A/N: Thanks for the reviews! Here's the next chapter!

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Dream of Me
Chapter Two

"Here, Inuyasha. Since Kagome is not with you, I will give these things to you. I trust you will need them, as Kagome is always coming back to get more," Ms. Higurashi said flatly, before stuffing several large first aid kits into a bag. She wrapped the hanyou tightly in a hug, and whispered in his ear, "It's all right. I know everything will be all right, Inuyasha, because you going to be there." She smiled.

There were several knocks at the door, and Ms. Higurashi paled as she glanced out the window. Inuyasha, confused, stood behind here. "Who are they?"

"Remember when you met them? They are Kagome's friends from this era…" Ms. Higurashi explained. "And Kagome isn't here…Inuyasha! Please, tell them something. I can't…they'll see right through it!"

Inuyasha nodded, determination shining in his eyes, and walked outside.

Kagome's friends blinked several times. "Hey, aren't you…?" began Yuka.

"Yes, I am," Inuyasha cut her off. "Look, Kagome's not here right now. She has moved in with me to spend summer vacation. Inuyasha was surprised how easily the lie rolled off of his tongue.

They all nodded. "Can we visit her there?"

"No!" Inuyasha yelped. "I mean, it's a long time away from here, and my family is really old fashioned, so…" another lie. He was getting good at this.

After a few moments, her friends nodded again. "All right. Well, I guess we'll see her soon then! You two have fun this summer!" Eri called as they left.

Inuyasha smiled, and rushed inside. "They won't bug you about her all summer…now I have to go save Kagome!" he worried, hugging Ms. Higurashi and Souta before grabbing Sango and Miroku and running out the door.

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"Good morning. How is your head?" asked Naraku.

"It's fine!" Kagome smiled at him. "I can't believe I was out that long! How did I hit my head so hard?" she questioned him.

He shrugged. "I don't know. I found you like that outside of the castle doors." He lied.

"I see," Kagome nodded. "Well, thank you for nursing me back to health."

"It's my job." Naraku smiled. He looked up. "Kagura!" he hollered. "Please accompany Kagome to the garden for a while…"

Kagura appeared, and walked with Kagome to the 'garden'. The intense poisonous gasses that Naraku gave off had killed whatever foliage was once there long ago. Kagome blinked several times, cocking her head to the side and studying the pathetic excuse for a garden.

"Kagura?" she whispered.

"Yes, Miss Kagome?" growled Kagura. The idiot girl really can't remember anything! She was holding a conversation with Naraku…and she hasn't tried to run yet. Her memory really is gone. The thought brought a look of sadness to her face.

"Why is everything in the garden dead?" Kagome asked.

Kagura started in surprise. "Everything died while you were unconscious…" she lied. "I have to go talk to Sesshoumaru." She mouthed under her breath.

Kagome blinked. "Sesshoumaru? Who's that?"

Kagura shrugged and quickly walked off without another word.

"It actually worked!" Kagura worried, pacing the ground in front of Sesshoumaru as he studied her with interest. "It worked! Oh, god…what am I going to do? He's going to kill me, and I…Kagome has been walking around the castle laughing with him all day!" she nearly gagged at that thought. "How is this going to work? What am I supposed to do if he tries anything? I can't let him hurt her, and I…"

"You can't let him hurt her?" Sesshoumaru repeated. "When did this whole change of conscience come about?"

Kagura sighed. "Because, even though I can't tell you who it is, there is a reason that I do not want to die…a reason to live. A chance at happiness. For Kagome, that person is Inuyasha…not Naraku. She just can't remember that right now…"

Sesshoumaru nodded as Kagura began to pace again, a new wave of thoughts coursing through her mind. "I understand that," Sesshoumaru whispered.

"Where is Inuyasha? If I find him, and we knock Kagome out again, then maybe we could…" Kagura planned out loud.

Sesshoumaru shook his head this time. "Wouldn't work. He's marked her." He reminded her, and the sad and defeated look came back into Kagura's eyes. "However…" Sesshoumaru gasped, a sudden thought occurring to him. "He can't complete the process!" he realized, jumping up from the rock upon which he was currently perched. "No, he can't! If he was to try that, his plan would certainly be foiled!"

"Why do you say that? Who says Kagome would object? She believes herself to be mated to Naraku. It would not seem too odd…" Kagura growled at him.

"Yes it would, Kagura, and you just told me exactly why. You said Kagome just couldn't remember her feelings for Inuyasha right now. That was brilliant. Naraku may have erased Kagome's memories, but she is human. No matter what he does, he cannot devoid her of her human emotions. He may be able to cover them up…to hide them from her…but I doubt that they are completely gone. Just replaced…"

A smile slowly stretched itself across Kagura's face. "Thank you, Sesshoumaru!" she yelped, wrapping him in a hug.

Sesshoumaru turned to walk in the opposite direction that Kagura was headed. He would find his brother and tell him the news…and then, they would attack. If there was any possibility of saving Kagome and Kagura, their attack would need to be swift, and very, very soon.

Inuyasha woke with a start; the familiar smell of sakura blossoms and honey that was Kagome's scent tickled his nose playfully. He looked around, but he couldn't see her anywhere. In front of him, behind him…all around him was nothing but an endless abyss of black emptiness.

"Kagome! Where are you? Kagome!" Inuyasha screamed. His voice seemed to echo and bounce back at him. He ignored it, jumping to his feet. "Kagome! Answer me, damn it!" he hollered. No answer.

Inuyasha walked for what seemed like days through the never ending blackness, still finding no signs of life other than his own heavy breathing.

"Kagome!" Inuyasha cried out, finally accepting his exhaustion and dropping to his knees. "Kagome…please answer me! I didn't mean for this to happen! I tried to protect you! Please! I need you back!" he called. "That bastard Naraku will pay for what he has done, Kagome! I promise you that!"

Suddenly, the blackness began to fade away. Inuyasha was suddenly standing in a very familiar clearing. Standing in front of him was Kagome, clad in a stunning silk blue and silver kimono. Inuyasha had never seen her look so beautiful.

He ran towards her. "Kagome! I'm sorry, I…" He stopped short. Naraku had appeared. He was laughing at Inuyasha. Inuyasha tried to charge at him, but there was a barrier keeping him away from Naraku, and out of reach of Kagome.

Inuyasha released a growl from deep within his throat as he watched Naraku, smiling at Kagome, lacing his fingers with hers. He leaned in, and Inuyasha thought he would surely die of sadness and disgust as he witnessed Naraku biting Kagome. She looked frightened and confused as she stared at him from inside the barrier.

"Inuyasha?" she whispered uncertainly.

"Kagome!" he screamed, jumping forward.

This time, instead of hitting a barrier, he landed on his two feet in front of Naraku's castle. Naraku's foul scent assaulted his senses, and he growled almost immediately. He looked around himself. Sango, Miroku, Shippo, and even the demon cat Kirara were all lying around on the ground. The scent of death was intertwined with Naraku's.

Inuyasha blinked back the stinging in his eyes, and looked forward. There stood Naraku, smiling down upon him, and next to Naraku, in that same beautiful silk kimono, was Kagome.

"Kagome…kill him. He has tried to harm us." Naraku ordered her.

Kagome blinked, shaking her head uncertainly. "But I thought…" she began.

"No questions! Do it!" he commanded, and Inuyasha paled as Kagome raised her bow to him, loaded with a pointy new arrow.

"Kagome…don't." he whispered. "I didn't hurt you, did I? I only want you to come back to me. I've missed you. I've come to bring you back to your friends and family…to me…"

Kagome lowered her bow, permitting the arrow to drop to the ground as she did so. "I can't do it." She whispered. "He hasn't tried to hurt me. I don't want to hurt him. I can't do it…" Kagome repeated.

"Kagome…" Inuyasha smiled.

"I don't understand…" Kagome frowned. "I don't understand what is going on? Who are you? Are you really here to hurt me, hanyou?" she asked, her voice uncertain.

Her words stung Inuyasha, but he only shook his head. "No, I would never hurt you." He whispered. "I love you. I said I would always protect you. That's what I'm trying to do." He grinned.

"Shut up!" commanded Naraku, grabbing Kagome and jerking her closer to himself. "There's nothing you can do about it, Inuyasha! She doesn't remember her friends, her family, and especially not you! I made sure of it! There's nothing you can do about it now! Go ahead and kill me if you want, but then you will watch your precious miko die as well…" he laughed madly.

"No!" screamed Inuyasha, starting in surprise. He nearly fell out of the tree he had been sleeping in. Looking down, he saw his brother's cold and troubled eyes staring back up at him.

"Nightmare, Inuyasha?" Sesshoumaru smirked.

"Shut the hell up, Sesshoumaru." He growled defensively. "Yes, it was…" he added, his voice quieting slightly. "I think Naraku is going to hurt her, Sesshoumaru…and I don't know what to do. There is nothing I can do. Not under these circumstances…"

"Yes there is. That's what I came to talk to you about." Sesshoumaru revealed.

Inuyasha jumped down, looking his brother straight in the face. "What do you mean, there is? What way? You'd better spill the beans right now." Inuyasha demanded. "We don't have enough time to be playing games with one another right now."

"Agreed." Sesshoumaru nodded. "Take me to the village. Your human friends and the kit are going to need to hear this as well…"

Sesshoumaru paced back and forth in front of the small fire that Kaede had built for them right outside her hut. Inuyasha and the others listened intently to the inu-youkai's words.

"Kagura reminded me of something important this morning," he told the group. "Naraku may have wiped Kagome's memories of you all and her family…but Kagome is only human. What is the one thing that humans will latch onto more than any other species on this earth?" he asked, and waited. He wasn't expecting an answer, so he continued. "Emotion. No matter what Naraku does to Kagome's memory, he can not void her of her human emotions…"

Everyone nodded. Sesshoumaru kept talking. "Kagura said that deep down in their hearts, everyone has someone that they love…someone who will give them a reason to live and a chance to live happily. She reminded me that while Naraku has bitten Kagome, Kagome does not really love him…she only thinks she does."

"I see what you mean!" Shippo clapped happily.

"Oh really, runt? Enlighten the rest of us." Inuyasha frowned.

Shippo cleared his throat. "Naraku has only bitten Kagome. He can not actually complete the mating ritual," here, the small fox demon cleared his throat loudly, "because Kagome doesn't really love him like that. She is only being fooled by him."

"So Kagome's love of Inuyasha should somehow be able to set her free from the spell of Naraku's mating mark?" asked the monk.

Sango smiled at the thought. "This is great!" she laughed.

Inuyasha blinked. "She…loves me?"

"You're an idiot." Sango growled.

Sesshoumaru nodded in agreement. "We might need more help than that, though. Inuyasha, could you go find Kagome's family…wherever they are? This is going to be dangerous, but I believe we are going to need the extra help…"

Inuyasha frowned. "That's a great idea, Sesshoumaru. Bring her unsuspecting family into the feudal era to be brutalized by Naraku…"

"There is that risk…but if they can help…"

Kaede cleared her throat loudly. "Might I suggest something else that wouldn't involve risking anymore lives than necessary?" The old woman held up a small vial of blue liquid.

"What is that?" asked Shippo.

"While the rest of you are attacking Naraku, Inuyasha, ye go find Kagome. Take her hand, and drink this potion. The potion will form a highly…effective barrier around you and Kagome. A gas will fill the barrier up. The gas is not harmful…just a highly potent sleeping potion…"

"We'd be very vulnerable if we were to go to sleep!" Inuyasha objected.

Kaede nodded. "That you will…but Kagome needs ye Inuyasha. No one else can help to lift that spell but yourself. I am correct, Naraku managed to do all the damage he did while Kagome was sleeping. I am hoping that you will somehow be able to reverse it…"

"But what about…?" began Inuyasha.

Sesshoumaru coughed. "I will handle Naraku. The monk and the demon slayer are competent enough to guard you."

"You are going to…help?" Inuyasha choked.

Sesshoumaru sighed and nodded. "I have my reasons. I have something of my own to protect…" he revealed.

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A/N: Shorter than the last chapter, but I have been pretty busy. Anyway, I hope you guys liked it. Please review and let me know.

NEWS: I will be making a sequel to My Only Hope and to a Harry Potter story I wrote a while ago called More Than Yellowed Pages, thanks to a suggestion from one of my faithful reviewers:D Anyway, these sequels will be coming out soon….possibly while this story is still going, since I will be traveling a lot this summer. Ja!