Potential
By: Camigwen
-Chapter 4-
Damn him. Damn him and his habit of running off every time there was a new moon. "I'm weak during this point, he says. I'll just be a burden, he says. Well, did he even stop to think that, I don't care!? I'm going through a tough spot right now and even though I'd like to be alone, some company would be nice!"
Kagome trudged along the path, cursing Inuyasha and the new moon. Her grandfather had told her that Slayers could, in a way, sense a demon's presence. But, Inuyasha wasn't a demon right now, so that little tid-bit was useless. "Grrr... Damn you Inuyasha!" She roared into the night. "Damn you Inu--"
A hand clamped over her mouth and pulled her into the bushes to the right of the path she was following. She tensed up and turned around to shove her captor away from her when she was released, but stopped her hand mid-air as she realized her captor's identity. "Inuyasha?"
He snorted and rolled his brown eyes. "Yeah. You were practically screaming my name. Which, do mind keeping it down? I'm trying to avoid drawing the attention of any demons right now, and your screaming isn't helping."
+§¤§+
"Whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa!" Willow chimed as she quickly rose from her chair and snatched the book from Buffy's hands. "I don't believe it!"
The blonde Slayer grinned. "Strange coincidence, eh? Them looking alike and all."
Willow shook her head. "No, it's not just that. Look." She pointed to the scenery behind Kikyo, then gestured to the computer. "The background with the tree and the shrine--it matches up perfectly in both pictures."
Buffy shrugged. "Perhaps Kagome was just trying to recreate the image for herself."
"No! Don't you see, Buff? I've got this figured out! Kikyo is Kagome and Kagome is Kikyo. They're one in the same!"
Buffy wrinkled her nose. "One in the same...like Glory? You mean they switch back and fourth between the two?"
"No, no, no!" Will cried in frustration. "Kagome is Kikyo in the sense that she once was Kikyo. She's Kikyo's reincarnation. I've heard of cases of reincarnation where the reincarnate looks like the reincarnation. This is one of them!" She clasped her hands together as strolled across the room towards the phone. "It all makes sense know--why Kagome knew about the jewel, Kikyo, and Naraku! And the whole well thing--I believe it's a portal to the past, the past of Kikyo's age."
"Do you know how to get through the portal?" Kennedy chimed in from in front of the computer.
"Yes, I believe I do."
+§¤§+
"Do I look like Xena to you?"
Inuyasha arched a dark brow at her. "Xena? Is she one of these, Slayers?"
Kagome groaned and shook her head. "No, no. Xena, as in Xena: Warrior Princess. Ah, forget it!" She tossed her sweater aside and dropped down to her knees on her sleeping bag. "You stand guard while I sleep," she commanded as she began to pull away the top layer of the sleeping bag back.
"I am not standing guard!" Inuyasha growled. "You're the Slayer, you stand guard!"
She jumped to her feet and stood on her tiptoes so she could look him straight in the eyes. Eyes, now a deep chestnut brown, no longer their normal demonic golden coloring. Demon, Inuyasha was most of the time, attitude and all. For once, couldn't there be a mellow demon? "Must you keep bringing up the fact that I'm a Potential Slayer? You wanted to know what was bothering me, so I told you, thinking you would understand. So please, drop it! I don't want to talk about it anymore? And besides, I'm still just a Potential. I'm not an actually Slayer. And just because I'm a Potential doesn't mean that I'm going to be the Slayer when the time comes. The current Slayer is still alive and kicking and when she dies, I may or may not be selected to take her place. Hopefully, I won't, but that's far from now... So please, Inuyasha, can we please forget this ever happened? If I do get selected, we'll deal with it then...but, not now."
He responded with a 'humph,' which she decided to take for a yes. Turning away from him, she climbed into her sleeping bag and rolled over onto her side, so she wasn't facing him. She knew his eyes were burning holes into her back and knew he wasn't going to drop the subject that easily. Not yet, at least. 'Five, four, three, two, one...'
"Kagome?"
"Yes?" She inquired without bothering to roll over and look at him. He knew she was listening.
"What about that old man and demon that came to your house?" Inuyasha asked softly. "If the Slayer of your time is still alive, then why did they feel the need to come tell you that you might be next in line?"
She turned her heard and glanced up at him. "I...I don't know." She shrugged her shoulders. "But let's not worry about that now. Besides," she said with an added reassuring smile, "my duty's to help you find the jewel shards, not fight a bunch of Dracula wannabes."
"Dracula?"
With a sigh and a shake of her head, Kagome returned to her previous position. "Never mind, Inuyasha. Never mind."
He huffed at her and turned to stand guard, mumbling angrily under his breath.
+§¤§+
"Any luck on your patrol?" Giles asked dryly as they re-entered the Higurashi Shrine.
"Yeah," the vampire replied. "I found a group of vampires causing a rustle near the, the--ah, I'm not going to try and pronounce the name--some graveyard. Lead by one of the first I ever sired. I was quite impressed with the progress he'd made over the years and..." He noticed Giles's glare and cleared his throat. "But, that's beside the point. I dusted them all. Happy?"
Giles eyed him, "Quite."
"So, Red says all we have to do is say he little charm as we jump down into the well and we should pass right through?"
"Yes. Let's just hope it works."
Spike jumped onto the rim of the well, glancing down at the blackness that led to its bottom. He turned to Giles, who was sitting on the well's edge. "Shall we?"
Giles nodded and the two jumped.
+§¤§+
Inuyasha awoke with a jolt at the sound of approaching footsteps. Dammit! He'd fallen asleep. Damn weak human body! He leapt to his feet and rubbed the sleep out of his eyes as he squinted into the darkness. He couldn't see as well, smell as well, or hear as well as he was able to in his normal demon form, but something told him someone--or something--was nearby. He reached for the Tetsaiga as a foreign cry pierced the silence.
"Bloody Hell!" Spike cursed. "You wanna watch where you're pointing that stake, watcher?! Someone get their heart poked out."
"Yes," Giles said bitterly, "And that someone will be you unless you shut up!"
"Show yourselves!" Inuyasha shouted, causing Kagome to stir and slowly rise from her sleeping bag, arms outstretched in the air.
"Inuyasha," she mumbled, "you don't have to shout. I'll stand guard, if you really want to sleep. I don't--"
"Quiet woman," he hissed.
Angrily, she jumped up and stomped towards him. "Why you--" She froze. That feeling...that feeling she had when demons were around, it was back. "Inuyasha," she whispered, "there's someone here. Close...very close. Someone...familiar?"
**TBC**
Disclaimer: I own them!! No...really, I don't. I wish I did, but I don't. Buffy and Inuyasha are property of their respectable owners. ^-^
AN: Wee-hee! I updated! ^-^;;
THE MORE REVIEWS--THE QUICKER I WRITE AND FASTER I POST!!!
7/12/03