Disclaimer,: I STILL don't own InuYasha, but not for lack of wishing.
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It was peaceful, calm, the last vestiges of winter showing only in a few piled snow drifts still unmelted--that would shortly change, as shown by the baby leaves appearing on the tears. Birds chirped a light melody as they followed their daily routines looking for food. The fox still hunted, slinking silently through the trees, occasionally pouncing at the birds, but he wasn't that hungry. The rabbit warren's population had exploded with the coming of spring, and he was eating well. The fox paused as a noise caught his ear. In a sudden burst of light, a hanyou leaped from the well, and started making his trudge towards the nearby village.
He was pretty much ignored by the wildlife--what used to be abnormal was now a daily occurrence. InuYasha sighed, glancing over at the fox that sat and stared at him. Growling, he glared at it, trying to scare it away. It didn't work--the fox was too used to his presence. He sighed and looked down, watching the pale blade of grass pass by under his feet.
The trek to the village was accomplished in short order, and he stood in front of a hut. Knocking, he pulled himself inside, and was immediately assaulted with questions. Well meaning, but irritating none the less. He had taken to counting the ways they would ask "Is she awake yet?" every day. Today he got to 5 before he lost his patience.
"No, she is NOT awake yet! It's the same day in and day out and I don't know how you people can keep hoping!"
The scent of saline hit his nose then, but he ignored it. He was at his wits end--it had been three long months since Kagome had been put in the hospital. And it was still all his fault.
The others didn't acknowledge it as such, but he could feel it in the way they looked at him, with pity, sometimes anger, as they sat around and ate breakfast, or lunch, or whatever, depending on the time of day he visited. He could feel it in the way they looked at him now--tears brimming, eyes cold and hard staring at him. The kitsune glaring at him with eyes still holding innocence, even after the battles.
And oh god, the battles... The one that had nearly cost him that which he held most dear, nearly took her from him.
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"InuYasha!"
"No! Kagome!"
He fought off the limbs attacking him, slicing them off with his sword, and made a mad dash for her. Too late.
A tentacle, speeding towards her.
A last futile sprint, pushing his body to reach her.
Her flinching, dodging aside as best she could, the tentacle biting through the skin on her temple, nicking her skull.
Her turning from the force, spinning in a graceful fall.
Blood.
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he sat up abruptly, flinching, panting in fear. The fire in the center of the hut had died out, leaving just a few glowing embers to light the hut. Not enough, not nearly enough, to dispel the remains of his memory-turned-nightmare.
Nightmares. He couldn't get them to leave him alone, and he was partially glad. It was his punishment for failing her, for getting there a few seconds too late to push her out of the way, save her from being as she was now. That one blow...it seemed like so little damage, but it left her unconscious, and even now, she was still unconscious, in a...what had those doctors called it? Oh, right, a coma.
His eyes, once a vibrant, glowing amber, were darkened, the glow gone, replaced still by uncaring for himself. The reason they had been so vibrant was, for all that he wished otherwise, hurt, laying pale and fragile in the other era, and all because of him.
Sounds, movement in the night, drawing his ears to focus on it, his head following despite the uselessness of it.
"InuYasha?"
He gave a grunt in response.
The demon slayer sat up, the noise like a beacon to his ears. She started talking to him, and he halfheartedly paid attention, until she got to the part about how he shouldn't blame himself for this.
"I shouldn't blame myself for this?" He hissed out, keeping his voice low in the dark. The anger was all too clear in his voice, anger at himself, his failings, his stupidity. "Then who should I blame? Naraku?" A short, barked laugh punctuated his sentence, sending chills up her spine. "Too bad, I took out all my blame for him when I tore him to shreds. Especially after he broke Tessiaga." He stood in the darkness and carefully made his way over to the pale outline of the door, moonlight shining through the gaps and cracks, pointing his way. He slumped when he reached it, leaning against the frame.
"Go to sleep Sango, and stop worrying about me."
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He sat on the edge of the well, legs dangling towards the bottom, but he wasn't jumping in, at least, not till morning. He stared up at the stars, and at the waning moon--soon it would be the time when he was human, and would feel even more useless when he went to visit her. He sighed, his breath wisping out in front of him, barely showing. The night had a cold bite to it, the last bite of winter before it died. The wind whispered through the trees, whistling slightly, leaving a haunting, lilting tune playing out in the still night.
He ignored the noise of someone walking out of the woods towards him. He had nothing to say to them--he had grown even more silent over the past few months of waiting, hopes rising and falling like the tides with each day.
"InuYasha?"
Oh. The whiny kit. He turned his head slightly, just enough to see Shippo out of the corner of his eye.
"InuYasha?.." His eyes shimmered in the pale moonlight, showing tears unshed, as he looked up at the half demon. "Uhm...I know you don't like me asking about Kagome...so I won't tonight, kay?" The half demon shrugged, and Shippo pulled a crudely folded piece of paper from behind his back, holding it up to the silent hanyou. "Could you give her this? I made it...it's sorta a "Get better" card..."
The hanyou reached out and carefully grabbed the card, smiling down at the kit, his first smile in a long while.
"Yeah, I'll be sure that she gets it."
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He took care to not damage the card, and in the morning, read it to her and placed it on the table beside her, where several other cards stood. The crayon drawing, crudely lettered with "Please get better, Kagome! I miss you..." stood in front of them, seeming to belie more concern and worry than all those other cards.
They didn't really care, he thought with a snarl. Those people, her classmates, didn't really care. They came, they left a card, or a gift, or something, smiled a little, said goodbye, and left. They didn't spend hours by her side, desperate for her to wake up, like her family did. Like Sango, Shippo and Miroku would do if they could. Like he did...
He laid his hand on top of hers, a familiar gesture, a habit formed over the last months, and whispered down at her, bringing the well wishing of her real friends, telling her to wake up, cause Shippo missed her, and Sango, and Miroku, and oh Kami, her missed her so much, and he needed her to wake up, so he didn't have to hurt so bad all the time. He felt selfish about needing her so bad, and he told her so, whispering out his fears and worries, hoping she could hear him. But again, visiting hours were over and he had to leave. He turned one last time, and waved goodbye, swearing to be back tomorrow.
And then he froze, hope swelling impossibly in his chest, as she moved.
For the first time in three months, her hand twitched, and he was back by her side in an instant, talking to her, begging her to please wake up this time, to please, please just open her eyes and say something, blame him,anything, just stop laying like a porcelain doll. He shushed the nurse who came in, clinging to her hand like a lifeline to drag her back with.
The nurse, irate, soon dragged him away, scolding him for pushing the limit of waiting hours. But she hadn't moved again while he was there those last few minutes, and hope had again fallen.
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The card, a crudely drawn portrayal of Shippo, Kagome, and InuYasha holding hands, Shippo in the middle, InuYasha and Kagome smiling, Sango and Miroku next to them, holding hands with each other, stood a lonely vigil, waiting for her, waiting for the moment she would open her eyes and see, hear, remember.
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A heart wrenching howl wrenched through the forest.
And eyes opened.
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R&R, you know the drill. They make me happy, and I always answer them if I can. I hope you like it. I'm kinda sad I have to torture InuYasha so, but it all works out in the end. I think. My mind is devious and fickle at best, so I'm not making any big promises :P