Finding Lost Memories

Prologue

Unknown to many, there were rustling leaves in the bushes near the burning stake, where a strange boy watched and stared at what he had done…he was part of it. He had to clean up the mess he had helped make without anyone finding out, he just had to.

A young girl's eyes swelled with tears, as she stared traumatized by what was before her. Everyone had left, abandoned her and her mother to let them die in the middle of nowhere, everyone had their chance to light the fire, every single one. The girl's beloved mother was screaming in pain, trying to hold back her own tears, gritting her teeth as she tried to hide her own sufferings for the young one that was looking at her with mixed emotions: sadness, pain, exhaustion, joy-filled memories, and mostly terror. She muttered a very important message to the young girl, but the girl didn't understand a word at all, because of her own heavy sobbing. The only thing the young girl heard was to run, run far away from this place, never to come back, for they were coming to get her also.

The mother of the young girl was being burned at the stake, for a reason unknown at that time to the young girl. The woman looked intently into the eyes of her daughter, giving one last comfort under her breath, "I love you Kagome, go! Run away for me!" She turned away not wanting to see the girl's expression, which was that full of resentment to what was going on. The young girl stood there, not saying a word at all, oblivious to what was happening, as her mother disappeared forever into the swarming flames of death itself. The girl knew she had to fulfill her mother's last loving wish, so she turned around never glancing back, so she ran, sprinted into the forest, until her body couldn't handle what needed to be done and passed out in the middle of nowhere.

This young girl lay in the middle of the forest, soon to be found by something...someone…

She was still in a hazy daze over the dreadful sight she wished she had never seen, and all she could remember from the past few hours was her mother's few words to go and leave this place for good. Still struck with utter confusion from her mother's last demand, she tried to build up all her will to get up and keep on going, but soon failed, yet to find a shadowy figure hovering above her.

Springing up from the ground was like an automatic reaction for her, she straightened up her back to come face to face with a hanyou, a very handsome one at that. He was about her age, had long silver hair, high cheekbones, wearing a red fire rat outfit, and obtained pure golden eyes. One thing that intrigued her most about this hanyou was his cute puppy ears.

She couldn't resist them, so she cautiously raised her right hand up, and started to touch the ears that turned out to be so soft. Realizing what she had just done, she drew back her hand in full embarrassment, her face started to turn bright red, but it was covered by her long silky black raven hair.

The young hanyou on the other hand just sat by the young girl in full shock of what she was doing. His dog-ears twitched as the girl brushed her hands against them, no one ever acknowledged him for his ears before, usually he would try to hide them from the world. His heart began to beat faster, yet calm down from this action coming from such a being, making him feel more guilty than before.

As she withdrew her hand, he became slightly disappointed that he sighed; almost forgetting he was there to take her to safety. For there were people from a nearby village who were after her, and had already killed her mother.

Kagome looked back up at the hanyou, asking a simple question in a purely frightened tone of voice, "Wh-who a-are y-y-you?" As she stood up he also did soon to find herself just a few inches shorter than him.

"Inuyasha. I must take you to safety, for they are after you, you need to follow me now!" he started to scowl at her with concern, something he never did for a very long time.

"Who i-is a-after me?" Kagome started to feel herself weaken, but tried to pull herself together to figure out what was going on.

"The people of the village, the ones that burned that woman!" He began to shout, because he thought that maybe, just maybe if he shouted loud enough, the crime he had fulfilled wouldn't be known to anyone but him.

"My mo-mother?" she knew she was being drained of all her strength right then and there, and soon enough couldn't pull herself together at all. As she collapsed, Inuyasha's fast reflexes allowed him to catch the girl right before she was allowed to hit the hard cold ground.

Rustling in the bushes, voices in the air, they were all signs that they were close, so Inuyasha picked up the girl and ran super fast to a woman he knew of somewhere in Japan, far away from this place.

"Who are you, and why did I have to be a part of this?" he whispered so that he wouldn't wake her up. He inhaled her scent which smelt like a blooming rose on a summer's rainy day.

He reached his destination where he was greeted by stares of confusion from lousy humans at the entrance of the village. He searched for the right hut, and when he finally found it, he barged right in not caring what the woman would say.

"Kaede take care of her right now! And contact her nearest relatives, if she has any." The wrinkled faced old woman stared at him shamefully, then gave the girl a softened glance of remorse and took her away from Inuyasha's grasp and placed her on a cot.

"I'll see what I can do, you must leave now Inuyasha." Kaede pointed and stared at the door.

As he walked away from the simply sweet girl, he heard her murmur a few words under her breath. "Inuyasha…thank you." Those were the last words she breathed out before falling once again into a deep peaceful slumber. Inuyasha took one last glance at her as he walked out the door, thinking he would never see this miko he had saved ever again. He hurried home, for his father was dead, he was the second heir to the Western Lands, and he had to face the same people who told him to accomplish the sad task he had completed.

His life may have been a mess, but today brought back memories of his mother, someone who he never thought about for the longest time, and just seeing the human girl sent chills up his spine, but it also gave him a gut full of guilt.

A/N: Hope you ppl enjoyed the prologue (yes, I redid it), remember don't forget to REVIEW! This is my first fanfic so criticize me all you want, just don't burn my story!