Disclaimer: Okay, said it once but I'll say it again: Don't own 'em.

A/N: All right...This chapter is still sad, but it's drifting from my original message now, don't worry, I'll tie it back in at the end (winks) but if it was about nothing else but the group and IY mourning Kagome then it'd be BORING! So amidst the thread of wisdom and advice and message, I'm spinning nice side-images and frames. A story...(nods) and I hope that it'll soon really capture you guys, but as always I start off carefully...this chapter is about Kagome, the healer Mijai, Shisuki and Toka. Toka doesn't like her, he's highly suspicious. He's like my grandparents are--they'll give you the shirt off their pack, slice off their fingers if you ask and donate you their kidneys--but only IF they know you or you're family. If they don't know you they'll be like scared birds. You ever see pigeons all start waddling away at the same time a little hurriedly? You know what they're thinking: "RUN AWAY!" that's what's happening in Toka's mind, he likes things always the same always unchanged...incase I didn't say it before I'll say it again now: obake means "Ghost." And Sakana means "Fish." In the next chapter I explain what the group's been doing...why they know they HAVE to go looking for Kagome's body...and why they think Inuyasha has gone wild on them...(I mean think about it, IF Kagome DID die...would he stick around? I don't know if he would, he MIGHT, but I think grief might drive him away, you know, when something hurts you REALLY badlyyou run away from everything!) You'll see when you read it. Then the next chapter starts to pick up pace...Hope you like!

Forgotten

"Would the moon forget the tide?

Would the soul forget to die?

Would the wind forget to sigh?

Would my eyes forget to cry?

I'll remember like the moon

Way down inside…"

There were two monks dressed in reddish robes, hovering about Mijai's hut that evening. Shisuki and Toka were also summoned inside. They watched with stunned expressions as the monks tried to interrogate the girl they'd fished from the riverbank, tried to call her a demon. The nameless girl merely blinked at them and drank the soup Mijai had given her greedily.

She was recovering vigorously, much to everyone's surprise. Only hours before she hadn't been able to sit up in bed without being overcome by dizziness. But with some soup she'd soon begun to perk up, like a dried out plant when the rains come. Now with the monks before her she was sitting upright, though weakly, still propped up with pillows and fur blankets to support her. Mijai had given her a robe to wear, but the girl had been too weak to stand and put it on without help. Although Mijai offered that help she'd refused it, apparently she'd been a modest thing in whatever previous life she'd had. The refused robe now sat at the foot of her futon, and a blanket was draped over the girl's bare shoulders.

Late into the evening the monks tried to exorcise a demon or spirit from her but nothing worked. Eventually the monks rose from their place near the strange girl's futon and came to where Mijai was at the back of the small room. "She does not speak." One of them murmured, looking at Mijai sharply, "We have tried to get her to speak as you claimed she did this morning and we have come up with nothing. She responds to no spells that we know of…" and then he frowned and leaned closer to the healer, his voice dropping to a whisper, "She is strange in some way we cannot determine."

Mijai huffed and looked irritated abruptly, "That much I knew to begin with! She is like an obake. Like the risen spirit come to inhabit a dying body in the river. That is my belief. The spirit has been dormant in the river and then one day this girl bathes upstream and it takes her. There is nothing for it. My father used to whisper of such things. It was how spirits were said to be reborn ahead of their time when they had unfinished business to attend to, or revenge."

The monk that seemed to prefer doing the talking shook his head, "No, if this were such a spirit our spells would force it out. Nothing has happened."

Mijai snorted and looked away, noticeably offended. The monk, giving up, bowed before the healer and turned to his companion. "We must be leaving. She is human as far as we can tell." The monks both bowed low in unison and then slipped out quietly past the two children at the entrance to the small room, Shisuki and Toka.

After a moment of silence, during which Mijai stared at the girl in her futon as she slurped her soup harmlessly, the healer turned to the two children and summoned them in with a wave of his hand. "Come, come. Those damned monks are of absolutely no use." He scoffed with his irritation, "They tell me she's strange but she's no obake." He snorted, "I know strange when I see it. and if she is an obake she should've harmed us already, I should think…" he seemed to shrug the subject off then and gestured once more toward the children, this time with more eagerness. "Come, come!"

Shisuki and Toka stepped into the room, gingerly, even fearfully. Toka wore a plain gray kimono that ended just short of his knees. His sister made due with a light blue kimono with yellow flowers speckled about it. Since turning 12 the girl had been graced with a woman's kimono, which were much longer and tied with larger, more luxuriant obis. They were also longer, going to her shins. Also her parents had insisted that she wear sandals with her 12th birthday as well. It was a girl's coming of age in the village. A young lady such as Shisuki might marry when she was as young as 14. Shisuki was already on the market. Her brother, meanwhile, still lived a mostly carefree life at 12 years old. The siblings were markedly similar, the same eyes, the same color hair, the same straightness to it, only their styles, ages and genders separated them.

The moment Shisuki entered the room the nameless girl noticed her and her face changed. The muscles around her mouth twitched oddly—she was trying to smile. Shisuki froze and looked to the healer. "Mijai-sama, why does her face quiver so?"

The healer sighed and cocked his head, examining the still very pale obake girl as he liked to think of her, "She's trying to smile."

"Why can't she?" Toka piped up, sounding more disgusted than curious.

"Because she has had a very, very big bump to the head I think." Mijai stepped forward and gestured at the obake girl's chopsticks and soup bowl. "Are you finished?" he asked, smiling and nodding at her as if he were talking to a two-year-old. The nameless girl slowly nodded, focusing on him carefully, her eyes following his face. Her hands withdrew from the items he mentioned and the healer took them from her easily.

Understanding dawned on both Toka and Shisuki at the same moment. The girl understood what he'd been saying…

As the healer turned and walked toward the entryway he gave the children a stern glare. "Be careful with her. She's a miracle! Most people never wake up from a bump on the head like the one she's suffered through. If you can get her to speak and tell you everything she remembers…" he disappeared out the doorway.

Alone Shisuki and Toka hesitated, uncertain, afraid even. The nameless girl regarded them both, her face twitching as if it itched. She was still trying to smile and failing miserably. That sight alone convinced Shisuki that the girl was indeed helpless. She moved to kneel beside the girl's futon and bowed low before her.

"Obake," she breathed, "I ask that you enlighten me with your wisdom." When she sat up from her bow she found that the nameless girl was merely blinking at her like a lost puppy. Shisuki paused for a time, wondering if it was of any use…and then she remembered how the girl had obeyed the healer, how she'd let go of the bowl and the chopsticks. Perhaps…

Shisuki bowed low a second time. Behind her she heard Toka groaning to himself. "Shisuki, you idiot! This will get you nowhere! She's dumb, just as I always told you!"

His sister ignored him obstinately. "Obake, I am the one that came to you at the riverbank. I beg that you tell me whether I have done well, am I blessed?" she waited but the nameless girl continued to stare at her, eyes curious but her mouth silent and unmoving. Shisuki was frustrated.

"Please, obake, please, I beg you to tell me! Anything, just anything. Mijai will be happy if you do…we want you to show us that you can speak."

The twitching in the girl's face appeared again. Slowly she nodded her head, though the movement was shaky and uncertain. "I…" she gulped through her dry throat painfully, "…am lost."

Shisuki stared at the stranger, confused. "Lost?" she wasn't sure what she'd thought the nameless girl would say to her, but she'd been pretty certain that it wouldn't be something like that.

The obake nodded slowly, and then seemed to sag, tired and defeated. After a pause she looked to Shisuki and tried to speak again, "Words…" another difficult swallow, "…are hard." She closed her brown eyes and sighed, looking spent. Shisuki doubted that the girl would be able to give them anything else of use that day; she seemed far from healthy still, far from clear minded.

"I understand, obake." She bowed again and whispered, "Thank you." she rose then and turned to regard Toka a moment, who was frowning worriedly. Shisuki offered her brother a victorious smirk and then walked past him, seeking Mijai.

Alone with the nameless girl Toka stared at her, hard, suspiciously. Finally, after fidgeting nervously he stepped forward and spoke to her. "I don't know what you are, but you haven't got me fooled. You're no girl; you're probably some sort of demon. Whatever you are I don't care, but leave us be!"

The girl opened her eyes tiredly and regarded him without expression for several long minutes. Toka shifted uneasily under her gaze, confused by it. He'd hoped that treating her disrespectfully would make her drop the ruse of humanity that his sister, the monks, and the healer all believed. But to his dismay she remained unaffected. Yet this didn't shake his suspicions at all.

"You don't fool me, obake!" he hissed, angrily.

The girl slowly opened her mouth and murmured, in a barely audible voice, "…Not trying to…"

"Then what's your name? What village are you from? How did you end up in the river like a fish? How did you get so badly hurt? Who're your parents? Who's your family?" Toka shouted back at her, his body shaking, his eyes narrowed in disdain.

She seemed to look away from him for a moment, at first, Toka thought, it was because she was trying to hide something, trying to make sure he couldn't see the lie in her eyes. But when she didn't quickly look back at him Toka realized that she was thinking. Her eyes had glazed over; her eyebrows had met in concentration. Finally the girl looked up and met his gaze again, frankly, innocently. And in her eyes Toka saw it clearly: the obake girl was stricken senseless; she was stunned.

"I don't know." her voice was hoarse, dry and raspy, and the moment the words left her lips she lowered her eyes and Toka felt suddenly uncomfortable—she was crying. Little gasps for air rent the air, making him want to flee as far and as fast as he could go. But it was too late.

Mijai and Shisuki came into the room, their faces bright and eager, but darkening swiftly when they saw the nameless girl's change in mood. Mijai threw Toka a warning glare and stepped hurriedly forward, it was as if the girl had become his daughter overnight, Toka thought with some alarm.

Shisuki was carrying a bowl of noodle-filled soup for the girl. She hesitated while Mijai knelt beside the girl's futon and tried to speak with her. Toka felt his face burning when his sister glanced at him accusingly. He withstood her glare for a moment or two and then turned his face to her, angrily. "What are you staring at, 'Suki?" he demanded.

"What did you do to her? What did you say?"

"What do you care?"

Shisuki looked as if she might throw the noodle soup at him. "She's been through a lot—you jerk—can't you feel for her?"

Toka looked away from his sister coldly. "I don't believe she's human."

Mijai suddenly turned to the siblings, his mouth and eyes wide with surprise, "She has amnesia!" he proclaimed. Behind him on her futon the girl looked dazed, as if she might fall unconscious at any moment and never awaken. Toka thought the evil spirit within her might be growing tired of its pointless charade. Good, she'll be gone soon then. He huffed and crossed his arms over his chest, ignoring the looks both Mijai and his sister gave him.

Yet from the futon the girl seemed to have taken a strange interest in him, particularly when he crossed his arms. Her eyes were drawn to him, narrowing. At first Toka felt his stomach drop with fear at the look—he thought it was the spirit's wrath he was seeing in her stare—but then he noticed that her eyes were watering…she was near tears.

The girl turned away.

Disturbed, Toka turned and stormed out of the hut, grumbling to himself.

Shisuki stepped forward and offered the girl the noodle soup gingerly. Mijai began to jabber conversationally, but the girl on the futon wasn't listening. She took the soup and even tried to nod her head to the nice girl that'd given it to her, but in her heart she was confused, she was alone. Her throat was raw. It was hard to speak. A lot of things she didn't remember the words for, no one seemed familiar to her—no one but the boy.

When he'd crossed his arms and made the sound—the huffing noise—she'd felt her mind jumping, leaping with familiarity. But why? She was sure she didn't know the boy, hadn't known him. What'd made her think she did? In her mind there was a whisper, a hint, but it wasn't enough. Her head started to ache and she forced herself to stop thinking of it. Slowly, focusing all her attention on not spilling it, she drank sloppily from the bowl of soup the girl, Shisuki, had given her.

"What is it that we should call you, girl?" the healer asked abruptly, reaching out to steady her bowl for her as she drank.

"I don't know." she whispered, still focusing on the soup.

Mijai seemed to think his own question over then, as if the nameless girl had asked him it rather than vice versa. Finally he looked to Shisuki and asked; "You said you found her right on the riverbank?"

Shisuki nodded and glanced at the nameless girl. "She was like a stranded fish, washed up by a wave!"

Mijai nodded, "Well, I think that'd be a good name for you until you remember your name. Sakana, for fish. How do you like it, hmm? Better than Obake eh?" he smiled and then chuckled amiably to himself, the nameless girl merely blinked, still confused. She didn't notice that Shisuki was staring at her, concentrating, in deep thought.

"How did this happen to you?" the girl asked, her brown eyes alight with curiosity.

She swallowed her soup and then shook her head carefully, though the movement hurt her neck, "I don't know." she said again, it was becoming her mantra.

Mijai stroked the white hairs on his chin thoughtfully. He looked to Shisuki, "It's amnesia." He assured, seemingly pleased by the pronouncement, "It will likely go away over time. Things will start to come back. Probably her name first, and then who she is, and then where she lived, and what she was doing, and the people in her life." he paused and thought for a moment before shaking his head at Shisuki, "She might never remember how this happened to her though. A person rarely remembers the blow that knocked them unconscious."

He turned to look back at the girl they'd rescued from the river, who they now planned on calling "Sakana," for fish, "You'll get better soon, I'm sure. Is there anything you do remember at all?" he asked, and once more he reached out to steady her bowl when she lifted it to sip her soup.

The girl paused before her lips touched the soup bowl and looked between the elderly healer with his earnest, eager face, full of hope and confidence, and the young girl's face, curious and calm, and abruptly she felt as if she might cry. She lowered the soup bowl from her mouth and lowered her gaze. What could she say to them? She remembered nothing but having awoken. There was nothing in her mind except the memory of waking and the inherent mysterious knowledge that somehow she was lost, she didn't belong in this place, on the futon, drinking the soup…she belonged elsewhere…but she didn't know how she knew that or where that place was, or why.

Slowly she shook her head. "I remember nothing." Her audience was silent. Not even a bit of encouragement rose from either of them, only a void that she felt no one could fill: just like her memory.

She started to cry softly, the tears fell like raindrops, like blood from a fresh wound…

Endnote: Okay, my email is swamped and confsing so I used Fanfiction's review archives for this...so I can only add names and such from memory...but here goes...BeccaPatty cool name by the way, I know a Becca, she's a sophomore in my gym class, fifth hour. Love her to death! (winks) Yes, you'll be relieved to know, the sadness stops, I can't tell a good story if everything's always depressing, you know! So yes, eventually I plan to have it be MOST interesting, but I must weave the message into the story as well (reminds herself of this as well as informing you) "You are not promised tomorrow. Tell the truth and live each day you are given to the fullest, you could die at any time. And so could a friend or loved one...at ANY time..." ...TotalAnimeFreak...THANK YOU! I shall continue to keep writing, and I hope soon for it to become most funny. Also, if you are partial to action, there's action in the next chapter, I think...Inuyasha steals some food from some samurais...Emerald Ash lol, I know you! hehe, yes, i just typed up my thanks to reviewers on So Much For the Hanyou's...etc, you know. I've begun a tradition of naming my stories after songs. This one, for instance, is named for Bonnie Mckee's song. I haven't used any lyrics from that song yet, but I could still. I like a lot of her songs b/c they're very descriptive, work REALLY well as beginners to my chapters, sometimes I try to tie in a quote with a chapter's name, that's fun, it always jump starts a quote. My favorite song to quote from is actually currently playing ove rmy speakers, called "Honey." I still see you when my eyes are closed, tell me why I can't let go, I still smell you inside of my clothes, I'm afraid but I know it's true, I can't find no one sweeter than you...oh honey...GREAT confession love song...(shrugs) enough of me splurging eh? Someday I'll quote the whole thing throughout a chapter...it'll be awesome...(winks)...Thank you all for reviewing, it's gonna get good...I thank (I HOPE) I feel it in my bones! Hehe...I have the most wonderful image of when Inuyasha and Kagome meet up and she fights him b/c she can't remember that they know each other...(grins) Yes, I shall write that someday soon...