Disclaimer: I…don't…own…Inuyasha…
Notes to my reviewers: I'm so happy to be back from the ... trip from hell. Thanks for the millions and millions of reviews, they really cheered me up.
Dru: The fact that you don't send many reviews makes me feel extra special. Thanks.
Afrieal: I wouldn't have thought about putting a bowl of ice in front of a fan, thanks.
J.And: My a/c is broken because my little brother decided it would be 'funny' to stick a pitch fork in it. Ha ha ha we are all very amused. (someone remind me to shave his head when he is sleeping.)
AznInuyasha: Wow, that's really cool, I can't think of many readers that would take that much time to read my story. Here are some beautiful yellow flowers. :: hands you 12 yellow flowers ::
Luna Midnight: Wow, it may be hot in California, but you have it a lot worse. I kinnda feel better now, thanks.
Captured Moon : You two make a very cute couple. Why do you and I travel around so much...
Chapter Twenty Eight: Starting a new Journey
Kagome was the last person to wake up. She rolled over in her little bed and saw that Inuyasha was gone. She sat up and rubbed her sleepy eyes. "It's about time." She heard Inuyasha's voice.
"What do you mean?" he voice was a little scratchy. Inuyasha was leaning against the wall opposite of her.
"We've been waiting for you to get up all morning."
"Why didn't you just wake me up."
"Didn't want to."
Kagome stretched a little bit and reached for a fresh outfit from her backpack. She decided there was no point in wearing her school uniform anymore, because she was going to get homeschooled for a while.
"You'll need to get out." Kagome said when she picked out a mini skirt and a white tank top.
"Why?"
"I don't like getting undressed in front of people."
Inuyasha showed no sign of moving until Kagome pointed to her dog whistle. Then he couldn't seem to leave the room fast enough. "Is she awake?" Miroku asked as soon as he saw Inuyasha.
He was standing next to Sango and Shippo, everyone was going over their supplies, making sure they had every thing they could possibly need, food, medical supplies, etc.
"Yeah, she's getting dressed."
"Then why'd you come out?"
Sango hit Miroku on the back of the head. "Pervert." She mumbled while stuffing some more herbs in the pouch she planned on holding.
Inuyasha sighed and sat down on the ground. He was a little upset that it was almost noon and they hadn't started their trip yet, but it was worth it considering he got to watch Kagome sleep for a little bit longer.
"Inuyasha are you taking anything with you?" Sango asked when she finished her packing.
"Do I ever?"
"We might not be coming back to Kaede's village for a while…"
"I don't own anything that I can pack."
Miroku looked at Inuyasha, "That's true, why don't you own anything?"
Inuyasha shrugged. "I don't know. Before I met Kagome I lived in the woods so I didn't really need anything."
Miroku stretched his arms out a little bit and started to walk off. "Hey Miroku. Where the hell are you going?" Inuyasha yelled out.
"Oh." Miroku had obviously tried to go without attracting any attention. "I need to take care of some business before we go."
"Don't take to long, we're leaving as soon as Kagome is ready."
"I know I know." Miroku replied before walking off.
"Where do you think he's going?" Sango asked.
"I don't know and I don't care. I just hope he gets back before Kagome comes out."
Kagome had just finished getting dressed when Kaede walked into the room. "Kagome I'm glad you're awake."
"Kaede." Kagome hugged the elder woman. "I was a little worried that we would leave without saying goodbye."
"I wouldn't have allowed it child."
Kagome laughed and lifted up her yellow bag, it nearly tipped her over, but she managed to keep her balance. It wasn't till after she was all dressed and ready to go when she felt that familiar feeling come to her stomach.
She grabbed it with one hand and moaned a little bit. Kaede rubbed her back and said, "I have something for you that might help."
"What is it?"
Kaede handed Kagome a glass bottle that had a brown liquid in it. "Drink a little bit of this every time you get morning sickness, it might help."
"Thanks." Kagome gladly took it and drank a sip of it. It, amazingly, did help. But she still felt a little sick.
She hugged Kaede one last time before walking outside. Inuyasha was sitting with his back facing her, so he didn't notice that she had come out until she laid her hand on his shoulder.
"You ready to go?" he asked looking up at her. He could tell that she felt a little bad, but he knew there wasn't anything he could to about it. It made him feel a little sorry for her.
"Yeah. Where's Miroku."
"I don't know." Sango placed her hands on her hips. "He went off a little while ago and said he'd be right back."
"Do you know where he went?"
"No." She was obviously not happy that he left them.
"I'm right here." he walked up behind Kagome.
"When did you get here?" Sango asked.
"Just a few minutes ago. Are we leaving?"
"Yes." Inuyasha said instantly. He hated sitting around and doing nothing.
He stood up and started to walk. Miroku walked beside him with Shippo sitting on his shoulder. Sango and Kagome stayed behind some distance. "Are you excited?" Kagome asked Sango.
"About what?"
"We're going to find your brother."
"Are you sure we'll be able to find him?" Sango asked. She was starting to get worried that they would never find him.
"Well, I'm not gonna stop looking till I find him. And I know Inuyasha and Miroku will say the same thing."
Sango stopped walking and gave Kagome a hug. "Kagome, your such a good friend. I'm just worried that we might never find him. Then we'll be doing all this traveling for nothing."
"I like traveling."
Kagome smiled. When Sango let go they both ran a little bit to catch up with their men. Inuyasha looked down at Kagome when she grabbed onto his arm. "S-Something wrong?"
"No. I just wanted to walk with you."
Inuyasha smiled and reached down to lift Kagome up. She gave a happy little giggle when he lifted her onto his back. "I'm not tired yet, I can walk." He leaned her head on his shoulder.
"Yeah, but you shouldn't."
"Shouldn't?"
"I don't want you walking around all day and night. Besides, I like carrying you."
"You do?"
"Yeah."
"Where should we stop first?" Sango asked.
Miroku glanced around, like he was looking for some kind of sign that would say Kohaku is this way. "I guess we should just start at the nearest village and work out way out form there."
"Does that sound good to you?" Inuyasha asked Kagome.
"Sounds like a plan." Kagome turned her head towards Sango. "I think I'll make another picture of your brother when we stop for camp."
"Why?" Sango asked.
"If we have two, we'll be able to split up and ask more people in whatever village we're in." That wasn't the only reason, Kagome had been working up a plan in her head.
She was going to wait till they got to the village closest to Kikyo's castle then try to slip away in the middle of the night. I would be hard getting away without Inuyasha noticing though.
Maybe I could start a fight with him she thought and sleep in a different room. She nuzzled her head into Inuyasha's neck, she felt guilty just thinking about something like that, but she knew that it was the best way to go about things.
She didn't want Shippo, Miroku, Sango, and especially Inuyasha to come in contact with Kikyo. She didn't know what would happen once Kikyo finds out that her spell didn't work, and she didn't want the others to be in unnecessary danger.
"Hey Kagome. Are you alright?" Shippo asked, "You look a little spaced out."
Kagome shook her head, "I'm fine, I was just thinking."
"About what?" Sango asked.
Kagome didn't know what to say. She couldn't tell them the truth. Miroku saw how uncomfortable Kagome looked and tried to think of something to take the attention off of her.
Thinking as quickly as he could he reached down and grabbed Sango's butt. "Miroku!" she yelled out and slapped him. Kagome gave him a thankful look and rested her head back on Inuyasha's shoulder.
"Sorry Sango, I couldn't resist." Miroku said.
"Yeah right. Now isn't the right time Miroku."
"When would be?"
Inuyasha laughed and Sango turned a bright red.
They walk on in silence for a little while until Sango asked, "What were you doing this morning?"
"What do you mean?" Miroku asked.
"When we were all waiting for Kagome to get dressed and you disappeared for a few minutes."
"I had someone I needed to talk to."
"About what?"
"You'll find out once we get back to Kaede's village." Miroku said with a small smirk on his face.
"Miroku," Sango poked his side, "I don't like surprises."
"Sorry Sango, but you're going to be surprised whether you like it or not."
Sango frowned, but forgot about being frustrated with Miroku when Kagome's head shot up. "Inuyasha! Put me down!"
Inuyasha turned his head to the side so he could see Kagome a little bit, "Is something wrong?"
"I'm gonna be sick Inuyasha!" she slid out of his arms and ran off the path they were walking on.
"K-Kagome." Inuyasha called out as she disappeared from their view.
"I'll go see if she's alright." Sango said following Kagome.
It didn't take her too long to find her. Kagome was sitting next to a bush, her face buried in her hands. "Kagome are you alright?" Sango asked. She sat down next to her friend and rubbed her back a little bit.
"Yeah. I'll be fine in a second." She didn't bother lifting her head out of her hands.
"So." Sango decided to take Kagome's mind off her stomach, "Have you picked a name for the baby yet?"
"I don't even know what gender the baby is yet…" Kagome sighed and lifted her head up.
"What do you mean… yet?"
"In my era, doctors can tell me if the baby is a boy or girl before it's even born."
Sango's mouth dropped open, "H-How?"
Kagome closed her eyes and tried to think of the best way to explain it. "Umm… The doctor will take a machine and look inside of me." she pointed to her stomach, "Then he'll be able to tell me if the baby is a boy or girl."
Sango was a little stunned. She had no idea that something like that was even possible. "When are you going to find out?"
"Not for a while. But I don't know if I will, I almost want to be surprised."
"I think you should have a girl."
"Why?"
"I don't know, but you should."
Kagome laughed, "I can't really make that decision."
"If you find out, will you tell us."
"I don't know. I might find out then let you guys be surprised."
"Kagome! That would be torture. Like when a writer leaves a chapter at a cliffhanger." [wink]
"I know."
Sango smiled and stood up. "Inuyasha is probably worried about you, come on." She reached down and pulled Kagome too her feet.
Kagome smiled and let Sango lead her back to the path they were on. Inuyasha was sitting down on the ground, but instantly stood up when he saw her. "Kagome, are you alright?"
"I'm fine." She smiled.
"Do you want a ride?"
Kagome looked up at the sky, "I think I'd like to walk for a little while."
"Alright." Inuyasha didn't like the idea of her walking. For their entire trip that day he stayed near her at all times, that way when she did want a ride she could have one easily
... ... ... ... ... ... ... ...
"Inuyasha..." Shippo, whom was riding on Inuyasha's shoulder, started complaining as the sun got higher in the sky, "I'm hot."
"Shippo," Inuyasha replied, "you're assuming that I give a rat's ass." The heat had also gotten to him.
"Inuyasha!" Sango screamed, "That's a terrible thing to say to a kid."
"Feh." Inuyasha shrugged. Sango wasn't the one with the dog whistle, so he couldn't care less if she was mad at him.
In all reality, Kagome would have blown the whistle (or at least slapped him across the back of his head), but the day's heat was starting to make her feel faint. She grabbed tightly onto Inuyasha's arms when a sudden feeling of dizziness overcame her.
"K-Kagome are you ok." his voice was filled with concern. It was the first time anyone had noticed how poorly she looked.
"I think I'll take that ride now." she mumbled inbetween her deep breathing.
Shippo respectfully jumped down from his shoulder as Inuyasha bent down so Kagome could climb on.
"Do you want some water?" Miroku asked once Inuyasha stood up straight again.
Kagome turned her head to the side, "No, I just need to get off my feet for a little while."
"Hate to say I told you so..." Inuyasha said.
"No you don't." Kagome laughed a little bit. "You couldn't be happier."
"Yeah I know." Inuyasha was extremely relived when he heard Kagome laugh. She can't be too sick or hurt if she is able to laugh he thought to himself.
As a way of saying thank you to Inuyasha for the ride, she reached up with one hand and rubbed each of his ears. He smiled contently at her touch. "How soon do we get to the next village?" she asked when she was finished.
Inuyasha sighed with disappointment when she stopped, but answered her question anyways. "We'll stop to make camp tonight, then reach the next village in the morning."
"Are you guys gonna be mad at me if nobody recognizes Kohaku?" Sango asked the group in general.
"No." Shippo answered with out hesitating.
"But what if he's really far away. We might go from village to village for a while before we even -"
"Sango, what the hell is wrong with you!" Inuyasha cut her off, "We already said we won't be mad."
Kagome could tell that Sango was just nervous about disappointing everyone. "Sango," she lifted her head up a little bit, "look at it this way. Sometimes I would feel guilty whenever we defeated a demon or went to a village and ended up sardless."
"So."
"But I never forced and of you to join me in my search, you all came willingly, capable of leaving at anytime. This is the exact same thing." Kagome gave a little smile before resting her head back on Inuyasha's shoulder.
"Did you really feel guilty?" Inuyasha asked after a few moments of silence.
"Yeah."
"Even when it was just the two of us?"
Kagome thought back to that time, "Wow, it seems like forever and a day ago."
"I know." He sifted Kagome's weight a little bit so that she was easier to hold.
"Do you ever miss those days?" Miroku asked. When he joined their group, Shippo was already with them, so he couldn't picture Kagome and Inuyasha traveling alone.
"No," Kagome replied, "I love traveling with you guys." but in her mind she added, sometimes. To tell the truth, she did miss traveling alone with Inuyasha a little bit, but she would never tell the others that.
... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ...
Shippo jumped up on Inuyasha shoulder to get a good look in the pot he was stirring. The sun had set a while ago so they decided to set up camp. Kagome was sitting against a tree trying not to let the heat of the night get to her. Sango walked off a while ago to take a bath. And Miroku walked off a little while ago.
That left Inuyasha and Shippo to work on dinner. "What are you cooking?"
"Fox meat." Inuyasha replied.
Shippo looked down at what Inuyasha was cooking, "Y-You're joking right."
Inuyasha brought the wooden spoon up to his lips, "Mmm… this fox meat is really good."
Shippo ran over to Kagome and threw himself in her arms. "Kagome, Inuyasha's being mean."
Kagome reached down for her dog whistle and blew on it for a few seconds. Inuyasha screamed and covered his ears. "Fine. I'm sorry Shippo, it's not fox meat."
Kagome smiled and moved from her spot by the tree so that she was sitting next to Inuyasha. "I'm tired." She said, leaning on him a little bit.
Inuyasha looked towards Shippo. "Hey runt. Make Kagome's bed extra comfortable tonight, ok."
"Don't call me runt." Shippo said, he found Inuyasha command a little redundant. He always made Kagome's bed a little softer then everyone else's.
Kagome yawned a little bit and closed her eyes. "That food smells really good. I didn't know you knew how to cook. Last time you tried, our camp was filled with smoke."
"That wasnt' my doing."
"But where'd you learn to cook?"
"After my mom died I kinnda had to fend for myself." He said with a bit of sadness in his tone.
Kagome snuggled a little closer to him in an attempt to comfort him. Inuyasha looked down at her. He used to hate talking about his past, to many bad memories. But Kagome always made him feel better.
He tasted the food he was cooking once more before announcing that it was done. He poured some for Kagome, Shippo, and himself… leaving some for Miroku and Sango. "Should we wait for them?" Kagome asked.
"No." Shippo said. He was really hungry and didn't want to wait any longer.
Inuyasha waited till the others started eating before digging into his own share. "Inuyasha this is really good." Kagome said gleefully.
"Thanks. I used a -" Inuyasha's sensitive ears picked up a sound coming from the direction of the river. He could faintly pick up the sound of Sango moaning.
"Used what?" Kagome asked.
Inuyasha covered his ears, that sound wasn't something he wanted to hear. "Stupid Miroku." He mumbled.
Kagome gave up on trying to figure out what made him so upset. She set her empty bowl down on the ground. "I think I'll go join Sango." She stood up and started to walk away, but Inuyasha grabbed one of her ankles.
"Inuyasha what are -"
"I don't think you want to go to the river, you might — umm -" he glanced at Shippo the back to Kagome, "interrupt something."
Kagome gave him a confused look then suddenly caught on. She smiled and started to giggle a little bit. "What's so funny?" Shippo asked.
"Nothing." Inuyasha and Kagome said at the same time.
Kagome stretched her arms out. "Well, if you don't mind letting me go," Inuyasha was still holding onto her ankle, "I'll go to sleep."
Inuyasha smiled and let go of her ankle. "Good night." Kagome rubbed his ears before crawling into the bed that Shippo made for her. Inuyasha watched her sleep for a little while. He wanted to snuggle up with her, but he thought it would be best if he sat in the tree and kept a lookout, at least until Sango and Miroku were back.
Inuyasha jumped up into the tree and tried not to stare at Kagome the whole time. "Inuyasha." Shippo's voice caught his attention.
"What?"
"Can I sleep with Kagome tonight."
Inuyasha looked down at him. He hadn't ever realized that for the last few nights Shippo had been sleeping in his own bed. "Sure." He decided to just stay in the tree that night.
Shippo jumped up happily and ran to Kagome's side. She was already asleep, so he just crawled in next to her. The day after Kagome's birthday Sango sat down with him and told him that Kagome and Inuyasha might want to sleep alone. He never understood why, but didn't argue too much.
Inuyasha leaned back against the tree and continued to wait for Miroku and Sango to come back. They both walked in as quietly as they could about 20 minutes later. "Have a nice bath?" Inuyasha asked when he saw them.
Sango blushed, "Umm — yeah." She tried her best to get comfortable in her bed. It wasn't that far away from the spot that Kagome and Shippo were sleeping.
"Aren't you going to eat dinner?" Inuyasha asked.
"No. I'm not hungry." Sango mumbled before going off to sleep.
Miroku however was hungry. He ate his share and Sango's, 'don't want it to go to waste' was what he said when Inuyasha rolled his eyes at him. "Besides you shouldn't be getting mad at me, soon Kagome will be eating at least twice her share."
Inuyasha looked down at Miroku. "Yeah, but your not pregnant your just a pig."
Miroku laughed before joining Sango in her bed. "Goodnight Inuyasha."
"Yeah yeah. Night." Inuyasha glanced once more at the sleeping Kagome before finally going to sleep.
He slept pretty well, dreaming of a quiet life with Kagome, until morning came when he (along with Sango and Miroku) was woken up by the sound of Shippo screaming.
… … … … … … … … … …
Oh no! What could be happening to poor little Shippo? To bad you guys won't find out till I get 8 reviews. (evil giggle) ... just when you guys thought I wouldn't give you anymore cliffhangers...
Oh yeah. I need to ask all of my reviewers a favor. I can't think of any names for the baby. If you guys could give me some ideas, that would be awesome.
Lots of Love… Daydreamer62386