Take Two

Interlude II

I’ve made a lot of mistakes in my life.  Chief among them is the shattering of the Jewel.  It was an accident the first time, a matter of a quick decision in a moment of panic.  The second time, my pride led me to face an enemy I was not prepared for, and I shot, knowing it was the lesser of two evils.  But it was still an evil, committed by my hand.  And evil always has a cost.

Sango’s father and brother were not among the dead at her village, and now I wait almost in a kind of fear to see which Naraku will revive and use against us.  He may even elect to use both, as he did with Sango and Kohaku.  Sango was barely able to keep her head above water facing her half-trained baby brother.  How would any of us fare against the Okashira of the Taiji-ya?

Good comes with its own costs, as well.  It isn’t wrong, is it, to want to feel alive in the midst of so much death?  I couldn’t fault Sango and Miroku for seeking comfort with each other.  It wasn’t like Inuyasha and I hadn’t done the same thing.

The timing could be better, though.  And it’s not even the pitter-patter of little paws I’m worried about.  This particular incident isn’t even supposed to happen on this side of the well.  This power I have, this power that was Kikyou’s, that I don’t even want, was difficult enough at 17.  At 15, it’s even harder to control.  Youkai swarm in and out of my range of sense, leaving my shoulders permanently tensed, and I spend half my time expecting things to pop out of tree trunks to talk to me.

And that’s without traipsing across the country-side chasing shard rumors, baboon-pelted strangers and trying to avoid encounters with random demons.  When the random demons don’t come looking for us.