AN: Posting this at school while I'm waiting for Beauty and the Beast practices, cause home compy has issues. The compy I'm on right now, though, only works with italics, except when its bold. I tried formatting it all in bold, but it really bothered me, so I'll fix it sometime soon when i get home.

Quote of the day:

When I stand before thee at the day's end, thou shalt see my scars and know that I had my wounds and also my healing.
-Rabindranath Tagore

Scars

By Lin Zi Shuo

"Don't go out to far, Shippo!"

"I'm not!"

Kagome smiled as she glanced at the kit who was wading out into the water, snickering as a wave washed over him and his tail lost about half of its thickness. She sighed and picked at her towel absent-mindedly.

"Inu-Yasha, are you going to swim at all?" she asked him dully, tilting her head all the way back so she was looking at the hanyou in the tree upside down.

"Keh, why would I wanna do something like that? I'll just get wet, and I have no desire to watch the lecher try to copa-feel offa Sango." He snorted, causing Kagome to roll her eyes.

"If you're not going to swim, then at least come sit down here and talk to me, Inu-Yasha. Its dreadfully dull by myself." She said calmly, laying back on her towel and covering her eyes with her arm.

A soft 'keh' was the only warning before she felt the sand next to her shift as he leapt down from the tree to sit next to her. She grinned inwardly in victorious pride. 'Works every time.'

She sat up again moment s later at the sound of Shippo's shriek, only to find him splashing Kirara enthusiastically. She heard InuYasha snort, and looked over to find his ears flattened against his head.

"Does the runt have to be so loud? Keh, we should just let him cry at demons, and they'll pass out from pain."

Kagome giggled, leaning forward to wrap her arms around her knees, but was suddenly self-consious, remembering that she was still in her swimsuit.

"He should be allowed to be loud, Inu-Yasha. He's a little kid. My mom says one of the things she misses most from when me and Souta were little is us shrieking in the front yard when we'd play. Its normal."

There was no response for a moment, and Kagome had to stop herself from grinning. 'He's gonna say-'

"Keh."

The two remained silent, watching as the sun began to sink lower on the horizon. After a short while, she jumped at the feeling of fingers touching her back. She looked behind her to see Inu-Yasha with a serious look on his face.

"What is it?" She asked slowly, furrowing her brow, wondering what could have put such a stressed look one her companion.

"This scar…" He said, tracing a short line on her back, his eyes flitting to the ones on her arms as well. "Is this from…that arrow…when we battled Kaguya?"

He looked up at her sadly, before his hand moved to the five nearly identically shaped scars on her arms. "And these….from me."

She was speechless as she observed him, shocked at the amount of emotion he was showing. She watched as he withdrew his hand from her and his gaze fell to the sand beneath him.

"How many…how many scars have you gotten because I've failed you?"

She could hear the shame in his voice, and felt her heart ache. She reached and gently took his hand, scooting back so she was right next to him.

"Inu-Yasha, the scars I have….they aren't because you've failed me. I don't think of the times you weren't there when I see them. When I see them…" She paused as her gaze went hesitantly to look in his eyes. "When I see them, I think of all the trials we've over come. All the places we've been."

She turned so she was facing him, and pointed to each scar as she spoke. "The one on my side, from the jewel, reminds me of the journey that we set out on together, even though we didn't want to. The one on my neck from Yura—that was when we became friends. The one on my shoulder, from Kohaku—that was from defending our new friends. The one on my back…from Kaguya, it…it reminds me of how much I want to protect you, because you are so dear to me."

He still looked pained as he firmly grabbed her arm. "But this one! I put this here with my own claws. Not only did I fail you, but I was the one to hurt you! You'll have those for a long time. You-"

"To me, that scar shows how much I trust you. You could have killed me—you weren't yourself. But you heard my voice, and were able to come back to me. No matter what, you are always there for me somehow."

She moved so she sitting in front of him, her back leaning against his chest. "I trust you, Inu-Yasha. Sometimes wounds can strengthen a bond. Sometimes scars can remind you of something very important. If you were meant to forget, it wouldn't leave a scar."