Inutori: Hey, here's another chapter…finally…and I don't own Inuyasha…

Chapter 8
Before it's Time to Walk the Plank

Last Chapter:

"You ate a diseased monkey, baka. That's why you don't eat things raw that have been out in the wild." Kagome's voice paused as she took in a breath. "Actually, you shouldn't eat meat raw, period. It's not good for the body. Even for a hanyou."

The prince silently agreed. His stomach felt like it was being ripped out, and his arms and legs were paralyzed.

"You know, you're not out of the water yet. But I'll say this: any normal person would have kicked the bucket by now."

Going On…

Inuyasha sighed and rolled his eyes upward, still taking in Kagome's scent to keep his head clear. "Keh, of course I'm alive. I'm the prince."

He heard Kagome sigh and he could just picture her shaking her head. A cold cloth dabbed at his forehead, making his brow scrunch in confusion.

"Where did you get cloth?" They were stranded on an island with nothing but nature. It would be impossible to find material that she could use to cool his face with.

"…"

She didn't answer him, and Inuyasha just wished he could open his eyes and see what her expression was to figure her out.

"It doesn't really matter. Your fever is going down, but you need to stay still or else it'll pick back up again at full force."

Inuyasha shrugged off the origin of the cloth as he grumbled about having to stay still. As if it wasn't bad enough to be stuck on an island alone with a pirate who wouldn't even share her food; now he wasn't allowed to move.

"Inuyasha, drink this. You need something more than poisoned monkey in your stomach."

He opened his mouth without even thinking and felt a warm liquid flow down his throat and face. A cloth once again met his face; this time it was dry and wiping off the fluid that was just poured all over him. Whatever she had just given him, it seemed to do the trick, because he felt his stomach settling down and he felt the blood circulating to his extremities once again.

Night was probably coming on, because it started to get chilly and he could hear Kagome's teeth chattering. The prince took in a deep breath, tasting the scents the island had to offer: the strongest being Kagome's.

"Kagome?"

"Hm?" The female pirate answered tiredly, probably occupied with keeping herself warm.

"Come here." He didn't know why he was saying what he was, but the words kept just spilling from his mouth.

Not thinking Kagome would actually listen, Inuyasha tried to relax and get some sleep. That is, until he heard the snapping of twigs signaling the approach of the only other sentient occupant of the island. "What is it, Inuyasha?" Her voice was soft and pleasant, as it had been when he first met her when she was dressed as a lady on the ship well over a month previous.

She was close enough that Inuyasha could reach out and touch her; and that's exactly what he did. In one swift movement his arms encircled Kagome and pulled her down to meet him, never once did his eyes open to see what he was doing.

"Inuyasha!" Her soft, pitiful cry found its way to his ear, but he only smiled contentedly and pulled Kagome closer to him, snuggling to her neck.

He still was unsure of what drove him, but he was beginning to think it was something similar to instinct or in the neighborhood thereof. Kagome didn't say anything more and just lay still, probably too stunned to do anything.

Time Flies…

Inuyasha opened his eyes slowly and reluctantly, hearing the early morning birds chirping happily in the surrounding trees. He felt completely refreshed and healthy; surprising after yesterday's encounter with the monkey.

The other thing he felt was extremely warm. It was a nice, comfortable sort of heat: like one of the thermal blankets you use during the winter. So he looked to his left slightly and with a little surprise discovered Kagome in his arms snuggled up to his side, sleeping peacefully.

She looked like an angel sleeping as she was. Not the tyrant that had taken him hostage. But all he could see was her face right next to his. The view wasn't bad, so he certainly wasn't complaining, but he kind of wondered what they might look like to the onlooker.

He could feel the weight of one of her legs sprawled over his own, and he could feel her soft chest pressing into his ribs. 'Maybe I should just stay like this for awhile…I don't mind, and it looks like Kagome may need the sleep.'

Inuyasha leaned toward Kagome and gave her a light kiss on the forehead before turning his head to face the sky once again and closing his eyes. Subconsciously his arm around Kagome tightened and pulled her even closer to him, and his other arm flung across his face to shield his eyes from the morning rays.

Sleep must have overtaken him again because he found himself waking up to something poking his stomach. He removed the hand from over his eyes and looked down, finding a feminine hand poking him none-too-gently.

"About time you got up, sleeping beauty."

His eyes trailed up to Kagome, who was sitting up with one hand bracing her from behind and her leg still overlapping his. Heat came to his face and he turned to his right, avoiding her gaze and his own thoughts. "Keh."

"Almost feels like I already married you with how you treat me."

Inuyasha found himself turning even more like a cherry from her comment combined with his previous thoughts about their questionable sleeping arrangement. All he could do was let out a low growl and sit there, waiting for Kagome to move.

Finally, after what seemed like an eternity, Kagome stood and walked over to the ashes where she had once had a fire going. The hanyou prince found himself watching her with his eyes, and to his embarrassment and horror, realized that her pants were not covering her long, slender legs. Her shirt went down to about mid-thigh, but that didn't hide the rest of her shapely limbs from view.

That girl was just asking for trouble with the hanyou by testing his control over his testosterone. He was probably just destined to be a cherry for the rest of his life.

Another quick look around the area caused Inuyasha's gaze to fall upon the remains of the material that had made up Kagome's pants. Some of the cloth was wet, some was covered with blood, and some was completely dry and apparently unused.

"So that's where the cloth came from."

Kagome jerked around to look at Inuyasha and see what he was talking about. Her face turned slightly red and she played with the bottom of the long shirt. "Oh, yeah…I needed something to use to clean up the blood you kept coughing up and to put on your forehead to keep the fever down…"

Inuyasha just continued staring at the material, trying to comprehend the sacrifice Kagome had made to help him recover as quickly as possible. She had given up some of her clothing for him.

The more he thought about it, the more he realized that she wasn't such a bad girl after all. And to think he had only known her for a month and a half. So much had happened since then.

Not a word was spoken as Kagome knelt down carefully by the fire, making sure her shirt was tucked under her bottom to keep Inuyasha from seeing her underwear.

This situation was all too strange for Inuyasha's liking.

Back on ship…

Kouga growled in frustration with the crew. Why did they have to be so stinking stupid? Everything was so much easier with the captain around to dish out the orders. He was not a woman and didn't have the same effect on this brain dead crew as she did.

Miroku sighed beside him, his cheek sporting a red handprint. Obviously he had gone into the captain's quarters again and had a run-in with the captive/pirate there.

"Not much of a womanizer, aye, Miroku?" Kouga sneered at him, bringing up one side of his mouth into a smirk to show that he was laughing at the other man.

The black-haired "monk" smiled up at him brightly, his teeth borne joyously. "She loves me, she just doesn't know it yet!"

Kouga rolled his eyes at the idiotic human. Sometimes he wondered about this guy's sanity.

"All I have to do is pray to Buddha that she will see the light." He bowed his head slightly and clapped his hands together like he was saying a prayer.

Never mind. He didn't wonder; he knew.

Miroku's antics with the girl didn't change their current predicament, though. The men were just lounging about on deck without a care in the world.

His ear twitched slightly when he heard a door open then close behind him, and footsteps deliberately approaching him and the banister that overlooked the deck. With a quick sniff he determined who it was.

But what was she doing out here?

"Oi! Idiots!" She was standing beside him as she yelled out over the ship to the crew. Surprisingly, they all turned at the sound of her voice, despite being insulted. "You all better get your sorry butts in gear and find your captain or you'll have to answer to me!"

Many of the men scrambled into action, lowering the sails and returning the ship to a proper course, even without a new destination in mind.

Kouga turned to the raven-haired girl that was supposed to stay in the captain's quarters. "How?"

"It's a woman's influence. No man can resist it." She turned and gave Miroku a half-hearted glare before returning to her place inside the ship.

Kouga glanced back down at the frantically moving crew with raised eyebrows. He would probably never understand.

With one more shrug, Kouga turned and walked into the captain's quarters where the handmaid was bent over the maps and charts.

"Do you even know how to read those?"

She looked up at him with a sheepish grin, answering with a smile, "Nope."

He rolled his eyes and stood on the other side of the desk, reading over the charts. "Well, we were approximately here when the storm hit," Kouga pointed to a spot on the map, "and now we're about here," he pointed to another spot on the chart.

The girl nodded and pointed to a small spot of land a good twenty miles from the first spot he had pointed at. "Then Kagome will be here." She spoke with confidence and Kouga had to look up at her strangely.

"Not necessarily. It all depends on which way the currents were moving and-"

She turned and left the room. He could hear her talking to Miroku outside, mentioning the coordinates of the spot he had said they were currently and the coordinates of the island she had pointed out.

Kouga looked down at the map and winced. It was no wonder that she had picked that island as where Kagome was: there wasn't another island for a hundred miles. With those odds, Kagome and the hanyou were probably at the bottom of the ocean.

Any hope that Kagome was still alive vanished and Kouga slowly rolled up the maps to put them in a small barrel beside the desk. There was no way Kagome was alive, didn't that stupid captive see that?

Back on the island…

Kagome laughed as Inuyasha tried once again to stand up and failed miserably. "Give up, Inuyasha! You're pathetic!"

He glared at her, not wanting to give in even though he knew she was right. "Keh, I'll do what I want, woman!" Inuyasha pulled himself up to a tree and leaned against it, just sitting for a moment to relax.

Kagome meandered over to him and plopped down next to him, smiling at him. She had been laughing at him all morning as he attempted to stand up. At least she had gotten him some breakfast. He was feeling worlds better; he just couldn't seem to stand up for the life of him.

Inuyasha wrapped an arm around Kagome and pulled her into his chest. She let out a surprised gasp, but let him overpower her. Kagome readjusted herself slightly and looked up at Inuyasha's face.

He returned the look silently. "Do you think someone will find us?"

Kagome's expression hardened. "Eventually. But we're alright for now, aren't we?" Her innocent gaze made him smile and nod to her. There was something hidden in her eyes, but he couldn't figure out what it was.

Inuyasha wrapped his other arm protectively around Kagome and pulled her into his lap, admiring how well she fit in his grasp. They let the silence engulf them for a long while, not bothering to move.

This was how it was supposed to be, Inuyasha felt. Just the two of them content to be together and not needing to speak and ruin the moment.

Finally the spell was broken when Kagome spoke. "Once someone finds us, you'll need to go back to your kingdom."

"Not without you." For some reason Inuyasha couldn't see himself parting with Kagome now that he had spent time with her. Something had clicked between them despite the fact that a few months ago he didn't want anything to do with his betrothed.

Kagome shook her head slowly against his chest and he instinctively tightened his hold on her. "No, Inuyasha. My place is on the sea."

That made him angry. There was no way that he went through all of this to go home empty-handed. "Then I'll stay too."

She pushed away from him and looked into his eyes. "No! You can't! And you know it, don't you?" Inuyasha suddenly realized what that look in her eyes was; it was sadness. Kagome was almost to the point of tears.

As much as he didn't want to admit it, he knew Kagome was right. He was a future king, if he were to turn up missing for much longer, every ship would be out looking for him. Every ship was probably out looking for him already. The Shikon no Tama would be sunk before its next raid. But why couldn't Kagome come back with him?

"Keh. Just come back with me." Inuyasha felt his blood boil when Kagome looked away from him and pushed away from him entirely, standing up and walking away.

There was no way it could all end like this. Inuyasha suddenly found an unknown strength and forced himself off of the ground. He bounded after Kagome and grabbed her arm, whipping her around to face him.

Without another second's hesitation, Inuyasha pressed his lips to hers and wrapped his arms around her torso. After a moment, Kagome responded by gripping his shirt tightly and leaning into the kiss.

He could taste the salt from her tears and he wanted so badly to take away her inner pain. It didn't have to be this way, didn't she see that?

Time Passes…

Kagome prodded the small fire, watching Inuyasha out of the corner of her eye. She hadn't said anything to him about the kiss they had shared, and it was annoying Inuyasha to the brink of insanity.

She was cooking them something and Inuyasha just wanted it to be over with so they could talk. Their kiss hadn't been meaningless, had it? Inuyasha clenched his fist around some loose dirt, trying to vent his frustration on it. Unfortunately, it wasn't working all too well.

I
Do
Not
Sleep

Inutori: I finally got off my lazy butt today and decided to move my stories to a comp with internet access so I could post chapters I have written lately. Hope it makes you happy...and could you then please make me happy by leaving some pretty little reviews for me?