Posted: 18-13-04
Last chapter posted: 8-9-04 (whoops)

Chapter 2: First Sight

AN: (peers head around corner) Hello? Is anybody reading this? You are?! YAY!!! Man, this is such a weird fic for me! It's very hard for me to write, to tell you the truth. But, hey, you're responding well, so I'm trying my best to satisfy that! This chapter won't be very long, either, but eventually we'll get into my usual size chapter. Well, by usual I mean the stuff I'm did on Only You and like I have in The Fugitive (which I'm probably putting on hold) and stuff. That's my "usual" length. Unless you like freakishly short chapters, that is... Oh well! Maybe I'll split the difference, that'd be good! Right, I don't know Inuyasha. I need to quit forgetting that!

Thanks for the encouragment, Sango0808! I sure hope you enjoy this chapter as much as my other ones...

A few days later, the girl was feeling much better. The pain in her head had greatly subsided, and her wounds were healing fast. However, her memory was not recovering as well as the rest of her. In fact, it was not recovering at all. No matter how hard she tried, nothing she heard or saw seemed familiar to her or reminded her of anything.

Tatsuya was coming in and checking on how she was doing every so often. On this particular day, he had come in with a bowl of stew and a small tray. She sat up without too much difficulty and looked into the saucer's contents for a moment before picking up the chopsticks that lay next to it.

"So, how are you feeling today?" he asked, watching her as she fished a vegetable out of the broth.

"Much better, Tatsuya-jiisan" she replied, putting it into her mouth.

"Can you remember anything, yet?" She swallowed and set the chopsticks down, looking very depressed. "No. I don't know if I'm going to either."

"Come, now, dear," Tatsuya said with a smile. "That's no way to look at things!"

"I keep trying my hardest to remember anything I can," she answered, as though she was continuing her last statement. "Nothing comes to me at all. I'm not sure what I'm going to do."

"Well, there's still hope," he replied reassuringly. "You haven't been outside yet. Maybe if you get some fresh air a little later on, you're thoughts will clear up."

"I hope you're right," she mumbled, picking up the bowl and sipping out a little of the broth. "It's just so strange, not even knowing your own name..."

Tatsuya smiled slightly as he watched her eat. "You know, if you can't remember your name, we can always call you something else."

"Well, what?" she asked, pulling a few more vegetables out of the stew. "How can you name someone who doesn't even know their real one?"

"It's very simple," he replied, scratching his head. "We just find another name to use so you'll know when a villager is talking to you once you get out."

She sighed again. "How long do you think I'll have to stay here?"

He looked slightly alarmed, but answered, "Well, as long as you think you need to. If you aren't happy here, I can always..."

"Oh, it's not that," she interrupted. "I was just asking if you thought I'd get my memory back soon. I really wouldn't feel right leaving if I don't even know where I'm going."

"I can't say," he answered, "but I think I might know what to call you..."

"Really?" she asked. "Does it have to do with my real name or something?"

"Well, no," he answered. "It's just that you remind me of someone..."

"Who, Tatsuya-jiisan?"

"My daughter," he said with a slight smile.

"Oh!" she exclaimed, suddenly very interested. "I didn't know you had a family."

"Well, I don't, anymore."

"I'm sorry," she said, worried that she had upset him. "What... happened?"

"Many years ago, a demon attacked this village," he said, not seeming too bothered by telling the tale. "We lost many people to it before it was finally slain, including my wife, both of my sons, and my daughter."

"I'm so sorry, Tatsuya-san," she murmured.

"You look a lot like her, you know?" he said with a smile. "And your behavior is much like hers, as well."

"Oh..." she said, wondering where he was going with this.

"Her name was Tai," he continued, still seeming fine about continuing this conversation. "I think she was about your age when it happened. Why don't we just call you that until you can remember your real name?"

She stared at the old man, feeling ver odd about being called the name of her caretakers dead daughter. But, she smiled slightly, and replied, "Sure. If you don't mind, that is."

"No, it's perfectly fine!" Tatsuya replied. "I've always wanted a daughter again."

"Well, I'm glad I can... help."

"Sorry to make you uncomfortable," he said, laughing a little. "Well, if you'd like to, step outside for a little bit; maybe it'll help you remember something about the real you!"

"Um, all right," she answered, pushing the tray away and trying her best to stand up. She tightened the robe she had been wearing to make sure that if there was a wind outside, nothing would happen. Tatsuya put his arm on her shoulder and helped her walk toward the door.

The sunlight blinded her for a moment. As her eyes began to adjust, she started seeing a very small town lined with many trees. A few people were walking the roads and talking to each other, and the shadows were spread out in many places.

Even though she couldn't remember seeing any before, she felt that this was a very beautiful place. She looked around, partly in awe, at all of the sights she now beheld.

"Does anything seem familiar, Tai?" Tatsuya suddenly asked, looking at her and smiling.

"No," she sighed. "I'm afraid not. But this village is so lovely..."

"Well, we've worked very hard to keep all of this up! After that demon attacked way back then, we never thought we would ever get it looking this beautiful." She smiled a little and kept looking around.

Just then she noticed a young man making his way down the path in front of were she had been healing. At almost the same moment, he looked up toward her, and stopped walking as their eyes met. They stared at each other for a moment that seemed to last forever, when Tatsuya spoke again.

"Do you think you've had enough?" he asked, looking over at her and realizing she had a strange look in her face.

"Uh, um... Sure," she finally replied, turning her gaze from the young villager and looking back toward where she was staying.

The boy watched her go inside the house, and kept looking at it for a few minutes more. He finally blinked a few times, and continued walking to his home.

AN: Hm, that wasn't as short as I thought it would be! Hee hee. My chapters may become longer than this, I don't know. I mean, I know what I want to happen, but how long it takes me to write it depends on my brain. Please review and tell me if you still like it!