A/N- Again, so sorry for the long delay in updating. I have so much stupid school work and there is very little time between sleeping, school, and homework to write. I'll try to update soon, but no promises. I love you guys! I cannot believe I have over 200 reviews! That is unreal! Thank you all so much!
Disclaimer- I hate this part. No matter how many times I try to deny it, Rumiko Takahashi owns all these characters. Feh!
The Colors of Emotions
Chapter 30
Dream or Reality
"Kagome? Where are you my dear?" The taunting voice echoed around her, stopping her from pinpointing where it came from. Of course, when the cold hand clamped around her shoulder from behind, Kagome concluded that Naraku was now behind her.
'No duh Genius.' Kagome chided herself. "May I help you Naraku?" She asked in a voice dripping with sarcasm. The hand around her shoulder tightened slightly causing pain to the not yet healed wound.
"That's a pretty little dress you're wearing. The skirt is longer than the one you usually wear, what a pity. I like the green one better." The other hand slid to the hem of Kagome's dress. Kagome stood stock-still, suddenly afraid. Sure Naraku had scratched her before, but trivial wounds she could handle. The young miko knew that Naraku could try anything he wanted here in her mind, and she was basically helpless to stop it.
The hand around the hem of her skirt brushed against her leg, and Kagome's fear doubled. 'No.' Her mind screamed at her……
*
Inuyasha hadn't taken five steps away from the well when a bundle of fur came crashing into the stomach of the precious cargo he carried. "I missed you Kagome!" Shippou wailed from where he was clinging to Kagome's dress.
Growling, Inuyasha shoved Shippou onto the ground and bopped him on the head for good measure. "She's asleep you moron. If you keep screaming you'll wake her up." He snarled.
Apparently Shippou hadn't noticed that little detail and immediately quieted his voice. "I wondered why you were carrying her. Is she okay? Why is she all dressed up like that? She looks pretty. Did she bring me a present from her time? Did you guys get in a fight at all? Did--"
The kitsune didn't get a chance to finish his ramblings as Inuyasha went bounding off down the path towards the village blatantly ignoring him. Shippou obediently scurried after the retreating hanyou, and it wasn't long before the two demons and sleeping miko arrived at Kaede's hut.
"Back so soon Inuyasha?" Sango questioned as she walked into the main room of the hut from where she had been cooking out back. Miroku followed behind with a smirking Kirara on his shoulder. The bright red handprint on his cheek was no doubt the cause of Kirara's smug smile, and Sango's slight scowl.
"Oh my, what is wrong with Lady Kagome?" Kaede questioned from her spot on the floor before an array of herbs.
"Baba, she's asleep. Nothing's wrong with her." Inuyasha retorted with slight worry in his voice. He looked down at the sleeping miko to double check for any wounds or something that may have caught Kaede's attention. Nothing seemed out of the ordinary.
"Why is she sleeping in the middle of the day?" The older woman pressed. She could tell something was very wrong. Miroku suddenly looked slightly apprehensive, and Kaede knew his spiritual powers were going haywire like hers were. Kagome was radiating two different auras. One was hers, the other one was buried deeply beneath it, but it was still there to the spiritually aware.
"Naraku." Miroku murmured.
*
"Don't touch me you pervert!" Kagome shrieked and whirled around with her hand raised. The loud smack of her palm connecting with flesh was oddly satisfying and frightening at the same time. She couldn't believe she had just done that.
Naraku's cold glare became an amused smirk and he whispered, "You struck me little girl. I do not think that was wise." His hands reached towards her and grabbed around Kagome's waist pulling her to him.
Kagome was pinned against his hard chest and no matter how she struggled it had no affect. She couldn't move. Her energy had been spent earlier that day, and Naraku obviously had the upper hand in strength.
A hand reached up and tugged slightly at the zipper of her dress. "Get your hands off me!" She cried. Helplessly, Kagome brought her hands to the chest in front of her and tried to push him away. Blue miko power unleashed itself from her hands pushing Naraku away from her, having him land ungracefully on his back a few feet in front of her.
*
"What do you mean, Miroku?" Sango asked.
"I sense Naraku's aura." Miroku mumbled, gazing suspiciously at Kagome's form.
Inuyasha's reaction was enough to prove Kaede's own thoughts. The hanyou had immediately set Kagome on the ground and was shaking her shoulders urgently. "Wake up Kagome! Come on!" He urged.
"Inuyasha, that won't help. She isn't going to wake up until she regains some of her strength." Kaede scolded.
Inuyasha turned on her. "What would you know Baba!? You have no idea what is going on!"
Kaede raised her voice an octave, "Let me take a guess! I do hope I am wrong about this, but I will presume that Naraku has a connection with Kagome and is in her mind at this very moment."
At Inuyasha's dumbfounded, look she elaborated. "I could tell something was wrong when I was telling Kagome about nightmares and such. I presume you were eaves-dropping then, as you seem to know this too."
Inuyasha scowled and mumbled a 'feh.'
"Get your hands off me!" Kagome yelled from where she lay asleep on the floor. She seemed to spasm slightly before becoming unmoving once more.
All eyes had turned to Kagome's form, and Inuyasha's growl was steadily becoming louder and louder. "Calm down Inuyasha. Lady Kaede said there was nothing we can do, so how about you explain what is going on!" Miroku insisted. Sango nodded, her face creased with worry for her best friend.
"Baba can, since she seems to know everything." Inuyasha snarled.
"Sit down everyone, if this is what I think it is, we will be needing some answers from Inuyasha. And getting him to talk may take a while." Kaede informed, as everyone made themselves comfortable. "In very rare circumstances, two beings can have a strong connection with one another. If one of these beings can figure out how, they can enter the mind of the other. Whatever happens in the person's mind, will have an affect on their physical body."
Sango shakily found her voice, "Are Kagome and Naraku…connected?" She asked, though she was dreading the answer.
Kaede nodded gloomily. "What is the connection Inuyasha? Why haven't you destroyed it?"
Inuyasha's face was set in a grim line. He didn't like having to listen to this. "I can't destroy it."
"Why not!" Shippou yelled! "What is it?!"
"The jewel shard, and Kagome's demon power."
*
"You have so much power. Why don't you put it to good use, instead of following around that mutt?" Naraku growled from where he had just stood back up in front of Kagome.
"And what would you call 'putting to good use?'" Kagome spat.
"Come with me. Become my ally, become my lover. We could put an end to Inuyasha together." Naraku smoothly stated.
"I'll never become your little whore. And I'll NEVER help you hurt Inuyasha!" Kagome defiantly retorted. "You may be able to put your emotions through me, but I can control my powers now. And if not, the jewel shard will catch me. All you can do is harass me in my mind."
That struck a nerve. "I wouldn't underestimate the control I have over you. True, when I feed you emotions, their power is weakened. But it is not my emotions that are what you need to worry about. The destructive force of your own pure emotions unleashed is astounding."
"But that's just it. You cannot control my own emotions. You merely feed me yours. You're pitiful."
*
Inuyasha's answer was slowly sinking into everyone's mind. It wasn't hard to see the dilemma. Kagome wouldn't want to remove the jewel shard as it kept a leash on her emotional attacks. The said jewel shard was hanging from a necklace draped loosely around Kagome's wrist.
"Kagome doesn't want to take off the shard. She will keep it with her no matter what the consequences are." Inuyasha stated looking forlornly at the sleeping girl before him.
"NO! This is bad! What if he kills her?!" Shippou wailed with tears leaking from his eyes. No one was able to stop the kitsune when he jumped at the shard and grabbed it. Clutching it in his tiny fist, Shippou ran at top speeds from the hut, paying no mind to the constant yells telling him to come back. Inuyasha dashed after him.
*
Naraku grabbed a fistful of Kagome's hair and threw her body onto the ground before him. She struggled to get back up, and rose herself to her hands and knees. Naraku leaned in front of her and grabbed her chin roughly, forcing her to look at him. A claw slipped and scratched the pale skin of her cheek. "Listen to me Kagome! You have no choice. Stop this honor nonsense and give in to me. You will be mine, whether you like it or not!" He hissed in her face.
Something very unexpected happened. The hand clutching her chin no longer had anything to hold onto. His hand just fell through her as if she wasn't there. Kagome stared dumbstruck as Naraku slashed frustratingly at her body, and his arm sailed right through.
"You can't touch me." Kagome murmured absent-mindedly after a few moments.
"Someone removed the shard." Naraku growled.
Kagome looked down at her fist where she had moments before been clutching a necklace. But the necklace and jewel shard were gone. "Why are you still in my mind? Shouldn't the connection be broken?"
A cruel laugh was her answer. "The connection will always be there you naïve little wench. As soon as you had the demon power in you and the shard was in your possession the connection was made. I cannot touch you because the jewel isn't touching you, so the connection isn't as strong. But it is still there. It will always be there."
This news didn't dampen Kagome's spirits just yet. She was upset that the shard was gone, and she hoped she could keep her emotions under control until she found out where it went. But Naraku couldn't touch her. "What can you possibly do now?! You can't touch me, and you already admitted that the emotions you feed me are weak."
Naraku's face became the coldest smirk Kagome had ever witnessed. "Just watch me." Then, he disappeared. And Kagome fell into blackness.
*
Kagome was standing by the Goshimboku. She couldn't remember why she was there, or what was going on. Two warm arms encircled her. Turning slightly, Kagome recognized a pair of warm amber eyes gazing into hers. "Hey Inuyasha." Kagome greeted, and with a sigh, she relaxed back into his arms. Her eyes closed, and she leaned against the warmth of his chest as he clutched her possessively to his body. Kagome's mind felt was telling her there was something wrong, but right now she would savor the moment and ignore it.
'Thud!' An arrow whizzed by her head and embedded itself into the bark of the sacred tree.
"Inuyasha!" A deep female voice yelled. "I won't let you leave me for her!"
Kagome whirled around in Inuyasha's grasp to look over his shoulder. Kikyo stood not far away and was notching another arrow into her bow. Inuyasha wasn't moving though. He hadn't even turned around to acknowledge the soulless priestess.
"Inuyasha? She'll kill you if you don't let me go and move!" Kagome struggled to release herself.
"She wants to kill you. I won't let her." He murmured clutching onto Kagome even tighter. He emitted a yelp of pain when an arrow slammed into his shoulder blade. His arm went slack and Kagome wiggled free.
"Run Inuyasha! She'll kill you!" Kagome shrieked with tears welling up in her eyes. Another arrow hit Inuyasha straight in the back. He slumped down onto the ground before her.
"Run Kagome!" He desperately called.
"No!" The green light came willingly to her hands. Kagome stood defiantly in front of Inuyasha's fallen form. Lifting her hands above her head, the emerald power collected into the deadly orb. "Don't hurt him!!!!" She screamed as the sphere shot blindingly fast at Kikyo.
*
"What is going on?! Sango desperately questioned, holding onto Kagome's hand. Tears leaked from the young miko's closed eyelids, and a small scratch had appeared on her cheek a few moments before.
Miroku noticed the green light just seconds before Kagome's power was unleashed. "Sango move!" He bellowed while lunging at the demon exterminator to push her away from Kagome.
"Don't hurt him!" Kagome screamed as green power shot from her hands……
It was dead quiet. The blast had subsided. One wall of Kaede's hut was no longer there, and Sango slowly lifted herself up from where her body had landed after Miroku had pushed her out of the way. Kaede rose moments later. She had been behind Kagome, so she was fine. Kirara 'mewed' from the corner where she had been sleeping. Inuyasha and Shippou had been gone since they both ran from the hut, the hanyou chasing the kitsune.
Sango saw two unmoving forms a few feet in front of her: Miroku and Kagome.
*
Love ya lots,
Vold