Chapter 12: What To Do Now…?

A/N: Well, I'm back….as promised! I hope that the last chapter revived some people's interest in me. Maybe? Kind of? Possibly? :P

Now, before I go on with my story, Compucles! I have some answers to your questions! Ok, looking back, you're right! Aphrodite or Venus was the Goddess of Love, wasn't she? Still, I think Hera/Juno as the Goddess of Marriage still fits quite well, doesn't it? (No one noticed that before….) Apart from that, you have pretty much read my mind on everything else! In answer to some questions: no, Naraku does not know that Kagome is in contact with Inuyasha and as for breaking in, security back then wasn't nearly as good…and besides, Kagome had just emptied the entire village into the woods. As for you other questions, they should be answered in chapters yet to come. Thank you for taking an interest though.

Well, on with the story then!

Dislaimer: I do not own Inuyasha.

"He wouldn't have taken Kagome." Inuyasha shook his head. "No one would willingly take that girl around with them.
"Well obviously Naraku would!" Sango snapped, as she paced between two trees. "Considering he's taken her. So thank you so much for your helpful advice, Inuyasha, anything else you'd like to add?"

"We don't know it's Kagome," Miroku pointed out. "All we know is her name starts with K."

"Exactly," Inuyasha agreed. "And besides, why are you so worried? You've only known her for about a week."

Sango stopped pacing and stared at the ground. "She's my friend," she said quietly. "There are some people that make friendships happen." She looked at the other two. "You didn't feel that with her?"

"I did." Miroku leapt in. "I felt it the minute I set eyes-"

"You don't count, Miroku," Sango interrupted. "You feel that with every woman. But, you." She turned to Inuyasha. "She has a hot temper and definitely doesn't appear a warm person, but there's something isn't there? Something that makes you want to tell her things. Makes you want to trust her with your secrets."

Inuyasha was silent. That night flashed for a moment in his head. For that moment he was back beside the river, telling Kagome about his father and the candles. For that moment he was standing by her side, watching the water reflect the flames. For that moment, Inuyasha was calm again. He felt the peace.

The moment ended. Shattered. Inuyasha shook his head and looked Sango in the eye.

"I've never felt that with her," he said. "Not once."

~…~

"Kagome?"

Kagome squeezed her eyes shut. She didn't want to hear the shouts.

"Kagome!" Someone took her roughly by the shoulders and shook her. "Kagome, wake up! Are you alright?"

Kagome groaned. Turned her head to one side. Opened her eyes a crack.

"Oh, Kagome!" Her father's face filled her vision. He looked angry. "Why did you leave the clearing? After you told us to go there too! I was so worried. We all looked for you for ages, everyone was trawling through the woods. And you had just come home to sleep!" He leaned back in frustration. "I never knew you to be so…so selfish and… and flippant!" The last word exploded from his mouth. "Kouga was beside himself, did you know that? We practically had to drag him home, he was so intent on looking for you. As soon as you are decent you are to go and apologise to him. To cause your fiancée that much worry," he crevices in his forehead, furrowed even deeper, "I didn't know you were such a person, Kagome."

Kagome didn't answer. She sat still on the ground, silent. Her father towered above her furious and all she could think of was the none of the Magpie's group came to see if she was alright. Not Sango. Not Miroku. Not even Inuyasha. They left her. She was taken by Naraku and they left her. She felt strangely hurt by it. More so than she ever thought she would do.

"Are you even listening to me, Kagome," her father asked. He sighed, suddenly looking quite small and defeated. "I'm sorry. I'm sorry. I didn't mean to shout. Its just…the Magpie…and the note…and…and your mother."

"It's alright, Father," Kagome said quietly. "The Magpie's thrown all of us off."

He most definitely has, she thought bitterly. I was fine before he showed up, now there's strange thieves and what have you floating around.

Her father looked slightly pacified that his daughter agreed with him. The two stood in silence as an unspoken question hovered in the air. Eventually Kagome took a breath, swallowed, and asked it.

"How's Mother?" Her voice died slightly towards the end. Faded away as she watched her father's face.

He closed his eyes. Remained silent for a small while. "She is…upset," he answered carefully. "She was mildly concerned that something might have happened to the Magpie. At one point, she decided it was all the village's fault, that we shouldn't have followed her into the woods."

"I'm sorry." And she genuinely was. Kagome knew how awful it was to be on the receiving end of her mother's grief. She tended to blame others. She tended to make others feel guilty, horrible, as if they wanted to shrink into themselves. She tended to be good at things like that.

"Have you seen her since?" she asked softly. Her father seemed to have forgotten his previous anger at her as he sighed gently.

"No," he replied. "She's locked herself in one of the rooms. She refuses to open to anyone."

"Have you tried speaking to her?"

"Of course I have!" His mouth contorted slightly, an effort to keep his emotions in check. "Would you think that I would merely let her do what she likes? She is my wife!"

Kagome stiffened suddenly. "What do you mean, Father?"

"Of what, do you ask?"

"When you say she is your wife, do you infer that she must do as you bid?"

Kagome's father looked at her strangely. "It is a woman's duty to obey as her husband says. I thought you knew that, Kagome."

Kagome was silent. She thought of Sango and the rest of the women who worked with the Magpie. None of them appeared to be downtrodden nor submissive. They were just as strong as the men. And the men knew that. At least, Inuyasha and Miroku seemed to.

"Kagome," her father probed once more. "I hope you won't be this headstrong when you marry Lord Kouga. It is not an attractive characteristic in a wife."

Kagome refused to reply. She kept silent. She had been brought up that way. She had always known a wife obeyed her husband. But she'd never thought that the rule would actually apply to her. That she would ever be the small woman seated at a man's side.

"Kagome," her father's voice was beginning to rise. "Do not ignore me."

Kagome raised her head. She smiled. Spoke loudly and clearly. "Of course, Father," her voice carried across the room. "I will never dare speak out against Lord Kouga. You have my word on it."

Instead of smiling and looking relieved at her statements, Kagome's father instead sank into a chair with a sigh. He suddenly looked quite small and tired. His head drooped and she could see the masses of grey hairs begin to sprout along his hairline. Her father looked…old.

"What's wrong with you, Kagome?" he asked suddenly.

"What do you mean, Father?"

"You used to banter with me all the time. We would have fun with it. You could make me laugh like no one else could. Ever since the news of the Magpie's reoccurrence has arrived we've only fought or you've been overly polite. You're not acting like you used to, Daughter."

Kagome bit her lip. "Father, you cannot expect me to jest and laugh as I used to when there is a thief threatening our village. It would be calloused of me to act like nothing is happening."

"But that was what you used to do!" Her father stood again. "You were a salvation from the rest of the world. Whatever was occurring never seemed to bother. I could come and speak to you and know that, for a few minutes, I could pretend that everything was as it should be. Previous issues never affected you, Kagome, and I can't understand why this one does."

"Previous issues were never of a concern to me," Kagome responded coolly. "I have not lived for that long, Father, and this is the first issue that pertains directly to my lifestyle."

"There were issues with my company, previously," her father continued. "If everything was destroyed we would have been thrown into poverty. That would affect your lifestyle greatly."

Kagome kept her tone even with some difficulty. She still had a headache and wished to sleep. Her father's raising voice was hurting her ears. "That was your problem, Father. There was nothing I could do to help your company. There was no reason for me to be upset about something I could do nothing to change. The Magpie is different to a financial crisis."

"If the finances were my problem, then the Magpie is your mother's!"

Her father fell silent after that outburst, his chest heaving. Kagome refused to respond. She felt quite hurt. Her father didn't consider her enough to be a part in the problems they faced.

"If it's my mother's problem," she began quietly. "Why are you becoming so involved in it?"

"A wife's problem is her husband's."

"She never bothered you when your business threatened to fall!"

"She wasn't there to bother me! She was always sitting in her room, waiting for some miserable thief!"

"Well, then perhaps she doesn't wish for your presence in her problems either!"

Her father looked shocked. He stepped back is if Kagome had hit him.

"I'm sorry, Father," she began once more, in calmer tones. "I do not mean to shout at you. But we both know it to be true, do we not. We've pretending for so many years. Pretending that maybe Mother will love us both again. Maybe she will forget the Magpie and his son and remember that we are her family."

Her father opened his mouth to speak but Kagome interrupted him once more.

"But, maybe, its time we just give up. She's not going to come around, its obvious now. The Magpie returning has only confirmed things. Maybe it will be easier if we just realise it now, Father. If we say it aloud."

"No." Her father shook his head. "She does love us, Kagome, and how could you infer otherwise. Your mother cannot wish for the company of a thief; I would not like you to speak of it again."

He turned to march away but Kagome's whisper made him falter. "But she does." Her voice traveled through the air. Bruised his ears and made him stagger. "You can say she cannot as much as you like. You can say you will not allow her to; but Father, you cannot control who she loves."

"She doesn't love him." His voice was rough, choked. "She doesn't."

He carried on his way and Kagome watched until she could no longer hear his footsteps.

She sighed slightly. Turned. Made her way back to her bedroom. She wasn't really quite sure how to feel. Wasn't positive whether she should be thinking of sadness or joy. Relief that Naraku had left her. Joy that her home had remained untouched. Sadness that her mother was most definitely in love with a memory.

Maybe it was a mixture of many emotions. Feelings that kept turning and burning inside of her. Kagome shook her head. The sun was coming up and she hadn't slept all night; she should go to sleep.

As her hand fell on her doorknob she heard a strange noise. The bump of someone walking into furniture. A muffled curse. She withdrew slightly. Had Naraku returned?

The noises changed. Now they were the footsteps of someone pacing back and forth with increasing speed. Kagome swallowed her mouthful of fear. Naraku wouldn't come back so soon, would he? It wouldn't be reasonable, especially not now that the villagers had returned.

The pacing paused. Recommenced. This time with purpose. With frustration. Pacing quickly. No, not pacing. Walking. Walking quickly. Towards the door. With purpose. Louder and louder. Kagome pressed herself against the opposite wall, telling herself to run away. Her feet wouldn't move. The doorknob turned. She swallowed. Loudly. Painfully. Her breath stuck in her throat and she squeezed her eyes closed.

The door opened. Quieter than she thought it would. Naraku must have held the door so that it wouldn't crash against the wall.

And then? Nothing. The horrible pain in her head didn't come back. The cold, skeletal hand didn't encircle her wrist. There was nothing. She cracked an eye open. Slowly. Slowly.

Inuyasha leant against the wall opposite to her. His shoulders were relaxed, but his eyes, tense.

"However dramatically you close your eyes," he began, languidly, "I'm not going to ravish you, so you might as well give up now."

Kagome scowled. "It can be trusted," she replied, "that there is an extraordinary number of things I would rather do, than to be ravished by you."

"You can say that, but your expression spoke otherwise."

Kagome chose to ignore him. She waited instead for him to continue. He sighed and pushed himself away from the wall.

"Sango will be pleased to hear that you're alive then."
"Wait." Kagome reached over and took hold of his wrist. He turned quickly and stared at her fingers. Slightly self-conscious, she retracted them and folded her hands before her. "You came to see if I was alright?"

Inuyasha stepped backwards. "Only because Sango forced me to. You seem fine though, so I'll be off."

"That's it then?" Kagome asked bitterly. "I'm not dead so you'll just leave. Nothing worse could possible have happened."

Inuyasha looked confused. "What could be worse than death?"

Kagome shook her head. "There are many things worse, Inuyasha. You don't understand. You couldn't feel it. His voice, floating through my head. My arms and legs, even my mouth, moving in the way he wanted it to. And that wasn't the worst part either." She look Inuyasha head on. "It's horrible enough being trapped in a body bending to another's will, but there was something worse. There was a small part of me, a little section of my mind. A little me in the back of my head. That little me was happy to do his bidding. That little me wanted to do whatever he asked. It was terrifying." Her voice began to crumble slightly. "You don't understand, you couldn't feel it. It was like he was slowly changing me. Ever so slightly. Bit by bit. You don't understand." She looked down with the last word. Heaved a sigh. Waited for him to speak.

Inuyasha frowned. "What do you mean?" he asked. "What happened."

Kagome looked up incredulously. "What happened? What happened? Naraku happened, Inuyasha. He came into my head. I had to do what he wanted. He made me trick Kouga. He made me show him where I live. He made me walk with him, laugh with him, he-"

Inuyasha grabbed hold of her arm. "What do you mean he was in your head?! Speak clearly."

Kagome shook him loose, her face angry. "I mean he was there! Inside my mind, telling me what to do! Aren't you listening? Why didn't you warn me? I could have tried to protect myself better."

Inuyasha had turned pale. He leaned against the wall once more and ran a hand through his hair. "We weren't warned of that either," he said quietly. "Damn."

"What is it?" Kagome couldn't help it. She walked closer to Inuayasha. Slowly. Quietly. "I thought you had been observing things, I thought you knew his system."

"Well, apparently we didn't!" Inuyasha looked frustrated. Annoyed. "This is something new. We didn't know." A moment of silence. A breathed sigh. "We really didn't know."

"So what happens now?"

Inuyasha stared at the ground.

"I don't know," he said softly. So softly that Kagome had to strain her ears to hear him. "I really don't know."

The two stood together in a darkened hallway. Unintentionally, moving closer for the comfort of another person. Stood, drowning in their thoughts and hoping that the other would pull them out.

The two stood together. Waiting for something to happen. Trying hard to forget the memories.

The two stood together.

Together.

Hoping for the impossible solution.

A/N: Sooooo, what did you think? Please, please, pretty please leave a review! It would be much appreciated! (And if you review it might give me motivation to update….just saying…. :P)

Anyway…I'll be seeing you! (Except not really….)

-DarkAsTheNightSky