Disclaimer: shh, if you listen closely you can hear the voices in my head saying I own Inuyasha! Isn't that great?!

What Happens Now?

Chapter 3

By: Ks-Starshine

". . ." = spoken words '. . .' = thoughts Hope this helps make things more clear! Now on with the story! (A/N at end)

"Ah, that feels good!" Kagome sighed as she slid into the soothing water of the hot spring near their campsite. "I'm so glad you spotted this earlier."

"It does feel nice," Sango agreed.

Earlier, Sango and Miroku had kept quiet when they stumbled upon their friends embracing each other. Sango had held back a snickering Miroku to keep him from intruding on the couple. She wouldn't have ruined Kagome's moment for anything. Shippou, however, was clueless as ever to the situation. He had charged through the bushes, eager to show Kagome how much wood he had gathered for her. The couple had instantly sprung apart with blushes as red as tomatoes. Sango had taken the awkward moment as an opportunity to point out the hot spring. Not only would it feel good after the long day, it would give her the chance to find out exactly what had happened.

'Better seize the moment now, before that perverted monk comes to spy on us,' Sango thought.

"So Kagome," she began. "You were blushing rather profusely when Miroku and I got back. Did something happen?"

A blush began to creep back onto Kagome's cheeks as she answered. "Well, I don't know . . . I wouldn't say that exactly . . . The thing is . . ." the flustered girl paused as she tried to think of an explanation. Finding none, she began to blurt out anything and everything. Sango sat and quietly listened until she had finished. "Oh Sango, I'm so confused!"

They had left the hot spring while Kagome was talking and were now sitting on a grassy bank letting their hair dry. Sango put a hand on her friends shoulder to help comfort her. "I know it seems complicated, but it all just comes down to one thing." With a sniffle, Kagome met Sango's eyes. "Do you love him?"

Silence was Kagome's only reply as she turned and looked away.

"So you do love him," Sango stated matter of factly.

"What does it matter how I feel? Don't you see, Sango? I can't love him. He has Kikyou, the beautiful brave Miko who gave her life protecting the jewel. I'm just the screw-up imitation who shattered it. I don't deserve him." Tears streaked the young girls face as she quietly cried into her hands.

Sango stared wide-eyed at Kagome. 'How could she say such a thing? Does she really think so little of herself?' she thought incredulously.

"Kagome, you are one of the kindest, most thoughtful and caring peeple I have ever met. On top of that, you are always there for your friends whether it is a shoulder to cry on or on the battlefield, where you have become very proficient I might add. If anything, it's Inuyasha who doesn't deserve you!" Sango explained with conviction.

Kagome gave a weak smile and wiped the last of her tears away. "Thank you, Sango, but I still don't know what to do."

"There is only one thing to do," Sango told her. "You must tell him how you feel."

"But I can't!"

"He needs to know Kagome," Sango said softly. 'Tell him before he makes a choice you'll both regret,' she silently prayed.

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The girls returned to the campsite well after dark. Shippou had already fallen asleep on Kagome's mat and Miroku was busy feigning sleep curiously close to Sango's mat. Once Sango had moved her mat to a more desirable distance, much to the dismay of the monk, she laid herself down and quickly fell asleep.

Kagome, though, was still wide-awake long after even Miroku was asleep. Thoughts of a certain hanyou plagued her mind. She couldn't even just lie on her back and watch the stars, for, as luck would have it, Inuyasha chose a branch directly over her mat for his nightly perch.

After a few hours of trying to sleep, she let out a soft sigh of exasperation.

"Will you just go to sleep already?" Inuyasha whispered. "You'll be exhausted tomorrow if you don't get some rest soon."

'Was that concern?' she mentally noted. "I can't sleep," she replied. Gathering her courage she added, "Can we talk?"

He looked down at her. "W-What about?" he stuttered.

'Did he just stutter?' she thought. 'Is he nervous about something?'

"Please, Inuyasha?" She looked up and their gaze locked. In an instant he was crouched by her side.

"Well, what did you want to talk about?" he asked, suddenly fascinated with his toes.

Tilting her head in his direction, she drew a deep breath to calm her rapidly beating heart. "I need to tell you something. It's just that . . . with how you've been acting lately, . . . and then earlier tonight . . . I think I should let you know that—"

"I love you, Kagome!" blurted Inuyasha.

"What?" she whispered in shock.

Inuyasha tried to explain his feelings. "I'm sorry for all the awful things I've said. It's just that everyone I've ever loved has left me for one reason or other and I was so scared that if I loved you then you would leave me too. I couldn't take that, Kagome, but I couldn't hide how I felt any longer either. Now that I've told you, you'll probably leave. Damn it! I wouldn't have said anything if the stupid monk hadn't put some stupid ideas in my stupid head about how you felt while you and Sango were gone. I'm sorry. I just . . ."

This time it was Kagome who interrupted him, though not with words. Her lips attacked his to stop him from berating himself anymore with his incessant rambling. Surprisingly, though neither of them seemed to be able to express themselves through speech, they were very capable of communicating using body language.

Their lips parted only to catch the occasional breath as their bodies crushed against each other in a loving embrace.

"Does this mean what I think it means?" asked Inuyasha softly.

"It means you never have to worry about me leaving you again," Kagome whispered before her speech was once again cut off by the caress of his soft lips.

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A/N: Ok, I am sooooo sorry for the time it took me to post this. I've had so many thoughts running through my head lately, I had a hard time picking out the ones meant for this story from those for other stories. I think it turned out pretty good though. What do you think? Let me know! R&R!

Thanks for everyone's reviews! A lot of you are wanting to know what happened to Kagome, don't worry, I'm getting there, but I had to work in a little fluff on the way, right?

Emowyen- Thanks for the review, hope you enjoyed the update!

Riah89- Here's more. Hope you stick around for the next chapter!

Inuyasha~slave- hope you got the e-mail. Thanks for such an enthusiastic review!

LYW- Glad I caught your interest. Hope you liked this chapter!

Shakrin- I'm updating! I'm updating! Thanks for the review!

Lyerial- Thank you for your compliments. I love the fluff as well, hope this chapter was equally satisfying in that area for you!

Inu-babi-00—Thanks for the review! Hope you liked this chapter too!

Crimson Pooka- Sorry if I confused you. I hope this chapter helped clear a few things up. Gave you some more fluff too! Yea for fluff!

Flare4ever- no cliff hanger this time ^-^ (I think, but maybe that is because I know what happens next! Hee hee) thanks for your review!

Guardian-of-the-Night—Miroku cracks me up too! He didn't talk in this chapter, but I still had some fun writing his role. Hope you enjoyed it!

Remix-69er- Thanks for the review! Hope you like what I have coming up!