Behind These Hazel Eyes

Chapter Ten

(Whoo! Ten chapters finally! does victory dance lol)

After they had all sat down for an hour, explaining their situations and experiences, they got ready to leave for Palestine. Bankotsu had left ten minutes earlier; assured that Kagome, Inuyasha, and Kikyo were in good hands. As Sango crawled into the car, she felt a horrible feeling in her gut. She knew she shouldn't be going to Palestine. She had to save Kohaku. But really… what could she do?

As soon as they were all seated, the girls immediately went on a non-stop chatting spree. You can't separate best friends for over a week, and then expect them to shut up for five minutes. It just doesn't work that way. "So, Ayame-chan, what's your relationship with Kouga-kun?" Kagome inquired. Ayame beamed and proudly stated, "Kouga darling and I are engaged to be married." Kagome 'wowed', and Ayame continued, "What about you and Inuyasha, Kagome?" Kagome blushed. "I wonder if you can really even call us friends. Besides, he loves Kikyo." Kagome sighed wistfully. Ayame's hand flew to her forehead, and she waggled her fingers dramatically. "A love triangle plagues one of my dearest friends, that it does!" Even Sango giggled at this. The two girls turned to her.

"What about you Sango-chan? You can't honestly tell us there's nothing between you and Miroku-sama." Sango grimaced. "Yes, I can." She stated firmly. Kikyo made her way into the conversation. "You may be able to say it honestly, but that doesn't mean it's true." The three girls looked to her in puzzlement. "It means that just because you say something you think that's true, or your stubborn mind is making you believe it's true, doesn't mean it's honestly in your heart." Kagome and Ayame 'ooed', but Sango simply huffed in defeat. Kikyo was just too smart.

Without warning, Miroku popped up behind them. "I heard my name!" Sango blanched and swiveled around to face him. "No you didn't! You're imagining things!" Miroku smiled childishly and persistently prodded; whining and poking Sango in random places. "That's a lie. I heard you! What were you saying? Do you love me?" Sango grabbed him by the hand and yanked him to the ground. "You seem to have plenty of energy considering you were almost dead not eight hours ago." Miroku shrugged. "I recover quickly."

Naraku sat in his dark room, pondering over his next plan to slowly take over Germany, when a young officer bounded in. "Hitler-sama! The Auschwitz prisoners… they're gone!" Naraku smiled menacingly. "Good. Apparently Houshi isn't so useless after all." The officer tripped over his next words. "B- but Sir! Only half of the buildings are gone!" Naraku finally acknowledged the officer. "What was that?" The officer fumbling fingers pulled out a little notepad from his pants pocket, and he stuttered out, "All of the Auschwitz prisoners are missing, but only half of the buildings are gone, including the one containing the Jews' possessions. We are missing one deportation car; I suspect Mr. Houshi took it. Along with that, Officer Kouga and Officer Inuyasha have been reported missing from their assigned posts; they are most likely with Mr. Houshi as well." The young officer was starting to sweat profusely as Naraku's red eyes bore into him dangerously. "Is that all?" The officer shook his head. "N- no Sir. Along with the Auschwitz prisoners and Sango, Kagome and Ayame they also have freed… Kikyo."

He said the last word in almost a whisper for fear of how Naraku would react. For a moment, Naraku was literally ablaze with purple flames and a poisonous gas filled the room. The poor officer began gagging and choking on the fumes, until he dropped over dead. The gas and flames died down, and there was Naraku sitting alone in the room. "So, they have Kikyo, do they? Kanna!" Naraku called out to a small girl with bland white hair and emotionless black eyes who stood patiently in the back of the room. "Kanna…" Kanna stepped forward and nodded as a response. "Dispose of that body, get me those traitors' coordinates, and… alert the Luftwaffen of where they are. I'm going to kill many birds with one stone, Kanna." Kanna nodded and dragged the officer's body from the room, leaving Naraku smiling evilly to himself.

(The Luftwaffen were also S.S. Officers, but they were a special air force that worked for Hitler.)

As the girls conversed, the others started to join them. They were like one big happy family; everyone in that car. The ex- Auschwitz prisoners seemed to be much more spirited now, and they were talking just like they would during their old lives. Ayame had moved to the front of the car so she could talk to Kouga, so Inuyasha, Kikyo, Miroku, and Sango continued on their conversation once she left. It just wasn't on the same subject. "So…" Inuyasha began, "what are you all going to do once you get to Palestine?" Kikyo answered first. "If they don't have one already, I think I'm going to build a church and reassume my position as a Jewish teacher." She looked to the people in the train. "These people need to know God has not abandoned them."

Then Kagome said, "Once I find Souta, I think I'm going to just build a house and take care of Souta for a while. Then I think I'll start a family." Inuyasha flinched. "With who?" Kagome shrugged. "Dunno yet. And you, Miroku-sama?" Miroku closed his eyes in thought, and then replied, "I think Kagome-sama's idea sounds splendid. It would be nice to settle down with a family." Inuyasha stood in front of Kagome protectively, and Miroku waved his hands in innocence. "I didn't say with Kagome-sama! I know I have no chance with her as long as you're around, Inuyasha." Kagome and Inuyasha both blushed a deep red. Neither of them had ever said anything about what they felt for each other, and Miroku was already jumping to conclusions. But the conclusions he were jumping to weren't totally false.

Inuyasha cracked his knuckles. "Well, I'm going to start training as soon as we arrive so I can finally beat Sesshoumaru!" Kikyo snickered. "You're still aiming to best Sesshoumaru in a battle of strength? Just keep working at it. Maybe you will… someday a long time from now." Inuyasha glared, and then looked to Sango. "What about you, Sango?" Sango's mood suddenly soured. She couldn't go to Palestine with them, not right away at least. She told them this. Kagome frowned. "Why not?" Sango sighed heavily and explained, "I can't do anything like settling down in Palestine until I get Kohaku back. He's still alone and suffering in Buchenwald. He might be dead by now, for all I know! I- I can't go to Palestine just yet. Saving Kohaku is my highest priority." Kagome nodded. "I understand. Well then, if you're not going to Palestine right away, then neither am I." Sango looked at Kagome, surprised at her boldness.

"Kagome-chan…" Kagome smiled determinedly. "Friends stay beside each other, no matter what. Besides, I still have to find Souta." Sango smiled. "Thank you, Kagome-chan." Inuyasha spoke up. "Well, if Kagome's going, then I guess I am too. The Lord knows that girl can't take care of herself." Kagome pouted and Kikyo nodded. "Then I'm coming also. We may need more brains than brawn, Inuyasha." Miroku placed his hand tenderly on Sango's shoulder. "Of course you know I'm going too. I can't just let you be wandering through the camps without protection, can I?" Sango smiled as tears began to brim the in her eyes. "All of you… thank you. You don't know how much this means to me." Kagome smiled brightly. "Like I said, friends never leave each other behind."

This seemingly perfect moment was quickly interrupted when the car went over a bridge and began to shake violently, the pieces of the roof began to fall to the ground, and people started panicking and screaming. Kouga could barely hear Inuyasha's shout over the racket. "What's happening, Kouga!" Kouga shouted back, "It's the Luftaffen! We're under attack!" Inuyasha cursed under his breath as the Luftwaffen suddenly tore a gaping hole in the roof, exposing all the prisoners. Inuyasha shouted out, "Kikyo! Protect everyone and make sure no one gets hurt! Miroku, Kouga! Get outside to counter attack!" Inuyasha was grateful his order went without a hitch and everyone heard clearly.

Kikyo walked to the front of the car in front of everyone and positioned herself expertly. She put her hands together and whispered something. Suddenly, a pink, translucent barrier surrounded everyone. By this time, Miroku, Inuyasha, and Kouga were already outside.

As the first round of bullets was fired, Miroku hastily undid the beads around his Kazanna and consumed them without a second thought. But the Luftwaffen didn't stop there. They began swooping down at the train, attempting to break Kikyo's barrier, and they fired even more dangerous explosives. Kouga shouted over the bombs dropping, "Split!" The three men jumped out of the way just in time. A bomb landed right where they had been standing. Kouga turned to Miroku. "Miroku! You keep handling the explosives! Inuyasha and I will take care of the planes! Got that, Inuyasha!" Inuyasha nodded, and the two jumped up to where the planes where. A bomb began falling straight towards Inuyasha, but he slashed it in half with his demon claws.

Still suspended in midair, Kouga propelled himself off of one plane with his leg, and landed on another. He leaned over the cockpit, punched the glass in, and threw the pilot from the aircraft. He jumped from it back to the ground, as it spiraled into the water.

More bullets and bombs were fired and Miroku steadily sucked them all in. But his vision was beginning to blur, and he was feeling weak. He had never left the Kazanna open that long, and like Sango had said, he had been almost dead not eight hours ago.

Sango, Kagome, and Ayame felt helpless and useless as they sat huddled with the other prisoners, Kikyo holding the barrier with all her might, thought they could tell it was weakening. Sango's eyes widened as she saw Kouga attack another plane, but this time, the pilot jumped out before he could be thrown into the river. He landed near Miroku, and began to advance towards him. Miroku was pale, and she could tell he wasn't doing so good. As the man grew closer and she saw his muscles tense, as if he was about to attack Miroku, she could no longer stand sitting and watching. She reached her hand up and grabbed the top of the train where the hole opened it up. Her body grew cold for an instant and she felt like her lungs were being drowned in water as she passed through the barrier. But as soon as she was through it, the feeling was gone.

She pulled herself up, out of the train, and she could briefly hear Ayame and Kagome shout, "Sango!" but by that time she had already jumped from the train, and was making her way to Miroku.

When she finally reached the man, she tapped him on the shoulder, and he spun around to see who it was. As soon as he was facing her, she coiled her fingers into a fist, and brought it up, making hard solid contact with his chin. The man fell over and Miroku gaped at her. "Sango… what are you doing out here?" Sango smiled. "I couldn't just sit there and watch, now could I? I'm going to help you." Miroku quirked an eyebrow. "How will you do that?" Sango bit her lip and mumbled, "I'm working on it."

Kagome watched Kikyo worriedly as sweat began to trickle down her face, and her whole body was shaking. Kagome could tell Kikyo wouldn't be able to hold the barrier much longer, and as soon as the barrier was down, all these people would be in grave danger. Kagome ran over to Kikyo. "Kikyo, Kikyo, can you hear me?" Kikyo whispered through clenched teeth, "What?"

"Let me help you." Kikyo hastily replied, "How?" Kagome took Kikyo's right hand. "I'll show you."

All the females in Kagome's family were said to have miko powers, but Kagome was never sure that she did. She figured then was as good a time as any to find out. And she was right! As the two cousins sat there holding hands, Kagome began to feel a whole new energy surge through her body, and Kikyo began to grow stronger. By linking their powers, the barrier could hold as long as they needed it to. The barrier grew thicker and now, the planes the tried to attack it exploded on impact!

Ayame looked to Kagome who was now supporting Kikyo's barrier. Ayame pouted. She couldn't be the only one left out! She had to help too! Much like Sango, she pulled herself out of the train. Kagome saw her, but she wasn't worried. Ayame looked around for Kouga, and she saw him just then jumping from an exploding plane. Kouga blanched. "Ayame! What are you doing here!" Ayame grinned. "I'm going to help you." And to prove her point, Ayame plucked an extremely sharp petal from the Ayame flower in her hair, picked up a bullet from the ground, attached it to the petal, and threw it up into the exhaust holes at the back of an attacking plane. The exhaust hole blew up, taking the engine with it. Kouga nodded. "You can stay. Just promise not to hurt yourself." Ayame squealed, hugged Kouga, and then went back to her work.

Inuyasha had gotten tired of taking out aircrafts, throwing the pilots in the river, just to have them crawl out unharmed. So, he began throwing the pilots down to Miroku and Sango, who were expertly fighting them off. Then a plane sneaked by Inuyasha without him noticing, and flew into him head on. It was a good thing Inuyasha was half demon, otherwise that would've killed him. Finally the plane let go, and Inuyasha plummeted down through Kikyo and Kagome's barrier. Kagome yelled out, "Inuyasha!" She wanted to go over there and help him, but she couldn't leave Kikyo to hold the barrier on her own.

Apparently, that had been the last plane, and Kouga and Ayame took it out with ease. Back on the ground, Miroku and Sango were knocking the last three pilots.

The sky grew silent and they all stood waiting, but no more planes came. They had beaten the Luftwaffen. Kikyo and Kagome quickly diminished the barrier, and rushed over to Inuyasha. They lifted his head up, and Kagome called his name quietly. "Inuyasha? Inuyasha!" Inuyasha opened his eyes to see Kikyo and Kagome hovering over him. "Are you okay Inuyasha?" Inuyasha pushed himself up on his elbows. "Yeah. I'm fine. What about the others?" Kikyo stood up and called out, "Is everyone alright and accounted for!" She got many different replies form the Auschwitz prisoners, but they were all positive. Inuyasha attempted to stand, but he failed, and Kagome cradled him in her arms. "And the other others?" Kikyo looked out the train. "They're coming."

First Sango and Miroku entered the train. They were both bruised and scratched up, and Miroku was a bit pale, but otherwise they were fine. Then Kouga and Ayame came back completely unharmed. Kouga sighed. "Well, we can't do much with this anymore. They busted the engine. We'll have to continue on foot." Groans and mutters came from everyone, but they conceded and began to make their way off the train.

Woohoo! This is my longest chapter yet at 2,633 words! Hope you guys enjoyed it! Chapter eleven coming soon!