Author's Note: Hi, I'm SongSwifteye. I'm fairly new here, this being the first Inuyasha fic. that I've written. My other story, "Something Wonderful," was actually written while I was suffering from writer's block on this story. It's still a work in progress, and I'm grateful to all those who have reviewed, especially CreepyKikyo (I hope you like the new take on the CPR sequence :) ). All of your comments were great, and I've tried to incorporate many of them, while still retaining my own style. Thanks again, everyone.

At the end of the story, I will post two different endings, one of which should remain in character, and fairly true to what an episode of Inuyasha would be like. However, I needed to put something...well...fluffy in, so I've created an alternate ending. It may get a little out of character (had to make Inuyasha a little less rough around the edges!), but I'll try not to deviate too much!

Disclaimer: I do not own Inuyasha or any of the characters therein. The plot and the character Hendomé, however, are from my own imagination.

Now, on with the show! Enjoy!

Strangers and Secrets

Chapter 1

"Inuyasha?" Kagome called, uncertain. Unmoving, her half-demon companion lay flat on his stomach, completely wiped out by this battle. His opponent, a full demon in the shape of a flying snake with a hawk's head, began circling around. Horrified, Kagome watched as it approached its fallen victim. Suddenly, without thinking, she was on her feet, running toward them. She dropped to her knees, gathering Inuyasha's limp form to her chest, and threw her hand up as if to fend off the demon. Unexpectedly, her hand began to glow, and light burst forth, driving the demon back. The snake thing flew out of sight behind a ridge, waiting for the girl to drop her guard.

No longer caring about the snake thing, Kagome wrapped her arms about Inuyasha and brought her head down to his. Laying her cheek against his hair, she closed her eyes and rocked him gently back and forth.

"Please," she whispered, "Please wake up. Please, Inuyasha, I need your help. Please, Inuyasha, I need you." Her tears fell silently as she watched him. He didn't move, didn't speak, and it didn't even look like he was breathing...

"Oh, no!" she cried. 'What do I do? Think, Kagome, think! Health class! Heimlich maneuver! No, that's for choking! CPR? No, oh, forget it!' She grabbed his shoulders and shook him soundly, and he spluttered awake, fuming.

"What're you jumping on me for? Are you trying to kill me?"

"Actually, you ingrate, I was saving your worthless life!" Kagome screeched, poking him firmly in the chest with an accusing finger. She would've gone on, but Inuyasha pushed her aside, yelling, "Watch out!"

The snake demon struck, narrowly missing the companions, but still managing to smash Inuyasha into the ground with a flick of its tail. With Inuyasha again out of commission, the demon turned on Kagome, racing toward its helpless prey. Certain she was going to die, Kagome watched helplessly as the thing closed in.

Suddenly, a white streak shot past, distracting the snake. Kagome found herself flying through the air, held tightly in a pair of strong arms. A handsome face smiled down at her, and Kagome almost forgot where she was, until a crash from behind reminded her.

"Oh, no! Inuyasha! Please, help him!"

Her rescuer set her down gently and turned back to the demon. Drawing a glowing blade, he lunged at the creature and made one clean cut. The demon stopped dead, faded to smoke, and was sucked into the sword. Awed, Kagome stared at the stranger. Tall and slim, his black hair was pulled back, hanging down to his broad shoulders, revealing a clean-cut, handsome face, offset by a pair of startlingly clear blue eyes. Her heart skipped a beat. His spotless white robes fluttered as he bowed gallantly to Kagome, then with a roguish wink he was gone. Still amazed, Kagome stood with wide eyes, until a low moan brought her back to reality. Sparing one more searching glance toward the empty sky, Kagome hurried to Inuyasha's side.

►♦◄

"You're a sight. Look at you, moping around. You should be glad that the stranger showed up and saved both of us."

Inuyasha just scowled harder. "Will you stop talking about that guy? He's not so great! I mean, if I had a magic sword, I would've cleaned that demon up in no time!"

"Inuyasha," Kagome sighed, "You do have a magic sword." She gazed pointedly at his side, where Tetsusaiga hung, looking ragged and useless. Who would guess that it was a magical weapon, made from the fang of Inuyasha's demon father to protect his human mother? Very few knew that it only took on its true form when being used to protect humans. Not even Inuyasha knew that. He thought the sword just had a mind of its own.

Inuyasha squirmed, beaten. "Well," he stuttered, "Well, I still…I still don't like him. He didn't look trustworthy. Shifty eyes."

Kagome snorted. "And when did you have time to look? I thought you were too busy laying unconscious on the ground." She glared at him. "And he didn't have shifty eyes. They were pretty blue eyes!"

Sulking, Inuyasha lay down and turned his back to her, muttering, "Huh, stupid girls, they're all the same. 'Pretty blue eyes!' Huh! Don't make me laugh! At least I'm not all googly-eyed over him. Show-off! Ow!" he yelped, as a pinecone struck him in the back of the head.

"What was that for? Ow!"

Kagome shot another one at his head.

"I'm not googly-eyed!" she yelled.

►♦◄

The campfire had burned to embers. Kagome couldn't sleep. Getting up, she wandered around the small copse where they had camped. After the battle, it had taken a while to rouse Inuyasha enough that he could walk. They'd found a tiny clearing, just big enough for a fire and some rest. She stopped her pacing, standing next to Inuyasha. Looking down at him, she couldn't help but worry. He looked so worn out. During the last few days, they'd had battle after battle. Poor Inuyasha wasn't able to keep it up.

'We need a place where we can relax without worrying about demons,' she thought. 'Somewhere like…Home! That's it! He's come to my world before! After we find the next jewel shard, I'll take him home. Grandpa and Sota will love it, and Mom pampers everyone.' A sudden thought made her laugh. Imagine, the first boy she ever brought home would be a half-demon dog-boy from another world with an attitude problem! A small giggle escaped, making Inuyasha's dog ears twitch. He seemed to be dreaming, because he started mumbling and thrashing about. Sitting down next to him, she gently stroked his arm to comfort him. He stretched, cat-like, and curled around her. Her eyes widened, then softened as he snuggled into her warmth and sighed contentedly. She looked around, a little unsure of what to do. Seeing no one, she smiled and relaxed, staring at his peacefully sleeping face. Her grin turned rueful as she thought about what Sango would say, or Shippo, or, worse, Miroku. For the first time since they left their companions with Kaede, she was glad for the time alone with Inuyasha. As she looked at him, any thoughts of her mysterious stranger that she might have had disappeared. He might have been handsome, and debonair, but he just wasn't Inuyasha. She moved her hand to his hair and stroked her hand down the silky, silvery mass as she looked at him. The moonshine reflected off his pale skin and made his hair shine even brighter. His face, relaxed in sleep, lost its usual feral grimace and became childlike and innocent. His eyelids were shut, his long, dark eyelashes lightly dusting his cheeks. She almost wished that they were open, so that she could see his eyes, bright and golden, staring at her in the moonlight. She looked down at his mouth, and saw that it hung open slightly in slumber. The tiniest of snores escaped, and she giggled. Lying down, she smiled at him as she drifted to sleep.

►♦◄

The Sun's rays pierced the leafy tree canopy to land on Inuyasha's face. Yawning, he sighed, not wanting to get up. He listened, but couldn't hear Kagome up and about. Her breathing came softly up from somewhere nearby. Maybe he could sleep a little longer. Curling deeper into the warmth surrounding him, he shut his eyes and sighed. He moved to turn over, but found his arm caught. Opening his eyes grumpily, he looked downward, and was met with a head of dark, tousled hair. Kagome was asleep, cuddled against him with her hand grasping the front of his shirt. His arms were wrapped securely around her. His eyes widened as he tried to remember how they had gotten like this. He backed away slightly, but she protested in her sleep, pulling him back to her. Looking around to make sure they were alone, he slowly relaxed, breathing deeply of her scent and closing his eyes again. No sooner had he done so than Kagome stirred, beginning to open her eyes. With a nervous start, Inuyasha jumped backward in feigned surprise, yelping. Fully roused by the movement and the noise, Kagome opened her eyes and blinked sleepily.

"What?" she asked.

►♦◄

Kagome walked along the tree lined path. Inuyasha, still jumpy and fuming, followed at a distance. Glancing back, she called to him, "Come on, Inuyasha. Quit sulking! Why are you mad at me? After all, it's not my fault if you go all cuddly while you're sleeping! Mmmmph!"

Inuyasha jumped on her, clamping a hand over her mouth and hissing, "I do not go all cuddly! I'm a demon, and demons don't cuddle!"

Pushing his hand away, Kagome laughed. "Oh, then I guess it's the human in you, because you, my friend, were cuddly!"

Just before Inuyasha could gag her again, she stopped him, pointing ahead.

"What's that up there?" As soon as the words were out of her mouth, Inuyasha was off and she had to run to keep him in sight. She found him bending over something.

"It's just some guy, gone and got himself killed," he said callously. Kagome came forward to look and gasped. It was the stranger!

"Oh, no!" she cried, running to kneel beside him. Inuyasha watched bemusedly as she frantically searched for a pulse. Finding one, she breathed a sigh of relief.

"He's alive. Help me find some shelter for him. I'll need some cloth for bandages. Inuyasha, do you know any healing herbs? It's going to take everything we've got to keep him alive."

"Why bother?" Inuyasha asked cruelly. "He'll only slow us down."

Kagome rounded on him, furious. "How dare you! The only reason we're alive is because he rescued us! If you want to be like that, go ahead, but you're on you own! I'm staying here to help him!

"Do what you want, Inuyasha," she said, her voice losing its fire and getting softer. "You know where I'll be."

She turned her eyes away, but not before he saw her wounded look. Sighing resignedly, he picked up the unconscious stranger. "I'll find someplace to camp."

He sprang away, remembering the way her eyes lit up. Far out of earshot, he whispered, "I'm going soft." He looked down at the comatose man. Comatose, handsome man.

"Great," he muttered, "Just the kind of guy to show up now. Lucky dog."

►♦◄

The blood stains on the stranger's robes stood out against the glaring whiteness of their background. Sitting next to the stranger, Kagome rested her head on her knees and watched as he slowly regained consciousness. The stranger opened his eyes. He looked around his unfamiliar surroundings until he spotted Kagome next to him. Taking her hand, he brought it to his lips, saying, "Ah, beautiful lady, your presence explains everything." His voice was melodious and cultured.

"How does my presence explain everything?" Kagome asked, breathless. No one had ever kissed her hand before. She felt a little flutter in her chest.

"Why, my dear lady, the reason I cannot recognize my surroundings is that I am in heaven, else how could an angel like yourself be attending me?"

Flushing bright red with pleasure, Kagome tried to form a reply but was cut off by a harsh voice from behind.

"Kagome? An angel? Ha, that's a good one. But, hey, if you keep spouting trash like that, I'll send you up to meet some real angels. How would you like that?"

Kagome whirled on Inuyasha, who was leering as he flexed his deadly claws. Glaring at him, she retaliated the only way she could.

"Sit boy!"

At her voice saying the magic word, the enchanted beads around the half-demon's neck blazed to life, dragging him forcefully down to the ground.

SPLAT!

"Hey, what was that for? I was just making an offer, not a promise! But do that again, and I might rid myself of one not-so-angelic priestess!"

Kagome just scowled and sat him again. Behind her, the stranger laughed and said, "No, I am most definitely in heaven, for whom other than the angels deal such swift retribution?"

Shooting another warning glare at the Inuyasha-shaped hole in the ground, Kagome turned back to her patient and started to feed him some of the broth she had made.

"What's your name?" she asked him between spoonfuls.

"My name is Hendomé, and you're Kagome, right?" At her nod, he continued, "Hendomé, Kagome. Our names are very compatible. Perhaps our meeting was fated?" He stared into her eyes with his piercing blue ones, and she was unable to look away.

"Hey! You two! Are we about finished here, or are you planning on sticking around?"

Inuyasha's grumpy face peered down from a tree.

"You mean you're letting me stay with you?" Hendomé joked.

Scowling, Inuyasha turned away, muttering, "Doesn't look like I have much of a choice."

Hendomé turned and grinned at Kagome. She smiled back, and Inuyasha growled.

►♦◄

"Will you two keep up? Geez, we haven't traveled this slowly in ages!" Inuyasha stopped in his tree and waited for the other two to catch up. When they did, they were laughing quietly together. He rolled his eyes at them and bounded off through the trees.

When he stopped again, they were nowhere in sight. Hearing a noise up ahead, though, he slipped over to investigate…and nearly fell out of the trees. There they were, laying in the shade, with her head resting on his shoulder.

Hendomé grinned. "What took you so long, Inuyasha?" Kagome opened her eyes and smiled sleepily at him.

'Oh, man,' he thought desperately, 'I'm really in trouble.' With that look on her face, she looked exactly like his Kikyo, the beautiful priestess he had loved. But, by the work of evil demons and cruel fate, he and Kikyo were separated, each believing that the other had betrayed them. Kikyo had died, and Inuyasha had been pinned to a tree by an arrow and held there under a spell for fifty years. That is, until Kagome, Kikyo's reincarnation, had come and broken the spell…

Inuyasha shook his head to clear it. Those were dangerous thoughts to be thinking. He turned his focus back to the couple beneath the tree. Hendomé had slipped his arm around Kagome and pulled her closer. Inuyasha scowled more that ever. Striding over, he picked up the sleepy Kagome.

"Hey! What do you think you're doing?"

She struggled to get away, but he held her firmly.

"This is taking forever. I know you can keep up now, so I'll take the girl. That way you," he added with a sneer, "can conserve your strength since you were so badly injured." He grinned, pretending to be innocent. But his victory was short-lived.

Hendomé smiled good-naturedly and stood, stretching. "Good idea, Inuyasha." He bent, bringing Kagome's hand to his lips again. "Until then, beautiful lady."

Mumbling, Inuyasha shot off through the trees with Kagome berating him.

"Come on," he cried, "You're not really buying all this 'Beautiful lady' stuff, are you?" 'Oops, I think I just messed up…'

"So what, I'm not beautiful? I wish we were on the ground, I'd teach you…"