Week 9 - Prompt 2
Heh. Funny how it was the first prompt that I planned on doing, but this one suddenly inspired me. Silly plot-bunnies.
Title: Innocence
Author: mickeythemousey
Rating: PG/K+
Genre: general/slight angst
AU/Canon: canon-ish
Word Count: 529
Shippou sighed as he watched his odd adopted family gather around the fire. He felt safe with them all, but Kagome had a special place in his heart. He adored her, as she was the mother that had been ripped away from him as a baby.
He nibbled at his lip anxiously. He had something to tell them, something so big he was afraid on how it would affect them.
Taking a deep breath he spoke and watched a heart break before his eyes.
“Come on Shippou,” Kagome whispered amorously while finishing the last knots and zippers on her pack. "Let’s catch up with the others.”
Shippou noted how the female’s eyes glistened expectantly at his gaping mouth before falling at his lack of movement or response. The fox cringed when he felt her anxiousness radiating down upon him. Unknowingly, she was not making his choice an easy one.
“I-I’m not coming with you this time, Kagome.” He turned his face from her and shut his eyes. He couldn’t bear to gaze at the face that would instantly repeal his already wavering resolve. Miniature paws ground against the blades of grass below them, -- searching perhaps for a hole to take him away. It was an unconscious movement, but Kagome noticed.
Her eyes instantly softened, trying to push back the confusion, as she took a knee beside him. “Shippou.” Her voice, though soft, was demanding and Shippou met her eyes.
“This is something I have to do, Kagome.” The childish squeak reappeared despite his attempts to remain calm. A reassuring smile made its way to her face at the sound of it-she had thought it was gone forever with the recent happenings.
“I know this is a tough change for you, but you have nothing to feel guilty over.” Kagome nudged Shippou into an embrace that he seemed too limp to accept. “Nothing,” she whispered through tears. “You don’t have to run away from it. You’re still the same Shippou-my Shippou.”
For a few brief moments he let the pain consume him as he wailed, clutching her like the lost child he was. Then his whimpering silenced as he attempted to regain his composure. When he pushed himself from her lightly, Kagome gazed upon Shippou with a sad sense of pride. She understood now as she gazed upon the face of someone that, until now, she had never seen. He was no longer hers.
True, in body he would forever be the little kit she had first met, but in spirit…
Like any mother, Kagome wished she could strip him of the memory-could have somehow saved him the responsibility. The path he had chosen was a just one and he had done it to protect her-she knew this. Naraku had taken so many lives already, manipulated and twisted, but for Shippou to be burdened with the task of taking an innocent human life, that was something Kagome had never asked for.
“You’re right Kagome, I shouldn’t have to run. Still, If I go with you now… I will be.” Kagome nodded, the strength to smile becoming even more difficult. “I can’t stay innocent forever.”
Title: Innocence
Author: mickeythemousey
Rating: PG/K+
Genre: general/slight angst
AU/Canon: canon-ish
Word Count: 529
Shippou sighed as he watched his odd adopted family gather around the fire. He felt safe with them all, but Kagome had a special place in his heart. He adored her, as she was the mother that had been ripped away from him as a baby.
He nibbled at his lip anxiously. He had something to tell them, something so big he was afraid on how it would affect them.
Taking a deep breath he spoke and watched a heart break before his eyes.
“Come on Shippou,” Kagome whispered amorously while finishing the last knots and zippers on her pack. "Let’s catch up with the others.”
Shippou noted how the female’s eyes glistened expectantly at his gaping mouth before falling at his lack of movement or response. The fox cringed when he felt her anxiousness radiating down upon him. Unknowingly, she was not making his choice an easy one.
“I-I’m not coming with you this time, Kagome.” He turned his face from her and shut his eyes. He couldn’t bear to gaze at the face that would instantly repeal his already wavering resolve. Miniature paws ground against the blades of grass below them, -- searching perhaps for a hole to take him away. It was an unconscious movement, but Kagome noticed.
Her eyes instantly softened, trying to push back the confusion, as she took a knee beside him. “Shippou.” Her voice, though soft, was demanding and Shippou met her eyes.
“This is something I have to do, Kagome.” The childish squeak reappeared despite his attempts to remain calm. A reassuring smile made its way to her face at the sound of it-she had thought it was gone forever with the recent happenings.
“I know this is a tough change for you, but you have nothing to feel guilty over.” Kagome nudged Shippou into an embrace that he seemed too limp to accept. “Nothing,” she whispered through tears. “You don’t have to run away from it. You’re still the same Shippou-my Shippou.”
For a few brief moments he let the pain consume him as he wailed, clutching her like the lost child he was. Then his whimpering silenced as he attempted to regain his composure. When he pushed himself from her lightly, Kagome gazed upon Shippou with a sad sense of pride. She understood now as she gazed upon the face of someone that, until now, she had never seen. He was no longer hers.
True, in body he would forever be the little kit she had first met, but in spirit…
Like any mother, Kagome wished she could strip him of the memory-could have somehow saved him the responsibility. The path he had chosen was a just one and he had done it to protect her-she knew this. Naraku had taken so many lives already, manipulated and twisted, but for Shippou to be burdened with the task of taking an innocent human life, that was something Kagome had never asked for.
“You’re right Kagome, I shouldn’t have to run. Still, If I go with you now… I will be.” Kagome nodded, the strength to smile becoming even more difficult. “I can’t stay innocent forever.”