Kagome wasn't sure where she was, but she was almost certain she'd never seen buildings that brushed the sky, and paths made of dirt so hard she couldn't kick up dust on it. Her clothing was strange too, it seemed more comfortable, however.
Her hand was nestled in a warm one, and the voice of the person, said it was her mothers.
'Now, Kagome, you shouldn't have picked on that girl for being only half Japanese.'
Kagome blinked, lifting her gaze, and found herself looking up into two shining blue eyes, just like her own. 'But mama, If I'm nice to her...everyone will pick on me...'
'That's no excuse, sweety. Her parents were in love. She's the product of that love. No one can help how their born, you know. You just are what you are.'
'Were you and daddy in love?'
'Yes. Daddy loved me even though I was only have Japanese...' The woman smiled, kneeling beside her daughter. 'And one day, you'll find someone who loves you for who you are, not what you are, as well. So do your best to love everyone for who, not what they are...'
0o0o0o0o0o0o0
She wasn't awake yet.
It had been an hour since they'd left the village, their escape covered by Kagome's distraction. No one was really sure what had happened; neither Inuyasha nor Miroku had ever seen a priestess use her powers in such a way. They had asked Sango, but she was shaken as well.
Now, an hour later, Inuyasha could feel heat radiating from the girl on his back and he knew that her fever was getting worse. He could smell that an infection had set into the wounds on her chest and cursed himself for not getting there faster.
Miroku, meanwhile, was pondering the girl's strange powers while they walked. Normally, a priestesses power was only used for purifying demons, usually through touch or transference to an object. Power flares, such as she just used, were, in theory, only visible by demons, meaning Inuyasha would be the blind one, not the villagers.
When they stopped for the night, Inuyasha built a fire, setting Kagome near it, then went to a nearby stream for water. When he returned, Miroku and Sango were trying to restrain the girl, and she was fighting them furiously, screaming.
He immediately rushed over, and found a spot on her shoulder, giving it a light squeeze. Almost instantly, she fell into a deep sleep all over again. She no longer fought them, but she was sweating profusely, and she was trembling.
Inuyasha ripped a strip of his yukata off and soaked it in the cold water, folding it and resting it against her forehead. "Dammit, girl, hold on..." He muttered as he worked. He wasn't sure what, if anything could be done for an infection. He felt a hand on his shoulder and was shocked to see it was Sango, who was offering support.
"Don't worry, Inuyasha..." She said softly. "She's really strong. Stronger than some Taijiya I know. She'll make it, I know she will..."
"Ungh..." The girl groaned softly, and both pairs of eyes snapped to her face. She wasn't awake, though, but instead, she continued to dream unsteady dreams.
0o0o0o0o0o0o0
'...was found by the well...'
Kagome knew where she was this time. This was the shrine that had been her home for her early years. She didn't remember this, though. She saw a hammered mirror on the wall and peered into it. She was young. Younger than when she first met Inuyasha.
'...demon?'
'No, the girl is human...'
'Come girl...'
'What is your name?'
"Kagome..." She said softly.
'Kagome isn't a normal name...should we change it?'
"Kagome is the name my mother gave me..."
'Where did you come from, Kagome?'
"Tokyo, the Sunset Shrine...my family's home...I fell into the well..."
Silence among the priests and priestesses that were looking at her. Then...
Kikyou stood. 'Suppress her memories of this. She is here now, and knowing she's from another place in time will only cause her grief. She will probably never return there. Her place...is with us now.'
"NO!"
0o0o0o0o0o0o0
Kagome sat quickly, her breaths rasping out of her. She looked around and found herself sitting beside a small campfire. The night was cold, yet she was covered in sweat. She found a damp rag sitting in her lap and blinked, lifting it in her hand.
"You're awake..."
She turned towards the voice and found Inuyasha looking at her, his face tired. She held the rag to her chest, then looked away quickly. "You carried me?" She asked softly.
"Hm." He agreed, leaning against the trunk of a tree. "Must have been some dream you were having there. You were talking in your sleep."
The dream came rushing back to her and she frowned slightly, looking at her hand. "I think it might have been...memories..." She said softly. "But that's not possible...I was an orphan, adopted into that shrine. I don't remember any well..."
Inuyasha tilted his head to the side. He gave a quick glance around and when he saw everyone was asleep, he scooted towards her side, his hands going to her shoulders, easing her back to the ground. "You shouldn't get up. You have an infection, and your fever is pretty bad." He glanced away. "I think I know the well you were talking about..." He said softly.
She looked at him in shock. "What?"
"When you sent me to find Goshinboku, I passed near a well. The smell I got from it was strange, so I gave it a wide berth..." He glanced at her. "What's 'tokyo'?"
"I don't know..." She looked down at her hands. "I..." She felt the cloth against her forehead and blinked, lifting her gaze to look at the hanyou leaning over her. "I need to go talk to Kaede-sama..."
"Kikyou will try to kill you." He said evenly.
Kagome gave a small smile. "I'm more than a match for Kikyou. I can use my powers in ways she could probably never imagine..."
"About that..." Inuyasha fixed her with a steady glare. "Don't do that shit you did today until you're better. You scared the shit out of us."
"Us...?" She echoed softly, her brow creased.
"I think Miroku was just startled by what you did, but...you passed out after wards and you've been asleep since. Sango was really worried about you and-" He broke off, looking away. "Dammit, I should have gotten there sooner. What good is a protector that turns his back on the one he's supposed to be protecting!"
Kagome blinked, staring up at him, then a small smile turned up the corner of her lips. "I thought you wanted to forget the 'bullshit' promise?" She teased softly.
He glanced away. "I can't. I sealed it with blood and-" He blushed, looking away. "So I guess you're just stuck with me, eh?"
She looked down at the small scar on her hand. The burning she'd felt earlier had faded to a mild tingle. "Are you sure it's not the other way around?" She asked softly.
He stiffened, glancing towards her.
"Thank you for carrying me, Inuyasha. How far did we go today?"
"About eight and a half ri..." He frowned, looking down at her. "Kagome-"
"So we're another day's journey from Kaede?" There was a soft sigh. "I should get more sleep, I guess...good night, Inuyasha."
"Kagome-"
She rolled onto her side, her back facing him. He growled softly in the back of his throat and plopped down directly behind her, his back pressed against hers. He heard her soft gasp, but ignored it, trying to ignore the enjoyment he was feeling from the contact. He enjoyed it so much, he wanted to roll over and gather her against his chest, holding her there for the rest of the night.
Kagome blushed faintly, raising her fingers and touching her lips lightly. Ten years since that promise was made. Ten years since a strange boy she barely knew stole her first kiss. Now, the innocent young boy was a surly, cocky young man, pushy to a fault. And she-
She looked down at her palm, seeing the narrow scar. She had built a wall around her heart, letting nothing get too close. Every time something got close, it seemed that she was wrenched away from it. The shrine, Inuyasha, her mother-
She stopped, and the woman with dark brown hair and bright blue eyes flashed into her mind. She covered her mouth, realizing that it WAS her mother. "Mama..." She whispered as she drifted off to sleep once again.
0o0o0o0o0o0o0
Kagome's fever hadn't gotten any better the next day. Inuyasha could still feel the heat radiating off her body as they headed towards the village Kagome had requested they go to. He was fully expecting hostility. Kagome was weakly holding onto him, Sango and Miroku flanking his sides as they walked towards the village.
The town, however, looked deserted.
And with good reason.
Every single member of town had learned there was a demon headed their way and the rumor got blown out of proportion, making it a 'horde' of demons, and they headed to the shrine to protect it and the 'shikon no tama' from the demons.
When the shrine was in sight, Kagome asked to be set down. Inuyasha complied, walking slightly behind the girl. She saw the wall of people surrounding the shrine and knew the reason. She reached down, lightly touching her side and her face darkened a bit. "Kikyou knew we were coming..." She said, smiling a bit, grimly.
"Keh...Obviously. I told you she'd attack you."
Sango glanced towards Miroku and both shrugged, Sango's grip on her boomerang tightening slightly.
Kagome stepped forward, trying not to let the people in the crowd notice just how weak she was. She straightened her back and levelly looked at the crowd. "I come seeking the elder priestess, Kaede-sama. We mean no harm."
The crowd parted slightly, revealing a younger priestess, who was probably only five to ten years older than Kagome. The girl smiled grimly. "Hello, Kikyou." She said evenly.
Kikyou stared at the girl in shock. The girl had been cast out, against Kaede's orders nine years ago, and evidentially had grown powerful in her absence. Kikyou notched an arrow against her bowstring and aimed it at the hanyou. "Leave or I pick off your friends one by one."
"Try." Kagome challenged evenly. She hadn't finished her spiritual training, but she'd trained with many more kinds of spiritualists than just priests and priestesses. When the arrow flew at them at a high speed, she erected a simple barrier around them, yet though simple, it was incredibly complex and large at the same time. The arrow bounced off simply and Kagome walked from the barrier and forward. "I only wish to see Kaede-sama. I need to ask her about why I am having dreams about that well near Goshinboku."
The girl nearly smiled when she saw Kikyou's face twitch. "If it would make you more comfortable, I can have my companions wait outside the village?"
"Hell no, bitch!" Inuyasha snapped from the shield he was encased in. "Don't even-"
Kagome glanced at him over her shoulder. "Please? I will return as soon as I have my answers. I need to do this alone and you cannot enter here." She saw Miroku and Sango each take one of his arms and begin to drag him towards the edge of the forest. Then, she turned towards Kikyou. "Take me to Kaede."
"Don't order me, child! I am the high priestess here!"
Kagome walked past her, her face irritated. "Kaede-obaa-sama!" She called, hearing her voice echo inside the shrine.
Kikyou grabbed her wrist, putting an extreme amount of pressure on it, and spun the girl to face her. "GIRL!" She snarled.
"Release her, Kikyou..."
Kikyou dropped Kagome's arm as though burnt.
Kaede stepped from the shadows, her face serious. Her eyes never left Kagome's face. "You are not well, Kagome." She said evenly, gesturing for the girl to approach.
Kagome moved towards her, dropping immediately to her knees before the older woman. "You are perceptive as always Kaede-sama." She said softly, bowing formally. She lifted her gaze, looking at the older woman. "I have been having odd dreams of late. A city, where the buildings brush the sky, a woman, I believe her to be my mother..." Kagome looked up at Kaede, her face serious. "The well near Goshinboku."
The old woman smiled, then looked at Kikyou. "You can leave, Kikyou. I am in no danger from this child-"
"I am head priestess, I shall remain."
"Then Kagome and I shall leave." Kaede said, standing slowly, then turned to look at Kikyou. "I had suspected long ago that this child would surpass your powers...it appears I was right, casting a barrier of that size as weak as you are, child..." Kaede shook her head, then extended her hands to the young girl. "Come, child, let us go to the well you continue to dream of."
Kagome followed the woman, her face serious.
"Yes, I believe it was thirteen, fourteen years ago when we found you..." Kaede began, walking slowly out of the shrine, past all the gawking villagers. "You were barely a child, you were crying for your 'mama'. We took you to the shrine to try to determine who you were, where you were from. Your answers confused us. You told us a story, saying you fell down a well at your families shrine. The well you spoke of, the bone-gobbling well, is a place where we take the bones of demons. Within a few days, the bones disappear."
Kagome stared at her, surprised. "Disappear?"
"No one was sure where they went, until of course, you came to us. Then, it became obvious that they disappear into the time stream. Kikyou demanded that your memories of the events be surpessed, and as she was high priestess, there was little I could do to stop it. I did however, put in an ultimatum, that if you were ever in danger that could not be fixed in this time, that your memories resurface. Your illness is probably what caused it."
Kagome glanced away from Kaede and saw her companions holding a very irritated Inuyasha by his arms. She waved to them. Then, very suddenly, that small reserve of energy was taxed and Kagome collapsed. She didn't pass out, but she fainted very briefly.
Inuyasha ripped free of them and caught her seconds before she hit the ground. He pulled her upright, lightly slapping her face. "Oi, wench, wake up, dammit..." He grumbled.
"And Inuyasha as well? Interesting." Kaede mumbled, then pointed towards the forest. "Come, we must take her to the bone-gobbling well. Some one in her time should be able to help her more than any herbs I could use."
Sango and Miroku stared at the old woman. "Her...time?" Miroku queried, his eyes wide. "What the hell...o, Kagome-sama, good to see you're not going to stay asleep this time..." He smiled weakly.
Sango stared at Kagome, feeling a little betrayed. "How could you not tell me?"
Kagome looked towards her, her face tired. "From what Kaede tells me, my memory was surpressed. I couldn't have told you. I didn't know myself."
Inuyasha frowned. That must have been why she was so strange to him when they first met. He lifted the girl into his arms and followed after Kaede, hearing the other's following as well. "You're probably going to argue with me about this, but I'm going with you." He said firmly, then met the girl's eye. He saw her open her mouth and looked away, a stubborn set to his jaw. "You can barely stand up, right now. How the hell do you think you're going to get out of the well on the other side?"
Kagome's jaw snapped shut and she lowered her gaze immediately. He was right. She really couldn't stand right now, so she stood no chance at getting out of the well. Whether or not she managed to go through the time stream. So, rather than argue about it, she rested her head on his shoulder and relaxed in his arms. "Thank you." She said softly, closing her eyes.
He blinked, glancing towards her in surprise, then blushed, looking back towards where they were going. "God damn blood seal..." He muttered under his breath.
0o0o0o0o0o0o0
The woman knelt in front of Goshinboku, her face solemn. It had been fourteen years today since her daughter's birthday, the day she'd disappeared. Everyone had come to her, expressing their sadness, their grief for her loss of a daughter, but they all tried to make it seem better, by saying 'at least you still have that new baby boy'.
Like the birth of one child could quell the grief from the loss of another.
Like the life of a boy was so much more important than the life of a girl.
They couldn't possibly understand the pain of not knowing if the child you loved was alive or dead. Not knowing if she had been taken by someone who desperately wanted a child, or if she lay brutalized at the bottom of the river. It had been at her party when she'd disappeared, during their game of hide and seek. Three year old Ayumi had come running, saying that Kagome had disappeared, that she couldn't find her at all. That had scent all the parents on a search of the property, the neighboring properties, the street, till finally the sun went down and it became evident that little Kagome couldn't be found.
The stress of that next week sent her into premature labor with her second child, Souta, a boy. A blessing. The doctors hadn't been certain that her child would make it. If he hadn't, it's almost certain that she would have died of grief right there.
But instead, he'd lived, and so she did too. Today, on the anniversary of her daughter's disappearance, she knelt before the sacred tree, where they'd placed her memorial, begging to any god that would listen, as she did every year since Kagome's disappearance.
She heard footsteps on the pavement behind her and slowly stood, turning towards the guest. "I'm sorry, the shrine is closed today in-" Her breath caught in her throat and she stared.
The boy had hair unlike she'd ever seen. Long, silver and shiny. Above that were two dog ears that were twitching back and forth. His face bore the appearance of someone who hadn't yet reached a quarter century. Bold, golden eyes stood out beneath dark eyebrows, and tan skin covered his face. His chest was covered with a dark red haori, and nestled in his arms was a girl, her hair was dark brown, her eyes closed in sleep, sweat beading on her forehead.
Her eyes darted back to the boy's face and she saw desperation on his face.
"Help her..." He said softly.
0o0o0o0o0o0o0
AN: I'll stop here for this chapter. I kinda pulled this out of mine hind end today, while writing. I had considered just making her an orphan, but then I couldn't do what I'm planning with the Shikon no Tama and Naraku. This story is being led by a whimsical muse who fails to work without reviews. So, basically, if I don't get reviewed, I can't work, because I think no one's reading. If I think no one's reading, I think that continuing this story is kinda pointless. Nuff said, so if you like, drop a line.
Thanks to:
Dragon Man 180: Wow...lotsa stuff. No, Kikyou's not particularly nice in this story. I can't really have Inuyasha ripping her apart though, or it would cause some friction with my later ideas. Shippou will eventually make an appearance, I'm not sure how, though. As for the love thing, I don't know. Kirara will appear soon, and yes, Kikyou will get into a fight with someone later, just probably not who you think. And think about the thing with Inuyasha's ears for a moment...A fangirl IS writing this, you know...
Ana: Here ya go! Glad you like it!
Reality: Continued as requested. Thanks!
Lonely-Yasha: Hope this chapter doesn't disappoint!
xiDOREyoux: And a chapter for you, too. So demanding...jk, glad you like it!
katty-kat: Glad you like. I know what you mean about how characters act. I'm trying to do something that hasn't been over done. I'm also trying to keep in mind that she has been raised in a time where the women are used to 'submitting' to the men, so she isn't as confrontational. They're still going to fight, though.
Ellie: I wasn't excusing my language when I mentioned that Inuyasha was a jerk. Believe it or not, this is actually pretty mild language compared to some of my fanfiction such as 'Coming of Age', where Inuyasha pretty much DOES curse in every single sentence. I just think that him saying 'fucking bitch' or the like makes far more sense to an American audience than 'turtle head', which is what he actually calls Kagome in the anime. It's also the biggest insult you can give to a Japanese girl. I don't really think I'm overdoing it at all, but thank you for you opinion.
Chibi Super Pan: Thanks and I'm glad. Some people, I guess thought I was going to turn him into a sap, and that's just not Inuyasha. However much I enjoyed writing 'innocent little Inuyasha' in the prologue, I knew it would end there. Here's an update for ya!
Also, thanks to:
Frozen Miko, Hyperactiveidiot, katty-kat (As usual), Lonely-Yasha, and Reality, for putting this story on their favorites. Means a lot.