This chapter is dedicated to my dog, Zoey! Lol! And, to my best reviewer, Inulvr7!
Act Thirteen
Heaving a sigh, Kagome pulled Inuyasha's red haori closer around her as she stared up at the full moon.
It was a clear night out, the full March moon outlined crisply by the black backdrop of the sky. Each star that shone seamed perfect in every aspect; beautiful, pure, without danger or harm. And always protected.
Adjusting her seat on the low branch in Goshinboku, she stared up at her own little peace of heaven through the branches.
'How I wish I was a star.' She thought. But, of course, she had the life of a soap opera star. One of those girls that her mother used to watch on the Television. All her problems and dilemmas.
Even though, Kagome smiled. 'But there is always a happy ending at the end of the series.'
Sighing again, she watched as the little white cloud of condensation floated upwards. The cool night air seemed to refresh her, and, despite her little argument with Inuyasha, she felt totally at ease. Minus the fact that she was totally aware that her rapist was somewhere out in the woods.
As she thought about what possible danger she was in, her argument with Inuyasha came rushing back.
'"I'm going out for a quick walk before sunset," called kagome as she shrugged on a light woolen shall.
"Kagome, wait, its too cold outside for you to be walking around, especially in your condition." Inuyasha grabbed her arm as he stopped her retreat towards the door. He quickly replaced the shall with his own hoari, just for his own instinctual comfort.
Kagome frowned. "Inuyasha, I really want to go. I just need some time alone. Maybe five, ten minutes at the most. Besides," She placed a hand on her slightly-swollen stomach, "I'm not that fragile."
Inuyasha's face turned serious, no longer holding it's almost innocent features. "Kagome, I said no. I don't want you wandering around at this time of night. Not until I've caught Shitsuren."
Scowling at him in return, she yanked her arm from his grasp, his claws leaving four small cuts on her forearm. "I'm not a child, Inuyasha!"
"No, but your pregnant with one!"
"One that I didn't want in the first place." She turned and started out the door.
"Wench! Get back here!"
Kagome blew him off. "I'll take Sango with me if you're that concerned, baka."
"NO! GET BACK HERE NOW!!" He bellowed. He leapt forward to grab her, but Kagome somehow dodged his outstretched arm. She ran into the forest until she came upon the towering God tree. Somehow, she managed to scramble into it's outstretched limbs."
As the memory dissolved from her mind, she slumped against the tree's trunk. Bringing her left arm into view, she carefully examined the four small lacerations. The slice was clean, and they weren't deep, but dried blood still stuck to her arm.
"I know he didn't mean most of what he said. He was just concerned…"
She looked back to the sky, letting her arm drop back over her stomach. A small movement from within drew her attention to her grapefruit-sized abdomen.
"…But still."
"Hey, you getting cold up there?"
Kagome's expression turned sour as she turned her head away from the voice.
Sighing, Inuyasha stepped closer to Goshinboku. Although he couldn't see her features, he could see her outline against the tree. Also, there was the smell of her blood that could've easily attracted hungry youkai.
"Kagome, will you please talk to me?"
Once again, the girl remained quiet.
Heaving a sigh, Inuyasha launched himself into the air and landed neatly on the end of the branch Kagome was perched on. She grabbed at the trunk of the study old tree as the branch dipped slightly, but let go as it settled again.
"Kagome…"
The miko shot him an angry look. But it didn't last long.
Inuyasha looked so pathetic, sitting there on the end of the branch. His face was set in a depressed pout, his lower lip protruding slightly. His ears dropped downwards and Kagome could've sworn she heard a little whine coming from the hanyou.
Rolling her eyes, she sighed. "You really made me angry, Inuyasha. I'm not a child."
The hanyou nodded, slowly making his way over to her. Reaching up, he sat himself down on a higher branch before lowering his arms and lifting her up and into his lap.
"Yea, I know. But I was just concerned about your well being."
"Oh please Inuyasha. That sounds like a line Miroku would tell Sango after groping her."
He shook his head as a smile played at his lips. "I know it sounds corny, but I'm serious, Kagome."
Carefully he lifted up her injured arm and looked at it in the pale moonlight. Sniffing it hesitantly, he slowly began to lick away the dried blood. Kagome tried to jerk away from the tickling sensation, but he held her arm firm.
Once the blood had been cleaned away from the wound, she watched in puzzlement as he took his own claw and sliced into his wrist.
"Inuyasha, what in the world are you-"
"Shhh."
Kagome frowned, but trusted him as he worked. Her eyes watched as he squeezed the wound until a small droplet of blood formed at the lips of the cut. With awareness, he lowered the bloodied cut it Kagome's own sliced flesh before pressing the two cuts together.
"Inuyasha!" The miko tried once again to free her arm, but Inuyasha stopped her with a look.
"What are you doing?! Don't you know that that's how diseases get spread?"
The hanyou gave her a suspicious look. "What are trying to say?"
Alarm flew into Kagome's eyes. "That you could have some… Contagious youkai disease that kills…humans or something! Or I could have a disease that could make you really sick!"
Inuyasha rolled his eyes. "First off, there are no human-killing youkai diseases. Second off, I cant get sick. Its some kind of youkai immune system thing that Mother told me about when I was really young. That's all I really remember about it. Now, if you would just sit still and watch. You'd actually see what I'm doing and maybe learn something about youkai!"
Kagome frowned at being lectured, but did as she was told and watched. She furrowed her eyebrows as a strange pale orangish light faintly beamed from between her and Inuyasha's connecting skin. A moment later, the hanyou pulled away his arm.
Slightly confused, Kagome ran her fingers along where the cut had once been. The skin had been healed. Not even a scar had been left. No sign whatsoever.
She looked up into Inuyasha's tawny eyes. "What did you do?"
A slight rosy hue colored his cheeks as he rubbed the back of his head. "I think its called a blood bond." He said hesitantly.
Kagome's eyebrows disappeared into her bushy bangs. "You think? You don't know? Which means… You didn't even know what you were doing?"
Inuyasha turned back to look at Kagome. "It was instinctual, OK?"
"Oh, that's reassuring. So, what's the purpose of it, other than healing, Oh-Instinctual-One? There has to be a catch. There always is a catch!"
Inuyasha rounded on Kagome, his temper flaring at her mouthy remarks. "Its something that mates do to one another!"
The forest was suddenly quiet as Inuyasha's voice rang throughout the trees. The stunned expression on Kagome's face could only be matched by the look of utter shock on Inuyasha's.
Slowly, after about five minutes, Kagome's brain started functioning again. "But, we haven't…mated…yet."
Inuyasha blushed profusely. "It doesn't really matter what order they're done in, as long as the… mating…or blood bonding…follows before twenty-four hours later."
It was now Kagome's turn to blush. "So we have…twenty-four hours to…uh…"
Inuyasha nodded. "Yeah."
Suddenly finding her wringing hands interesting, her blush turned into a red flood of color over her face, rivaling Inuyasha's haori. "And what if we don't…"
Inuyasha gulped. "Then…we could never become mates again. Ever. No matter how badly we wanted to. It… just wouldn't work."
Kagome nodded.
"So, you're gonna have to decide if you really want to be my mate."
A sudden flash of memory resided in Kagome's head as she thought about this new situation. "But Shitsuren, he never did the blood bond with me. So does that mean…"
Inuyasha thought that over.
'Well, that's a new twist... But… she smells like he marked her as his own. Blood bond and everything. But if she says he didn't, then-'
He turned his gaze back to the woman in his arms. "Are you sure about that- that he didn't do the blood bond with you?"
She nodded.
"You didn't pass out or anything, ever lose consciousness long enough for him to do that?"
Her answer was the same. "No. I don't remember him doing anything of the sort."
Inuyasha snorted and leaned back against the tree heavily. "It doesn't make sense then. You smell like him. But if you didn't do the blood bond with him, then there's no way. He had to have done something, had to have snuck it in someway."
Kagome yawned heavily. Leaning her head back against the tree, she sighed as her eyes began to flutter closed. She felt Inuyasha's warm arms wrap around her stomach as her heart began to race.
"Kagome, your gonna have to decide. Do you want to be my mate or not? I need an answer so we can…"
Her eyes sprang back open. "Yea, I want to be your mate."
"Are you sure? Its all up to you. No pressure."
She snorted. 'No pressure my butt. However, I guess he's right. When your this madly in love, there is no second guessing…'
She sank deeper into his arms. "I'm positive Inuyasha. I want to be your mate-"
Se rotated her head back to stare into the molten amber pools that were his dazzling eyes. "I want to stay with you forever."
Smiling softly, he kissed the one he loved before gathering her in his arms. Carefully he sprung from the branch, Kagome safely clutching his neck, as he dashed back towards the hut.
Meanwhile, from his den miles away from where the happy couple were, Shitsuren growled deep into his throat.
A/N: Aw, man I hurt! The other day, when I said I was gonna go ride my horses, my neighbor's black lab and pit bull tried to attack my horse. He kept on rearing and bucking, then turned around really fast and ran off. Well, I got thrown (I don't fall off horses, I get thrown!) and landed really hard on the ground and hit my head. Needless to say, my horse outran my neighbor's dogs, and when they came back to me, they started snarling and growling. Now, don't get me wrong, I'm a huge dog person. I have four dogs myself, and I train, breed and show dogs. But even my wits had left me. I screamed, and my mutt, Zoey, chased them back down the road as I got my horse. Now, I'm left with a sore head, scraped elbow, screwed-up neck and a bruise on my thigh the size of New York City. But don't worry. Hutch (My horse) is ok! That's all that matters. So there you have it. My brains are still scrambled so please bare with me. But, anyways, welcome to my hectic life!
