Chapter 8 Confessions Revised

The clock reached two, when the well shrines door opened to let a shadowy figure exit. This figure snuck across the distance in a few leaps; so quiet that it didn't even bother the leafs in the tree, as it jumped into its fourth highest branch, or the sleeping figure by the window. The figure watched Kagome for a few moments; then entered into her room. Picking up Kagome, the figure carried her to her bed. Just as the figure was covering Kagome up, the door opened and Mrs. Higurashi stood in the light from the hallway.

"Kagome are you-, oh it's you Inuyasha. I just thought I would check and see if Kagome was asleep yet." Motioning to him, Mrs. Higurashi left the door open for him to follow. Inuyasha looked one fore time at Kagome before following her down the stairs and into the kitchen. Mrs. Higurashi turned the lights on, and started the stove so that she could boil some water for tea. Pulling out a chair at the kitchen table, she motioned for him to do the same. He hadn't said anything yet, so she encouraged him by starting. "So it seems you've finally come back. What have you decided?" Inuyasha was a bit surprised that she knew, but knew that Kagome kept very few things from her mom. Inuyasha knew the best thing was to tell the truth.

"I want her to come back." They looked one another in the eye, as they spoke to each other.

"Are you going to tell how you really feel then?"

"I just know that I can't keep her from coming here, and I don't want to force her to have to make a decision like that. I want to stay by her, and protect her like I promised. I don't want to hurt her anymore. I just don't know how to say that to her. She brings out the worst and the best out of me." Inuyasha heard Mrs. Higurashi chuckle; he smiled in return. "We got the last jewel shard, and we're all ready to make our wishes, but it doesn't seem right without her. But I don't know what we'll all do once our wishes come true. Will the well seal up, or will Kagome keep coming through the well. Will she be able to? I can't tell you that I know because I don't." Inuyasha got a real serious, yet day-dreamish look on his face. "I have deep feelings for your daughter, and that scares me."

"Why don't you just tell her that?"

"Like I said, she brings out the worst in me. I get all cowardly and embarrassed and really confused when I'm around her. But I'm lost when she isn't, does that make any sense?" Mrs. Higurashi nodded her head.

"I know exactly how you feel, and I know Kagome feels the same. It's called love, Inuyasha. It's hard to describe how you feel about the person you're in love with. I know I always got tongue tied around Kagome and Sota's father. It was exciting and yet nerve racking to be around him, but I always felt lonely when he wasn't in the same room with me. When I was with him, he made be free." Mrs. Higurashi got that really dreamy look on her face that most parents get when they think of happy things in their life. Inuyasha knew what she meant.

"I think your right." Then he did what he'd never done before, he asked for her advice about love. "How can I tell her that?"

"You just say what's in your heart. Don't hold back; let it all out into the open. That's the only way that I can think of." Mrs. Higurashi gave a smile that reminded Inuyasha of Kagome. He nodded taking what she'd said to heart. Mrs. Higurashi got up and made them both tea, and after a while said that they should get to sleep. She brought a pallet from the downstairs closet and gave it to Inuyasha. "You can sleep in here." She opened the living room door.

"Thank you, Mrs. Higurashi." He gave her a slight bow, another thing he rarely did. When she giggled, he asked her, "What if she doesn't like what I say and it's to late to fix it?"

"Don't worry Inuyasha; I'm sure whatever you say it'll come out right." She turned to leave, but stopped at the door. "By the way if you want you can call me mom or Hitatome, that's the two names, everyone calls me." Inuyasha was surprised at the offer and it made him happy. Nodding to her in reply. "Goodnight Inuyasha, sleep tight, and don't worry everything will be fine."

"Thank you, Hitatome." Inuyasha said. Then rolling out the pallet, laid down for a couple hours sleep.

……

Mrs. Higurashi smiled to herself as she crawled in bed. 'That boy is something else. Kagome choose the perfect person to give her heart to, don't you think dear?' She asked the picture of her husband. He'd been smiling down at the camera, when she'd taken it. 'I think so too.' She turned her light out and went to sleep.

Kagome yawned, looking around at were she was. She realized that she was lying in her bed. 'Mom must have gotten me in bed.' The thought didn't seem right. 'I didn't know mom was so strong.' Shrugging it off, Kagome walked down the stairs and into the kitchen. Her mom was standing at the sink washing two cups. "Did you have company this morning?" She asked. She headed for the bread sack; she kissed her mom on the cheek when she put her pieces of bread in the toaster.

"You could say that." Her mom said smiling at her daughter.

"What do you mean by that?" Kagome leaned over picked up her pieces of toast. Hearing the door slide open, she turned to greet one of her family members. Putting a smile on her face, she turned to the door. She dropped her toast, when she brought her hands up to her mouth, in a silent gasp, when Inuyasha meet her eyes. He was standing there looking at her. "Inuyasha?"

Inuyasha heard the door open into the kitchen, then the smell of cooking bread. Getting up, his sensitive ears picked up the sweet voice of Kagome. Walking out of the living room, and heading across the hallway, opened the kitchen door, and saw that Kagome was leaning over to grab something from the counter. She stood up, and turned a smile on her face, until she came in full view of him; she dropped her toast, and covered her mouth, his name coming out from behind her hands. He looked at her a moment longer, and then he cleared his throat.

"Hi." He said, she became a bit pale, but a least she didn't faint, like she looked about to do.

"Hi." She replied. Hitatome, Mrs. Higurashi, saw that neither of them was going to move until she said something.

"Why don't you two go into the living room? I'm sure you need time to talk." She nudged Kagome towards the door. Kagome turned to look at her mom, nodded and walked toward Inuyasha in bit of a daze. She walked across the hall, into the living room, waited until Inuyasha walked inside, shut it, and then sat down a little away from him, not saying anything, just looking at him, as though he was about to disappear. Finally she gave herself a bit of a shake, and asked.

"Why are you here?" She noticed that there was a pallet lying on the floor a few feet from her. It looked slept on. 'So he's been here for awhile.' Then she remembered the two cups, and her being moved to her bed. She blushed, 'He must have moved me.' Looking at him, she waited.

Inuyasha swallowed, 'This is so much harder than I thought it would be.' He could feel her eyes bore into him. His palms started to sweat, and he began to panic. 'What am I going to say?' He looked at Kagome, and Mrs. Higurashi's words came back to him. 'Just say what is in your heart.' Still looking at her, he swallowed again, and then opened to say what he knew he had to say. "Kagome, I'm really sorry." He couldn't look at her. Those brown eyes were burning him, like they could see right through him.

"Inuyasha, are you here to say goodbye and your sorry." Tears were laced into Kagome's words. Inuyasha brought his head up, and could see the tears gathering in her eyes. "So you've chosen-?" She looked away from him, unable to finish. "What have you decided?" Kagome couldn't almost spit the words out. 'He's leaving me.' Crept in her mind, this made the tears that she had been fighting, fall onto her cheeks. Inuyasha was at her side in a minute. Holding her in his arms, trying his bet to sooth her tears; she let him comfort her for a moment, before she looked at him, she needed to know. "Are you going to tell me, or not?" She was angry, and weirdly it made it easier for Inuyasha to spit it out.

"Kagome, I'm not leaving, I came to say that I want you to come back." Kagome stared at him, not sure she'd heard him right. "Kagome, this is really hard for me to say. You know better than most that I've had a hard time trusting people. I hated you when we first met. You looked some much like Kikyo. Then I found out about Kikyo's death, and even though I hated her, I felt guilty. I felt guilty that I lived and she didn't. The jewel shard shattered and we started our quest, to find them all. We met Shippo along the way and I saw a different side of you, the caring side. When that witch woman brought Kikyo back to life, I felt I had a debt to pay. So I kept pushing you away. We met Miroku, and I experienced my first fit of jealousy. I hated the fact that you could do that to me. I'd begun to trust you, and think of you as my friend, instead of an obstacle. We found out about Naraku, and his deceptions. And then we met Sango, and all of a sudden I realized I wasn't alone. For the first time, I had friends to keep my secret about the new moon, I had a goal, set, and it was all because of you. Time went by and I realized that you were becoming more important than the jewel and Kikyo, and that scared me. I was more worried about your safety than I did about anything. Every time we fought I would fight even harder so that you would stay safe. Now it's been a year and we have them all. I could have made my wish, but I didn't feel right without you being there. I don't even want to become a full demon, because you said that you like me just the way I am, and so am I." Kagome was really crying now, she knew how hard it was for him to talk about his feelings and now he was, just for her. She knew that she had pushed him into telling her, but she didn't care, and she hoped that he could forgive her, for making him do this; he looked so, vulnerable. He'd stopped talking, and was waiting for her to say something. She knew what it felt like now to be in such shock that you couldn't move, and Inuyasha being so insecure he wasn't sure what to do now. She was crying, and to him that meant that it was too late.

Inuyasha's heart felt like lead dropping down into his stomach. Getting up he walked out of the door and headed for the well. He'd given it is all, and he felt a bit sick, and really embarrassed for saying all that he'd did. He'd never said that much in his entire life. He walked slowly out the front door, and headed straight for the well. Still in a daze, it took Kagome a minute to realize that Inuyasha had just left, wiping her tears she stood up, 'He loves me.' Going through her mind as she rushed out of the house, looking for him, she saw that he was already pasted the tree and heading for the ell. 'He loves me.' Running, she followed him, he was about to jump into the well by the time she got to him. Breathing hard form running, Kagome could barely get out his name. Sucking in a lot of breath, she said the first thing that came to mind.

"SIT!!!" Inuyasha, who was used to hitting the ground when she said that, almost fell over, and before he realized that he didn't wear the prayer necklace anymore. He turned around to yell, why'd you do that for? When something hard hit him in the back; it was warm and smelled of trees and flowery things. 'Kagome.' Registered before he heard her voice say in his ear. "Inuyasha, don't go. I love you, please don't leave me." Inuyasha came around in her grip. She was still tear stained and her hair was rumbled, and she was still wearing her tank top and shorts, and his prayer beads; but to him she'd never looked more beautiful. Cupping her face again in his hands, Inuyasha looked straight into her eyes. Kagome swallowed and her Adam's apple rose and dropped with the motion.

"What'd you say?" He asked he needed to hear her say them again, this time to his face. Kagome saw that starved look in his face, and she knew too that he needed to hear them; she needed him to hear them.

"Inuyasha, I love you." Kagome was given only a second to register with what was about to happen. Inuyasha's hands came around her waist pulling her so fast into an embrace that she opened her mouth in a gasp, when he's mouth came down on hers. Sensations after sensations hit them, as their kiss deepened; going from exploring to total conquering. Kagome's arms tighten around his neck, and pulled him harder into the kiss. Neither could tell how long they stayed there, kissing and holding each other, but they needed to breath some time. They parted slowly, but didn't move far apart, their breaths still mingled together.

"Wow." Kagome breathed, she was breathing hard, and a stirring was starting in her stomach.

"You said it." Inuyasha said. Not wanting to separate from her yet, Inuyasha pulled her in a hug. Forgetting about the pain, Kagome just enjoyed this new feeling inside her. Though after a few minutes, she began to want more. 'What's come over me?' rang in both their minds. Something coughed, behind them, and Kagome turned to see Sota standing there, her face immediately reddened, Inuyasha stiffened in her grasp.