Silver and Gold by Ai Roku
Silver and Gold
Disclaimer: I do not own any rights to Inuyasha or the song Silver and Gold by Burl Ives!
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Over the past four years it had become a well-known fact to the residents of the Higurashi household that certain colors were not to be tolerated within sight of one particular member of the family.
This fact had unfortunately been learned the hard way one Christmas when the usually sweet tempered eldest child had taken one look at an ornament hanging upon the Christmas tree and promptly burst into tears, fleeing the family room and refusing to return until the offending object had been removed.
The unlikely cause of all this trouble had been a delicately wrought blown glass confection made up of interwoven spirals of gold and silver swirls; a favorite of the girl’s, one that had been purchased by her just the year before; and while the girl’s hysterics had merely confused her grandfather and younger brother, her mother had given the seemingly innocuous bauble a knowing look before carefully packing it away once more.
If her family had believed that this was to be a onetime aberration they were to be sorely disappointed as the next months would prove that the girl’s sudden and unexplained aversion was not simply a phase.
In fact it soon became a permanent fixture in their lives.
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On the day Kagome had emerged from the temple’s well, hair wild, clothes torn, and body battle damaged, her mother had halted the myriad questions just waiting to trip off the tongues of her father-in–law and son with a look, and gently lead her silent and clearly shell shocked daughter inside the house.
Kagome had walked up the stairs wordlessly, disappearing into the bathroom where she remained for quite some time, the acoustics in the room echoing her sobs to the ears of her worried family.
When she had at last exited the room it was simply to walk down the hall to her bedroom, where she remained buried beneath the covers of her bed for the next two days.
On the third day she had appeared at the breakfast table, calmly taken her seat and quietly uttered the first words that had passed her lips since her return home,
“I can’t go back anymore.”
It would later be understood that the well had apparently been sealed after returning her to her rightful time, following the penultimate battle with the villain Naraku.
As the days passed, Mrs. Higurashi observed her daughter’s unnatural calm give way to an expectant hopefulness, almost as though she were waiting for something …Or someone.
During this period Kagome had walked through crowds searching through the sea of faces around her almost desperately as if trying to find one in particular, and she had taken to watching the door obsessively. But as time went on and the specific face was never found, the anticipated visit never coming, hope slowly morphed to disappointment.
Weeks turned to months and while everyone had been hoping that the upcoming Christmas celebrations would lift Kagome out of her growing funk, the ornament incident had instead seemed to push her into a deep depression.
While the men of the family remained puzzled by this newfound eccentricity, Mrs. Higurashi knew the signs of grief when she saw them. She was therefore not surprised some weeks after the holidays to find her daughter on her knees on the floor of the storage shed in the midst of a disarray of hastily opened boxes, the silver and gold ball clutched tightly within her hand in a death grip.
Kagome’s face was twisted with spite and the older woman clearly read the girl’s desire to hurl the fragile globe against the wall; knew that in that moment she would delight in the tinkling sound of glass as it shattered into a hundred irreparable pieces.
But slowly the anger drained from her face and it instead crumpled with a look of sad betrayal, before she lowered the ornament back into the box, closing the lid with finality.
When she had at last become aware of her mother’s presence in the doorway her face had fallen into neutrality and she had busied herself meticulously closing and replacing all the boxes that had apparently been disordered in her search.
When she had finished her task, Kagome turned to her mother and stated simply,
“I never want to see those two colors again.”
Then she had calmly passed her mother, preceding her out of the door.
Mrs. Higurashi hadn’t had to ask which colors her daughter meant, and it had soon after become understood that silver and gold were to be kept as far away from Kagome as possible, this was most especially true in instances where the two colors were to be found together.
Thankfully this wasn’t usually hard to manage, after all silver and gold weren’t exactly common colors… With the unfortunate exception of Christmas, that is.
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Kagome rubbed her mitten encased hands together trying to generate some heat as she waited outside the small jewelry store for her friends.
Over the years they had grown accustomed to her refusals to so much as glance in the general vicinity of gemstones and precious metals, and took her lack of participation in this particular female rite of passage in stride, used to her quirks, although not quite understanding them.
Attempting to distract herself from the cold until her friends finished their ogling, the now twenty year old young woman looked around at the brightly lit main street, taking in all of the festive displays meant to draw the eye and attract customers into the various stores littering the area.
There was a time not too long ago when Kagome would have taken in all of this excess holiday ornamentation with eager eyes, but now she approached the extravagant decorations with caution.
Christmas while once her favorite holiday, was now viewed a bit like a minefield since her permanent return from the Sengoku Jidai.
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After their scheduled day of shopping came to a close Kagome separated from Eri, Yuka, and Ayumi with a promise to meet up again soon.
As she made her way down the Christmas light bedecked street a flash of color caught her eye, looking up she was met by the last thing on Earth she wanted to see, sitting innocently inside a department store window.
Years of avoidance and here she was, met with her downfall in the form of a ten foot tall all white artificial Christmas tree practically dripping in the dreaded colors from the silver tree skirt artfully draped across the bottom, to the glittering gold star crowning the top.
And as much as she wanted to turn her back to the ostentatious monstrosity, her traitorous body refused to move a muscle as a wave of melancholic nostalgia washed over her.
Her eyes helplessly roved from branch to branch taking in each shining metallic splash of gold and silver as if they were starved for the sight, and perhaps they were, it had been years since she had allowed herself to view them after all.
Without conscious thought Kagome raised her arm, pressing her hand against the glass as if to touch the gleaming image before her.
She slowly became aware of an ache in the general vicinity of her chest, in a part of her heart that she had long ago closed off.
This, this was the reason that she avoided those wretched colors, because just a glance brought it all rushing back to her, the hurt and heartache, the sadness, the helplessness, the anger, all of it overwhelmed her, and for a terrifying moment Kagome was afraid that the sheer intensity of her feelings would buckle her knees and leave her a sobbing heap upon the ground.
But no, she would not be reduced to such a pathetic state; she refused to shed another tear for him!
With that thought foremost in her mind she grit her teeth and forced her lids down over her protesting eyes, shielding them from the painful reminder of her past.
“Do you not like it?”
Thevoice coming from behind and slightly to her left startled her, but Kagome kept her eyes stubbornly closed for fear that if she allowed them to open she’d never find the will to look away from the cursed tree again.
“No, I can’t stand it!”
“Really, why is that?”
For just a moment Kagome’s ears seemed to perk, identifying something familiar in the baritone voice of the man , but she quickly dismissed this notion as her imagination, before vehemently replying,
“I absolutely hate those colors, seeing them only causes me pain.”
“What an odd coincidence miko, I detest the color blue for the very same reason.”
It took a moment for her brain to register that this supposed stranger had just called her miko, a title that she hadn’t been addressed by in many years, and even then usually only by…. Her eyes snapped open and she whipped around to face the man behind her.
Her breath froze in her lungs and she could have sworn that her heart stopped beating as she took him in.
His hair was shorter, but still long enough to be gathered at the back of his neck in a neat tail of silver strands.
His markings were gone, along with his fangs and claws,most likely hidden by some kind of glamour. His haori and hakama had been replaced by a tailored designer suit, and a long duster style coat and cashmere scarf seemed to have taken the place of his moko moko.
His eyes were still the same fathomless gold she’d always known, though they seemed more ...Human somehow.
A sound of surprise somewhere between a choking noise and a squeak escaped her tight throat, but the exasperating male continued speaking as if he was completely oblivious to her shock.
“I especially despise those twinkling blue lights, they remind me far too much of your eyes when you laugh.”
Rebounding from her temporary paralysis Kagome does the first thing that comes to mind and her hand lashes out slapping the demon in front of her, “Where the hell have you been?!
After I came back, I waited and waited but you never showed up, I looked for you everywhere! I-I thought that you’d forgotten your promise, found someone else; ....Or that you were …Dead."
The last word was whispered so softly that even with his advanced hearing the inuyoukai almost didn’t hear it, his eyes softened upon the little miko; his annoyance at such a violent reception draining away at her heartfelt distress.
“My apologies for being late, but details tend to slip one's mind as time passes, and relying upon the half-breed was obviously an error.
He convinced me about five years ago that you would not be arriving back from the battle with Naraku for another decade. However, given your reaction just now and the fact that you have aged since I last saw you, I see that he miscalculated.”
When her defensive posture did not relax and she made no move toward him Sesshomaru let out a frustrated sigh.
“Your anger is understandable, but keep in mind that while it has been maybe a handful of years for you, I have waited centuries. That being the case can you not think of a more appropriate welcome than humiliating me on a public walkway?”
Those words seemed to hit their mark and he watched as the miko softened rushing into his open arms with a sob.
“I missed you.”
“Naturally, but it was foolish of you to distress yourself so, I gave you my word that I would find you again and now I have,”
This declaration was met with a derisive snort, from the woman cuddled into his chest.
“Oh please, don’t try and take credit for running into me on a crowded street, it’s not like you knew I’d be here.”
“You forget miko, I know everything.”
After she lifted her head to give him a deadpan look he was forced to continue,
“Or perhaps I was driving by when I caught your scent and followed it here. The point is I found you and we are reunited. Can you not simply be glad of returning to the arms of your mate, you difficult creature?”
“I’m glad alright, in fact why don’t you take me somewhere a little more private so I can show you exactly how glad?”
“Now that is an excellent idea, much more like what I had imagined when I envisioned this moment. You’ve finally come up with an idea that has merit, miko.”
“Sesshomaru?"
"Hn?"
"Shut up before I change my mind.”
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Kagome hummed happily as she gently unpacked the infamous delicate silver and gold ball, hanging it on a prominent branch of the partially decorated tree.
Her grandfather, and brother watched all of this with growing apprehension not daring to approach, but Mrs. Higurashi smiled benevolently at her radiant daughter.
“You seem to be very happy today, dear. What has you in such a good mood?”
Just then there came a knock at the door,
“Yeah, about that, there’s someone I want you all to finally meet.”
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Thanks for reading and Happy Holidays!