Oh, and no matter how much I wish Inuyasha and crew were mine, they're not.

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~~~~~~~~~~Together Again~~~~~~~~~~

~~~Chapter 1~~~

~Prologue~

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Some people say they were brother and sister, Susano-O and Amaterasu. Other people say they were meant to be husband and wife. One thing, however, was clear. They rarely agreed on even the smallest thing, and so could never tolerate the presence of the other for very long.

And yet, despite their many differences, there was a very close bond between them, which brought them together again and again. Here is the story of one of their various meetings.

Amaterasu was the sun goddess. Her gentle beauty and warmth radiated life force and hope throughout the blessed land of Japan, and far beyond. Amaterasu was the one who showed people their beauty and potential.

Susano, on the other hand, was very much the opposite. He was the storm god. He was the one who released pent-up feelings, shaking things up if they became too stagnant. The people called upon him when things needed to get moving again. Susano-O was also known affectionately as The Impetuous Male, because he loved to move quickly, creating chaos and noise wherever he went.

Now the elders tell us that one day, Susano-o (also known as Susa) went up to the heavenly realm to visit Amaterasu. He was about to make the long journey to the underworld to be reunited with Izanami, and he was a little afraid of making the trip. He had heard terrible tales of the horrors he would find there and wondered if he would be changed forever, or even if he would return at all.

To strengthen himself for this journey, Susa decided to spend a season basking in Amaterasu's light and wisdom. He knew, better than anyone, that her light could be a soul-warming comfort.

In haste to see Amaterasu, Susa moved through the sky with a crackling thunder, shaking mountains and rivers and sending all living beings into hiding. The night seemed to fill with dancing furies as an inky velvet spread across the sky.

Even Amaterasu became frightened so she decided to take a few precautions when meeting him. She placed a quiver at her side and a bow in her hand as she stepped forward to greet him.

"Why do you disturb the peace of our kingdom, Susa? Surely, you have more than enough activity in your own kingdom!" Amaterasu looked at Susa a little disdainfully through her bowstrings. She had not forgotten their last quarrel and hoped to hold him off with a strong façade.

This was not exactly the picture of love and devotion he was hoping to find. Susa replied in his most courtly manner, "O, radiant, fair Amaterasu, I wish you no harm. My only desire is your warm company, a glimpse of your lovely face, and a few pleasant words before I descend to the underworld to find Izanami."

His answer pleased her, but she knew him well and decided to ask for more proof of his good intentions. Susa then proposed that they should create children who would rule the blessed land wisely. He hoped she would then realize that he had all of their best interests at heart. Perhaps she would allow him to stay for a while, until he could pluck up enough courage to descend to the dark place below.

Amaterasu agreed. She took his sword, broke it into three pieces, and after chewing the pieces for many days and nights, blew a light mist from her mouth, which gave birth to three goddesses who were more beautiful than any other goddesses then living... excepting Amaterasu herself, of course.

Susa then asked her for the five jewels she was wearing, and after cracking them between his teeth, blew a light mist from his mouth and gave birth to five masculine deities who were more powerful than any other deities then living... excepting Susa himself, of course.

Although he had created the five gods from her jewels, he was altogether too pleased with himself and began jumping around boasting of his omnipotence, rarely a wise move even for a god. When Amaterasu reminded him that the gods had been created from her jewels, Susa became enraged. Why didn't she appreciate him?!

Losing all self-control, he released the wind and rain he held under his waiving arms. He destroyed Amaterasu's carefully tended rice fields, filled in her precious irrigation ditches, and even deposited mud and excrement in her temples.

This was just the kind of behavior Amaterasu had come to expect from Susa, but at first she made excuses for him. "Well, he just couldn't help himself," she thought. It was his nature to leap around causing chaos wherever he turned. Her sympathy for him had been aroused by his sad story of descending to the underworld. She could barely imagine what strength of will such a trip would require and thought that his misdeeds reflected his inner anguish. Surely, she should loan him some of her strength.

Unfortunately, Amaterasu's pity only made things worse. It was as if some inner demon drove Susa to worse and worse deeds, just to see how far he could push the radiant, oh so self-contained goddess.

Perhaps she would lose her temper and become just like him, a true partner at last. After all, how could she possibly like and understand him if she remained so distant, so superior all the time? He would knock her off her grand pedestal, once and for all.

Amaterasu, for her part, was beginning to lose patience with Susa, too. Resentment had taken residence in her heart. If only she could be rid of him for once and all. He was all bad, the devil himself... she could no longer remember his good points or their happy times together.

She asked the gods why such a troublesome god had ever been sent to torment her... but no reassuring answer came to her.

One day, Amaterasu was weaving the god's clothes in her sacred chamber, taking a momentary, peaceful respite from her worries. That's when Susa decided to send a final message to her. Although he had tried to get her to loosen up and shed her pretenses, she had always resisted him. Well, this should shake her up a little! Susa flayed a piebald horse, made a hole in the roof of the house, and threw the dead horse into her circle of weaving women. On the saddle of the dead horse, was a note that read, "Things are not always as black and white as they seem."

This frightening event caused one of Amaterasu's oldest friends to fall dead at her feet, and Amaterasu, worn out by all the recent tempests, could only think of running away. She ran as far as she could to a rocky cave in a quiet corner of heaven and she blocked the entrance with a boulder. No more strife!

The world was left in darkness and no one could entice Amaterasu out again. Susa, in disgrace (some say in despair) began the long journey to the underworld alone.

Amaterasu sat a very, very long time in the cave, brooding over recent events. She began to feel it was somehow her fault. Perhaps she had failed Susa in some important way. Perhaps she lacked the ability to love. In her headlong flight to the cave, she had lost her ability to see clearly... her light was truly dimmed.

But the darkness within the cave was nothing compared to the darkness outside the cave. The people had lost their radiant mother and sat huddled in their homes, listless and hopeless. Without her light in the kingdom, they could not see their own strength and so had lost the will to go on. The world began to whither and die.

When things had begun to look blacker than the very night itself, the eight hundred myriad of gods gathered together in the dry bed of a river to decide how to get Amaterasu back. They begged one of the gods to help them. Everyone knew Hoard-thoughts had good ideas if only he could be persuaded to tell. Well, even he was worried now and so he advised the gods to collect cocks that could be relied upon to crow just before dawn. And so, the cocks were collected. Next, he told the gods to hang a mirror with strands of jewels on the branches of a Sakaki tree, just at the entrance of Amaterasu's cave. They did so, and then they decorated the tree with bright cloth banners. Everyone uttered ritual words.

Next, a sister goddess, Ama no Uzume, stepped forward with an idea all her own. She stripped herself naked and carefully dressed in various plants and bamboo leaves. Climbing onto a tub turned upside down at the entrance of the cave, she began to dance. Such a dance! She drummed her feet on the tub and swung her hips and generally got carried away by divine ecstasy. All the eight hundred myriad of gods roared with laughter and approval, hooting and hollering. By the light of a thousand torches, the cocks began crowing loudly in unison.

Amaterasu, in her cave, was surprised. Even in her worst meetings with Susano-O, she had never before heard such a noise in her peaceable kingdom. What could she be missing? Finally, when she heard the laughter of the gods, she couldn't resist peering outside the cave. Everyone sounded so happy without her!

The gods, who wanted to take no more chances with their mother goddess, had made a little plan. They asked the god of Force to hide near the entrance to the cave and to seize Amaterasu's hand and drag her all the way out when she appeared, but, as it turned out, Force really wasn't necessary after all. Catching a glimpse of something in the mirror hanging in front of her, just for a moment Amaterasu forgot her fear and pain and stood transfixed by a clear light.

Amaterasu was seeing herself for the first time in a very long time, and it gave her a stronger determination to carry on her duties in heaven. She immediately returned to her palace and vowed never again to be so frightened by any storm. Mirrors were hung in the doorways to her temples, so that all who passed in or out might look deeply into it. The elders say that the people of Japan, and the gods themselves, carried on their lives with renewed courage and joy.

Although Susano-O was in disgrace with all the other gods and goddesses, Amaterasu sent him, on the wings of her truest messengers, her love and very best wishes. She knew he was a part of what she had seen and felt when she emerged from the cave.

As for Susa, he heard of Amaterasu's return to heaven while on his long journey to the deep... and was immeasurably glad. He knew they would meet again someday...perhaps the next time they met...

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I hope you enjoyed the first chapter! I absolutely loved the story when I read it. Please review! Tell me what you'll think of a story based on something like this. Oh and I got this little story from a website, its not mine. This is just a little background.

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