~~OO~~II~~OO~~

((Waking Up))

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She was, to put it simply, confused. One moment, she could hear shouts and screams. The next, she was in the dark, surrounded by black, her eyes locked on the pink jewel before her, tears streaming down her cheeks as it whispered terrible things to her. One moment, she was staring in horror at the half-demon she'd grown to love, his silver hair strewn around him in death. The next, she was wishing on that pink jewel, her usually happy and gentle sky blue eyes full of pain. One moment, she was watching the rise and fall of her half-demon love's chest, tears of relief spilling down her cheeks.

And the next, she was watching as that very same strange silver haired man struck her through the chest with his claws, his silver ears pinned against his head, his massive fangs bared in a snarl, his red eyes gleaming with hatred as a voice whispered in the young woman's ear, "For now, only for now. Recover what you are missing, grow to love this monster again, and you will regain what you have lost."

And then the darkness exploded before her eyes, and she felt herself waking up. She felt someone's fingers running gently through her raven colored locks. She heard their voice in her ear, a low murmur so much nicer than the hiss of the other one that she couldn't even remember anymore. She heard the voice, the tone pleading at times and the tone warm at others as the owner spoke gently to her. But she didn't understand what they were saying.

So, after a few days, when there was no warmth surrounding her, desperate to know who was speaking to her, she finally allowed her heavy eyes to flicker open.

At first, there was pure confusion. She lay on a strange bed, realizing she didn't know what it was called. She lay on a strange bed in a wooden home, a cooking pot over a cooking fire across the room from her. And next to that cooking pot over a cooking fire was an elderly woman wearing an eye patch, her good eye sad.

The young woman wondered why she was so sad as she raised her body, sitting up with a soft groan of pain, which flared through her and made her gag, her stomach twisting, her heart clenching in fear from confusion.

Startled at the sound of movement, the elderly woman turned her attention on the young woman, her good eye snapping wide with surprise and then warming with relief. She said something, but the young woman stared at her blankly, not understanding a word she said. But she distantly recognized the sounds that the woman kept repeating in an attempt to get her attention.

Ka-go-me.

The woman repeated this word, these syllables.

The young woman furrowed her brow, attempting to think of what this word could mean. What could a 'Kagome' possibly be?! Movement caught her attention and she snapped her head around to see a small boy with orange-red hair and green eyes, a fox tail and cute little fox paws that she immediately loved. He was sniffling, wiping at his cheeks. And then he noticed her, sitting up in the strange bed. And his eyes lit up as he repeated the same word the elderly woman had said.

Ka-go-me.

The small boy squealed, launching himself at the young woman, throwing himself into her arms and hugging her tightly around the neck, sobbing with relief. Uncertain of what to do, the young woman awkwardly patted his head, a small pout encasing her expression as she fought to figure out what he was saying, his lips moving at a mile a minute, his eyes shining.

But then the elderly woman suddenly said something, and the small fox boy stared at her, his lips rounding into an 'o' of shock and confusion. He cried something in return; tears springing into his eyes again as he turned back to the young woman, whimpering the word once more.

Ka-go-me.

She gave a frustrated sound, huffing. What was that word?! So familiar yet so not familiar!

Suddenly, the small fox boy took off through the doorway, startling her, and the elderly woman cried something, her bones creaking with old age as she climbed to her feet, going to chase after him, but she just stood at the door, anxious, not wanting to leave the young woman alone. Then she turned to the young woman, saying something slowly. But the young woman didn't understand, and the elderly woman sighed before waving slowly at the cooking pot and waving at the young woman, a gentle smile on her face.

The young woman didn't understand until the elder had offered her a bowl of steaming stew, holding it out for her to take. Hungry, her stomach growling, the young woman snatched it from her hands, careful not to burn her tongue as she began to practically inhale it. The elder chuckled before turning her attention on the door as two new people appeared.

The young woman tensed, nervous, scared as she prepared to run if she had to when she discovered them to be young adults like herself. One of them was a woman, her brown hair shiny and pulled back, her chestnut eyes lit up with relief. The other was a man, with violet eyes that held a gentle and kind look, one that the young woman found herself calming at.

The woman squealed happily, throwing herself down beside her, repeating that word again.

Ka-go-me.

She tilted her head. The word was obviously important to these people, but why?

The woman startled her by throwing her arms around the younger woman, her eyes sparkling with tears of relief as the small boy ducked in after the man, his eyes anxious as the elder spoke. The man cast the elder a startled look and the woman gasped, glancing over before glancing back with tears in her eyes as she whispered the word again.

Ka-go-me.

She furrowed her brow before understanding lit her gaze. Ah, now she understood. She bit her lip hesitantly, and then attempted to form the word herself. She whispered it to nobody in particular, waving at herself. "Ka-go-me?"'

The woman burst into tears, pulling back and burying her face in her hands as Ka-go-me stared at her in shock.

"Kagome," the man agreed, crouching down beside the two, reassuringly patting Kagome on the head. He murmured something else along with the young woman's name. Then he waved at himself, smiling gently. Kagome blinked. His name, she realized.

When he repeated his name, Kagome attempted to say it, it coming out in a strange garbled word. But she got most of it out. "Roku."

The man chuckled, and the other woman giggled with watery eyes. Kagome locked this new found information in her mind, turning her clear gaze on the elder and tilting her head curiously, doing the same to the young boy and woman. Miroku waved at the woman beside him, saying another word. When Kagome didn't respond, he tried again. "San-go," he pronounced carefully and clearly, carefully.

Kagome attempted to copy, and smiled when it came out clearly. "San-go," she copied perfectly. "Sango."

Sango smiled faintly. "Sango," she agreed, waving at herself. She murmured something and her name again, and Kagome giggled, her eyes lightened with excitement at learning the names of the people she was slowly learning to trust not to hurt her. The small boy scampered over, hopeful. But Miroku shooed him off, shaking his head and saying something to the fox boy.

Kagome licked her lips, and then slowly repeated what she'd learned. Waving at herself, she said her own name. She waved at Miroku, mumbling, "Roku," and did the same to Sango, her eyes full of childish delight when the woman clapped. She giggled, turning to the fox child in an eager way, wanting to learn his name. Miroku sighed, giving up in keeping her from making her head hurt or confusing her, figuring it was for the best. When the boy said his name too fast, Kagome's brow puckered. Miroku repeated his name slowly, waving at the boy.

"Shippo," Kagome said confidently, her eyes full of amusement when the small boy squealed happily, throwing himself at her and hugging her around the neck once more. Kagome patted his head, relaxing, discovering herself comfortable around her new found friends.

Shippo pointed excitedly at the elder, but this time both Miroku and the elder disagreed, shaking their heads.

And then, someone else ducked in, towering over everyone else in the small hut. His golden eyes were wide with astonishment, but sparkling with excitement, relieved. The strange ears atop his head were pricked, his lips curving into a massive smile that revealed fangs. His long silver hair seemed to almost float around him as he gave a small leap, landing beside Kagome with an excited bark.

But to everyone's surprise and confusion, the woman gave a terrified cry, shoving away and cowering back against the wall, staring at him with utter fear and sheer terror, trembling. Miroku stepped forward to gently comfort her, both he and the silver haired man staring at her with confusion.

And then the drop of a needle could've been heard as one word left her lips, her sky blue eyes clouded with fear as she shook violently.

"Monster."

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A/N: The first chapter of this fanfiction. :3 I think it turned out quite well. Hope you enjoyed, leave a review with your thoughts!