothing, pathetic, weak.
Everything he had, Inuyasha poured into his attack. He called upon every strength he had, and when even that wasn't enough to satisfy him, he called upon the strength of those standing with him. The wisdom of the monk, the determination of the taijiya and the loyalty of her neko, the courage of the kitsune, the will of his brother, and her amazing heart; each filling him with a new kind of strength.
And in his hands, Tetsusaiga would be the carrier of their power, the one to bring them all together.
He released a furious roar as he brought down the blade; one of wrath and fury, but of anguish and sorrow as well. He could see, even as the tremendous blast of power exploded from Tetsusaiga and began cutting its way through the masses towards its target, he could see her lift her bow, could see the brilliance of her arrow as it streaked into the sky above her. And in the wake of her magic, everything suddenly stilled. Even Tetsusaiga's blast hung suspended on its approach, the fires of the cutting winds caught precariously in the void of time.
The last thing he saw before he too was taken over by the silence was Kagome moving quickly and determinedly towards the vile Naraku.
TTTTTTTTTT
Mid-strike against another wave of Naraku's attack, Sesshomaru was about to divest the vile beast of another portion of its body when he was overcome by the binding. It was as before, a nothingness, a pause where there was no movement, no sound or thought, but in which there seemed no reason for such things to exist.
But he knew now. This was Her power.
Kagome… What had she done? What was she…?
NO! He wouldn't allow it. She couldn't face this on her own. She didn't need to.
Sesshomaru strained against the bindings of her magic. It burned against him with every lifting of his will, tore through him with every surge of his powers; but he did not relent, he would not. Around him, he began feeling the tight bindings crack, giving way with a reluctant groan of protest. Every movement seemed impossible, but he forced his body to respond.
After what seemed like an eternity, he finally managed to find her. She was right in the middle of everything, completely surrounded by Naraku's beasts and the filthy hanyou's bulging deformity of a body. She had climbed up to him, standing with an arrow clutched tightly in her hands and pointing directly at his chest.
No! He tried to speak, but it was useless. So again he forced his body to move. Somehow, he had to stop her. Already he could feel the magic she had released growing weaker. Soon, it would dissipate completely, and she…she would be left in the direct path of Tetsusaiga's wrath
Suddenly, she looked up, turning her attention directly to him. She showed no shock at seeing he had broken out of the trance, but only smiled at him.
Please… He begged her not to, to turn back from this foolishness.
"I love you," she whispered, her voice the only sound that broke through the heavy stillness around them.
Kagome!!
But she turned away from him, her determination set. She lifted the arrow and plunged it down in one fluid motion. With nothing to defend against it, the arrow pierced through Naraku's flesh uninhibitedly. Without pause, Kagome ripped the arrowhead out again, replacing it with her hand as she reached into the dark hanyou's chest and took hold of the Shikon.
In that instant, everything surged back to life. The hard clash of battle raged again as though there had never been a pause, but a difference had been made, and a change had occurred.
TTTTTTTTTT
Kagome looked into the eyes of her enemy upon his wakening from her binding, telling him of his fate even with no words. And then she turned away from him, giving him her back, not caring, knowing that she had already beaten him. She clutched the Shikon to her chest, never thinking to draw of its power, and looked up to watch the approaching blast.
She smiled as she watched the fires rage. She had always loved that about them, had always found such beauty in the crimson tides of the youkai spirit. And she could feel its burn within her, as well. It was there, always there, a constant reminder that she was never alone.
With one last breath she lifted her face to the sky, seeing for a moment beyond the cloud of war the light of the sun above.
And still she smiled, even as she shed her final tears.
TTTTTTTTTT
There was once a handsome Young Prince. He was strong and brave, a warrior with no equal. He feared nothing, but also cherished nothing. He walked a path of supreme conquest, driven by his pursuit for ultimate power.
But the gods looked down upon the Young Prince and saw in him great promise. His strength and his valor pleased the gods and they smiled down upon him, sending him a gift of love. On that day, on the day that the sun and the moon rose together, the Warrior Priestess appeared before the Young Prince and asked of him a question.
'Do you know me?' she asked.
And he did, for the Young Prince had heard the tales in his youth of a woman who was strong and brave, compassionate and kind; and beautiful beyond compare. And the prince knew from the moment she asked a question meant only for him, that she had come from the gods to bring him great tidings.
They journeyed together on a quest of great peril. Fighting against monsters too frightening to even speak about and too dark to even mention their names, the Warrior Priestess and the Young Prince stood side by side. All who stood against the pair were brought down in the face of their enormous power and they achieved a great victory over the dark ones who wished them harm.
They continued on their journey, always searching for that which had brought them together. You see, they were searching for weapon, a weapon of such great and wonderful power that it had been kept as a sacred secret, never known to anyone but for the great being that had crafted it. But when they reached their destination, when at last they believed that their journey had come to its glorious end, the object they were seeking was not there.
It had been lost to time.
Knowing that she must complete the mission asked of her to discover the resting place of the magnificent weapon, the Warrior Priestess was forced to say goodbye to the Young Prince. But before she left, she promised him that one day he would once again see the sun and the moon rising together as one; and that on that day she would return to him.
As she began drifting away, back to whence she had came, she heard the voice of the Young Prince one last time and her heart filled with joy.
'Return to me, my priestess.'
You see, all of their struggles and all of the trials set against them, had brought the two very different beings together, and the Young Prince had come to care deeply for the Warrior Priestess as she had for him.
But even as her heart filled with joy at the words of the young prince, the Priestess shed tears for the knowledge that the next time they would meet there would be nothing but hatred burning in his eyes for her. And at that time, she couldn't understand why.
Time, however, is a fickle thing, and it is always changing. And along with the changes of time, there also comes changes for those ensnared in its grasp. It was because of time, because of events that none but the fates could control, that the Young Prince would be granted a terrible vision of the Warrior Priestess which would make him believe that she had betrayed him. It filled him with such anger and resentment that his heart became hardened once more, so much so that when next he saw the Warrior Priestess he would lash out at her and attempt to take her life.
And while the Young Prince had been granted a vision of the Warrior Priestess, she had been granted one of him as well, one which mirrored a future of what could be. But how, she wondered? How could it be possible? He had hated her, he had tried to kill her, he had given her nothing but for an aching heart. How could she believe when he had told her he loved her? How could she understand when she knew she would have to face the hatred once more?
But all was not lost for the Young Prince and the Warrior Priestess, because they would be allowed to meet again. After more time had passed and both had gained new understanding of the other's pains, they would meet again. They would be offered a second chance to set right the wrongs of the past, and to set out once again on the mission that had brought them together.
So, on the prophesized day where the sun and the moon rose together, the Young Prince and the Warrior Priestess were reunited. But hatred, distrust, anger, and resentment were the powerful barriers that stood between them still. And were it not for a terrible curse, they may never have found their way again.
His great strength stripped from him, the incredible powers bestowed upon him by the gods stolen by one with a dark heart; the Young Prince discovered that there was power greater than strength, and a strength more true than that of body or mind. Left wounded and on the doorstep of death, it was love that brought him back, that gave him the strength to face the darkness that had threatened all their lives.
The Warrior Priestess, her heart breaking to see her beloved Prince fall, gave to him her heart, her soul, the treasure that she had protected all her life. The strength of her love gave him courage once more, gave him the power to stand against their enemies. And stand he did. Together again, there was no darkness they could not face, no pain, no loss that was too much to bear.
They fought once again, fought the dark ones that would stand in the path of their destiny, and again, with their combined might, they achieved a great victory. But this time, they would not be left wanting for the treasure they sought, for the great weapon that had been promised them by the gods. In the wake of their victory, a rift was born that parted time itself.
The Warrior Priestess knew that her time had come, that she would once again be separated from the Young Prince.
'Wait for me,' she asked of him, a silent pleading that he would be there for her return, that he would not forget the time they shared, that he would forgive her for leaving him again.
And in the darkness that was left by her parting, the Young Prince gave her his answer, 'Always.'
But the journey for the Warrior Priestess was not yet over. She was carried through the rift in time, thrown backwards once again to be brought face to face with the great being that had sent her on the mission in the first place. It was he that gave to her the weapon of great power, his hand that washed away her fears and her hesitations, he that made her realize that no matter how deep the darkness a light may still shine, the light of hope sparked from the knowledge that so long as she would love and be loved that she would never be alone.
It is strange, sometimes, how the mistress of fate uses her toys, but for the Warrior Priestess, she couldn't be more grateful for the gifts she had been given. In her hands rested a power unlike any other, a power that could bring change to even the great being that had sent her on her quest. This power, gained by her passage through time, had given the Warrior Priestess one wish, any wish her heart desired. And it was, in a moment of need and of understanding, where she felt the pains of those closest to her heart; that she made her wish.
She wished for the family that she had been so long denied. She wished for a father to be reunited with his children. She wished, if only for a moment, that others could know the love and the joy found in the strong arms of the one that had come to be her father.
It was impulsive and without thought of consequences, but there was no going back. The wish had been made, and the spell taken hold. All that was left was for the Warrior Priestess to accept what she had done, accept that in her heart she knew there could be no better wish, no better way to bring strength the her friends and her family, no better being than the greatness that was her father to stand against the dark ones that still threatened her land and her life.
And so it was, with her father by her side and the great weapon he had crafted for her hands to guide their passage, The Warrior Priestess found her way back to her Young Prince. Reunited at last, and with nothing more that could take them away from each other, the Warrior Priestess and the Young Prince, together with the family that had been formed over thousands of years and by the will of the Gods, they would make their last stand.
In the carnage of the battle that followed, many were lost to the fray. Lives that had been lived in servitude were granted freedom. Hearts that had been torn and ravaged by the suffocating hold of darkness were given new hope. The land that had been broken and torn, that had so long lived without the light of the sun, was finally allowed to meet with the glory of the morn.
But in the heat of battle, amidst the raging war, the dark fires of hell, and the searing torments born of so much suffering; there emerged a hero. A child that had been lost to the world, that had been cast aside because of his differences, because of what he had been born of and whom he had been born to, a child become a man against all odds and in impossible circumstance; had been the one to break through the darkness long enough to allow the Warrior Priestess the time she needed. His sacrifice was the greatest of them all, for to see the darkness forever cast aside he sacrificed his heart and his future to fight with the Warrior Priestess.
It was a sacrifice that would not be made in vain. The Warrior Priestess stepped into the void created in the parting of time and at long last found herself standing against the perpetrator of all of the darkest nightmares and most hideous monsters. Driven by her rage and the pain she felt for the sacrifices made for her to come to this point, she used the great weapon that had been placed in her hands to finally bring an end to evil's hold upon the lives of all who walked the lands.
The dark one fell in the path of her enormous power. But in all things, in order to gain, something of equal value must be lost.
Peace had been returned to the land, the darkness had been eradicated; but without the darkness there can be no light, and for the darkness to be destroyed completely, the creature of light that had fought so valiantly against it must too have been destroyed.
The Warrior Priestess, the gift of the gods love, had given her life to their cause.
She had known as she walked into the battle what the price of their freedom would be, and she had gladly given that of herself to see those she loved given a chance at peace. Her final breath was taken with a smile on her lips because she knew that no matter how deep the darkness, no matter how tiny and frail the light of hope, that there would always be a light for her to look to, always be a spark of faith to light her way. And it was her hope and her faith that allowed her to embrace her fate with no regrets, because she knew that no matter where the path of destiny lead her, so long as she loved and was loved, that she would never be alone.
Upon her return to the heavens, she was embraced by the gods that had sent her on her mission. They welcomed her with open arms and with smiles of pride and of joy. She had accomplished what no other could. She had brought an end to evil and given the people of the land a chance to feel true joy and true peace.
But before she would ascend to the heavens, the Warrior Priestess looked back once more at the land below. What she saw made her heart weep, and even in the light of the heavens, her tears of the clearest waters fell from her eyes.
There, now beyond her reach, was the Young Prince who had captured her heart. So strong and proud, so courageous and steadfast, the man that had once known nothing of love, that all his life had cherished nothing but power, was breaking under the weight of his shattered heart. He held the shell that had been her body to his chest and shed his first tears, tears born of a heart that had found love only to have lost it.
Seeing him like that, the Warrior Priestess knew that she could not leave him with such pain in his heart. She knew that such grief would consume him, and that in his anguish would be born a new form of darkness. She turned to the gods, to the great being that she loved as her father, and asked him to send her back.
'I can not bear to see him in pain. Send me back to him so that I might dry his tears and mend his broken heart.'
'Beware,' the gods had warned her. 'Should the light return, so must the darkness.'
'The darkness can never stand against the strength of love,' she replied.
And the gods, knowing that her words were true and her love was pure, agreed to her request. The great being stepped forward and bestowed upon the Warrior Priestess his gift. From his lips he breathed the air into her lungs that would give her life again.
When next she opened here eyes, the Warrior Priestess was in the arms of her Young Prince. She smiled at him, a smile filled with joy and with love. 'I will never leave you again,' she promised him.
And he, so overwhelmed by emotions, could form no words. He brought her to him and gave her the same promise in the form of his kiss.
From the ashes of the terrible war, a new evil arose. Given life by the same breath that had brought the Warrior Priestess back to the land of the living, the darkness began its pursuits for ultimate power and conquest again, seeking always to throw the world and all its inhabitants into the madness and chaos of the dark fires. But with such warriors always prepared to stand and face the fires, with love as strong and pure as that shared by the Warrior Priestess and the Young Prince, the evil of the darkness would never gain the victory it sought.
So the story goes on. Since the dawn of time, a war has been waged between good and evil. And so it would continue. But with love to light the way from the darkest of places, to bring new life and new hope where there seems to be none, it would be good that would always prevail.
TTTTTTTTTT
"Grandfather?" The boy's sapphire eyes were shining with questions brewing in his young mind. "If the darkness must always return, does that mean that the wraths will return as well?"
Smiling warmly at the boy, Toga reached out and patted his head reassuringly. "No, pup. The wraths are gone."
The boy's face scrunched up tightly as he figured through his grandfather's answer. "If they are gone, does that mean the darkness is gone too?"
With a long release of breath, Toga shook his head. "No. There will always be some darkness in the world. There will always be hatred, greed, prejudice, and war. From these things, the darkness is born anew. But," he tapped a finger on the bridge of the pup's nose. "So long as there are warriors to stand against it, the ones that fight to see the future filled with the light of love and peace, then there is still hope that one day we will find a true ending to the Feudal Fairytale."
Drawing himself up to his full height and puffing out his chest, the boy said, "I will be a warrior too. Just like mother and father."
Toga smiled, but it was sad with understanding. "You would be a fine warrior, my boy. But I truly hope that such a day never comes."
Before the boy could question his grandfather any further, the door just to their right opened. Scrambling to his feet, the boy dashed over to the newly opened room, skidding to a stop just in time to prevent himself from running headlong into his father's legs. "Is it time, father?" he asked excitedly. "Can I see her?"
Giving the boy a curt nod of approval, he stood aside and allowed the young one access to the room.
Toga took one look at his son, his crimson-bled eyes, his stiff but sagging posture, and his singed mane of silver hair; and laughed. "You look like hell, boy!"
Glaring menacingly at his father, Sesshomaru ran a hand through his still smoking hair before lowering himself slowly into the chair next to his father. "I still look better than you, old man," he told him icily.
Laughing again, Toga said, "It looks to me like that tonic is still in effect, because I could swear that was a joke."
"The effects are more tolerable when administered in imoderate/i amounts."
"Don't tell me you're still sore over the last time." Sesshomaru's glare told him all he needed to know about that. "Come on, it is not my fault you went and took a human mate."
"No. But it was your doing that convinced the hanyou to gather the elixir's ingredients and administering them in such high quantities."
Toga shrugged. "I wanted to be sure it took effect. Somehow I do not think Kagome would have been very appreciative of you transforming in the middle of her labor and then insisting on licking both her and the pup clean once it was born."
Scoffing, Sesshomaru replied, "And she was so much more receptive to me staggering in like a drunken fool."
"She got over it, did she not?"
"Eventually."
"So, what's the problem?"
Shooting his father a deadly glare, Sesshomaru sneered, "You were not around for the year of her wrath."
"It couldn't have been that bad," Toga said with a wave of his hand. Pausing, he tilted his head in contemplation. "You never did say what it was she did to you after that."
"It was not what she did," Sesshomaru replied with a long, tired release of breath. "It was what she did not."
Toga blinked. Once. Twice. And then, as realization dawned on him, he broke out into a fit of chuckles. "Oh, you poor boy! I had no idea she could be so cruel!"
Closing his tired eyes, Sesshomaru leaned back in the chair. "Neither did I."
"My Lords. The Lady will see you now."
Cracking his eyes open to look at the young midwife, Sesshomaru said, "Reena, how many times have I told you to simply call me Sesshomaru."
Shaking her head, she replied. "Oh, no, my Lord. My mother, God rest her, would never allow such a thing."
"Reena?" Toga got up from his chair and moved closer to the young woman. "Little Reena?" His eyes swept over the woman, taking a critical note of her petite frame, her thick raven locks, and her wide chocolate eyes. "I can't believe it!" he exclaimed as he drew the girl into a tight embrace, completely heedless of the hot blush that was staining her cheeks as she flushed in embarrassment from the contact. "Rin's little one! My, how you have grown!"
"Thank you, my Lord," the girl murmured through her heavy embarrassment.
Taking hold of the back of his father's neck, making sure to dig his claws in nice and deep for good measure, Sesshomaru hauled Toga off the obviously uncomfortable girl. "That is enough, old man," he warned sternly. "I will not have you manhandling every female on my estate."
"Impossible," Toga quipped as he looked back to Reena and sent her a playful wink. "I am not a man."
The girl, if possible, blushed even deeper, and Sesshomaru was sorely tempted to roll his eyes. Instead, he gave Toga a hard shove in the direction of the birthing room. Toga growled and stiffened at the contact, but Sesshomaru was far to tired to retaliate. "Just go," he said with a low growl of his own. It had been a long day, and he wanted nothing more than to be able to take his mate and their newborn and retire to their chambers for a month of seclusion.
Toga, after snapping his jaw in offense, relented to Sesshomaru's insistence. He did, after all, make this trip to see his new grandpup. So, spinning abruptly on his heel, he made his way into the room.
She sat in the warm glow of the afternoon sun as it slipped over her from the window pane, her skin glowing softly in the light and her midnight hair catching with faint glimmers of crimson; but the brightness in her sapphire eyes came from something else entirely. Tucked gently in her arms, a tiny bundle rested with care. Beside her, having climbed up on the new blankets covering the bed, the young Toga clutched tightly to his mother's arm while peering over her at the newest addition to their family.
"Toga?" Kagome called her son's name softly. She pulled him from her side and motioned to the others. "Will you tell your grandfather your baby brother's name?"
The boy smiled eagerly and quickly jumped to the end of the bed. He motioned his grandfather closer, and again until he could lean up to him and whisper the name of the newborn in his ear.
Standing back from the boy, Toga looked to his daughter and smiled. "It is not fair," he said as he sat down beside her and took her hand. "You have gotten to use it before me."
Laughing softly, Kagome squeezed Toga's hand. "It is a good name."
"Yes," he agreed as he looked at the pup in her arms. He reached out and brushed his hand through the soft onyx of the pup's mane, a warm smile spreading on his lips when the little one opened his eyes and looked up at him with sharp golden eyes. "I am pleased to meet you, Inuyasha."
The pup barked, the sound high and whimpering; but sharp enough to make Toga pull back from him. He smirked, then barked back at the boy, his voice a deep rumble that shuddered through the room. The pup blinked. And then started to wail.
"Oh, you mean old dog!" Kagome scolded Toga with a swat across his shoulders. She tugged the little bundle closer to her and shoed Toga away.
But he only laughed richly. "I am not the only dog in this room, Kagome." He paused to wink. "And I am not the only one that is old."
Squeaking on outrage, Kagome straightened herself sharply to glare at the Inu. Unfortunately, that had been a terribly bad idea, as her body all but whimpered in distress and promptly told her, in no uncertain terms, that she wasn't going anywhere.
"You. Will. Pay." She bit out tersely as she carefully leaned back against the pillows propping her up on the bed.
"Later," he said with a smirk. "I have a play date with my grandpup."
Turning and picking up his namesake from the bed, Toga started for the door. "Come on, pup," he said as he went, giving the boy a mischievous wink. "Your grandfather still has a few tricks up his sleeve."
"Toga."
Kagome's tone carried a hard edge, and Toga swallowed thickly before turning to her. "Yes, my dear?" he asked with a wide, though slightly shaky, grin.
Her eyes narrowed sharply. "Stay away from the gardens."
"Gardens?" he asked innocently. But when her eyes narrowed even further and he began to feel a sharp spiking of energy on the air, he huffed and rolled his eyes. "Fine, fine. No gardens."
Turning again, he continued out of the room.
"Grandfather?" Looking down to the pup he carried, Toga cocked an eyebrow in question. "If we aren't going to the gardens to play, then where are we going?"
Toga chuckled darkly, a wicked smile rising on his lips. "She never said anything about the lagoon."
TTTTTTTTTT
Back in the birthing room, Sesshomaru bit his lip hard to keep from yelling after his father to keep his damn games in his own era. This one promised to not end well…mostly for him when Kagome caught on to what the old dog had planned.
"Sesshomaru, you're growling."
Shifting his attention back to his mate, Sesshomaru offered her a small smile. "I am simply pleased to have you with me again."
Lifting an eyebrow slowly in disbelief, Kagome reached out and patted his hand. "Sure, hon. Whatever you say."
A tiny gurgle from the bundle in her arms had Kagome shifting. She pulled the blanket back from the boy to give him more room to squirm. Her smile was one of pure love and joy. "He's perfect," she whispered as she looked back to Sesshomaru.
"Yes," he agreed. Lifting his hand, he ran it softly through her tussled raven locks, brushing them back from her face. Pulling back, he allowed his fingers to trail down the side of her face. "Perfect," he said as he leaned in and pressed his lips to hers.
Sighing in contentment, Kagome returned his kiss. Soft and passionate, filled with all things unspoken, he reminded her all over again why she loved him so dearly.
She giggled sweetly when the little bundle in her arms started kicking and pulled back from her husband. "I think someone's jealous."
With a low rumble and a playful snap of his jaw, Sesshomaru lowered his face to the boy's. The pup's squirming stilled instantly, his golden eyes drawn wide as he focused on his father. Carefully, Sesshomaru parted his jaw. Leaning in closer to the boy, he took the tip of his nose between his teeth and nipped it softly. The pup yelped in surprise, but the low, soothing rumble from his father soothed its whimpers, and he began purring softly when he felt the soft nuzzling against his cheek.
Kagome's light chimes of laughter joined in with the soft rumbles of her Inus. She nudged Sesshomaru gently in the ribs. "Come on, puppy. Save some of that for me."
Pulling back from his boy, Sesshomaru shifted and gathered Kagome into his arms. He smirked when she squeaked in surprise and clutched the babe closer to her chest. "For you, my love," he purred into her ear as he nudged the curve of her neck with his nose, "I have something much better planned."
Kagome twisted stiffly in his arms. "But I just gave birth!"
He chuckled darkly, his tongue sweeping out to run along the length of her neck. "I know."
Shivering, though not certain if in anxiety or anticipation, Kagome looked between her mate and their newest addition to their pack. She smiled as she reached out to pull the pups hand from his mouth and replaced it with her finger to coax him into suckling. "Alright," she said quietly as she looked back to Sesshomaru. "But next time, I want a girl."
The light that ignited in his eyes filled her with a warmth more soothing than that of the sun. And when he kissed her, giving her over to his passion, time no longer had meaning. There was no night or day for her, no setting sun or rising moon. In his arms she had eternity. Her immortal love. And holding her; he held his past, his present, and his future. Whatever the course of time, whatever the challenges it would pose; it didn't matter, because they would face it together. Always, and forever more.
Days would pass and lives move on. Some times would be hard, filled with losses, sorrow, and tears. But with love's hand to sooth against their pains, and a future brightly lit with hope and faith, the tears of those cradled in fate's gentle hold would be sweet.
And as for the Young Prince and the Warrior Priestess…Well, their story became legend, their battles inspiration, and their love timeless. Thousands have read their story, have struggled with them, fought with them, learned with them, loved with them, and cried with them. So their light shall never fade, and their story shall never end.
It will live on, in our memories and in our hearts.
TTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTT
I can't believe I have finally brought this story to its end. It has been quite the journey. I'm so glad to have been able to share it with so many wonderful readers who have supported both me and this story with such enthusiasm that you have all left this Shadow in tears of joy, but of sorrow too to see this come to an end. It is strange, sometimes, how easily we can be swept away in the world of a story, feel for its characters, and weep with them for their sorrows. But now I think I have cried enough Tears, and it is time to move on.
But the story, it seems, will move on as well. Please, if you haven't, see LadyShieru's Doujin version of Tears. The artwork is incredible, and she has made her own additions to the story that simply make it come to life all over again. And don't forget to leave a review to tell her how much her art is appreciated. I know how much reviews mean for an artist, and I simply can't tell her enough how much what she has done for this story means to me.
The link to LadyShieru's profile can be found in my profile
Also, I am very happy to say that Tears of the Fallen has received many distinctions from both the Inuyasha fan Guild as well as A Single Spark, winning awards in several different categories. Thank you everyone who nominated the story and who voted for it. It truly is an honor to be placed so highly and along with stories that have captured me as well in their glorious tales.
Well, I guess that's all. Except, perhaps, for me to ask that you leave a review on your way out. I love to hear from my fans, you are always an inspiration. And as for me, well Shadow isn't done just yet. I still have two stories waiting to be finished, and countless other ideas that are just itching to find their way into my profile.
So, until we meet again.
Shadow