Author: Screw the note

Chapter 13:

His body hurt all over, some of the wounds he remembered, but some he could. He wasn't sure what exactly happened to him, he had a vague memory of it, but that didn't matter. Right now, he was surrounded in darkness, all of his senses enveloped, leaving him with nothing other than the pain of his wounds; but nothing else...no floor...no moving air...nothing. Just nothing.

He was in complete darkness, he wasn't sure where he was, not sure if even his own hands and legs were with him, but he hoped they were, because living would kind of suck without them.

He made an attempt at opening his eyes, but there was no change, he wasn't even sure his eyes had made a change, it they were even there. He figured he was sweating, but couldn't tell if he was.

He went to open his mouth to scream, but there was silence.

He started to collect himself.

Darkness...

Darkness...

Darkness...

Bright red eyes suddenly appeared.

(Author: yeah I know...lame dream sequence)

Kouga awoke startled and shaking as he quickly sat fully upright, knocking Kagome a bit off her balance. Immediately he wished that he hadn't as his body still hurt all over, but much worse than in the dream. His pupils shrank at the sharp pain, and he quickly looked around the room while breathing very heavily. He began to panic, trying to collect what happened as the blurs gathered together.

He felt two soft hands push gently against his chest, slightly registering the fact that his armor was no longer there. He turned to his side to see Kagome's face, red a puffed from crying, and his panic began to recede. His pupils returned to their normal size as he slackened his body and was guided back to his back.

"You need to rest."

Kouga looked up, his muscles no longer screamed at him for sitting up as such, but they were still quite sore.

"Where is..."

"Don't worry about Inuyasha for now. Just focus on getting better"

"But..."

"Lilian is still here too, she is fine. Just rest for now."

He felt a hand over his eyes as she shut his eyes for him.

He didn't fall asleep, but he let his other senses come into focus, no longer using his little awareness on his sight. His sense of smell was the first to return, he could smell Kagome, Inuyasha, plenty of blood, herbs, and various remedies. After another moment, Lilian's scent filled her nose, and any left anxiety melted straight off of him. His body relaxed, and he could feel Kagome checking his wounds, finishing her assessment.

After the hands receded, he heard two things. First, there was the sound of bandages being prepared. The second, was the sound of stirring and a slight groan, coming from the only other person who's scent was strong enough to still be in the room.

'Lilian' he thought

Kouga froze completely, giving off the impression that he was asleep to both parties.

Kagome sighed in relief, thinking that it should be easier for her to bandage him with him asleep, because there was one garment that she had not removed yet to check, and she was in no hurry to remove it to check the region. This way she wouldn't have to deal with Kouga getting antsy about her removing his shorts, it was going to be embarrassing enough already.

She was about to go about applying the bandages to his left arm, washing away the blood and cleaning out the wound before using some ointment, when she heard a groan from behind her. She didn't bother turning around, she knew that Lilian was well past stable, she had merely given her sleeping herbs to make sure she rested.

"How did you sleep?"

"...eh..." she continued to groan, groggily waking up.

Kagome quickly finished up with preparing to bandage Kouga's arm.

"Hey..."

"You sleep well?" Kagome repeated.

"Yeah, I guess." Lilian paused, looking over to see Kouga's "sleeping" form by the miko.

"What happened to him?"

"He and my husband had a little tussle for old times sake I guess."

Lilian sat up and repositioned herself to get a better view of the wolf.

"A little tussle?"

"Yeah, wouldn't believe they were anything close to friends would ya?"

"Never. Oh well, serves him right."

Kouga heart sank a bit but he remained motionless.

Kagome's hands stopped for an instant, surprised at the kunoichi's cruel tone.

"Why do you say that?"

"He's a youkai, he deserves whatever he gets." She said, managing to sound even crueler.

Kagome sighed 'We have our work cut out for us don't we Inuyasha?'

"He's still a living creature, he breathes, bleeds, and feels. He fears, hates, admires..." Kagome stopped, she was about to stay 'love', but she stopped, not sure if she wanted to mention the word yet, afraid to ruin her plans too soon.

"Maybe so, but he's still a monster."

Kouga and Kagome caught the breath in their lungs at the same time.

Kagome stood up slowly, keeping her back to Lilian. She walked over to the window, sticking out her head to breathe a breath of fresh air, fiddling with her bow in one of her hands.

She gathered herself together to talk. She still felt like she owed Kouga for making the completion of the shikon easier, if this woman was the one he wanted, she would do her best to help him get her, it wouldn't help much if she started scream at the kunoichi.

Lilian slid over across the floor to Kouga's body.

"How could you say that he's a monster?"

"It makes it that much easier to kill him, and those like him" no remorse in her voice.

Kagome heard a blade draw and quickly turned to see Lilian leaning over Kouga with a blade risen over her head. Her ruby eyes paled with indifference. The reaction was quicker than Kagome herself had anticipated. The bow she had been fiddling with, was suddenly in her hand, with an arrow drawn with speed that would make even the greatest archers complement her ability.

Lilian heard the string stretch and stopped where she was.

"You would defend him?" curiousity in her voice.

"Yes, he is a friend of mine. I am also responsible to make sure that no such crime is committed in this village."

"Then turn your head and shut your ears. This is my bounty and I plan to eat when I get home."

"I'm sorry about your situation, but you will not harm him, especially when he can't fight back. What kind of honor is that?"

Lilian sighed heavily and sheathed her blade, slowly and quietly.

"I will honor the laws for this village then. But I must ask, why would you befriend a youkai?"

Kagome set down her bow and went over the confiscate the kunoichi's weapons...something she should have done before.

"Because, he has shown that he is a loyal friend"

"You trust him far too much. He is a beast...a wolf...no more."

"Your wrong, very wrong. He is much more than that."

"How would you know?"

"How would you know otherwise?"

Lilian stopped for a moment then went back to her bed.

"It seems as though you almost love him"

Kagome was taken aback at this.

"No, we are no more than friends. There was a time that I thought I did, but that was long ago. I fell in love with another, and settled down him, and here I am today."

"It's nice to hear that you chose a human over a youkai though...its kinda creepy otherwise." There was a bit of a giggle in her voice.

Kagome was happy to see that Lilian was getting more comfortable, but she wasn't going to lie about Inuyasha.

"Who said the man I chose was human?"

Lilian's smile faded to a look of awe.

"You married a youkai?"

"Kind of" Kagome held up her hand, showing a mark that Lilian seemed to recognize as...

"A mark from a mate?" Lilian said, flustered, and gawking at the scar before repositioning herself for a better look.

"He's a hanyou, but stronger than pretty much any youkai I've ever seen."

Lilian was still speechless as she examined the mark some more.

"This is why I know that youkai can be trusted, I've seen the love they can give first hand. Inuyasha lives with youkai blood that burns stronger than some of the purest of youkai, surely if he can love...than all youkai have the same ability."

Lilian looked up at Kagome, looking her in the eyes, still silent.

"Maybe if you stop convincing yourself that they have no soul so that you can kill them..." Her voice held no malice as she turned her gaze to Kouga, letting Lilian's do the same. "...you will be able to see that soul for yourself."

Kagome got up and walked over to Kouga, then kneeled back down to continue her work on Kouga.

"I don't quite understand you" Lilian started.

"Seriously" Kagome said not looking up from her work. "Just try, start now with just him. Forget about what ever happened between you two and forget the bounty you have on him. Get a chance to know him for now, at least until you get better. I promise, you won't regret it, I'm pretty sure you will make a marvelous friend in him."

Lilian sighed hard. She looked at Kouga, then at Kagome, then back at Kouga.

"Why?"

"Why what?"

"Why should I?"

"Try to befriend him?"

"Yeah"

"You don't have to, but I think it will be a good experience for you. Plus, it will make your stay here much easier if you don't constantly want to kill him since you will be staying here for a while."

"Assuming I do. What am I supposed to do about bounties? I kill youkai all the time, it's this mindset that keeps me sane."

Kagome looked up at Lilian, a smile on her face.

"I'm the miko that protects the shikon-no-tama. I have to kill youkai all the time, but I don't hate them or believe they are monsters, and look at me, I'm just fine."

Lilian shut her eyes, sighed, and smiled.

"I'm still not sure how you can trust them, especially with the shikon so close. How do you know that he didn't just come here to get it?"

"Because he gave us the last shards for it willingly."

Lilian's eyes shot open in surprise at the statement.

"What?"

"You heard about when the shikon-no-tama was shattered and the pieces scattered around Japan right?"

Lilian nodded.

"Well, that was my fault, so I went out with Inuyasha to find them all. Along the way we made some friends and continued out to go find all the pieces. During that journey we met Kouga, he kidnapped me after finding out that I could see the shards, hoping that I would help him by gathering the shards and help his tribe."

Lilian didn't seem surprised.

"But after we got everything sorted out, I went back with my friends, leaving him with two of the three shards he had when we met him. During our journey he showed up from time to time, not too often though, and we never bothered to take the last two shards. After we finally had all of them except those two, we went back to his Den to get them from him. In the end, he gave them to us without a fight, and we hadn't seen him since other than today."

Lilian was shocked.

"But I thought the shikon was said to drive youkai crazy with lust for power."

"It normally does. But he still gave them back, that's one reason why I trust him. He's not just an animal, not just a beast. I know that about him, and I trust him. You should too, he brought you out here safely to make sure you were taken care of, even though you are trying to kill him. "

Lilian was speechless as she looked over Kouga, and her eyes softened. Kagome saw an odd warmth of the true Lilian underneath and realized why Kouga wanted her.

Lilian noticed, after it was too late and quickly turned around and laid down, ignoring her injured leg.

"I'll think about it"

Kagome smirked and went back to find a truly sleeping Kouga.

'You may have a chance after all Kouga.' She thought to herself and once again continued tending to his wounds.

Author: Alright, finished. What you think? Do I really suck that bad? Let me know if your reading this, the reviews really help my confidence, though I'll keep going regardless.