In Celestial Harmony by Priestess Skye

In Celestial Harmony

The grass was cool beneath her as she lay on her back looking up at the night sky. She knew she should be in her time, or with Inuyasha at the moment, but she wanted some time to herself to think. It was so rare these days that she would get any peace and quiet. It was 'Kagome' this or 'wench' that. Her family wouldn't leave her alone at home, and her friends wouldn't leave her alone here. So what could she do but sneak away for a time?

The night sky in Feudal Japan was one she treasured above all things. She was lucky if she could see one star at home due to all the flashing lights from the street. Here, she couldn't keep count of the ones visible to the naked eye. What was the number she had read again? 40,000 stars could be seen unaided by a person if there was no light pollution. And each star above her told a different story.

"Miko."

She jumped slightly, startled at the interruption. "Sesshoumaru," she acknowledged, but she didn't get up. She waited for him to take a seat next to her on grass. "I was just thinking about the stars," she admitted.

"Hn."

She relaxed as she saw him slip off his armor, a sign of peace between the two. She would drop her bow a foot away from her, he removed his armor. She knew she wasn't any safer from him, but it was a gesture of goodwill. He was the other reason she liked to escape from Inuyasha once in a while. While he would never come near the group, he had no qualms about sitting and talking to her. She had learned he was fascinated about the knowledge learned in the future, and was a quick study. She didn't mind sharing information and stories, as long as it wasn't something that would essentially change the future.

Last night they debated the pros and cons of autocracy vs. democracy. It looked like tonight they would talk about the night sky.

"Do you have names for the stars in this time?"

"No. The stars aren't needed for anything other than a few spells. They don't need names for that."

She smiled. "We name everything, I guess it's part of our quest for knowledge." She pointed up. "Take for instance that bright, red star. By giving it a name we are able to track it. We watch it rise, we watch it set and it tells us what time of the year it is. That is a summer star, so when it's out, we know summer is either on its way, or here, or ending depending on where it is in the sky. When it's not in the sky, we know it's winter."

"We could do that without naming it."

"So we could. But then how do you know you won't count it twice? One year you could think it's one star, the next year another. By labeling it, and giving it a name, we have identified it."

"And what is the name of said star?"

"Arcturus, part of the Bootes Constellation."

"Constellation?"

"Yeah," She raised her hand once again and traced a shape into the sky. "We have constellations, pictures that appear if you connect the dots, so to speak." She pointed to another part of the sky. "You see those stars over there, that look like a giant ladle?"

He nodded as he watched her trace the shape. "That's known as the Big Dipper, part of the Ursa Major Constellation, The Great Bear."

"And what is the point of constellations?"

"It helps us to identify stars or groups of stars. You see a bright star in the Bootes constellation, you know it's Arcturus. However, if you see a bright star in a group that doesn't look like Bootes, then it's not Arcturus, it's something else."

"And your people waste time on this?" he snorted.

"I wouldn't call it wasting time, I'd call it part of the process of understanding the universe, and yes, we spend time on this."

She took a deep breath. "Now, follow the handle of The Big Dipper, and we end up at Arcturus." She looked at him to see him nodding, following and understanding. "Keep following the same path, and we come to another bright star."

"And what star is this?"

"Spica, part of the Virgo constellation. 'Arc onto Arcturus, then speed onto Spica'. This is why we name stars, and we have constellations. It helps us move around the sky."

He was genuinely interested in the topic, she noted. She could tell by the focused look on his face.

"And that bright light in the Southern Sky is Jupiter, a planet."

"Planet?"

"Yes, another large body like earth, but instead of rock and water, it's made entirely of gas that is highly poisonous to any living thing."

"Jupiter gas," he deduced, hoping he was coming to the right conclusion.

She giggled, a sound he had come to enjoy. "No, it's named Jupiter after the king of the Roman Gods, Jupiter. It's the king of the planets, the largest near us. You can fit Earth into Jupiter several times, it's that big."

"And Arcturus, what is it named after?"

"Arcturus is roman for 'bear guard' as it lies next to Ursa Major and Ursa Minor, the Great Bear and the Little Bear. He watches over them."

"And Spica?"

She nibbled on her lower lip for a moment, something he found utterly fascinating. "You know," she finally replied. "I'm not sure. I'll have to look it up next time I go home."

"Hn."

They lay in silence for several minutes, watching the stars twinkle in the sky. "Make a wish," he heard her whisper suddenly, breaking the silence, and he watched her close her eyes tight.

"Why would I need to make a wish?"

"Because you always wish on a shooting star. It's good luck."

"And what did you wish for?"

She giggled again. "I can't tell you, then it won't come true. Now, make a wish, and make it a good one."

He closed his eyes to humour her, but secretly hoped that his wish would one day come true. He opened his eyes, startled, when he felt her hand move to cover his, and hold it.

"We'll come back in a few months and do this again," she said. "I'll show my favourite star cluster, the Pleiades, or better known as the seven sisters. I'll even see if I can find a story to go with it."

He eyed her briefly, before looking back up at the sky.

His last thought before succumbing to the peace of the night was his wish may come true after all.

End

This is where I should probably put my AN on nosepicking, just for Wiccan.  Wiccan, be careful what you ask for.

So when I pick my nose, I like to really dig my finger inside, cause you know, there's nothing like really reaching in and grabbing the good stuff. I find that if I go shallow, I may pick up some of the mucus, it gives me enough to examine the slimy texture, but it's just not good enough. I like the big ones. the crunchy ones. The ones that have hardened but theyu're still covered in mucus so it's like slimey meets hard stuff. The odd shaped ones. And it's even better if they have a stringy trail of mucus behind them. Then I get to see the colour. I like the colour. I like the green ones best...they are by far the tastiest...okay enough :P

Lol Wiccan, never tell me to write an AN on nosepicking again!