Sesshomaru and His Love II

Next early spring morning, when everyone in the village got out of their huts to start the burial ceremony. Well, everyone, but Kagome. She was still in her sleeping bag; sleeping. Sesshomaru, as usual, woke up early in the morning to get things started before they would put his brother's body to rest. But his wife needed to be there to start washing his body and dress him in his usual attire. Of course, this would be the last intimate moment for the widow before they would begin the funeral rituals for sending his soul to the Afterlife, where his mother, his father, and even his very first love, Kikyo would be when he arrive there. Normally, a demon would automatically turn to dust after they died, but since Inuyasha was an hanyou. His body would have to be burn. Finally, there will be nothing but ashes and charred bones, his body would suddenly turned to dust, afterwards.

Sango walked inside the hut, then walked into her room and try to wake her up but...

Sesshomaru heard her yelling from the inside of the hut. He walked inside and asked, "What's the meaning of this ruckus?"

Sango was startled when Sesshomaru spoke up. "Oh, my Lord, you had scared me...Kagome won't get out of her room."

Uh...oh...Kagome shouldn't had said that because...

The great Daiyoukai just shook his head, thought, and smirked to himself, "She's so stubborn." He just walked into her room followed by Sango and then Kagome started yelling, "WHAT THE HELL, SESSHOMARU! WHO SAID THAT YOU COULD JUST WALTZ RIGHT INTO MY ROOM LIKE YOU OWN THE DAMN PLACE!" Sesshomaru didn't say a thing to her. "GET OUT! GET OUT NOW, YOU BASTARD!" She just completely ignored Sango. He just holding her shoulders while Sango, who was putting Kagome's mourning kimono on her, and was keeping her from struggling and hurting herself while they are getting her ready to go and do her one last duty as Inuyasha's wife before putting him to rest. In truth, Kagome didn't want to do this because if she did then it was really real and not some terrible nightmare.

When they finished, Kagome yelled once more at Sesshomaru as Sango left and giggling inside, "ARE YOU HAPPY NOW?"

"WHY WOULD YOU CARE IF I DO THIS OR NOT? YOU NEVER REALLY LIKED YOUR OWN BROTHER. YOU ARE PROBABLY HAPPY THAT HE'S GONE NOW!" Sesshomaru just shook his head and continued, "Now why would this Sesshomaru be happy if my brother wasn't around?"

Kagome just starred into his eyes and she knew that he wasn't lying. Sesshomaru knew she was just keeping from doing the inevitable. He  finally said, "You are only denying yourself to heal when you are doing this foolish act, miko. Do you think Inuyasha would want you to act this way? If I know him like I think I do, then the answer is no. He would want you to do this for him. To be the last person to have touch his flesh before being wrapped up and finally burn until he turned into dust."

Kagome didn't yell anything back to him because she knew that he was right. She finally said calmly, "I know, but I just don't want to do it alone. I already feel alone now since yesterday. Can...Can...(she paused cause she wouldn't think that he would do it anyway, but she just had to try it.)...Can you help me? I mean, getting him dress and wrapped up."

Sesshomaru lift up his eye-brow and said, "I'll be honor to help you, miko. I'll do anything that's within my power help you feel better."

She looked at her funerary attire, that was a black kimono with white hems, and started to smooth out the wrinkles as she and Sesshomaru walked out of the hut. Everyone in the village looked at her with pity in their eyes. She could feel their gazes on her. She wondered if they would always looked at her like that. She didn't like it one bit of it, but at the same time, she knew that they were in mourning as well. After all, Inuyasha was the main protector and a sort of leader, second to Kaede, of the village. They walked to the outskirts of the village where there was a small hut for preparing a dead body for their funeral. Kagome wanted so badly to avoid coming inside this particular hut, which held her late husband's body. She doesn't really know if she could even look at him. She don't want to look at him because there was still blood present on his body, but now it had dried onto his rough and rugged skin. Kaede already took off his red haori and the rest of his kimono that was made from a fire rat. She also had washed them before the blood would dry and placed them beside his body for Kagome to dress him.

The only thing that was still on his lifeless body was the rosary, which contained and controlled his violent nature. Kagome never thought that she would one day take that accursed...well accursed rosary in Inuyasha's mind, but a blessing to Kagome and their friends. Whenever Inuyasha had cross a line or really made Kagome angry. She would always 'sat' him. Whenever Sesshomaru was around when Inuyasha made her angry. She would say 'sit' and instantly he plopped on the ground below which had always amused Sesshomaru...well not only him, but everyone else as well... whenever he messed up and pissed Kagome off.

They laugh internally every time that had happened. Kagome knelt down on the floor and smirked as she looked at it. 

She said as she took the rosary off around his neck, "Well, Inuyasha, I guess you don't need this anymore. I don't think that I need to 'sit' you, where you'll be going, my love. I bet you would say, 'About damn time wench!'" She let out a little laugh as her tears starting to roll down her fair white cheeks. She turned and see if Sesshomaru was still there. He was. He also had a smirked on his face after she'd said that.

"I don't think I could do this," said Kagome as she was shaking her head while holding the rosary inside her hands squeezing them tightly. 

Sesshomaru said, "Yes, you can, because you are strong. I'll be standing here until you need me to help you."

She nodded in agreement as she walked towards to him and asked, "Can you hold these for me until I finish?"

"Of course, I'll be delighted to, miko." He looked at them in his palms and thought, "I wonder, how many times did Kagome used them to 'sit' him. Probably many, many times while they were together during shard-searching, battling against and defeated that sadistic bastard Naraku, and then afterwards." He smiled inwardly of the thought and closed his clawed hand and continued to watch Kagome while she prepared Inuyasha's body for the funerary ritual later on.

She returned to Inuyasha's side and got the cloth that was already soaking in warm water lying next to his body on the floor. She began washing his silver hair with the wash cloth, his face, his neck, his shoulders, his chest, his torso, his upper and inner thighs, his lower legs, and finally his feet. She also mixed fragrant oils of myrrh and frankincense and began to rub the mixture gently over his body. She looked at his fire rat robes and asked Sesshomaru."Can you help me clothe him?"

He nodded, walked up around the other side of his brother's body, and then he bent down in front of her. Firstly, they put his umanoribakama hakama and his koshi ita on him. Secondly, they put on his fundoshi on him. Thirdly, they tied his obi on around his waist. Finally, they put his haori on him. Kagome grabbed a brush to brush his long, beautiful, silver hair as Sesshomaru held him up. Then, he laid him down the already spread linen sheet that was beneath Inuyasha's body. Kagome pull the cloth from the opposite side of herself to her and tucked it underneath his body until it was smoothed out. Sesshomaru did the same thing, but vise versa. They spread another linen sheet, but this one would be above his body. Then they repeated the ritual again until the only thing to do was to fold and tied the ends of his body. Kagome still had tears falling while she was doing this funerary ritual with Sesshomaru helping her do the dressing and wrapping of the body. 

Sesshomaru walked over to the other side of Kagome and held out a hand for her to grab on to pull her up off of the floor. She didn't hesitate to grab his hand. She said as she sniffed, "Thank you for helping me, Sesshomaru. Especially since you didn't had to help me out." 

He said while using both of his thumbs of wipe away the tears from Kagome's cheeks, "This Sesshomaru was happy to help you, miko."

She smiled and he continued, "You should go get Shippo to come in and help me pick up and put him on the funerary stretcher. So we could carry him out to his funerary bond-fire mound and then to put him into his final resting place." She nodded and walked out of the hut, called Shippo over and told him to help Sesshomaru carry Inuyasha's body to the funerary bond-fire mound, that was shaped like a flat bed that was raised from the ground. It also had extra wooden logs and very large rocks encircling the mound.

After Shippo and Sesshomaru carried Inuyasha to the mound, everyone paid their respects. Kagome saw what their friends were wearing for the funeral. Shippo and Rin were wearing a simple black kimono. Sesshomaru had on a black funerary kimono that was embroider with silky silver string and it also had the emblem of the Lord of the Western Lands on it. Sango just had on a black kimono as well as her children while Miroku had on his usual monk robes. Kaede had a similiar funerary kimono that Kagome wore. 

Miroku and Kaede spoke of his funerary and burial rites as there was people crying around, but Kagome was wore out from crying. It was like she couldn't cry any longer. She just try to comfort Shippo and Rin, while Sesshomaru was consoling Kagome. Sango was comforting her children while Miroku was comforting Kaede. Kagome grabbed a torch and set it on flames. She said before setting the mound on fire, "May you rest in peace, my love." She gave him a final kiss on his lips, then she set the mound on fire. The mound instantly came to a very good blaze. 

While the mound was burning, everyone was being served with a farewell dinner that Sesshomaru had it catered with his chefs and the sub-cooks.  There was enough to feed a small army. It also served Inuyasha's favorite food: ramen. Over dinner, Kagome and her friends just shared their memories that they had had with Inuyasha whether it was good or bad. It didn't mattered. Even some villagers had fond memories of the hanyou. Sesshomaru just listened and laughed...yeah he actually laughed, which was a welcoming sound to the ears of Rin and Kagome, especially whenever his brother got in trouble with Kagome. Sesshomaru's servants told him that the body is ready to be transport to anywhere the hanyou desired to place to rest at. Kagome knew that Inuyasha would desire to rest near his mother, Izayoi. It was only close friends and family that traveled to where his mother's resting place was located and set his ashes near his mother's tomb. Miroku said, "May you find peace my friend in the Afterlife and someday we all will be reunited under the watchful eyes of the Kami." 

Then they returned to the village, Kagome said, "I think that I need to tell my family. Also to spend time with them. It had been a while since I had seen them. I know my brother will miss him that's for certain."

Rin asked, "Are you coming back Lady Kagome?"

Sango asked, "How long are you going to stay?"

With that, Sesshomaru and Kagome walked to the Bones-Eater Well. He said, "I'll be returning to my palace. I need to settle Rin there. And I need to tell you something before you go to your birth era."