Author Note: This is where things start to pick up and this chapter is a bit longer than the rest. Enjoy and thanks for reading!
It was midday when Kagome made camp at the ground where she had first seen the Bird of Paradise, and the first thing she did was take a dip in the spring nearby. It wasn't as cold as all the other springs she'd come across, and so she lingered a bit longer than she normally would have.
Feeling clean, she rung her long ebony locks out once more before dressing in spare clothes. Khaki slacks that fit neat to her ankle and easily tucked into her walking boots and green blouse, the color of the forest. It was long sleeved and practical for gallivanting through the Feudal Era, if one could call what she was doing gallivanting.
She snorted. She pulled out a book she'd brought with her giving time for her clothes to dry that she'd washed before packing them away. When her hair had dried a bit, she braided her damp hair into a pleat again. It was just easier than fussing with loose hair. Kagome took a deep breath before surveying her surroundings once more.
Nothing.
It was quiet.
At least the sun was warm today.
Kagome pulled an apple out of her bag and began to feed the gnawing stomach that demanded food. She finished quickly, tossing the carcass into the bushes. She rested her back to survey the sky, making shapes out of the clouds. She would close her eyes for just a moment.
She wasn't even that tired.
She was just relaxing her eyes.
Resting up before she continued her trek for Sango and the others.
She had only closed her eyes for what felt like a moment when she felt a shadow looming over her and a familiar presence above her. Fear crept within her belly anyway.
Play dead. Play dead and whoever it is will go away…
Or they'll crack my skull open before they go…
Play dead, play dead, play dead.
Her eyes popped open at the sound of her name.
No way.
It can't be.
That deep voice she had heard a thousand, no, a million times. She would know his voice anywhere and now her eyes opened on command to the sound. She considered that perhaps it was only because she was so starved for another human.
Or perhaps part of you always starved for him. But you didn't… let yourself entertain it… because of him…
Oh my gods, that's ridiculous!
Kagome chided her brain for it's temporary loss of sanity.
Above her the figure eclipsed the bright sky around them. Sure as she knew her own name, her long lost wolf demon Kouga crouched before her, his hair loose from the ponytail she remembered, it making a curtain around them.
"Kouga?" she managed to whisper, her throat rough from lack of use. She reached up to touch his face to which he yanked out of her reach, as if she might burn him.
Please don't go!
Other than his hair loose from its normal ponytail, he looked exactly the same. It had to be him.
Unless…
Is my mind playing tricks on me?
No…
Her heart tugged in her chest, tears already filling the corners of her eyes as he stood to his feet, away from her. Unsure.
Sapphire blue eyes, long dark hair, tanned skin, masculine features. Her eyes fell to his hands. The very same hands that had wrapped her up in his arms, held her own hands, protected her from danger, vowed to love only her forever.
Kouga. She knew it was him. He had to remember her. He just had to!
He had said her name after all.
Her heart raced as he reached his hand out to pull her to a standing position. Her eyes trailed from his hand to his eyes again and back down. She stared far too long and in the end, took his hand in hers as he yanked her up.
Memories flooded her as she searched his face for something, any sign that he remembered her. She was dying for him to speak, but he stood stoic and still, his face hard.
"Kouga." Lamely, she couldn't think of anything else to say. She expected him to hug her fiercely but he stood still in front of her.
He continued to say nothing, staring at her as if not comprehending who she was. Did he not remember her? Surely that couldn't be. His eyes were so strange. Glassy. It was as if he was looking right through her, into her.
Kagome feared a moment longer that the well had screwed up and brought her to the wrong time in the Feudal Era or that it had removed all trace of her, all memory of her, that perhaps Kouga would not remember her at all.
The thought alone filled her with overwhelming misery and she bit her lip to keep back the sob in her throat, her teeth nearly breaking the skin.
After what felt like an eternity, gently – so gently – she felt the wolf demon's arms encircle her, pulling her into him and then locking her in a tight embrace . His nose pressed into her hair, breathing deep like a man suffocated of air.
Kagome's hands rose in the air like a fugitive caught. She didn't dare move or breathe for fear he would disappear from her sight for good.
A thousand thoughts tumbled out at once.
This could be the goodbye he never got.
He could be angry.
He could crush me in half if he wanted.
He's so… hot.
But he won't.
He's being so… tender.
Kouga, Kouga, Kouga.
It's you, it's you, it's you.
"Kagomeeee…" He drew out her name that rumbled through his chest. The way he said her name made tears form in her eyes and something pulse in her abdomen.
He remembered her! He knew her!
She realized that she didn't want to go on not hearing it for another eight years. Or longer. She thought about the well closing up again. It seemed to have a mind of it's own. Suddenly, she felt sick.
Kagome thought perhaps she could go every day hearing him say her name like that, and she laughed at her own loneliness. As much as she knew Kouga had loved her, she knew he had pride even if it came to her. Kouga wouldn't be second best. He deserved better than a woman who desired him simply because she was lonely.
The way he held her made her want to stay, but she left her hands frozen in the air and let him take gulps of air of her scent, to take what he needed to be alright.
Kagome considered that it was the wolf in him that made her react so strongly. She didn't pretend to understand wolf politics or rules, but she knew that when a wolf demon interacted with his intended mate…. Though if she was his intended when she was 15, she wondered what difference now made.
Because now you aren't fighting it.
Because there is no one to eclipse him from your sight.
She blushed and pushed that thought aside.
How could I have ever been so stupid?
Whatever anyone wanted to say about Kouga, no could have ever denied his devotion to her from the moment he met her. The things he would say would make her school girl friends swoon immediately.
"It's you," he finally said, his voice rough with emotion. "I picked up your scent days ago, but I thought it was my mind playing tricks on me." He added with sadness in his voice, "After all this time."
"I'm sorry," she whispered. Her arms dropped, returning his embrace and wrapped her arms around him, gliding through his long hair. "I know that I left without much of an explanation."
"Eight years is a long time," he said quietly, his fingers strumming through the loose pieces of her hair, hanging from her braid.
Eight years. Kagome had left him without any trace of her for eight years. How cruel do you get?
Kagome released the sob that burst from her lungs as a cough, fighting back more tears.
Even though he'd never been her lover, they had been somewhat good friends after everything they went through. Even if the first time returning home had been out of her control, the second time she didn't even bother seeking him out.
She had no idea how worried he had been. He knew Inuyasha's death must have been hard on her, but he didn't understand why she had left without any reason.
"You are… older," Kouga said carefully. "Taller." Filled out, he wanted to add, but he bit his tongue as he held onto Kagome. He was still a man, but he wasn't as crass as he had been years before. Kagome had taught him some things about how to treat a woman.
Kagome couldn't help but release a joyous laugh from her chest. She couldn't remember the last time she had laughed.
"Well, you look exactly the same!" she said, leaning back enough to shove his arm playfully. He grinned wolfishly at her, his bright blue eyes twinkling. He did. He looked exactly the same. She realized that demons aged much slower than humans, but just how much?
Kouga's body, the most noticeable thing about him, hadn't changed much at all. He was still a foot taller than her and lean with the muscle of a warrior, of a man. He wore the same fur around his hips, wrists and ankles, and she noticed that his armor was gone, leaving his chest bare. She kept herself from ogling too much and brought her eyes back to his face.
"You still smell the same," Kouga noted, his eyes still parading over her lithe figure. She had grown so much from the young girl he knew. "You're older, but it's… good."
Kagome bit her lip to suppress a giggle. Slick, Kouga .She felt the loss of his warmth, no longer in his arms.
"What's brought you back here?" he asked distantly. "Surely you didn't return to catch up with an old wolf."
Ouch.
He's preparing for me to leave. Already…
Of course he would.
Oh, Kouga…
Kagome cleared her throat. Of course he would question this after InuYasha died. What reason would she have to come back?
Her body practically vibrated with the urge to reach out and step into his embrace again, to touch his face, to tell him how sorry she was.
"Would you believe me if I told you – " I wanted to see you again. "– I was bored?" Kagome kicked a pebble next to her boot.
Kagome tried to remember the reason she had come. Sango, Miroku, Shippo. That was why she had come. Not for Kouga. Still…
Kouga chuckled gazing deeply into her eyes, waiting for something. For her to leave? "Dammit, woman, you better not be a mirage."
Kagome felt shy all of the sudden. "Where are you traveling to?" she asked conversationally. "I don't want to keep you from it."
Kouga shook his head. "Just patrolling the lands. I'm still the leader of the Wolf Tribe in the East. Even though the Shikon Jewel is gone, there are still demons and I have my people to protect."
"Oh," she said quietly.
InuYasha died in battle and he was strong. Kouga was strong, too. The thought of him being hurt in battle made her heart clench in an unreasonable fashion and she reached up to massage her hand against the dull ache in her chest. It didn't help.
Too much.
The idea of him going back to his home without her or the fact that she never thought she would see him again was unbearable. And it was completely unreasonable for her to feel this way.
He was going to leave. Right? That was inevitable.
"I don't want to not see you again," she muttered.
"Kagome?"
"Are you looking for company? That is… Could I… Would you…" she stumbled over her words and took a deep breath. She huffed, annoyed with herself. This was just Kouga.
A very primal, handsome looking Kouga. A man that in spite of everything clearly still has feelings for you.
Stop it!
Kagome almost slapped herself and forced her eyes to make contact with his. His beautiful blue eyes.
Worse. That's worse.
Kagome had not escaped the Feudal Era not knowing that her wolf friend was impossibly good looking, a Modern Day Adonis. At the time she had devoted her heart to another. Had she really been this blind?
"Kagome, what is it?"
Even his voice called to her, homed in on every sense in her body, made her fingers and toes tingle with energy, with want to touch him again. She could have thrown herself at his feet, but stayed standing. It didn't make any sense.
She sighed and closed her eyes. There, that was better. "Would you take me with you?" Inwardly she cringed. That didn't come out the way she wanted.
His ears perked up at this.
She wants to come with me.
Ayame's shrill voice taunted his memory. She isn't going to come back. Kouga dared to hope again as the woman of his dreams stood before him, very real, very much back.
"I figure that you have more questions to ask me," Kagome said as an excuse, tucking a lose strand of her hair behind her ear hoping he wouldn't see through her. "And I can protect myself better now."
Though his actions said otherwise, she prepared for him to say no. She prepared for him to fully reject her.
Kouga laughed, folding his arms over his chest. "Is that so?"
"I'd like to see the others, as well," she added. "Ginta, Hakkaku, how are they?"
Kouga grunted in response. "Hnn, they're same as always. Idiots."
Kagome smiled at the thought of seeing more old friends.
He picked up her bag and handed it to her. "Get your things."
So that's it then, they were leaving. He was taking her with him.
"Kouga?" His wolf pulsed at the sound of her using his name in a way that it hadn't in years. Not since she left.
He paused to look back at her over his shoulder."Yes?"
She blushed prettily. "It's nothing really. I'm just glad it's you and that you're here. With me." She added, "I haven't seen anyone in two weeks."
Kagome sighed, feeling content to have found an old friend.
"Come on, Kagome. It'll be dark by the time we get back."