A/N: :D Hope you like this!

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My Only Hope
Chapter Fourteen

"Kagome! You're awake!" Shippo jumped onto Kagome's stomach, and Inuyasha growled defensively.

"Watch it, runt! Kagome was hurt, remember?" he snarled.

"Inuyasha!" Kagome snapped at him, standing up slowly. "I am perfectly healed. Leave Shippo alone. I may not be able to sit you without the rosary around your neck, but I can and will do much worse…"

"Like what?" demanded Inuyasha, although he did pale a shade or two at her threat.

Kagome smiled. "I don't know yet, but I'm sure I'll think of something," she promised. "Trust me."

Inuyasha gulped. "I've always trusted you, Kagome."

Inutaisho and Jin walked into the room.

Jin cleared his throat. "Kagome, it's good to see you well. Are you feeling much better now? Inutaisho and I were going to make a trip up to see Totosai, and we were going to bring you and Inuyasha along…if it's all right with you?"

Kagome blinked. "Really? Of course I'll go! Is mom outside?" she asked.

"She's taken Souta to see his grandfather. He was talking to her the other day, and he wanted to go back for a visit…"

Kagome sighed deeply. "Gramps…" she whispered. "He's worse than some of the people we've met here. He hates that I've changed."

Jin wrapped his daughter in a hug. "Well, I've always loved you, and what you look like doesn't ever matter to me." He whispered. "One day, your grandfather will learn to accept that."

Kagome nodded. "Is Izayoi coming with us?" she asked after a moment.

"Yes." Inutaisho replied. "I'm not letting her out of my sight ever again after what happened to her last time," he admitted. "At least Sesshoumaru has finally accepted it. Who exactly is that little girl that he has with him at all hours?"

"That's Rin. He saved her." Kagome answered. "Has he gone back to his castle?"

Inutaisho nodded. "Yes, he has. He has his own affairs to look after there. We will be going by the castle on our way back from our visit with Totosai, if all goes well."

"What do you mean, if all goes well?" Kagome repeated.

Jin cleared his throat. "We'll talk about it later, Kagome."

"But…"

"Later."

"All right." Kagome sighed. "Inuyasha, have you seen Sango or Miroku? I need to talk to Sango about something…"

Inuyasha shook his head. "The village to the east of here is having a small demon infestation problem, and Kaede asked Sango and Miroku to accompany here there. They won't be back for a week…" he told her.

"Ah…" frowned Kagome.

Inuyasha gasped. "What's wrong? Are you all right?" he worried.

Kagome nodded. "I'm fine. It was just really important…girl stuff." Kagome explained.

Inuyasha blushed. "Okay…"

"Are we ready to go?" asked Jin, glad to break up the awkward moment between his daughter and Inutaisho's son. "It will take us a couple days to get there…"

"But what about…?" Kagome began.

"Your mother knows…and even if we were off track somewhere, she would know how to find us…"

"How?" asked Kagome, her intrigue very noticeable.

"Because, Kagome. That is how the whole 'mate' thing works. When you mate, you mate for life. You will be with that person always, and I don't know how to explain it, but you will know where they are…how they feel…it's the deepest of connections…"

Kagome nodded, but then her brows furrowed. "But what about…?"

"Souta's father? That was a special circumstance. Ordinarily, when I died, so would Akira, but because of what was going on within the clan, we had to…"

He didn't even finish his sentence before Kagome nodded. "I see. She would have died if you hadn't sent her to the future?"

He smiled. "Yes. I'm glad you understand. It was safe to send her there for two reasons. One, Jiro could not get to her, and two, in the future, I did not exist…"

"We're ready!" announced Inutaisho, grateful to be breaking up a topic that he knew had a chance of turning very ugly very quick.

"Any why are we going in the first place?" Kagome asked as they made their way into the forest.

"Because we need to make sure that your demon blood stays at bay. We don't want it to get a hold on you…" Jin told her. "And seeing as how you and Inuyasha now have our swords, Inutaisho and I will need to be properly equipped in case anything happens."

Kagome sighed and nodded. "I almost forgot about that part."

They were deep into the forest now. The only light that they had was the small amount of light that managed to make it past the treetops. The light came through in small rays, which were just enough for the group to see properly with.

Kagome groaned, taking a deep breath. "I don't feel so well. Something is wrong…" she whispered.

The group in front of her stopped. Inuyasha was by her side in seconds. "What's wrong, Kagome?" he asked her quietly.

"I feel ill…" she answered.

"Sweetie, you can't get sick," Jin told her. He thought for a moment. "Inuyasha, has she had her time of the month yet?" he finally asked.

Kagome went scarlet. "You guys don't have to talk about that kind of stuff with me right here! You could have just asked! I would have said something…" she blushed.

Jin nearly laughed. "Not that, Kagome!"

Realization hit Kagome like a ton of well-placed bricks, and she frowned. "Oh." She paused a moment. "You mean my human night? No. It hasn't happened yet." She shook her head.

"I see. There's the problem right there." Inutaisho smiled. "Which also means that we may want to set up camp for the night…" he added under his breath, and Jiro nodded.

Kagome sighed. "I feel like I'm going to die."

"The first time is always pretty rough," Inuyasha told her. "Each time after that…well, you're going to feel drained, and you'll feel weaker than you know you are, but other than that, it's not even close to as bad as the first time around is."

Inuyasha leaned up against a tree, sighing with fatigue. Kagome sat near the fire, frowning. First, her claws became shorter, followed by her fangs. She was feeling weaker and weaker by the minute, as if she would pass out at any moment. Her ears were the last of her demonic attributes to disappear.

Kagome took a deep breath. "I feel cheated." She whispered to no one in particular, and everyone laughed.

"It's all right, Kagome. You're fine to us either way you are…" Jin smiled at his daughter. "And besides, this is only a temporary thing. It'll pass by dawn tomorrow morning."

"Yes dear. You're a beautiful girl either way, so try not to worry yourself about it…" Izayoi agreed.

"I'm so tired…" she yawned.

"I can imagine why…" nodded Inutaisho. "Get some sleep, Kagome. We'll wake you in the morning…"

"I didn't bring my sleeping bag…" Kagome grumbled. "I wasn't expecting this."

"Kagome, you can use my Haori." Inuyasha announced, although he made no effort to move from his place at the base of the tree.

Kagome grinned, crawling over to him. "Thanks, Inuyasha." She nodded. Inuyasha took off the top half of his haori as Kagome settled her head comfortably on his chest and took a deep breath. Inuyasha tensed for a moment before covering her up with his haori.

"Night, Kagome." He whispered.

"Night…Inuyasha…" she smiled, already nearly asleep.

Inuyasha did not move at first for fear of waking the sleeping Kagome up. She was nuzzled comfortably into his chest now, breathing deeply. Inuyasha carefully wrapped his arms around her waist, and even more carefully resituated himself to find some level of comfort. Finally, he rested his chin atop her head.

Izayoi could not help but smile at her son from her place next to his father. She sighed. "She has changed him so much, my dear Inutaisho," she whispered to her mate. "He's like an entirely new being. He was so bitter when he was younger. Now…he's just not anymore. It's all because of her…"

"I know," he replied. "Now the only question that remains is what we plan to do about it."

Izayoi nodded in agreement. "Yes…although I don't think that we will have to do anything. They will come to their own realizations soon enough. I'm sure of that."

Inutaisho smiled. "Go ahead and sleep, Izayoi. Jin and I will stay up and keep watch over the camp. Inuyasha is sleeping…"

Izayoi yawned in response. "I think I will."

"Jin," Inutaisho called, "how far off from Totosai's do you think we are?"

"Not too far," Jin nodded. "Which is why I was hoping we could stop at the nearest village on our way there. I was talking to Akira, and it appears that Kagome will be staying here in the feudal era. Demons aren't known in the future, it seems."

Inutaisho nodded slowly. "That would be fine with me." He agreed. "If she is going to stay here, she will probably want to blend in a little more."

"That's what I was thinking. I'm going to get her a kimono or something so that she doesn't have to wear that school uniform of hers around anymore." Jin told his friend.

Inutaisho shielded his eyes as the sun began to slowly rise into the sky.

Jin watched as his daughter slowly changed back into her hanyou form. "Should I wake them up? They look so cozy…" he laughed at Kagome and Inuyasha.

"You may want to. We have to get moving. We don't want this trip taking too long."

Jin carefully shook Inuyasha, Kagome, and Izayoi awake. Izayoi yawned, glanced around a moment as if remembering where she was, and shakily stood up.

She wrapped Inutaisho in a hug and kissed him lightly across his lips. "Good morning," she whispered.

Kagome yawned, and blushed furiously at the position she found herself in. She was wrapped up in Inuyasha's arms, snuggled into his chest and covered with his haori. From across the camp, her father smiled and waved at her. Blinking, she shook Inuyasha awake, and carefully stood up.

"What?" Inuyasha groaned, but quickly stood up.

"We're stopping at the village up ahead you two. Come on," Inutaisho announced.

"I feel so much better!" Kagome sang.

"What was last night?" asked Inuyasha, as if he had suddenly remembered something.

"The full moon…"

"Ah…" he nodded. "That should be easy to keep track of."

The small group came upon the village. Everyone walking around inside the small market there suddenly stopped to stare. Jin and Inutaisho acted as if nothing was wrong. Izayoi glared at the people as if she was expecting they would all burst into flames. Inuyasha was indifferent…but he noticed Kagome's discomfort without fail.

"You all right?" he whispered.

"What's wrong with these people?" she replied.

"They're blockheads." Inuyasha replied. "Just ignore them. They'd be singing a different tune if they wanted our help, so just pay them no mind…"

"I forgot…you're used to dealing with this type of thing by now, aren't you?" she sighed. "Can we make this quick?"

"Jin, just hand me the money," Izayoi finally spoke up. "I'll find what you need, and we can get out of here."

Jin nodded quickly, giving several villagers death glares as they stopped to stare. "That seems like a perfectly good idea to me," he sighed, handing Izayoi his money.

"Kagome…I know it makes you uncomfortable, but I'm going to need you to come with me so that we can get the right size…" Izayoi told her.

Kagome glanced hesitantly at the judgmental villagers, and sighed deeply. She nearly jumped when Inuyasha took her hand, and slowly began to follow his mother.

"Come on, Kagome. We'll do this together." He whispered to her as they approached a woman on the corner with several lovely summer kimonos on display.

It didn't take long for Kagome to find the one she wanted. It was navy blue with a green and silver pattern. It was made of some type of fabric that Kagome could not identify, and it felt cool and light against her skin. Izayoi paid the woman and the group hastily made their way out of the village.

By nightfall, they had finally reached Totosai's cave. Inutaisho led the group as they all walked inside.

Totosai was sitting facing his fire, working diligently on one of his new swords. Inutaisho cleared his throat, announcing their presence, and Totosai turned around.

"My lord! You're alive!" Totosai smiled. "How have you been?"

"Fine, Totosai." He grinned. "We have a favor to ask of you…"

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A/N: Sorry for the time between updates. Hope you liked it. Please review and let me know.