Chapter
4~Forgiveness
Inuyasha once
again sat in the God tree. He was very high up, on a branch that he'd
been sitting on for the past week.
Kagome stared
up at him for a moment the, hesitantely began to climb up the tree. When
she reached the branch he was on, she placed a hand on his shoulder.
"Inuyasha."
She whispered.
"Ka-Kagome..."
His face lifted, and she saw it was once again, damp with tears.
"Why are you
crying?" She asked, gently wiping a tear from his face.
"B-because..."
Kagome smiled
at him. "You shouldn't cry. It's bad for your skin." She
pulled out a hankerchief. "It dries out your face, makes the skin
rough." She wiped the moisture from his face.
Inuyasha
caught her hand. "Kagome..." He brought her hands to his face.
Kagome stared
at him in shock. "What's wrong?"
"I'm sorry,
Kagome."
Kagome cocked
her head, curiously. "For what? I don't understand."
He pressed
his lips to her palm, a feather-soft kiss, that left her trembling. "I
swore I wouldn't forget you...and the I did. I lied to you." He
stared at her face.
"Love can
make people break promises." She said, reclaiming her hand.
"Damn it,
Kagome." He whispered, closing his eyes to her nuetral face. "Don't
you understand what I meant yesterday?"
"No. I
don't. After all, Kikyou is here." She looked away from his bent
head.
"I couldn't
care less if she was." He whispered. "I didn't want to tell you
this..." He opened his eyes, and caught her face in his hands. "Not
like this."
Kagome stared
at him, his warm hands holding her face, gently, yet firmly. "What are
you talking about?"
"I'm trying
to tell you that I love you..." He whispered, pressing a gentle kiss to
her lips. "Kikyou was a long time ago. I don't love her anymore."
She stared at
him in shock. "Then why did you kiss her?"
"How to put
this..." He shook his head. "I didn't kiss her out of love.
And believe me, I wasn't kissing her in my mind."
Kagome felt
tears in her eyes. "What?!"
"It was your
face I saw, Kagome." He stared at her. "Not hers, yours."
"Why didn't
you say this before?!" She began to cry uncontrolably. "Before I
left! Last night! Why now?!"
Inuyasha
stared at her hurt face. "Becasue I wasn't sure until after you
left." He brushed her tears away.
"There isn't
going to be a happy ending for us, Inuyasha!" Kagome pulled from his
gentle hands. "We're from two different times!"
Inuyasha
stared at her, her words stinging him. "I'm willing to give up my life
here to stay with you."
Her face
jerked up. "Do you know how to live in my time? NO!"
Inuyasha
grasped her shoulders, pulling her against him. "Damn it, listen to
me!" He whispered. "I love you. I want to be with you.
I realize I don't know how to live in your time, but I'm willing to learn!"
Kagome pushed
him away. "Please, let me go!"
"Kagome, I'd
use the jewel to become human."
That shut her
up. "You'd...what?" Shock was holding her in it's clutches.
Inuyasha held
her against him, pressing his lips against hers. "I will use the jewel to
become human." He said, softly. "I want us to be together.
You and me. Always."
Kagome felt
more tears rolling down her cheeks. "A-are you sure?" She asked
softly. "I-I mean..."
"Yes."
He stared at her, sad, but sincere. "I've had plenty of time to think
about it. Yesterday, the others didn't ask me to go. I went on my
own. I wanted to see you."
Kagome's
bottom lip quivered. "Oh, Inuyasha..." She threw herself against
his chest, sobbing happily. "I love you...I love you..." She
repeated her words again and again.
Inuyasha
folded her into a warm gentle embrace. "I love you, too, Kagome."
They walked back
to the hut, hand-in-hand. Sango smiled from the window, seeing them walk
up. She sighed, a bit happily, and moved next to Kirara, waiting for the
fireworks that would erupt once Kikyou saw what she had just seen.
They walked
into the hut, smiling a bit.
Kikyou's jaw
dropped. "I-Inuyasha?!"
"Kikyou."
He barely acknowledged her.
"What the
hell is that bitch doing holding your hand?" She snarled.
Kagome stared
at Kikyou. "We came to say 'bye for now'." Kagome smiled at Miroku
and Shippou's shocked expressions. "We're going to my time for a while."
Kikyou moved to
quick for Kagome to see.
Suddenly a
hand cracked across her face, sending Kagome spinning to the floor.
"Fucking
WHORE!" Kikyou cried. "You steal MY Inuyasha?!"
Inuyasha bent
next to Kagome, checking her face. "Are you okay?" He asked,
concerened.
Kagome smiled
a bit, but stopped when the cheek began to sting. "I've survived your
brothers poison claw. I can survive Kikyou's slaps." She said,
standing.
"We'll see,"
Kikyou lunged at Kagome, lightning fast, her anger driving her. "How long
you'll last."
Kagome ducked
under a swing. "SHIT!"
Inuyasha
caught Kikyou's wrist. "Stop."
"Let me go,
bastard. You said you loved me. You said you'd never stop loving
me!"
"Inuyasha,"
Kagome gently uncurled his fingers from around Kikyou's wrist. "Let her
go. It wont stop her later."
Kaede frowned
at the sudden change in her sister. "Kikyou-neesama..." She
whispered. "You begin to act like those you once hated.
Naraku. All those other demons that you killed."
"I DO
NOT!" Kikyou screamed, charging her sister. "I DO NOT!
TRAITOR!!!"
Inuyasha
intercepted her. "Stop." He said simply, catching her arms.
Kikyou stared
up at him. "You lied to me."
"Who lied to
who?" Kagome stared at Kikyou's angry form. "He loved you. I
know he did. But did you honestly love him?"
"Of course I
did!"
"Then why did
you believe that it was he that attacked you?"
Kikyou stared
at the girl. "What?!"
Kagome looked
from Inuyasha's shocked face to Kikyou's. "When I saw Inuyasha kiss you,
I got angry, I wont lie. But I knew for a very long period of time he
loved you and only you." She looked down at her hands. "I was
willing to give up my love for him so he'd be happy."
Inuyasha
stared at Kagome. "Kagome..."
"I knew he'd
never hurt anyone he cared for. I knew he'd never purposely harm a
human." She finally looked at Kikyou in the eyes. "If you truely
loved him, like I do, you'd let him go. You'd believe in him. You'd
want him happy."
Kikyou stared
at her a moment, then jerked from Inuyasha's grasp. She picked up her bow
and arrow, hesitating at the door for a moment. "Perhaps your right
git. But I'll let no one have my Inuyasha." She spun and fired an
arrow into Kagome's stomach.
Inuyasha
stared at Kikyou in shock as Kagome fell to the floor, bleeding.
"No one
except me." Kikyou smiled and left the hut.
Sango stared
in shock. "Kagome-chan?!"
"Kagome?!"
Inuyasha immediately dropped to the floor next to her. "Kagome?!"
"Inu...yasha..."
Kagome lifted her hand to his face. "Please, take...me...home..."
He stared
down at the wound in horror. "Of course I will."
Miroku knelt
beside him. "It's a clean wound. It should heal."
Inuyasha
lifted Kagome off the floor effortlessly. "Hand me her bag."
Obediently,
Sango handed the light bag to Inuyasha, who flung it over his shoulder and
walked from the hut.
"Inu...yasha..."
Kagome looked up at the determined look on his face. "Love...you..."
"Don't you
dare go to sleep." He whispered, seeing the drowzy look in her
eyes. "Talk to me. Don't stop talking to me."
Kagome smiled
up at him. "I'm so tired. It hurts Inuyasha. Please, let me
sleep..."
"No, Kagome,
I wont. Not now. I will not let you sleep. You have a
family." He looked down at her sadly. "You have your whole life
ahead of you. I don't want to live without you!"
Kagome
quivered in his arms, the spell on the arrow trying to take effect.
"I...there's a spell...the arrow...take...it out..."
Inuyasha held
her head against his shoulder. The arrow stuck from her stomach like his
cursed arrow had from his shoulder.
"Hurry..."
"Okay, just a
minute..." He supported her with his knee, and brought his hand
hesitantly to the arrow. "I'm sorry..."
Kagome
pressed her mouth to his as he jerked the arrow from her. She gasped in
pain, and nearly fell from his arms. "Itai..."
"Shhh..."
He put his arms around her, hugging her gently. "Let's get you back to
your family."
Kagome
nodded, tears of pain in her eyes. "Okay."
Mrs. Higurashi
was eating dinner when a disheveled dog-demon carried her bleeding daughter
in. She stared at him in disbelief. "M-my baby..." She saw
blood dripping onto the floor.
"She was shot
with an arrow." He said, hating Kikyou very much. "Kikyou shot
her. I pulled the arrow out, and she's fortunately alive."
Sota stared
in shock. "Kagome-neechan..."
"Sota, go to
your room..." Kagome rasped. "Mom, I need a doctor..."
Her mother
quickly ran to the phone, dialing the hospital. "Yes, my daughter has
been hurt. Please hurry. Yes, this is the Sun Set Shrine."
When she hung
up, Inuyasha had set her against the floor. "Thanks mom...thanks
Inuyasha..."
Kagome's
mother stared at the dog eared boy. "Why are you thanking him? It
was his fiancee that shot you, wasn't it?"
Kagome
smiled. "It's okay, mom. He brought me here. He pulled out
the arrow which contained a sleeping spell. He kept me alive."
Her mother
lifted the shirt, and seeing the neat whole in her daughters stomach began to
cry. "Don't die, baby...please...I lost your father...I don't want to
loose you too!"
Kagome
smiled. "It'll be okay, mom..." A restless sleep over came her, and
she finally succumbed to it.
"Kagome..."
Her mother sobbed softly.
Suddenly, a
hand closed over hers. "It'll be okay." Inuyasha looked at the
woman. "Kagome's strong. She'll survive."
Her mother
stared at him in shock. "But-"
Inuyasha put
a comforting arm around her shoulders. "She'll live. Trust
me." He smiled at the woman. "She put up with me for this long
after all. If she could survive that, this little wound wont kill her."
Kagome's
mother broke down, sobbing against Inuyasha's chest.