(A/N: Here's another chappie! I'm sorry it took so long for me to update. Hope ya'll enjoy it!)
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I Want You To Live
Part III
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She had always been the quiet type; always the one who hid the sadness in her eyes with a smile as the children of the village all flocked to her side, giving her various flowers and herbs so she could place them into the basket on her hip.
She had always been the gentle type; silent as she dropped to her knees near the bottom of the waterfall to scoop up the cool liquid into a large jar, and pour the contents over her usually tied back dark hair and Shinto kimono, a smile always ready for the few children who came up to her, laughing and asking to be splashed with water too.
She had always been in the forefront of his mind, and now, after a over a year without seeing her, he found his heart pounding fiercely against his chest as his eyes fell upon her graceful form, the familiar sad smile on her face as children ran around her, their laughter radiating around the village like sunlight.
But Orin couldn't gawk at her. He had a mission to complete.
He began to run.
"Lady Kikyo! Lady Kikyo!"
Obvious to him that she hadn't heard him, he yelled louder, but his sentence was half swallowed by dirt as he lost his footing and fell to the ground. Fighting to regain his breath, Orin glanced up and, to his despair, watched as she turned the opposite direction and began to walk away, the young ones only a step behind her. Gasping, he shook his loose, dark bangs from his eyes and struggled to his feet, slipping and sliding over the disturbed soil underneath his sandals.
"Lady Kikyo!"
Still, she continued forth, clearly oblivious to his presence, and, with a deep breath, he began to run towards her again, gathering up all the breath left in his lungs with all the power he could muster.
"PRIESTESS!"
To his immense relief, she paused and turned towards him, reaching out a steadying hand to grab his shoulder as he finally caught up to her.
"Steady now. What's the problem?"
Straightening himself, Orin bowed his head towards her but avoided her gaze, trying his hardest to be respectful to the miko.
"We need your assistance immediately priestess. A demon is badly wounded with poison, and none of our healer's medicines are working to clear the toxin from the yokai's body." Orin dared now to meet her gaze, a bad move that left him falling into dark depths so quickly, he barely clung to sanity long enough to finish his plight.
"Can you help us?"
The sadness in her eyes disappeared to black determination as she nodded.
"I'll try. Take me to your healer at once."
Relief filled him as he saw her heft the herb-laden basket onto her hip more firmly, then, at her nod, began to run towards the hut, never breaking stride.
Neither her, nor the children, left his shadow.
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The wolf demon winced as he sat up, the blood soaked bandages wrapped tightly around his right calf pulling uncomfortably, sending the nauseating stench of infected blood and miasma toxin towards his nose. Shaking his head against the sudden sickness that rose dangerously within him, he scowled down at the crimson linen then glanced around the room, insanely wishing someone would come in at that moment and open up a window.
"You mustn't move, my lord. You don't want to stress your wound."
A tiny speck jumped upon one of the yokai's fingers, and the wolf demon raised it up to glare down on the miniature form.
"What do you know, flea? You ran away in the thick of battle!"
"I was getting help!"
"Oh really?"
"Yes really!"
The wolf picked up the flea demon between two of his claws, sneering evilly in triumph.
"Tell me this then Myouga… why would you need to call for aid when I was surrounded by people who were already coming to help me?"
"Well, uh…"
With a small flick, the wolf yokai sent the flea flying, smirking as he heard the small demon hit the ground.
"What was that for?"
"Humph…"
Myouga was about to retort when voices were suddenly heard outside the hut.
"Ah, you found her! Welcome priestess." That was the healer's voice. Both of the demons knew him well, and the other male voice that responded to the older man.
"How is the demon holding up?" Orin.
"Better now that we have a skilled priestess here to help him." Healer Koji.
"I'm not sure about skilled, but I'll do my very best."
At the sound of the woman's voice, the wolf started. Straining to hear her better as their voices dropped, he began to sniff violently, his senses suddenly alerted to a far distant memory…
"So, they must've found Kikyo at last," grumbled Myouga from the other's shoulder.
"Kikyo? You can't be serious!"
With a sigh and a shake of his head, the flea whispered in frustration, "Who else would it be?"
- - -
"Master Koji, could you bring me another bucket of water?"
"Yes my lady."
Hastily bowing his balding head, he grabbed an empty bucket and went outside, where Orin was just returning with Kikyo's basket of herbs, freshly clean and cut.
"Do whatever she says," Koji whispered to his son urgently. "Lady Kikyo knows the ways of healing. There is hope for the demon as long as she's here. She was good to us before, and my hope is that she will help us again, but we must do as she asks."
"Yes father."
Koji placed a gentle hand on the youth's shoulder, his stern gray eyes contradicting the worn authority in his voice.
"Don't let your personal feelings cloud your mind either. She's here to help. Don't make her angry with your incompetence."
With that, the old healer went down to the stream, Orin's dark green gaze following his steady path until he was out of sight. Then, with a sigh, he adjusted the basket more comfortably across his stomach then entered the hut.
"Here are your herbs Lady Kik-"
"Thank you Orin," she said, cutting him off as she swept the basket out of his hands then placed it on a counter. "Can you boil some water for me, please?"
He nodded as she sifted through the herbs and pulled out the ones she needed. Hastening to do as she asked, he had the water boiling just as she came towards him with a bowl of crushed plants that smelled of metals and mint.
"Will this really help him?"
"I hope so, Orin. I really hope so." Grim faced, she began to mix the water into the herbs, and, once she had made a paste, glanced at the young man at her side, her dark eyes steady. "Wait outside with the children until I call for you, and open all the windows to this place. It's way too stuffy in here."
"Yes, my lady."
As soon as he left, she grabbed some spare linen she found on the counter, and then slowly opened the door to where the demon awaited care.
She gasped as two navy eyes suddenly fixated themselves onto her face, her own gaze widening in disbelief.
"Koga?!"
"Kagome?!"
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(Hahaha! Had ya'll going there didn't I? Muahahahahahahaha! I'm so evil… anyways, back to the story!)
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Kagome smiled as she watched Koga finally drift off to sleep. The faint moonlight crept in from the windows and highlighted his wound, though now cleaned, disinfected, and rewrapped.
"How did this happen anyway?" she asked Myouga as she pulled a blanket over the wolf's torso.
"Well, we were coming down here for some herbs when a group of demons attacked some children near the river. Koga helped them, but got attacked by three of them and was wounded."
"So he saved the children… that's why the people in this village were so anxious for him to be healed!"
"Hmm… quite so."
"But why did they want Kikyo I wonder?"
"I do not know, though I'm pretty sure they're just as thankful that you saved him."
"Yes, I guess so…"
Though it had been quite awkward since they had opened the windows from outside just as Koga had said her name.
Oh well… at least they still accepted her and allowed her to help.
Leaning back against the wall, Kagome slid down until she hit the ground, then wrapped a blanket around her shoulders, her knees drawn up to her chin.
Myouga stared at her from her left knee as she settled herself, then slowly asked, "Why have you come back Kagome? I heard you left."
"Inuyasha needs me."
"What! My lord! He lives then?!"
"No… oh, I guess no one told you what happened to him."
"Huh?"
"You went to live with the wolf demon tribe after Naraku was defeated. Kikyo took Inuyasha to Hell with her shortly afterwards."
"What! Oh, my poor master."
"It's ok Myouga…"
"I should've known something like this would happen! I've failed him!"
"Stop that!" Kagome ordered sternly as the flea came dangerously close from falling from her knee. She stretched out her hand and ushered him onto the palm, then brought him closer to her face.
"He's found a way to reach me."
And she told him everything, from the day Inuyasha descended to leaving Sango's village two weeks earlier.
"I'm going to help him," she finished, her eyes watery with unspent tears. "I have to."
"How?"
"I'm not sure yet, but I'm thinking about using this."
She drew out the Shikon no Tama and held it before him, but to her surprise, he shook his head and stared at her warily.
"I'm not so sure that's a good idea. The Sacred Jewel of Four Souls has many powers, but I fear that in this case, since Master Inuyasha isn't truly in Hell, the Jewel would only reverse what happened."
"What do you mean?"
Myouga sighed then sat down, settling down meditation style.
"I mean that the Jewel would undo everything, so that Kikyo and Master Inuyasha both would be back on this world. Of course, that means Kikyo would not be in peace anymore, and would send my master back to Hell, but this time, you wouldn't have even the Jewel to save him. No, no Kagome. Do not use the Jewel. It would only cause unrest."
"But, how else can I help him?"
"I'm not sure, but if you search for the right people, then I'm sure you'll figure out a way sooner or later…"
"Oh, thanks…"
Her sarcastic remark brought an indignant look to his face, and it made her laugh as they both settled for sleep.
But her thoughts kept wandering back to golden eyes and ashen hair, hopelessness filling her as the weight of Myouga's words slowly sank in…
… and how she might not be able to save him after all.
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(A/N: Yay… another one done! As I said before, I apologize for taking so long to update. I promise to bring up the next chappie ASAP! Until next time… R&R plz!)