Yay! I finished the chapter that took me forever! I even made it a few
pages longer than I usually do (long for me anyway). Although I'm sure
there are mistakes, if you see any please let me know so I can fix it
later. Enjoy.
RECAP:
"I. . . where is Inuyasha? He is alive and he's ok?"
She became silent for a moment and a sympathetic look covered her face as she opened her mouth to reply. I think she was about to speak but at that moment, a strong gust of wind came and covered up anything she might have said.
Before I could ask her to repeat, I felt a very powerful presence heading in our direction quickly. It wasn't evil, but it was traveling so fast that I could tell it had some kind of purpose for approaching us. I was trying to shield my eyes against the dirt that flew in my eyes, but I could definitely make out a bright blur that hadn't been there before. A bright red blur.
And suddenly, something had a tight vise grip on my arms and was holding me against a tree. I tried to open my eyes, but they were still watery from the dirt and I couldn't make out what was holding me so effectively.
The presence was breathing heavily by my ear and they had their nose in my hair and my neck and my chest. I was uncomfortable but for some reason not alarmed. The dust cleared and I coughed and blinked the water away from my eyes.
The sniffing stopped and I felt brave enough to face whatever was holding me. My eyes opened and I found myself staring into a familiar storm of brilliant gold.
My breath caught for a moment and I swallowed.
"Umm. . . hi Inuyasha."
*
* "I have spread my dreams under your feet; tread softly because you tread on my dreams." -William Butler Yeats
*
WARNING: FLUFF, PROCEDE WITH CAUTION
*
Chapter 6
Shock: A sudden or violent disturbance of the emotions or sensibilities. There are several different reactions to shock. Some may go into a coma like state, or some may simply feel winded for a short time. And then there are the others, people like me, who pass out. Now don't judge me too harshly. I did not *faint*, I just passed out. There is a difference, albeit a small one.
It's just that after not only having the longest day of my life, by the end of the night, I find myself 500 years in the past. Then I was chased through the forest by some craved demon, and narrowly escaped death, only to find my best friend, who was married and had a son. Oh, now lets not forget being held against a tree and being sniffed out by a half demon whom I hadn't seen in nine years, yet was still undeniably in love with.
How's that for an emotional hurricane?
The reprieve of sleep was a wonderful escape. I'm not sure exactly what happened in the events since I had been asleep, or how long I had been out of it for that matter, but it was pitch dark when I awoke.
"Uggh. My head."
I blinked the sleep from my eyes and slowly reached up to rub my temples with lethargic movements; my arms still hadn't regained proper coordination. My first thought after waking was how warm I felt. In fact, I had never felt more comfortable in my entire life than I was at that moment. But then again, gaining back all that sleep I had lost could probably make sleeping on a rock seem comfortable.
Awareness was a gradual process, and once I swallowed a couple of times and cleared my head, I realized that the warm cradle I was in was not my bed. But strangely, I knew exactly where I was.
I blinked unbelievably. Was I dreaming? I had often traveled back to this time in my dreams, but the small fire in front of me had never looked so real and the smell of earth and woods so close. . . I couldn't be where I thought I was. I had a better chance of falling off the face of the earth than traveling back in time.
I was going through the 'who' 'what' 'where' and 'how' process and was finally recovering from my short memory relapse and remembering what had happened in the past couple of hours.
I shifted my eyes, looking for any sign of movement and tried to jerk to my feet but was stopped when I heard the rumbling in my ear. Was I lying on a massager? The sleep began to creep back and slowly bring down my eyes. It felt. . . nice. Wait, that wasn't right. . .
The soothing rumbling became more vocal.
Laughter?
I moved my sore neck as fast as my muscles allowed and lifted my shocked eyes to come face to face with the amused ones of my captor.
The reality of actually seeing him there, alive and tangible, and unbelievably REAL made me loose my breath and my words. Of course, being Inuyasha, he had no such trouble.
"You certainly are a strange one, Kagome. When you face off a demon your bodies first reaction is to kill it, but the one moment you see me, you faint. I don't know if I should be insulted or flattered that you think my presence so potent."
"Inu. .yasha. . . . . .?"
I'm fairly certain I resembled something like a fish with my jaw hanging open and my tongue doing twisters in my mouth.
"Well Kagome? I'm still waiting for a proper hello, I at least deserve that after you faint on me."
Even after nine years, it's amazing how some things will just never change. I can always count on Inuyasha to be arrogant and cocky.
His face was scrunched up with laughter. Well, actually, it was scrunched up because of the effort it took him to contain his laughter.
Some good that did.
Jeez, did he have to look at me like that? He didn't have to look so damn happy with himself for turning me into a mumbling idiot.
As a girl, I had to defend myself against the male species. Heck, if it were any other person I'd smack him, but being a demon and all I doubt it would have much effect. Inuyasha could out run me, and points were in his favor strength wise, but I knew my glare could cause more damage than most people could do with a baseball bat.
"Excuse me? For one thing, I didn't *faint,* I passed out from exhaustion! And secondly, I distinctly remember greeting you but you must have had difficulty hearing me being that your nose was in my chest! I'm not sure what you were expecting, but a small "hello" was all I could manage when you were sniffing at me like I was your next meal!"
He was silent for a moment, and he looked to be deep in thought as he reasoned with my words. Then his face became skeptical and his eyes smirked at me from above.
"Don't be ridiculous, Kagome. I use my ears to hear you, not my nose."
By now I was fuming. I'm sure my face was red and my eyes were glaring daggers and held promises of violence.
And he sat there, staring at me completely unfazed.
"Your looking a little warm Kagome, are you alright? Now that you bring to my attention, you smell bad." He said with another sniff and a curious look in his eyes.
". . . Excuse me?! I think I was starting to like my dream Inuyasha better than the real thing, because this sure as hell wasn't how I pictured what our conversation would be like.
Maybe somewhere along the lines of 'Oh Kagome, I missed you so much. Let me love you and never leave again.' A little corny, but at least blunt words get the meaning across.
Wishful thinking, that's all it was.
His ears wilted on his head to block out the sound from my sudden outburst. . . well, maybe not so sudden. I mean, what did he expect after insulting me, that I'd just sit there and nod my head?
I have no idea how Inuyasha's mind works, but for some reason I guess he decided the conversation was over and was moving on to his next priority. I just wish he'd tell me before he acted.
He quickly recovered from my tongue lashing and shifted our positions. With swift movements, he was standing and I was being carried away in his arms like a little kid.
The door was swung open so fast that I didn't even hear an ominous creak. I saw a shocked Miroku and Sango jump from her place on the floor yelling.
"Inuyasha! What are you doing now-"
The door cut her off and we were flying through the trees.
All protests stopped the moment I felt the cool air whooshing past my cheeks and blowing my bangs across by brow. We were rushing past the trees so fast that I got dizzy trying to keep up with them. A bubble of laughter popped out of my throat and I didn't even care that I was probably swallowing a bunch of bugs in the process.
God, it felt wonderful. The only thing that could come close to what I was feeling was when I went parasailing, except then I was too worried about falling to enjoy the sensations of being up in the air. Now all that mattered was the feeling of butterflies in my stomach from excitement, and the welcome night air that felt so good chills went running down my spine. But most of all I felt so safe and warm and it was just wonderful to be in his arms again.
It wasn't until we reached a clearing with a small river when we finally stopped. And even then, it was dangerously close to the banks.
I lay in his arms gasping, trying to regain control over my breathing, though I wondered why he was doing the same. In the time that I remember, Inuyasha never got winded from carrying me. He looked down at me; probably to make sure I was still there, and then I remembered that I was supposed to be angry. His long hair curtained my face and I yanked a lock as hard as I could.
"Just what the hell were you thinking? Put me down!"
I breathed heavily to catch my breath, all the while shooting fire at him with my angry look. I thought it would ward him off and convince him to release his grip, but instead it seemed to have the opposite effect. His face closed in on mine and there was the faintest brush on his cheek against my forehead and the light breath of his lips against mine.
I gasped and tried to regain control of myself and saw that he was looking at me, and when I began to convince myself that this wasn't a dream, he finally decided to release me from his grasp.
I fell.
Right into the cold water.
Jerk.
I went under and would have forced myself to stay under, knowing that he would find amusement in me clawing my way to the surface just to yell at him. But unfortunately, I needed air to survive so I did exactly what I wanted to avoid doing. I even did the whole cussing thing when I finally broke the surface.
"Damn it, Inuyasha! Have you lost your mind in the time that I was gone, or did you have this crazy idea in your head that I would be grateful to you for throwing me in a cold river?"
I heard a snort but when he came into my line of vision his face was grim and I wondered what I had said that caused him to look so somber.
He was ignoring me again but was by my side in an instant and the rush of wind that came with him caused me to shiver.
I craned my neck to meet his eyes. It's in situations like these where I wish I was taller, I hate giving my opponent any more advantage than he already has. And of course, he had that stupid grin on his face that never seemed to waver and I hated it all the more knowing that it was at my expense. He put his arms on my shoulders and sniffed at me again. The grin turned into a full-fledged smile. I blinked. He seemed to be doing that a lot lately.
And with that smile, I was speechless again. Good lord, what was wrong with me? I breathing heavily, and it wasn't just because I had been holding my breath under water.
He dipped his head to my collarbone, took an audible breath, and slowly lifted his head to look me straight in the eye.
"Much better."
My reaction was a sound of disbelieve. Was he doing what I thought he was doing? Was Inuyasha actually flirting? That was impossible. Inuyasha doesn't flirt. I don't even think he knows how to play those kinds of games. He doesn't know how to do anything except be rude and unbelievably cocky.
Then he licked me.
"You taste good, too."
Simply impossible. Obviously I was the one who had lost my mind.
*
*
We made it back to the hut with little of my dignity still intact. After ever-observant Inuyasha pointed out that my clothes were barely hanging on my body, I embarrassingly accepted his haori. I didn't fail to mention the fact that he was the one responsible for my dripping clothes in the first place (along with the help of the demon attack earlier).
He was still carrying me when we approached the door and Sango and Miroku stormed out. Well, Sango stormed, Miroku followed quietly behind with a pleased smile on his face.
"What's the big idea taking off with Kagome like that? She still hasn't recovered from that demon attack! Just look at her, she's all wet and could get sick!"
"Oh don't worry about it Sango, I'm sure Inuyasha's top priority was Kagome's well being." Miroku stepped in.
He started walking towards us and it wasn't until Miroku came up to hug me in greeting when Inuyasha finally let me down from his arms.
"It's wonderful to see you again, Kagome. You're even lovelier than I remember." He said while lifting my hand for a kiss.
I brushed him away and gave him a proper hello by hugging him as tightly as I could. And while I waited for it, I was delighted to see that Miroku was a very dedicated and honorable husband.
I surprised myself when I felt the stinging in my eyes, moist with tears. For goodness sake, I was hugging Miroku and I found myself tearing up about it.
"God, you guys have no idea how much I missed you."
"I think we have an idea." he said with a kiss on my cheek.
I heard a grunt behind me.
"Relax Inuyasha, It's been a long time for us too; you'll just have to learn to share." Miroku smiled when the statement was followed by more animalistic sounds that were impossible to interpret.
When we parted I shivered from the loss of his warmth and immediately felt the strength of Inuyasha behind me.
"Lets get back inside before you freeze your ass off."
I desperately wanted to tell him that it was his fault that I was freezing in the first place, but I decided to keep my tongue in check to avoid another fight, just this once.
Amazing how I could be gone for so long, but have everything fall back into routine so quickly.
"That's the best thing you have said all night."
*
*
I was allowed a moment to myself to change into some dry clothes that Sango had given me. Although it was only a few; Inuyasha actually gave me a time limit and looking at his face I knew he would come in and get me if I exceeded that time limit, whether I was dressed or not. But can't he give me a break? Surely he knows the hassle and time it takes to change out of wet clothes.
While I struggled to change, I noticed that I had some noticeable scratches on my skin from the fight earlier. I could tell someone had made an effort to bandage them, but they were all soggy from the water so I took them off and decided I didn't really need them anyway; they were already dulling from an angry red color to a soft pink.
Feeling anxious, I quickly finished changing and followed the warm smell of food.
The setting of the room was just amazingly peaceful and I immediately felt calmed by its soothing atmosphere. Sango was kneeling by a fire and despite its small size, was casting a warm glow over the room. Miroku was not far from her side, sitting next to Masaru (He was probably there the whole time and I was just too distracted to notice him earlier) and patiently answering the many questions that were being asked.
Which reminded me of the many questions I had.
Inuyasha, or course was sitting in his own corner, his eyes briefly looking at the others in the room. His shoulders were tense and I wondered why there would be reason for him to react that way. There weren't many safe places in this time period, but from my experience, he had always found some comfort whenever we stayed at Kaedes. Of course he was always alert, but he used to at least allow himself some level of relaxation in a building
And it was even stranger when his eyes finally caught mine and he let out a slow breath and relaxed into his position on the floor.
What was up with him? It was almost as if he were afraid that I would disappear through the floorboards.
I moved to sit in the corner of the room so that I could have a perfect view of everyone's faces, but was stopped when I walked past Inuyasha and he grabbed my arm and not so subtly yanked me to the floor next to him.
I turned to face him with a questioning look in my eyes and he just stared at me, daring me to argue with him. Still a little tired and not in the mood to start fighting, I let it pass without comment.
The others quickly noticed my presence and for the moment, none of us really needed words. It wasn't like we were having one of those awkward silent moments were long time friends who once always had something to talk about were at a loss for words because there was too much time between them. We had been through too much together to let something like time stand in the way of the special bonds we had formed.
It was just wonderful to sit together around a fire and breath in the comforting presence of everyone and everything around me. Although it was a little different now, one reason being that Miroku and Sango were married and there were no noises of her slapping him for his wandering hands. But still, the protective strength of Inuyasha, Miroku and Sango's sweet affection towards each other, Shippo's persistent questions. . .
"Where's Shippo?"
The question came out of nowhere but the others didn't seem surprised by it.
"The brat needed get out and learn a few things." It was Inuyasha who answered, much to my surprise considering he wasn't being very vocal.
"I don't understand."
"What Inuyasha means, Kagome, is that Shippo is becoming an adult and he needed to explore the world and do a little growing up."
"All by himself? What if he gets hurt?" I asked a little alarmed.
"He isn't by himself, Kirara went with him to keep him company and make sure he doesn't do anything stupid." Sango said while stirring the contents that were cooking in the pot over the fire.
"Oh." I was at a loss for words. What else could I say after realizing that the child that I had left behind had been growing up without me? Would he recognize me? Would he even remember the girl that had suddenly came into his early life and taken care of him, and just as suddenly left without warning?
Beside me, Inuyasha shifted and reached for my hand.
"Don't worry about it." He said while stroking his claws lightly against my fingers.
And just like that, the fear was out of my mind and I remembered how resourceful and brave Shippo could be. I shouldn't doubt him and his abilities that with no question had grow over the years. And somehow just having Inuyasha hold my hand made it all right too.
I looked at him gratefully but noticed he had tensed a little and I realized that he was still holding my hand even after the moment passed. It felt good and when I didn't say anything about it, he relaxed again and resumed stroking my fingers with his claws.
Somehow, I don't think this was the same Inuyasha I left.
*
*
Dinner was ready after a few moments and it was strangest meal I had ever had. The food itself was wonderful (courtesy of Sango's great cooking skills) but throughout the whole meal, Inuyasha acted strange. Despite the fact that we had moved from our positions on the floor to a more comfortable seat around a low table, I still found myself so close to him that every time I reached for a dish, our arms would brush. Although I couldn't help but feel most of our contact was made intentionally on his part.
And the worst of it was that I had a strange feeling that everyone around us knew exactly what was going on. It seemed like Miroku was doing his best to keep a straight face while my face got red every time our skin made contact. Sango just didn't want to get involved with the whole thing. Although she didn't jump to my defense, she just kept her face in her food and pretended she didn't know what was going on. But every now and then she would glance at Inuyasha and I couldn't help but feel I was missing something big.
The only person I felt I could ally with was little Masaru, who had as much clue as to what was going on as I did. Well, that is until he started asking embarrassing questions like 'why is your face all red?' or how he pointed out that even though I was trying to inconspicuously shift away from my close range with Inuyasha, I forgot to bring my food with me, so every time I took a bite, I would lean all the way over and end up sprawled in his lap.
Actually everyone got a good laugh out of that. Except Inuyasha who, after I recovered from my fall, closed the distance between us and I was forced to give up my retreat and tried to ignore the butterflies in my stomach.
The meal seemed to stretch on forever especially since everyone kept on asking questions about what I had been doing all these years. Under normal circumstances, I wouldn't mind answering all of their questions in great detail. But by then the half-demon next to me had started brushing my leg every once in a while with his fingertips and I could barely concentrate on what they were asking.
I was incredibly relieved once the meal ended but I think I had a permanent blush in my cheeks.
So of course I jumped at the opportunity to get away from the table to help Sango with the dishes.
It was a cheap and easy escape, but an escape nonetheless. Trust me, I was desperate for some space, if just for a little while.
I felt bad for Sango though. I think I ended up doing more harm than good. I was still a little flustered and it made me very clumsy with her dishes. I tried my best, but in any case I still ended up breaking more than one of her bowls. I promised to replace them, but she just laughed as if she knew exactly why I was having so much trouble, and simply dismissed it.
So what would have taken about twenty minutes took even longer, but we were both grateful for the time to ourselves to have some girl talk. Inuyasha, Miroku, and Masaru were all outside putting things away for the night.
I heard her contented sigh as we finished up and looking at her face just then and seeing the glow in her eyes made me want to sigh too. The haunted look that I had been so familiar with was no longer there and for the first time she looked happy to just be alive and living the wonderful life that she fought so hard for.
"You look happy, Sango."
She raised her head in surprise but after a moment just smiled.
"I mean, the whole time I was gone, I was so worried about all of you and what you were doing without me. But I had forgotten how determined you were and now that I'm here, I realize that I had nothing to worry about."
She was silent for a moment, as if reflecting on what I said and a sad smile crossed her face.
"You're right, I am. But it was hard at first, after you left. We had no idea what happened to you and things just sort of fell apart. We had an idea of what happened, after we chased after Inuyasha and he told us what he saw. But we weren't positive and when we searched for any sign of what happened with no avail, it was like wondering 'what's going to happen next?'"
It was then that I realized how funny it was that no one had even bothered to question why it was that I could come back. No one wondered why the well suddenly decided to let me pass after so many years.
And I don't think anyone really cared.
"But you made it. You fought your way through doubt and despair and share something so complete and worthwhile with someone that all the scars from the suffering you went though just fade away. You're living a dream that not many people get to have. I'm happy for you."
"What about you, Kagome?"
"What about me?"
"You've told us all about what you do in your world; your job, your schooling. But are you happy?"
I shifted uncomfortably and stared at my hands that rested in my lap.
"I am happy for what I have. One thing that is similar about our worlds is the poverty. Despite all the cures and machines in my world, we still haven't solved the disease of starvation and poverty. So the fact that I have shelter over my head and a loving family makes me happy and thankful."
My answer was a little hollow and I'm sure she knew it. I spoke nothing of love but I wasn't quite ready to explain to her that I never gave up on that small kindle of hope that I might return here, that maybe someone else would be waiting for me too, and well. . . who knows.
"Sounds familiar."
I was startled out of my thoughts with her response.
"Huh?"
"When you left Kagome, Inuyasha. . . he just lost his will to do anything. He just went through the motions of living. He didn't give anything and he didn't expect anything from life. I think he was doing it for our sake more than anything else."
"I don't understand. He seems fine to me."
"Well of course he does, now that you're here."
I was still confused and Sango had an exasperated look.
"God, after all these years you'd think that both you and him would gain some sense. Don't you see Kagome? He may not seem all that different to you, but you haven't seen what he's like when your not here. He lives because you give him reason to."
I stared wide-eyed at her, thinking that she couldn't be implying what I thought she was. But then I thought back to our conversation when I first woke up, or how he was acting by the river. I started blushing after that thought. When had he become so playful?
"There is something different about him. I hadn't noticed it before, but he smiles now."
"He smiles, because when you're here, he feels."
I was stunned by where our conversation was going and I was even more surprised as to what she was saying. I didn't even notice when Sango left me to my thoughts.
I didn't like it. I didn't like the fact that he suffered when I was gone. But still, some selfish part in me was relieved and a little glad that he was as lost without me as I was without him. Is that cruel of me? I couldn't help but feel a little warmed that I meant that much to him.
*
*
*
*
I don't know how you guys liked it, but that was incredibly weird for me to write. I have never written romantic scenes before, so this is new territory for me. Personally, I'm not that pleased with it, so it might change in the future. Anyway, weirdness aside, please let me know what you thought of it (now don't all come yelling at me all at once) or if you thought it was too rushed. Comments/suggestions are always welcome. Sorry it took so long, so for those of you who are actually reading it, thanks for your patience.
RECAP:
"I. . . where is Inuyasha? He is alive and he's ok?"
She became silent for a moment and a sympathetic look covered her face as she opened her mouth to reply. I think she was about to speak but at that moment, a strong gust of wind came and covered up anything she might have said.
Before I could ask her to repeat, I felt a very powerful presence heading in our direction quickly. It wasn't evil, but it was traveling so fast that I could tell it had some kind of purpose for approaching us. I was trying to shield my eyes against the dirt that flew in my eyes, but I could definitely make out a bright blur that hadn't been there before. A bright red blur.
And suddenly, something had a tight vise grip on my arms and was holding me against a tree. I tried to open my eyes, but they were still watery from the dirt and I couldn't make out what was holding me so effectively.
The presence was breathing heavily by my ear and they had their nose in my hair and my neck and my chest. I was uncomfortable but for some reason not alarmed. The dust cleared and I coughed and blinked the water away from my eyes.
The sniffing stopped and I felt brave enough to face whatever was holding me. My eyes opened and I found myself staring into a familiar storm of brilliant gold.
My breath caught for a moment and I swallowed.
"Umm. . . hi Inuyasha."
*
* "I have spread my dreams under your feet; tread softly because you tread on my dreams." -William Butler Yeats
*
WARNING: FLUFF, PROCEDE WITH CAUTION
*
Chapter 6
Shock: A sudden or violent disturbance of the emotions or sensibilities. There are several different reactions to shock. Some may go into a coma like state, or some may simply feel winded for a short time. And then there are the others, people like me, who pass out. Now don't judge me too harshly. I did not *faint*, I just passed out. There is a difference, albeit a small one.
It's just that after not only having the longest day of my life, by the end of the night, I find myself 500 years in the past. Then I was chased through the forest by some craved demon, and narrowly escaped death, only to find my best friend, who was married and had a son. Oh, now lets not forget being held against a tree and being sniffed out by a half demon whom I hadn't seen in nine years, yet was still undeniably in love with.
How's that for an emotional hurricane?
The reprieve of sleep was a wonderful escape. I'm not sure exactly what happened in the events since I had been asleep, or how long I had been out of it for that matter, but it was pitch dark when I awoke.
"Uggh. My head."
I blinked the sleep from my eyes and slowly reached up to rub my temples with lethargic movements; my arms still hadn't regained proper coordination. My first thought after waking was how warm I felt. In fact, I had never felt more comfortable in my entire life than I was at that moment. But then again, gaining back all that sleep I had lost could probably make sleeping on a rock seem comfortable.
Awareness was a gradual process, and once I swallowed a couple of times and cleared my head, I realized that the warm cradle I was in was not my bed. But strangely, I knew exactly where I was.
I blinked unbelievably. Was I dreaming? I had often traveled back to this time in my dreams, but the small fire in front of me had never looked so real and the smell of earth and woods so close. . . I couldn't be where I thought I was. I had a better chance of falling off the face of the earth than traveling back in time.
I was going through the 'who' 'what' 'where' and 'how' process and was finally recovering from my short memory relapse and remembering what had happened in the past couple of hours.
I shifted my eyes, looking for any sign of movement and tried to jerk to my feet but was stopped when I heard the rumbling in my ear. Was I lying on a massager? The sleep began to creep back and slowly bring down my eyes. It felt. . . nice. Wait, that wasn't right. . .
The soothing rumbling became more vocal.
Laughter?
I moved my sore neck as fast as my muscles allowed and lifted my shocked eyes to come face to face with the amused ones of my captor.
The reality of actually seeing him there, alive and tangible, and unbelievably REAL made me loose my breath and my words. Of course, being Inuyasha, he had no such trouble.
"You certainly are a strange one, Kagome. When you face off a demon your bodies first reaction is to kill it, but the one moment you see me, you faint. I don't know if I should be insulted or flattered that you think my presence so potent."
"Inu. .yasha. . . . . .?"
I'm fairly certain I resembled something like a fish with my jaw hanging open and my tongue doing twisters in my mouth.
"Well Kagome? I'm still waiting for a proper hello, I at least deserve that after you faint on me."
Even after nine years, it's amazing how some things will just never change. I can always count on Inuyasha to be arrogant and cocky.
His face was scrunched up with laughter. Well, actually, it was scrunched up because of the effort it took him to contain his laughter.
Some good that did.
Jeez, did he have to look at me like that? He didn't have to look so damn happy with himself for turning me into a mumbling idiot.
As a girl, I had to defend myself against the male species. Heck, if it were any other person I'd smack him, but being a demon and all I doubt it would have much effect. Inuyasha could out run me, and points were in his favor strength wise, but I knew my glare could cause more damage than most people could do with a baseball bat.
"Excuse me? For one thing, I didn't *faint,* I passed out from exhaustion! And secondly, I distinctly remember greeting you but you must have had difficulty hearing me being that your nose was in my chest! I'm not sure what you were expecting, but a small "hello" was all I could manage when you were sniffing at me like I was your next meal!"
He was silent for a moment, and he looked to be deep in thought as he reasoned with my words. Then his face became skeptical and his eyes smirked at me from above.
"Don't be ridiculous, Kagome. I use my ears to hear you, not my nose."
By now I was fuming. I'm sure my face was red and my eyes were glaring daggers and held promises of violence.
And he sat there, staring at me completely unfazed.
"Your looking a little warm Kagome, are you alright? Now that you bring to my attention, you smell bad." He said with another sniff and a curious look in his eyes.
". . . Excuse me?! I think I was starting to like my dream Inuyasha better than the real thing, because this sure as hell wasn't how I pictured what our conversation would be like.
Maybe somewhere along the lines of 'Oh Kagome, I missed you so much. Let me love you and never leave again.' A little corny, but at least blunt words get the meaning across.
Wishful thinking, that's all it was.
His ears wilted on his head to block out the sound from my sudden outburst. . . well, maybe not so sudden. I mean, what did he expect after insulting me, that I'd just sit there and nod my head?
I have no idea how Inuyasha's mind works, but for some reason I guess he decided the conversation was over and was moving on to his next priority. I just wish he'd tell me before he acted.
He quickly recovered from my tongue lashing and shifted our positions. With swift movements, he was standing and I was being carried away in his arms like a little kid.
The door was swung open so fast that I didn't even hear an ominous creak. I saw a shocked Miroku and Sango jump from her place on the floor yelling.
"Inuyasha! What are you doing now-"
The door cut her off and we were flying through the trees.
All protests stopped the moment I felt the cool air whooshing past my cheeks and blowing my bangs across by brow. We were rushing past the trees so fast that I got dizzy trying to keep up with them. A bubble of laughter popped out of my throat and I didn't even care that I was probably swallowing a bunch of bugs in the process.
God, it felt wonderful. The only thing that could come close to what I was feeling was when I went parasailing, except then I was too worried about falling to enjoy the sensations of being up in the air. Now all that mattered was the feeling of butterflies in my stomach from excitement, and the welcome night air that felt so good chills went running down my spine. But most of all I felt so safe and warm and it was just wonderful to be in his arms again.
It wasn't until we reached a clearing with a small river when we finally stopped. And even then, it was dangerously close to the banks.
I lay in his arms gasping, trying to regain control over my breathing, though I wondered why he was doing the same. In the time that I remember, Inuyasha never got winded from carrying me. He looked down at me; probably to make sure I was still there, and then I remembered that I was supposed to be angry. His long hair curtained my face and I yanked a lock as hard as I could.
"Just what the hell were you thinking? Put me down!"
I breathed heavily to catch my breath, all the while shooting fire at him with my angry look. I thought it would ward him off and convince him to release his grip, but instead it seemed to have the opposite effect. His face closed in on mine and there was the faintest brush on his cheek against my forehead and the light breath of his lips against mine.
I gasped and tried to regain control of myself and saw that he was looking at me, and when I began to convince myself that this wasn't a dream, he finally decided to release me from his grasp.
I fell.
Right into the cold water.
Jerk.
I went under and would have forced myself to stay under, knowing that he would find amusement in me clawing my way to the surface just to yell at him. But unfortunately, I needed air to survive so I did exactly what I wanted to avoid doing. I even did the whole cussing thing when I finally broke the surface.
"Damn it, Inuyasha! Have you lost your mind in the time that I was gone, or did you have this crazy idea in your head that I would be grateful to you for throwing me in a cold river?"
I heard a snort but when he came into my line of vision his face was grim and I wondered what I had said that caused him to look so somber.
He was ignoring me again but was by my side in an instant and the rush of wind that came with him caused me to shiver.
I craned my neck to meet his eyes. It's in situations like these where I wish I was taller, I hate giving my opponent any more advantage than he already has. And of course, he had that stupid grin on his face that never seemed to waver and I hated it all the more knowing that it was at my expense. He put his arms on my shoulders and sniffed at me again. The grin turned into a full-fledged smile. I blinked. He seemed to be doing that a lot lately.
And with that smile, I was speechless again. Good lord, what was wrong with me? I breathing heavily, and it wasn't just because I had been holding my breath under water.
He dipped his head to my collarbone, took an audible breath, and slowly lifted his head to look me straight in the eye.
"Much better."
My reaction was a sound of disbelieve. Was he doing what I thought he was doing? Was Inuyasha actually flirting? That was impossible. Inuyasha doesn't flirt. I don't even think he knows how to play those kinds of games. He doesn't know how to do anything except be rude and unbelievably cocky.
Then he licked me.
"You taste good, too."
Simply impossible. Obviously I was the one who had lost my mind.
*
*
We made it back to the hut with little of my dignity still intact. After ever-observant Inuyasha pointed out that my clothes were barely hanging on my body, I embarrassingly accepted his haori. I didn't fail to mention the fact that he was the one responsible for my dripping clothes in the first place (along with the help of the demon attack earlier).
He was still carrying me when we approached the door and Sango and Miroku stormed out. Well, Sango stormed, Miroku followed quietly behind with a pleased smile on his face.
"What's the big idea taking off with Kagome like that? She still hasn't recovered from that demon attack! Just look at her, she's all wet and could get sick!"
"Oh don't worry about it Sango, I'm sure Inuyasha's top priority was Kagome's well being." Miroku stepped in.
He started walking towards us and it wasn't until Miroku came up to hug me in greeting when Inuyasha finally let me down from his arms.
"It's wonderful to see you again, Kagome. You're even lovelier than I remember." He said while lifting my hand for a kiss.
I brushed him away and gave him a proper hello by hugging him as tightly as I could. And while I waited for it, I was delighted to see that Miroku was a very dedicated and honorable husband.
I surprised myself when I felt the stinging in my eyes, moist with tears. For goodness sake, I was hugging Miroku and I found myself tearing up about it.
"God, you guys have no idea how much I missed you."
"I think we have an idea." he said with a kiss on my cheek.
I heard a grunt behind me.
"Relax Inuyasha, It's been a long time for us too; you'll just have to learn to share." Miroku smiled when the statement was followed by more animalistic sounds that were impossible to interpret.
When we parted I shivered from the loss of his warmth and immediately felt the strength of Inuyasha behind me.
"Lets get back inside before you freeze your ass off."
I desperately wanted to tell him that it was his fault that I was freezing in the first place, but I decided to keep my tongue in check to avoid another fight, just this once.
Amazing how I could be gone for so long, but have everything fall back into routine so quickly.
"That's the best thing you have said all night."
*
*
I was allowed a moment to myself to change into some dry clothes that Sango had given me. Although it was only a few; Inuyasha actually gave me a time limit and looking at his face I knew he would come in and get me if I exceeded that time limit, whether I was dressed or not. But can't he give me a break? Surely he knows the hassle and time it takes to change out of wet clothes.
While I struggled to change, I noticed that I had some noticeable scratches on my skin from the fight earlier. I could tell someone had made an effort to bandage them, but they were all soggy from the water so I took them off and decided I didn't really need them anyway; they were already dulling from an angry red color to a soft pink.
Feeling anxious, I quickly finished changing and followed the warm smell of food.
The setting of the room was just amazingly peaceful and I immediately felt calmed by its soothing atmosphere. Sango was kneeling by a fire and despite its small size, was casting a warm glow over the room. Miroku was not far from her side, sitting next to Masaru (He was probably there the whole time and I was just too distracted to notice him earlier) and patiently answering the many questions that were being asked.
Which reminded me of the many questions I had.
Inuyasha, or course was sitting in his own corner, his eyes briefly looking at the others in the room. His shoulders were tense and I wondered why there would be reason for him to react that way. There weren't many safe places in this time period, but from my experience, he had always found some comfort whenever we stayed at Kaedes. Of course he was always alert, but he used to at least allow himself some level of relaxation in a building
And it was even stranger when his eyes finally caught mine and he let out a slow breath and relaxed into his position on the floor.
What was up with him? It was almost as if he were afraid that I would disappear through the floorboards.
I moved to sit in the corner of the room so that I could have a perfect view of everyone's faces, but was stopped when I walked past Inuyasha and he grabbed my arm and not so subtly yanked me to the floor next to him.
I turned to face him with a questioning look in my eyes and he just stared at me, daring me to argue with him. Still a little tired and not in the mood to start fighting, I let it pass without comment.
The others quickly noticed my presence and for the moment, none of us really needed words. It wasn't like we were having one of those awkward silent moments were long time friends who once always had something to talk about were at a loss for words because there was too much time between them. We had been through too much together to let something like time stand in the way of the special bonds we had formed.
It was just wonderful to sit together around a fire and breath in the comforting presence of everyone and everything around me. Although it was a little different now, one reason being that Miroku and Sango were married and there were no noises of her slapping him for his wandering hands. But still, the protective strength of Inuyasha, Miroku and Sango's sweet affection towards each other, Shippo's persistent questions. . .
"Where's Shippo?"
The question came out of nowhere but the others didn't seem surprised by it.
"The brat needed get out and learn a few things." It was Inuyasha who answered, much to my surprise considering he wasn't being very vocal.
"I don't understand."
"What Inuyasha means, Kagome, is that Shippo is becoming an adult and he needed to explore the world and do a little growing up."
"All by himself? What if he gets hurt?" I asked a little alarmed.
"He isn't by himself, Kirara went with him to keep him company and make sure he doesn't do anything stupid." Sango said while stirring the contents that were cooking in the pot over the fire.
"Oh." I was at a loss for words. What else could I say after realizing that the child that I had left behind had been growing up without me? Would he recognize me? Would he even remember the girl that had suddenly came into his early life and taken care of him, and just as suddenly left without warning?
Beside me, Inuyasha shifted and reached for my hand.
"Don't worry about it." He said while stroking his claws lightly against my fingers.
And just like that, the fear was out of my mind and I remembered how resourceful and brave Shippo could be. I shouldn't doubt him and his abilities that with no question had grow over the years. And somehow just having Inuyasha hold my hand made it all right too.
I looked at him gratefully but noticed he had tensed a little and I realized that he was still holding my hand even after the moment passed. It felt good and when I didn't say anything about it, he relaxed again and resumed stroking my fingers with his claws.
Somehow, I don't think this was the same Inuyasha I left.
*
*
Dinner was ready after a few moments and it was strangest meal I had ever had. The food itself was wonderful (courtesy of Sango's great cooking skills) but throughout the whole meal, Inuyasha acted strange. Despite the fact that we had moved from our positions on the floor to a more comfortable seat around a low table, I still found myself so close to him that every time I reached for a dish, our arms would brush. Although I couldn't help but feel most of our contact was made intentionally on his part.
And the worst of it was that I had a strange feeling that everyone around us knew exactly what was going on. It seemed like Miroku was doing his best to keep a straight face while my face got red every time our skin made contact. Sango just didn't want to get involved with the whole thing. Although she didn't jump to my defense, she just kept her face in her food and pretended she didn't know what was going on. But every now and then she would glance at Inuyasha and I couldn't help but feel I was missing something big.
The only person I felt I could ally with was little Masaru, who had as much clue as to what was going on as I did. Well, that is until he started asking embarrassing questions like 'why is your face all red?' or how he pointed out that even though I was trying to inconspicuously shift away from my close range with Inuyasha, I forgot to bring my food with me, so every time I took a bite, I would lean all the way over and end up sprawled in his lap.
Actually everyone got a good laugh out of that. Except Inuyasha who, after I recovered from my fall, closed the distance between us and I was forced to give up my retreat and tried to ignore the butterflies in my stomach.
The meal seemed to stretch on forever especially since everyone kept on asking questions about what I had been doing all these years. Under normal circumstances, I wouldn't mind answering all of their questions in great detail. But by then the half-demon next to me had started brushing my leg every once in a while with his fingertips and I could barely concentrate on what they were asking.
I was incredibly relieved once the meal ended but I think I had a permanent blush in my cheeks.
So of course I jumped at the opportunity to get away from the table to help Sango with the dishes.
It was a cheap and easy escape, but an escape nonetheless. Trust me, I was desperate for some space, if just for a little while.
I felt bad for Sango though. I think I ended up doing more harm than good. I was still a little flustered and it made me very clumsy with her dishes. I tried my best, but in any case I still ended up breaking more than one of her bowls. I promised to replace them, but she just laughed as if she knew exactly why I was having so much trouble, and simply dismissed it.
So what would have taken about twenty minutes took even longer, but we were both grateful for the time to ourselves to have some girl talk. Inuyasha, Miroku, and Masaru were all outside putting things away for the night.
I heard her contented sigh as we finished up and looking at her face just then and seeing the glow in her eyes made me want to sigh too. The haunted look that I had been so familiar with was no longer there and for the first time she looked happy to just be alive and living the wonderful life that she fought so hard for.
"You look happy, Sango."
She raised her head in surprise but after a moment just smiled.
"I mean, the whole time I was gone, I was so worried about all of you and what you were doing without me. But I had forgotten how determined you were and now that I'm here, I realize that I had nothing to worry about."
She was silent for a moment, as if reflecting on what I said and a sad smile crossed her face.
"You're right, I am. But it was hard at first, after you left. We had no idea what happened to you and things just sort of fell apart. We had an idea of what happened, after we chased after Inuyasha and he told us what he saw. But we weren't positive and when we searched for any sign of what happened with no avail, it was like wondering 'what's going to happen next?'"
It was then that I realized how funny it was that no one had even bothered to question why it was that I could come back. No one wondered why the well suddenly decided to let me pass after so many years.
And I don't think anyone really cared.
"But you made it. You fought your way through doubt and despair and share something so complete and worthwhile with someone that all the scars from the suffering you went though just fade away. You're living a dream that not many people get to have. I'm happy for you."
"What about you, Kagome?"
"What about me?"
"You've told us all about what you do in your world; your job, your schooling. But are you happy?"
I shifted uncomfortably and stared at my hands that rested in my lap.
"I am happy for what I have. One thing that is similar about our worlds is the poverty. Despite all the cures and machines in my world, we still haven't solved the disease of starvation and poverty. So the fact that I have shelter over my head and a loving family makes me happy and thankful."
My answer was a little hollow and I'm sure she knew it. I spoke nothing of love but I wasn't quite ready to explain to her that I never gave up on that small kindle of hope that I might return here, that maybe someone else would be waiting for me too, and well. . . who knows.
"Sounds familiar."
I was startled out of my thoughts with her response.
"Huh?"
"When you left Kagome, Inuyasha. . . he just lost his will to do anything. He just went through the motions of living. He didn't give anything and he didn't expect anything from life. I think he was doing it for our sake more than anything else."
"I don't understand. He seems fine to me."
"Well of course he does, now that you're here."
I was still confused and Sango had an exasperated look.
"God, after all these years you'd think that both you and him would gain some sense. Don't you see Kagome? He may not seem all that different to you, but you haven't seen what he's like when your not here. He lives because you give him reason to."
I stared wide-eyed at her, thinking that she couldn't be implying what I thought she was. But then I thought back to our conversation when I first woke up, or how he was acting by the river. I started blushing after that thought. When had he become so playful?
"There is something different about him. I hadn't noticed it before, but he smiles now."
"He smiles, because when you're here, he feels."
I was stunned by where our conversation was going and I was even more surprised as to what she was saying. I didn't even notice when Sango left me to my thoughts.
I didn't like it. I didn't like the fact that he suffered when I was gone. But still, some selfish part in me was relieved and a little glad that he was as lost without me as I was without him. Is that cruel of me? I couldn't help but feel a little warmed that I meant that much to him.
*
*
*
*
I don't know how you guys liked it, but that was incredibly weird for me to write. I have never written romantic scenes before, so this is new territory for me. Personally, I'm not that pleased with it, so it might change in the future. Anyway, weirdness aside, please let me know what you thought of it (now don't all come yelling at me all at once) or if you thought it was too rushed. Comments/suggestions are always welcome. Sorry it took so long, so for those of you who are actually reading it, thanks for your patience.