When She Goes Away

Every time Kagome wanted to go home for a while, Inuyasha just had to cause a fight. She thought it was because he wanted to keep looking for the shards all the time. But the truth was that he missed her when she was gone. He was a little lost and didn't know what to do.

This latest fight had been pretty awful; he said some really mean things. How could he say that she was lazy, and that she only thought of herself? She was always ready to go, and always ready to help anyone that needed it, even Kikyo!

"Inuyasha, I need to go home for two days. It's very important to me," Kagome told him.

"WHAT! Again! You just went home two weeks ago. What's so important?" Inuyasha growled.

"Well," Kagome explained," It's Mother's Day tomorrow, and I want to spend it at home with my mom."

"Mother's day? I've never heard of such a thing! You're just making that up so you can go home and goof off. Really Kagome, don't you think of anyone but yourself?" Inuyasha asked with a sneer.

With that remark thrown at her, Kagome got very quite. That always unnerved Inuyasha a little, though he would never admit it. She walked up to him, stood with her face so close to his that it made them both go a little cross eyed. She spoke so quite that no one by Inuyasha could hear her.

"Do you really think that's true?" she whispered. "Who has bandaged you up a hundred times? Who has made sure that everyone is fed? Who risked her life to turn you back from your full demon state? Who has even saved Kikyo's life when she didn't have to? Answer me that."

Inuyasha just looked away and said "Feh, just go. But if you aren't back by noon on the third day, I'm coming to get you."

"Fine," she said as she backed away from him. She didn't say another word; she turned and walked away to the well.

Inuyasha was in a bad mood after that. Sango offered to make him some lunch, but he just walked out of the hut and went to the well. He knew that Kagome was already gone and he was not going to follow her. It just made him feel a little better being there. Mother's day she had said. He had never heard of it, but it got him thinking about his own mother as he sat there leaning against the well. She had died about a hundred years ago, but he could still remember her face and smell very clearly. She had smelled sweet, like flowers. He remembered how devastated he had been when she died. No one cared for him like his mother did. No wait, that wasn't true anymore. Kagome did. She cared for everyone, but he knew that he was special in her heart. Was that why he missed her when she was gone? Because without her, he was alone again? Oh, he knew there was still Sango, Miroku, Shippo and even Kaede, but they were different. They were all his friends, but he and Kagome shared something special between them.

This had been the first time Inuyasha had really thought about this and it surprised him a little. When had this happened? Wasn't he still in love with Kikyo? No, he hadn't really been for some time now. Sure, he still cared for her, but his feelings for Kikyo weren't even close to what he felt for Kagome. When he thought about Kikyo, he felt mostly guilt and pity, maybe some left over pangs of love, but not strong. He was her protector, that was all. When he thought about Kagome, he felt like a blanket was wrapped around him, warm and comfortable.

Was that why he felt scared when Kouga came around? Not scared for his life, but afraid he would take Kagome away. Was Inuyasha IN LOVE with Kagome?

He walked back to the hut deep in thought about this. He didn't speak much to the others while they ate their dinner. Kaede asked him if he was feeling all right, but he just grunted. He just kept asking himself 'when did this happen' and he wondered if the others could tell. Did Kagome feel the same way about him? He knew she cared for him, but that was not the same. Should he talk to her about this? NO! What was he going to do about this? NOTHING! Kagome would not know how he feels. It wouldn't be right to say anything to her while they were still dealing with Naraku and Kikyo was still in the world. After that was over, who knows? With that decided, he went to the Go-Shinboku tree to sleep. He didn't usually sleep there, but tonight he felt like it.

When he got to the tree, he could smell that Kikyo had recently been there. Before, that would have made him run after her, but not now, not any more. After he settled up in the tree, he fell asleep, dreaming of Kagome.

The next day, Inuyasha felt even more lost than the day before. He wandered around picking and eating fruit. He picked on Shippo some, but his heart wasn't in it. He missed Kagome! If anyone asked him one more time if he felt all right, he was going to explode. He had to get out of there. He would go hunting! Kaede could always use some fresh meat. Shippo wanted to go along, but Inuyasha wouldn't let him. He wanted to be alone.

Inuyasha came back hours later with enough meat for the entire village. Nobody knew what to make of that, he had never hunted for everyone before. He had hunted all day and he was exhausted. Right after dinner, he went to the tree to sleep. He was excited, Kagome would be back in the morning.

When Kagome popped her head out of the well the next morning, Inuyasha was there to meet her. Usually, he stood there with his arms folded complaining that it took her long enough to get back. This time he just helped her out of the well. She didn't think too much of it, she was just glad that they didn't have to start with a fight. She had brought cake for everyone, so they went back to Kaede's hut where everyone was waiting. Was it her imagination or was Inuyasha sitting a little closer than usual? And he was quieter that normally? A couple of times, she caught him looking at her. The last time, she gave him a big smile. He just blushed and looked away. Later, when she was alone with Sango, Kagome asked her if anything had happened while she was gone. Sango told her no, but that Inuyasha had acted a little more distant than usual. They couldn't figure it out, so they stopped trying.

The group was soon back to their hunt for Naraku. Kagome noticed that Inuyasha was a little kinder to her and she wondered why. He didn't swear at her quite as much which she was very glad for. It hurt her feelings when he called her names, though she would never tell him that. She didn't want him to think she was weak or that she couldn't take it.

She wanted to ask him why he was treating her better, but of course, she never would. One thing they never did was talk about their feelings. They could fight huge monsters and risk their lives every day, but talking about feelings was just TOO SCARY.

The End

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I left it open-ended on purpose because we don't know how it's going to end, do we?

I hope you liked it, please send me a review to let me know. I have another story out there too, please check it out.