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Disclaimer: I don't own these characters. They are Rumiko Takahashi's. Nuuuuurrrr.

Dreams of Memories

Chapter Six: Finding

I slept in the infirmary for many days and nights.

Sometimes I caught glimpses of time passing, in the few times I was semi-conscious. I would swim out of the dark and observe for a few moments, then collapse back into my head, and process what I'd seen.

I remember Sango talking to someone on the other side of my bed. Kaede humming something, Hojo looking down at me. Miroku and Sango arguing, and Jaken telling them to be quiet. I don't think Slater came to see me…except once. It was dark and late. He was sitting near me, in a chair by the window. He was watching me, and then he got up and stood over by the window, and he was so dark in the shadow that I couldn't see his face. There was something in his hand…

I don't think it was a dream…

When I finally woke up it was either very late, or very early. The moonlight drifted into the infirmary, giving all the beds lining the walls a surreal feeling.

"Am I dreaming?" I realized I'd spoken aloud, and my voice sounded scratchy. I found a glass of water on my side table, and drank it all slowly, feeling the coolness wash away the gauzy feeling in my throat.

I felt light, and when I walked towards Kaede's office, and the exit, I felt as if I were rising gently.

I was silent, and almost afraid to breathe, as if I would fall. I could hear the light noises my hospital gown made when I moved.

I floated through the office, and into the hallway, in and out of shadows.

There was a swift, fluid, movement out of the corner of my eye. Had the shadow moved?

I looked at it for a moment, then saw a flicker of movement to my left, and whirled, just in time to see a shadow slinking behind me.

I followed it with my eyes, my heart pounding in my head. All the shadows were gathering at the end of the hallway. They stilled there for a moment, and then from the pitch-blackness there was a slow movement.

An even darker form was emerging…a man. He was watching me, his eyes and angry, washed out blue. I felt my heart freeze. He SAW me. And I knew I was going to die.

He was coming closer, and I was frozen, my fear clogging in my throat.

Those eyes…they CAUGHT me.

His teeth glinted, he smiled.

That small flash of light was all it took.

I ran and ran, more hallways, more twists. I should've reached a foyer now, or at least a stairwell. Where WAS I?

I tripped on the edge of a rug-

-and I was standing in the middle of the library. Slater was standing on the main staircase, in front of me. He turned, startled.

"Kagome, you are awake."

"Yes…" I said, my mind trying to catch up with the rest of me…my adrenaline was still pumping from- "that man! Sessho-maru, there was a man in the hall, he-"

"Who?"

"I don't know! All the shadows melted together and then he was THERE. And he had these HORRIBLE blue eyes, I ran…but I fell…and now…"

"Perhaps you were sleepwalking?"

I breathed, shuddering. My heartbeat was slowing. "You must be right. Shadows can't move, can they?" I noticed his eyes looked surprisingly sad. "What's wrong?"

He just looked at me, silent.

"What?" I offered him a smile. "What is it?"

His cold face had almost a regretful look to it, as he handed me a folded piece of paper.

I slowly opened it. It was a news article.

FAMILY MURDERED. GIRL STILL MISSING.

I looked up him, stomach sinking. He just stared at me, impassively now.

The search for Kagome Higurashi, age 19, still continues. Four months ago her family was discovered murdered in their house in Ithaca, NY. Higurashi was believed to be abducted by the killers, but is now believed to be dead by investigators, as they have hit dead end after dead end in their investigation.

Higurashi is 5'7", dark haired, and brown-eyed. Below is a photo of her taken age 14. If you have any information about her location of abductors- article continued on pg. 4A.

When I finished reading I stared at the paper for a little while. I felt smaller and smaller.

"Kagome Higurashi…" My name didn't sound familiar. My stomach was dropping, and I felt so heavy, as if I were sinking into the thick carpet beneath my bare feet.

"This was written about 6 months ago. Kaede's little sister gave it to me. When Kaede went home to take care of Kikyou, she told her your story. She has been obsessed with tracking your identity down for weeks."

It was strange. Feeling so horrified and sad and not knowing why. My eyes were wet. So much of me died along with them…

I felt as if my insides were hollow, and my stomach was falling endlessly. My throat was plugged up.

I stared fiercely at the paper, my hand shaking, trying to get control of myself. Instead, I noticed that this newspaper clipping wasn't as folded-weary as the one he always kept in his pocket.

That train of thought dried my tears with its distraction.

I swallowed thickly. I wiped my tears away with my palm and breathed deeply. I looked up, and met his cool amber eyes, glinting in the dark.

He stood completely still. He knew. He lost his family. He knew there was nothing he could say. Only time could help.

In that moment, I felt truly connected to him. It was such a tragic bond, but it was an incredible feeling of closeness. I didn't think I'd felt that in such a long time. I wondered if he felt it.

"You did not know of this." He said quietly.

"No." He was referring to my secret. "Of course not…"

"I thought that that was what you had remembered-"

"No. It was something else." I was silent for a moment. "Who were my family, anyway?"

We both knew my question wasn't as casual as it sounded.

He began, in his level, uncompassionate voice, "Your mother was only fifty-two. Your father died when you were three, in a car accident. Your grandfather lived with you. You also had a younger brother, Sota, who was just thirteen." He paused. "You had a cat as well, named Buyo."

I smiled a little, a faint shrill laughter coming out of my mouth.

"Will you tell me what you remembered." He said.

I sobered quickly. "…I'll tell you the day you show me the newspaper article you carry around."

He gave me a frosty, measured look from the dark. "Fine."

I sighed in exhaustion. I realized I was once again in a hospital gown. The back had gaps in it, and they were letting in the cool air.

"I will take you back to-" He stopped talking when I shook my head.

"No. The infirmary is too blank. I hate it."

He gave me a vaguely exasperated look, but handed me a throw from a nearby chair.

He easily moved a lounge to the landing in front of the giant window. He set up a bed there, turning the large lounge into a nest. "There." He said, looking at me blankly.

I felt suddenly frightened that the shadow man would come back. "…are you going to leave?"

He met my eyes coldly. "No." He gracefully leaned back in the lounge, almost like a cat, only basking in the weak moonlight instead of the sun,

I curled up next to him, almost afraid to touch him, as if he would actually be made of ice. I knew he wasn't, from that day at the pool, but his demeanor was so unflinching.

There was a light rain out side, and the moon barely visible. I could hardly tell where the ocean started and the sky ended. My eyes were welling up again.

I looked away, and let my head rest on his shoulder. I was bold in my exhaustion, and almost wanted to curve against him more, but I wasn't quite drowsy enough.

I cried myself to sleep, hoping it wasn't a dream that he was stroking his strong, tapered fingers against my spine through the holes in my hospital gown, to quiet and comfort me.

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