Hurray! Finally, I get to update! So many reviews, they are at the bottom again. And now, a CUTENESS CHAPTER!

Chapter 6: Imagination

The darkness of the night was countered by the near fullness of the moon. It was not completely full, but enough so to keep the ground and trees lit with a blue hue. A small hut rested in the silent village beneath the trees, where all the inhabitants were sleeping… almost all of them. Two voices were whispering in the darkness.

"Why are you being so cautious about this?"

"Shh, be quiet. They'll hear us. I think we can make it passed them and have a couple of hours before they notice we're gone."

"Oh please, I'm pretty sure that they know about it by now. They aren't idiots."

"Keh! Don't be stupid, wench! I'd never let them get passed my nose!"

Kagome sighed, "Whatever you say. And why are you calling me 'wench' again?"

Inuyasha put a finger up for silence. "Quiet, wench. Okay, I think they're all asleep now. Let's go!"

Inuyasha clasped her hand and planted a kiss on it before leading her towards the doorway to the outside world. Quietly, they made their way down the hill to their favorite meadow. Seven weeks had passed since that horrible day, and although they knew it would never be fully behind her, the team was glad to see Kagome's normal smile returning. Her strength was incredible, but they could owe some of that healing to Inuyasha, who had barely left her side, and to their surprise, was romancing the miko as much as he could.

Not that he was completely out in the open with his feelings. He took special care to make sure that the rest of the team didn't see them, and had a few angry run-in's with Miroku, for which he was promptly sat. But when left alone in the presence of Kagome, he was able to loosen up more. This was why they were sneaking out once again. Inuyasha was a man of pride, and it was a miracle in itself that he was finally able to tell Kagome that he loved her. The last thing he needed was that lecher of a monk making crude comments and getting nasty thoughts into that empty head of his. Kagome was convinced, however, that the others knew about it. How couldn't they? Inuyasha wasn't that great at acting unattached.

The sun was just about to peak over the hills. They both yawned as they took their places on the grass with their bodies facing opposite directions and their heads side by side. They lay looking at the night sky that was soon to be invaded by the glorious sunrise over the hills. This had happened quite a few times for them in the past few weeks. Inuyasha would wake Kagome up sometime in the early morning and drag her out to this meadow to spend quality time with her. Sort of like making up for all that lost time when he could have been with her but didn't. Kagome lost sleep over it, but came nonetheless. Not like she had a choice, when Inuyasha had been so persistent about being with her in the early hours of the morning when he was usually awake anyway. He was so ignorant about the natural circadian rhythms of humans.

"Ooh, look, there's the Milky Way," Kagome pointed out cheerfully.

"What are you talking about, wench?" Inuyasha crooked his eyebrows in her direction.

She pointed to the sky, "Over there, see? That's the Milky Way… and over there, that's the big dipper and the little dipper, and Pegasus."

He turned his head to look at her questioningly, his face mere centimeters from her. "You mean to tell me that someone was actually stupid enough to come up with names for those stars, and make pictures out of them?"

"Well, yeah," Kagome replied, surprised he was not aware of such a tradition.

"Keh! Baka!"

"Oh, you say that about everything. Why can't you have just a little bit of imagination?"

"Oi, I've got plenty of imagination," Inuyasha countered.

"Oh yeah, when was the last time you used your imagination, then?" Kagome rolled over onto her stomachto look at his face.

Her head hung over his, blocking his view of the stars. He didn't care. "Okay, right now then. I'm imagining… that you are my silly little wench, and I have to put up with your little antics on a daily basis. How's that for imagination?" he smiled.

Kagome shot him a loving glare. "But you love that job, don't you?"

Inuyasha smiled wider and reached up with his hand to pull her into a chaste kiss, giving her his answer. He pecked her lips a few times before letting go. He flipped his body around so it was facing the same direction as her and continued to kiss her as he gathered her into his arms. She laid her head back into the grass as he kissed her deeply and sweetly. She brought her hand up to his head and started to rub his ears. He broke off the kiss, "Hey!"

"What? I love those ears. Why shouldn't I play with them? They're fun," Kagome responded innocently.

"Yeah well, that doesn't make it right," Inuyasha replied and he pressed a kiss to the palm of the hand he removed from his ear.

"What, are you ticklish there or something?" Kagome asked him with a mischievous grin.

"Not at all! I am not ticklish…" his smile grew, "But I do know where a human's weak spot it."

Kagome's eyes went wide, "Inuyasha…"

Before she could protest, he began tickling her stomach with his claws. She yelped out in hysterical fits of laughter, trying with all her might to squirm out of his reach as he held her down, but to no avail. He took delight in hearing her laughter and seeing her mouth spread into such a smile. It only encouraged him farther. The tickling sensations intensified to leave the girl yelping loud enough to silence the crickets nearby. He finally took his arms around her midsection and placed a few kisses on her stomach, as though in apology for the tickling. As she settled, he could feel her stomach rising and falling with every breath she took, and knew he could fall asleep to such a sound as her breathing. As he nuzzled his cheek against her stomach, a thought suddenly popped into his mind and he raised his head to look at her.

She saw that look in his eyes and knew immediately what he was worried about. "I didn't get pregnant. I went to the doctor in my time to be sure."

Inuyasha nodded in relief, glad that she was lucky enough to not receive a souvenir from that terrible night. He hated thinking back to that day and his thoughts changed directions but took a similar route. "Good," he placed another kiss on her bellybutton, "That spot is reserved for me someday."

"What? You mean kids?" Kagome said, lifting her head up to look at him.

He looked up at her too, "You heard me, wench."

She wrinkled her brow and smiled curiously, "Isn't it a bit early to be thinking about that?"

The hanyou shrugged, "Well, yeah, but I can at least dream, can't I? My goodness, wench, have a little bit of imagination!"

Kagome giggled and Inuyasha's head bounced up and down when her stomach moved beneath her quick breaths. Inuyasha placed his ear against her stomach as he tried to imagine what their child would be like if they had one. He hoped that they would look just like Kagome, but have the strength of their father. The thought of it was beautiful, and although it was still very early in their relationship, he couldn't help but think it would someday become a reality when they were ready for it. Inuyasha closed his eyes as he dreamed of a life with Kagome. As things were right then, he felt nearly complete. He could only hope that they would get better. As long as he could spend everyday showing her that he loved her, life would be gratifying.

Kagome intertwined her fingers with his hair, loving the feeling of being next to him. She had succumb to the decision long before that Inuyasha could never be hers, and even after Kikyo vanished again, she felt so certain that Inuyasha's heart was still with his old love. He didn't go looking for Kikyo, much to Kagome's surprise, but he had been avoiding the questioning, probably because his heart had finally moved on and he didn't want to show it. Despite everything that had happened to her recently, Kagome felt a great sense of joy from the hanyou who was helping her to heal her wounds.

Kagome proclaimed, "Oh look! The sunrise came!"

Inuyasha didn't move from the spot on her midsection. He huffed, "Keh! Don't care."

"But don't you want to see it? It's beautiful," Kagome pleaded.

"Nope. I'm fine here," he responded.

"Somehow, I don't think my stomach is that attractive," Kagome said.

"Sure it is, don't be stupid! In fact, I think I'll set up camp right here," Inuyasha countered.

"Wow, I guess you do have an imagination," Kagome noticed.

"You better believe it, wench," he said proudly.

For a few more minutes, they stayed just like that in the grass without saying anything to each other. They just enjoyed the company of each other and reveled in the fact that they were together. Almost two months had passed, and they had been magic for the both of them. It surprised Kagome how romantic Inuyasha could be, but of course he always disregarded his actions as nothing. They were everything to Kagome, and they were everything for Inuyasha as well. Finally, Kagome said, "We'd better get back to camp before they realize that we're gone."

"Keh! No way! I'm way too comfortable now!" He nuzzled his cheek against her stomach in his possessiveness of his beloved one.

"Haha! Well, too bad, I'm cold."

"Oh, don't be such a wimp. I will just have to keep you warm," Inuyasha responded with a smirk and he tightened his hold on her.

Kagome smiled to herself. She knew how to trap him, "Oh, so you are willing to let me stay out here and risk getting myself sick then?"

For a few moments, he was silent, but he finally looked up at her with disappointed eyes. "Damnit, wench! You just had to do that!"

They reluctantly got to their feet and made their way back to the camp. The crickets were still chirping nearby, and the noises irritated the hanyou's sensitive earring. Before they arrived at camp, Inuyasha held Kagome back for a minute, "Kagome?"

She turned to face him again, and he took her hands in his. He placed a sweet kiss on her knuckles. She could tell by that look that what he wanted to say was something serious to him. He continued, "Are you… are you okay?"

Kagome bowed her head. She knew that he worried about her constantly, and it would take time for his worry about this situation to go away. She knew that it would take time for her worry about it to go away as well. "I'll be fine, Inuyasha. I still fret about it from time to time, but it's nothing I can't handle. I have you after all," Kagome said as she massaged the back of his neck with her hand.

He looked at the ground between them, and let out a frustrated sigh through his nose, "I just wish I could have done something, anything to keep that from happening to you. It just makes me sick to think that Naraku got anywhere near you."

She forced him to look into her eyes again, "As long as you are here to take care of me, then I will always be okay. I promise I will heal, I will get passed this. I have you… and I have our friends to give me courage."

Inuyasha smiled in admiration of her, "How can you be so brave? So strong?"

"Well, I learned from the master, didn't I?" She smiled.

Inuyasha chuckled a little, "I actually think I'm learning it from you."

He leaned over to kiss her again, knowing this would be the last time he would kiss her for perhaps the whole day. He still had his pride intact and refused to believe that the others had any idea about the relationship. It was hard for him to let go of her in the end. Every time they kissed, it was harder to let go of. He knew he couldn't keep up this charade forever. Damn well, he would be with her when he wanted to, Miroku or no Miroku. But at least for now, he could try to keep his dignity.

Kagome retreated into the hut to go back to sleep and Inuyasha slept up against the wall in the main room. He watched over the others, who were all huddled in one room. They had left Kagome to a room of her own, considering the circumstances of recent events. Seven weeks would not have been enough to soothe her fears, although she denied it. She insisted that Inuyasha stay out with the others to watch over them, but he hated the thought of leaving her alone in her delicate condition. When he was sure she was asleep again, he moved into her room and leaned against the wall to keep watch.

Despite what she had said to him, he was still terribly worried about how she was doing. He knew she was trying to stay strong, and she was strong, but there was a lingering pain in her eyes that just never went away. There were some nights when he would see her tense up and tears begin to form in her eyes, and he knew she must have been having nightmares. It broke his heart each time. With a tragedy such as this, he suspected that her heart would heal over in time, but would be left with a scar that would never go away. All there was for him to do was be there for her when she needed him. But… somehow that just wasn't enough. He felt like he needed to do something, anything to ease her pain, to avenge her suffering. He knew what he wanted to do long before Kagome was raped. He wanted to kill Naraku. But now that he had done something so hateful to the one he loved, he didn't just want to kill him. He wanted to torture him slowly and painfully, rip him apart piece by piece until he was waling and his every nerve burned with agony.

He needed to think of something to do. Naraku had not yet made an appearance, and Inuyasha assumed that it was only a matter of time before he did. When that time came, he knew that he wouldn't hold back. Demon or human, right or wrong, fair or unfair… Naraku was going to pay for harming his beloved Kagome.

To be continued…

Okay, things are going fine… time for the first twist? Next chapter perhaps. Well, I don't know if I could call it a twist… more like a realization. Stay tuned… and respond, as always!

Mikkasura: It so endearing to hear that I could be good enough to be a professional writer. I really love that, and I would most definitely consider it. No worries, I repeat myself lots too. (hugs)

kawaiigirl-77: I'm always willing to update quickly when I get so many comments. (hugs)

orangepencils: Yeah, that sucks. Well, maybe at the end of the whole series will see some closure with this. (they better continue this). Time and love will heal her. (hugs)

inuyasha4ever1: I'd hate myself if I didn't have a warm fuzzy here and there. (hugs)

Jenn-silent breed: Ahh! You're scary! Here's some words for awesome: uber awesome, uber uber awesome, uberismo awesome, mega-uber awesome, etc. You're mega-uber awesome!

AnimePunk13: Wow, thanks. Considering there are so many Inuyasha fics out there, it's so great that you love mine. To be considered one of the best really feels like a honor. (hugs)

Leah: As it stands right now, Kikyo is gone. I am not currently planning anything for her, but I am the God of this fic, so if it pleases me at the time, it shall be done. (hugs)

LanierShazar: I hope I stay as true to the nature of rape victims as possible, cuz it varies for each person, but I don't want to make it seem like she is totally fine suddenly. Her emotions will fluctuate, but I didn't have the heart to make her totally depressed. (hugs)

kyoung: Only because so many people responded. It makes me sooo happy. (hugs)

fluffyrachel: I'll be sure to feed you plenty of warm-fuzzies then . (hugs)

cherimai: There is no way I'd leave you all hanging in the dark. With so many reviews, it practically forces me to write more (as if that's a chore). (hugs)

SlummyRedDragon: Since there are so many InuKag stories out there, for you to say I'm one of the best is a real honor. (hugs)

InuyashaKougaLover: Aww, are you a hopeless romantic too? I think you and I will get along famously then. I always provide you with cuteness. (hugs)

HorridlyTruthful25: I've been told that before, but it never seizes to make me feel very special to be considered one of the best. Truly wonderful and amazing. (hugs)

KitsuneMistressoftheYoukai: My pen name should be an indication that I am hooooooplessly romantic, but I guess you could already tell. Guess I'm staying true to that name. (hugs)