Chapter Three: The Silent Speak.
"Have either of you two noticed Kagome and Shippo have been acting odd lately?" Sango asked.
Inu Yasha and Miroku nodded.
"Kagome was crying when she got back, and Shippo's been very quiet since we got here," Miroku said.
"Yeah, the little runt was starting to creep me out," Inu Yasha said.
Movement from Kagome's sleeping bag caused them all to look in that direction. Kagome was curling up into a small ball, and Shippo was moving in his sleep, almost as if he were running.
The three other companions looked at the two worriedly.
"Do you think they're sick?" Sango asked. Inu Yasha sniffed.
"No," he said, shaking his head. "They'd smell like they were sick."
"Daddy," Kagome muttered in her sleep, hugging Shippo closer to her body.
"Daddy?" Sango echoed. "Isn't that a word for father in her world?"
"Her father?" Inu Yasha asked. "Now that I think about it, the only people I've seen around her house are her mother, grandfather, and her little brother. I've never seen her father."
"Hmmm," Miroku said, deep in thought. "Maybe we should ask them in the morning. But for now, let's let them sleep."
The two others nodded, and settled in to sleep for the rest of the night.
----------The next morning----------
Kagome got up first, waking up from another nightmare.
"Daddy, Meiyo," she sighed, and then rubbed her temple. Then she got up, and started up the fire again. Better make breakfast…
Twenty minutes later they were all up and eating ramen for breakfast.
Kagome and Shippo were eerily silent. They just stared at their food, but didn't eat anything.
"Aren't you hungry Kagome?" Sango asked.
"No Sango," Kagome said, shaking her head.
"What about you Shippo?" Miroku asked, looking at the young kitsune.
Shippo shook his head, and then continued staring at the container.
"Ok, what's up with you two?!" Inu Yasha shouted. "You would find more cheer in a graveyard!"
"It's nothing," Kagome replied, looking away.
Shippo just kept staring at the container, as if oblivious to everything around him.
Inu Yasha was sick of the kitsune's blank look, so he jumped over the fire and landed next to the kitsune, and then he picked him up by the tail.
"Stop looking so sad!" he ordered.
The kitsune turned his sapphire eyes to the angry half demon in front of him, and their eyes locked together.
"Let me down, please," Shippo said softly. Inu Yasha dropped the kitsune in surprise. Shippo merely stayed there, face first in the dirt.
Those sapphire eyes…. they were filled with pain. Deep pain.
"Shippo," he said in a soft voice, and then he picked the fox cub up, put him on his feet, and kneeled in front of him. "What's wrong?"
"Father, and mother," Shippo breathed, closing his eyes. "Father smelled just like this forest."
Inu Yasha sat down, and Shippo did too.
"Mother died running from some wolf demons," Shippo said, "and then a year later I saw father die because of the Thunder Brothers. The trees remind me so much of him…"
Tears started to fall down Shippo's face, even though he tried desperately to stop them. He couldn't though. He then felt slender arms wrap around him, and hug him to a soft chest.
Kagome was hugging the young kit to herself, eyes closed.
"Six years ago," she started, petting the kitsune's head, "my father and big sister Meiyo died. Remember what I told you all about cars?"
They all nodded, except for Shippo who was crying into Kagome's school blouse.
"Well, we were driving in a car, when a larger car smashed into us. That sent us smashing into other cars, and within a few minutes, the entire car was crushed. I broke my leg from that crash, and my arm had a large piece of glass in it. Meiyo and dad however, died. Meiyo from a broken neck, and father was impaled through the chest with the steering wheel."
Everyone stared at the two in shock.
Shippo and Kagome were by far the happiest people in the group. They always acted like there was nothing wrong. Sango and Miroku had guessed that Kagome's happiness was part mask, because of Kikyo and Inu Yasha, but they had never guessed their friend had had such a past. And Shippo, that was completely surprising. He had always seemed so happy.
They should have known. He lost his father for Pete's sake. You don't just get over that. It takes a long time for the pain to go away.
Kagome felt strong arms surround her frame, and tears fell from her eyes, as she leaned into the chest that the arms were attached to.
Inu Yasha hugged Kagome and Shippo to his chest, offering as much comfort as he could. Sango and Miroku stood up, and then walked to either side. Sango hugged Kagome as well, and Miroku just rubbed her back, no pervertedness whatsoever.
Yeah, they would be alright. The next morning they would all act as if nothing had happened. But inside, Kagome and Shippo would know that they no longer had to be silently screaming, no longer had to be silently crying, and no longer had to be Silently Suffering.
A/N: Yeah, I know, short chapter. Still, I hope you like it.