Three years have passed since Kagome and Inuyasha started their quest for the shards of the Shikon no Tama. Naraku still has most of the jewel fragments, and they had only one at the moment. After visiting Kouga a while back to retrieve his jewel shards, he barked insults at Inuyasha and said that he wouldn't hand them over. Kouga was truly convinced that it was he that would defeat Naraku. So other than Kouga's shards, there were only two jewel shards left to find.
Kagome looked up from the grass and up to the darkening sky. She watched as the sun slowly retreated behind the mountains, creating a sheet of orange and red to flood the sky. She inwardly sighed in relief at its beauty, but was also quite relieved when Inuyasha announced that they would be stopping soon.
Over the long years, much had changed for the group. Sango and Miroku had finally confessed to one another that they loved each other. Kagome smiled, and thought about the possibility of Miroku taking Sango's hand in marriage after Naraku was destroyed. She was very happy that the two had obtained the burning love that they created. It made her heart warm at the thought. But, Miroku and Sango's relationship wasn't the only thing that had changed.
Kagome's attitude hadn't changed; she was still bright and always tried to be honest with everyone. But there was the fact that she didn't fight that often with Inuyasha anymore. Not only that, but her body had matured also. She was about an inch taller, and her raven hair now cascaded at longer lengths; their locks still radiating like before. Her body had changed into the one of a full grown woman too, now that she was at the age of nineteen. But her physical appearance wasn't the only thing that had changed or increased. Her powers, which had enlarged themselves on her eighteenth birthday, now surpassed a certain dead priestess's. And not only that, but some people argued that it was possible they equaled Midoriko's.
So, with this surge of power came more beautiful facial features. Her skin was smooth without blemishes, her eyes were brighter, and the smile she cast could light up the world. And with these changes came the change in her eyes; once a creamy chocolate, they were now a caramel mixed in with an emerald green.
Looking up slightly, she watched Inuyasha's hair swing back and forth as they trudged through the forest. Sighing, she realized the confession she had made to herself. She loved Inuyasha. But, she didn't recognize in what way she did. It was possible that why she could think of him as just a brotherly companion, but she could also be searching for a more intimate relationship. At the moment, her heart felt pity for him, though.
Recently, Kikyo had joined Naraku in the fight for the Shikon jewel shards. While Naraku had most of the jewel, they had only one fragment. And, other than Kouga's shards, there were two that were yet to be found. This caused many a problem. One, Kouga refused to give up his shards. Two, the two shards were yet to be accounted for. And Kagome, with her powers, wasn't allowed to sense them anywhere.
"I think we should camp here for the night, it's already pretty late." Kagome was snapped out her thoughts suddenly, and found her friends were all starting to set there things down and searching for wood.
Kagome walked to a nearby tree and set her bag and bow and arrows down as everyone else put down their weapons and gathered some wood to make a decent sized fire to keep them warm through out the night. She took out her sleeping bag and a blanket for Sango as the boys sat down on the opposite side of the fire and leaned against the trees for support.
Lying on top of the blanket she received, Sango looked over at Kagome as her friend slipped into her sleeping bag. "You did great today, Kagome. You know, I think that you are still getting stronger everyday."
Kagome smiled at Sango; she was always someone that you could talk to about anything. Good or bad. Sango even acted like an older sister to her … and Kagome sometimes did mistake her as her actual sibling.
"Thanks Sango, but I don't think that I was that great. And I don't think there is any possible way I could get any stronger. The last time my powers grew, it was so very painful. And I don't think I could survive if that happened again."
Showing sympathy through her eyes but not through her awkward smile, Sango continued to watch her friend. Sango thought that Kagome could never really hate someone, even if it were Naraku. Somehow, she found the positive side of things and always shared her knowledge. From time to time, the kindness Kagome still held surprised Sango.
"…Everything will be alright, won't it Kagome?"
After thinking about Sango's question, Kagome grinned. "Yeah Sango, everything will be fine, you'll see." She whispered.
Seconds later, Sango was already in a deep sleep. And after Inuyasha and Miroku exchanged a few whispers, they too fell into the same sleep.
Trying to follow their example, Kagome shut her eyes and attempted to enter the dreamscape her friends were in. But, for some reason, she was unable to. She just laid awake, staring at the dancing flames of the fire. And so suddenly did she start to miss her friend Shippo. She remembered the grief torn sobs he cried once he heard that he wouldn't be able to travel with them, for it was to dangerous. Soon, she wished she could see him.
Moments later, Kagome heard the fire suddenly chuckle as a log shifted. Slipping out of her saddened state, she realized that she was still awake. How long, she wondered, was she staring at the fire?
Sighing, she slowly crawled out of her sleeping bag and pulled on her shoes. Careful not to wake the others, especially Inuyasha, she tip-toed outside of the camp area. She came upon the surrounding woods, and felt a slight pinch of freedom. Walking further into the area, the trees suddenly halted and Kagome was surrounded by a large green field. Many yards away, she spotted the hill in the center of the field that she remembered from long ago. Jogging closer, she started to climb up the hill. Careful not to slip and fall and dampen her clothes, she kept an eye about where she put her feet.
After reaching the top, she plopped onto the ground and sighed. Feeling the cool grass beneath her fingers, she began to think once more. And as she did so, a cool breeze swept by and welcomed her to the silence of moonlit flowers and the soft beat of the world. Her shoulders now relaxed and her hair softly playing with the wind, she entered the realm of her thoughts.
For the past month, she had been having this strange feeling that something important was going to take place. Something she had no control over, something she could not avoid. But she knew that whatever it was- was connected to the dreams she had been plagued with recently. The dreams were horrible; she knew this because after every dream she would awake heaving for air accompanied with a cold sweat than ran down her back. Her body shaking, she always tried to remember the dreams that dealt her so much fear.
Usually Kagome was always cheerful and energetic, but this week she felt drained. It almost seemed as if it were draining, leaving only the feeling of helplessness. And with this, she automatically suppressed that feeling along with those of Depression and Anger. She did this because of the dream, she thought; but she also noticed that it could also be because of how other people thought and talked about her. No one ever referred to her as Kagome; but as 'Kikyo's reincarnation', Wench, 'Woman', or a Priestess.
At one point in there travels, Kagome remembered that even Inuyasha referred to her as 'Kikyo'. But soon, he realized through punishment that she was not Kikyo. And if Inuyasha could realize this, then why couldn't anybody else? Sometimes she thought that this was one of the things that resulted in people not wanting her in the feudal era. And despite her kindness and power, people still saw her as invisible; unless they were dying and in need of her assistance. Most of the time it was villagers that acted like this, and even thought wretched things about it; being both powerful and a human.
'Am I really invisible? I myself don't understand why I have such power, so neither would they. They fear me, and I fear that they always will.' Bowing her head, she felt a forgotten memory resurface.
Flashback
"Kaede! Kaede, Kagome needs your help!" Inuyasha shouted, barging into the hut with Kagome in his arms. Startled, Kaede quickly stood and looked around. Hurriedly, she laid out a blanket and knelt next to it.
"Bring her here!" she rushed, grabbing some nearby herbs along with a few bowls filled with some unknown powder. Rushing to the old priestess's side, she gently placed Kagome down on the blanket. Grabbing a nearby blanket that was still folded, he gently picked up Kagome's head and set the cloth under it.
"What on earth happened to her?" Kaede questioned.
"I have no idea. She just started to writhe in pain, and then her powers suddenly appeared before us and injured bother Kagome and some villagers. Soon passing out, she started to burn with a fever."
Mumbling in her sleep, Kagome coughed and cringed in pain. Pulling at her sweaty clothes, she breathed in deeply before ordering Inuyasha to get her some water. Nodding in affirmation, Inuyasha rushed out the door with a wooden bucket in her hands.
"Kagome? What is the matter? … Kagome?"
A bright purple blanket of power erupted from Kagome's skin, and then tightened itself around her body. Screeching in pain, Kagome tugged at her clothes with tight fists. Reaching forward to try to help Kagome, Kaede was shot against the opposite wall in pain. Staring at the yelping Kagome, her eyes widened as she saw the visible pain she was in.
"Kagome!" cried Kaede, "Kagome! You must control your powers! Kagome! You must wake up!"
Kagome could hear Kaede's cries, but she couldn't wake up. She couldn't do anything but scream in pain. Knowing that she wasn't the only one she was hurting, her pain in her heart grew, and tears strolled freely down her cheeks. 'How? Why?'
"Kagome!" yelled Inuyasha as he entered Kaede's hut. Running to Kagome's side, he tried to touch her face, and the light pulsed once more. Inuyasha was thrown against wall right next to Kaede, only this time he dented the stone walls.
'Inuyasha? Where are you?' Opening her eyes, Kagome couldn't see a thing. 'Where are you? I can't see you anywhere, Inuyasha!' She swung her head around, searching for Inuyasha wildly and the voice that echoed in her head. Suddenly, there was a bright light that Kagome could now see. Sighing in relief, she rushed towards in with hope.
"Kaede, look! The light around her is fading." The purple light that had engulfed Kagome started to disappear. "Kagome!"
End Flashback
She had injured the villagers. She had even hurt Kaede and Inuyasha; and all because of the increase with her powers. When she had finally awoken from her painful sleep, she asked Inuyasha to help her outside to apologize. But once she stepped out of the safety of the hut, she was greeted with disgusting looks and pain. They pelted her with insults, threats, and even came as close to the step of the hut to spit in her face.
Some of the less brave just taunted her, called her many cruel names and shouted out accusations. One person even said that she was trying to earn their trust only to have them slaughtered later on. She tried to defend herself and tell them that everything they said wasn't true, but the moment she tried to speak up, the village attacked her.
Even though her life was in danger, Kagome could not lift a hand to defend herself. And even if she did have her full strength, she couldn't bring herself to hurt or hate the villagers. No matter what they said or did, she wouldn't hate them. And that was when Inuyasha intervened and protected her from becoming unconcious or badly bruised. He safely carried her to the woods, where she could rest and not fear the wrath of the village. But even as she sat down against a tree, Inuyasha interrogated her through and through.
'Why didn't you do anything, you idiot? They wouda killed you if I hadn't been there to save you! Are you so weak to not even lift a hand? What the hell's the matter with you?'
She remembered that she had tried not to cry, she tried as hard as she could not to embarrass herself any longer. But soon, the tears soon streamed down her cheeks like a large flowing river, and she screamed 'Sit!'. She had run home that day, back to her own era to get some piece of mind and comfort. What a way to celebrate your eighteenth birthday, huh? And she always wondered- why had it all happened that way? Was it meant to be like that, or was it coincidence?
Kagome buried her head in her knees, with her bangs to shield her eyes.
"I just want to be left alone, I want to disappear," she whispered brokenly.
"I need to stop this," she said suddenly as she wiped her tears away. As she felt another cool breeze slip by, she looked up at the stars longingly. She watching as some of the stars blinked in and out of sight, but gasped when she saw one move. She smiled, closed her eyes and wished on that shooting star.
After a moment of silence with her eyes closed, she slowly looked back at the world she was in. Sighing in content, she re-entered her state of mind. 'Maybe that will make things a little, if that, better for me.'
Realizing that now she had to head back to camp, she stretched her legs out in front of her and prepared to get up, when she noticed the shadow crawling over her. The shape the figure made was definitely human- or maybe a demon in human form. She thought at first that it was Inuyasha, but after looking up she noticed that it was indeed not her companion.
Standing up and calming turning, she looked at the tall figure that loomed before her. Smiling silently, trying not to intimidate him, she greeted the Lord. "Sesshomaru…"
But quickly noticing the problem she was causing, she wiped the smile of her face and placed an emotionless mask on. Only god knew just how much Kagome wanted to scream; to call out Inuyasha's name so he could save her. But her pride and curiosity had stopped her from doing so. Instead of screaming she simply stood there, staring up at the taiyoukai. Forgetting that she never look into the eyes of a foe, she watched as the amber eyes watched her brown and emerald ones.
Sesshomaru took a step forward and slightly bent down so that his height was even with her own. "Priestess."
Inside, Kagome felt and overwhelming feeling of shock take over her. For once, he had addressed her; and even bent down to her height! But even though she was indeed surprised, another side of her told her to take off and save her life.
'What does he want? Is he going to kill me? Pull yourself together Kagome, even if he does kill you, at least you know that you won't be eaten! Or will you? But if he had wanted to kill you then wouldn't he have done it already!'
Minutes seemed to come and go with the light breeze had just passed. But before he spoke again, Kagome lifted her right hand that had begun to glow pink. And then, she slowly retreated it back to her side. But all too suddenly, Sesshomaru grabbed her wrist and glared at her.
"What did you just do, priestess?" he asked emotionlessly as he tightened his grip.
Staring at him, she tried not to wince in pain. Somehow thinking that he didn't want to hurt her, she also tired to make it seem like he was powerless against her. Breathing in slowly, she looked into his eyes more deeply, and noticed something that she never thought to have seen before.
Well? How did you like it? Please give me something constructive to work with in your reviews. If you did not like it tell me why so I know what I can improve to make it better and if you liked it tell me what you would like to see in this story later on in the other chapters. Love you all and please review!
FallingDarkStar