I would like to thank all the people who have given me some wonderful reviews on this and other stories. Without them, I think I would have become discouraged! Enjoy!
Inuyasha's body lie prone on the floor of their little cottage, his head tossing through his restless sleep. He mumbled uncomprehensibly. Suddenly, his body convulsed. His back arched and his eyes snapped open.
"Kikyo? KIKYO! KIKYO NO! I WON'T LET YOU DIE KIKYO!" Inuyasha woke up screaming. He had broken out into a cold sweat from his demented dreaming.
Kikyo picked up one of his hands and placed her other hand on his forehead.
"There, there now love. It's all right. I am dead no more than you are!" She looked down into his eyes, where a weak but normal spirit flared once more. The fever he had gotten from the terrible wound on his back had broken the morning past, and the scab was formed firmly over the gash in his back. It would be a while before it healed completely. "Inuyasha, thank the gods. They have been so kind to us! You live!" Tears blurred her vision as she bent down and kissed him on the forehead.
"What? Kikyo? What happened? Please stop crying Kikyo! Kikyo?" Kikyo smiled weakly. Inuyasha tried to sit up, but when Kikyo pushed him back to the ground, contented himself with putting up a hand and wiping away her tears.
"Inuyasha you are not going to move until you are well healed. We almost lost you…I was so scared. I thought you had died…" her voice trailed away as she clung desperately to his hand. All the long days she had spent tending him with such care came rushing back to her. He was her whole world now. Where would she be without him? What if he had died?
She shook her head and pushed the thoughts out of her mind. He lives, she thought, and that's all that matters.
In the days that followed, Inuyasha was filled with impatience. Lying on a mat in their little home all day and night soon became very tedious. During the day Kikyo had to be outside, tending their crops and gathering wood and water for the coming winter. At night, she fell down exhausted next to him. He helped all he could, but there was not much he could do except cook food and have the bed ready for her.
The nights were the only fun time of his day. Kikyo was there, filling his eyes with laughter and love. She always had some story to tell, some new thing that had happened during the day. Their love was taken to new heights as Inuyasha learned what it meant to wait. And sleeping was not the only thing they did at night….
One day, Kikyo decided that Inuyasha was finally healed enough to be outside again. "Now, you can come and enjoy the sunshine while you build up your strength. Eventually you'll be your normal self again." Inuyasha chafed at the restrictions she put on him.
"I can't chop wood, I can't collect water, what am I good for if I just sit here?" Kikyo brought him outside and he enjoyed the sunshine. Just the little walk from their home to the tree next to it was an exertion for him. He was pale by the time he sat gratefully down under the tree. During the day, as Kikyo worked in their garden, he sat in the sunshine and took in the world again. He was going to heal fast and get back to work! Make himself stronger so next time he wouldn't get hurt. He closed his eyes as he smiled up to the sky and let the sunlight soak his face.