Disclaimer: I don't own Inuyasha or Zelda. I'm lacking in talent in those departments, although I would kill to be able to do what their makers did. (Sighs)

Simple Dreams

Chapter 3

firefox369

Link sniffed the shiny object and recognized it to be a fork, most likely left on the ground when the former owner of the room was taken away or escaped. Picking it up between his sharp teeth, he began to fiddle with the lock on his shackles. There was a click and he stifled a yip of glee as to not alert the guards of his discovery. The chains dropped from their hold on his leg and he lifted it, marveling at how light it felt now.

Now, all he had to do was wait for the guards to appear and take the tray away. That hopefully wouldn't take very long to do.

Sitting down on his haunches, he waited for the familiar click of another lock being undone and the sliding sound of the metal bar holding the door shut from the outside. When the door opened, some sort of creature wearing way too much armor for his own good appeared and drowned all hopes of Link escaping that way. Deciding to wing it, he tackled the guard (which only succeeded in making him stumble) and raced out the door. Being in the open for everybody to see was the least of his worries right now, and as the guards chased him around the castle, he found himself kind of liking being on the run. The feeling of adrenaline running through his veins made him even more excited and a pathetic imitation of a grin appeared on his face. He got in the way of some people, making them stumble, dodged others, and, just for the heck of it, purposely knocked a few over.

There was a siren and his grin grew even wider than he thought possible. This wasn't like him, he knew, but he just couldn't help it. It had been too long since he had last laughed in the face of danger and he wanted to aggravate it some more. He was careful about how far he went, of course.

"He was last seen going towards the stables!" a voice shouted. It was far away, distant, but he heard it just as well as if the person were right next to him. How he loved being a wolf at times. Sure, he had been complaining about it not even an hour before, but he changed his mind. Who wouldn't? He had four legs for faster running, sharp teeth, claws, a better sense of smell, better eyesight etc., etc. The only thing he regretted was not having his shield with him. And sword. Oh, how he missed his sword.

"What are you doing?" a voice hissed his ears perked up. Midna! "You don't even have your weapons with you."

He growled in distaste as the princess appeared beside him, running with him. She scowled.

"And here I thought you were finally coming to like me. No matter. It seems another escapee has called for my help." She turned into a shadow and disappeared, leaving the wolf to his own devices. Great. Now how was he supposed to warp out of this place?

There were heavy thuds as hooves slammed the ground, along with the loud flapping of wings. Yes, something was not right. Sparing a glance back, his eyes widened in surprise before he sweatdropped. They really went all-out to retrieve him...

She appeared in the twilight world to be met with the sight of chaos. Amused, she listened to the wind, shutting her eyes to do so. A giggle escaped her throat when she found out the reason behind the castle's distress. It seemed that the little hero had found a way out of his cell. Now, all she had to do was find his steed. She didn't have to look hard. There was only one palce that they kept any animals in the castle, and that was in the stables. Of course, she wasn't particularly fond of all the boars they took care of there, but she would do it in order to save Epona.

She looked at the shield and sword she had retrieved without much trouble and strapped them on to her back. With a deep breath, she began to stealthily move towards the stables, determined to return the horse to the world she belonged. The wind swirled around her comfortingly, blowing her cloak around her, making it billow and swirl in the small breeze. If only she could control the wind, how easy it would be then...

Kagome snuck into the stables from a window and resisted the urge to gag at the stench released from the demonic pigs, instead concentrating on looking for the beautiful horse she had always loved. There! Sneaking over to her, Kagome whispered soothing noises before climbing onto her back. The stablehands noticed immediately and released screams and shouts in a language she didn't understand. Ignoring them, she urged Epona forward and burst out of the stall.

"Hyah!" she shouted, gently squeezing the horse's sides, and the horse leapt forward, trampling everything in her path as she burst out the stable door.

There was a loud screech and Kagome looked back to see a large demonic bird/bat thingie flying her way. Not knowing what to do, she hesitantly drew Link's sword and jabbed when it came too close. It screeched in pain before exploding in burst of light and disappearing.

"Goddesses help me!" she pleaded, not liking the idea of infiltrating the castle anymore. The horse turned and raced towards the sound of snarling and cries of pain. Kagome's eyes widened in horror. "Noo, Epona, don't bring me to battle! That bird was a fluke! I didn't know what I was doing!" she exclaimed and the horse snorted in reponse, clearly not caring. "Epona!" she cried but the horse ignored her and trampled a foot soldier in order to make her way to the snarling noise. Another bird dove at her and she screamed. But the pain never came.

"The things I do for you" a voice growled and Kagome slowly opened her eyes to see her betrothed. The mob began to back away and he turned to look at her, long, pale blonde hair following his movement. He grabbed Kagome's wrist and yanked her off the horse, succeeding in making her collapse on top of him. He didn't fall over, but kept his firm grip on her wrist anyway.

"I agreed to set you free, so I'm surprised to see you back so early."

"I came to retrieve-"

"Yes, yes, I know."

"Why, then?"

"There is no need for me to explain my every action to you, woman."

There was a loud snarl and Kagome gave a scream of surprise when she saw the large wolf behind her, unconciously pushing herself closer to her hated husband. His chest rumbled as he laughed wth little amusement, wrapping his arms around the girl's waist.

"Don't touch me" she hissed, still scared of the wolf.

"Why are you so scared of the hero of time? How quickly your loyalties change."

"..Link..?" she whispered uncertainly and tensed when she felt warm breath on her neck. She squeezed her eyes shut and looked away from the wolf, ashamed that he had to see this.

"Yes, that is Link, koi."

"Let me go" she whimpered and there was a cruel chuckle.

"And if I refuse?" There was a loud bark followed by a snarl as Link bared his teeth at the heir. The heir raised an eyebrow before shoving Kagome towards the animal with a sneer.

"Do not forget."

"I won't" she whispered.

"You belong to me. Don't forget to be a good girl" he sneered before turning away, along with all of his guards. She watched his fading back, holding back the urge to cry. She couldn't cry here, not in front of Link. Not in front of the castle for the entire world to see. The breeze once again wrapped around her and nudged her to her feet. The world watched in amazement as it did so.

"Time to create a portal?" Midna asked as she appeared from Link's shadow and Kagome nodded. A swirl of black appeared and she walked through it, leading Epona. Link followed close behind. There was a groan and Link turned into his normal self, green tunic and all.

"Hey! Give him back!" a little girl cried.

"But he's always yours!" another child, a boy, whined.

"Mommy asked me to take care of him while she cooked! I hafta go home soon."

"Promise to play afterwards?" the boy pleaded, holding the baby close and refusing to let him go.

"Promise."

The boy hesitated, then pouted, before giving the bundle back to the girl. The baby wrapped inside cooed and giggled. With a huff and a quick turn on her heel, the girl went storming back home.

"Don't forget. You promised!" the boy called after her, waving his arm. When she didn't turn around he frowned, but let it go. He had kidnapped her little brother from her (again) after all, but if he didn't then she wouldn't play with him. All he wanted was a friend, and in the small village he lived in a child around his age was difficult find. He was parentless, as well, which didn't help. The adults were weary of him, not knowing who he was or his parentage. They had found him in the stream, cradled in a small basked and wrapped in blankets with his name stitched into the bottom corner of each one.

"Hey."

The boy looked up to see the girl who was supposed to have left. She kicked the ground with her feet, embarrassed.

"I forgot to say... my mommy wanted to know if you want to come over for dinner."

The boy grinned.

"Only if I get to carry Souta."

"Are you alright?" he asked and Kagome smiled softly, a smile that wouldn't have reached her eyes if they were open.

"Yes, I'm fine."

"If you say so..." he mumbled softly before sighing and observing the surrounding area. All he could see was desert, sand dunes, and blue sky.

He had a difficult time believing her, she knew.

"Here" Kagome grunted, taking the sword and shield off her back before walking towards the young man. He watched her with curiosity and uncertainty out of the corner of his eyes as she began to unbuckle the harness that held his sword sheathe. She reached around him and began to slip the harness into place.

"What are you doing?" he gaped, lunging out of her reach and spinning to face her with an incredulous expression. She scurried back and hugged the sword, shield, and accompanying leather close to her body. Her eyes were wide with terror.

"I-I was just going to put on your s-sword and shield for you" she stammered.

"Why would you do that?" he demanded, shocked and confused. She was doing just fine lopping things in half and breaking in and out of the castle earlier. Why was she so afraid now? Perhaps the adrenaline had finally left her body?

"I just thought-"

"I'm a hero for goddess-sake, I can-"

"I'm sorry!" Kagome wailed, falling to her knees and bowing her head. "I'm sorry! I won't do it again, so please forgive me!"

The desperation in her voice and the trembling of her body made Link pause in his tirade. He took a step towards the shivering girl, watching in horror as she flinched. He took another step. She flinched again. When he was close enough, he could see the tears splattering onto the sand and could hear her soft sniffles.

Why was she so servantile? What had she been through in her past to make her act like this? Why was she so afraid?

What had he done?

"I won't hurt you" he whispered, slowly reaching his hand out and placing it on her shoulder. He could feel the muscles in her arms tense as she prepared herself for a beating. "It's alright, I promise. You just surprised me is all."

Kagome sniffled again and slowly raised her eyes to look into his. It took all of Link's efforts to not hug her right then and there and show her that he meant it. The intensity of that fear, that pain, that hope hit him like a club to the chest. It took all of his efforts and more to swallow the large lump building in his throat. So this was what a broken soul looked like.

Carefully, as if afraid that he would take back his word, Kagome began to loosen her hold on his blessed gear. Her grip on it was still vice-like, he noticed. It would probably be best to take things slow and gradually train her away from her slave-like tendencies. With that thought in mind, he stood and motioned for her to stand, as well. She quickly followed his silent order and gazed at him from under her long bangs.

"I'll let you help this once" he sighed, raising his arms.

Kagome hesitated as if making sure he spoke truth, but relaxed slightly. This small semblance of her former life, however horrible and painful, was familiar. She found a strange comfort in it.

"If you don't hurry up my arms are going to get tired" Link joked, and immediately realized it was the wrong thing to say when her expression changed into one of mute horror and she rushed to his side. Her hands worked fast and efficiently, and she had Link dressed in record time. The Hero of Time blinked twice before lowering his arms and looking at the fidgeting girl. He glanced at Epona, who snorted, before uncomfortably reaching out his hand.

"Um... Good job" he muttered, awkwardly patting Kagome's head. Kagome's self control nearly broke when he reached for her, but the gentle pats were oddly soothing, and she found herself blushing slightly at his touch. She chewed the inside of her lip to keep herself from grinning like a fool.

"Come on, we should find somewhere I recognize before we all die of thirst."

Kagome glanced up and couldn't help but gape at the softness in his entire expression. Link was everything, yet nothing like she remembered. He was nothing like what she'd lived with the past thirteen years.

He was everything she had hoped for, and more.

"We'll let Epona rest. She's injured and we're lacking lots of water. We need to go by foot from here on out."

When Link began to walk, she trailed a few feet behind and stole glances at the sword and shield she had strapped onto his back. She looked at his leather boots, the gauntlets on his arms, and his swaying green hat. Finally, she gathered the courage to stare at him as a whole, at the large expanse of his back.

Right then and there, she placed all of her hopes under the care of those broad shoulders. They had carried the burden of the Goddesses' wills, the dreams of a human girl would add little weight in comparison.

Had she known what was going to happen, she would have returned to her Master's side immediately and never would have stepped into Hyrule again.

AN: So I didn't change much at the beginning of the chapter, but I basically rewrote the entire second half it. Most of the next few chapters have been (basically) completely rewritten, as well. I hope you guys like the newer version! In case you're wondering, Kagome is not going to be a weak sobbing pile of mess the entire series. I hate when Kagome's portrayed as extremely weak and useless, so it took a lot of effort to write the beginning of this. The change is gradual, but she should be pretty much herself by, from what I have written so far, Chapter 9. I hope you'll bear with me until then x.x