Oooohhh, LOTS of angst in this one... and a little bit o' violence.^_^; Man, what a dream. Poor girl. Oh, and I know where you think this story is going, but you're wrong. You are so wrong. Muahahahahaha! Heh, just kidding.^_~

Disclaimer: I don't own Inuyasha or any of the characters in it. If I did I'd be rich, but I'm not... and if I had lots of money I'd probably spend it on anime anyway so pleeaasseee, don't sue me.^_^ lol

Oh, and as always,

_= thoughts *_* = sound/ italicized "_" = speech //_// = narration

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Memories of the Present

Chapter 6: Crimson Crystals

// I remember the dream, even now it won't leave my mind. It was dark, so very dark. I guess it was night time because I could see the street lights in the distance. I was little, around five I think. I had just gotten back from somewhere, I don't know where. My father, he was right next to me. I was happily singing and skipping along, holding his hand. I couldn't see his face, but I knew it was him. I remember him smiling at me, laughing as I skipped. He had no idea of what was to come. //

"My father stopped to look at something in the window," Kagome went on, Inu Yasha listening patiently beside her, "He had seemed so facinated. It was a jewelery shop I think. That would make sense considering that he died just before my parent's anniversary. I hadn't even noticed that he wasn't next to me anymore until it was too late. Glass shattered; I stopped and turned around, dropping the lollipop I had been licking. Three men, all in black, they had smashed the window. Alarms were going off, I... I was scared."

She looked, from the pillow, over at him, as if asking if she should continue. He smiled slightly, not a happy smile, more a worried one, and nodded encouragingly.

// Looking back, I think it was more of an interested smile really... interest and caring…//

" My father, he... he tried to stop them. They hit him with something, something big, metal... a crowbar maybe..." She paused, as if in thought, head back down on the pillow, "He fell and they ran inside. I ran to him; I didn't know what was going on but Daddy...Daddy was hurt." A trail of tears slowly dipped down her face. She closed her eyes, but refused to stop.

"He was bleeding, but he was alive. I could see him; he opened his eyes and smiled at me. I thought everything was going to be okay; Daddy was okay. When the men came back, they had bags under heir arms. I guess they robbed the place after all. The sirens were still going, the alarms still ringing, but I could still hear his cries... I could still hear..." She began to sob. Quickly, Inu Yasha took her into his arms, holding her tightly. He remembered how, when he was little, his mom would rock him to calm him down. Slowly, gently, he rocked her until her tears were gone, but this time, he didn't let go.

She sniffled, snuggled closer to him, and looked down. "Thank you."

He smiled sadly and nodded, as if waiting for her to speak again. She got the cue. " They, they hit him again. I couldn't see it because he was in front of me. I remember, every time they reached, reached for me, Daddy would block them and get hit." She started crying again, " They beat him because he wouldn't let them take me. Then, something happened. I was crying, holding my father from behind. I had been screaming, asking what was happening, asking what they were doing to him. I didn't understand... I was too little to understand." He held her a little tighter.

// Then something had happened, yes. I remember the look on his face when I told him. They had hit my father, they had hit him in the head. I could see the blood, crimson crystals falling, as if in slow motion, shining, reflecting. Those crystals, they saw everything...//

" Then there was red. It wasn't the blood, it was... clothing. I was bent over Daddy, crying. When I looked up, it was quiet. There was someone staring... someone familiar. They walked over to him. I screamed, told them to leave my daddy alone, but they just smiled at me. They took me in their arms and told me that everything was going to be okay. Everything was going to be okay... I stopped, watched as they looked him over. The stranger shook his head sadly. It was too late. I cried and I cried. He took me away. I didn't know where we were going, but I didn't care. I knew I'd never see my father again."

// We had stopped in a park, one I now recognize as being close to here. I used to walk through it when I was little, it always comforted me somehow. They set me down on their lap and hugged me. I felt safe, warm. I didn't know why, but I did. I trusted them. When I looked up, I thought the sun had come out. I slowly realized that I was staring, not into a light, but into an eye.//

" An eye... " She looked up, "It was you Inu Yasha. You had saved me...again." She smiled weakly and began to cry. He watched her, tears threatening to fall from even his eyes, but he furiously tried to blink them back. He nuzzled his face deeply into her hair as she trembled against him. After a few minutes, she had regained enough composure to continue.

"It was you...," she whispered. " You held me, like you are now. You wrapped your arms around me tightly, and whispered into my ear. You said, ' I promised that I would always protect you. I meant it then, and I mean it now. I know you won't remember this, but I'm sorry. I'm sorry I didn't come in time to save him too.'"

She couldn't hold her tears back any longer. Kagome grabbed onto his shirt as if it were a lifeline. She pulled herself as close to him as physically possible and she cried, and cried. For the rest of that morning Inu Yasha sat there. He rocked her gently until she had cried herself to sleep and continued until, he too, fell into a deep slumber.

It was only a dream...