Impeccable Wishes, Ethereal Hopes by summerbirdy

Prologue

A/N  Hello all! This story is dedicated to my dear sugar0o who actually caused me to write in the first place. (I still haven't forgotten the repellant, dear friend, but I also learned to love the writing, so I wanted to thank you.) This is based on sugar0o's picture Ethereal (http://www.dokuga.com/gallery?func=detail&id=1983) and kind of evolved from there. Hope you all enjoy it. 

And as always, I own nothing, characters of Inuyasha are Takahashi-sensei's. I write purely for enjoyment and fun, and to learn.

Thank you for Smortz for betaing this story.

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Prologue

There were few things Sesshoumaru, Lord of the West and son of the legendary Inu no Taisho, held above everything and one of them was to never let his feelings show. He had honed that skill to perfection too. So why was it so hard to keep his mouth from hanging open right now?

They had finally defeated the wretched spider hanyou, and his half-brother's Miko had purified the tainted parts and fused the Jewel together again.

”I want this over and done with.” She had said with determination and stubborness second to only his own. She wanted to wish upon the Jewel right away, so it wouldn't attract anymore unwanted attention. Rest of the half-breed's ragtag had agreed, so here they were, standing on a blood and grime splattered clearing, watching the Miko making her wish.

Sesshoumaru had expected the Jewel to put up a fight, but what happened next had gone above his imagination. The Jewel shone with dark purple light with spectres of pink clashing from within. Sometimes the pink light was engulfing the purple, like they were fighting. It was obvious to the demon lord that the two lights were fighting for dominance. Finally, the two lights formed a sphere around the Miko and lifted her to the air.

A collective gasp was heard when the Miko's friends took a step forward, as if to attempt to get her to safety. Sesshoumaru took a step closer to his ward and the Miko's kitsune. He had promised protection to the Miko and her group when they formed alliance with him. It wouldn't do any good to his reputation to accidentally break his promise. So he stood by the children, staring at the glowing sphere apprehensively.

Suddenly, a strong wave of raw power slashed through the clearing. The sphere turned into a light blue color, and Sesshoumaru had a hard time keeping his mouth from hanging low, like his brother's did.

Inside the sphere the Miko Kagome was changing right before their eyes. Her onyx black hair took a slightly blueish tone and grew rapidly until the tips brushed against her calves. Her green and white outfit, that in all its indecency had offered him quite a few of entertaining shows, morphed into a wierd-looking blue kimono, that had no sleeves and left her shoulders bare, clung to her figure like a glowe. The youkai lord was sure that this outfit was, if possible, even more indecent than anything he had seen the Miko wear before.

The woman went through more changes in a blink of an eye. Her face took more mature features, loosing the roundness of child. Her ears took a demonish look, with pointed tips and when she opened her eyes they were bright blue with golden specks in them. Her scent changed too, though the change was discrete. He could not identify the fragrances in the new scent, but decided to dwell on it later. All he knew, it was really smoothing and caressed his senses in a particulary curious way.

All in all, it was really hard for the Western Lord to keep from drooling when his eyes took in the changes on the Shikon Miko. The woman now had all the attributes he had once listed when asked about his ideal mate. He had been but a pup at the time, but that picture had followed him through the centuries.

But what made his heart clench in a very painful way was the look in the woman's eyes.It was a sad, haunted look, like she had just lost everything. Her eyes drifted to him before she scanned the rest of their group, the look softening with warmth. And then, her eyes hardening with determination, she nodded her head once and disappeared with a backflash that ruffled their clothes.

A silence wrapped its tendrils around the clearing. Sesshoumaru noticed in a distracted way, that all the blood and gore from the clearing had been cleaned away with the flash that took their Miko with it. But his attention was on his ward and his half-brother's group and the smell of salt in the air. The members of the Miko's group were all crying, with silent tears rolling down their faces. It was like they had expected this to happen but wished for something entirely different.

The youkai lord's eyes remained dry but there was tight feeling in his chest. It was the same feeling he had when his favourite and only uncle had lost his life in a battle, long before his parents had the final row over Inuyasha's mother. He had missed his uncle terribly then, and his chest had been tight like this then too. But could he miss the Miko? He quickly banished the thought and concentrated on the girl and kitsune next to him, who where both crying.

”Oh wow.” Shippo's voice broke the silence. He was crying but his eyes were bright with childlike wonder that never stops to amaze adults. He had obviously found something that brightened him up.

”Rin, did you see that?” Shippo turned to crying little girl by his side. ”Kagome-nee-chan is a fairy!”

Rin lifted her teary face to Shippo who was grinning through his tears. It amazed Sesshoumaru how easily the little orphaned kitsune consoled his ward.

”A fairy?” Rin asked.

”Yes. Just like in those stories she told us.” Shippo was confident. ”And that means we can see her again.”

Rin looked down. She, just like everyone else in their alliance, knew Kagome was from the future. And she knew very well that without the Jewel Kagome couldn't come back through the well. And she herself by far couldn't live long enough to see Kagome in her own time. Shippo seemed to sense her hesitance and rushed to make her feel better.

”Oh don't worry. Now that she's fairy, I'm sure she'll figure out a way to come back to us. And even if she doesn't, I'll make sure you'll meet her again.”

The smile on Rin's face was bright enough to light up the clearing where they all stood. And Shippo's face turned red.

Sesshoumaru hid his smirk. Oh yes, this was promising. Maybe he should make sure the kitsune knew what he was starting. He took a glance on a place where he had last seen the Miko and turned towards West.

”Come Rin, kitsune. We go home.”

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