Kagome moaned and slowly opened her eyes. The first thing she saw was Inuyasha's worried face.
"You're awake." he observed quietly, looking relieved.
"Inu- yasha." she managed, trying to prop herself up on an elbow.
"Take it easy." he urged, helping her back down but keeping her hand in his. Kagome groaned, and a hand drifted up to gingerly cover the gash on her torso.
"We need to doctor that." Inuyasha nervously observed, his joy at seeing her awake diminishing a little.
"I'll do it." Miroku weakly volunteered from across the room.
"Shut up, monk." Inuyasha shot over his shoulder, staying his hand in consideration for the monk's injuries- and the fact that he didn't want to leave Kagome's side.
Sango punched him halfheartedly and started dragging herself across the floor, grimacing at the pain in her legs. Inuyasha gently returned Kagome's hand and went to Sango, picked her up, and carried her over to Kagome. "I'll help Kagome, and she can help me." Sango told him. "You and Miroku go outside and do what you can out there."
Inuyasha nodded in agreement, picked up some supplies, and helped the monk to his feet and out the door.
"You first." Sango told her friend. Kagome would have argued, but recognized the look on Sango's face and abandoned the idea as useless. She instead pulled up her shirt.
Sango began washing the wound with water Inuyasha had carried in while he was waiting for them to wake up. She noticed a small heap in the corner. "Kagome?"
"Hmm?"
"Shippo hasn't woken up yet?"
Kagome became suddenly alert and her head whipped around to spot what Sango was talking about. "Oh, my gosh, I forgot about Shippo!"
"Easy." Sango cautioned, now rubbing the gash with disinfectant. "We'll see to him after I'm done with you."
Kagome relaxed, but kept her worried gaze trained on the unmoving form of the little fox demon. "Is he okay? Has anyone checked on him?"
"No, we were more worried about you. You were bleeding pretty badly." Sango replied.
"I'm okay." Kagome assured her, catching the worried look on the demon exterminator's face.
"This is a bad wound." Sango said quietly, and something in her tone turned Kagome's head from Shippo to her.
"Sango?"
The older girl shook her head and gave her friend a forced smile. "Yes?"
"What is it?"
She hesitated. "I- it's nothing."
"You can tell me, you know, if you want to." Kagome reminded her.
They sat in silence for a moment as Sango wrapped bandages around Kagome's middle, and Kagome thought she wasn't going to respond. But then Sango talked, if haltingly.
"I- I just- worry."
"Sango-"
"You and Shippo are the only ones that Naraku hasn't deceived. He took Kikyo from Inuyasha, took Kohaku, my father, and my village from me, and he took Miroku's grandfather and father from him, besides cursing him with the Wind Tunnel that will kill him unless we kill Naraku first. Naraku has done all this to us, created all this sorrow… and I worry about what he has in store for you and Shippo. Especially you, Kagome.
"You are the reincarnation of Kikyo, who sparked a desire in Onigumo so intense that he gave his soul and body to the demons. Onigumo lingers on in Naraku, and some part of him must still want Kikyo. He wanted her; and yet he killed her. And Kikyo lives again. She isn't human, and she isn't who she was." Sango struggled to put words to her feelings. "She- she's a priestess with incredible spiritual power, I know that much. Naraku would be hard pressed to manipulate her as he did fifty years ago. I'm worried that- that- in the absence of Kikyo, he might turn his attention to you. Besides being Kikyo's reincarnation, you can fire enchanted arrows that purify demon powers, and you've already almost killed him once. He has every reason to want to harm you."
Kagome's eyes were shimmering suspiciously, but she kept her tears dammed. "Sango, don't worry about me. Part of the way he was able to trick Inuyasha, Kikyo, and you was because you didn't know about him. He can't get to my family; no one but Inuyasha and me can travel the well. And all of you always protect me."
Sango's hand reached out and brushed the injury on Kagome's chest. "We didn't do so good a job today."
"I'm still alive, and I'm not seriously hurt." She rode over Sango's objections before she could voice them. "It could have been much worse than it was. And as Shippo told us before, we must all possess remarkable powers to have survived such an encounter. Please don't worry about me, Sango."
The demon exterminator shifted her own teary eyes to the fox child in the corner. Catching the glance, Kagome used the wall to pull herself to her feet, picked him up (gasping at the renewed pain in her torso) and carried him over to where Sango was extricating herself from her demon exterminator's uniform. Shippo didn't stir, and both girls' posture drooped as they set to work on Sango's battered legs.
"And- I worry about Shippo." Sango admitted. "He's so young- too young for all of this. It isn't really fair to him to drag him down with us."
"I know, but he has nowhere else to go. His father was killed right before Inuyasha and I met him, and he was on his own. At least this way he has some protection, and people who love him."
Sango, struck by the similarities in Kagome's explanation and why she herself stayed with the group, was quieted, and the girls worked on in a thoughtful silence.
*
"Inuyasha- thank you." Miroku said.
The half demon looked up from bandaging Miroku's wounds. "What for?"
"What you did today." the monk told him.
"Hmph." Inuyasha replied, embarrassed.
Unseen by his companion, the monk smiled. He knew Inuyasha well enough to know that he was touched, even if he would never admit it. He also knew that emotional discussion was most definitely not his forte, and when to change the subject. "You took care of that Asilu in short order."
"She was nothing." Inuyasha brushed it off and finished doctoring the monk.
Am I to be reduced to discussing the weather? Miroku despaired, and began tending to Inuyasha's wounds. "We shouldn't stay here long. Naraku will find us."
Inuyasha nodded in acknowledgement but pointed out, "Sango can't walk or ride Kilala, and Kagome and Shippo are hurt. Traveling is going to be hard, and it will take a long time to get anywhere."
"We should probably go back to Kaede's." Miroku opined.
"Yeah." the half- demon agreed. "You and I can rig up something for Sango to ride in today, and we can leave tomorrow."
"That's risky."
"It's a chance I'm willing to take. I can still fight."
"As could I, but it would be more prudent to avoid a fight altogether."
Inuyasha's silence conceded the point. Miroku knew he wasn't going to change his mind, and so finished bandaging the last cut. With the aid of his staff, he stood and followed his friend into the woods.
*
Shippo had what was quite possibly the worst headache in the history of the world.
What the hell had happened? He remembered- Kagura, and Kilala- his eyes flew open and he sat bolt upright, only to cry out and clutch his head.
"Shippo!" the girls chorused, and he felt himself gathered into one pair of arms while another hand soothingly stroked his head. He snuggled against the comfortable warmth, and whoever was holding him gasped in pain. Shippo looked up, alarmed. "Kagome? What's wrong?"
She grimaced, and one of her hands came away from his back to hover protectively over her ribs. "You just- pressed against a cut, is all."
"Oh, Kagome, I'm sorry!" Shippo cried, his own voice vibrating in his head and making it ring like a bell. But he didn't care; he'd hurt Kagome! He deserved it.
She smiled down at him. "It's okay, Shippo, really."
The fox demon child carefully removed himself from her lap, stood, and buried his face in her shoulder. Kagome murmured softly to him, and she and Sango both ran their hands over his back and hair. Shippo lapped up the attention like a cat with a saucer of cream.
A knocked sounded at the wall beside the door, and the girls looked up. "Come in!" Kagome called.
Inuyasha entered, followed by Miroku. "So the brat's awake." Inuyasha observed, but Kagome could hear the relief and affection buried beneath the false annoyance.
"You leave Shippo alone." she chided.
He ignored her. "We'll stay here for the night, and leave in the morning."
Sango's expression was distinctly unenthused at the prospect of leaving.
"Sango, Inuyasha and I made a litter for you to ride in." Miroku told her.
She gave him a grateful smile. "Thank you."
The half demon grunted, and the monk returned the smile warmly. Sango could feel her cheeks heating.
"How about dinner?" Kagome blithely asked, digging through the large yellow pack.
"Ramen." Inuyasha immediately suggested.
"Here we go." Kagome said, pulling out a couple of packs. Inuyasha took them from her, and she looked up at him in confusion.
"I'll cook." he explained.
Kagome thought she might have a concussion. "You- cook?"
"Sure I cook." he defended himself, bristling. "I've watched you do it a hundred times!"
Kagome knew better than to object when he tried to do something for her. "Okay, okay. Thank you, Inuyasha." They exchanged their own private smiles. He headed out the door, proud of himself, and when he was gone the monk, demon exterminator, child fox demon and reincarnated priestess studiously avoided looking at each other, and stifled all but a few sniggers.
Thanks to all my lovely, kind reviewers! I was so thrilled with your praise (and so sleepless) that I'm finishing this up at 2 in the morning, and I even have to get up at 8 tomorrow. Yes, I am one of the few, the proud, the insomniacs. (Maybe there aren't so few insomniacs, admittedly, but there are few in my class, let's just put it that way. Hoo ha! Johnny Bravo Reference) Cookies to: SailorPsychosis, StarFlare, and Lindy*Girl. Thanks for the information! Virtual cookies of your choice go to you too if you review!