A Frozen Moment
Kagome stepped lightly across the grass, feeling the dark green stems brush against her legs as the wind blew through them gently. Her steps were slow and cautious, each one chosen carefully so as not to accidentally wake the sleeping hanyou nearby. He slept so rarely these days, and was always on edge…
The light was slowly fading around her, and she smiled quietly in the slowly falling darkness. The air was cool and fresh, and she loved the sound of the wind in the trees on evenings like this. Being here, in Sengoku jidai… it made her feel like hundreds of years really could pass in the blink of an eye.
The colors painting the horizon were breathtaking, and she knew she'd never get used to them. Long before they could be distorted by her time, here the sunsets were pure gold and crimson. No matter how many times she saw them, they always managed to take her by surprise. It was something about the way that the golden light made the very air around her glitter, and the roses, oranges and deep violets painted the hills and plains for as far as she could see. If she didn't know better, she would have called it magic.
Bending down painstakingly to grab her backpack, Kagome rather wished she had thought ahead before dropping it just beside Inuyasha. Knowing just how sensitive his ears were, she tried in vain to slow her breathing as she reached out. She felt her hand close around the bags strap, and before she could lift it up the warm sensation of another hand wrapping around her own caused her to start a little.
She looked up into a pair of golden eyes which blinked sleepily. He'd been awake for nearly three days straight trying to find any trace at all of Naraku, but with no luck and no success. Even when he wasn't in constant motion he was always so stiff and tense that she could never approach him. Lately he was always a picture of studied attentiveness; silver hair whipping behind him as he moved forwards, always searching. Inuyasha yawned and rubbed his eyes.
"What are you doing?"
Kagome smiled softly, and her voice was quiet.
"I'm sorry. You should go back to sleep. I just wanted my bag."
Inuyasha nodded, closed his eyes for a moment before meeting her gaze again.
"I'm sorry. I let my guard down."
Kagome blinked, and frowned although there was nothing but a slight tinge of worry in her voice.
"Baka. You must be really tired if you can fall asleep right here in the open."
He shifted his eyes again, and this time refused to return her stare. Kagome tried again.
"Inuyasha, you can't do everything. That's what we're here for. To help. You never let me take the night shift no matter how many times I as-"
"Where are Sango and Miroku?"
Kagome knew the hanyou well enough to adapt to change in conversation. She also recognized that it meant the subject in question was to be avoided at all costs.
"They went to scout, and Shippo's off finding us some food. Really, though, I think they just wanted a chance to find a bath or something, the evening's so nice."
Inuyasha said nothing, and Kagome smiled faintly again. The light was fading fast, and the day's trip had taken its toll on her as well. The shadows had begun to blur together, giving way to a dark velvet blue stretching across the sky. Still smiling, Kagome released her backpack before moving decidedly over to sit besides Inuyasha. He turned his head to give her a brief, glance. Kagome looked up at the sky, still smiling.
"After Bankotsu you've been pushing yourself too hard. You've gotta take a break sometimes, you know?" He watched her quietly as she stared up, the stars flicking into sight one by one like beautiful fireflies. Searching for a moment, she found his hand and rested her own on top of it. He flinched instinctively, but then relaxed.
"Inuyasha… you don't always have to be strong."
"If I'm not… Then people will get hurt. You'll get hurt."
Kagome turned to look at Inuyasha, who was studying the ground between them with a mixture of exhaustion, acceptance and irony. Slowly, Kagome closed her hand around Inuyasha's.
After a minute she opened her mouth to say something more, and then closed it again when she realized she had nothing to say. High above them, the stars had begun to shine brightly, and the sounds of the night began to slowly fill the forest. The gentle hum of insects mixed with the sounds of the trees to create something amazingly beautiful and peaceful like nothing else Kagome had ever known. She realized her own eyes were heavy.
Silently, she leaned against Inuyasha, letting her head rest on his shoulder. He didn't resist, and they watched the night swirl about them silently. Kagome let her smile return as she remembered something, although oncoming sleep kept the details slipping away.
"Inuyasha?"
"Hmm?"
"When you came back after… after falling into the river…" She was nearly whispering. "I've never missed you so much."
He smiled quietly too, and slowly, locked his fingers with her own which were still sitting in the grass. Carefully, trying not to disturb Kagome, he tried to shift off his heavy fire rat's coat.
"Things are complicated, huh?"
Kagome still stared ahead, not looking at him, but she knew he was listening.
"Complicated… is a nice word."
He gently pushed Kagome up before slipping his remaining arm out of the coat so that it fell free onto the grass. The thick material slid across the dark green grass, a crimson that seemed to match in the night lit only from overhead. Wrapping his free arm around her shoulders to pull her back, he let Kagome settle back against him before lifting the coat to half cover both of them. Draping it along their shoulders, it fell across their backs to give them both a little warmth. The two of them were silent for another moment before Kagome spoke again.
"Life won't always be like this, will it Inuyasha? Someday… someday we'll all be able to live happily like before?"
He rested his chin lightly on top of her head and stared across the field, his eyes half closed despite his resolve to stay awake.
"…Yes. Someday"
His voice sounded far away. Kagome thought for a moment.
"Will you ask me to stay?"
There was a pause of silence as the night filled the gap.
"No." His voice was barely discernible to her human ears. Her own was much the same.
"Do you want me to?"
Pause, repeat, answer.
"Yes."
Smiling softly to herself and to the world in general, Kagome began to feel her consciousness slip away and her breathing slow. She could feel the measured rise and fall of Inuyasha's chest beside her, and not knowing if he was asleep or not, she whispered to him a last time.
"I don't want to go back to before. Before never had nights like this." Her eyes closed gently. "I'll stay here with you forever. I promise."
She slept finally, her head on Inuyasha's shoulder with his head resting on hers. There was no sign that Kagome's last words hadn't disappeared unheard to the sky, and in the morning she herself would not remember them. But on Inuyasha's face, under the diamond sky as he slept, was a tiny smile.
They remained that way until the morning.
~
{ Note – Set after the final battle with the Seven Men Army. Kagome is referring to when Inuyasha fell into a river that had been set on fire after giving her the fire rat's fur (Ep. 117). For those who haven't seen it, she cries, they hug, and Kouga gets mighty upset. ^_^; }