Tami: If you guys aren't wonderful, I don't know what is. Thank you all so much for your support. ...I totally wrote most of this chapter at work today. (Fun part is, I work with another writer, and he's like, "Totally understand, go to it" about me writing while I should be finding something to do lol)

For those of you who have read the other version, do you think it's better so far? I thought there were a lot of holes and I'm trying to go back and fix them.

Forgotten Memories (Revised)
Chapter 2

"Who...Who are you?" Sesshoumaru asked.

The entire group stared at him in disbelief. There was no way this was for real. I mean, this is Sesshoumaru they're talking about here.

Sesshoumaru shifted uncomfortably under their stares. With the pounding going on in his head, he certainly didn't need this to contend with. Besides, didn't the one who smelled pretty say she was going to help him? He felt like he should know something about her...

Kagome jumped when Sesshoumaru put a hand to his forehead. He grimaced in pain when his claws brushed against the cut. "Don't do that. You'll only aggravate it," she said. She instinctively reached up and pulled his hand away. When she touched him, Sesshoumaru felt a tickle of admiration in the back of his head.

"I should know you, shouldn't I?" he asked calmly. Kagome nodded.

"Damn right you should!" Inuyasha broke in angrily. "You only tried to kill her every time you saw her!" Sesshoumaru looked up at him, his eyes narrowed in concentration, trying to remember. He snarled when the memory eluded him.

"Inuyasha, for once in your life can you leave Sesshoumaru alone?" Kagome snapped. He turned away and crossed his arms, fuming. Shoving down her nerves, Kagome turned back to Sesshoumaru. "This is going to sting a little, but it'll make sure the cut won't get infected." Sesshoumaru nodded in agreement. He winced as she cleaned the cut. It was already looking better, a testimony to his youkai blood.

"Why are you helping me if I have tried to kill you?" Sesshoumaru asked.

Kagome smiled uneasily. "You saved my life once. I'm repaying my debt."

----

Dinner was a tense affair. Inuyasha stood on the side of the fire opposite Sesshoumaru, angry and watchful. Shippou stuck to Kagome's shoulder and hid under her hair as best he could. Sango never set the Hiraikotsu out of reach. The only ones who were semi normal were Kagome and Miroku.

Sesshoumaru watched them all calmly, if not a little nervously. He had no idea who these people were and his relationship to them was obviously not a good one. What would they say if he told them he didn't remember anything? He only knew his name because the girl - Kagome they called her - had said it. What would he do if they turned him away? The thought was very unappealing.

Kagome set to making ramen. She noted with some satisfaction her supplies were getting low. That was going to be her excuse to go home in time for Souta's birthday. Souta would be happy if she could convince Inuyasha to come too, but she didn't think that was going to happen any time soon. Especially with...recent developments. She had to consider leaving herself. No matter what she told Inuyasha, she didn't know whether Sesshoumaru could be trusted either. It might not be a good idea to leave them right now. Of course, when was it ever really safe to leave them? "Shippou, can you get everyone chopsticks out of my bag, please?" she asked.

"Kay," he answered softly. He dropped down off her shoulder and went to her bag. He stayed as far away from Sesshoumaru as possible. He dug around for a bit before pulling out the chopsticks. Kagome always had spares of these. They got lost far too easily. Inuyasha snatched a pair of chopsticks from Shippou when he held them out. Shippou glared at him and turned to the last person. Not wanting to disappoint Kagome, Shippou edged toward Sesshoumaru, holding the chopsticks out in front of him as far as he could. Sesshoumaru reached out slowly and took them from him. Shippou scampered back to Kagome's side.

'Things must be bad if even the kit is this afraid of me,' Sesshoumaru thought to himself. He accepted the bowl Kagome handed him. He'd been smelling this food since Kagome had started cooking it. It smelled pretty okay. The others seemed to like it well enough. He glanced around at them and tried to copy the way they were holding their chopsticks. He got on okay enough with it; it felt kind of familiar. He felt eyes on him that weren't Inuyasha's. He looked up self-consciously. They were all watching him with interest.

"You really don't remember anything, do you?" Miroku questioned. Sesshoumaru hesitantly shook his head.

"Not even what happened to you?" Shippou chimed in.

"No, I don't. The first thing I can remember is Kagome speaking to me," he answered, giving Shippou a gentle look. Inuyasha snorted loudly into his ramen.

----

Later that night, the group moved a little way away from the campfire. Sesshoumaru was sleeping leaning against a tree. "So..." Kagome started. "What do we do?"

"That depends on if he's really telling the truth or not," Miroku observed.

"What do you think? Why would he bother telling us the truth?" Inuyasha snapped accusingly.

"Well, Inuyasha, he doesn't normally go out of his way to lie. Especially not this much. This would require way too much of a sacrifice of his pride," Kagome said. Sango and Miroku nodded in agreement.

"So what? So maybe he's really telling the truth. Why should we help him? It's not like he's done anything for us!"

"He saved our lives! We would have died if he hadn't shown up in time!"

"He didn't save you! He left you for dead after killing whatever his name was!"

Kagome growled. She was getting really frustrated. "But we aren't dead, are we? Look, Inuyasha, we can't just leave him like this. Naraku could really take advantage of him while he doesn't remember anything. He could absorb Sesshoumaru and gain even more power."

Faced with that option, Inuyasha had to stop and think it over. Naraku and Sesshoumaru were hard enough to beat separately, not that he would admit that to anyone, and together would only make things worse. Still, it was Sesshoumaru. The thought of letting Sesshoumaru travel with them made Inuyasha sick with anger. He hated Sesshoumaru. He shook his head. He wasn't going to let himself think about why, either.

"What do you think, Sango? You've been quiet," Miroku said. Sango sighed and thought about her answer.

"I think," she started. "we should let him travel with us." Inuyasha looked at her in disbelief. "He's lost his memory, his entire life. Maybe, if we help him now, he'll turn out better." She and Kagome shared a look. Kagome knew Sango was only half talking about Sesshoumaru now.

"Yeah, until he gets his real memory back," Inuyasha growled out.

"We have until then to change his mind." Kagome said.

"No!"

"Inuyasha, you have two choices. You can leave. Leave all of us behind at the mercy of your brother and Naraku. Or you can stay and help us." Kagome sighed. "We have to help him, Inuyasha. If we don't, we're no better than whoever hurt him."

Inuyasha growled and stalked back to the fire. He jumped up in a tree and began his nightly watch. Kagome smiled slightly. What Sango said did have some truth to it, and it settled well with her feelings.

'Keep your friends close and your enemies closer,' she thought to herself.