AN: Fair warning, this chapter covers graphic character death. Read the dream sequence at your own risk. My typical line of asterix denotes the end of the sequence (*).
I do not own Inuyasha or any of the original characters. I own only my plot and unique characters. No profit was made in the making of this story.
Sesshoumaru paced restlessly in his chambers. While it was true he was not nearly as adverse to humans as he had been in the past, he could not seem to reconcile with himself the urge to taste the priestess's lips. While he adored Rin and doted on her, being attracted to a human woman was a whole other matter. He could not push her heady scent from his mind and found himself wondering how intoxicating the scent of her arousal might be.
Shaking his head, Sesshoumaru tried to pull his thoughts out of the direction they were heading. Thinking about the short-lived battle with her, he had to admit he was more than a little surprised at how strong she had become. The little miko came with more than her share of questions.
Why was she traveling alone? What had happened to his half-breed brother? How did she come by a demon blade that she was able to wield?
The daiyoukai continued pacing back and forth, pondering the answers to these questions. Deciding he was going to get some answers, Sesshoumaru resolved to question the priestess in the morning. He began to wonder if she would even answer his questions. She had obviously changed quite a lot. The young miko he remembered was always talking too much and wore her heart openly on her sleeve. Yet this woman had barely said a word the whole time they had traveled back to his castle. Her reserve could be due to maturing he supposed, but he had a sense that something had happened to change her.
"Probably something to do with that half breed," He mused aloud. However, he had to admit that he had caught no scent of the hanyou on the miko or her belongings.
Sesshoumaru spent the better part of the night pondering on the beautiful and mysterious guest in his castle. As the witching hour passed, he decided he had best get his rest and put her out of his mind. He had just changed into his jinbei and settled under the covers when the burst of fear hit him.
Kagome's room was just below his bedroom. From this proximity, he could both smell the rank stench of fear and feel it coming from the powerful aura of the young miko. Jumping out of bed and grabbing his weapon, Sesshoumaru made haste as he moved through his palace to her room.
******************DREAM SEQUENCE***********************
The wind whipped Kagome's hair about as the storm rolled in. At a loud crash of thunder, the miko jumped and started running. She hoped to make it back to the village before the storm unleashed a torrent of rain on her.
She had been gone longer than anticipated on her journey to collect certain herbs. The past two nights, the priestess had holed up in a cave and searched for her herbs by daylight. Kagome was happy that she had found all of the herbs on her list as a couple of them were quite rare in this area. Smiling to herself and running faster, the beauty could not wait to be home in the village with her friends.
Miroku and Sango had begun building a fine house in Kaede's village and had already set out to have many children. Kagome suspected the slayer might even already be pregnant though it had only be a couple of weeks since their defeat of Naraku. They had even made good progress on the house itself. The main room had already been built and they had just begun work on an expansion when Kagome had left.
Kagome had been staying with Kaede thus far, but planned to enlist Miroku and Inuyasha to help with building her a house. She was just waiting for them to be finished with the work they already had underway. There was also the matter of the jewel to settle. Kagome knew what needed to be done, but she wanted to make a couple more visits home before she said goodbye. The consensus among them was that the well would close forever after the wish was made.
While the priestess was sad to think she would never again feel her mother's arms around her or give Souta and grandpa a hard time, Kagome knew her place was here. She had spent the majority of the last year in the feudal era with her friends and Inuyasha in the struggle versus Naraku.
Kagome sighed to herself thinking about Inuyasha. Even though he was now free to do so, Inuyasha seemed completely uninterested in furthering their relationship. It was obvious to everyone that the pair had something between them, but Inuyasha seemed to stubbornly deny that fact. She slowed to a fast walk to catch her breath even as the dark clouds began to race ahead of her.
Maybe he is just unsure how to approach me? Or perhaps he is still dealing with the final loss of Kikyou? Oh, Inuyasha, we are both fools. All this time together and we haven't even kissed… Maybe it's just me that is the fool here…
Peering over the trees, Kagome finally saw the smoke from several chimneys rising. She would be home within the hour. Thank goodness that I am almost home! Everyone will have been worried about me.
A sudden sense of foreboding settled into the miko's heart. Trying to sort out what it was that she was feeling, her apprehension only grew. That was when she felt it. A strong demonic aura washed over her, though she could tell that it was very not close. The dark aura pulsed in the direction of the village. Kagome quickened her pace once more, no longer afraid of the rain but worried for the lives of her friends. For all she knew, Inuyasha may not be near enough to protect them.
All during her short travel, Kagome had been able to sense the presence of the completed jewel. She had left it with Kaede for fear of attracting demons while she gathered her herbs. Just now, it felt as though the jewel had disappeared. Kagome's eyebrows knit together in a deep frown. Surely, she had to be mistaken. None of her friends would have been foolish enough to mess with the jewel. Everyone knew and respected her reasons for not having yet rid the world of it.
Kagome's heart felt like it was going to beat out of her chest as she pushed herself to run faster along the narrow road, ducking to avoid the occasional tree branch that hung low over the path. The miko tried desperately to pick up any sign at all of the Shikon no tama but to no avail. Panic settled in as a million thoughts raced through the priestess's mind. Foremost in her mind was the fear that some demon had managed to get their hands on the jewel somehow, but then wouldn't she still be able to sense it?
She emerged from the trees to the clearing that contained the village where she and her friends had spent many a happy day and night together. Five more steps is all she took before the rain unleased itself in a heavy sheet. The wind whipped the torrent in Kagome's face, but she pressed on without slowing.
That is, until she saw the bodies of the villagers. Half a dozen villagers lay dead in the field, covered in their own blood. Her terror and dread spiked, causing her to sprint even harder. She stopped at the first villager she came upon and her heart skipped several beats when she saw the claw marks that tore through the man's chest and throat. Kagome's heart began a furious tamponade as she ran past the remaining bodies and into the village.
Just three steps is all the distraught miko took past the first house before she fell to her knees with a scream. Little Shippou lay in a pool of blood in front of her, those telltale claw marks sunk deep into his back. Indifferent to the blood that began to spread onto her clothes, Kagome picked him up and cuddled him to her chest as the first of countless tears began to slide down her cheeks. Somehow finding the will to stand, she carried Shippou with her a few more steps to Kaede's house.
Kagome drew back the straw mat that covered the doorway. A ragged gasp escaped her lips at the spectacle before her. Yet another of her dear friend's lay slaughtered in front of her. The old woman's hand outstretched towards where the jewel used to be. The near hysterical miko knew what she would find, but she felt obligated to see the elderly priestess's wounds. Setting Shippou aside with the utmost care, Kagome turned the aged miko over to see the ravaging claw marks that marred her face, chest and abdomen.
The frantic priestess stepped backwards, tripping on the overturned table and falling to the floor next to the lifeless body of her precious Shippou. Her whole body rejected the sights she was seeing. Her ragged breaths kept catching in her throat as her heart beat away at a furious pace. Her stomach roiled with bile and the miko feared she might be physically ill right here on the floor.
The images of Miroku and Sango that passed through her mind were the only things that got Kagome up off of that floor. Kagome struggled to her feet, suddenly so very weak that she feared her legs might not hold her. She took one tentative step as a test and when she seemed able enough to continue, she hurried out of the hut. Blood stained the ground and formed pools under the bodies strewn everywhere she turned her eyes. Blinking, she tried to keep the rain out of her eyes, or were those tears? She looked for her missing friends among the remains with no immediate success. Beginning to have a modicum of hope that maybe at least those two had survived; Kagome continued in the direction that she had sensed the demonic aura going as she had approached the village.
There, at the far edge of the village, Kagome found her missing friends. Miroku was ravaged beyond recognition by the vicious claws that had ended his life. She only knew it was him from the bits of his blue and purple robes that were not completely soaked with his blood. Sango lay only a few feet away with Kohaku wrapped in her arms, each of them coated in gore and covered with those same marks. Unable to take another step, Kagome fell to her knees with a blood-curdling scream as she pulled the woman who was like a sister to her into her lap. She was overcome with her sorrow and the tears flowed freely from her eyes as she cradled Sango close, rocking back and forth as if to soothe her. For a moment, Kagome wondered who was making that awful, high-pitched keening wail…
It was coming from her.
Sesshoumaru burst through the door to Kagome's room, eyes flickering from left to right as he sought out the cause of the overwhelming fear that had permeated the area. Kagome moved restlessly on the bed, her breath coming in ragged pants and gasps. The daiyoukai could scent the saltiness of her tears amidst the appalling reek of the priestess's fear. He could hear her heart pounding rapidly as she further tangled herself in the sheets.
There was no one in the room, though Sesshoumaru looked out the window and in the wardrobe just to make sure nothing had hid its aura and scent from him. Upon discovering that his search was futile, he approached the bed slowly. The naked horror on the sleeping miko's tear filled face made his heart wrench in his chest.
"Miko?" He called to her from the edge of the bed as he sat down. She seemed not to hear as she began making this terrible sound from deep in her throat as though she were being tortured relentlessly. The inuyoukai could not cope with the sound that was even more horrible to his highly sensitive ears. Impulsively, Sesshoumaru reached out to her and drew her towards him as he called out to her again, "Kagome!"
The terror-filled miko lurched awake with glazed, tear-filled eyes. At the feel of his touch, she jerked away like a wounded animal as she tried to make sense of what was happening. Sesshoumaru did not allow her to move away, but instead pulled her closer to him and wrapped his arms around her. He whispered to her soothingly, "Shhh, it's safe here. No one can hurt you."
The fear and panic began to subside with his careful ministrations. Kagome blinked a few times to clear her vision and looked up into Sesshoumaru's face. At his gentle expression, Kagome blinked a couple more times, as she knew must still be dreaming.
The daiyoukai let his arms drop, though he did keep a minimal contact with her when he saw that she had fully awaken. Deep inside, he could feel his beast whine at the cessation of contact; he could literally feel it pawing at him from the inside. Mentally shaking himself, Sesshoumaru looked down into the shimmering blue eyes of the distraught priestess, "Are you alright?" He asked softly.
When she realized his expression was not changing, Kagome stopped blinking at him and tried to sit up. She found herself hopelessly tangled in the bedsheets and settled for propping herself up with her arm. Realizing what must have happened; Kagome sighed and looked away, "It was just a bad dream."
Sesshoumaru raised an incredulous eyebrow at the obviously lying miko, "The intensity of your fear drew me from my bed sure that you were about to be slain, miko. This was no simple 'bad dream'."
Kagome shook her head, trying to clear it of the lingering images of the recurring night terror. She had been having this exact nightmare for three years. Though they had become less frequent as time when on, the sheer horror never seemed to wane. Unable to meet the inuyoukai's eyes, Kagome shrugged and stared at the hand in her lap, "It's nothing, really."
The look Sesshoumaru sent her way was completely lost on the miko as she refused to tear her gaze from her lap. He listened as her breathing and heartbeat returned to normal and studied her profile. Her eyes were puffy from her tears and her lips were pink and swollen. He watched as she bit on her bottom lip, oblivious to his eyes on her. Sesshoumaru was struck by how beautiful the vulnerable woman beside him was in this moment. He wanted to know what could possibly be haunting her so deeply and why she was unwilling to share. Reaching out, he cupped her chin in his fingers and gently turned her to face him. The deep, unrelenting sorrow in her eyes made his eyebrows knit into a soft frown. Once again, he tried to get her to share with him the demons plaguing her soul.
"Tell me," he said softly. Though technically a command, the two simple words came out as a gentle query.
"I… just can't. Please… just drop it for now, okay?" Kagome's eyes pleaded with him and Sesshoumaru gave the miko a slight nod.
Standing, Sesshoumaru responded to her request, "As you wish."
Kagome watched as he moved towards the door, feeling him shut himself off. She regretted being unable to explain to him what it was that haunted her, but she had only ever shared the story of what had happened to her companions once in the three years that had passed. Somethings were just too hard to talk about to anyone. Though Sesshoumaru had seemed caring enough in the moment, it was not as if they were close in any way. Their paths had intersected many times in the past during the quest to destroy Naraku, but Kagome had never shared so much as a genuine conversation with the regal lord. He had saved her life more than once, yet she felt no closeness with the daiyoukai.
Sesshoumaru stood near the door to Kagome's room for several moments. He was about to walk away and head back to his own chambers when he caught the scent of the miko's tears once again. At the insistence of his beast and his own puzzling concern for the woman, Sesshoumaru stood sentinel outside of her door until her tears finally stopped and the miko's breathing became the calm, deep breaths of slumber.
AN: I am so very sorry if anyone else felt compelled to cry at Kagome's vision of the past. My muse is an evil spirit indeed. However, now the transformation in Kagome's character makes more sense. I will try to post another chapter before I return to work Monday morning, but no promises made. Stay tuned for the next chapter!