Disclaimer: Just in case you haven't figured it out yet: I DON'T OWN INUYASHA! And actually, the idea for the memory trees came from Irresponsible Captain Tylor and I don't own that either. But Ritsuko is my own character. I do own her.

A/N: This chapter is a little shorter than the last one but it is really just kind of a filler chapter to set things up for the next chapter.

A Glimpse Ahead

Chapter 8

When the group woke up the next morning, they found no change in Kagome's condition so Kaede called a meeting to explain to the group what would take place for the spell.

"First I will mix up an elixir," she explained, "then any of ye who wish to go inside Kagome's mind must drink of the elixir. Then I will read the spell and ye will fid yourselves in Kagome's subconscious, though I can't tell ye exactly what ye will find there. Now we must discuss who will be going. Inuyasha, I assume that ye will be going?"

Inuyasha nodded, "Yeah, and Ritsuko's coming along."

"I wanna go, too! I wanna go, too!" Shippo exclaimed.

"I would like to go as well," added Sango.

"Of course I am going to go along, too," Miroku agreed.

About an hour later, the group had drunken the elixir and Kaede started reading the spell. Slowly, the entire groups eyes began to close. When they opened their eyes again, there found themselves in what appeared to be a forest.

"I wonder where she came up with this idea?" Miroku asked, slightly teasingly.

* FLASHBACK*

Kaede sat stirring the elixir trying to explain a bit more to the group, "While I can't tell ye for sure what to expect, the landscape of a person's subconscious is usually based on something they find comforting or a completely abstract terrain that they event for themselves. Either way, it is, in most people, a terrain that they find comforting or soothing, since they have to live with it as part of themselves."

*END FLASHBACK*

"Feh!" Inuyasha replied as he leaned against one of the trees. He jumped in surprise as a picture appeared on the tree and played out like one of those "movies" from Kagome's time. It showed the first time Kagome had come through the well.

"Hey!" Inuyasha shouted, "She never told me she had played with my ears!"

Then Shippo spoke up, "Hey, who is this guy?"

They all watched as another tree showed Kagome walking with Hojo after school.

"I don't know," replied Miroku, "but these scenes appear to be Kagome- sama's memories. What do you think, Inuyasha?"

Inuyasha sat growling at the "Hojo tree."

"Okay then."

"Wow, Inuyasha, there sure are a lot of you in here. I've found more of you than anyone else so far," Shippo said.

That got Inuyasha's attention and a faint blush painted his face. He tried to cover it up, "Hey! What are we doing? We shouldn't be wasting time going through all of Kagome's memories. We need to.."

"WHACK!"

"BAM!"

Miroku had just received two new lumps on the head for drooling over a memory from when the three girls had been at the hot springs. Now Inuyasha moved to growl at Miroku.

Miroku backed away, "Remember what you were just saying, Inuyasha? We shouldn't be wasting our time here. We have to go find Kagome-sama and bring her back."

Inuyasha backed down, "Well, what are you waiting for?"

"Just a minute," Sango spoke up, "I think it might be best if we split up. We stand a better chance of finding Kagome-chan that way. And it's not like we're going to be in danger. This is Kagome-chan's mind after all."

"That does make sense," Ritsuko added, "although I would suggest that Shippo go with Miroku. I don't think Shippo should wander around by himself and Miroku might need some help staying on track, now that he knows some of the memories he can see here."

Shippo and Sango snickered, while Miroku tried to look offended. Inuyasha nodded his acceptance of the plan. So they split up and headed off in four different directions, with the agreement to return to that spot within three hours to see if anyone had found Kagome.