Mortality by E Nomine

Mortality

Mortality

In the West sat a great castle. And inside this great castle was a great hall. Inside this great hall was a great painting. It was of a raven haired beauty and a silver demon. It was obviously a happy painting of a happy couple. Yet, the castle seemed to lack such happiness, except for this great and happy painting. Before the painting sat five children. Two had silver hair, two had raven hair, and the last had a wonderful mix of silver and raven hair. They all had claws, fangs, and the pale skin of a royal demon. Three had puppy ears, two had pointed ears. And yet, the five siblings had one thing in common. Their parents, and their blood. And their parents were the two beautiful couple before them in the painting.

Somewhere else in the castle was a large bedroom. And in this bedroom sat a forever young demon, and his mate. His dreadfully human mate. Her sparkling sapphire eyes were forever glowing, her smile always bright. But that still couldn't hold off the signs of age. Her hair was thinning. It would soon turn gray. Her skin more fragile. It would start wrinkling soon. Her muscles weak. They wouldn't exist anymore soon. All of these signs were painfully obvious to the demon. He knew that she soon would be gone, that, even though her smile would always be bright, she wouldn't always live. Unlike him, who was cursed with immortality by his blood.

{hontou ni taisetsu na mono igai

subete sutete shimaetara

ii no ni ne

genjitsu wa tada zankoku de}

[It would be nice if

we could throw away everything

but what is most important;

Reality is just cruel]

The woman stood, and the demon gracefully helped her up. She wasn't as graceful anymore. He held her hand for a few moments longer. Her hands were colder. They used to be so warm. They entered the great hall, and their children looked. The youngest one, about the equivalent of six, smiled widely and darted towards her mother.

" Okaasan!" The human woman smiled and bent down to pick up her young one. The demon noted it took her longer to pick up the child. Her arms were getting weak. The demon glanced into he eyes of his eldest, a strong, proud son. The boy looked around fifteen, and by the look in his eyes, the demon knew his son knew that his precious human mother would not last forever.

" Otousan, can Okaasan and I go out to the gardens?" The young child questioned her father. The demon lord looked down, and nodded. The girl grinned with childish delight and bounced around in her mother's arms. The door opened again to reveal another human girl with simple, yet beautiful black locks and a kitsune with auburn hair and mischievious green eyes. Both of which looked to about in their twenties. The human girl wouldn't last long either.

" Ah, the gardens. That sounds nice. May we come also, Okaasan?" The girl asked. The woman nodded. The four left to the gardens. The demon watched as their backs disappeared into the hall.

" Otousan? How come Okaasan's hair isn't as thick as it used to be?" A child that looked around nine asked. The demon looked down, and an inaudible sigh escaped his lips.

" Because Okaasan is getting old," With that simple answer, the demon lord shut his eyes in pain. He heard muscles moving, signaling that the child was going to speak again, but his eldest cut his younger brother off.

" We should leave Otousan alone now. Why don't we go to the gardens and find Okaasan, oneechan, oniichan, and imoutochan?" The others nodded, and the four left the demon alone in the great hall.

{sonna toki itsu datte

me o tojireba

waratte'ru kimi ga iru}

[Whenever I close my eyes

you're there,

smiling]

The silver demon turned and stared at the painting of himself and his mate. The woman was much younger in this picture. It was painted only days after they bound together forever.

" It's hard, ain't it?"

" Use proper grammar, if you are going to talk at all," The demon spat, angry that his time to wallow in his pain alone was taken away from him.

" Whatever. If I were you, I would have my ass out there with her right now," The hanyou told his older brother. The demon spun and glared at his kin.

" You think you have it hard? Hell, I don't even see her everyday anymore. That's why I never wanted her to go to her time. Because every minute, every day that I spent without her, I knew I couldn't ever make up. So you should take this time and spend it with her, so when she is gone, you'll know you have spent every possible minute and more with her," The hanyou continued, seemingly oblivious to his half-brother's anger. " You can try to beat me up now, if you want to." The demon clenched his jaw angrily as the other male's words soaked into him. Finally, the demon sighed and turned back to the painting.

" You don't know what it's like, watching day after day, seeing her get older, and know you will always stay alive unless someone kills you," The proud demon's voice cracked at the end.

" Yeah, but I know what it feels like, wondering if today is the day you fail in your promise and some demon comes and kills her," The hanyou put his hand on his brother's shoulder. " Just go on outside, and spend all the time you have with her, and tell her how you feel about her. That will make her feel like the happiest woman in the world. And after she dies, live life to the fullest. That is what she would want. Besides, in five hundred years, you can see her again."

" It won't be the same," The demon muttered. Still, he took his brother's advice and glided out to the gardens.

{Ah- itsu ka eien no

nemuri ni tsuku hi made

dou ka sono egao ga

taema naku aru you ni}

[Ah- I hope your smiling face

is with me until the day

I fall into eternal sleep]

::::Some years later::::

The human woman yawned as she woke from her warm, peaceful slumber. She too, was beginning to notice her aging. She slept more often. Soon, she would be sleeping forever. She just smiled and snuggled into he chest of her demon lover. His strong arms clutched her closer like a teddy bear, and he buried his nose in her hair.

" Good morning," She said to him, knowing he was awake. He just grunted. She grinned. He never was a morning person, contrary to belief. He finally stopped sniffing her hair and pulled back.

" Aishiteru, koi," he murmured. The woman smiled, and returned the spoken gesture.

" I love you too," Her slowly wrinkling hands found his silky hair, and she combed her fingers through it slowly, reveling in is softness.

" I still think it's not fair that a guy has better hair than me," she muttered in mock anger. The demon smirked slightly, his ego flying. He tried to forget the fact that he had better hair than her was because he was a demon.

" But the rest of you makes up for that," The woman smiled and hugged his arms to her.

Only a few hours later, when the sun glared through the windows, did they arise. He painfully noticed the wrinkles that had formed around her eyes and mouth. The wise look that was held only by the elder women and men had entered her eyes. But yet, they were still the sparkling sapphire they had been when he first met her as a naïve, foolish, but brave woman-child.

" What's wrong?"

" Just reminiscing," The aging woman frowned and her face darkened without her forever bright smile.

" Mou, it's not good to think about the past. Look towards the future!" The demon's lips upturned.

" Hai, forever look towards the future," He agreed. Her smile returned, and for a moment, she looked like she was nineteen again. But it was a fleeting thing, and she was once again sixty-two. Her hair was streaked with gray. Her skin wrinkled, and sometimes, he saw her hands tremble. She couldn't hold heavy things anymore. She would die in just a few years.

{hito wa minna kanashii kana?

wasure yuku ikimono da kedo...

ai subeki mono no tame

ai o kureru mono no tame

dekiru koto}

[Are all people sad?

They are forgetful creatures...

For that which you should love,

for that which gives love:

give it your all]

He walked so much slower, so her weaker legs could keep up. He was reminded that she was, and always will, be devastatingly human. But the demon lord forgave her. She couldn't control what type of blood she was born with. His nose caught the scent of an oncoming storm. He glanced down. She loved the rain. He would have to tell her. Their children were grown and gone now. They visited frequently, especially more so now that they knew their mother's time had nearly ended.

" Ne, how are Sango-chan and Miroku-sama doing?"

" They..." He wondered if he should tell her. They had last seen each other a scant few months ago, but he knew the slayer was in terrible condition. She would die in a few months.

" Sango is going to die in a few months. She has a lung disease. The monk has a five years at most left to live," The demon told his mate. She glanced down, before looking up.

" Oh. Well, Sango-chan did live a long life doing what she loved best. Not that, after she found out that all demons are bad, she enjoyed killing demons, but..." The woman trailed off. The demon nodded in understanding. The demon held the woman's small hand in his claws gently. The woman smiled as a feeling of warmth spread through her. She was so much colder now. The taiyoukai saw how much she was like a corpse. Her face was pale, her bones showing through thin skin. The only things that let him know she was living was her soft pulse, her sparkling eyes, and her forever bright smile.

The demon lord held open the door for his beloved. She went through with a large smile of thanks. Lord and lady sat down and began to dine quietly.

" How are the Western Lands doing? You haven't told me lately," The woman questioned.

" The lands are prospering. We don't have anything to worry about, unless someone suddenly wants to declare war," The demon replied. The woman smiled.

" That's good. I just hope your arrogance won't cause anything," Her eyes twinkled.

" I assure you, my 'arrogance' will not be the cause of anything," He said. The woman laughed lightly.

{Ah- deatta ano koro wa

subete ga bukiyou de

toomawari shita yo ne

kizu tsukeatta yo ne}

[Ah- when we met

we were so awkward

We've taken the long road;

we've hurt each other along the way]

Suddenly the woman giggled.

" Hm?" The demon looked up.

" Oh, nothing. Just remembering when we first met. I really was a bit stupid then, ne?"

" You weren't stupid. Just a bit foolish," Her mate protested.

" That's just a fancy way of saying I was stupid," She said drily. The demon shook his head.

" I suppose you were, but you became smarter,"

" And you warmed up a little bit. I remember Inuyasha's description of you. A girly drag-queen," The woman giggled. " Sometimes he would say he had a half-sister instead of a half-brother."

" Perhaps, but I have proven to you that I am no female," The lord smirked. A light blush fluttered across her features.

" Yes, you have. We've come a long way since the beginning,"

" Aa," He agreed. They sat in silence a while longer, content with enjoying each other's presence. The demon savored the scent of his human mate, and his lips upturned. He could never tire of the smell of his beloved. Suddenly, the woman came up with something to pass the time.

" Hmm, have I ever told you the legend of the celestial maiden?"

" No," the demon lord replied.

" Well, one day, four celestial maidens came down to bathe in the springs. But a man saw them and stole one of their robes. The maiden of the robe was forced to marry him after that and swore revenge. And to this day she still searches for his reincarnation to take back her robe and erase her humilation," The lady said eloquently.

" Sounds like Kaguya,"

" Hai, but that was different. The two legends of the Celestial Robe and the Bamboo Cutter's legend are different. In the Bamboo Cutter's Legend, an old man and his wife raised a beautiful celestial maiden, and only five knights remained long enough to go through the trials she set for them to be her wife. The shell of the seagull, the crystal of the dragon, the silver sprig with gold fruit, the firerat robe, and Buddha's stone bowl. In the end, they only brought fakes and the Kaguya in the legend fell in love with the emperor. But, her people came from the moon and took her back. It was so sad.

However, the demon Kaguya absorbed the real Kaguya so she could become immortal. I never really saw how the celestial robe tied into helping Kaguya. But it doesn't really matter now. Afterall, we defeated her," The woman explained.

{Ah- itsu ka eien no

nemuri ni tsuku hi made

dou ka sono egao ga

taema naku aru yo ni}

[Ah- I hope your smiling face

is with me until the day

I fall into eternal sleep]

" I see. The legends are very interesting," The demon responded. The woman beamed and smiled at him. A pang flashed through the demon's chest. He realized he would become just like the emperor in the legend, and there was no way to stop it.

::::Six Years Later::::

The elderly woman lay in the chambers in bed, her breathing harsh. The forever young demon held her small, fragile, and wrinkled hand.

" I love you so much," The human murmured.

" I love you too, koi,"

" I wish I could stay with you forever," The demon clutched his lover to him, sliding into the bed. He warmed her cold body with his, and he desperately tried to think of anything that might prolong her last moments.

" You can't go now," He choked on his words.

" I have to, beloved. I'm only human," She whispered. Tears clouded her sparkling eyes, and even within inches of her death, her smile remained bright. His other hand combed through her silvery gray tresses that were once been so thick, darker than a raven's wing.

" Why did you have to be human?" The demon mumbled, sadness lacing his words.

" You know that after I met you, I didn't want to be. Especially after we became mates," The human replied, holding the demon lord's claws.

" Stay,"

" As long as I can," The silence was deafening to the demon, and his throat felt closed.

" Just promise me one thing,"

" Anything,"

" Live life to the fullest, even after I die," The human looked deeply into her love's eyes.

" Of course," He replied. Her breathing became more labored, and he could hear her lungs struggling to keep pumping air in and out of her body.

" I'll wait....for you...for..ev.....er...Ses..sho..." She couldn't even finish his name before her last breath left her. His golden eyes filled with tears. Sesshomaru clutched the dead body of Lady Kagome Higurashi of the Future to his chest as he cried for the first and last time of his life.

{Ah- deatta ano koro wa

subete ga bukiyou de

toomawari shita kedo

tadori tsuita n da ne...}

[Ah- when we met

we were so awkward

We've taken the long road,

but we've finally arrived...]

The End

****

I do not own Dearest, which is the song used, nor do I own Ayumi Hamasaki or Inuyasha.