Sweet Words I Want to Hear

Chapter Two

     The Feudal Era came upon her in a rush of wind as she felt her feet touch the earth.  Night was heavy above her and yet as everything came into focus, she refused to move.  The night larks twittered their sweet song in her ears, lulling her repetitive thoughts into a slump of depressing sludge as she stayed in the pitch of the dried well, even the jagged bones that littered the ground there were invisible in the night.

     Yet they were not her main concern.

     It was a long time before she moved.  The chill in the air made her skin prickle and yet she did not care.  Again the night birds cried, awakening her from her tormented thoughts.  Bringing her back to where she had come to . . .

     Why she was there . . .

     The moon was thick and full in the sky, the stars littered about in the blanket of dark like drops of sparkling crystalline water carelessly scattered.  It was a sky she could never see in her own time, clear and crisp, the moon almost a size bigger than whence she had left it, glowing with a hazed aura sparkling with beauty.  Unaltered by pollution and modern street lights blinding her to the skies brilliance . . .

     It was as if she was seeing it for the first time.

     And still, she refused to move. 

     Kagome could only guess what time it was.  Midnight?  Two in the morning?  What would matter? 

     Perhaps it was foolish for her to be there, standing in the cold of the night with only a sweatshirt in her company . . . an owl swooped overhead, passing its shadow over her.

     It brought wandering thoughts back long enough to grab a rope that had been let down for her since her friends knew she was on her way.  At least, it was Sango who thought like that, not very often would there be a rope . . . but this time there was . . .

     But she didn't care . . .

     Half-heartedly, she grabbed onto the moist material, making no attempt to start to climb . . . standing there like an idiot . . . wondering if this were really right. 

     If it was something she should be doing at all.

     What if he rejected her?  What if he didn't want her to be there at all, cursed her for even coming before the designated time.  Usually he didn't care, but this was either very late at night, or very early in the morning . . .

     Well, at least in the modern era with humans, they would care! 

     With great effort, Kagome pulled herself from the well, her hands grappled the broken outside walls of the well that Inu-Yasha had demolished with a tree when he had tried to trap here there.

     Why had he done that?  He had said it was for her own good . . . but it hurt her more than anything Naraku could have done to her! 

     It was where she had come out the first time, staring into the strange new world with great interest . . . and fear . . . where she had first met Inu-Yasha that wanted to kill her and yet . . . here she was . . . begging for his affection . . .

     Never had she thought it would come to this. 

     But it was now or never.

     Could she survive rejection?  Kagome pondered this for a brief moment.  What if he said he wanted Kikyou?

     The girls blood boiled.  If he wanted Kikyou over her . . . the thoughts quickly evaporated into seething hatred . . . nothing good would come out of that . . .

      Maybe she wouldn't be the same after that . . .

     Maybe . . . just maybe . . . the group would do better without her if that was the case . . .

     Maybe her modern era too, she thought darkly, for it wouldn't be the same . . .

     Pushing those depressing thoughts from her mind she decidedly tracked through the darkness of the woods, unarmed and unafraid.  Things stirred in the shadows of the night but they made no attempt to attack . . .

     It was best for them.  They knew to whom she belonged and his wrath would undo their lives in a matter of a breath and a hearbeat . . . too of the lesser strength to deal with such as Inu-Yasha . . .

     Though Kagome didn't care why none moved towards her, the thoughts never occurred in her mind . . .

     That was not why she was here.

     The village crept up before her as she neared the crest of the hill on which Inu-Yasha's Forest stood.  The shadows concealed her as she looked down upon the dark huts meek in the night, few torches remained lit at such a late hour, and it's trees standing like lone guards on the outskirts.  The river lolled sleepily within its banks, the flooded patties stood stagnant with its lush, green growth swaying in the chill.

     For a moment, Kagome could feel her fingers lose feeling.  Suddenly, she wished she had brought a coat . . .

     But it was too late to turn back.

     With a determined sigh, she started down the hill towards the village silently, her arms crossed across her chest to keep some body heat within her . . .

     Though it wasn't her safety that occupied her mind . . . she was beginning to wonder where Inu-Yasha was.

     When she was gone, usually he remained close to the village, waiting for her.  Sulking in trees, as Sango had once described it.  But his silhouette did not grace the canopy of any of the villages trees she saw as she neared, the clearing drenched in the light of the pregnant moon.  Kagome began to worry . . .

     Perhaps he was inside Kaede's hut . . . but that was so unlike him unless it was a night of the new moon where he remained vulnerable.  His nose should have picked up her scent as soon as she got out of the well . . . but if he knew she was there, then he didn't come to greet her.

     Maybe he was gone, Kagome stopped at the beginning of the rickety bridge that crossed the creek, bathed in a mixture of shadows and ivory light.  The tree where she had so many conversations with him loomed ahead of her . . . where he had almost kissed her . . .

     No, that was Kikyou he almost kissed, she thought dangerously to herself.

     Her hands began to shake as she remembered.

     How he held her hand . . . but it was all for Kikyou . . .

     A tear formed behind her eye as she began to wonder where exactly he was then . . .

     Not in the trees around the village, as far as she could see.  He couldn't be in the hut, not on a clear, beautiful night such as this . . .

     Kagome's heart skipped a few beats in succession . . . maybe he was striding through the darkness of the night in her absence at Kikyou's side . . .

     Her hands were like ice then . . . at the terrible thought . . .

     She put a tentative foot on the rustic bridge, but dare go no further.

     It was his fault Kikyou still wandered the earth . . . had he not muttered her name her heart would have never skipped a beat and her soul might have never emerged back into that soulless bitch! 

     Perhaps that's where he was behind her back.  Loving her.  Showing her the affection Kagome wanted so badly.

     The thoughts rushed through her mind in a torrent, like a hurricane blowing angrily within her reason.  Trying to put two and two together, forgetting that she was standing in the complete open in the dead of the night, shivering from the cold . . .

     That did not matter . . .

     Tears trickled down her face as she began to ponder . . .

     "Kagome?" Inu-Yasha's voice interrupted her from behind, causing her to jump away, hiding her face from his view.  "What are you doing here?"

*** Yawn I'm tired.  I think I'll stop here evil grin.  I am getting good response from the start of this – again – let me know if you guys are liking this.  I'm not that great with romance and fluff and all that good stuff – but this one is it and I'm trying my best here.  Let me know how I'm doing.  Awwwwww – what is IY gonna say to her??  AAK it's driving me nuts another evil grin even though I have most of the next chapter already written – bwahahahahahahahahaaha!  And, as always – REVIEW!!!!!!!!!!!!***