A/N: Wow, here I am, with another chapter. I'm so proud of myself. (Just kidding)
And thanks to:
-InuxKagforever
-Sweetheart05
-litod3vil
-yashloves69
-xiDoreyoux: that's just how it is, I know, he should have, but it wouldn't have worked out otherwise…
And here's the next part. By the way, I decided to change the chapters into "parts." Hope you like it!
Part 2
"That woman, she looked so familiar," Miroku said.
"That was Kagome," Sango told them quietly. "That's why she disappeared; she went with Sesshomaru."
"She betrayed us!" Inuyasha cried, "No!" The hanyou fled into the dark forest.
"Do you really think Kagome would do that?" Sango asked after a long silence, the group of them staring after Inuyasha.
"I really don't know," Miroku said.
"Kagome wouldn't betray us!" Shippo said.
"I'm not so sure, Shippo," Miroku told him, "she shot him with an arrow."
"Her eyes," Sango murmured thoughtfully, "they were so empty…"
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Inuyasha was back at the spring.
Damn! Why do I keep coming back here? he thought. Suddenly, he heard a rustle of movement and hid himself in the high branches of a sycamore tree, on a sudden hunch.
Inuyasha saw Kagome appear, dressed in the same white robes that blended with the snow. It took everything in him to stop himself fro jumping down and confronting her.
She waded into the deep pool slowly, and suddenly disappeared beneath the water's surface. Inuyasha waited…ten seconds, twenty, thirty …but she did not come back up. Heart pounding so loud that he couldn't hear a thing, despite his sensitive ears, Inuyasha leapt out of the tree and went to the pool.
Inuyasha dived into the depths of the water.
He came back up, moments later, an unconscious Kagome in his arms. Inuyasha laid her on the snow.
"Kagome! Wake up! Kagome!" he cried, feeling for breath by putting a finger over her nose. There was none. Frantically, he lowered his mouth to hers, transferring air, all the while pushing on her chest.
Finally, kagome coughed up water and tried to sit up. There was a long silence.
"Inuyasha?" she asked, her voice cracking, "Why did you save me?"
"I…I, why would I not?" he countered, "And why would you choose to end it all?" His voice was accusing, and she looked away quickly.
Suddenly, the scent of tears hit him forcefully. She was crying. Inuyasha hugged her to him and she sobbed on his shoulder.
"I was… mad at—at you, I saw you wi—with Kikyo, so I—I ran off, here. Se—Sesshomaru found me, and told me things. B—but I di—didn't believe him, un—until he forced me to watch you a—and Ki—Kikyo." Her voice quivered.
"But Kagome, I didn't see Kikyo again after you left. We—Sango, Miroku, Shippo… Kirara—we searched for you in the forest, but you were gone. I thought something had happened to you."
"What?" They drew apart and he saw the frozen tears on her face, her eyes red from crying.
Suddenly, a great gust of wind blew toward them and raised the cloth from Kagome's leg. An ugly purple bruise covered her flesh.
"Who did this?"
"What? No—no one, I—I fell. Inuyasha, it's nothing. I'm fine."
"It was Sesshomaru, wasn't it?"
"No, really, I just fell, that's all," Kagome said persistently. She tugged on the hem of the cloth to cover her bruise. Then, she tried to stand, but swayed and fell against Inuyasha instead.
"Yeah, sure, you're alright," the half-demon said sarcastically, "Come on, the others have missed you."
"Are you sure they're not mad at me?"
"Yeah, I'm sure. Come on." He took her onto his back and went back to camp.
I haven't felt this way in so long… this feeling of safety…, Kagome thought, closing her eyes and letting herself drift, free at last.
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"Where is that woman!" Sesshomaru stormed, Jaken and Rin watching warily.
"She—she probably just went for a bath," Rin said uncertainly as Jaken nodded quickly, anything to quell his lord's anger.
"A bath! Ha! She was always Inuyasha's wench, I was wrong to believe she would give her loyalty to me!"
"B—but, my lord, she is just a human," Jaken said.
"And so much more," the youkai murmured. "But she is just a human!" he cried, repeating the toad's words unconsciously. "Why should I care so deeply about a human? I am not weak, like my father!"
"Caring isn't weakness, my lord. It is strong," Rin said.
"You think I care about that wench?" Sesshomaru asked, as if the matter were unbelievable.
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"Hey guys!" Inuyasha shouted, "It's Kagome! She's hurt!" Sango and Miroku came running to investigate, then made way for Inuyasha. He entered camp and laid a shivering Kagome in front of their fire. Shippo and Kirara, in her smaller, weaker form, came over too.
"I'll avenge you, Kagome!" Inuyasha promised, while Sango saw to Kagome's wounds.
"These bruises are fresh; I'd say about a couple hours old," Sango said.
"Sesshomaru, I'll kill you! You hit her right after you got the shards!" Inuyasha yelled, kicking at a tree.
(A/N: What did the poor tree ever do to you!
Inuyasha: Hey! You're the one who's writing it!
A/N: Oh, right, I forgot, back to the story…)
"Sesshomaru?" Miroku asked thoughtfully.
"Kagome denied it, bit I know it was Sesshomaru," Inuyasha declared.
"Why would Sesshomaru hit Kagome though? She was helping him. I mean, she helped him get the shards, didn't she?" the monk wondered aloud.
"She was probably trying to convince him not to kill us, although I would readily do it to him," Inuyasha said. "If it wasn't for me, she never would've joined him in the first place! This is my entire fault!" he burst out. They went back to see how she was doing.
"She should be fine now," Sango assured them, "she just got too cold, and her clothes are wet. I have a spare set; my exterminator's uniform. Now out!" She pointed toward the trees, and Inuyasha and Miroku (reluctantly, ever the pervert) retreated.
When Sango had called them back again, Kagome was dressed in Sango's black exterminator's uniform and sitting up.
"Are you alright now, Kagome?" Inuyasha asked.
"Yeah," she answered, "You guys aren't mad at me?"
"I will admit," Sango said, "that when I thought you were on the same side with Sesshomaru, I thought that you had betrayed us. But Inuyasha told us everything." Kagome looked slightly guilty.
"Why would you try to drown yourself, Kagome?" Shippo asked.
"If I wasn't there," Inuyasha said, "You really might've…"
"I'm sorry," Kagome said, her high ponytail swaying slightly.
"We thought, at first, that you had gone home to your era," Miroku said, "But when Inuyasha went, you weren't there. They're definitely really worried."
"I'll go home and tell them, later."
"Well, you're in no condition right now," Sango agreed, "And Sesshomaru will probably come after you again."
"Speaking of which," Kagome said, "I'm sorry I helped him get the Shikon Shards."
"It's okay, as long as you're alright, we can still get them back," Inuyasha said reasonably. (A/N: for once in his life, lol)
They all decided to get a good sleep, rotate on watches, and confront Sesshomaru in the morning. But Inuyasha couldn't shake the feeling of dread he got from seeing her eyes.
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"She will pay for betraying me," Sesshomaru said the next morning, "She will die."
"Can't you forgive her, my lord," Rin suggested, "I mean, you did kind of trick her into joining you."
"No one betrays me, Rin," the full-demon said menacingly, eyes blazing. They headed in the direction where Inuyasha, the humans, and the other little demons had fled the day before.
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"Sesshomaru!" Inuyasha shouted, leaping out, "You will dies for hurting Kagome so!" He brought Tetsusaiga down in one slicing motion. Sesshomaru stopped with a mere flick of his wrist, drawing his own sword at the same time, at the speed of light.
"You will die, brother, and so will your wench. Those who betray me will pay dearly, and suffer." The words echoed in everyone's thoughts long after they had been spoken.
"Sesshomaru!" Kagome cried, "You tricked me! You caused me to turn on my friends. It is you who will pay." She held up her bow and sent magical arrows flying toward the dog demon. She was fearless. Flying into the air, she floated on the wind like a black-clad ice angel. Her hair flowed free, and the wind tangled into it, the wisps flying about this way and that.
"No, Kagome! Stay back!" Inuyasha shouted. He ran to stop her.
Suddenly, one of Kagome's arrows reached its mark and pierced Sesshomaru's sword arm. At the same time, the youkai leapt at Kagome in fury and slashed at her with his claws, ripping her flesh open from left shoulder to right hip.
She fell into the snow. Inuyasha watched in horror; she was a thin, lone figure that dropped from the sky, as everything seemed to happen in slow motion. Suddenly, everything sped up again and a huge snow blizzard swirled toward them, enveloping them.
Inuyasha was running to reach Kagome when a gust of wind, snow, and ice hit him head-on.
Snow was everywhere and Sango could barely see a thing. But she found Miroku and they trudged, slowly, toward Inuyasha, a faint image half-buried in the snow. After digging him out, the hanyou leapt up and headed for Kagome, hidden in the snow.
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"I can't find her, dammit!" Inuyasha cried to no one in particular. No one could hear him, and he trudged on. He couldn't lose her now; they'd only just been reunited! "Come on, where are you? Kagome!" He heard the others calling for her too.
"Inu—yasha," he heard a thin voice cry. It was Kagome's!
"Where are you, Kagome?"
"H—here." He found her, lying beneath a snow drift. A large pool of blood stained the white snow around her. Inuyasha rushed to her side.
"Kagome! It's going to be alright, you'll be fine." Inuyasha hugged her to his chest. She had lost so much blood!
"I—I'm sorry," she said softly. Her breath came with difficulty. "I'll have to… see you… in the next… life, Inu… yasha. Here, take… this." She gave him the small jar of shards. She had gotten it when Sesshomaru had wounded her.
"No! You'll be fine! I promise!" He lifted her up in his arms and rushed toward the fire that Shippo had managed to light and kindle, a tiny beacon of hope in a world of swirling darkness.
"Shippo, get Sango! Tell her I found Kagome," Inuyasha said breathlessly. He knelt beside the fire and lay Kagome down. Then, he took her hand and tried to warm it.
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A/N: Don't you just love cliffhangers? Actually, I hate them. But I have to end the part now, and it might as well be here.
Review and I'll update as fast as I can! Find out what happens next in the next part! Will Kagome live, or die? What will Inuyasha do? Sesshomaru? The others? It'll all be in the next part!