Author's note: finally! A double update! I'm doing those more often now! Srry bout the wait but I was reeeeely busy with my other story Love Conquers All. Don't forget to check that one out too!

Chapter 4: Blossoming Love

"Help!" Kagome yelled weakly as she fell to the ground once again. The wolves growled in delight at this and lunged for her. Growling loudly they dug their claws deeply into her soft skin. 'no' Kagome thought 'I can't die, I won't, I have to conquer this.' She tried to get up with all her might but the premonition's power wouldn't let her, she had no strength. She couldn't even bring herself to crawl closer to the castle. She had but one choice, "Inu Yasha!" Kagome yelled out hoarsely. 'onegai!' she thought 'help me Inu Yasha' But she could no longer yell out his name, she could feel her very soul slipping away from her, her life force was slipping through her fingers. She weakly looked up at the wolf lingering over her, its paw held high in the air, ready to deliver the fatal blow. 'this is it' Kagome thought 'oka-san, I'll be joining you in heaven any minute. My only regret, I wish I could have seen the kindness buried deep down within Inu Yasha's heart'

She paused for a moment, holding her last breath, was this really her regret? Did she truly wish she could have seen the kinder side of Inu Yasha? It was too late to think about that now, she would be dead soon anyway. The wolf started to let his claws sink into her. She could feel her eyes glaze over and smiled slightly, soon it would all be over, soon the pain would be gone. At least the rest of the premonition would not come true. The wolf was looking her straight in the eyes now, the malicious glint in the corner shining brightly. She smirked weakly, daring it to kill her.

Suddenly, a flash of white leapt over her, knocking the wolf away. The pain of the premonition disappeared and Kagome slowly gained all her strength again. She sat up to see Inu Yasha fighting the wolves one by one. He fought so fiercely, she grew frightened. What would he do to her after he was done? She had, after all, broken her promise to stay at the castle at all times. And Inu Yasha struck her as someone who didn't like broken promises. Kagome looked at her arms and legs, which were now covered in scratches and winced, finally feeling the pain where the wolves' claws had touched her. Her thoughts were interrupted by a painful shriek. She turned to see where the scream had come from and felt her heart break. The wolves had made a deep gash on Inu Yasha's arm, causing him to yell out in pain. The crimson blood was now trickling down his arm and, for the first time, she saw fear in his eyes, fear and pain. She felt the hot tears sting in her own eyes. She couldn't help feeling bad for him; he did save her after all. She grabbed some nearby rocks and threw them at the wolves through her tears. Wincing as the scars on her own arms throbbed in pain, she did her best to hit each wolf hard enough to scare it off. "Get out of here you good for nothing mongrels!" she yelled, throwing more rocks. The wolves realized she was no longer weak and ran away as fast as they could. "And don't come back!" Kagome yelled out as they ran away. She rubbed her sore arms and ran to Inu Yasha, who had now collapsed, his blood staining the grass around him. "Inu Yasha!" Kagome cried with concern. Tearing off the hem of her dress, she wrapped it tightly around his bleeding arm. She pulled him to his feet and draped his arm over her shoulders. She dragged him back to the castle gates where Sango and Miroku were waiting worriedly.

"Master Inu Yasha!" Sango cried out, glancing at the cloth around his arm, which the blood had now soaked through. "What happened?"

"Not now!" Kagome cried desperately, tears streaming down her dirt stained cheeks "help me get him inside!"

Miroku and Sango agreed and helped Kagome drag Inu Yasha inside the castle and by the fire. Kagome laid him down on the carpet by the fire and put his head on her lap to make him more comfortable. Still unconscious, he lay limply, not even flinching as Kagome slowly took the cloth from his arm. The blood had seeped through the material and was still trickling down his arm. 'How could that puny wolf have done so much damage?' Kagome wondered as she rinsed the cloth in a nearby water basin 'Inu Yasha's much bigger than it was' She watched as the blood slowly spread through the water like a red mist and coloured it crimson. 'is it possible?' Kagome thought 'that he really isn't a beast by nature? Could it be that he really isn't even supposed to be the beast he is?' Wringing out the excess water from the cloth, she patted the wound as gently as she could. But it must have been more painful than she had thought for as soon as the wet cloth brushed up against his flesh wound, he roared out in pain. "Calm down!" Kagome yelled, pulling his head back down to rest on her lap "You're going to be alright, I promise I will try my best not to hurt you okay?"

He looked up at her with a questioning glance, searching her eyes as though expecting her to be lying to him. "What?" she asked staring down at him "I don't break my promises you know"

"Yeah right!" Inu Yasha yelled sitting up and wincing "and I suppose you don't think running away from the castle is breaking your promise?"

Kagome looked away meekly as Inu Yasha continued "and if you hadn't have run away you wouldn't have been attacked by those wolves, I wouldn't have had to rescue you and this never would have happened" he said, gesturing to the gash on his arm.

"Yeah well if you hadn't frightened me half to death I wouldn't have run away!" Kagome yelled defensively.

"Well…" Inu Yasha yelled desperately trying to come up with a comeback "…You shouldn't have been in the west wing!"

"And you should learn to be kinder to people!" Kagome shot back.

"Hey, I didn't have to save you, you know!" Inu Yasha said.

At this Kagome looked up at him in surprise for a moment, then looked away "you're right" she said sadly "I'm sorry. Arigato, you saved my life."

Inu Yasha seemed taken aback by her sudden change in attitude. He looked away also "Yeah well, I should be thanking you too"

"Huh?" Kagome said, looking back at him "Thank me for what?"

"If you hadn't stopped those wolves from scratching me more and taken me back here" he explained "I probably wouldn't have made it"

He looked up at her and saw that she had tears welling up in her eyes "I'm so sorry" she said sniffling "you wouldn't have been hurt so badly if I had just defended myself"

"That's what confuses me" Inu Yasha said "why didn't you?"

"I…I…"Kagome stuttered through her sobs. Should she tell him about the premonitions? She cried harder, confused. Suddenly, she felt strong arms wrap tightly around her. Surprised, she looked up to find that Inu Yasha was embracing her, comforting her. She slowly leaned against him, feeling abnormally comfortable and almost happy. For a moment she felt that everything would be okay. For the first time since she had come to live at the castle, she felt her heart pound, not in pain, but in pleasure. She looked up at his harsh eyes and noticed that they had softened immensely. Then she remembered, this was also part of the premonition. But she no longer dreaded this moment, instead she longed for it to go on forever. "It's because of the premonitions" she blurted out.

"Premonitions?" Inu Yasha asked, not letting go of her.

Kagome felt the tears stream down her face again "I can see things before they happen" she explained "even if I don't want to I do. I saw this all coming, my father getting captured, the trade off, you" She wrapped her arms around him " but lately every time I've even come close to escape, the premonitions stop me, it takes away all my strength, it tries to kill me! That's why I couldn't escape the wolves. And the only reason I even have this power is because of some stupid ancestor!"

"Who?" Inu Yasha asked soothingly "which ancestor?"

"Kikyo!" Kagome cried through her sobs "they say her name was Kikyo and that she was once a village prophet!"

At this Inu Yasha pushed her away from him harshly "you're related to Kikyo?!?" he roared "her dirty blood runs through your veins?!?"

"Y-yes?" Kagome said, tears still running down her cheeks "wh-why?"

Inu Yasha's eyes regained their harshness once again as he grabbed Kagome's arm roughly and dragged her to her chambers. Throwing her onto the floor, he slammed the door shut and locked it behind him. Kagome grew frightened as he stepped toward her slowly. "I couldn't kill Kikyo back then" he said as he inched closer and closer, a malicious grin spreading across his face "so I might as well kill you right here and now. Maybe the curse will be broken early" He outstretched his claws and prepared to attack.

"I-Inu Yasha?" Kagome said slowly, crying in fear. She wanted to run through the doors to the balcony and jump. But the premonition's power had once again taken over her and she couldn't move. 'it wants him to kill me' she thought paralyzed with fear 'it wants me to meet my end.'

Inu Yasha came closer still and Kagome used the last vestiges of her strength to crawl away from him…right into a corner. Inu Yasha held up his claw which glinted with the light of the newly lit lamps. Kagome stared up at him, just as she had done with the wolf. Would he really kill her? "You don't have all of Kikyo's powers do you?" Inu Yasha said as he snickered "if you did you would have defended yourself by now. You only have her power of being able to see the future don't you? And even that you can't control can you?"

"Inu Yasha…" Kagome said as she shrank back into the corner and quivered in fear "please…don't hurt me"

Inu Yasha laughed evilly as he prepared to strike "good-bye…Kikyo"

"INU YASHA NOOOO!!!" Kagome screamed, ducking down and crying.

Inu Yasha smirked. But before he could deal the fatal blow, an old, almost forgotten memory flashed through his mind.

Flashback

"NO!" said Inu Yasha, afraid for his life "please, I'm sorry, let me live, I'll repent, Please!"

'Pathetic' thought Lady Kikyo to herself as she looked down at the King who had now fallen to his knees and was begging for forgiveness. "fine" she said "you shall be punished but I will give you one last chance"

"punished?" asked Inu Yasha, his voice shaking.

The prophet nodded as a bright light suddenly surrounded Inu Yasha and his servants, howls of pain could be heard through the light. When it had finally died down, a candelabra stood in Miroku's place, a clock stood in Sango's place, a teapot stood in Kaede's place, a small tea cup stood in Shippo's place, and a hideous beast stood in Inu Yasha's place! "now, Inu Yasha, you look exactly as what you are on the inside and your servants are household objects since that is how you treat them"

"and how is this another chance!" roared the beast.

Lady Kikyo held up the rose she had offered earlier "this is an enchanted rose, in exactly 3 years, the roses petals will all have fallen, if by then you have fallen in love and gained her love in return, you and your servants will be turned back into humans. However, if you are still a horrible man, then your servants shall remain in their current forms for eternity. And you, Inu Yasha, you shall die." With that said, the prophet disappeared.

End of Flashback

Inu Yasha staggered away from Kagome. Clutching his heart he fell to the ground "NO!" he yelled out "Stupid! Stupid! Stupid!" He looked up at Kagome, who was still frightened and distraught in the corner. He felt his heart break. How could he do this to her? She had done nothing wrong, it was not her fault that Kikyo was her ancestor, and on top of that, he had now ruined his chances of her ever loving him. Tear stung his eyes as he, for the first time, felt another's pain. If he had had any doubt at all that this girl was the one, it had now been demolished. For she was the only one who could make him feel cared for, respected, loved and almost happy. He ran to her and embraced her tightly "I'm sorry!" he said "I'm so sorry!"

Kagome looked at him, still shaking and drenched in a cold sweat "Inu Yasha?" she said slowly.

"Kagome…"he said her name for the first time "I'm sorry, I never meant to hurt you"

"Inu Yasha" Kagome said again relieved as she wrapped her arms around his neck and sobbed into his chest, letting all of her fear be poured out through her tears.

"Leave" Inu Yasha "you shouldn't be here, next time my emotions may take over me"

"I can't" Kagome replied "I can't leave you, not now"

"But…" Inu Yasha said "what if next time…"

"We'll cross that bridge when we come to it" Kagome interrupted, smiling "until then we'll just have to be careful."

Inu Yasha smiled with happiness but the pain still shone in his eyes, there was still some dark painful secret he kept locked away. She knew that if she was ever going to truly understand him, she would have to figure it out. That was why the premonitions would not let her leave. If she was going to conquer their power, she would have to discover that secret and why he kept it locked away within the depths of his soul.

Author's note: did you like this chappie? Send in the reviews people! Plz plz plz plz plz plz! I really like getting them and reading them! I want at least 25 for this story, I'm already at 14 but I need just a few more, is that too much to ask?? If ya like the story, write a comment! Arigato for reading! Till next time!