Chapter Twelve

Alright, just a warning for you all, some of this stuff was hard for me to write because it did actually happen to me. So excuse me for not going into much detail, just glossed over the important facts so you got the idea of what happened without me explaining every little thing.

Yet again, I will tell you like I did in the beginning, anything that's sad or upsetting in this chapter or mentioned in later chapters are NOT PUT THERE FOR YOU TO PITY, OFFER ANY TYPE OF CONDOLENCE FOR. I simply put them in here to make it more or less realistic. The OC Niki is specifically ME not someone I made up. Anything she says, does or remembers doing are things I would say, do or have actually done.

Do not send me apologies for anything sad/upsetting you've read in here, it's pointless in my book, I've already gone through it and have come to peace with what has happened. So please, just read and enjoy.

Other than that nothing else to say here,

Onward!

-I do NOT own Inuyasha or it's characters

-I DO own Sonya, Niki and the plot

~TL S0nya

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Shock, denial, grief, anger... Each emotion crossed her mind as Niki drifted in and out of semi-consciousness, a dark cloud of vague images, faint voices and chock full of emotion she couldn't place.

Faces crossed her mind's eye, blond, curly hair and bright smile, mouth moving but no words came out. Whoever she was, she was excited about something, Niki could just tell by the way the girl's blue eyes sparkled.

A flash then another image, this one of a boy with long brown hair and green eyes, a cocky grin in place as he stared at her. He didn't say anything, just stared, embarrassment flooded her mind before the picture faded away once again. This time replaced by the same boy with shorter hair, only he wasn't smiling, in fact he seemed to be glaring at her this time. His mouth moved then he turned and walked away, a deep sadness accompanied this picture along with a deep sense of betrayal.

'Memories.' Niki finally realized, the thought alone brightening the dark cloud she drifted through. 'These must be my memories.' With this new-found knowledge, she began watching with more interest, paying attention to each emotion attached to the memory that surfaced. 'That girl, that's Jinx!' A wide smile split Niki's face as she stared at the curly haired girl again while she walked beside her. 'That's right, we were inseparable. Everyone called us gay because we held hands and shit in school. Mostly because we wanted to freak people out.'

Satisfied with this, she turned her head and studied the next memory that floated forward, this time of a group of people all gathered around in what looked like a living room, brightly wrapped boxes scattered about. 'Christmas with the family. There's Matt, Jessica... Mom and Maynard.' Watching curiously, she saw her brother rip open a box and blink down at the second wrapped box inside. 'Mom would 'booby trap' one gift each year, it was Matt's turn this time.' A low giggle slipped from her lips as she looked away and searched for another memory.

Niki had no sense of time while she watched her entire life unfold in front of her, it was a long, continuous montage of random moments of her past really, the important things she would always remember.

Once the pleasant ones were out of the way, up from the pits rose the ones the buried deep in an attempt to forget.

Sexually abused by her step father and step brother.

Tormented in school, things being thrown at her.

Never allowed to leave her room and join everyone in the living room.

Seeing one of her best friends kill themselves.

Watching as each boy she dated cheated on her time and time again.

Loosing the love of her life because he wanted to have fun and apparently she wasn't.

Finally the baby.

Her beautiful son, fathered by the same man that left her because he got bored.

Then the worst of it.

Tears streamed down her face as she watched herself wake up later than usual in the morning, confusion evident as she got out of bed and walked over to check on her son only to find him face down in his crib and unmoving.

Watching as she pulled him out and attempted to give him fetal CPR.

Calling 911.

Rushing to the hospital, waiting in a private room.

Being told it was too late and he was gone.

Then the funeral where she decorated the table herself, scattering plastic flowers around the urn his ashes sat in thinking if he couldn't live to see spring for the first time, to at least send him off with flowers of some kind.

Crying herself to sleep every night for months afterwards. Blaming herself for what happened.

Loosing touch with nearly everyone and simply locking herself away.

Closing her eyes, Niki quietly sobbed into her hands, curled up while she floated through the clouds of memories, her heart breaking all over again over her son, not even three months old when he died.

Choosing to ignore the rest, she remained curled up, trying to block the world and her own thoughts out. Just letting the memories return on their own without searching anymore. She couldn't take anything else after this.


They all sat around the campfire, each shooting furtive glances over at the witch's hut where Sonya lay inside under the old woman's care. Touga had found her collapsed in a thick patch of trees, shivering and burning with fever.

When he brought her back, the witch took one look at her and directed him to lay her down on the futon she had laid out inside. "The only thing we can do for her is to watch and wait." She had cautioned each of them before disappearing inside herself as Touga stepped back out, presumably to take care of their sick friend.

After being questioned by Kagome thoroughly, they all found out it was a side-effect of regaining her memories from the fruit she had eaten. Now all they could do was wait and hoped her fever broke soon. For once, even Inuyasha was silent as they stared at the fire or busied themselves with menial things.

Hours later the old witch stepped outside, wiping her hands on a cloth and cast a weary smile at the inquisitive stares she was receiving. "The fever has broke, she will rest easy now. You are welcome to move her so she may sleep outside with you. Should the fever return, wake me immediately." With that said, she ducked back inside, followed by Touga so he could retrieve Niki and bring her out and lay her down on the sleeping bag Kagome was laying on the ground for her.

"Do you think she'll be okay?" Shippo's soft voice drew the miko's attention from what she was doing and made her smile gently. "The witch said she's fine now, Shippo. I'm sure she'll be alright, Niki isn't the kind of person I expect to take anything laying down." The fox kit smiled up at her and nodded slightly, moving out of the way when Touga stepped back outside and laid her down comfortably.

"Well I'll be damned, she is my twin, isn't she?" Sonya startled Kagome when she suddenly appeared to stare down at the newest pack addition with a pair of wide eyes. "That's just... Freaky. Is that what I looked like without these tails?"

Giggling under her breath, Kagome sat back on her heels and shook her head lightly. "You had more scars, and you barely ever looked this peaceful, even when you were asleep." Nudging her friend in the ribs, the miko watched with amusement when Sonya stuck her tongue out at her then returned to her examination.

"Same hair, same face, same everything. It's weird I'm telling you. It's like looking into a warped mirror or something." Leaning forward, she brushed the long bangs from Niki's face and studied it's features closer, idly noting the freckle near her eye and shaking her head lightly. "Man..."

"I'm sure you can imagine our shock when we found her." Sango piped up, making the two of them turn around and settle back down in their spots around the fire. "I thought I was seeing a ghost at first."

"I must agree with Sango, We had just witnessed the very stone you had been trapped in vanish from right in front of us, only to return to Kiade's hut and find a replica sitting there. If it was not for the missing tails, I would have completely mistaken her for you." Miroku added thoughtfully, eyes locked onto the flickering flames in front of him before looking up and flashing a smile at Sonya. "But of course, we could never mistake anyone for you."

"Suck it up all you want, Miroku. It's not working." Sonya grumbled and cast another look over at Niki. "I have to ask though, how did she end up travelling with you all in the first place?"

"Well... She had lost her memory, I'm sure you remember. And while we were staying in the village, Miyoga appeared telling us about this witch that could return you to your body. Before he had appeared, however, Kagome and I had already promised to help Niki regain her memories. We didn't feel right leaving her behind after that, so we suggested she come with us instead." Sango explained while swiping a cleaning cloth over the surface of her boomerang. "If anything it helped in the long run. She couldn't do much, but some of the things she said helped us keep our heads on straight."

"Keh, all she did was complain and boss us around." Inuyasha interjected with a grumble from where he sat beside Kagome, his arms folded in their normal fashion while the miko rested her head on his shoulder. "Be fair, Inuyasha, if it had not been for her suggestion for us to travel ahead while you and Kagome stayed behind to gather supplies, we would have lost a whole day's journey." The monk chastised him with a stern expression, making the hanyou snort and look away, unwilling to agree with him on that.

"She is pretty smart too. Even without her memories she could tell the difference between an poisonous snake and a safe one. Some silly little rhyme but it worked. It's that same snake wrapped around her arm right now." Sango added, nodding her head over in the direction Niki lay, one arm laid across her stomach with a striped snake loosely wound around her wrist.

Suddenly Kagome let out a laugh and shook her head at the sudden thought that came to her. "Then she went and got herself kidnapped by the guardian of a forest we were passing through only to end up with his protection instead."

"And all of this in under a week. She's pretty interesting for all of that to happen so quickly."

"Most of it happened in one day to be honest."

"Either way, I can't wait until she wakes up. I have quite a few things I want to talk to her about. Mainly about using our look-a-like status to confuse the hell out of people." Sonya snickered, ignoring Sesshomaru's sharp look in her direction while she curled up beside him, her head resting on his leg like normal.

"Well, we don't know if she'll wake up tonight or not. We don't even know if the fever will stay away." With a worried glance back at the sleeping girl, Kagome chewed her lower lip thoughtfully. "I think I'll stay awake and keep an eye on her, just in case."

"If you want, we can take turns, Kagome." Sango offered while tossing a worried glance in the same direction herself then turned back to Kagome in time to see her slowly nodding. "Alright, I'll take first watch."

"Wake me up when you get tired and no later than that." The slayer warned before letting out a soft yawn and laying down, Kirara curled up in her arms as she slowly drifted off into sleep.

It wasn't too long after before the rest of the pack began drifting off one by one, Miroku, Shippo, Sonya... Each of them taking slow, easy breaths while they slept.

Glancing over at Inuyasha, Kagome smiled wryly at his usual posture against a nearby tree. "Go to sleep, Inuyasha. I'm pretty sure it's safe here, we haven't been bothered yet anyway."

"Keh, I ain't tired wench. Just keep an eye on the human." With a snort, he closed his eyes and relaxed slightly, ears swiveling on top of his head while he sat there, making Kagome shake her head in a mix of frustration and amusement. Turning back to Niki, she reached out and gently placed her wrist on her forehead, checking to make sure it stayed cool then pulled the blanket up a little higher on her so it rested on her chest rather than her stomach. "I really hope you wake up tomorrow. If not, Sonya is going to drive all of us crazy asking questions about you." She whispered to the sleeping woman, a small smile lighting her features at the thought.

"I am certain she will awaken tomorrow." Looking over, Kagome blinked at Touga where he still sat beside the fire, one hand feeding another stick into it while he stared back at her. "Her heart beats easily and her breathing is even. She simply sleeps for now. She will awaken tomorrow."

"You think so?" Kagome looked back down at Niki and bit her lower lip lightly, watching the gentle rise and fall of her chest. "Yes." Hearing his affirmative, she felt a knot of tension suddenly ease from between her shoulders, one she didn't even know she had until it vanished. "Good." Breathing out a small sigh, she brushed a loose bit of hair from her eyes and settled down beside Niki, keeping watch over her until she felt close to falling asleep, then woke Sango up so she could finish the night out.


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