Chapter 10: Goodbye?
Disclaimer: I don't own Inuyasha, but the storyline is mine.
Author's Note: Okay…so last time people got worried that I was killing off Kagome…but as you can see, the story goes on….so just read it, alright? JEEZ! Haha! Just kidding… actually.. I do want you to read it, but I'm not seriously all forceful about it. But anyway, yeah, you might have noticed by now that some of the stuff the characters are doing is a bit OOC, but well, I have to make some adaptations, right? Right. : ) Anyway, there's the next chapter…it's a little slow, but totally necessary. Please review! I love hearing feedback, so anything you have to say will be of help. (Note: that doesn't include retarded flames that have no sort of constructive commentary. K? k.) Thanks for reading! azami
Last time: Once alone, Inuyasha burst into heavy sobs, collapsing onto the rim of the well. "Kagome…why did you leave me?" Kagome slowed her run, stopping beside Inuyasha. "Inuyasha! I'm right here!" She dropped to her knees, attempting to take the grieving hanyou into her arms, but her arms went right through his form. Kagome gasped, staring at her hands.
"Kagome….my sweet Kagome…why did you have to die…" he murmured through his tears. Kagome jerked her head up, looking at Inuyasha.
"Why can't he see me? Why can't I touch him?" she thought to herself, the fear mounting in her gut. "Am I dead?"
Kagome sat next to Inuyasha as he sobbed, feeling helpless and lost. She wanted to reach out to him…to comfort him….but she couldn't touch him. He didn't even know that she was there…to him…she was dead. Dead….the word resonated in Kagome's mind. "I'm dead…" she whispered. She turned to Inuyasha, who'd curled into the fetal position at the base of the well's rim.
Kagome closed her eye, saddened to see the hanyou she loved so dearly in so much pain. "I love you, Inuyasha…" she murmured.
When she opened her eyes, she was no longer beside Inuyasha, but now sat upon her bed in her family's home. Things were the same as they always had been. Just then, her mothered entered. "Mama?" Kagome said, her voice cracking, but still, she received no response. "She can't hear me either…" Kagome murmured. Her mother dusted around the top of Kagome's vanity table, stopping in front of a group of photos sitting in picture frames. Mrs. Higarashi picked up a photo she'd taken of Kagome and Inuyasha the previous spring. Kagome and Inuyasha had had yet another argument, and as always Kagome had rushed home to fume. And as always, Inuyasha followed soon after to retrieve her and demand she return with him to the Feudal Era. They made up beneath the sacred tree, Kagome cradled in Inuyasha's lap. The two had drifted off, nestled close together, surrounded by the blossoms of the sacred tree. It was such a precious moment that Mrs. Higarashi couldn't help but capture the memory on film. Her mother gazed onto the photo with a sad smile.
"Young love…" she sighed, "And such a grand future you were to have…" Mrs. Higarashi quickly set the photo down, and turned away from the vanity. Kagome saw tears streaming down her mother's face.
"Mama…" Kagome whimpered, reaching out to her mother, but Mrs. Higarashi turned away and rushed from the room, closing the door behind her. Kagome fell back onto her bed and began to weep until she fell into a deep slumber. When she awoke, she shivered, and noticed the window was wide open. "Hmm…that's weird…I didn't know that ghosts could get cold." She got up and went to the window. Just as she peered out, she saw a figure disappear into the temple.
"Inuyasha…" she whispered, closing her eyes. When she opened them this time, she was back in the Feudal era. She found herself next to the sacred tree, Inuyasha beside her. He was mumbling incoherently to himself, rocking back and forth. Kagome's eyes widened, taking in what happened before her. "He's gone mad…oh Kami….my poor Inuyasha…"
Suddenly, the delirious hanyou stood, pulling the Tetsaiga from its sheath. "I'm coming Kagome…I'll find you…and we'll be together, just like we're supposed to be…" Kagome realized what he was about to do and screamed, "Inuyasha! Noooo!" As she screamed, the hanyou ran himself through with his own sword, the blade piercing his heart, ensuring that he would parish. He crumbled in a heap at the base of the sacred tree, blood pumping from the wound in his chest. Kagome ran to him, crazed and sobbing.
"Inuyashaaaaa! Wake up! Goddamit! Why did you do this? Inuyasha….," she screamed.
"What're ya yellin about? I'm right here," his voice came from behind her. She jerked her head up, and turned, finding him leaning against the trunk of the tree, his arms crossed over his chest. "Inuyasha!" She ran to him and buried her face in his chest. He wrapped his arms around her, pulling her close to him. "Stop all that cryin…I hate when you cry…" he said gruffly. She raised her head and looked into his beautiful amber eyes.
"But…why? Why did you kill yourself?" she asked him, her eyes begging for an answer that would make sense of everything. He pulled her away from him slightly, his gaze boring into the depths of her soul. "I couldn't live without you, Kagome…" he whispered. "Now, we will always be together and no one can reach us…no one can come between us ever again…but there's one more thing we have to do…"
She looked at him, confused. "Something else? But we're…dead…." She shook her head, not understanding how there was anything at all they could possibly do. He stroked her cheek lovingly, and pulled her into a kiss.
"You have to cut your life line…" he said, motioning behind her. Kagome turned, and saw a shimmering, translucent silver chord waving behind her, seemingly attached to her back. She quickly looked in back of Inuyasha, and saw that there was a similar chord attached to him. He smiled, "Yeah, I have one too. I'll cut them at the same time, and then we'll be done….we'll be free to spend the rest of eternity together." She looked up at him, her brow furrowed.
"What do you mean by 'life line'?" she asked, turning and fingering the chord attached to her.
"It's what connects your soul to your physical body. As long as that's not severed, you're still technically alive," he explained, looking impatient.
Kagome's eyes widened and she smiled brightly. "So I'm still alive! And so are you! Inuyasha! We still have a chance to live! We've got to get back to our bodies!" She whooped with joy, knowing that her separation from her family and friends was not permanent. And she still had a chance to live out her life with Inuyasha, as his mate….
Inuyasha looked to the ground, his ears lowered. "Inuyasha?" Kagome said, concerned at his sudden silence. "What's wrong?"
He raised his eyes to her, the expression on his face hurt and sad. "Don't you want to spend eternity with me, Kagome? Don't you love me enough to do that?"
She gasped and rushed to him, wrapping her arms around his waist. "Oh Inuyasha…I do love you…with all of my being. I just want the chance for us to live our lives…together…"
He grabbed her roughly by the shoulders, jerking her up so their eyes met. "We can't do that Kagome. This is how it needs to be. Now turn so I can cut your life line," he ordered sternly. Kagome gaped at him, seeing an unfamiliar red sheen to his normally bright amber eyes. She pulled away from him. "Inuyasha…what are you saying…" she said, backing away.
Inuyasha's eyes blazed over, but then settled back to their normal color. "Kagome…come one…don't you trust me? I love you….," he said, gently coaxing her back to him, but she pulled away farther.
"No you don't because you're not Inuyasha! This is a trick! Inuyasha would never tell me to give up and just die! He would never just give up and die!" she screamed at the imposter figure in front of her. "He was calling me a stupid baka for even thinking about doing something like that for even a second!"
With that, she ran, as fast as she could make her legs carry her, in the direction of Kaede's hut.
Back inside Kaede's hut…
"Come on, Kagome! Wake up, dammit!" Inuyasha yelled at the shaking form of the young miko. She'd begun struggling and moaning in her deep slumber, the sweat pouring from her brow. Inuyasha darted his eyes around, panicking. Suddenly, Kagome sat straight up, gasping for air. "Inuyasha!" she croaked, her throat dry and hoarse.
"Kagome!" he exclaimed, taking her into his arms. She fainted again, out cold on the floor. A short while later, she was once again revived. "Inuyasha…" she mumbled, half incoherent. She opened her eyes to find him gazing down at her, a slight smile on his lips. He stroked her brow lovingly, and pulled her up to into his lap.
"You scared me…" he whispered. She began to cry uncontrollably, her body shuddering with every gasp of breath. When she finally calmed to a faint whimpering, Kagome finally spoke. "Inuyasha…I was…dead…or almost dead… I could see you, crying…and I saw my mother…she looked so sad…and…then I saw you again, and you killed yourself! But then your spirit came….and you told me that we could just give up on life now…and just be together…but..it wasn't you…" she rattled off her experiences, tears still streaming down her face.
Inuyasha rocked her gently in his lap, trying to soothe her tears. "It's alright Kagome…it's alright…." They sat huddled together for a long time, and finally Kagome drifted back to sleep. Her breathing was still quite ragged, and it was easily seen that she was not yet healed. Kaede entered a short time later. "It is lucky for Kagome that ye two hold such a strong bond. Without it, she may have perished," Kaede said, standing beside Inuyasha, peering down at Kagome.
Inuyasha looked up at Kaede, still stroking Kagome's hair, "What's happened exactly, Kaede?" he asked, his eyes begging her for an answer he wanted to hear. Kaede shook her head and walked to the fire, prodding it with an iron rod.
"It is most heart-breaking to know that my own sister is capable of such treacherous behavior, but her spirit is composed only of the darkness that invaded her heart long ago," Kaede said sadly. "But we must stop her before she destroys Kagome! I believe that Kikyo is trying to place a curse on her, and it is most definite that Naraku is involved."
Inuyasha's brow furrowed, his eyes narrowing in anger. "All I care about is protecting Kagome. She's going to be my mate, so that means her life is my life, and vice versa."
Kaede gasped, quickly turning to Inuyasha. "Ye have asked Kagome to be your mate? Inuyasha! This could be the very solution for the problem." The old miko began to pace back and forth over the floor her hut. Inuyasha watched her, unsure of what she was proposing.
"What, Kaede? What're you getting at?" Inuyasha asked, watching her pace.
Kaede stopped and turned to the hanyou. "As I mentioned previously, when a miko uses her powers against another miko, especially will ill intent, the results are disastrous. However, because Kikyo is no longer living, and merely a manifestation of her former self, and Kagome is the reincarnation of Kikyo, she may have been able to absorb some of the force of the attack. But because Kikyo and Kagome both hold a tremendous amount of spiritual power it is difficult to say that Kagome will be able to withstand the force of the power. I had hope that I would be able to speak to Kagome before she was once again faced with my sister."
Inuyasha looked at her, and remembered what Miroku had told him the previous day. "Oh yeah…what did you need to talk to her about?" Kaede shook her head, stirring the fire again. "That is something to be discussed with Kagome has regained consciousness, and I can speak to both of you at once."
"I'm awake, Kaede….just a little…weak.." Kagome said, struggling to sit up. Inuyasha pulled her into an upright position, making sure she moved as little as possible. Kagome shifted, leaning against Inuyasha. "Please…Kaede…go on.."
Kaede sighed deeply, and began. "That night, when I came for ye, it was a most important matter indeed. Kagome, as ye have been told, ye come from a long line of possessors of tremendous spiritual power. Ye are the reincarnation of my own sister, the guardian of the Shikon no Tama. When Kikyo was taken from this life, the legacy was passed on to you, and only you. The jewel resided within your soul, and now you, and Kikyo are the only two that can sense their whereabouts. This is by no accident, childe. Upon the death of Kikyo, the fate of your life was sealed, instantly adhering the jewel to your soul. Your entrance into this world was no accident…just as when ye freed Inuyasha's from Kikyo's curse was no accident. It became the duty of Inuyasha to protect ye…and for ye to protect the jewel. Your father wanted it to be this way."
Kagome shook her head slightly, still confused. "Kaede…my mother mentioned my father… he died when I was very young…and…I don't understand how he ties into all of this… I don't understand how my father and his involvement are parallel to Inuyasha and I."
Kaede sighed again, rising from her seat, and once again pacing the room. "I suspected that this time would come sooner than perhaps ye were ready for…Kagome…your father was not an ordinary man. In fact, he was not of your time."
Kagome gasped, her eyes widening. "But…what…what do you mean, Kaede?"
The old miko settled her eyes on the girl, a slight smile spreading to her lips. "Your father, Toshihiro, was a scholar of our time whom possessed spiritual powers. He and he alone knew the entire history of the Shikon no Tama, and everything that accompanied it. The spiritual powers he possessed were born from his mother, a miko…the miko that had a part in the creation of the Shikon no Tama. That power included the ability for site of the future to come. It was he who found the well and traveled through it upon chance. To this day, I am still unsure of why he was able to do so, but it can only said that he was meant to do so. Upon his departure, your father said this to me, 'Kaede, it has been told that a new guardian will be born. I shall seek her out, and bring whatever protection I am able,' and he was never seen again."
Kagome frowned, her brow furrowed. She was still unsatisfied… "But… my mother spoke of an Ainu shaman woman…what did she mean by that?" Kaede smiled and nodded. "Ah yes….the Ainu…they were a people indigenous to Japan, forced out by the tyrants to a small costal island. Your grandmother came from the Ainu….and upon your father's disappearance, she made it known that a new guardian would be born…and would return to reclaim her place as guardian of the Shikon no Tama. It was passed from generation to generation….until it was received by your mother. Your father knew of this, however, he did not know of his exact part. Upon his meeting your mother he fell into a love deeper than he had ever conceived of, and that spawned the birth of ye….the guardian of the Shikon no Tama."
Kagome leaned into Inuyasha, dizzied by everything she'd just been told. Inuyasha looked down at her, worried, and then he looked to Kaede. "But what've I got to do with all of this?"
Kaede bared a sad smile, "Ye, son of the great Inu-Yokai general, were destined to be a protector of mortal…more specifically, the protector of the guardian of the Shikon no Tama. All of what you experienced with Kikyo was merely a stepping-stone…ye and she were never destined to be more than what ye were. When I was a young woman, long after the death of my sister, my father told me of this legend and my sister's place in it. It was known that the guardian of the jewel would be tested, and that she would fail in her first life, but then would be reborn and would conquer the great evil that was to arise. Your father betrothed the ownership of the Tetsaiga, created from the Fang of Destruction, to protect the guardian. This test is what resulted in ye being cursed upon the sacred tree, and what led to ye being freed. Ye were never meant to be as one with Kikyo…ye were meant to be as one with Kagome."
Kagome looked to Inuyasha, and Inuyasha back at Kagome. They both then looked to Kaede, stunned by everything she knew. "But…but…what did you mean when you said that our becoming mates could be the solution to the problem?"
Kaede smiled knowingly, "As I said, ye two are destined to be. In these past years, after the resurrection of Kikyo, a dark cloud descended upon the hope of your union…however, now that ye have entrusted your love and commitment to one another, the destiny can be sealed. If ye two are bonded by the rites of mating, the bond is unbreakable. It is because Kagome has accepted you as ye are, and ye her for what she is. Kikyo was mistaken in her attempt to convince you to become fully human…it was not part of what was to be. The only way that the jewel can truly be purified is by one whose soul is truly pure….one who can love in a way that is truly pure… Kikyo's wish to change ye tainted that."
Inuyasha nodded, somehow understanding all of what Kaede was telling them. He looked down at Kagome, stroking her brow. The old miko smiled again, and nodded silently. "I shall leave ye now. Please take rest here. I shall find lodgings amongst the villagers." With that, the old miko left the hut quickly, leaving the two intended mates to themselves.
"See….told you that you were the one I was gonna be with," Inuyasha quipped, breaking the silence. Kagome stared at him blankly, and then broke out into gales of laughter. "Wow…" was all she could muster.
Inuyasha nodded, "No kiddin' huh? And here I was thinkin' that you might say no and you were gonna hafta say yes all along." He smirked down at her, causing her to bring an elbow into his ribs.
"Yeah, well we haven't mated yet, buddy," she said, sticking her tongue out at him. He laughed, and pulled her up closer to him. They sat there for a moment, everything sinking in deeper. He gazed at her, longing to share every emotion that was welling up inside of him….wanting so much to be closer to her….closer in a way that they'd never been. But he knew she was too weak….but the time would come. So, for now, he leaned in and kissed her gently, and she returned the kiss whole-heartedly.
There were three more days until the meeting with Kagura…and Inuyasha was still unsure as to whether or not she should be trusted. He was afraid for Kagome…hoping that she would be up to the task at hand. Whatever was to happen, he knew that he would stop at nothing to protect Kagome. He watched the sleeping miko who lay in his lap, and nuzzled her lovingly. The thought of anyone taking her from him was more than he could bare….and something he would not allow. "I'll get my revenge….and this time I'm make sure you really are dead, Kikyo."
So…Kagome's not dead….but it seems that things are a bit more involved that either Inuyasha or Kagome had ever conceived of. Is there more to the story? I think sooooo….And Kikyo's really got it coming to her. Will Kikyo succeed? Or is Naraku just toying with her as he does all others? Guess you'll have to read next time! Please read and review! I really appreciate any feedback I get! Till then, my pets. ;)azami