A Story of Hope

Author's Note: A few things to say...

Everto Angelus- They make special things so that blind people can read things on the computer. I've never seen one, but I knowthey're around.

FallenRose2157- Actually I just read the thing about the tree on another fan fiction...

Samurai Fish-Kagome wasn't 'happy' after being upset at Inuyasha. She just forgave him. That's all.

Priestess-Midoriko- YAY! You're reviewer number 200!

Inuyasha took off, back towards the village. He tightened his grip on Kagome.

"Where are we going?" Kagome asked. She was scared. She had heard the blast and Shippo's comment. What had happened?

"We're going back to the village."

"Because of the explosion?"

"Yeah."

"Inuyasha, wait up!" Miroku called. The others were following him. Inuyasha didn't bother to slow down. They knew where they were going.

People were gathering around the remains of the house. They were trying to stop the flames. Most of them had been quenched already.

Sango surveyed the damage. "What happened?" she asked a nearby villager.

"Something exploded." He replied, "We don't know anything but that. As for the people inside… We fear the worst. No one has come out."

Inuyasha, slipped Kagome off his back and headed towards the house. He started pushing rubble around, looking for the bodies.

"What's he doing?" Kagome asked Sango.

"Looking for the family who lived in the house. It's in ruins."

Kagome frowned. "Do you think they're dead?"

Sango shrugged. "That's what the villagers think. There's always a chance they could have survived."

"I found someone!" Inuyasha called. He pulled Anai's limp body from the wreckage of her house. There were gasps from the villagers. Some called the woman's name. Inuyasha picked his way back out to the house debris. He put her body down on the road. Some village women ran over to her. Inuyasha returned to his search.

"Who'd Inuyasha find?" Kagome asked Sango.

"The wife. Anai, I think her name was." She replied, "I'll be right back Kagome. You stay here."

Kagome nodded, hearing her friend's footsteps get quieter as she got farther away.

"I found two more!" Inuyasha called. This time it was Sato and his son. Like Anai, they were both dead. "That's all of them, right?" he asked Miroku.

The monk shook his head. "They had a young girl as well. Around two years old." Inuyasha nodded and went back into the wreckage to find the girl.

Kagome was starting to get nervous. She could hear the people around her, but she couldn't pick out her friend's voices. "Sango?" no response. "Inuyasha? Shippo? Miroku?" None of the four replied. Kagome thought about going to find them. The villagers' voices were all around. She couldn't tell which way she would go to find the others. She sighed. Deciding to stay where she was. One of them would come back for her when the excitement died down.

There was a tug on Kagome's skirt. "Pretty lady." A girl's voice said softly. "What's going on?"

Kagome kneeled down, smiling. She offered an outstretched palm. "Put your hand in mine." She instructed. "I can't see so I need to know where you are." A small hand was placed in Kagome's. "This house exploded." Kagome told the child.

"From what? Why did it explode?"

"I don't know." She replied, shaking her head.

There was a bit of silence and then the child hugged Kagome. "Pretty lady." She said, "You're crying."

"Am I?" Kagome asked, embracing the child with one hand and wiping tears away with another. The child had long hair. So it was a girl. "Where's your house? You must have gotten separated from your mother in the crowd."

"My house is broken. It's in front of us."

Kagome gasped. "You poor thing! Sango!"

This time the demon slayer answered. "What is it Kagome?"

"Is Inuyasha still looking for the little girl?"

"Yeah, why? And who's that?"

"This is the girl!" Kagome replied, "She managed to survive!"

Sango's eyes widened. "Really?" Kagome nodded. "Hey Inuyasha! We found the girl! She's okay!"

Kagome heard Inuyasha crunch through the broken boards of the house. There was a crash. Sango laughed. "His foot just caught on a board and he fell over." Sango told Kagome. She laughed.

"What's happening?" the little girl asked.

Sango bent down, putting a hand on the girl's shoulder. "What's your name, sweetie?"

The girl turned in Kagome's grasp. Kagome let go. "My name's Asai." The girl replied.

"Well Asai." Sango said quietly, "You're a very lucky little girl."

Asai looked over at the demon slayer. "Where's Mama and Papa?"

Sango wasn't sure what to say. "Well." She said, "Uh."

"They're sleeping." Kagome put in.

"Will they be okay?"

There was another silence. Sango decided to let Kagome answer this one. "We're not sure." She finally replied.

Tears appeared in Asai's eyes. "I hope they are." She said, with a sniffle.

Kagome hugged her. "I bet you do."

Miroku ran over to the girls. "That's the girl the demon was possessing." He said, "But her hair is still white!"

Asai turned her big eyes up at Miroku. "Mama called me al- al- al-"

"Albino?" Kagome guessed.

She nodded. "Yeah."

"So her hair color has nothing to do with being possessed. That's good to know." Miroku commented. He turned his attention back to Asai. "How are you feeling?"

"I feel good." She admitted, "You came to see me."

"I did." He smiled at her.

Asai yawned. "I'm tired."

"Where's my bag?" Kagome asked.

Sango handed it to her. One hand around Asai, Kagome felt for the latch, keeping her bag closed. She found it, unlatching the bag, and started rummaging around in it. A second later she found the blanket and pulled it out, wrapping it around the girl. "Take a nap." She suggested. Asai nodded, laying down right where she was with the blanket and going promptly to sleep.

"So this is the kid?" Inuyasha asked, walking over. "Damn. Her hair really is white."

"Inuyasha!" Kagome said sharply. "There's a child here! Don't curse!"

"Feh. Well we've got to find a place for her to stay."

Miroku nodded. "I'll ask the villagers." He said, walking off.

"She's really cute." Sango said smiling. "Oh. Kagome, do you want me to describe her?"

Kagome shook her head. "Nah." She replied, "I know what an albino looks like."

"Why don't you want to hear about her?" Inuyasha asked. "You wanted to hear about the tree and you know what those look like." Kagome glared in Inuyasha's general direction. He gulped.

The group sat around Asai, waiting for Miroku to return with news of who would take the girl in. Finally he returned. Sango looked up at him. "So what's going on with someone taking in Asai?" she asked.

Miroku sighed, sitting down next to her. "No one wants to." He replied sadly. "It seems that Asai's been possessed by the demon who was in this house so long, that everyone's afraid of her. I assured them all that she's no longer possessed, but no one cares. They just don't want her.

"Then we'll have to take her with us." Kagome said.

"What!" Inuyasha exclaimed, "No way! I don't care if the kid's homeless. We're not going to take her with us. I refuse."

"Don't be so heartless." Miroku told him. "I think what Lady Kagome said is our only choice."

Sango nodded in agreement. "And we can see if someone will take her in at the next village we see."

"Yeah." Kagome replied, "I know we can't keep her with us. What we're doing is much too dangerous for a little girl be around."

"So why are we going to take her?" Inuyasha asked.

"Because she needs a place to stay." Sango said.

"Because she's too young to fend for herself." Miroku added.

"Because we might be the reason her house exploded." Kagome answered sadly.

"Because she's so cute!" Shippo finished happily.

Inuyasha raised an eyebrow at the kitsune. "You don't have a crush on her, do you?" he asked.

"No!"

"So she's coming with us." Sango said.

"Fine." Inuyasha snapped, "But we're dropping her in the next village we find."

Miroku nodded. "That's all that we're asking."

"Yay!" Shippo said happily. "She's so cute!"

"Would you quit with the cute!" Inuyasha demanded.