This is an excerpt of one of the many documents left behind by Sesshomaru, former Lord of the Western lands, deceased 2:43pm November twenty-third 2006.

Dearest Memory,

This is a moment in time. Chopin, A cigarette, a cup of tea, a bleak November morning. This is one breath, one heartbeat, one scene; this is one frame in the movie of my life.

It's a sad film.

Dearest Chopin,

We could have met two hundred years ago, if I'd dedicated my time to art instead of warfare. My priorities were different back then. Sometimes I wish I could leave behind something beautiful like you; other times I think that you don't even know that your music's lighting up the kitchen, so it doesn't matter.

Thank you anyway.

Dearest Cigarette,

You weaken me, an indication of my failing health. I'd focus on that: the tar creeping through my lungs, the nicotine pulsing through my veins, the smoke swimming around my teeth, if I could escape this frame and watch the movie.

We're all addicts anyway.

Dearest Tea,

You remind me of my past. Tea at dawn, tea after training, tea before sleep. You remind me of an old life. When I cradle the mug and watch the steam curl around my fingers, I wish that you'd stay warm forever in my dying hands.

You're another memory.

Dearest November Morning,

The sky's a gray blanket punctured by skeletal trees. Cool fog settles on the grass. A breeze spills through a chipped doorway and ruffles tea towels. A blue jay cries. It all depends on what you decide to focus on.

You're beautiful right now.

Dearest Beauty,

I'm not egotistical enough to believe that I could create you. If you take a frame—a dying demon seated in his kitchen—and break it down: swirls on the wooden table, the peaks and valleys of a wrinkled napkin, shadows playing on a swaying towel, you'll find that we're all swimming through you with our eyes closed. I don't need to create you because you're already there.

I'm sorry I forget that.

Dearest Memory,

That was a moment in time. Chopin, a cigarette, a cup of tea, a bleak November morning. That was one breath, one heartbeat, one scene; that was one frame in the movie of my life.

It's a beautiful film.