@ Sorry for delays, etc. I had a ton of work, and very few ideas. I THINK the flow is back… @
Shippou had never been a good runner, but somehow, seeing Kagome swallowed up by the ground in front of the Youkai tree had given him abnormal speed and clarity, the likes of such he would probably never experience again. It didn't take long for him to reach Kouga and Inuyasha, but it took long enough that he was winded when he got there. He sucked in breath between words as he spoke, and coughed occasionally,
"Kagome… trapped… by… youkai… tree… buried… alive… needs… help… co–" Before Shippou finished what he was saying, Inuyasha whipped around and struck the fox, sending him flying like a stuffed animal at Kouga.
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Kouga hardly thought when he stepped out of the way to avoid being hit by Shippou. He didn't flinch, it was practiced, so only his quick thoughts made him reach out and catch the unconscious fox, and put him down beside a tree. This action caused him to glance quickly at Inuyasha's nature. Striking the fox hadn't been necessary, more of expedient. Inuyasha WANTED to fight, without anything in the way.
Kouga steered off into the forest, dodging lightly whenever Inuyasha tried to hit him. Suddenly Inuyasha darted ahead, and Kouga was surprised at the change in his approach. Coming forward, he was surprised to find something further odd was going on…
When he caught up with Inuyasha, he found the hanyoukai holding Kagome in the air by the scruff of her collar, she hanging limply, he looking at her disdainfully as if she were some sort of rag that had outworn its use. Before he could kill her, Kouga snatched her out of his arms, laying her gently away from the youkai tree. She was still alive, thank god for that, but he remembered hearing sometimes people became strange after near death experiences such as being buried alive.
Tetsusaiga was still buried, and although before Kouga had thought to kill this Inuyasha thing, if he could be reverted, that would be what Kagome wanted.
He dug up Tetsusaiga, ignoring as Inuyasha punched him, and dodging the few slashes. Inuyasha seemed meeker by mere proximity to the sword, and when it was put in his hands, he just sort of stood there staring for a moment… Then he socked Kouga hard to the jaw.
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Inuyasha was a bit shocked when he was jolted back to reality. When he found he was holding Tetsusaiga, it occurred to him what may have happened. Worse it hurt to think what could have happened, but didn't. Kagome was alive, he saw her before him, but she was hurt. He punched Kouga, hitting his jaw hard and strong. It was all that bastards fault, challenging him to a fight without Tetsusaiga. But it hurt to think too hard, so afterwards he picked up Kagome, wandered away, and placed her in her bed, in her time. Dazed, he realized his claws smelled like her blood, and so he want into her bathing room until he had the wall-faucet working. He was himself over and over with that smelly soap stuff, but as if its fragrance was repulsed by blood, he could not smell it but for those few places untouched by the red stain.
He heard a sound and changed back into the tunic and pants, which he'd washed the best he could. They were faintly brown tinged, more like they'd been soaked in tea than blood, but he knew the difference. Still in shock, he just wanted this nightmare that his lfe had become to go away. Before he knew what he was doing, he was at the "God" tree with the ancient weathered arrow Kikyou shot his heart with. He was in Kagome's time, but even so, the arrows celestial potency could hold him in slumber. He climbed to the top of the tree, imagining he heard Kagome calling his name. He suddenly remembered the new moon, it was evening and he felt his powers ebbing away. He decided to be quick about it, and shoved the arrow into his own heart.
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Kagome dreamt in that slim margin between life and death, and the time that follows, of only one thing. When she was about to kiss Inuyasha, those words that started it all.
"I Love you, Kikyou." Was that truly what he meant, or was he subconsciously saying something deeper, I love your soul, we'll never stop loving each other. We've proven love transcends time. Or was that her way of convincing herself she wasn't a substitute? Her unconscious mind puzzled such things, until a piercing pain struck her, from between her shoulder blades to her very heart, and forward as if she'd been stabbed. She awoke to see the sunset, and a faint wisp of silver through the leaves of the "God" Tree.
Her heart pounded, and in an instant she leapt out of the window, climbed down the roof and up the tree.
"Inuyasha…" She came upon him, looking as peaceful as when she'd first met him. And in his breast, the arrow which had once before captured him for fifty years.
@ How is that? Not too bad? Hehe, I FOUND IT! @