I thought nobody noticed me

But it seems as if you do

Though you are just a stranger

As I am to you

Yet you appear from nowhere to save me

From my own destructive desires

And like a moth lead to the flame

I follow you into the fire

~~ WaterLilly37 ~~

~~ Kagome ~~

She was floating. Floating in a world of darkness. Nothing but a sea of black for miles and miles, as far as the eyes could see. Floating in an abyss.

Where was she? How did she get here? She did not know.

Just then, she noticed something in the distance, a shadow of a figure. Curious, she started floating towards it.

As she got closer she could make out the figure to be a little boy, but not just an ordinary boy. He had short red hair that was tied in a blue bow and what looked to be a bushy tail. He had fox like feet and little claws on his hands. He was no bigger than a human baby. What she noticed most was how his big green eyes held so much sadness in them.

"Who are you?"She asked the little boy, trying to find her voice. The little boy just continued to look at her with sad eyes as if he wanted to say something, but couldn't. She floated closer to him and reached out her hand, beckoning him to take it. The boy turned away from her.

"Why?"He asked. She could hear the strain in his little voice as if trying to fight back the tears. She was confused.

"I don't understand..."she replied, honestly. "What do you mean by why?"Though familiar, she couldn't picture ever meeting this child or having said a word to him before now. And yet...

"Do you not want to be friends with me anymore?"The little boy started to put his hands up to his face. She noticed that he started to cry as tears slowly trickled down the boy's cheeks and disappearing in the nothingness.

"Friends? But isn't this the first time we are meeting?"For the sake of the boy's feelings, she tried really hard to remember something that would help her to identify this child as being anything more than a stranger to her. And just as she was about to probe for more information, the boy started to disappear.

"Wait!"she cried. "Don't go!"But it was too late. The boy had faded away to nothing.

"Can you blame him?"came a voice from behind her. She turned around to come face to face with another person. He had short black hair tied in a small pony tail in the back. He held a staff and wore a blue robe. A string of beads were wrapped tightly around his right hand. Strangely, he seemed familiar to her too.

"I'm sorry, what?"She had no idea what was going on. What were they talking about and why did they make it seem like they knew her. "Please, I don't understand. Have I met you before?"The monk just shook his head in disappointment.

"I trust that you made this decision with the best intentions. You were never one to just jump into something half-heartedly. So do what you must. Until then, I bid you farewell"And with that, the monk gave her one last sad look before, he too, faded away into the darkness.

"Wait! Please stop!"she begged. "What do you mean by come back soon? Come back where?"Nothing. He was already gone.

"What now?"She whispered.

"Good question"came another voice. She looked up to see a young woman this time. She had chestnut brown hair tied up in a pony tail and wore pink and black armor, a huge boomerang like object resting upon her back. There sat a huge white feline beside the young woman, staring up at her as well. When she made eye contact with the woman, she noticed that she didn't look too pleased with her. Does this woman know who she is as well?

"I don't know why you are doing this and maybe I will never know. Just make sure you do whatever it is you have to do, and then come back. Ok? I trust you because you are my best friend. So don't leave me hanging for too long."There was that word again. Friend. But if they were best friends, why couldn't she remember anything about this woman? She couldn't even come up with a name!

"Please, I don't know who you people are or what you are trying to tell me. You keep saying I am your friend but I can't recall any of you..."Before she could finish explaining herself, the young woman and her feline companion, like all the others, faded into the darkness.

She could feel tightness in her chest. Though her mind could not comprehend what these people were trying to say, it seemed like her heart all too well understood. She felt like crying, like running after these people and begging them to stay.

But why?

"I'm glad"She quickly turned around to see another person standing only feet from her. She could practically reach out and touch him. "It seems that you haven't forgotten us completely. At least not where it counts."

There stood a young male with long flowing white hair wearing a red robe. His golden eyes were transfixed on her, never wavering. Her heart started to pound within her chest as she felt the most pain of all come over her.

"I'm sorry..."She didn't know why but she felt as if she had to apologize to him. Apologize for whatever she had done or was doing to him, though she could recall none of it, nor him.

The hanyou just shook his head.

"Keh, you don't need to apologize dummy"he said in an annoyed tone. "It was your choice."He continued to stare at her and she felt the overwhelming need to run over to this person and embrace him. But she didn't know this person. So instead, she fought back the urge and continued to stare back into his golden eyes.

"I just thought you would understand is all. I mean, you are usually the one who understands me the most"He signed. "But I pushed you too far. I know this now."She could feel something within her start to stir, as if some part of her was trying to tell the hanyou in front of her something.

Slowly, she started to see him fade too.

No!

"Wait! Please!"She yelled at him. "It's not your fault, it's not! Just come back! Please!"But the hanyou continued to fade until he too, was gone.

"DON'T GO!"she screamed.

Just then, her eyes shot opened and she quickly sat up. At that exact moment, she heard someone else scream as well, along with the sound of things hitting the ground. She turned to her left to see a young male with short black hair wearing a white hakama and a blue haori over it, stare back at her wide eyed and shaken. Though, now his clothing was wet since he seemed to have dropped everything he was previously holding. A pot, ladle, and various other dishes littered the ground around them.

"ARE YOU CRAZY WOMAN?! YOU NEARLY GAVE ME A HEART ATTACK!"The young male yelled, finally picking himself off the ground and looking down at his now stained clothing. "Great, now I am covered in tonight's supper too."

She could still feel her heart beating fast. Was it because of her dream? But then again, what did she dream about? No matter how hard she tried, she just couldn't remember.

She removed the blanket that was covering her and looked around. They were outside in what looked to be the middle of a forest. It was dark outside and the young man had a fire lit only a few feet away from her. She was lying down on a bed roll that she assumed was given to her by this person.

But who was this person?

"Excuse me,"she said to the young man as he continued to swear under his breath about how he could have died from such a scare. "Who are you?"

"The name's Daisuke"He answered coolly. He began to walk over to a tree and from there, he grabbed a rag from his bag and began to wipe off the excess food covering his body. "Do you wake up like that all the time? Cause man, if you do we're gonna have to figure out better sleeping arrangements. I'm thinking at least one hundred yards apart. Or a warning."

"Well to be honest, I don't know if I do or not"And she was being truthful. In fact, she couldn't remember what her sleeping habits were. Or if she even had any.

"Well, let's hope this was a onetime thing."Daisuke threw the rag down and started grabbing some other items from his bag. "So, what's your name?"

"My name is-"She stopped. What was her name? Surely she had a name, but why couldn't she remember it? Then again, the more she tried to rack her brain for the answer, the more she came to realize that she couldn't remember anything. "-don't know"she finally finished.

"Don't know is your name? I kind of find that hard to believe."The girl shot him a glare. Not one for jokes, huh? "Ok ok, so you don't know your own name."

It made no sense. Why couldn't she remember anything? Who was she? How did she get here? She could feel all the questions burning inside her and yet, she couldn't answer even the easiest ones. She clenched her head between her two hands as if trying to force the answers out.

"Woah woah woah, hey now!"Daisuke walked over to the black haired woman who seemed to be struggling with something. "Listen, if you can't honestly remember, that's fine. Maybe you struck your head or something? Just give it time. It may all come back to you by morning"The woman pulled her knees close to her and rested her head on them.

"Why can't I remember anything?"

Daisuke began to scratch his head. "Maybe it had something to do with that demon fellow I found you with."This caused the woman to shoot up as she looked at Daisuke with an intense look.

"Do you know more than you're letting on?"She barked. "Tell me what you know!"Daisuke took a step or two back.

"Hey, calm down. It's not like I know everything, ok? I found you wandering the forest with some demon stalking you. I just followed you both and ended up finding you unconscious. Of course, I had to save you from the demon first before I could bring you here."The biggest smirk came from this man, who seemed proud of his heroic deed. The young woman was, however, not impressed. She wanted information, not a knight in shining armor story.

"Oh, is that all?"she sounded rather disappointed.

"Hey now! That demon was no walk in the park! He was strong, ok!? Jeez, you'd think you'd be a little more appreciative."The girl just ignored him. She needed real information. Information that could help her get her memory back.

"Oh, did I forget to mention that the demon seemed to have pulled this out of your head? Maybe this holds a clue as to why you can't remember."Just then, Daisuke pulled a jewel out of his pocket and stuck out his hand for the young woman to see.

It was a beautiful jewel. Different shades of purple and blue began swirling all around, almost as if it was the night sky itself. The young woman took the jewel from the man and began observing it closer. It didn't seem like anything special, but if the man spoke true than this was very important to her.

She looked up at Daisuke who continued to keep quiet to gauge her response. She signed. Then swung.

"WHY DIDN'T YOU MENTION THE JEWEL THE FIRST TIME!"Daisuke held his head with both hands as his eyes began to water. She might look small, but she could throw a punch.

"HEY! I COULD HAVE LET THAT DEMON HAVE HIS WAY WITH YOU, YOU KNOW? COULD SHOW SOME RESPECT TO THE ONE WHO SAVED YOUR HIDE!"

The dark haired girl glared his way as she placed the jewel in her own pocket. There was no way she was giving something as important as this back to him. Besides, he withheld a bit of information from her. God knows what else he might know.

"Are you sure you don't know anything else?"She threatened. Daisuke waved his hands in front of himself with a small smile on his face.

"I know nothing more, I promise."He then dug his hand into another smaller bag he had placed a few feet from the fire. He proceeded to grab some fruit and then turned to face her again. "Here, catch!"He threw an apple. She caught it in her hands.

"Thanks"She replied. She hadn't realized how hungry she had gotten.

"Yeah well, I would have had stew tonight but SOMEBODY decided that wasn't going to happen."He bit into the apple letting the juice slide down the corners of his mouth.

The girl continued to stare at the fire. She watched the flames dance as the wood crackled and burned. The apple rested in her hands. Maybe she wasn't that hungry after all.

"Hey"

"Hmm"

"Do I...well...do we know each other? I mean, before you rescued me and all."

Daisuke stopped eating and turned to look at her. She had a sad look in her eyes that made Daisuke feel bad for her. Almost.

"No. We don't know each other."The girl nodded and then turned her attention back to the fire.

"Well then, why did you save me? Were you expecting some kind of reward?"

Daisuke laughed. "Nah, nothing like that. Besides, there's nothing you have that I want anyway."

"So why?"She asked.

"Well, why not?"

She smiled at this. Well, she might not remember anything about herself but at least she knew there was one person who cared for her well-being, even if he was a stranger. And who knows, there might be others out there too, searching for her who could help her find out who she is.

"Thanks Daisuke."