Hanyou : Half-human Half-Demon

Miko: Loosely translated as a priestess

Hai: yes or acknowledgment

Goshinboku:God Tree the one inuyasha was pinned to for 50 years

Sama: lord or lady basically means Mr. Ms. or Mrs.

Chan: a suffix used when taking to someone who is of equal status

Kitsune: fox demon

hoshi:Buddhist monk trained to fight (miroku)

Shikon no Tama: jewel of four souls

Ohayao: Good Morning

Oi: Hey

Kami: god or gods

yukata:undergarment worn under a kimono

Haori: male kimono top much like a jacket

Harikatsu: Large boomerang made of demon bones ( sango weapon)

Kaze no Kizu: wound of the wind or wind scar a powerful attack of the tetsusiga

Tetsusiga: inuyasha sword made of his fathers fang

Neko: Cat

Koishi: Dear or beloved on

Tatta hitori no watashi: My one and only

Okaa-san: Mother or mom

As the first rays of the morning sun came over the horizon, all the village lay in slumber, all but one, Inuyasha set in the goshinboku, completely awake, brooding as usual, but this time it was on a different subject. Usually he sat thinking about kikyo or kagome, but this morning his thoughts were on something he was no longer sure of. In the beginning of this quest he wanted to attain the shikon no tama to use it to become a full youkai, that way he would be stronger and accepted by the demons. However after all their experiences with the jewel of four souls, he realized that no good had ever come of it. One thought kept surfacing in his mind, one that a certain monk had planted there. If he did use the jewel to become full youkai, what would happen, would he lose his mind like in his transformed state, and what of kagome, would he turn his claws on her also? Even though he wouldn't admit it to any of them, he had grown to think of them as family, and would die to protect them, but how could he protect them from him self.

Kagome cracked one eye open, the sun telling her it was time to wake up, she rolled over burying her head in the blanket. "Too early…. leave me alone" she slurred out sleepily. But it was no use, she gave in and rose off the futon, yawning and groaning. Next to her sango was facing the same unrelenting sun also, giving in she rose as well, yawning also. "Ohayao sango-chan" came kagome's sleepy greeting, "Good morning kagome-sama" sango replied, half asleep herself. After waiting for the sleep to leave their bodies, they both glanced at each other, smiled, and made for the door, bag in tow, heading for the hot springs. After an uneventful bath, both girls returned to the village. Kagome noticed that inuyasha was not there and set out to find him, although it wasn't much of a quest, she knew where he would be. Walking the familiar path to the goshinboku, she began thinking on her double life. Its not everyday that a 17 year old girl could say that she has a life in two different times, or that she had faced youkai and had lived to tell. But most of all only she could say that she had met a dog eared boy who was pinned to a tree with a sacred arrow, released him, traveled all of feudal japan in search of a jewel that could grant its possessor immense power, but still had to do homework. She chuckled at that thought. Speaking of the dog eared boy, she could see him sitting in his tree, brooding as usual. She thought she would just watch for awhile, just to see if he would notice her, not that she had any doubts, with his hanyou sense of smell he would pick her up the moment the wind shifted his direction. Gods how she loved him, she knew she did, just wouldn't admit it. They had been traveling for 2 years now, in their search for the shikon fragments, and though they had their moments, she knew he didn't care for her that way. She was just a friend and a 'shard detector'. Even if that wasn't so, he still made a promise to kikyou, to go with her to hell. And she knew he wouldn't got back on that. One thing that no one could say was that he didn't keep his word. But still, many nights she entertained the thoughts of what it would be like if they could love each other. "Oi, your brooding" inuyasha whispered shaking her from her thoughts, "when did he move and get behind me" she thought.

"morning inuyasha" kagome stated

Inuyasha spared her a glance and mumbled "sleep well"

"Hai and you" she asked

"Not really but I don't need sleep" he responded

She knew better than to asked but did so anyway

"is there something wrong"

"Keh Just things" he replied and began waking towards kiadae's hut intent on getting some ramen.

"Kagome, come on lets get breakfast"

They walked in silence back to kiadae's hut and were welcomed by sango and miroku. Breakfast proved uneventful and soon after they packed up and left. They had at least a two day journey ahead of them, thankfully it was in late august and the weather was cooler. Inuyasha as usual took point, with kagome following close behind him, sango and miroku along with kirara and shippo followed behind a little ways to allow their friends some time to talk. As it was getting close to dusk, sango broke in

"hey we should make camp, it will be dark soon"

"i agree" the hoshi replied

Inuyasha stopped and begain sniffing the air, moving off to the left, he motioned for the rest to follow. Soon they found a nice stream, and plenty of fish in it.

"Shippo, would you gather some firewood" Sango asked

"Hai" he replied and ran off into the forest.

"Hey shippo, don't go to far ok" kagome yelled.

Meantime inuyasha was at the stream fishing and heard what had been said, he couldn't help but smile, "you would make a good mother" he thought to himself. Even though he sometimes acted like he couldn't stand the kitsune, he really did care for him. Kagome had taken him in as one of her pups, it didn't matter to her that he was a youkai, she still loved him. And that thought brought him back to his earlier conversation with himself, he knew that she accepted him as a hanyou and was probably the only one who would accept a hanyou pup. He had dreamed of having his own family, but never thought it a real possibility, maybe with kikyo if he had become human, but he doubted it, as it would have taken away from her duties as a miko. A small smile played across his face as he envisioned him and kagome, living in his forest, in the house he built for them, their pups playing in the grass, sitting outside, under the goshinboku with his family gazing up at the stars, he knew that kagome always liked doing that, she had told him before that in her time she couldn't see the stars like she could in the feudal era. One part of him wanted to admit his feelings for her and the other part was too afraid of rejection to admit it. Here he is, fabled tetsegia on his side, had challenged many demons, and even defeated a dragon, but was afraid to admit he loved someone. After catching plenty of fish he returned to the camp and gave the cleaned and scaled fish to sango for her to prepare. Shippo had came back with the firewood and she had a nice fire going. Placing the fish on some skewers, she brought them over to the fire too cook. The all ate quickly and made ready for bed. Sango, Kagome, and Miroku all rolled out their sleeping bags kagome had brought for them, inuyasha walked over and jumped up into a tree close to the camp, intent on keeping watch. He always liked to watch kagome sleep, for some reason it calmed him. He would watch her for hours in the night. However he noticed that she was turning in her sleep, sweat covered her face and she smelled of fear. Something wasn't right. Leaping from his tree and landing silently on the ground below, he walked to her and gently nudged her, trying to wake her up. When this failed, he shook her a little more. She still did not stir, panicking he shook her violently, but she wouldn't wake up, he could smell the fear rolling off of her in waves, but didn't know what to do.

Kagome's dream

All she could see was white mist. There was no ground beneath her, no sky above her, just white mist everywhere. At a distance she could see a figure, but couldn't make it out. She began trying to make her way towards the figure, oddly enough even though there was no ground she could feel her self moving with each step. As she came closer to the figure, she found herself in a forest. "I know this forest" she thought to her self "this is inuyasha's forest"

"Inu yas ha! Inuyasha!" she yelled but got no response.

She began moving through the forest. Heading for the one place he was sure to be, the goshinboku, as it came into sight, she could see his fire rat haori, oddly enough it looked as if he was floating in mid air, but upon further inspection she realized he wasn't floating, he was pinned to the tree. Only this time, the arrow was straight thru his heart. She ran to him as fast as she could, it only took seconds but felt like years. She placed her hand on his chest, removing the sacred arrow and allowing him to fall to the forest floor. He raised his head to look at her. Blood was matted into his silver hair, his face stained also a crimson red,

"Inuyasha! What happened" she whispered,

he looked up to her with as much strength as he could manage.

"I knew you would come, i knew if i waited you would come to me, i have to tell you, i don't have much time left and you have to know, I'm sorry i couldn't say it before, please forgive me"

"What, what is it you need to tell me"

"Kagome, I'm so sorry for not saying this sooner, but 'I love you' "he smiled a gentle smile to her, one she rarely saw. Tears spilling out of her eyes, she reached forward, wrapping her arms around him, holding him as close as she could, she could feel him slowly slipping away and clutched tighter to him as if trying to keep him there with her. With his last ounce of strength, he managed to lift his head and look straight into her eyes, amber gold met deep blue, he could see her tears streaming down her face, her sobs wracking her body, he leaned forward and pressed his lips gently to hers. She held his face with her hands, holding him like that, never wanting to let go. She held him there for what seem like an eternity, however she felt him getting heavier. She knew what this meant. She wrapped her arms around him, burying her face into his haori and cried. Her love was gone, he was gone and wasn't coming back. She thought of what he had said, he told her that he loved her and she didn't get the chance to tell him she loved him too. This thought in mind brought more tears, sobbing loudly into his lifeless form, she stayed there until she finally fell asleep from crying. She welcomed the darkness as it meant no more pain, even if it was only a short time.

Kagome sat bolt upright from her sleeping bag screaming

"Inuyasha!"

She had yet to realize he was only inches from her face.

"kagome, kagome are you ok, whats wrong" a worried inuyasha asked

upon seeing him there in front of her she wrapped her arms around him and pulled him close to her. Stunned he hesitated for a moment before wrapping his arms around her as well. She sobbed into his chest, too upset to talk, he kept asking her what had happened, but everytime he asked she only cried harder. In an attempt to calm her, he picked her up bridal style and lept into a tree, placing her in his lap and wrapping her in his haori. She was so upset she didnt even notice she was nearly 30 feet off the ground. All that mattered to her was holding him in this world and never letting go for fear he would dissappear. He held her to his chest for hours in the night, trying everything he could to calm her, he began rubbing her back in a slow motion while rocking her back and forth. This seems to help some and she quieted down, after a few minutes she was asleep. He decided to hold her while she slept, it wasnt often he could be this close to her. Laying his head back aginst the tree trunk he dozed off.