She'll Need a Savior

Chapter 1

Disclaimer: Don't own Inuyasha. Darn.

"I just wanna run to you,
And break off the chains, and throw them away
I just wanna be so much,
And shake off the dust that turned me to rust
Sooner than later, I'll need a savior
I'll need a savior"

- LIGHTS "Savior"

VVVV

Kagome sighed again, thinking back to the news revealed to her last time she had gone home. Her father would return soon, in six days, and she was absolutely terrified.

She had thought she was safe from him when the police took him away. Apparently she was wrong.

When she was only six years old, her father was fired from his job. Rather than find a new job, he chose to spend his nights wasting away at the local bar; and Kagome's mother, Sora, found herself with a second job. Kagome had adjusted to her new, independent lifestyle quite easily; until her father, Kori, started bringing his bar habits home. It started with harsh words, comments with underlined meanings. Then it grew and it wasn't just his words hurting Kagome.

Even to this day Kagome wasn't quite sure why it was her. Her father never hit his wife, never hit his son, Souta; only his daughter. For the longest time Kagome was sure it was because of her, because she had messed up; even now she occasionally thinks so. The harsh words and fists combined were enough to break her, and she never told a soul the details of what her father did to her.

Until one day when Kagome was nine, he had been careless and paid no attention to the time. Kagome's mother arrived home from a tiring shift at the hospital in time to see her husband raise a beer bottle to her daughter's head.

When Kagome awoke in the hospital days later; her father was in prison and for the first time in a while Kagome felt safe.

VVVV

"Lady Kagome, are you alright? You've barely touched your dinner yet. Is something wrong?" Miroku asked, peering at the girl before him. .

Kagome looked up and nodded. "Yeah, I'm fine. I'm just not that hungry." She was determined to make sure nobody else found out about her father. She hated to lie to her friends, but if it was necessary she would. She had kept the dark secret for seven years; she could do it for a few more.

Miroku seemed to accept this answer. He smiled at her and nodded before continuing with his own meal. Sango however, did not accept the answer. Call it women's intuition, but she knew something was up with her best friend. The way her friend's eye's hung low, her shoulders drooped, it wasn't like Kagome. Sango was determined to get the truth out of Kagome.

Miroku was determined too. He too had noticed Kagome's off behavior. He had also noticed the way his friend preferred not to discuss it. He knew everybody had their own secrets, and he respected that. He would wait for Lady Kagome to feel ready to talk, until then he would remain oblivious.

The three of them continued to eat in silence, the occasional slurping breaking the quiet. Kagome shifted her eyes to the hill beside them before quickly looking down again, twirling her chopsticks in the ramen bowl before her.

She knew she had nothing to worry about. Inuyasha would protect Shippo and the two would return to their camp safely. Inuyasha was strong and Shippo was becoming so. They would come back.

Sango saw Kagome look away and turned her head to see what she had looked at. Sighing when she realized what, or rather who, Kagome was looking for, Sango stood up.

Startled at the action, Kagome and Miroku looked up at her.

"Kagome, there's a really nice onsen not too far away from here. Would you come with me?" The look in her eyes told Kagome she didn't have much of a choice. Somewhere in the back of her mind Kagome knew Sango wanted to talk, but there was no way Sango could know the truth.

Forcing a smile, Kagome nodded. "Of course Sango-chan! Let me just get the soaps." She said cheerfully. If she acted normal, maybe things could be normal.

Sango smiled back before turning to Miroku pointing a finger towards him. "And you! Don't you dare think about spying on us," Miroku opened his mouth, ready to claim he would never do such an unholy thing, before Sango continued, "again!"

Miroku had the decency to blush before setting his bowl down and standing up. "Of course not Lady Sango, I'll remain here and pack up the foods."

Kagome quickly peeked her head out of her bag. "Make sure to leave some out for Inuyasha and Shippo, Miroku!" She called out, before returning to the soaps.

Miroku glanced at Sango, and at her nod he called back out to Kagome. "Of course, thank you for the reminder."

Once Kagome had found the soaps and her other necessary supplies, the two girls were off. Miroku tried not to think of where they were going, or else he would be unable to contain himself.

Instead he packed the food, all but two portions. He added more firewood and kept the fire strong while the fire kept him warm.

The unpacked portions of food remained untouched. Inuyasha and Shippo did not return that night.

VVVV

"Why didn't you eat anything?" Sango asked, breaking the tense silence between the two friends.

Kagome chuckled nervously. "I just wasn't that hungry, plus the ramen seemed a little too spicy, and you know I don't like spicy foods, and-" Sango cut her off.

"Kagome please, I know you better than that. Please, tell me the truth." She paused hesitantly. "Is it Inuyasha? And Shippo? Because I'm sure they'll return. It's only been four days, we don't even know for sure if anything happened." She trailed off. "Oh Kagome, I'm sure they'll be okay. We shouldn't underestimate Inuyasha, he'll be sure to come back to us, to you, safe and sound. And he'll definitely protect Shippo! We shouldn't worry Kagome, It's gonna be alright, I promise."

Kagome turned to face her friend, her best friend, almost her sister. She shook her head slowly, tears pricking her eyes from the stress of, well, everything. "Don't Sango, don't promise that. You can't possibly know for sure that everything will be alright, because right now everything's a mess! Inuyasha's gone, Shippo's gone, and now I have to leave too!" She stopped, her voice cracking. She didn't want to cry. She wouldn't cry again.

Sango felt her heart freeze. "What do you mean you're leaving?" She asked, her voice quivering. The loss of Inuyasha and Shippo had affected her too. The group wasn't the same without them, everything was so much more boring, there was so much missing. It wasn't the same without them.

And now Kagome was leaving too?

Kagome spoke softly, trying to suppress the emotions bubbling inside her. "Not for long," at least she hoped it wouldn't be for long. "I just need to get back to my time, my family, for a while. A long while, I don't know how long I'll be gone. But Sango, I don't want to go! I don't want to leave without knowing whether or not Inuyasha and Shippo are safe! What if they come back while I'm gone and I wouldn't even know it, what if something happens to them and I won't be here to help them! I want to stay here Sango, but I can't, I have to go back home and I don't want to!" By the time she finished her tirade her voice had grown louder. Her voice shook and she struggled to keep her emotions in check.

Neither of the two girls spoke for several moments. Kagome turned and continued to walk in the direction of the hot springs. She just wanted a hot bath to forget about her problems, even if it was only temporary.

As they continued to walk in silence Sango thought long and hard about what Kagome had said. It certainly cleared things up, and she felt terrible about the struggles Kagome was going through.

They arrived at the hot springs and quickly stripped and stepped in the water. Once the warm water engulfed them, both girls visibly relaxed. Sango looked over at Kagome. "I'm sorry, about before. I didn't mean to upset you or anything, you know that right?" At Kagome's nod, Sango continued. "It's just, well; you've been acting differently lately. And Miroku and I have both noticed. We thought it was about Inuyasha and Shippo, we thought that everything would get better soon enough, that we could go out and look for them, but Kagome if your family needs you right now then you need to go to them! Family is important and we'll always be right here waiting for you. Don't worry about Inuyasha and Shippo, Miroku and I will look for them while you take some time off with your family. You deserve it Kagome." She smiled comfortingly.

Kagome stopped scrubbing her arm as she listened to Sango. What Sango said, it all made sense. But she still didn't want to go back home. She didn't want to face her father. She didn't want to leave her friends, her second family. But she knew she had to back, back to her family. Her family in the future. She didn't have a choice.

VVVV

By the time Kagome and Sango returned to their camp, the fire was growing small and Miroku was leaning against a tree, asleep. Sango smiled and faced Kagome. "Makes a great guard, doesn't he?" Kagome giggled and felt something stir inside her. This was what she wanted, to stay with her friends and joke with them. To poke fun at each other but still trust them with their lives. She didn't want to leave them. She knew she would come back eventually, but how long would it take to convince her father to let her return?

As Kagome put back her supplies Sango went to wake up Miroku. Her finger had barely touched Miroku's shoulder when he stirred awake, his eyes rapidly blinking before falling on her. Sango felt her cheeks heat up, but she tried to ignore it as she sat down beside the Monk. She turned to face Kagome and nodded at the younger girl encouragingly.

Kagome took a deep breath and spoke, keeping her voice steady. "In six days I need to be back in my time. I need to go back and I'm not sure how long I'll be gone. We, we'll have to leave tomorrow morning." She trailed off, suddenly wanting nothing more than to curl into her sleeping bag and sleep for the next decade or so.

Miroku was about to ask why the sudden change of heart, he would have thought for sure that Kagome would be the one who wanted to stay the longest, waiting for Inuyasha and Shippo to return. One look at Sango and he decided it was best to hold his tongue.

Instead he asked her something else. "Pardon my asking this Lady Kagome, but didn't you return from a visit to your family not too long ago?" He ignored the glare from Sango this time. He feared this was not just a family visit, not just a visit to take the 'tests' Kagome spoke negatively of. He worried there was something more, something else that Kagome wasn't mentioning.

Kagome frowned as Miroku's words registered in her brain. He was right of course; a few weeks ago she had visited her era. That was when she first heard the news that her father would be back in her life.

She didn't want her dad back in her life. She wanted him back in jail, far away from her. She was safer in the feudal era than with him. She wanted to stay in the feudal era, stay with her friends. She wanted Inuyasha back. She wanted Shippo back.

She wanted things to go back to the way they were.

Kagome wasn't sure if she ever answered Miroku's question. For the first time in a while, she didn't care. She could faintly hear Miroku and Sango whispering, about what she didn't know. She didn't care. She stopped paying attention.

It was then that she fell asleep.

She embraced it.

VVVV

If you're reading this because you read the original version, then I hope you were satisfied :D It's a lot different than the original, in that I added a few things and took away others, but hopefully all the changes were for the better, or at least you like them lol. Also, I just want to say THANK YOU for sticking with the original. I was re-reading it and ended up cringing at some parts, the writing was that terrible. I am eternally grateful to you readers who stuck through with the story despite the terrible writing. Thank you all so much.

And for those of you who just found this and decided to read it, thank you !

I sincerely hope you enjoyed this first chapter. I'm still tweaking a few things, but I have a general plot outline in my mind. Hopefully everything will come out alright and you'll be satisfied with the results (:

Please leave a review! They all mean so much to me and it feels good knowing there are people out there reading my own work.

See you next chapter !