Autumn Glow by mythicamagic
Chapter 1
AN: Made for hogoshamaruweek-2021. A more platonic Sesskag version of this fic can be found on Ao3 and tumblr. It's been adjusted here to follow the site rules more closely ^^
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Liquid gold shone with a fiery autumn glow as he gazed toward the bonfire. The humans were loud. A dull roar to his finely tuned ears as he tuned out their obnoxious merry-making. On any other occasion, he'd have stood further away from the fringes of the crowd or skipped out on the village celebration altogether.
The child glanced over her shoulder and smiled.
Sesshoumaru offered a very faint curve at the bottom right-hand side of his mouth in return.
She was dancing tonight, pulling a lanky boy with her around and around the towering flames. Their shadows were tall, stretching far beyond the gathering.
The child wore no shoes, twirling around with her partner with a clumsy spontaneity. Joy filled her dance, wild hair swaying and free. Funnily enough, her husband had forgone shoes as well. Kohaku's doleful features had warmed into something gentle and reverent tonight; A kind of quiet passion that put Sesshoumaru at ease to witness.
The children would be fine.
They'd stumble, but ultimately laugh and sway with one another in their wedding attire, just as they would through life.
Sesshoumaru's golden eyes softened, vision relaxing until the images of the embracing children blurred.
When they refocused, two grown humans stood in their place.
Sesshoumaru blinked slowly. A kind of unease crept into his near-immortal heart.
"Why don't you go dance with your kid?"
Sesshoumaru's attention slid down, noticing the time travelling miko arching a brow at him.
"I do not dance."
"Oh okay," Kagome snorted. "So I didn't see you do a ballet twirl last week to kill an enemy."
"That twirl was entirely necessary to pull off the attack, miko."
"Suree," she smirked, soon noticing his pensive look towards the flames again. "What's wrong?"
"I am pleased for them."
Kagome gestured for him to elaborate when he gave a lengthy pause. "But?"
His lips thinned. "She is… ageing."
"Oh."
There were no eavesdroppers nearby, so he parted with his pride for just a few moments to disclose something that rendered him faintly vulnerable. "I did not think of it before, but you humans often arrange your lives to follow expected events. Notches in the wood as you grow. Your first tooth, first word, playing, working, marriage, children, grandchildren…" Sesshoumaru trailed off, following the two figures with his eyes intently, as if one blink later they'd have grey hair. "She has aged too quickly."
"She aged at the normal rate for humans," Kagome said gently. "... I can't tell you not to worry about mortality, there's an inevitability to it. It comes for all people, even eventually you. But you know what you can do in the meantime to not feel so hopeless about it?"
"Hn?"
She smiled. "Dance."
Sesshoumaru blinked, looking towards the couple. His chest tightened, heavy with the challenge that would lie ahead. He did not think he could accept mortality. Not ever. He'd been right to hate humans. They were weak. They died so easily. Change came and went around him, a pillar of strength and ageless beauty. He should not heed their lives- a mere leaf in the wind to his mountainous existence.
And yet, Sesshoumaru let out a single sigh, taking a step forward.
"I heard you once say, it is common for the Father of the bride to dance with his daughter, correct?"
Kagome softened, giving a grin. "Sure," she said, a complicated fluctuation in her scent.
Sesshoumaru continued walking, stopping before the children he'd come to know and protect. Rin and Kohaku, high off the night's happy events and slightly tipsy from saké, gave cheers and grabbed his hands, forcing the grumbling Daiyoukai into a dance. They spun in an awkward circle together before Kohaku took their hands in his calloused ones and let them carry on without him.
Sesshoumaru blinked when Rin grinned, showing no gap-toothed smile. How long had it been since she’d grown adult molars? Their travelling together felt like mere months ago.
“I’m so glad you stayed for the party, Lord Sesshoumaru,” Rin chirped. “Master Jaken passed out a few dances ago. I think he had too much to drink. I told him not to overdo it.”
“Hn,” he twirled her, arching a brow when she had to duck slightly under his arm with a giggle. So tall. Had he grown so sentimental that he was feeling nostalgic?
The words came, but they were more difficult to say than expected. Not because he didn’t approve of the match, far from it- Kohaku was the only boy he’d likely approve of to protect his kin. Merely, once they were spoken, Sesshoumaru felt that he’d leave, and the night would be burned into his memory for years to come, long after they’d left him alone, and there were no more obnoxious parties like this to fill the unending silence. “I am...happy for you, Rin.”
Rin smiled widely and tackled him in a hug that smelled of flowers. “Thank you, Papa.”
Resting a hand on her head, Sesshoumaru etched her tiny warmth into his mind, happiness and sadness clashing heavily in his chest, before nodding to Kohaku to continue dancing with her.
Kohaku unexpectedly grasped his arm when the demon tried to pull away, forcing him into yet another dance with the newlyweds. “Stay a little longer, you’re in no hurry to go, are you?” he asked.
Sesshoumaru sighed as if incredibly put out, but gave a single nod. He allowed himself to be yanked around by the children before coming face to face with the miko who hadn't aged since her return through the Bone Eater's Well. Kagome smiled and took his hands, placing one boldly at her waist before allowing him to lead. Sesshoumaru drew her in closer, starting to move.
She was the only one. The person who would come to know time's cruelty alongside him. He supposed he wouldn't be alone, not entirely. The miko would be there to make sense of the pain.
Kohaku and Rin joked and laughed, villagers joining the swaying bodies. Pulled about by the caprice of the human's youthful whims, Sesshoumaru danced until his feet ached.
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End