CHAPTER TWENTY-THREE

*

Kagome woke up to warmth. She was being carried on Inuyasha's back -- he's so WARM, she thought, resting her head on his shoulder. But he wasn't the only warm thing there. The wind smelled like flowers and springtime, and though Kagome hadn't noticed it before, it was WARM. The sky was almost dark, except for a light band in the west; stars were surfacing around the moon.

She sighed deeply. I'm just glad I didn't get frostbite or whatever from that ice blast the demon spat at me, she thought.

"She's awake, Inuyasha," Miroku said.

"Hrm?" Inuyasha said. He stopped and glanced over his shoulder. "You feelin' any better?"

"Yeah," Kagome said, yawning. "I'm just tired. The cold's almost gone."

"It was certainly fortunate that your arrows were still there," Miroku said, walking alongside Inuyasha. "You dispersed the cold around Inuyasha and severely wounded the demon in the process. If you hadn't, I suspect we would have all joined that unfortunate man whom Inuyasha told me about."

Kagome shivered. "So you guys were lured into the caves too?" she asked drowsily.

"Shippo and Kirara were," Sango said. "We went in after them. I suppose you two were distracting the demon when we arrived at the mouth of the cave."

"What was wrong with that stupid demon?" Kagome asked, looking up. "It just kept yelling at us to leave. It was sort of like a little kid."

"A really little kid," Inuyasha muttered.

"Such a unique demon," Miroku said a trifle sadly. "It's quite unfortunate that its protective instincts were roused even further when it gained possession of a jewel shard. At the point when we found it, I doubt that anything but death would have stopped it, even if we took the jewel shard."

"You got the jewel shard, right?" Kagome asked, closing her eyes.

"I placed it with mine, since you were asleep," Miroku said. "When we return home, I'll give it to you to place with the others."

Kagome sighed, half-asleep and tempted to just let herself drift away. Inuyasha was so WARM, like a giant heated body pillow. But one question still clung to her mind and made her mumble, "Hey, what's gonna happen to the mountain now that the demon's gone?"

"Massive thaws," Miroku said sagely. "And then, I imagine all the snow on its peak will be natural. And once the flooding abates, the storms and unseasonal weather will stop, and travelers will be able to go through mountain passes with ease."

Miroku fell back to talking with Sango softly, keeping his arms well above her backside; Shippo was snoring on Kirara's back. Inuyasha began walking faster, with Kagome still nestled on his back. His face tightened slightly as he looked back at her, remembered how that damn demon had sealed her in ice. If he hadn't been there...

He thought she was asleep. But suddenly her voice piped up, "How far is it to Kaede's village?"

"'Bout a half hour's walk."

"Oh, good."

"Want me to take you back to your time?"

"No, you don't have to. Just take me back to the village."

"Anything you need when we get there?" Inuyasha asked.

"Just get me a blanket," Kagome mumbled.

THE END