Sorry for the ridiculous delay! Please stick with me!

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VQ

"Kagome? Kagome! KAGOME!"

I hear Inuyasha's voice. But why does it sound so far away?

"I'm right -" I turned around and the first thing I see is my body right in front of me. Except taller. I looked down at my hands and tiny feet. Am I a child again?"

I was startled by a tap on the shoulder. Its Inuyasha as a kid! I remember! His amber eyes were so big like mine when we were young. And his hair was shorter.

He's running away, laughing. Should I chase him? I turned around to see the more recent Inuyasha standing over me trying to revive me. I think this is an important clue, though. Its probably the only way I can return to my body. So I'm going after the ghost of childhood Inuyasha.

"Wait for me!" I called. Wow even my voice sounds like that of a child. "You're going too fast!"

Inuyasha always ran too fast for me to catch him, especially when we played tag.

Wait.

Why do I remember that?! Are my memories finally coming back to me?

As I'm chasing him, I saw him fall flat on his face and begin wailing. I sped as hard as I could to find out what happened.

"What's wrong?"

He turned over with tears in his eyes and blood spilling from his knee. "I tripped on glass and it cut me real bad. Can you go get mother?"

"I don't wanna leave you by yourself!"

"But I want mommy!" He screamed as he cried louder.

I ran back in the opposite direction to find our mothers. They always sat by the shore in walking distance from the pier. Oh wow. I remember that too?!

As I was running in a frenzy everything faded to black.

"Kagome?"

Is that Inuyasha's voice again? I opened my eyes and saw him looking down at me worried. Did I pass out? Was that a dream?

"What happened to me?"

"I'm not sure. You zoned out and then you started to fall so I caught you."

I turned slightly and realized I'm laying in his lap.

"Inuyasha do you remember when you cut your knee when we were kids?"

"You remember that? After my mother put the bandage on you kissed it for 10 whole minutes and kept saying sorry for leaving me alone when I was hurt." His expression is so soft and sweet as he remembers that.

"I pretty much relieved it. I had an out of body experience."

"Whoa."

"Can we go on the pier now? I'm getting so close to remembering you and everything else."

"Okay but..."

"But what?"

"You're still laying on my legs."

I'm so embarrassed. I sprang up and hid my face so he doesnt see my burning cheeks.

I'm walking ahead of him to avoid the awkward moment.

"Hey. Do you remember anything ...else from that day?"

"Like what?"

Inuyasha sped ahead of me and stepped onto the pier. "If you don't remember it doesn't matter. Its not important anyway."

Why does he sound so upset about this? Maybe it was something that held deep significance.

I stood beside him at the front of the pier and that warmth came over me again and the entire moment began to feel like a dream. I can't describe it but this feels wonderful.

Inuyasha took the lead and stepped further onto the pier. He looked down and gestured for me to follow.

I slowly walked towards the end and looked down at the beautiful glistening water and smiled.

It's so beautiful and more amazing than I remember it from my dream. "I feel like I'm seeing this for the first time."

"Yeah but you've seen it a million."

"And you've seen it a million more than me haven't you?"

He nodded.

I love the sound of the water and the view of the sunset. this really does feel like a dream. The best part is that I'm not afraid. I'm happy. I haven't felt this true happiness since...

Since Inuyasha and I used to play together.

The only time I was ever happy was when I was by his side.

I think I'm in love with him.

He protected me, looked after me and thought about me even after I had forgotten him.

He absolutely deserves my love.

"You wanna walk on the beach some more?"

"Yes."

Kagome just grabbed my hand and started leading me off the pier. Does she even notice she's holding my hand? I don't want to bring attention to it. She used to do this all the time when we were kids. It was her way of controlling my pace when we walked.

"Hey what's the rush?" I asked her. Just a joke though. I actually think she's walking really slow.

"Knock it off! You know I'm walking slow."

Damn. She read my mind. She knows me without even realizing it.

Its crazy how she's more mature but not much has changed about her since we were brats.

She's perfect.

I turned back and realized Inuyasha was staring at me. The look in his eyes is so gentle and so...so...loving that I don't know what to do.

I turned away from him and towards the shore. The sun is almost down.

I love the way the sun melts into the ocean. The rippling water and the hues of orange and red remind me of the blood flowing through my veins.

It reminds me that this is real.

"People are starting to leave the beach."

I turned and watched all the people folding up their beach chairs and children grabbing their pails and shovels.

I returned my focus to Inuyasha, who was unbuttoning his shirt.

"Going for a swim?"

He draped his shirt over my shoulders. "It gets breezy on the beach in the evening. I know how cold you get sometimes."

He's right. When mom used to leave my window open in the fall I would wrap myself up in my blanket.

"Thanks." His shirt still feels so warm on my shoulders. And it smells so sweet. Oh, what am I to do about these feelings?

Inuyasha and I stood in the same spot until everyone left the beach.

He stood like a perfect statue chiseled from stone, muscular arms crossed and I, of course surprised at myself for noticing him in that way, stood next to him grasping his shirt and keeping warm in the chilly breeze.

I can't believe I'm looking at Inuyasha this way. I'm noticing his body and his handsome face. I'm looking at him like what he is now. He's become a man and I, a young woman.

We've come a long way from playing tag by that tree in his yard.

Wait...I remember that too!

"Inuyasha!"

"Huh?"

"I...I remember the day we met! And we played by that tree in your backyard."

He gave me such a vibrant smile.

"I'm glad you're remembering things. I told you the memories would come to you."

Come to think of it...that tree was a maple tree too, just like the one in my yard that he always sits in. I always wondered why we had a maple tree in our yard.

"Inuyasha, why did our moms have maple trees in the yards?"

"Oh. You noticed that too huh? I dunno. They knew each other a long time so maybe they grew them at the same time too."

"Oh."

There are a lot of things we probably won't ever find out because our mothers are both gone.

"The beach is pretty empty now. You wanna go back on the pier?"

"Not yet." I kicked off my sandals and walked along the shore. The cold wet sand beneath my toes feels really nice. All I'm used to is hardwood floor and carpet beneath my feet.

I'm finally free from the things that used to haunt me.

"Kagome be careful. There are seashells on the shore and you could get hurt."

There he goes acting like my dad as always.

"I know! Ill be fine...ow!" Oh great. I stepped on a shell after all.

I plopped down on the sand and pulled it out of my foot.

"See? What'd I tell ya? Now put your sandals back on." He admonished as he handed me my sandals.

I put them on and stood. then I pushed Inuyasha into the sand and ran to the pier.

Damn woman pushed me. She always does this to me and runs. I got up and chased after her and she was laughing like a giddy school girl. I haven't seen her this happy in a long time. especially since I moved in to the house.

Wow. This is fun! As I'm running towards the pier I realized there's nowhere else to run.

But Inuyasha grabbed me from behind and lifted me into the air.

"Stop it!" I screamed.

He puts me down but never lets me out of his grasp. We started to sway back and forth like the wind was pushing us.

I grabbed his hands from around my sides and pulled him towards the end of the pier.

I leaned over the edge and he stood beside me quiet as a mouse.

I looked up at him and his eyes were on me. That soft loving look from before again. Why do I feel so scared again?

This time, I know what I'm afraid of.

I'm afraid of love. I know it hurts just as much as it feels wonderful. Even the love I have for mom is painful.

What if I lose him too?

"Hey Kagome how come you look so sad all of a sudden?

"I do? Sorry I was thinking about my mom"

"Oh."

"I was also thinking about how scared I am at the thought of losing you."

"Losing me? Where am I going?"

"To heaven. what if you die too?"

He chuckled and grabbed my hand. "We had this conversation before. You asked me if I would outlive you since I'm a half demon. I told you that as long as I don't get any incurable disease or something, I'll be here twice as long as you."

"Oh. I wish I would've remembered."

"It will be lonely without you." He said with a smirk.

"You're only saying that because I broke up with you."

"At least I got to kiss you. It was nice. Too bad it'll never happen again."

I impulsively grabbed him and kissed him. It was a brief and shy kiss. But I got to feel his soft warm lips again.

He didn't react. Nor did he say anything. The silence is starting to feel awkward.

"Um..Why did you forget about me?"

"It hurt too much to remember you. After my mother died I didn't know how to find you. I gave up so quickly. But I..."

He paused and took a deep breath.

"I still love you. Just as I did before. Maybe even more now because you're so beautiful. E-even back then I knew you were pretty but I loved what was inside you the most. I know I shouldn't bother because you hardly remember me and I-"

"I love you too." There. I said it.

He leaned in and gave me another kiss. A real kiss. I could feel his fangs on my lip and the warmth coming from his body as he pulled me towards him.

I'm not sure what I'm supposed to do. Just keep kissing? I like it but I'm not sure what I should do here. I suppose I could ...put my arms around his shoulders. They're so broad and strong like they've been carrying a heavy burden.

I want to hold him like this forever. Every day, every night.

How is it that our love somehow continued to blossom despite the fact that we were apart for so long?

When our lips parted I looked at Kagome. She was smiling and shivering.

"Come on. Let's go home. I'll carry you on my back."

I turned around and lifted Kagome onto my back. She's got a strong grip! "Damn Kagome you're fuckin choking me!"

"Sorry."

Her grip feels much looser but her skin still feels warm. Except her fingertips. They're ice cold. I need to get her home.

Inuyasha ran so fast I almost scraped his skin off holding on. I was afraid I was going to fall.

What a thrilling experience! And its much warmer on the porch away from the shore.

I looked up at the crescent moon and the stars painted over the sky. The smell of the night air and the ambience of the evening is picture perfect. especially with Inuyasha by my side.

"Lets go inside and have dinner."

Inuyasha held the door open for me and the first thing I saw was a large group of policemen and blood all over the house.