The small band of people in Kaede's hut gaped in astonishment at the regal woman standing before them. She was dressed in a simple, yet elegant ice blue kimono. On the back of the garment was a crest outlined in gold.
"Kagome!" Shippou squealed, breaking the silence as he hurled himself at the princess. The impact of his body sent her back a few steps. Kagome chuckled as she tightly squeezed the kit.
"Where the hell have you been, woman!?" Inuyasha exclaimed, jumping to his feet.
Kagome grinned and completely ignored the hanyou's demand. Sango and Miroku quipped their eyebrows in surprise. The pair had already grown accustomed to the inuyoukai responding in some way or another to the belligerent hanyou. Seeing her brush it off was…different. Everyone also noticed that she seemed to be glowing; the kind of glow one radiated when one was happy.
Happy…yes, that was it. She looked happier than anyone had ever seen her.
"I have been finding a part of myself I never knew I had," she simply stated, her grin turning to a bright smile.
The three humans, Inuyasha and Shippou stared at Kagome, confusion clearly written on their faces.
"What do you mean, Kagome-sama?" Miroku asked politely.
Kagome smiled again. "I'm assuming you all saw what happened before I disappeared…how I destroyed all those youkai."
Inuyasha, Miroku and Sango nodded in agreement.
"Well, I was born with a power inside my soul…I'm the only one of my family to ever have a power of this sort," the ninja insinuated. "Those eruptions of energy you witnessed happened to be my power at work."
Kagome then did a slight show of demonstration as she focused her energy onto a superficial appearance, her eyes clouding in concentration. Slowly, her hair and tail began to fade from the rich black to their natural silver and gold. When she finished, her tresses were back to their original color and everyone stared at the transformation.
"This is my natural hair color," she smiled.
"Wow!!" Shippou exclaimed, tightening his hug on the woman. "It looks so cool!"
Kagome grinned and sat down, Shippou sitting in her lap. She began to explain what happened to her down in the cavern, conveniently omitting its location. When she finished, Sango smiled, knowing full well the woman was finally at peace with herself.
"You're cloths, Kagome-chan," Sango motioned toward the elegant kimono Kagome adorned. "Where did you get them?"
"It was quite strange, actually…I came out of a meditation and there they were, sitting next to me. My family's royal crest is on the back," Kagome explained, turning around so the others could view it.
"Wow…you really are a Guardian," Miroku murmured.
"Of course…did you doubt me, Miroku?" Kagome teased as a blush crept onto the monk's cheeks. Then in a more serious tone, she asked, "So what happened while I was away?".
"We worried about you, Kagome-sama," Kaede finally spoke. "We had thought the worst."
"I'm sorry, all of you," Kagome quietly replied. "I didn't mean to put you through that."
Inuyasha snorted. "Yeah, well, unbelievably the person who was most affected isn't anyone in this room."
Kagome quirked an eyebrow at the hanyou, slightly interested.
"It was Sesshoumaru," the half-demon muttered. "Shocking, really. I never thought he cared about anyone except himself."
Kagome gaped at Inuyasha and her heart fluttered. Don't be silly! she mentally scolded herself. That doesn't mean anything!
Aloud, she said, "He was here? What happened?"
"He stayed for about two days and stood by the window the whole time," Sango explained. "He was tense and he actually looked worried. He didn't even eat or sleep."
"Yes, when any of us spoke to him, his strained response came out as a bite," Miroku added. "Clearly, he was concerned."
"So what happened after those two days?" Kagome asked.
"He just left," Sango replied. "We all were talking as a group, except him of course, and he suddenly growled and stormed out of the hut. We haven't seen him."
Kagome inwardly smiled, touched that the Western Prince would care enough about her to stay awhile, awaiting her return even if it was only for a couple days. And she thought he hated her!
Kagome opened her mouth to speak again but suddenly stopped when her sensitive nose picked up a familiar scent some distance away. Her ears twitched and swiveled toward the forest and she picked up the faint sound of a youkai approaching at a fast pace and Kagome briefly wondered if he could smell her.
Shippou looked up at his surrogate mother and noted her sudden peculiar behavior. The kitsune took a whiff and smelled something only slightly familiar; Inuyasha did the same, but faintly caught the scent, as his nose wasn't as powerful. A slight growl emitted from his throat.
Without a word, Kagome stood up, set Shippou down, and walked outside. She fixed her eyes on the trees and smirked as Kouga emerged.
"Kouga, what are you doing here?" Kagome asked, amusement written on her face as Kouga looked her up and down with surprise when it finally registered to him who she was.
"Kagome!" he exclaimed. "I came looking for answers. What are you doing here? And what's with your hair?"
"It's a long story; come inside and I'll explain," Kagome replied as she wrapped her tail around her shoulder in a very Sesshoumaru-like manner.
The two entered the hut and Kagome introduced Kouga to the three humans. Inuyasha growled again.
Ignoring Inuyasha, Kagome turned to Kouga. "So what exactly do you want here?"
Kouga looked at Inuyasha. "I actually came here looking for him. I wanted to know what happened after that last time we were all together traveling, but I didn't expect you to be here."
Kagome smirked and Inuyasha scowled. The two began to tell the wolf of the events from the last time they were together leading up to the now, with help from the other four. When they finished, Kouga stared in disbelief.
"So you're telling me that you're a Guardian? And you have half of the Shikon no Tama?" the wolf uttered in disbelief.
"Yes, Kouga," Kagome patiently replied.
"And what about Naraku? Why does he want you?"
"I have no idea what he wants with me…but I know it has something to do with the Shikon and my powers."
"So what do we do about him?" Sango asked. "I mean, we have all been affected in a bad way by him."
Kagome pondered her thoughts over in her head, unsure of what to do as she willed her hair to fade to black.
Miroku looked at Kouga. "Do you have a history with Naraku?"
Kouga's eyes darkened. "He sent his wind user to slaughter most of the men of my tribe," he said when he noticed Kagome eyeing him. "Before I met Kagome."
"So we all have something to settle with him," Inuyasha said thoughtfully.
The group began talking amongst each other, conjuring up ideas to destroy Naraku.
"We could ambush him," Shippou supplied hopefully.
Sango shook her head as Kiara crawled into her lap. "No, too obvious," she said.
"And not enough power," Miroku added.
"What about a surprise attack with everything we have?" Sango offered as she absently stroked her pet.
"Feh! And wear ourselves out like last time?" Inuyasha grumbled.
"Oi! We don't see you coming up with anything brilliant!" Shippou glared at the hanyou.
"Feh!" was all the hanyou said.
"Hmm…" Kaede murmured thoughtfully. "It's hard to think up just one plan that will work; all of you should know that."
"What do you mean, Kaede-baachan?" Miroku asked as all eyes turned toward her.
"Well, from what you've all told me, it seems Naraku attacks from a distance. He sends others to do his work," Kaede clarified, receiving murmurs of agreement.
As everyone talked, Shippou noticed Kagome was unusually quiet. The kit swiveled around from his perch in her lap and looked up at her with his bright, innocent eyes.
"Kagome…?" he tentatively asked. "Are you alright?"
"Yes, Kagome-sama," Miroku added. "You haven't said anything in a while."
Kagome looked at the kit and the houshi and smiled. "Yes I'm fine…just thinking."
"About what?" Kouga asked.
"Well…I was just thinking," the princess began. "Kaede-sama is right. Naraku sends others to do his deeds. If he goes himself, it's usually a shadow of his image or he runs away."
"Feh…running away…sounds like Myouga…" Inuyasha muttered under his breath. (A/N: ^_^)
"When he destroyed my palace and killed my family, he sent people to do it," Kagome continued, ignoring the hanyou. "He sent his thugs to my home in a small village to look for the Shikon no Tama. When I traveled away from that home, he sent more youkai after me; Kouga, Inuyasha and Shippou saw that time. When Shippou and I were at Sesshoumaru's palace, he sent Kagura and six youkai after me."
Kouga growled.
"And this last time, he was behind it all. The scent of those youkai were masked until we began fighting them…after the mask disappeared, the horrible stench of Naraku clung to them like webs. He was there, manipulating the battle, I'm sure of it.
"But I'm sure he has a weakness…everyone does. It's just a matter of finding his and exploiting it," Kagome finished.
Night had fallen and the youkai princess was sleeping. It weren't as if she actually needed the slumber. She was youkai; youkai rarely needed sleep. No, it had been induced from the pits of her soul by her mother, whom had felt a twinge of the exhaustion Kagome was suffering. After all, the young princess hadn't slept in days, and using her power expended energy that took a long while to replenish. Sleep would help it restore faster.
Kagome was much like Sesshoumaru—cognizant, intelligent, powerful, and above all, extremely stubborn. The two were counterparts of each other, though both were unaware of the fact and would readily deny it if brought to their attention. But due to Kagome's stubbornness, the young woman had refused sleep even though she was tired, so Yuki took matters into her own hands.
So there she lie in the arms of Morpheus as dreams plagued her mind.
Kagome watched in horror as the scene below her played itself out.
She floated above as a younger she ran about the flaming palace, sobbing, frantically searching for her parents amidst the chaos and pandemonium. The scene fast-forwarded to the young Kagome peering around the corner, horror-stricken as her parents were killed, and there was nothing the Kagome floating above could do about it. Even when she shut her eyes or averted her line of sight, the scene below still ran like a movie she couldn't shut off…
Suddenly Kagome found herself floating above the clearing in Inuyasha's Forest. Below was Inuyasha and Kikyou, Inuyasha flying through the air.
"Inuyasha!" Kikyou yelled as she deftly launched an arrow at the hanyou. Her weapon hit its mark, pinning Inuyasha to the God Tree. "How could you betray me…?"
"Kikyou…! How dare you…!" Inuyasha sputtered before falling into a deep slumber.
Shortly after, Kikyou collapsed as a child Kaede rushed to her sister's side.
"I will not live, so you must listen carefully, Kaede…" Kikyou grated out. "You must take the Shikon no Tama and burn it with my body so it may never fall into the hands of evil…"
With her final words, Kikyou fell over, dead.
Up in the trees, a magical barrier masking his scent, Naraku watched on gleefully at the mayhem he had created.
The scene shifted yet again and Kagome was floating above a mountain range in the Eastern Lands. Below her, the ninja watched a much more violent and gruesome scene as the unmistakable form of Kagura ruthlessly slaughtered hundreds of wolf youkai. It seemed as though the wind user was delighting in her powers as she apparently tested them out. Even though Kagome was dreaming, she could smell the pungent youth of Kagura.
A myriad of translucent bluish wind blades materialized in front of the wind user. With a flick of her fan, the blades went slicing through the air, mutilating the wolf youkai caught in their path. Kagura waved her fan and a tornado of dirt, dust and skulls formed, capturing the remaining youkai. The skulls seemed to laugh and mock the wolves caught in their hold as they bit and tore at them, Kagura gleefully watching on.
When the tornado finally ceased, bones with bits and pieces of flesh still attached clattered to the ground. Grinning at her work, Kagura pulled a feather from her hair and ascended into the air.
Kagome nearly gagged when she breathed in the fumes of dirt, blood and death.
Another scene change and Kagome found herself watching a ten-year-old Miroku laughing and running around with his father and mother in a field just outside a nice home. Miroku's father, Miyoko, was chasing Miroku when he suddenly stopped. The sound of wind filled the air and Miyoko looked down at his covered right hand. Positioning the cursed hand safely away from his family, Miyoko gingerly removed the rosary beads and the glove. The air immediately began flowing through the Rip as it began to swallow Miyoko fromt he inside out.
"Father!!" Miroku cried as Miyoko slowly disappeared while his mother cried out.
When he was gone, Miroku's mother collapsed and began crying. Miroku went to her and comforted her as best he could as tears slowly made their way down his cheeks.
The scene shifted once more, this time revealing a sixteen-year-old Sango. With her were a boy, a tall man and a beautiful woman—her brother, Kohaku, and parents. The group arrived at a small village where they were to exterminate the demons who terrorized them. They found the youkai and began a small battle to ensure the safety of the village.
Suddenly, Kohaku turned to Sango, a blank look in his eyes and threw his chain-scythes at her. Sango barely jumped out of the way when Kohaku attacked again.
"Kohaku! What are you doing!" Sango screamed, trying to get her younger brother to snap out of it. Her parents were so caught up in the turmoil that they didn't notice the conflict between Kohaku and Sango.
The two began fighting, Kohaku on the offense and Sango defending herself, trying not to hurt her little brother.
"Kohaku, please!" Sango pleaded. Kohaku continued attack as though he hadn't heard a word his sister said.
After Sango's parents had exterminated the demons, they turned and watched in shock as Sango barely fended off Kohaku. They were about to intercept when evil laughter filled the air.
"Kukuku!" It was Naraku. "Such an interesting sight…did I interrupt on a family conflict?"
"Naraku, you bastard!" Sango's father exclaimed as he and his wife rushed toward the maniac hanyou. Sango turned and half-watched, earning her a gash in the side as Kohaku's scythe sliced into her flesh.
Naraku easily sidestepped the oncoming pair and retaliated with a poison-barbed whip. His weapon connected with Sango's parents and a significant dose of the lethal substance filled their bodies, rendering them paralyzed and soon dead. Naraku then turned to Kohaku, grinning maliciously. Sango took note of this.
"You stay away from him you bastard!" she cried, lunging at the hanyou.
Naraku swatted Sango away as though she were a rag doll and advanced on Kohaku who stood staring ahead blankly. Naraku grinned evilly and he killed the boy, letting his body fall limply in his arms.
"Nooooooooo!" Sango screamed as Naraku disappeared, taking Kohaku with him.
The scene shifted for the fifth and final time, this time revealing to Kagome a serene meadow of emerald grass and sapphire flowers. The sun shone down on her, warming her and calming her frayed nerves and rampant thoughts. Suddenly her mother appeared.
"Kagome…You must defeat Naraku and all costs. You know what he is capable of…return to Guardian Palace, my pup. There you will find an item that will help you defeat the evil hanyou…"
With those words, Yuki faded.
Kagome jolted awake, her heart pounding rapidly against her chest, her mind playing out the vivid dream. No, it wasn't really a dream…more like a memory she had not experienced.
Sunlight poured into the room and Kagome heard voices just outside her door, indicating the wakened state of the others. Relaxing her muscles, the youkai princess took a few deep breaths and waited for her heart to calm. Slowly she lifted herself off the futon and dressed in a satin gold kimono.
You must have really wanted to contact me that time, mother, Kagome thought wryly as she slid open the shoji door.
"Kagome!" Shippou squealed, immediately jumping into Kagome's arms.
"Good morning Kagome-sama" Miroku greeted rather charmingly.
Kouga grabbed Kagome and slung his arm around her shoulder. "Hey! How's my woman!"
Kagome scowled as she shrugged the wolf's arm off her back and sat down, Shippou still in her arms.
"I'll be leaving this morning," the ninja stated bluntly.
All eyes turned and stared incredulously at the princess.
"Feh! But you just got back, woman!" Inuyasha growled. After what had happened during the last encounter with Naraku, the hanyou had developed a brotherly protectiveness toward the princess, though he'd never admit it.
"I'll be fine, Inuyasha. I can take care of myself." Kagome assured. "Besides…there are a few things I must tend to."
Shippou stared at his surrogate mother, his eyes beginning to water and his lower lip trembling. Kagome looked down and her heart nearly broke. Good thing she wasn't considering leaving him behind.
"I'm taking you with me, Shippou," Kagome gently reassured with a smile.
Relief flooded the kit's face.
"I'll be back in a while," Kagome finished, looking up at the others.
As Kagome stood, Sango and the rest stood with her.
"Until next time, Kagome-chan," Sango said as she tightly hugged the woman.
Miroku said his farewell and hugged Kagome…
WHAP!
Miroku stumbled back and fell to the floor as a slightly disgruntled Kagome warily eyed Kouga and Inuyasha, causing the two to back away.
"Goodbye Kagome-sama," Kaede said, hugging the princess. She gently placed a sapphire and gold rosary around Kagome's neck. In the center of the rosary hung a large, deep blue stone. "A mysterious woman passed by some time ago and left this. The center-stone is called Dreamstone. It shall protect you and heighten your miko ablilties."
"Thank you Kaede-sama...but how did you know I was a miko?" the confused Kagome asked.
Kaede merely smiled. "I am a miko myself."
"Well, thank you again, Kaede. Thank you everyone. Shippou and I will see you soon!" Kagome said happily as she and Shippou slipped out the door. It was wonderful to finally allow herself to have friends.
"Where are we going, Kagome?" Shippou curiously asked.
"Remember my old home?" Kagome asked mischievously as the two ventured on. Shippou's eyes widened in anticipation. "We're going there…and this time we'll actually get in."
That said, Kagome tucked the kit safely in her arms and took to the air.
A/N: This chapter was alright…I don't know though. The dream makes it a little dreary and I'm not sure if I like that. What do you guys think?
Special thanks to ShellBabe for doing a spell check on this chapter and to Crash for supplying me info on what I didn't know.
I don't remember how old I said Sango is presently or if I even said how old she is, but for safety's sake, I'll just say she's 17 now and Miroku is 19. Also, in the dream, Kohaku is 11, making him 12 now.
If you have any questions regarding the dream, feel free to ask! And I didn't mean to make it seem so depressing, but that's just how it sort of came out…I'm sorry!! :\
In case you were wondering, Morpheus is the Greek god of sleep.
|[ Review Responses ]|
|[ SimplyTurquoise ]| I'm glad you're a still reading my story even though it's taken me what seems like years to update. I hope this wasn't too delayed! ^_^
|[ Clow Angel ]| Lol I'll go read some of your fics sometime (name a few you want me to read). And thank you! Your praise means a lot to me ^_^
|[ Me.. ]| Ahh and I come to my response for you...I just wanted to tell you thank you so much for staying with me even though my updates are far between :) You're one of the readers that I know has been reading my story from the beginning when I first posted (from your many reviews) and it means a lot to me. You're the greatest!! *Hugs*
|[ Silver Dragonfly ]| Hehe if you think Sesshoumaru's becoming posessive now, wait until later chapters ~_^ (I'm assuming that you're refering to him..but if not, well than I did was ASSUME means...made an ASS out of U and ME :D)
|[ SapphireStar ]| Hehe I hope I didn't confuse you at all...if I did, just ask and I'll be more than happy to explain. And I hope I updated soon enough ^_^
|[ Lady love ]| Hehe your idea for Kag coming to the rescue seems like a good one but they just had a battle and I think it'd be a bit too soon for another one...but don't worry! I'll definitely keep that idea in mind! I can see it now...
|[ Nymph ]| Hehe! You know, your reviews never cease to make me laugh! I was going back to read your review so I could respond to it and I started giggling again! So then I went back to see the one before the most recent (the first restraining order one) and I giggled even harder! You should conisder doing some comedy..you'd be a knock out!
|[ Cold Fire Phoenix ]| Hehe you sure have perfect timing because I was in a really bad mood when I read your review and I laughed and perked right up! And yes, I agree it's nice to see Kag hold her own. I'm an admirer of strong women, so I'm going to make Kagome strong in all my fics (though just physically..that'd get redundant o_O). And Sesshou is doing fine..he's getting huge! Well, as huge as a Japanese Spitz can get..and in comparison to when he was a pup anyway...If you want to see what he looks like, I put two links to pics in my bio page of him. Hopefully they show up right because I tried to do it with HTML stuff...And my favourite Kudos bars are Butterfinger ^_~
|[ unokitsune ]| Hey thanks for reading my story! It makes me happy when I find that new people enjoy it. I'm really enjoying your story...it's funny, creative and great with the action. Update soon!
|[ MysticMoon ]| Ahh yes...wouldn't it be nice to be able to will your hair any colour you wanted? I wish I could do it too...I'd start out making it BRIGHT PINK! Lol no, maybe not.
|[ TO EVERYONE ELSE ]| Thanks so much to everyone who reviewed. I love you guys so much, because without you, I wouldn't have the reassurance I need for each chapter. If I didn't list you, don't blame the heart...I love you all :D
After this chapter, I will not be posting anymore review reponses...It takes up too much space. Besides, I'd rather respond to each of you in an e-mail so I can write more than a few lines and make it more personal to show my thanks to you. That way, I can respond to everyone. If you want me to do that, go ahead and give me your email address ^_^
If you want update announcments, join my NotifyList! Here is the link to my website: www.thegardenofeden.cjb.net and the join box is on the main page. The link is also in my profile.
Well, I'm probably boring you all to tears with my agonizingly long A/N, so that closes it.
REVIEW!!
