Rising From The Ashes by Reflection of a Broken Dream

Like It Never Happened

Sess-Kag Week 2k18

Canon take-off. Kagome was never let back into the past.

Prompt:

Day 2 - Fleeting, whisper, touch, cherry blossoms

Spring again.

Kagome let out a sigh as she stood on a concrete path littered in shades of pink. The cherry blossoms were in full bloom again, and she had come to this little park for the cherry blossom viewing. It was better than staying home and doing nothing...like the night before, and the night before that, and the night before that... Monotonous. Unending. Boring. That had been so many days and nights since the well had closed on her all those years ago. She helped save the world...had adventures people can only dream about...and then was thrust back into the mundane and ordinary world of the future. It was, by no means, easy to reintegrate into society. It took time, and effort, and concentration... It took her an entire year to stop jumping and leaping into action when she thought someone was trailing her or about to attack her. There were no stalkers, or attackers,...or demons, or youki whispering across her senses...just...people. People going to class, people going home, people working, people aspiring towards their dreams... Normal people. With normal, attainable, hopes and dreams. No matter how many times she wished...Kagome knew she would never be able to attain her own dream of returning to the Fuedal Era. She had exhausted every possible method of going back before she finally gave in and accepted the depressing fact that she would never again go back. She would never see the friends that had become her family. And she would always feel helplessly different and seperate from the world she now lived in...

"It reminds me of then," Kagome murmered as she approached one of the towering trees that rained pink petals on all who drew near. Trees, nature...fresh air. She closed her eyes and breathed in deep. There was still a hint of the acrid scent of pollution in the air, but it was much better now than other times. The cherry blossoms perfumed the gentle breezes wafting through enough that she could almost remember what it felt like to be outside in the Feudal Era, senses open and reiki flowing freely... She let her reiki expand, letting out a shuddered, pleased breath at the feeling of sheer freedom that came over her.

And then she felt it.

It was light and fleeting, but it had been there. Youki. It had brushed against her reiki almost in test... Azure eyes snapped open. Her body acted of its own accord- she whirled around on the balls of her feet, and started sprinting towards the direction she had felt the probing come from. A secluded edge of the park, amid a cluster of pink-flowered trees. It took her a few minutes to get there, since it was at the far edge of the park from where she had been, and she searched the area thoroughly, leaving no stone unturned. Every tree was checked. Her reiki sought out any person within range...but there was no one in this side of the park, save Kagome, herself. Breathless with a burning midsection, the trembling woman who had once been a powerful miko grasped onto a tree trunk for support as hot tears spilled from the edges of her eyes.

"I have to stop doing this," Kagome pleaded with herself. "I thought I had..." A sob tore from her throat and she shut her eyes against the feelings of disappointment, shame, depression, and being completely, utterly, alone. It was all creeping in again, consuming her from the inside out. She took several steadying breaths before standing straight again and forcing her breathing to even out. Eyes still firmly shut, she gave herself a moment's solace. Kagome imagined that she was in the Feudal Era, Shippou and Rin playing amid the cherry blossom trees and making flower jewelry to decorate Jaken with. Kohaku watched on and smiled warmly when he thought no one was looking. Miroku was discreetly watching Sango...who was sharpening her Hiraikotsu by the fire. Kilala was tucked into Inuyasha's arm as they took a siesta in the boughs above. And Sesshoumaru was sitting a little ways from where she stood, one leg up and one tucked in as he pretended to be asleep. Every once in a while she would catch his lips turning up at the edges or his nose flaring when he was scenting the area for their safety. The most important thing she reimagined was his youki blanketing the area, powerful and comforting. She knew they were safe when he was around. He always looked out for each and every one of them...no matter what he said or how he came off. She had carefully observed him in their time together as a group, so she knew it. She had understood him on a deeper level than she had ever thought possible. Footsteps caught her attention...but not fast enough. A gentle touch...fingers running over her face, a large hand cupping her cheek. It felt nice...and comforting...and that familiar musky scent...

"Why do you cry?" Came a hushed voice she knew all too well. Surely, she was hallucinating. It was all a part of her dream, her unattainable desire. Sesshoumaru was before her now, and not at the tree. His youki gently blanketed over her, as if to comfort her. Kagome didn't dare open her eyes. It felt too real... But even as the revelled in it, the truth still reared its ugly head.

"Because you're not real," she whispered brokenly. "Nothing from the past is real...not in this world, this time..." A sob wracked her body, her hand clenching the tree tightly. "And I hate it...I hate it so much...it's like it never happened." She sniffled. "Gods I'm hallucinating badly this time...I can even smell you..." And she could- the musty earthy comforting male-scent that clung to him...along with the lingering hint of sweet cloves from the choji oil he used to clean his sword with. A strangled laugh escaped her lips, and she tilted her chin down, her waist-length ebony locks spilling over her shoulders.

"Open your eyes, miko," Sesshoumaru's voice rumbled in her ear as her chin was forced back up. She could feel his hot breath on her ear. Brow furrowed and heart pounding away in her chest, Kagome slowly blinked her bleary eyes open; it took a moment for them to adjust so she could see clearly. Sesshoumaru as she had once known him was not standing before her. But it was Sesshoumaru. A modern male with unmarked, pale skin, amber eyes, and silver hair tied back in a bun. But his features were still there. His sharp nose and long, handsome and regal face was just the same...sans the face markings. He was the same height, same lithe but muscled body type. No mokomoko-sama. He was dressed in a crisp modern white button-up shirt with a white undershirt, and black slacks...but the powerful youki that radiated off of him assured her that he was, indeed, who she thought he was.

"S-Sesshou...my gods...is this real? Are you real?" Kagome sobbed with wide eyes, her hands reaching out to touch his chest in test. His hand shifted on her face so she could draw near, fingers rubbing against her ear, and her hands met with a solid surface, his clothes warm from wear and chest inflating and deflating with every breath. Her eyes followed the trail of her hands as they moved upwards, his chest reverberating with an inaudible growl that she could feel. Kagome's hands worked their way up the warm flesh of his neck to his face, the daiyoukai's amber eyes fluttering shut under her gentle minstrations. She ran her fingers over his face...something she never thought in a million years she would ever get to do; rubbing and prodding, she traced the places where his markings should have been. His lips parted and a more audible purr of a growl came forth. She was tracing the shells of his elongated ears when his eyes cracked open once more. The look within was completely unreadable. "...You're real..." Her words were but a whisper as he wound his right arm around her waist, pulling her closer yet, the hand on her face gently caressing her cheek. She could hardly believe it, but here he was...standing before her in all of his modern-day glory.

"Indeed," Sesshoumaru rumbled, his chest vibrating against her. It was oddly soothing...but it didn't stop the dark spots from obstructing her vision. Numbness spread outwards from her nose, the dark spots getting larger and larger. Her body felt heavy...like someone was progressively strapping weights to her. "...Kagome?" His eyes were wider now, alarm shining in his amber orbs. But the only thing that she could think was...

"You called me by my name," Kagome uttered, a smile crossing her face even as she faded into dark depths of oblivion...