The Silver Thread by OnyxIvyStone

The Silver Thread

The loom lifted and parted, spread and closed around a thread, combed and woven until a pattern emerged.  The tip of a shape, encased in scarlet and a shimmer beneath: the silver thread.  She had been given her task and her ancient hands would not fail.  Inch by inch, hour by hour the precious fabric emerged and fell in a curtain of red touched by the shape of a family crest: three hexagons enclosing flowers of pure white.

Deftly she snipped and sewed the fine fabric to the size and dimension required until the garment was complete.  She folded and wrapped the parcel, and hobbled slowly to the dwarfish currier who paid her fee and more.  

The kapa carried the small parcel as if it were the most precious treasure ever known, and rode the two headed Ah-Un to the tiny farming town where his lord waited with eternal patience.  Jaken found his master a short distance from the tiny hut with his eyes on the stars but his ears focused on the sounds within of mother and child and his ward, who now slept several hours after the birth.

Golden eyes turned downward, but his countenance did not divert from the pose he’d held as sentinel for many hours since the birth.  “Have you the parcel?”

Jaken nodded and handed the package to Sesshomaru who turned after a moment and strode slowly to the door where the miko rested with his niece at her breast.  He looked at the tiny infant with silver down atop her head and tiny, furry ears nestled elegantly within the cloud of starry fluff.  Kagome raised her gaze to his and nodded.

“What will you name her?”

“Izayoi in honor of Inuyasha’s mother,” Kagome replied and noted the approval of the powerful lord.  

He stepped one foot within the hut and knelt, placing the small package at the miko’s feet.  “She will always be protected.”

“Brother in law...”

How he hated those words.  Still, he responded, “Miko?”

“Why have you stayed with us?  She is as much a hanyo as her father was,” her voice broke and with it, his heart shuddered.  

He met her gaze and, as so many times before when she questioned him why, he did not answer.  Still, this time, his silence stilled her and she understood.  He turned again and once more, she called to him.  “Sesshomaru...”

He paused and turned his head enough to see her open the package, her eyes on the tiny scarlet kimono woven with the crest of his family.  The glitter of tears did not escape his notice.  “She is my family, Kagome, as are you.”

He returned to his chosen post, barely fifty yards from the entrance of his dead brother’s hut.  Moonlight shone silver on the silken threads of his hair, and, as the infant was dressed carefully by her mother, so too did the silver thread woven deeply within the crimson silk.  She was not his daughter.  Kagome was not his wife.  Rin could never be more than his ward...  And still, the three would ever be tied with his life-claimed by his heart.