Thank you everyone that has taken time out of there day to read my first fanfiction. And thank you to MidnightBunny for helping me along the way.
*I do not own InuYasha or its characters, I do own characters that I create.*
The sun was falling into the mountains as Kagome hurried along the path. She wanted to complete her task before InuYasha noticed her absence from the village. She did not want him to know what she was doing. He would make fun of her…telling her it was useless idea, that she saw them every day. But to her this was a precaution just in case something happened to her. This way her mother would not have to worry as much, knowing that she was happy. The well had stopped working about two weeks ago and still no one knew why…her mother must be so worried. When Sango offered a way to contact her, she jumped at the chance. So now nestled securely in her arms was a small wooden box, carrying not only her thoughts but those of her family members in her shard hunting group. As her feet continued to fall against the ground, she could see the god-tree in the distance. That was the perfect place to bury her precious cargo, underneath the tree that had watched over her all her life. In what felt like hours she had reached her destination. Falling quickly to her knees, she laid the box next to her and began to dig between the large roots. The dirt was soft making it easier to dig, but harder to move it to a new spot. Several minutes went by as she dug up the dirt, but finally it was deep enough to protect her box from the elements and the hands of mortals. Sitting back up she started to fill in the hole, taking her time so that the dirt did not crush the box. As she reached the last handful she noticed a slight simmer in the dirt. After laying that handful on to the refilled hole, she pushed aside the dirt until she came across a small red stone. At first she thought it was a jewel shard, but that was not possible. After all she did not sense it prior to digging it up. And it did not change color after being in her palm. No the stone's color stayed a bright crimson color, almost the color of blood. It was a beautiful stone. It would make a great center piece in a necklace. With those thoughts in mind she wiped the small stone onto her skirt, making sure it was clean and then she put it with the jewel shards that were in the bottle around her neck. She took once last look at the god-tree, and then she sprinted back toward the village where she had left her friends and son.
Kagome entered the village, heading toward Kaede's hut. Her hand still wrapped tightly around the bottle containing her new stone. Her thoughts wandering to the wonderful life she was going to have after her quest had been completed. Her mind showing her what her future would look like, all leading her to the amazing love she was sure to have. After all isn't that what every woman wants? To be loved? As each thought ended her mind the stone began to glow brighter and brighter… until it took on the intensity of the sun. The ground underneath her feet began to shake forcing her to her knees. As quickly as the shaking started it had ended. It was then she noticed that the string that held her bottle had snapped. And the bottle was lying on the ground. Kagome shook her head to clear her thoughts and then reached to grab the bottle it was then that she realized that her new stone was missing. She grabbed the bottle and looked around. Her stone had gone missing. Suddenly she felt a tap on her shoulder. She spun around quickly, well as quickly as she could while on her knees. She saw…a pair of bright red boots.
"Hello Kagome-sama, it is wonderful to meet the young lady that freed me from my prison." The boots said.
Kagome pushed herself onto her feet and took a good look at the voice attached to the boots. Kagome's jaw hit the ground. She had never seen such a beautiful woman before in her life.
"Oh dear sweet Kagome-sama, did you not know that you are truly more beautiful then I? Your soul caresses your flesh, making you glow in an unearthly light. Never think you are not beautiful, many believe you to be. Take their words and embrace them." The voice said looking at the shocked Kagome.
The woman stepped toward Kagome, the last fading rays of the sun falling onto her ruby red hair turning it into a blazing inferno. It was not until the woman had wrapped her arms around Kagome, did she realize that the woman had moved.
"Kagome-sama, I am here to help you. I give you my word that I will not cause harm you nor will I cause harm to those you care for." The voice said, stepping back from Kagome and bowing before her.
Kagome looked at the woman before and weighed her words… looking for any false hood in her statements. When Kagome found none she smiled and extended a bow to the woman.
"May I ask what your name is?" Kagome asked as she looked into the maroon eyes of the woman.
"I am Akaru-Hime, goddess of the red jewel." Akaru-Hime said in reply
"Oh wow, you're a goddess? That is amazing. I have never met a goddess before. I have met men who thought they were gods but never a real one." Kagome said in a rush.
The goddess gave Kagome a gentle smile and waited for her to finish.
"And well he has the whole godly look but has a horrible personality. I mean if he did not go around just randomly killing people then I would call him godly, oh no he has to spoil all those looks with specks of blood. And this other guy has the attitude of a god always believing things are going to go his way without him having to do any work. That is what gods do…right? And this other guy, he already has all this power and he is hunting the jewel shards, I think that even if he did not collect the shards he could still give mister good-looking a run for his money. I could go on and on about all the guys I know that would love to call themselves gods." Kagome said allowing oxygen to finally enter her lungs.
"I see, well Kagome-sama it seems to me that you have many men vining for your attention." The goddess replied.
"Nah, none of those guys actually want me they are just guys I know." Kagome said dismissing the goddess's words.
"Maybe, Kagome-sama it is time to open your eyes. There are men out there just waiting for you to look their way." The goddess said leading the young priestess once more toward the village.
"I do not understand what you mean…" Kagome said walking next to the beautiful goddess.
"You will see, Kagome-sama. After all was that not your deepest wish…to be loved. So you will see." The goddess said once more smiling as the village came into view.
