Disclaimer: No, not yet.

"Second chances"

By Chiisana Anisa

"Wounded"

Why do people say "bare every wound, just not the wound of heart"? There is no real love, just love. Love by itself isn't a trick, for it wouldn't be love then. So what is it? A chance to get hurt?

Those were the thoughts of Kagome Higurashi as she slowly drove to her house, the old Higurashi Shrine. She stayed there with her entire family, not feeling the need to move out and try to live on her own. She took a deep breath, remembering the death of her grandpa, whose life ended with an unfortunate fall from the top of the Shrine steps. He was old and they constantly warned him not to do heavy work by himself, but stubborn as he was he refused to listen.

Now, her mother and her brother kept each others company, although Souta did announce he was moving out this Autumn, with his friend. So it would be just her and Mom. Can it ever get so lonely? Her thoughts returned to the man from the office, her mind still trying to make a decision if that really was Inuyasha or not. And back were the thoughts of love...

She kept asking herself what does it really mean to love? When you love someone, but that someone doesn't love you - what then? Hasn't she been there and done that? Isn't that the way you get your hearts wound..? All she knew was the fact that in front of the face of love, you are helpless, because it can be like a mysterious sickness: it will torture you before you get better, you love with no hope. It isn't a trick, there isn't no hidden mirror, or a deep hole behind it's meaning. And if it's there - it's all in the sense of moonlight and medieval dances.

Like she had said to that stranger, you have to be careful with it, not to let it run away, you have to feed it with sweet words, pamper her, and caress her so it wouldn't fly away like a frightened bird of your palm. Love can be mysterious, demanding, capricious, deadly, vulnerable, sensitive to the work of sweeten words and their imaginative murmur, proud and pragmatic. Those are just few of the many faces of love. So there you have it, one coulded with more secrets than the other, who knows which one is the right one? Still it is better to love and lost, than never to love at all.

Because of that certain fact, love brings great risk with it, but what would we do without it? Even with too many faces we are drawn to it like bees to honey. Once or twice in your life you will hear the fluttering of your heart and feel your knees shaking. Then you will know that you have just been introduced to love, or rather with one of it's many faces. Sadly that she was introduced with the worst one - the impossible one.

Kagome slowed down upon seeing that she arrived, her trip spent away so quickly on her troubled thoughts. She went up the stairs and like every time, shivered with the memory of her grandpa. There was light in the kitchen, and it fell on the right part of the yard so she decided to enter on that side otherwise she would have to search for the keys and the lock. Opening the doors, quiet "Tadaima" sounded out, but her mother probably knew it was her.

Once inside the safety of her house, her damp broke again and her vision was flooded with tears, big and white, tracing down her cheeks, one after the other. She didn't make a sound, only collapsed on the chair by the table, bringing her head in her hands. Putting her hair back, she sighed and then heard her mother speaking to her.

"Hello Kagome. How was your day...?" Bekka turned around to face her daughter like every night, but the image that greeted her wasn't welcoming at all. Her daughter sat there, reminding her on the remains of a brought down castle, something torn in the vicious wreckage. She was a mess, and like any other mother it was up to her to make it all better if she could. She approached her broken looking girl, sat by her and slowly caressed her hair.

"What happened? A tough case..?"

At that words Kagome flung herself into her mothers lap, not a bit ashamed she was 25 years old. She was and always will be her mothers little girl. The sobs only increased and everything Bekka managed to hear was one word repeated few times. And as soon as she heard it, she hugged Kagome even tighter, some of her own tears spilling over. Sometimes she knew that the past had to bite you back when you least expected it. They sat there for who knows how long, both crying, sharing the pain of a loss so great they would never forget it.

Bekka knew what her daughter was going through, after all she lost her husband, and she wasn't that blind not to notice that the connection between Inuyasha and Kagome became stronger than ever after their quest was finally over. She had hoped it would last, but it didn't. And she also never found out the reason why they fought... The saddest thing was that the Time in the Well thought something was terribly wrong and sealed it as soon her daughter came through. For how knows what time the questions about that fight rolled around in her mind, but she stopped worrying over it, hearing the sighs Kagome was letting out. And always after one word...

"Inuyasha..."

Next morning was dark and gloomy, the clouds completely covering the sky not letting the Sun pierce through them. Kagome didn't protest, it suited her mood. She felt the coldness on her skin and she felt it from the inside. For the first time after so many years of trying to forget how it felt, she felt alone. Completely and utterly alone.

She didn't blame herself nor Inuyasha for it. She didn't blame them for being alone. She knew what she was committing to when she agreed to be with the hanyou. They loved forever, inu-youkai's. They mated for life, so in her life now there was no place for any other male being. True, she did broke poor Hojo's heart, giving him only the excuse it wasn't his fault. But since then she refused to interact with men, in any way possible. Her heart was taken, then and now. That was the reason it pained her so damn much to hear those words yesterday. Koiishi... Was it really him?

She pondered again about all the possibilities. Deciding she was giving herself a headache, with heart-fallen sigh she got up from the warmness which the bed provided and stammered towards the bathroom. She looked like a mess, she said to herself after seeing her disturbing image in the mirror.

Dark bags under her eyes from all the crying last night, her hair like a long forgotten nest, her face deathly pale. Inside she felt a bit dead, like she lost something very important to her just over the night. The feeling wasn't strange to her and it wasn't the first time she saw her reflection like this. It only saddened her more that she had to see it again. Throwing away the towel she stepped out of the bathroom, thanking the God's it was weekend, she didn't think she would be able to cure anybody today, at least herself.

Her heart fluttered wildly in her chest when her look disappeared out the window and when she thought something red glistened in the trees outside. Hope rose to quickly in her broken spirit and she all but ran downstairs and out of the house, one name frozen on her lips.

"Inuyasha!" It rang in the fresh air of the upcoming morning. She yelled it to more times before it finally sunk that her imagination played with her. Again.

With shoulders slumped back she walked back to the house, her mother watching her from the kitchen's window, great sadness written on her face. Her daughter, her little girl was doomed never to find peace in love. Her heart was broken, but impossibly taken by someone who will never be able to take care of it. Hearing the soft steps coming towards her she put her good smile on to welcome Kagome.

"Honey will you eat something?"

Kagome waved away with her head. "No, I think I'm taking a walk around the Shrine. I'm going to light a candle for grandpa."

Bekka nodded. She needed something else to keep her mind occupied. "Sure. Do that. The food will wait for you when you come back. I'm going to a friends place, I promised last week. Is that all right?"

Kagome knew her mother worried, but she was glad her mother had someone to turn too. "Go ahead. I'll see you later." She said, walking out and on her way grabbing the sweater, thinking it will help her warm up all this coldness she felt. Her mother watched her go, her thoughts returning to that mysterious fight...

Kagome walked slowly, step by step, taking in the scenery around her. It was a long time since she took a walk around the grounds. Passing by the Goshinboku she felt shiver pass her, but didn't even want to pay attention to it, she only quickened her steps. In a minute, sooner than she thought she was inside the Shrine, lighting up the candle. Her thoughts were lost in the prayers and for the first time in a whole day she didn't think of Inuyasha.

Inside the house Bekka searched for her purse, not paying attention to the squeaks that could be heard upstairs. She didn't hear them until they sounded to loud for not to miss them. Turning around she wanted to scream before one hand clasped onto her mouth and with the other hand she was ordered to follow the intruder to the kitchen. As soon as they were in, the hand removed itself. She didn't say a thing at first, she was too stunned. Then the wheels in her head turned and she squealed.

"God woman, you're just the same as your daughter!" Gruff voice sounded out.

"You scared me!" She defended herself. "And you did sneak around... Wait. Why didn't you..?"

"No. Not yet."

"Well young man you have one more chance. I'm going away for the next few hours and if you don't tell Kagome you're hear don't expect me to ever again lay my eyes on you. Understood?" Her voice was a bit harsh, maybe even cold, but you could clearly read the warmness it gave away underneath.

"Do you think...?"

"Yes. Just do it. One chance, the second one. Use it well." Bekka turned around and went out. Young man as she called him, looked nothing like young at all. He sighed, and looked out the window. Hard mission was ahead of him, but like any other he will just have to make due. Like always. He walked to the living room and sat down, leaning back on the sofa. All he had to do was wait. He waited long enough he could wait this out too.

Kagome stood up, and bowed to her grandfathers memorial board. All the good wishes made her rethink about all the good times and she remembered when she came back for the first time from the Sengoku Jidai. It was her beloved grandpa who's arms she had thrown herself into and cried like there was no tomorrow. It was her grandpa who warned her constantly not to give away her heart so easily, he knew all the dangers mating with youkai, or a hanyou in this case, brought. He knew and still he let her do as her heart ordered. Tears welled up in the corners of her big blue orbs and with heavy steps she followed her route to the house.

Lost in her memories she unlocked the doors and wiped away the tears, leaving only tracks of tears on her face, similar to ones the rain left on the windows after the storm, to slowly slide down. Her vision clearing she looked around and her senses went up, as a warning. But this time it was more a warning of breaking her heart than any other danger. Her eyes landed on one figure so dear to her, so special in her life that she thought irony was playing tricks on her.

Tears went on again, and she screamed in herself for them to stop torturing her. One familiar set of eyes pierced through hers, and although her heart and trained miko senses whispered that the picture before her was real, her mind too troubled decided to neglect those whispers.

That special wound on her heart, which ripped apart more and more with each passing day opened up further. Who said that heart can't break? Who said love wasn't just an illusion? That thoughts passed through her head, and she was ready to step over the edge and scream, cry and fall apart for a long time... all these acts stopped when that 'unreal' figure finally uttered her name in a soft tone, softest than any she ever heard. In a tone full of regret and ever lasting love.

"Koiishi.."

Only then she looked up. Only then she could tell herself that the dreaming part was finally over. Was luck finally on her side...?

TBC

AN: Bekka is an original Japanese name, and I used it here as the name of Kagome's mother. It seemed a bit silly to me to use "Mom" all the time. Sorry.

The next part will be the last one. I can't guarantee completely happy ending, but I'll do my very best. I thank all of my reviewers from the bottom of my heart. Thank you.

Anisa