I'm sorry this has been so delayed. My internet was stolen by a band of gypsies, but I hunted them down with witch powder, and now I can update! It's a nice long one. ENJOY!
Disclaimer: I own Inuyasha products (such as Inuyasha hair gel), but not the man himself. And I don't really own the hair gel, that was a lie.
Just as Inuyasha thought that he could not endure this temptation any longer, Kagome withdrew her leg and turned over on her back. Inuyasha's body immediately relaxed, and he splayed himself out on the floor next to Kagome, his breath still churning in and out. Inuyasha sighed and covered his eyes with his right hand, trying to block out the imperious sunlight.
How do I tell her that Koga really saved her? Why would she want to be with me if I can't protect her? I can't lie to her…
Kagome inhaled sharply and clenched her fists, dueling the urge to remain asleep. Inuyasha propped himself up on his hands to peer over her ashen face. Kagome's eyes fluttered open, and she, too, sat upright. Her breath was ragged, eyes wide, and sweat dripped from beneath her blanket of hair.
"Whoa, hey! It's all right! Do you know where you are?" Inuyasha said. Kagome looked toward him quietly for a few seconds, completely still. Fear radiated off of her in heat and in the smell of salt. Then she overflowed, and the pain brimmed in her ruined eyes and splashed over her face. She leaned forward and curled herself against Inuyasha's chest, hands scrambling to ensnare themselves within the folds of his bandages as if letting go meant death.
"Inuyasha… I was so scared. I've never been that frightened in my life…"
Inuyasha tangled his hand in Kagome's hair and pressed her back closer to his chest. He bit down hard on his lip and felt her heart thrash wildly against her chest and reverberate against his. He could not fathom her fear as she dangled helplessly in the arms of the enemy. With closed eyes he whispered softly, "It's my fault, Kagome. I'm sorry that I wasn't fast enough. I'm sorry that you were alone."
"But you brought me back," she heaved through intense tears. "That's all that matters. You brought me back."
Inuyasha dropped his head.
"Kagome, I-"
"All the while I was with Naraku… I kept seeing your face, Inuyasha. I saw your face, and I knew you would come. I knew you would take me back."
Before Inuyasha could reply, Kaede slipped in through the sheet covering the entrance to the hut. Kagome quickly brushed away the tiny rivulets of tears that stained her face with bloody knuckles and bowed her head. Inuyasha separated himself from Kagome and stood erect, cheeks tinged with the softest shade of red. Kaede smiled.
"Good, ye are both awake. I can change your bandages," she whispered kindly. Kaede glimpsed Kagome and furrowed her brow.
"Dear girl, ye have opened your wounds!"
Inuyasha had not even noticed. Kagome was spotted with blood, which now began to pool beside her.
"Inuyasha, can ye walk?" Kaede asked.
"Of course I can walk," he replied roughly.
"Then, help me bring Kagome back to the other hut. She has a very long story to tell, and she will not begin on an empty stomach."
"Where's that idiot wolf?" Inuyasha asked, stooping to pluck Kagome from the ground.
"Koga has left to find his comrades, but he promised that he would return tomorrow so that I can tend to his shoulder," Kaede replied solemnly.
"Good idea to get out of here," Inuyasha said roughly, scooping Kagome into his arms like an infant. "He must have known that if he stayed around I would have painted these walls red with his blood."
"Koga was here?" Kagome asked sleepily. "Why?"
"Do ye not remember, child?" Kaede replied, holding the door open for Inuyasha as he passed. Kagome shook her head.
"Why, he was the one that saved both ye and Inuyasha from the flames of the cave. Do ye not remember a thing?"
Kagome looked at Inuyasha perplexedly. Inuyasha sighed and entered the second hut.
"I'll tell you everything… soon. But right now, it's time for your side of the story."
> > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > >
"I assume he came through the well," Kagome said meekly, quietly sipping the herbal tea Kaede had given her. Her back faced the others as Kaede discreetly changed her bandages.
"But how? That's impossible! Only you and Inuyasha are able to go down the well!" Shippo stated firmly. He had recovered almost entirely from his cold, but he still spoke as if through his nose. Miroku shook his head.
"Remember, Shippo, that anyone who possesses jewel shards may traverse the well. If you will recall the story of Mistress Centipede," Miroku offered. He sat cross legged against a wall beside Sango who was softly stroking Kilala's tails. His leg was bandaged, but he no longer required his staff to walk. "This, of course, is unfortunate for us, seeing as Naraku has nearly the entire Shikkon Jewel."
"But, then, why hasn't he gone through the well before?" Sango asked. Miroku bowed his head.
"As to that, I assume only Naraku knows the answer. I can only allege that he has switched targets," Miroku stated.
"What the hell is that supposed to mean?" Inuyasha spat.
"I'm saying that his primary concern over these years has been your demise, Inuyasha. Perhaps, for some reason, Kagome has become his greater threat."
The hut fell silent for a brief moment as Miroku's words seeped through the skin of the shaken companions. Inuyasha, after a pregnant pause of concern, shook his head skeptically.
"Feh! I'm sure that's not the reason."
"Well, whatever the reason, please go on, Kagome," Miroku said. Kagome dipped her finger in her tea and ran it along the edge of the glass before her. An eerie sound leaked out of the edge of the cup as her finger skated across the surface, which complimented the conversation well.
"Naraku did not come as himself," she said.
"What do you mean, Kagome? If not himself, then who?" Shippo asked.
"He came in disguise," Kagome explained. "He came looking like you, Inuyasha."
Inuyasha stood with wide eyes, completely taken aback.
"He came looking like me? How?"
"He has found a way to morph himself into the shapes of others. I don't know how," Kagome stated lifelessly. Sango frowned.
"Kagome, can you do this? Do you need to stop talking?"
"I'm fine. Just tired."
"She has lost a lot of blood," Kaede said. She finished wrapping Kagome's wounds and draped her shoulders in a thin blanket. Kagome slowly turned to face the others. Her face shone with salve that was methodically rubbed over the cuts on her cheeks, lips and jaw. "She is very anemic. But if ye can keep speaking, child-"
"I can."
"Why would he disguise himself as me?" Inuyasha asked.
"It's obvious, isn't it?" Sango mused aloud. "He came looking like you so that he could get closer to Kagome. She trusts you."
"What I don't understand is how you didn't know it wasn't me," Inuyasha interrupted. He looked intently at Kagome, who, in turn, looked intently at her tea.
"I did know that it wasn't you. Just not right away. He was identical to you," Kagome said.
"What gave him away?" Sango asked.
"His breath, at first," Kagome started. "It was cold and without rhythm. Harsh. And then he-"
Kagome stopped.
"Tell us what you can, Kagome," Miroku said, saving her.
"He was not in Inuyasha's human form, and it was the new moon. When I remembered, I realized immediately that something was wrong."
"Interesting. Well, I suppose this proves that he is still unaware of the time in which you transform, Inuyasha. This is good," Miroku said. He stood and stretched his arms over his head. Simultaneously, darkness flooded the hut as if Miroku had drawn shade over the sky. Sango looked upward and blinked.
"We've been here for hours. We should all get some rest, especially you two," Sango said quietly. Inuyasha sat down again and crossed his arms over his chest.
"I'm not tired yet. It feels like I just woke up," he replied, rubbing a few of his wounds tenderly.
"He's ill."
Miroku and Sango turned from the doorway to face Kagome. Not entirely certain of whom she was speaking, Sango stepped forward to question her.
"Who's ill? Inuyasha?" she asked.
"No. Naraku is ill," Kagome whispered.
Miroku looked toward Sango anxiously and then walked over to Kagome and crouched down so that he was eye-level with her.
"Kagome, are you sure? Naraku is extremely powerful, and I highly doubt that a demon of his nature would even be capable of falling ill. But if it was true-"
"I'm just telling you what I saw," Kagome said. Inuyasha joined in.
"No, it makes sense. By all rights, I should not have been able to save Kagome if she was already within Naraku's grasp. When she dropped from his tentacles, there should have been five more there to snatch her away. He was weaker, somehow."
"But, how? How is it possible? The thought is ridiculous. Naraku with a cold, it doesn't make sense," Shippo said.
"He is only half-demon, however. Could it be possible that his human heart allows him to become ill?" Kaede offered. Sango shook her head.
"I highly doubt that any illness Naraku is suffering would be the same one of us would suffer."
"At any rate, we should retire. If what Kagome says is true, then we must attack Naraku while we are at an advantage. Kaede, how long do you suppose it will take Inuyasha and Kagome to heal?" Miroku asked. Kaede shook her head.
"For Inuyasha, perhaps three days," she said.
"Three days? I'm up and walking now! I could leave tomorrow! You forget that I'm a half-demon!" Inuyasha spat. Kaede frowned.
"And ye forget that Kagome is not! She will take much longer to heal. Her injuries were severe, and if her cuts open on the way, I will not be there to aid the poor child. I insist that ye stay a week."
"A week?" Inuyasha sputtered.
"At least!" Kaede howled. Sango, Miroku and Shippo rolled their eyes and parted for their separate rooms. Kaede shuffled to the other side of the room and knelt in front of a chest. She opened it silently and withdrew two blankets, both soiled and torn.
"These aren't much, but they will keep ye warm. Do try to rest, Kagome," Kaede said, bundling the blanket next to Kagome. Kagome smiled weakly.
"Kaede, thank you for everything."
Kaede nodded and walked toward the door. She bid Inuyasha a terse goodnight and exited. Inuyasha and Kagome sat silently, almost awkwardly, in her wake. Outside the air was dancing frantically in summer heat, propelling strange gusts of hot wind. Kagome looked up toward the blackness that peeked through the fissures in the wood ceiling. Inuyasha stared at her curiously. She was covered from the waist up in bandages that stretched across her flesh like second skin. They tugged across her curves and eased at her waist. She was broken, he saw that, but she was also breathtaking. He did not know that it was possible to be both until he saw Kagome bathed in darkness before him. She offered his name to the stars.
"Inuyasha," she whispered.
"Yeah…"
"I want his scent off me. I need to bathe," she said simply. Inuyasha gazed at her tenderly.
"Go ahead."
"Inuyasha," she said more fixedly.
"What?"
"I don't want to be alone. I'm too frightened," she breathed. Inuyasha allowed a pause to settle while he mulled over the implications.
"Well, do you want me to get Sango?" he offered.
"No, Inuyasha," she said. She looked away from the penetrating blackness and down at her feet. Slowly, she tried to rise from her resting place, but injuries shackled her to the floor, and she dropped to her knees. Inuyasha leapt forward to support her. He wrapped his hands around her upper arms gently, afraid to open any wounds. She looked up into his eyes from underneath her cloud of hair and murmured, "I need you with me."
Inuyasha nodded without hesitation. He would not deny her protection again. Inuyasha turned his back to her and wrapped her arms around his neck carefully like weaving ribbon into bow. Without effort, he broke her shackles and lifted her off the cold ground. Kagome wrapped her legs around his torso tightly, and Inuyasha looped his arms underneath her thighs.
As Inuyasha stepped out of the hut, the night swallowed them in their entirety, and they walked into the belly of the forest. Despite the heavy darkness that laced through the trees, the forest floor was very much alive with the hum, buzz and whisper of demons and animals. Inuyasha sought the smell of fresh water.
Although they would never admit it to each other, Kagome and Inuyasha savored each others' contact. Kagome pressed herself as tightly to Inuyasha as possible, too exhausted and needy for embarrassment. Inuyasha absentmindedly pulled her legs so that she was plastered against his skin. He, too, was wrapped in nothing more than bandages from the waist up. Their flesh had never been in such close quarters. All sensation was limited to that which the other provided. Kagome's hands roamed Inuyasha's skin like weary travelers seeking comfort. They abandoned his shoulders to wind up underneath his arms and across his chest. Her skin tickled the vulnerable flesh underneath his arms, and Inuyasha reluctantly subdued to an onslaught of goose bumps. Here, she could hold him more closely, desperately, and allow her fingers to weave through the white cloth that hugged him. His hair whipped gently across Kagome's face, allowing her to breathe in more deeply his scent of pine and fresh water. Her lips rested against his bare shoulder like a delicate butterfly, and Inuyasha feared that if he moved too roughly the butterfly would scatter for more stable ground. He treaded lightly.
Their affection was simple and pure but resounding nonetheless. They were too wrapped up in their own emotions to tap into those of the other, oblivious to the fact that they were one and the same. Soon enough… too soon, Inuyasha thought, for the ride there was so pleasurable… Inuyasha found a body of water in which Kagome could bathe.
Review, darlings.