A/N: So, I FINALLY finished my plot outline, and decided to get started on the sequel. This one takes place a little bit after the first, so it is vital that you have read Heart of a Youkai, the first story.

Obviously, this is a new story, but it is very tied in to the first. While the first was more dark, this one is more dramatic, I suppose, in the emotions of the individual characters.

Note: I have my own website now, (take out spaces) www. geocities. com /kitsunethewriter , which I update almost every day. If you haven't viewed recently, I put in a note about my recent trip to Katsucon, where I met RICHARD IAN COX and KIRBY MORROW! (Kirby Morrow winked at me, but I think it was because I was dressed as Sango, but nevertheless, SQUEE!) Once I get the pictures developed, I'll put some up of them on the website!

So, now, I have to begin, or end up telling you the entire story once AGAIN about that trip. (It was fun though!)

Part I

Chapter 1: Recovery

Unable to wait any longer, Kagome launched herself at him and wrapped her arms around him, tears spilling onto his haori. "You're alive!" She cried, unable to stop the happy tears. "You're really…really alive!"

As he pulled her closer to him, resting his chin against her head, knowing all that she went through, all the pain she had suffered from him, everything she had gone through, for this moment of realization that the fight was over, and that they had survived. "Yes, Kagome, I'm here. And this time, I swear to you, I won't ever leave you again."

A smirk met Naraku's face as he watched Inuyasha comfort a relieved Kagome, whispering promises of never leaving her into her ear, a scene he knew was being played out miles upon miles away. Her cries and his words echoed throughout the dark, and small room, as Naraku's red eyes never left the faces in Kanna's mirror, the smirk growing wider as the scene played on.

The image soondissolved as his minion stared stoically at him through her eerie black eyes, waiting for his reply.

"Well," Naraku said in an overconfident voice, "This is wonderful news you have brought me, Kanna." He glanced towards a window, looking at the view of the forest from the window of his castle, the grin never leaving his face.

"What will you do with them, Naraku-sama?" His first detachment, Kanna, asked in a small, monotone voice.

Grinning from ear to ear, like a little boy who had received a new toy, but with his eyes locked in his malicious planning, he replied, full of force, "I shall use this to make yet another nightmare for Inuyasha, one that will eventually lead to his destruction."

Inuyasha sat in a tree near the village, leaning back against the trunk in a lazy position, his arms folded behind his head as he looked up at the cloud filled sky. The hanyou had always loved being able to jump up into the high boughs of trees, to sit up there and think. Up there, among the birds, he felt disconnected from the world below, able to take his mind off things and think.

He sighed as he looked through the leafy roof and up to the world above. His amber eyes, eyes that could be soft and so full of love, but also turn hard and give off the deepest look of hate, followed the birds as they flew overhead, without a care in the world.

Sitting in a tree was something he did a lot when there was nothing to do, or when he was so full of thoughts that he had to go somewhere to sort them out. These two times only happened when a certain person wasn't there, filling him with purpose and freeing him of all his troubles. It just so happened that that person wasn't there, and he had felt that he needed to think over things, because too many thoughts of them had filled his mind.

Inuyasha closed his eyes and inhaled a faint scent, that beautiful scent that was able to calm him and yet excite him at the same time. That wonderful, entrancing scent, which wrapped around his nose and made him feel happier than he had ever felt whenever they were near.

Sighing, one word floated into his mind, Kagome…

Kagome, the beautiful girl, whom he had hated when he first met her, since she reminded him so much of someone else, but he had slowly grown to love her, with time.

Inuyasha loved every bit of Kagome, from her cheerful laughter to her sparkling smiles. He loved how she could make him laugh and smile too, how she made him feel cherished despite the fact that he was a hanyou. He had only met one woman who had done that before; his mother. When he was young, his mother was the only person who treated him kindly, and who loved him no matter what he was.

But there was a dark side to his mother's love, Inuyasha remembered her tears when she saw no other children would play with him because of what he was; a hanyou. He hated tears even now, bringing back those memories of his mother. He hated them most of all on Kagome, the girl who could still remind him of the happiness his mother gave him.

He loved Kagome, but differentlythan he had loved his mother. He would do anything to protect Kagome, anything to keep the tears out of her eyes. He felt possessive of her, wanting to keep her all to himself. If Inuyasha thought something made her happy, he would do it (most of the time) no questions asked. Hewas drawn to her, her beauty, her scent, wanting to touch her, hold her, and love her until the end of time.

Inuyasha wanted more than anything to protect Kagome from his mother's fate. She had gotten sick, and died young, leaving her hanyou son all alone in the world. He had been kicked out of the village they had lived in after that, forced into the wild, and to turn hard to survive, which brought about the desire to turn full youkai…

His thoughts immedietly turned back to Kagome. She was gone now, back in her own time, as she had been for a week. Though he would never admit it in front of the others, Inuyasha missed her, so much more than he ever thought he could.

He remembered how recently, he could barely stand her being gone for a few days, and would instantly go to fetch her, bringing her back right away. But now, he knew he had to give Kagome some more time alone, and Inuyasha secretly knew that he needed the time as well.

Before, the minute he saw her again, he would wrap his arms around her, hold her close, and whisper to her how much he had missed her, and also threaten to never let her out of his sight again. Kagome would have giggled, thinking it wasn't such a bad idea after all. Before, as Inuyasha held her in his arms, Kagome would have whispered to how much she loved him, and he would have told her the same, before he captured her lips in a passionate embrace, neither of them wanting to let go.

But ever since three months ago, it had been different.

Inuyasha removed his right arm from behind his head, and held his right palm facing him. On the center of his palm, was a thin, straight scar across, ending just above his thumb. He knew that scar well. Inuyasha had made it himself with one of his claws, on a night that seemed so long ago.

It was a scar that, no matter how fast or through his hanyou healing, would never go away. It was a mating scar, a scar that bound two mates' souls, lives, and hearts together forevermore. It was a scar that signified love more powerful than time; that would even withstand death. There was only one scar that would respond to his, only one other identical scar that rested on the opposite hand, the other wielder of this unending love, Kagome.

The scar, what memories it brought back. Four months ago, he and Kagome had fallen deeply in love, finally after what had seemed ages. It was nearly a dream come true for Inuyasha, their relationship so perfect that it seemed to have been meant to be. For one month, he felt happier than he ever had been, loving someone wonderful and knowing they loved him in return, despite him being a hanyou.

What happy times…he had thought that their happiness would only intensify, when he had asked her to be his mate, Kagome agreeing without a second thought.

How soon everything had changed.

Because of a curse he had forgotten, Inuyasha had been unwillingly turned into a youkai, his hanyou side sealed away. He had done horrible, awful things through his unending rage, the only one able to pacify his temper had been Kagome. Inuyasha hated thinking of that time, remembering that he only too often took out his rage on her, the one girl he wanted to protect.

Then, he came to the worst memory of all. That memory which sent shivers up his spine as he thought about it. It was obvious that his youkai side had won in the battle over his heart, and Kagome knew that there was no way to bring him back. She only had one option, she had to purify him, expelling his soul from his body, and, in essence, killing him.

Inuyasha knew she had been right in that, since he would have never wanted to live if it meant a life of killing and hurting Kagome. But still…he could never forget that place between the worlds, that hauntingly dark and unending place which he had resigned himself to for all eternity.

But, Kikyou had arrived, calming down the miko who had attacked him for her revenge, and sending her soul into the netherworld. It was also Kikyou who had brought his soul back into life, and back to Kagome.

Inuyasha's eyes fell downward, looking at the green grass far below, he put his right arm once more behind his head. After he had been brought back to life by Kikyou, Inuyasha had never learned if the curse put on him by the miko a century ago was still there. He hadn't felt anything from his youkai side, since it had been locked away by the purification of his soul, but he didn't know if it could rise again.

If the curse had been lifted, he could have lived again with Kagome by his side as his mate, without anymore worries, but neither of them could tell if this had been done. This led to the inevitable choice, for both of them to part in their earlier relationship, until they knew for certain.

And so, for three months, they had been what they were before, just friends. But it seemed even worse now. They were friends who, no matter what they said or did in public, still held deep feelings for each other. They were friends that had been scarred over mentally and physically from a horrific and tragic experience. They were friends that tried hard to avoid each other and only exchange words if necessary, knowing it would be best for both of them to leave each other alone.

We're 'just friends' again, but its not the same as before…it'll never be the same…With that thought, Inuyasha was reminded of someone else he also knew well. Just like Kikyou…

Now that he thought about it, he had two disastrous love affairs with two women, both whom had been forced to kill him in the end.How even more ironic that the secondwoman was the reincarnation ofthe first.It was heart wrenching how similar both their situations were, in the event, and the aftermath.

Kagome hadn't died, but she had come close. She tried to kill herself when she realized he was dead, her grief doubled because she had been the one to deal the final blow. Just like Kikyou, she wanted to die to be with him in the afterlife.

Like his relationship with Kikyou, Kagome and he had become almost strangers, weighed down by memories of pain and sadness. They tried to be friends, but now, talking was a burden between them, every word weighed down by the tragedy of their experiences.

And, like Kikyou, sometimes when Kagome let her guard down, Inuyasha could see the same look in her eyes. It was the look he recognized from Kikyou's eyes, that tragic, sad beyond compare look. It nearly killed Inuyasha to see that look in Kagome's eyes, that hauntingly familiar look that would constantly remind him of the first woman who had killed him.

Sighing once more, as if tired from his thoughts, Inuyasha leaned back against the tree, closing his eyes. Kagome…why did this have to happen to us?

Kagome glanced away from her homework and out the window of her bedroom for what seemed to be the millionth time that day. For the past couple of days, Kagome had expected Inuyasha to come and pick her up from her time, but he hadn't. Even though she wanted to go back, Kagome secretly dreaded the moment she and Inuyasha would meet face to face, once again.

Things had changed in three months. She and Inuyasha had become strangers, and talking to each other had become a burden. Two months ago, Kagome's sixteenth birthday had passed, marking it one year since she had falled through the well. One year since she had come into the Sengoku Jidai and had met a boy with silver hair and dog ears sealed to a tree...

Inuyasha…Her eyes lingered upon her left hand, and the mating scar upon it. She remembered the night it was made, that wonderful, beautiful night that never should have happened. That night that had been something innocent and loving, which had been twisted to something to be embarrassed and ashamed of. It was a night that had brought forth something ugly and demented, starting that nightmare three months ago…

Kagome remembered vividly the horror that she witnessed, when Inuyasha had been a youkai because of the curse of the miko, that had doomed him to his youkai state if he would take a mate out of pure love. That time was painful for her, emotionally and physically. She had so many scars from that time, but most were almost healed. You couldn't see the pricks from Inuyasha's nails upon her arms or neck anymore, and the two lines upon her belly were only noticeable up close.

But she had some that hadn't healed, the biggest on her back, the five claw marks from Inuyasha's claws, where they had dug deep trenches into her skin. That one would still cause her outbursts of pain, since it had been the deepest. She had one more, the most recent, a thin oval shaped one on her shoulder, where she had tried to bring about her own death…

And she had the scars that weren't visible, the memories of that terrible time. It was an awful experience she had, but the worst wasn't anything Inuyasha had done to her. It was a memory that kept cropping up in her dreams, of her crying uncontrollably as she grasped Inuyasha's arms, kissing his lips in one last embrace, before he disappeared into a flash of pink light—

Kagome gasped and brought herself out of that memory, willing herself to think of anything else. Briefly, another memory resurfaced, of a certain silver haired hanyou holding her close, whispering in her ear and then kissing her lips so passionately that she drowned in love.

Shutting her eyes tightly, Kagome thought, No, I can't think of that either! She opened her eyes, and looked back out her window as a breeze flew in, brushing cool air against her skin. Inuyasha, she wondered, Will I ever truly forget about that time?

Will we ever be free of these painful memories?

A/N: Well, I know this was kind of slow, but it had to be done. So, how does everyone like the sequel so far? Tell me in a review!

And don't forget to visit my website! I have a link in my profile page!