Disclaimer: I do not own Inuyasha-tachi, that honor goes to Takahashi Rumiko. My dryer lint collection, though, is slowly growing. I'm thinking of fashioning
a fluffy boa/pelt/muffler-thingy, just so I can be like Sesshoumaru. What do you think?
Yume
Last Chapter:
And then, the question didn't matter any more, as the raging beast within broke its tether, spurred on by the coppery scent of her life blood, liberating itself in
violent fury and intense sorrow. A tormented growl, beginning low in his chest and rising, swelled in volume until the unearthly silence of the dream scape was
broken for the first time in the entire month he had repeated the same cycle. Crushing the lifeless body of the woman to him, he briefly bowed his head over
her, the silken silver fall of his hair shielding their locked forms from everything else. He wove his fingers into her midnight tresses, then threw back his head to
release the long, anguished howl of mourning clawing up from his chest.
As the sound of his grief and rage echoed into the night and the dream began to quickly fade around the edges, one realization burst upon him with the crystal
clarity of inarguable truth: He loved her.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Chapter 2
The group had settled down for the night, choosing a small clearing in the forest a short distance from the road--well, path really--they had been traveling. As
usual, Inuyasha had complained about the 'weak humans' needing to rest their exhausted bodies, but he had managed to locate a spot for camp within close
proximity to a small lake. Kagome smiled to herself. The gruff half-demon was always like that: putting on airs that he didn't give a damn about the comforts of
his traveling companions, namely herself, but somehow managing to provide that small thing that always made her happy. A swimming hole. In the colder
months, he tried his best to find hot springs, but now, in the sultry heat of high summer, the coolness of a lake would be a welcome refreshment, indeed. Now,
if the girls could only keep Miroku from peeping...
After a long three weeks of shard hunting, the close-knit group was bone-weary. Even Inuyasha, the seemingly tireless hanyou, argued less vehemently than
usual about stopping early for the night. Since Kagome had (miraculously) graduated high school a few weeks ago, she had let Inuyasha convince her to spend
most of her time in the Sengoku Jidai. She sighed. She may have finally completed her secondary education, but it still was a bit of a disappointment that she
would not be continuing on to university. Not right now, at least. But she couldn't ignore her responsibilities, or the now-desperate race against Naraku to
collect the last of the jewel shards. And her friends...
Sango's brother, Kohaku, was one of the last known possessors of a shard, as Kouga had forfeited his in battle against a particularly nasty detachment of Naraku
that had left him a little more than half-dead. It had taken all of Kagome's and Kaede's combined efforts--and a great deal of future medicines--to get the wolf
prince out of danger and on the road to recovery. Kagome didn't want to think about Miroku. The curse placed upon his grandfather by Naraku, and passed onto
him, was soon nearing the point where the void in his hand would consume him. The once-boyish, upbeat houshi now had a perpetual shadow lingering in his
kind blue eyes, and he did not sleep well at night. Judging from bits and pieces of information gathered from the perverse monk about his father's demise,
Kagome and Miroku estimated he had another eight to ten months, a year at most, before the Kazaana consumed him.
It was that deadline which truly drove the group now, placing an almost desperate edge to their hunt. Inuyasha and Kagome hardly ever argued about her
returning home, because she spent most of her time in the past now. Too afraid of what may happen while she was gone, frightened that her friends might die
without her ever getting to say goodbye. Terrified that, if she had only been there more often, seen something, sensed a shard a little sooner, she could prevent a
disaster. Her fear and worry had progressed to the point where even Inuyasha had pulled her aside to scold her for running herself into the ground. More often
than not, it was she who motivated the group to continue, even though there was hardly ever a trace of a new shard.
So, they chased rumors. Moving from village to village, tracking the faint paths of gossip, blood and death. Shadowing Naraku when they could, but usually not
catching any sign of him. After he had killed Kikyou, the evil hanyou had faded into obscurity again, leaving behind only some new detachments to occupy
them for a while. By the time they had been defeated, Naraku was long gone and well hidden.
Surprisingly, the group encountered Sesshoumaru with increasing frequency over the ensuing years, the great youkai prince puzzlingly intent on tracking
Naraku down, although he never voiced his purpose. No one knew if the powerful taiyoukai intended to defeat the hanyou, or join him. Kagome wouldn't be
surprised at either answer. The lord was so damned stoic, so impossible to read--cold face, hot eyes, violent, ruthless...yet traveling with an adorable,
precocious, fragile girl. A human girl. A *noisy* human girl. Kagome shook her head and tried to put the beautiful, predatory demon from her mind, instead
turning her thoughts to the brother.
Inuyasha had settled on the ground, leaning against the trunk of a tree close to her. As she lay in her sleeping bag, feet to the fire to minimize the heat, she let
her eyes stray over her friend, her protector, her first love. A smile tilted the corners of her lips up as she remembered how she used to angst over his love for
her incarnate, the original protector of the Shikon no Tama. Kikyou. That sad, lonely woman who died believing her lover had betrayed her, courtesy of
everyone's favorite evil villain, Naraku. Yet, no matter how the bitter miko impeded the budding relationship of the girl from the future and the heartsore
hanyou, no matter that the revived and undead woman tried to kill both Inuyasha and Kagome, she still could not bring herself to feel more than pity and
compassion Kikyou. It was unfortunate that the lovers fell into Naraku's trap over fifty years ago, and tragic that the once-pure miko was revived with nothing
more than hate to sustain her, feeding off the souls of innocents just to survive long enough to carry out her revenge on Inuyasha. Kagome knew she could not
compete with the kind of complex bond the two had shared, involving life-debts, passion, betrayal and guilt. Over time, she found that she wanted to less and
less.
Kagome finally came to the realization that wishing for things to be different between herself and her first love was only taking away from what they shared
now, tainting it with a bitter edge just as surely as his relationship with Kikyou was tainted. Fifty years, another incarnation, and still Naraku was destroying
lives. So Kagome gave up on wishing and settled down to enjoying reality, building on the trust and affection until the naive human and worldly-wise hanyou
shared a deep, unbreakable bond of friendship--and yes, love--not even Naraku could shatter. It was a victory, of sorts, and she took it that way. So did
Inuyasha, and since Kikyou's release from this existence, he had slowly begun to show more tolerance for displays of affection. He even sometimes instigated,
though they still argued like cats and dogs, and he occasionally got 'sat'. Now, though, they shared the kind of comfortable relationship only people of long,
intimate acquaintance do.
On rare occasions, Kagome still found herself wondering what it would be like to experience passion with Inuyasha, to have him love her as a man loves a
woman. She unerringly emerged from those fantasies knowing that, should it occur, there would always remain the knowledge, deep within her heart, that she
was second choice. Inuyasha had chosen Kikyou over her long ago, and even recognizing he did not do so with the intention to hurt her, nothing could erase
that fact from her mind. Kagome had finally gained enough self-respect to learn what Inuyasha had known those years ago when he first made the decision: she
deserved to be first in someone's heart, never doubting she is loved for who she is, not who she resembles. It made her love him all the more, and she was
intensely grateful for the unusual display of wisdom that protected her adolescent heart from an even graver wound.
With wistful sigh at her melancholy, bittersweet thoughts, Kagome closed her eyes and almost immediately slipped off to sleep, secure in the knowledge that
Inuyasha would watch over her from close by.
*******************************
It was that dream again. The same one she had dreamed every night for the past month, but different somehow... The perspective had changed. Before, she
appeared in the dream as a spectator, hovering over the trio in the midst of the flowering cherry trees, an invisible mass of grey mist, blending seamlessly into
the night sky. Indeed, she did begin the dream again as that nebulous cloud, as always audience to the silent, cabalistic communication between two brothers
and a woman, but she suddenly felt a pulling sensation, dragging at her, tugging her toward the miko who uncomfortably resembled her.
A dim corner of her mind registered that the woman was most likely Kikyou--or perhaps another incarnation older than that? The Shikon no Tama was forged
centuries ago by the powerful holy woman Midoriko...could this be her, then?
As all this sparked across her consciousness, she found herself drawn into the new body, supremely surprised to find that it didn't feel that strange. She had the
sense that it was her own body, yet not; her mind seemed to be separate, yet still connected by some thin, tenuous thread that was feeding her instructions and
knowledge. Though she could not access that knowledge freely, she knew with utter certainty that it had been placed in her mind, waiting with patient purpose
for the time when it would be needed.
Kagome felt herself moving, her body obeying the commands of another as familiar/foreign limbs swept her through the routine of the dream. New to her,
though, was the flow and pulse of holy power within her, steadily increasing the closer she paced toward the familiar katana buried in the center of the clearing.
When she turned to face the man behind her, she was shocked to see Sesshoumaru so close--without killing her.
She laughed nervously within her mind, but knew her expression did not reveal anything of her inner, chaotic, thoughts. When she felt her hand move to touch
his, though, the frisson of sensual awareness unnerved her, shooting sparks along her nerve endings and pooling heat low in her belly. She wanted to jerk her
hand out of the engulfing warmth of his, wanted to untangle her fingers from his lean, deadly ones with a need bordering on desperation, but when she saw how
he visibly relaxed and calmed at her touch, she was bemused into complaisance.
The now-familiar sequence of guiding each brother's hand to the hilt of Tessaiga passed by without many new developments, although she wondered, as she did
every night, why the blade never transformed into the great fang when Inuyasha touched it. It was frighteningly portentous, hinting at great trials ahead. She
hoped she was reading too much into this. They had trouble enough already.
Then she felt it. A calling in her mind, followed by a sudden spike in power. The holy energy within her answered, arising from some deep well of the soul,
whipping in waves like a tempest-tossed sea, battering at her to release it's full force...She wanted to scream from the pain, from the utter joy of the primal
power pulsing within, and knew she had to find an outlet for it, or pass out from the strain. Reaching out a hand, amazed that it did not tremble like a leaf in the
wind, she joined her hand to the other two, her delicate fingers dwarfed by the large, deadly hands already wrapped around the hilt.
In a sudden release, Kagome felt the power within her discharge, surging into the broken, rusted demon blade meant only for those possessing the blood of the
Great Demon of the Western Lands, Inutaisho. With a flare of golden light, the fang appeared under their joined hands, and Kagome knew that she was the one
who called forth the transformation.
In her shock and amazement, she failed to notice the dream moving, sequencing on without her input or participation, until the path set on previous nights was
abruptly deviated from. The new set of actions, the miraculous return of Sesshoumaru's arm, and her own--somehow expected--death at Inuyasha's hands played
out before her, but was muted, filtered through her continuing shock over her ability to transform Tessaiga, and the aftermath of that incredible surge of energy...
*******************************
Kagome woke to the feeling of coarse warmth under her cheek, and someone shaking her shoulder rather roughly. At the gruff, insistent call of her name, she
groaned and cracked open an eye.
"Ugh. That crazy dream again..." she muttered, slowly realizing that her cheek was cradled on Inuyasha's thigh.
His upper thigh.
Blushing furiously, she pulled up to a sitting position, her friend's hand on her back to help her.
"Sorry," she mumbled, supremely embarrassed, even after all this time knowing him.
"Keh," came the typical reply, softly, letting her know that he didn't mind as much as he appeared to. Letting her know he was worried. His hand remained on
her back, preventing her from bolting back to her own bed in embarrassment, "Stupid girl, waking us all up with your sleepwalking."
Something in the tone of his voice, more than the words--as far as she knew, she didn't sleepwalk--made Kagome snap her head up to look into Inuyasha's
golden eyes. In them was the typical friendly warmth, but also a light of worry and confusion.
"What do you mean, Inuyasha? I don't sleepwalk."
"Yeah, tell that to Tessaiga," he replied acerbically. At her bewildered expression, he huffed, crossing his arms over his chest and leveling his intense amber
gaze on her. He seemed to be probing for answers to questions she didn't even know.
"Inuyasha," she began warningly, "if you don't explain to me right now what you just meant, so help me I'll..." she trailed off meaningfully, but they both knew
the threat was idle--this time, anyway.
Huffing again, the hanyou dropped his arms, instead bringing them up to lightly clasp her shoulders. He leaned his face in closer, still peering into her eyes, his
mouth a tense line. Kagome was beginning to become alarmed at his uncharacteristic behavior, and it revealed itself in the tightening of her shoulders and
widening of her eyes. She bit her lip in nervousness, wondering if her dream had anything to do with her 'sleepwalking', and Inuyasha had mentioned Tessaiga...
"Stop it, Inuyasha," broke in Miroku.
Until that moment, Kagome had not realized that the monk was awake. In fact, Sango, Shippou and Kirara were gathered around them, as well. Apparently she
had woken the entire group. Kagome felt a wave of guilt wash over her--they were all so tired and needed their rest, and here she was keeping them from sleep
with her childish nightmares. But her friends didn't seem as though they were irritated with her. In fact, they appeared just as distressed, just as lost and
bewildered, as Inuyasha. There was even a hint of awe in their expressions.
"Just tell Kagome-sama what happened, as she apparently doesn't remember," the monk encouraged.
Turning his attention back to the girl in his lap, the hanyou took a deep breath, as if composing his thoughts, or girding himself for battle. Gods, what had she
done? Kagome wondered frantically. Had she molested Inuyasha? Tried to kill him? Stripped and danced a jig? No, no, then Miroku would be the one in whose
lap she resided.
Giving herself a little shake, she cleared her panicking thoughts and focused on Inuyasha's slowly forthcoming explanation. The words that finally emerged
from his mouth, though, were so much worse than her fertile imagination could conjure up. With one simple sentence, her perception of herself turned inside out.
"In your sleep, you..." he trailed off, cleared his throat, and began again, "...you transformed Tessaiga."
After a moment of complete and utter stillness, in which Kagome came to the conclusion that she had misheard, she decided to correct her obviously faulty
aural ability.
"I'm sorry, Inuyasha. Could you repeat that, because I obviously didn't hear you right."
She gave a little self-depreciating laugh, expecting the irritable hanyou to grumble about having to repeat himself to stupid women. It, therefore, unnerved her
when he simply continued to gaze steadily at her, intent amber eyes boring into her own dark ones. No huffing, no rolling eyeballs, no sneer...not even a
snicker. Nothing but serious concern. Uh-oh...
"Kagome, you got up, walked right over to me, drew the Tessaiga, and--well..." he trailed off, one clawed hand gesticulating in mute frustration, demonstrating
his inability to find the right words. At least, that's what Kagome thought.
When his hand continued to remain in the air, as if poised and frozen in time, she finally understood what the unique alignment of his digits signified: he was
pointing at something over her shoulder, down by her feet.
Slowly, as if she was afraid to face the sight she feared would confirm Inuyasha's wild story--but moved by some morbid fascination to confront the proof that
her bizarre dream was not some fevered concoction of her subconscious mind--her head swivelled stiffly to take in the object laying innocently on the ground.
Shiny. Sharp. Huge. Familiar.
Pulsing.
Tessaiga. Still transformed.
"Oh, God..." she moaned, wanting to deny the evidence of her eyes. If she had, in reality, transformed the fang, then that would mean that her dream...was not
an ordinary dream.
Oh, God...she and Sesshoumaru...and Inuyasha had...
"...transformed, and then you just...kinda collapsed," Inuyasha had continued speaking while her mind struggled to catch up to events, whirling with all of the
implications.
If she had transformed Tessaiga in the dream, and it had happened in the waking world, then would the other dream events metamorphose into reality, as well?
Kagome shifted and gasped when a dull, burning sensation in her shoulder and across her back made itself abruptly known through the haze of her muddled
ruminations. Groaning a little with the discomfort, which was gradually fading to a low throb, she raised slender fingers to the source of pain, brushing raven
locks aside to probe at her shoulder.
She heard Inuyasha and Miroku inhale sharply as the silky barrier was moved, exposing a quickly disappearing stain of...blood? Inuyasha pulled Kagome over
onto her stomach, ignoring her blushing protests as her face was unceremoniously shoved into his hip. Rumbling in apprehension, he jerked the neckline of her
satiny pajama top to the side, exposing the pale skin of her shoulder to his intense, probing gaze.
Hissing in a breath, he growled, "What the hell...?"
Kagome felt his warm, calloused fingers grazing gently over her exposed flesh, absently noting the care he took, ever mindful of his sharp claws. Normally, the
tingling sensation would have caused heat to pool and curl low in her belly, but something about the tense way he held himself, the low, violent rumble deep in
his chest, not to mention their audience, had her skin tightening in growing apprehension.
"What is it, Inuyasha?" she queried sharply, her voice shaking slightly with the fear that she already knew what he was looking at.
Forcing her way to a sitting position, though the hanyou would not let her abandon her spot between his outstretched legs, she craned her head around to get a
look at the problem. She gasped when she caught sight of the marks. Marring the smooth expanse of her shoulder, running from the outer curve and
disappearing back over her shoulder blade in a graceful, macabre arc were four perfectly parralleled slashes. As she watched, horror-struck, the ragged edges of
the wounds ceased seeping phantom blood, pinkened, then faded until nothing was left but silver-white scars.
Kagome, Inuyasha began, swallowing heavily, a look of deep, haunting anguish and confusion in his golden eyes. Knowledge and memory of another woman
with echoing wounds hung in the glowing depths, what the hell happened?
Still in shock, visions of her dream and reality swirling together in a cloud of uncertainty and confusion, Kagome voiced the horrifying realization that burst upon her awareness.
"You--you killed me, Inuyasha," and with those damning words, the welcoming darkness eddying around the edges of her vision rose up and engulfed her in
warm arms of blessed, blank blackness.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Thank you!!!!! Such support!!!! *doing the Miss America wave* (smile and wave, smile and wave...)
Due to the surprising amount of wonderful, encouraging responses *blushes furiously* (and a sugar-high), I have elected to let peer pressure sway me *wink
wink* and continue this fic (like my muse was going to let me rest, anyway). I didn't expect the response I received--I'm so flattered! You like me! You really
like me! *blows kisses* And I got responses from some of my favorite authors, too! *bows humbly* But don't think I'm not going to fish for more
compliments, though. You've created a monster...! ;P
If you want e-mail notification of chapter updates, send me your address, okay? I'll be happy to let you know when I get my butt in gear and finish a chapter.
Review me! Critique me! Compliment me! Worship me! Just don't flame me, because I'll be forced to ignore you (a fate worse than death, I assure you).
Tsukitani
Inuyasha: Hey! I almost got some!
TT: No, you didn't. You were being kind and helping a friend.
Inuyasha: *pouts* But I deserve some. It's been over fifty years, dammit. Why can't I get some?
TT: Need I remind you, you chose a certain undead-er, re-dead miko? You dug your own grave, pal. Oops! *grins sheepishly* Sorry.
Inuyasha: Yeah, yeah. Rub it in, why don't you.
TT: *pats doggie on the head* Yeah, well at least I don't have you as a totally asinine, immature, evil jerk. I mean, a lot of people would have killed your ass
off, but not me (not like I wasn't tempted to).
Inuyasha: C'mon, wench Just a little. Your writing sucks, but you could give me Sango, or create a character just for me and...
TT: *fists his collar and jerks him down* You want a piece of me, dog breath? I can make your life a living hell, do you hear? Living hell!
Inuyasha: Eh-hehehe. *prying fingers free* Now, now...let's not get worked up. It's not good for your--
TT: Say another word and I'll pair you with Kagura.
Inuyasha: *gasps*
TT: *evil grin* Or Kouga...
Inuyasha: I'll be good! I'll be good! (Bitch)
TT: *examining fingernails* Inuyasha?
Inuyasha: What?
TT: Osuwari.
Inuyasha: *crash* Bitch! How did you do that?
TT: *walks away* Saa, na...