A/N: I'm really enjoying all the positive feedback on this fic! Thank you for all the kind reviews and for adding me to favorites/following my story! I really appreciate it. Hope you enjoy this new chapter!
Disclaimer: I do not own Inuyasha or any of its characters, nor could I ever hope to be as genius as Rumiko Takahashi.
"Thank goodness for the weekend," Kagome mumbled to herself softly as she lay on her back in the grass underneath the overhanging branches of the ancient God Tree. Her grandfather was sure to lecture her sternly if he caught her sneaking over the fence to be close to the tree, but she didn't care at this point. She always felt more relaxed here, and after the last couple of days (or had it only been one day? Kagome wasn't sure) she had, relaxation was something she definitely needed.
She sighed contentedly as rays of warm sunlight wended their way through the leaves and dotted her milky flesh with bright patches. She wriggled her bare feet in the cool, shaded grass, enjoying the feel of it between her toes. Basking underneath the God Tree was putting the last day or days or however long she had been feeling like she was going crazy in perspective.
So she thought she lived a life that never actually existed. So she was hearing voices. So she couldn't really remember anything since waking up from that awful dream where she was trapped in nothing. She would get through it. It was obvious that she was overly stressed. She just needed to unwind a little more, like she was doing now.
She threw her arms on the ground behind her head, stretching deeply and arching her back gracefully in the process. A lazy yawn escaped her lips as she slowly sat up and slipped her shoes and socks back onto her grass-stained feet. Reluctantly, the miko rose to her feet. After all, she did have chores to do, and her mom could probably use some help making lunch for everyone.
She hopped the short wooden fence guarding the God Tree and wandered into the shrine, grabbing an old broom that was leaning against the wall. She hummed to herself as she swept the floors, absently watching particles of dust floating into the air and dancing in the streaming sunlight as she worked. She swept her small pile of debris out of the shrine and off of the creaking wooden steps of the entryway onto the wide dirt path leading to her house.
"There, now Grandpa can't nag me about sweeping the shrine," she stated to herself, feeling a little more accomplished as she placed the old broom back where she had found it. "Now to help mom with lunch."
She marched eagerly back to her house, kicking her shoes off in the door way, to help her mother prepare the midday meal. Taking care to wash her hands with hot soapy water, she gave her mother a large smile. Her mother suppressed an amused chuckle at her daughter's enthusiasm.
"What do you need help with mom?" Kagome inquired dutifully, drying her hands on a fluffy crimson towel that was hanging from the handle of their oven.
"My, you're in a good mood today," her mother replied smiling good-naturedly and handing her an assortment of vegetables. "Why don't you chop these up for me?"
Kagome set about her work, humming to herself softly again. The sharp knife clacked repeatedly against the cutting board as she chopped. She had finally accepted that this was her life. Her time spent in the Feudal Era with…oh what was his name again…inu…inu-something was nothing more than a dream. Or was it? She stopped chopping, dropping the knife in her hand onto the cutting board with a clatter and spilling some radishes onto the floor.
"Are you okay, Kagome?" her mother asked worried, startled by the sudden noise.
"I…I sense a jewel shard," she whispered so quietly her mother almost could not make out the words.
"A jewel shard? What are you talking about, dear?" her mother inquired in reply, worry etched in the lines around her eyes.
"There is a fragment of the Shikon no Tama nearby. Maybe I can forget my travels in the Feudal Era, and maybe I can forget about Inuyasha, but I will never forget the sensation of the Shikon jewel," Kagome all but roared. She had been right all along. Something was wrong. This wasn't her life. This wasn't her world. And the woman standing in front of her was not her mother.
"Oh Kagome, not this again," the woman sighed in exasperation. The miko ignored her. Nothing in this made up world was important except for finding the jewel. She could feel its tingling presence, like static electricity thick in the air. This shard needed to be purified. It felt beyond tainted. It felt lik evil incarnate. But, she couldn't pinpoint its location. Its aura was so strong that it was overwhelming her abilities. Still, she had to try. Maybe if she purified the shard, it would break the spell keeping her in this false world.
Leaving her mess in the kitchen, Kagome ran out of her house, not even bothering with her shoes. She could feel the dust sticking to her socks and the occasional bite of a sharp rock, but she kept running. She had to find the shard and cleanse it of its taint.
'It's not real, ´ she told herself as she caught her foot on an especially painful rock. 'It doesn't matter how real it feels. It isn't real.'
She came to a halt in front of the old well house. The evil presence seemed stronger here. The hair on her arms stood on end as she slid the crumbling door open. A shiver coursed down her spine and goose bumps ran rampant across her flesh. She found herself wanting to turn around, to run away, but she knew she couldn't. She had to purify this aura. The shard should have never been allowed to become so tainted. There was so much damage it could do.
"Where is it?" Kagome growled frustrated, still unable to pinpoint the shards location. An idea dawned on her. She had been able to sense jewel shards in her era while they had been on the other side of the well once before. Without a second thought, she threw herself into the well hoping to be consumed by the glow of purplish light. Instead, she tumbled to the bottom of the musty well unceremoniously, scraping her knees and elbows the whole way down.
"Damn it!" she snapped, picking herself up off the ground and trying to ignore the sting of her newly acquired set of scrapes and bumps. She knelt down on the ground, the presence feeling even stronger at the bottom of the well. The air was so thick with the shard's taint that she was almost afraid it would consume her before she could purify it. She began to dig frantically, her fingernails bending and tearing painfully as she clawed at the ground.
She needed to get back through. She needed to see her friends and to know she wasn't crazy. And there was something else gnawing at the back of her mind, someone else she needed to see. Someone important, someone she cared for immensely.
"Kagome, you need to wake up now," the deep baritone echoed throughout the well. Kagome felt her stomach do flips. That was him! That voice was his! Why couldn't she place it? She should know his name. She should have his face memorized, but nothing came to mind. She tore at the ground even more frenetically.
"I need you Kagome," the voice spoke tenderly and she felt her heart yearn to be near it. "I love you Kagome. I, Lord Sesshomaru of the Western Lands, am in love with you."
She froze. Sesshomaru was in love with her? She could remember him now, clear as day. How she ever forgot him in the first place was a mystery. She had remembered him for a second during her dream that she now realized wasn't a dream, but then she had forgotten again. How was it possible to forget someone like the inuyoukai? It didn't really matter at this point. She needed to wake up. She needed to go to him, to wrap her arms around him and tell him that she loved him as well.
Slowly, a pair of chocolate eyes opened and beheld nothing but darkness. Kagome now knew that she really was trapped in a void of nothing, but she was no longer all that was in the void. Her body began to pulse, surrounded by writhing pink holy light. The shard, she needed to purify the shard.
She closed her eyes and reached her glowing hand outwards, searching the darkness until she felt her fingers close around it tightly. It took everything in her not to recoil and withdraw her hand. She could feel the taint of the throbbing fragment, threatening to overwhelm her, but she fought it. She focused all her energy on the shard, the swirling light surrounding her body now flowing towards the shard to bathe it in purity. Its black coloring began to fade, lightening into various shades of purple before stopping at the light pinkish purple of a completely uncorrupted jewel shard.
As the shard became pure, the darkness around Kagome seemed to fade away in a blinding flash of holy radiance. She blinked as her eyes adjusted to her surroundings, and for a moment, her expressive dark eyes met Sesshomaru's impassive amber gaze. Then, without a word, she collapsed in a heap on the wooden deck of the castle's main structure.
x.X.x
Sesshomaru held his breath as he waited for something to happen. So far Naraku and Utsuro just stood there, the same cruel smile playing on their lips as they waited for him to realize he had failed. But then, just as Sesshomaru began to worry that he had misunderstood Kikyo's instructions, Utsuro's smile started to fade, and an expression like he had eaten rancid meat and was becoming ill overtook his features. A brilliant blaze of soft pink light filled the air, and when it cleared, there was no sign of Utsuro. Kagome was standing completely still, her large eyes locked with Sesshomaru's for a second that seemed like an eternity before she crumpled from exhaustion.
In the blink of an eye, the Demon Lord was at her side, cradling her head in his lap gently as he pushed wayward strands of raven hair out of her lovely face. A light sheen of sweat covered her wan forehead, but he kissed it anyway. He was so relieved that she was alive. He could hear her breathing and the steady beat of her heart. Yes, she was definitely alive.
"Where's Naraku?" Inuyasha exclaimed in distress at the hanyou's disappearance. "Did she…Did she purify him as well?"
"No," Sesshomaru replied simply, nodding almost imperceptibly to a feather receding into the cloudless azure sky. The slight expression of hope on the hanyou's face changed into disappointed. "He escaped."
"Damn him!" Inuyasha growled, sheathing his Tetsusaiga in frustration. "How could we let him get away again?"
"It does not matter, Kagome is safe," Sesshomaru answered, running his fingers lovingly down her smooth cheek.
"Yeah, about that," Inuyasha started. "How did you let her go and get herself captured in the first place? AND...WHAT THE HELL DID YOU THINK YOU WERE DOING GIVING NARAKU ANOTHER FRAGMENT OF THE JEWEL? You could have gotten us all killed! Just because you all of a sudden start falling in love with humans does not mean that you start giving away the ONLY thing that will make him even more powerful. OH, and thanks a bunch for actually trying to kill me back there. I should've known that you would try to trick me like that. That was really your plan all along, huh?"
"Inuyasha," Kagome mumbled, not bothering to open her eyes. "Shut up."
Inuyasha's eyes almost bulged out of their sockets at Kagome's audacity. How dare she speak to him so ungratefully. "I just spent Kami knows how long fighting to save your life, and you tell me to shut up?"
"Fine, have it your way," Kagome replied with an exasperated sigh. She was too exhausted for the hanyou's insolence. "Sit boy."
The enchanted rosary beads around the hanyou's neck suddenly dragged him face first into the ground. A cloud of dust rose from ground stirred up by Inuyasha's violent meeting with the dirt. He grumbled to himself discontentedly as he stood back up, folding his arms over his chest indignantly.
"How are you feeling?" Sesshomaru uttered tenderly, running his fingers through soft raven strands.
"I love you too, you know," Kagome answered, a small smile playing in the corners of her oh so tempting lips. Sesshomaru could not resist the urge to plant a series of soft, sensual kisses upon them. Inuyasha turned his back on the unwelcome sight, trying to suppress a jealous growl. He had planned on taking Kagome back after this was over, after all, she had never fallen into Naraku's clutches on his watch, but he had a feeling that wasn't how things were going to play out. Plus, he was entirely too exhausted for an argument, and all he really wanted to do was make sure Kikyo had survived Utsuro's draining assault.
"Oi, Sango, you and Kirara get Miroku back to Kaede. He needs an antidote immediately. I'll be right behind you," the hanyou called dismissing the slayer. He turned his attention towards the wolf to see Koga's slumped form being dragged away by his two loyal, but cowardly followers, Hakkaku and Ginta. Inuyasha snorted. The idiot would be fine in their care. He turned back to his elder brother and Kagome, hoping their affectionate display had come to an end. "Well, I guess I'll see you around," he mumbled his face bright red and amber eyes cast downward when he noticed their kiss had only deepened. Without another word, he leapt away, running after Sango as fast as his battered body would allow.
Finally Kagome broke for air, her dark eyes heavy-lidded and glazed over with desire, but her dreamy stupor was soon cut short as icy panic flowed through her. "Sesshomaru, we must get back to Rin. We need to make sure she's all right!"
The alarm in her voice spooked the usually stoic Demon Lord. "Did something happen to her? Was she attacked by Utsuro as well?"
"No, she and Ah-Un went fishing for a meal while Jaken," her eyes filled with tears and her bottom lip trembled as she spoke his name. "Jake and I went to forage. And then Utsuro came…and…and…Jaken was killed protecting me," wailed Kagome who sat up to sob uncontrollably into her knees. While she had no love for the toad during their time together, she was disconsolate at his loss. Rin would be devastated, and she imagined even the detached inuyoukai would feel the sting of his passing.
Sesshomaru placed a comforting hand on her back. He was relieved that his ward had not been present during the attack, but Jaken's loss was unfortunate. As grating as he could be, Jaken was always loyal. The Demon Lord knew there was no bringing the imp back with his Tensaiga, as he had already used the ability on the toad once before.
"Shh," he hushed her softly, rubbing small circles on her back with his singular hand. "He died valiantly in the service of his master. That's how he would have wanted it," the inuyoukai murmured soothingly. "Come now. Let's go find Rin."
Gracefully, Sesshomaru rose from his seated position on his calves to his feet, drawing Kagome to his chest and pulling her against him tightly. He was so grateful to be able to hold her in his arm once again. His demonic cloud formed solid underneath their feet, and they rose into the air back towards clearing where they had made camp what now seemed like years ago.