But a Desperate Hope We Had
Ch. 2 In the Absence of Kagome
Again, I don't own Inuyasha... The story continues...
"Kagome, it's so good to have you back."
"It is nice to be home, Mom." Kagome didn't have the heart to tell her mother about what happened. She'd barely had time to accept it herself.
"So when do you expect to be heading back to the feudal area?" her mother asked with a smile. "If you can stay awhile I can go shopping for some more supplies."
"I don't think I be heading back anytime soon." Kagome tried as hard as she could to suppress a sigh.
"Oh? Is something wrong, dear?"
"No! It's just..." Kagome paused to think of an excuse. Damn it, what can I say? "We finished our quest. We completed the Shikon jewel."
"Really? How splendid! Perhaps you can finally have time to get caught up with your schoolwork. But still, won't you want to go back and visit your friends?"
"Yes... but I'd like to get caught up on my schoolwork first." I was rash in leaving behind my jewel shards. Now I'll never see Sango or Shippo or Miroku again.
A week past and Kagome's life returned almost to what it was before she fell into the feudal era. She actually was starting to make some sense of her math class, and she and her friends had returned to the same old comforting routines. She even allowed her friends to set her up on a date with Hojo. There's no sense in not dating. Inuyasha chose Kikyo, not me. Not that I'm surprised.
The only thing that still really bothered Kagome was that she could never know how her friends in the Feudal Era were doing. I'm sure they're fine, it's just I wish there was some way for me to check in on them. And why did I just toss aside my jewel shards. I should have known enough to at least give them to Sango or Miroku. Now those jewels are unprotected from Naraku. Good thinking, Kagome!
It was evening, and Kagome was sitting outside, waiting for Hojo to come and pick her up for their date. Kagome was just falling into a daydream when a noise came from the shrine that contained the well. Startled, Kagome walked over in that direction. Who would break into the shrine? There's nothing of value in there.
"Hello? Who's in there? Come out of there!" Kagome yelled, hoping her voice didn't betray her fears. She opened the shrine's door, and stepped in to the front of the well. "Oh my god! Shippo!" The small little fox sat at the bottom of the well, badly injured and barely conscious.
"Kagome, is that you?"
"Yes, it is. Shippo, just a second, let me help you out of there." Kagome reached down into the well and helped put Shippo out. Shippo collapsed to the floor of the shrine and before passing out he exclaimed, "I think Miroku and Sango are dead."
After Kagome ran off and the messenger left, Sango and Miroku had the task of explaining the recent tragic events to Shippo. The facts of the matter were too much for any of them to form into an emotion. They all spent the next day in a state of numbness. They didn't speak at all. It was understood within the group that they had to collect their thoughts before they could take any actions.
It seemed to hit Shippo the hardest. He and Kagome had grown so close during their adventures, and he was terribly distressed that Kagome had run off in such fashion. What if she doesn't come back? Don't be silly. She has to come back. He also had trouble comprehending the decision Inuyasha had made. How could he abandon his friends when we need him to help fight Naraku? Do we even have hope now?
Sango had more sympathy for Inuyasha than Shippo. She, like him, had someone she would die for, or in the worst case, die with. Kohaku, I know that I would have chosen to kill you and then myself had Inuyasha not stopped me. I must, despite my reservations, accept Inuyasha's decision. I also know that Kagome will need some time alone after losing someone she loved so dearly. Especially after he chose someone else.
Miroku tried to remain detached from Inuyasha's death, and Kagome's absence. My worrying will not bring Inuyasha back from the dead, nor will it bring Kagome back any faster. I must still think to the future. We mustn't let Naraku gain any more of an upper hand.
Finally, Sango broke the silence. "So, where do we go from here?" The question was so frankly to the point that Miroku had to recompose himself before responding.
"The loss of Inuyasha doesn't change the ultimate goal of this group. We still must destroy Naraku. And the best way to fight Naraku at this point is to still collect as many shards of the jewel as we can."
"But how do you propose we find the shards now that Kagome is gone?" Sango spoke with more force than she had intended, and regretted it upon seeing the scared look on Shippo's face,
"Then we travel back to Kaede's village and wait for Kagome, I'm sure if we give her some time, she'll return." Miroku said with false confidence. But what if she doesn't? Miroku shook his head to himself. Doubt wouldn't help out their situation. He also wanted to remain positive for Shippo's sake.
So the group head off for Kaede's village with haste. They were welcomed by Kaede, who accepted the new information without speaking. The group settled in for the night in the village. Miroku arose first the next morning, and sat in quiet introspection. When Sango awoke, the two had a whispered conversation, so Shippo wouldn't be awakened.
"How long do you think Kagome will take to return, Sango?" Miroku's confidence of the previous day was completely gone from his voice.
"I'm not sure she will. I think she was in love with him, poor girl." Sango's voice was despondent.
"Would you blame her? Damn that Inuyasha. To rush into death to rashly... how foolish."
"To die for someone you love isn't foolish!" Sango grew silent.
"I didn't mean it that way." Miroku's voice softened. "Inuyasha died with someone, not for someone. You're supposed to live with people, not die with them." Miroku leaned closer to Sango, and his face grew serious. "Know Sango, that I would die for you, without hesitation."
"Why do you say such things?"
"To prove that I'd die for those I love." They looked at each other in silence for quite some time. Finally Sango broke the quiet.
"I think I'll step out for awhile." And with that she walked quickly from the room.
Miroku sat there for a moment longer when Sango rushed back into the room. "Miroku, come quickly!"
They both ran outside, just as Kagura came floating in on her feather.
Flashback:
"Inuyasha! I am sick of waiting for you to die with me! I leave this world now with or without you! Will you not die with me?"
"You know I can't." Inuyasha's voice was shaking heavily. Kikyo grew angrier at his answer.
"You claim to love me! Why will you not come with me to hell?"
"There are things I must do before I leave this world." Many things passed through his mind while making that statement. It must be said that the first thing he thought of was defeating Naraku, but it would be misleading if it wasn't said that his thoughts lingered on Kagome after his statement.
"What could there be for you in this world, if the one you love must depart to the next?"
"I must- must avenge your death by defeating Naraku." Inuyasha stammered out what she knew to be a lie.
"Bah! You know his life of death is nothing to me! You live because of that girl!" Inuyasha nearly fell apart on the inside, but did not respond. "Speak Inuyasha! You live for that despicable Kagome, don't you!?!"
"Don't do this, Kikyo... please!" Inuyasha fell to his knees, his clawed hands covering his face.
"Do you live that girl?" Tears now came from Kikyo's eyes, for she knew the answer to her question.
"Yes... yes I do." It was no more than a quiet whisper, but was still deafening for Kikyo.
"You bastard!" And with that Kikyo fled from that spot.
"I'm sorry, I'm so sorry." Inuyasha broke down right there. He felt as if he couldn't breathe.
Kikyo fled blindly, yet she soon found herself standing before none other than Naraku. "You can help me. I want her to suffer, as I have. I want her dead. I want Kagome dead!"
"Yes, I help you, but you must do as I say."
"Anything, I'll do anything."
"Good, first, kill Inuyasha." And with that Naraku handed Kikyo several shards of the shikon jewel
Kikyo smirked. "With pleasure." She clutched her bow, and ran back towards where Inuyasha was still deep in the woods.
"Shippo, you scared me there. I didn't know if you were going to make it there." Shippo was breathing shallowly now, after a few tense moments where he neither had a pulse nor was breathing. Kagome had performed CPR on Shippo right there in the shrine, and then carried him into her room. Obviously, there was no way for Kagome to go out with Hojo, but Kagome's grandfather had become an expert at coming up with illnesses for Kagome (this time it was spinal meningitis).
"How's the little guy doing, Kagome?" Kagome's mother entered the room with a cup of green tea for Shippo.
"I think he'll be okay." Kagome was still a little stunned by Shippo's near death experience.
"Kagome?" Shippo had regained consciousness, and was now able to speak, though be it very faintly.
"Yes Shippo?" Kagome leaned in closer.
"We need to get back to the feudal era, Kagome... Miroku and Sango..." Shippo nearly passed out again, breathing severely hard due to the strain of speaking.
"Don't overstrain yourself, Shippo. Slowly and calmly." Kagome stopped Shippo, even though she was very anxious to hear what he had to say. "Okay now Shippo, tell me nice and slowly now, what exactly happened to you and the others."
"It was morning, and right as we were waking, Kagura came in on the attack."
"Oh dear God!" Kagome's stomach dropped. I should have been there to help!
"It was terrible... Kagome brought along an army of hundreds of dead soldiers.
Sango and Miroku were putting up quite a fight, but they were losing when I was left."
"You left?"
"Sango made me. She had Kirara carry me away. Kirara dropped me off by the bone-eaters well and flew off back to battle. That's when I found your shards, and came here."
"Wait, how long were they fighting?" Kagome was shocked. The battle, if it had started this morning and continued until within the hour, would have lasted for 13 or 14 hours."
"Kagura kept coming and coming with wave upon wave of her undead puppets, but somehow Sango and Miroku kept fighting. But they were faltering when I was taken from battle. I don't know..." Shippo's voice caught, and he let out a few whimpers before continuing. "I don't know how they could still be alive."
Kagome by this point was silently crying. Her ability to cope with tragedy was already tested by Inuyasha's death, and the recollections of Shippo had pushed Kagome beyond what she could comprehend.
There are times in people's lives that they are tested by extreme situations. Whether they triumph or fail is the ultimate test of their character. For Kagome this was her moment, and she was not going to back away from the challenges she faced. Whether she failed or succeeded was still to be seen.
"I must go back now."
"Good, I'm coming with you."
"No Shippo, your badly wounded as it is. I won't see you die as well."
"What will you do? Without Miroku and Sango, how can you fight?"
"I still have hope that they survived. We must keep hope, Shippo. Without hope, we have nothing at all."
"What if they're dead?" That question was one that was quite a concern for Kagome. How can I fight without any of my friends? We had but a slight chance as it was. Is it all lost? No! It can't be. I won't give up yet. "Well, I'll have to fight anyways, won't I?"
"Kagome, I can't let you go alone..."
"I won't hear it! You have to rest, Shippo. You won't be able to help me at all if you go back injured and are killed right away." Shippo reluctantly accepted Kagome's reasoning. Kagome grabbed her backpack and left the room.
"Mom, look after Shippo, and don't let him leave 'til he's recovered. Here, give this to him." She handed her mother one of her jewel shards. He won't be able to get back without it.
"Kagome, be careful."
"I will be." And with that, Kagome ran off to the shrine and hopped into the well, and re-entered the feudal era.
So that's chapter two. What do you think? Good? Bad? I'll try to post the next chapter soon, unless there's lots of people saying "Stop! Stop! This sucks!" I'll keep typing away. Not to say that you shouldn't be critical... I'd prefer that. It's just sometimes people need criticism, and some are just lost causes... Tell me if I'm a lost cause and I'll stop!
'Til next time... JGalton