CG X:

The midmorning rays of the sun awoke Kagome the next day. She noted somewhat disappointed that Sesshoumaru was no longer present. Of course the white haired man was arrogant and a total jerk, but there was something about him that made her want to wake up in the mornings.

The idea that he would be present when she awoke still caused a ripple of excitement through her veins. It didn't matter that he was an arrogant jerk, he could be sweet. So what if he was really a ghost and didn't really exist outside of her over active imagination?

He was a very cute hallucination and she really didn't mind having repeated episodes of seeing him. Sighing at her way-ward thoughts Kagome kicked off her comforter and hobbled over towards her dresser to change into some clothes for the day.

Perhaps Onigumo would take her to see someone about a walking cast. At least Suikotsu had left her the pair of crutches. There was a knock at her door, coming from Naraku's room.

"Gee, who could that be?" Kagome questioned jokingly at the door.

A soft moan was her answer. Confused, Kagome hobbled towards the door with the aid of her crutches and rested her forehead against the cool wooden door. "Who is it?" She asked in jest.

"It is the ghooooost of the massssssster's son," the familiar voice of her step-brother hissed from the other side.

Kagome couldn't help but giggle as she pulled open the door to reveal the smiling face of Naraku. "Oh how I adore a good ghost story," Kagome greeted with a daring smile.

Naraku leaned against the doorframe with his right arm. His lean figure towered over her small one as he offered a lop-sided grin. His left hand fell upon her shoulder and slid down her back slowly until it rested at the base of her spine at her waistband. "And I love sending a shiver down that spine of yours," he teased.

Kagome couldn't help but blush. She really shouldn't play this teasing game with him. She was going to get burned. She would have to admit that Naraku was handsome in his own right. And since she was so secluded from her friends, it seemed that the only people she could tease with were either Naraku or her ghostly companion, Sesshoumaru.

It was pretty difficult to decide the lesser of two evils.

Naraku was her step-brother and Sesshoumaru was a figment of her imagination.

"So, do you know where mom and Souta are?" Kagome asked, hoping to ignore the way Naraku's cinnamon eyes had darkened slightly and his fingers had begun to idly massage her lower back.

Naraku pulled his hand away from her back, only to use it to tuck a strand of her raven hair behind her ear. "Father has sent Souta to boarding school already." Kagome's mouth opened to protest, but Naraku continued. "He left while you were asleep yesterday. He wanted to tell you goodbye, but father decided it would be better if he were to leave."

Tears began to gather in Kagome's pale eyes. Naraku offered a sympathetic smile. "I'm sorry, but you know how father is." Kagome nodded in silent acceptance. Unexpectedly, Naraku pulled Kagome into his embrace and eased her face onto his shoulder where she began to cry.

Idly, Naraku ran his fingers through her dark, silky hair. "Don't worry my precious one. You'll see your little brother soon enough. Father simply wanted him to adjust to the new environment and knew that he would cling to you otherwise."

Kagome nodded reluctantly. "I suppose you're right," she conceded.

"Of course I am baby doll." The grin in Naraku's voice was undeniable as he released Kagome from the cage of his arms and pushed her away from him slightly. He kissed her tenderly upon her forehead. "Father has decided to take you to see the local witch doctor."

She couldn't contain herself. The laughter simply erupted from her at the words. Upon seeing the serious and un-amused expression on Naraku's face she calmed herself. "I'm sorry, I thought you said something about a witch doctor."

Naraku's brow's furrowed. "I did."

"Oh," Kagome, didn't know what else to say.

Naraku ignored the crutches and picked Kagome up into his arms, causing the crutches to fall to the hardwood floor. "Hey!" Kagome protested in shock from her new position. Naraku ignored the undignified tone to her voice and drew her closer to him as he began the descent down the stairs to the foyer to meet his father.

Kagome bit her tongue, realizing the uselessness of arguing her situation. If Naraku wanted to carry her, there really wasn't much she could do outside of throwing a hissy fit. Besides, he would ignore that anyway.

Naraku was pleased that she had failed to inquire more about her mother. He hated keeping things secret from her, but his father was right. She didn't need to know. It would be best to keep her secluded from her friends and family right now. She needed to remember. He would prefer if she remembered on her own.

He wasn't ready emotionally to share with her the story of the plantation master's son and the governor's daughter. Two centuries was not enough time to ease the pain in his heart. He doubted if an eternity would be enough time to sooth his pain.

Time to return back to the subject at hand, or rather, in his arms. He really didn't mind carrying her everywhere. Admittedly, he was a bit disappointed that Suikotsu had provided the crutches to her. But, without them she probably would have complained about having her independence encroached.

His father, Onigumo led the way to the old witch's home deep in the Louisiana swamp. The car ride had been uneventful, thankfully.

"Have you ever been here before?" Kagome asked quietly, her breath fanning across his neck as she whispered in his ear.

It was all Naraku could do to keep himself from shivering. "Once, a long time ago," he replied. He chewed on the inside of his cheek, remembering the last and only time he had visited the witch doctor.

Many failed to believe in such things, but he and his father knew all too well about the powers of voodoo. He had no doubt that the witch doctor had some sort of remedies to make Kagome's bones heal faster.

Onigumo held up his hand, to silence the two youth behind him. An old house came into view. They had walked at least two hundred yards away from their parked vehicle. The terrain ill suited for the weight of an automobile.

The front door to the dilapidated dwelling opened and an old woman stood out, waiting for them on her front porch. Her grey hair fell long down her back and she wore an eye patch over one eye.

The solitaire dark eye watched them intently with a mixture of wisdom, apprehension, and caution. Naraku released an inner sigh as he saw no sign of malice, at least not directed towards him or Kagome.

However, the look she reserved for his father was not a welcoming one. It held a trace of intangible malice that he didn't quite understand.

"You have come to seek my aid?" The witch doctor asked politely.

"We have," Onigumo answered.

The old woman looked at him with scorn. "You will return to your vehicle. You are not welcome on my land. I will tend to the children though."

Onigumo's dark eyes raged with hatred for the old woman but he silently turned and left. He cast his son a warning look but otherwise remained quite. Naraku had to wonder about the curious display.

He cleared his throat. "It's been a long time, Kaede."

"Not long enough, apparently," Kaede rejoined gazing at the timid young woman in his arms curiously before meeting his eyes once more. "I see things have come full circle."

Naraku swallowed the lump that was trying to form in his throat. Surely the old woman wouldn't ruin it all with her lack of tact. "So it would seem wise one," Naraku decided to try and flatter the woman.

His reply seemed to amuse the old woman.

"This is Kagome," Naraku continued. This only seemed to further amuse the old woman much to his chagrin. "Her leg, the Tibia to be more specific had been fractured a little more than a week ago. I was hoping you might know of a way to speed up her healing process."

Kaede nodded, but remained silent. Kagome cleared her throat, having over come her fear of the woman apparently. "Naraku and I were hoping to enjoy the French Quarters soon and traveling with my crutches slows us down greatly." She leaned away from Naraku and he had to adjust his grip to keep her from falling as she leaned towards the old woman conspiratorially.

Kaede humored her and stepped closer to the young woman. "I don't mind being carried usually, but I don't think it would be appropriate in the middle of such a busy avenue." Kagome whispered, raising her hand to block her lips from Naraku's eye.

He exchanged a grin with Kaede, not a word lost in Kagome's cleverness. "I'll see what I can do dear, but I think in the least I'll be able to provide you with a walking cast."

Kaede turned back towards her home and gestured for them to follow. Naraku shifted Kagome in his arms again and walked after the witch doctor. Scents of cinnamon, lilac, rosemary, and ginger teased his nose upon entering the home that he hadn't seen in centuries.

"You've been here before right?" Kagome asked Naraku as he walked into the sitting room of the old home. He nodded absently, eyes falling upon the various skeletal remains of different animals. He shuttered at the evidence of voodoo before him. "When was that?"

"A lifetime ago," he replied before sitting on the sofa that Kaede indicated. The old woman gathered various herbs and elements and tossed them into a stone vessel and began to smash them into bits with a stone.

"Place your leg upon this child," Kaede instructed Kagome. Reluctantly, Kagome placed her leg upon the ottoman in front of her. Kaede took a dagger and sliced through the cast as if it were butter.

Kagome exchanged a worried look with Naraku and he squeezed her shoulder reassuringly. She didn't need to know that the sharpness of that blade had startled him as well.

Moments later, Kaede applied the salve upon the leg and Kagome immediately cringed. Naraku held her hand in his for support, but knew that wouldn't help much as the salve worked to increase the formation of new bone cells and forced the break to heal itself at an accelerated rate.

Kaede sat back. "We'll be here for an hour. Is there anything you would like to ask of me Kagome?"

Naraku bit his lip. It would figure the old woman would do this. His simple reunion was about to become more complicated. He could just sense it.

Miraculously, Kagome shook her head. "I really can't think of anything ma'am."

Naraku's sigh of relief was too soon. "Perhaps you would like to hear about the curse of the master of the plantation and his son? Its of the home in which you live." Kaede suggested.

Kagome sat up in rapt attention. "I didn't realize they were cursed. Was it a voodoo curse?"

Naraku made cutting marks at his throat to stop Kaede, but she merely smiled at him before ignoring him completely. "It is most certainly a curse of a voodoo sort. Why the young Kagewaki was cursed by the granddaughter of the great Marie Laveau. Are you familiar with that name, Kagome?"

Kagome looked over at Naraku for help, but he was not going to supply anything for this story. "Isn't she the Voodoo Queen?"

"Right you are," Kaede congratulated. "Her granddaughter was a slave who fell madly in love with the master's son, Kagewaki. However, he did not love her."

"That bastard!" Kagome shouted vehemently, pounding her fist on the arm rest of the sofa. "I bet he got her pregnant and then refused her."

Naraku's eyes grew wide at the accusation. Kaede only laughed. "No dear child, he never touched her. That was the problem. He loved not Kagura and that drove her mad especially when she discovered whom he did love."

Kagome's cheeks flushed in embarrassment at her outburst. Of course this Kagewaki didn't do this. She failed to notice Naraku leaning back in the sofa starring at the ceiling while rubbing the bridge of his nose.

"He was in love with the governor's daughter. And she was in love with him." Kaede continued, but Kagome stopped her with a raised hand like a school girl. "Yes?" Kaede acknowledged somewhat amused.

"But, I thought the governor's daughter was engaged to a commoner or something." She looked back over at Naraku for affirmation but he refused to answer.

"Yes, she was child, but unfortunately, the would be pirate prince died most tragically." Kaede explained. Kagome gasped at this, her heart looked as if it was breaking all over again as Naraku watched her.

He placed his arm comfortingly around her shoulder, but she hardly noticed. This was all too familiar to him.

"Kouga died most tragically," Kaede continued. Kagome gasped at the familiar name, but held a hand up to her mouth to stop from interrupting more. "Kagewaki had fallen in love with the governor's daughter, but was also friends with Kouga and had relinquished his hopes of attaining her. After Kouga's death he and the governor's daughter helped one another past the tragedy and gradually fell in love."

Kaede gave Naraku a meaningful glance, but he chose to ignore her would-be sympathy. She turned her attention back to Kagome. "Kagura watched as the master's son and the governor's daughter fell deeply in love. She was consumed with rage and sought the aid of her grandmother, the Voodoo Queen. She placed a terrible curse upon the couple once she discovered that she was herself dying of a deadly disease that had claimed several of the local slaves."

Kagome gasped and squeezed Naraku's hand at this point of the tale. She looked over at him and searched his eyes. "Did you know about this tale?"

Naraku found himself nodding, but he simply could not answer her with words. He was all too familiar with this curse.

Kaede paused, as if trying to decide how much of the curse to reveal. Silently, Naraku prayed that she wouldn't reveal too much and make it known to Kagome. He had waited too long for this chance to have it ruined by an old woman's spite for his father.

"She cursed the young couple. The woman died in her lover's arms and he was forced to live what seemed like an eternity without her, forever alone for he refused the love of any other." Kaede answered, pleasing Naraku with her vague recount while frustrating Kagome.

Kagome pulled her hand out of Naraku's grasp and he immediately missed the warmth. "What do you mean? So he died an old man, never having married? The governor's daughter lost Kouga and then she was lost to Kagewaki? How did she die? How did Kouga die? What happened to Kagewaki?"

Kaede held up her hand to stop the onslaught of questions. "Child please, I can tell you no more. It is time for you to leave now." She reached behind her chair and presented a walking cast and handed it to Kagome.

Naraku frowned. How in the world did she happen to have a walking cast lying about? He wouldn't worry about that now. He was simply content that the old hag didn't ruin everything.

Kouga shook his head at the scene angrily. Rin stood beside him and gently tugged on his elbow, but he ignored the pull. He did not want to be calm. He had every right to be angry.

"How dare he claim to be my friend," Kouga muttered vehemently.

"But he was your friend," the quiet childish voice of Rin argued quietly.

Kouga sighed and shrugged, turning away from the images in the old witch doctor's home. "Yeah, I guess," he relented with ill content. "I just wish that Sesshoumaru would wake his worthless self up. She still thinks he's some figment of her imagination."

"Hey!" A cheerful boy greeted, running up beside the unlikely pair. Bright crimson hair bounced with the youth's lively steps. "How's it going little sis?" He asked Rin.

He then turned to Kouga, "How are my parents fairing?"

Kouga rolled his icy orbs at the young man and ran a hand through his long pony tail impatiently. "Only time will tell Shippo."

Emerald eyes flashed with mischief. "You're just sore cause you don't get the girl," Shippo teased. The cold look that Kouga sent him wiped the smile right off his face. "Right, so what do we do now?"

"We can do nothing. I will keep a watch out, besides if Sesshoumaru does wake up he'll probably just get murdered like I did." Kouga replied bitterly.

"Kagewaki didn't kill you," Rin interrupted softly.

"You don't know that," Kouga argued.

"And you don't know that he did," Rin replied evenly.

"So where is wonder boy?" Kouga asked Shippo.

"He was drawn back to his body this morning, I think he may wake up soon actually." Shippo replied.

"Then why did you ask me how your parents were doing if you knew he hasn't even been with Kagome?" Kouga demanded annoyed.

Shippo shrugged. "I just like pissing you off."

"So you think he'll wake up soon?" Rin interrupted before things got out of control.

Kouga turned around and walked away from the two youth. His tree appeared in the void and he climbed up into its boughs and ignored his companions.

Shippo watched sadly as Kouga left. He offered Rin a half-hearted smile. "I certainly hope he does."

Sesshoumaru merely listened to her ramble. Kagome was sharing a story about a Voodoo curse. Of course it caught his attention because the names of several of the key characters were quite familiar.

The coincidence of the names Kouga, Kagewaki, and Kagura were too great to ignore. Somewhere in the back of his mind he pondered the fact that they all began with the letter K.

"What do you think it means?" Kagome finally asked as she drew to a conclusion.

"I'll admit that those names are not very common and yet they keep surfacing over and over," Sesshoumaru relented.

Kagome looked at him slightly confused. "I've never heard the name of Kagura before though."

Sesshoumaru sat beside her on the window seat. It was his seat anyway, he didn't know what she was thinking of claiming that territory. They watched silently as the sun set in the West. He looked down at her new cast and pondered the fact that the witch doctor had healed her leg remarkably during her visit that morning.

"I won't ignore that there may be something of importance in the story," Sesshoumaru began but was interrupted.

Kagome held her hand over his mouth, and surprisingly he could feel it covering his mouth. The sensation was pleasing, but there was no need for her to know that. "Do you know a Kagura?" Kagome demanded with a frown creasing her forehead.

Sesshoumaru's jaw clenched at the name. "It is the name of my ex-girlfriend. I broke up with her right before our accident. You can imagine she wasn't pleased."

Kagome's hand slipped down and she looked away from him. "That's so odd."

"Kagome, I don't think the story is very important though. I think that perhaps it's an interesting tale, but that's not what's important. The past doesn't matter. There is something going on right now. I have spoken with Kouga."

Kagome's jaw fell slack. "What?" She barely managed to whisper in shock.

"I have spoken with Kouga. He had warned me of Kagewaki, and I believe he is Naraku. You must be the governor's daughter." Sesshoumaru concluded.

"So what do you have to do with any of this?" Kagome demanded frustrated.

Sesshoumaru's head fell against the wall at the simple question. "I'm not sure, but I'm confident that we're going to find out."

"So you're saying you believe this all has to do with past lives?" Kagome asked thoughtfully as she began to twirl a strand of her dark hair idly.

Sesshoumaru began to watch her actions attentively. It was rather depressing that his entertainment in life had become the small actions by this little woman. "I would say something like that." Sesshoumaru agreed coolly.

Kagome released her hair. "You and I were together centuries ago, you were a demon lord and I was a miko. That's what you told me earlier right?" Kagome asked. Sesshoumaru nodded reluctantly.

"So centuries ago, we were together and then two centuries ago, in this parish I lived again. Only you weren't here. Kouga, the young man with the pale blue eyes from my dreams was here. And Kagewaki, whom you say is Naraku was here. I was the governor's daughter. And your ex-girlfriend from this life cursed Naraku and I?" Kagome's disbelief was understandable as she squeezed her eyes shut.

"In essence, that is what both you and I believe," Sesshoumaru replied.

Kagome's head fell back against the window frame, the hard knock against the wood caused Sesshoumaru to flinch. "It's a good thing you are hard headed," Sesshoumaru muttered.

Kagome cracked an eye open to glare at him. "Hey, I don't need some ghost making fun of me."

"At least you'll admit that I'm not part of your imagination anymore." Sesshoumaru allowed his own head to fall back against the wall again, slightly un-eased when he felt his head slip past the physical barrier of the wooden frame. It was too much to hope that he would remain tangible during his entire visit.

"Tell you what, as soon as you get off your comatose lazy butt, I'll let you tease me all you want." Kagome offered.

"I'll hold you to that," Sesshoumaru told her with a wry smile. "Shall I help you with your studies?"

Kagome frowned as she came to a sudden realization. "Kikyo didn't come until late this afternoon."

"What do you mean?" Sesshoumaru sat up straight.

"I mean, I didn't have my lessons today at the normal time. Kikyo didn't show up until late this afternoon after we returned from Kaede's. I didn't think much of it at the time, but now I wonder about that." Kagome mused aloud.

Sesshoumaru shrugged. "So do you have anything to study?"

Kagome grinned. "Actually, no, but you can help me pick out places to check out this weekend!"

"Explain."

"We're going to the French Quarters this weekend. Naraku and I along with Kikyo and Suikotsu are going to check out down town New Orleans." Kagome explained.

"You want me to help you plan for a double date?" Sesshoumaru clarified through clenched teeth, a growl to his voice.

Kagome smiled at him teasingly. "Jealous?"