Elsewhere and Nowhere by Vonne

Of Cherry Blossoms and Dancing

The 14 Symbol Challenge: Cherry Blossoms

The arrow, flaming pink in all of its spiritual glory, flew straight through the dense—almost solid—cloud of miasma. Ripping it apart by the very seams, the single arrow parted all poison in the air as well as destroying any lesser demons in its path. Along with it was one battle cry, a shouting of one name, a scream of anger and promise… aimed directly at a spider-hanyou who had, once upon a time, tainted a sacred jewel that was formed by a miko’s soul.

Everything had happened so fast.

A sound of agony, the ashes raining down from the darkened sky, cheers of triumph and victory and then… the fading of the Shikon no Miko.

Goodbye, she had mouthed and then raised her transparent arm to point at the spot where Naraku had been. In his place was a sprouting cherry blossom tree.

Five hundred years later and a demon lord waited at that exact spot where a very tall tree stood with its pink flowers in full bloom. After that day, it had never shown any sign of life until now. That was, after all, what Rin had predicted.

Kagome smiled at him; a knowing, closed-mouth smile that could very well be translated as thank you. Now that everyone was gone from this Earth, she had thought she would forever drown in her grief. For the next few years and beyond, she would still mourn, but she would also try to be happy.

There was only one thing left to do… dance under the raining petals of the short-lived cherry blossoms.

Word Count: 264