AN: Written for iysecretsanta on Tumblr for onikik. Post-canon. This is a completed one-shot.

A New Path

Shiori wrapped the prayer beads around her clasped hands, closed her eyes and prayed. She knelt at the fresh grave before her - her mother's grave, located outside the town that had been their home for many years on the high cliffs of the Western shore. This had been her mother's favorite spot, a sanctuary from the tough times and more importantly, a spot that she and her father had met in secret so many times long ago.

To Shiori, this would always be a place of peace and the most fitting resting place for her mother.

Clearing her thoughts, she focused on her breath, knowing that in her mind her love for her mother grounded her. Of course, Shiori had wanted more time with her mother. She had thought even as a human, her mother would live longer than she had.

However, as Shiori approached adulthood, her mother had become weaker. A sickness had taken her youth and spirit. Healers and miko came to help her mother, but nothing could be done to prolong her life. Even Kagome, the high priestess married to the hanyou Inuyasha, had come to aid her mother when Shiori sent word to them. Kagome and Inuyasha, along with another young miko named Rin, stayed with her and supported her until her mother's last breath.

Kagome held her as she cried. Inuyasha brought food and dinner to keep their energy and spirits up. Rin helped with mindless tasks to release further burdens from Shiori's mind. Shiori stayed with her mother for hours, from dawn to dusk, and her friends had given her this space. When she was ready, they helped bury her mother in this serene place.

Rin had placed a hand on Shiori's back, and even in this short time of knowing her, Shiori was glad to have her new friend. "Take all the time you need," the young woman said, and the three friends left her to prayer over her mother's grave.

After her silence and prayer, Shiori opened her tear-stained eyes to the sounds of the rushing waves below. They looked dark and almost menacing as they churned below under the night sky, but to her the sound were soothing, like the song of her home that they had rebuilt after the bat demons were destroyed. The sun had already set, and now Shiori was bathed in a bluish moonlight. She looked up to the sky, and she imagined her parents here in the past, falling in love under a moon like this.

She followed the movement of a small, dark shape that hurried through the sky and slashed across the moon. A second shape flew to catch up with it, and they flew side-by-side before becoming one shape and disappearing into the blackness. Bats, Shiori thought with a smile. It made her happy to think that her mother and father were finally together in the afterlife.

Shiori followed a path back to the light coming from her home. She watched her feet as they made steps in the sand on the beach, and when she came to her front door she knew her friends were waiting inside. She pulled back the cover of the door and met Kagome's eyes. The miko smiled at her. Next to her, Inuyasha was eating a fried rabbit leg, and Rin was mending Shiori's kosode.

"Welcome back," Kagome said softly, and everyone looked over at her, gauging her reaction. Shiori wiped away a stray tear.

"I'm alright. Thank you very much for all you have done," Shiori said, and she meant those words more than her friends could ever know.

"Come and have some food and regain your strength," Kagome said, handing her a bowl of soup and noodles.

Shiori obliged, softly taking the bowl and giving Kagome a light nod. She sighed heavily, feeling the weight of their eyes on her. She stirred her soup and began to eat, letting the warm liquid soothe her belly when her insides still felt cold.

She looked up and her gaze swept about the house, once her home with her mother. The idea of staying here now that she was gone seemed strange to Shiori. It almost didn't feel like a home anymore. Her mother had raised her here. She had fought and struggled and rebuilt many times to carve out a sense of normalcy here for many years. She died here in Shiori's arms. Now, it just seemed like a structure and nothing more.

"What will you do now?" Inuyasha asked, and Shiori wondered if he somehow picked on her thoughts through her silence.

"I don't know. But I can't stay here. I have no friends here, not even with the villagers. Even after we rebuilt, I still felt like they tolerated us. I only had my mother and now…" Shiori bit back her last words and took another sip of soup. "I think I need to go out on my own now. Find the next place to call home, but as I am, I don't know where I'll be welcome."

"You could come with us, Shiori-chan!" Rin said, and Shiori turned toward the girl with surprise. She met Rin's big smile, and she couldn't believe the girl was actually excited at the opportunity. "Our village has plenty of room, and other youkai and hanyou live there. Sometimes they pass through to visit Kagome-sama and Inuyasha-kun, or even Miroku-dono and Sango-chan. Last month a bunch of fox youkai came through and did tricks and caused all kinds of trouble. It was so much fun!"

Rin turned to Shiori and took her hands in hers. "Please say you'll think about it. You'll be more than welcome."

"R-really? Do you mean it?" Shiori asked, and warmth began to flower in her chest with hope. Could she really live there and be accepted? And have friends and people who cared about her rather than scorned her?

"Honestly, that's a great idea, Rin-chan," Kagome said. "Sango always needs help with the children, and we could always train another miko. Of course, it's your are plenty of things to do and help out."

"Yeah, and mostly Inuyasha just naps in trees anyway. I'm sure you'll do much more than he does," Rin said.

"Hey! I hunt and I smash youkai and evil spirits! I do more than just nap," Inuyasha said, offended. Rin laughed and stuck her tongue out at him. He growled at her until Kagome put a hand on his shoulder to back him off. Shiori smiled at the interaction.

"Well, I would be honored to come back with you to your village," Shiori said with a thankful bow.

"Then that's settled!" Rin said, clapping her hands together in joy.

"You can come with us when we head back tomorrow," Kagome said, and then she watched as Shiori's face fell for a moment. Realization consumed her that she'd be leaving - that her mother's grave would be alone here without her. She frowned and Kagome added, "Of course, you can come anytime you feel ready -"

"No, I will come with you," Shiori said resolutely. "It's just that, I thought of my mother for a moment and I realized again that she was really gone."

Rin leaned over and put her arm around her. Shiori stared at the fire. "My mother would want me to live my life to the fullest. She told me that all the time. She wanted me to be strong. I have to make her proud."

Rin leaned closer into her and Kagome smiled. "I'm sure she was always proud of you, Shiori."

Shiori nodded. The rest of the night Rin told them stories of the village and told them the names of their friends and family waiting back home. Inuyasha told stories of his own, warnings about perverted monks and sneaky foxes. Kagome told her the story of a magic well.

That night Shiori dreamed of their village - the place that would become her new home. And in her dreams she saw her mother with her father by her side too, looking down at her in pride from the other side.

Shiori knew that her mother and father would always be in her heart, no matter where she was. She had a chance with her new friends to have a real home.

She was ready.

END