Fated Existence

Chapter 6 – New Patterns

By the time they'd recovered from their shock and returned to Kaede's, Kagome was already packed and waiting for them. The newest addition to her attire being a pair of wrist guards; the right one extending down to cover her first two fingers. Having so little themselves, they too were prepared to leave. Inuyasha, however, shook his head and told them they could relax. There had been no rumors of shards lately; she'd just collected two from Kouga, and she'd also just recently returned from a long absence. He noticed Kagome glance at the forest and followed her line of sight. He sucked in a breath and growled under his breath, causing the others to look at him oddly; he'd never growled when Kikyo showed up before. The woman had bad timing, as usual. He still needed to patch things up with Kagome. He crossed his arms with a snort and stayed where he was. He knew that if there was a serious threat to Kikyo that her Shinidama-chuu would seek him out.

Not this time, Kikyo. Someone else needs me first.

Every time he'd gone to see her, it had turned out to be something else. He'd also noted that she too had disappeared for six months. If Kikyo had been so keen to show her affection like all the other times, why not continue while Kagome was away? He'd been doing a lot of thinking while the women were gone and he definitely did not like the possible conclusions he'd come up with. Despite what most people thought, he could put two and two together.

Miroku cast a glance between the two, noticing the growing tension in Kagome. She, like the rest of them, was waiting for Inuyasha to make up some excuse and take off. However, the hanyou had yet to move from his spot and didn't even bother to glance to the forest once he'd spotted Kikyo's calling card. Something was going on here; and it was giving him a creepy feeling on his spine. He spared a look to Sango and noticed she was looking a bit nervous herself. It was like there was some form of communication going on between the two, but neither was listening.

Kagome rose to her feet, bringing the group out of their thoughts as she fixed her katana to her back, the handle rising over her right shoulder. Her pack was tossed over the opposite shoulder with a quiver of arrows sticking out of it and the bow also slung with it over the same shoulder. It appeared she was going regardless of what Inuyasha would decide to do. At the unspoken signal, Sango ducked into the hut long enough to retrieve Hiraikotsu and Kirara. She fell into step with Kagome, who was already heading out of the village and followed suit when Kagome appeared to ignore the hanyou's shouts to stop. Miroku ran to catch up, with Shippou balanced on his shoulder. While the monk disliked the tension between his friends, he had to agree that looking for shards was better than sitting around. It had been all they'd done while Kagome was gone - and apart from that, it was always better than enduring more cold shoulders and silent treatment. Even if they found nothing for awhile, it would be good to be on the move again.

Two hours later, Kagome slowed her fast pace and spoke softly. "Don't address me as a miko when we go to the villages since I neither act nor dress like one. If anyone asks, I'm just another taijiya. Only another miko would know otherwise."

Miroku scratched his head, trying to see the reasoning behind her request. "Why for? It's never mattered before. Besides, most the villages know who you are now."

Sango nodded. "Hai. And what would we tell them anyway? It was simple to tell people you were putting the Shikon no Tama back together."

"We've collected nearly every shard that's close by. We'll likely have to travel farther than before. We can simply tell those villages that Miroku's on a quest for the shards, hence his questions about shard rumors. Sango and I are his guards."

"What about us?" piped up Shippou, who held Kirara.

"Well most of the time you two are overlooked," she smiled. "Kirara is seen as just another type of cat when she's small, and you can use your magic to look like a human child long enough to get us lodging for the night."

They all nodded at her logic. She seemed to have thought this out. Except for one explanation.

"How do we explain Inuyasha?"

"He usually prefers his trees to the villages," she stated quietly with a brief glance to the treeline. "And he leaves after he thinks we're asleep…" She paused, thinking. Finally, she shrugged, her voice not quite losing the edge of sadness that had crept into it when she'd begun speaking of Inuyasha. "I don't think we'll have to worry about it right now."

That was another shock to them; Kagome had always tried to accommodate Inuyasha and get him to stay with them in the villages before. It was almost as if she didn't care… yet the sadness in her words told them otherwise; Kagome could be no more indifferent to her friends than she could stop breathing. As they fell into silence, they had to wonder how many more alterations, small or large, Kagome had in store for them.

Damn wench! Inuyasha grumbled to himself as he followed at a slower pace. Every time he tried to get in her good graces so he could talk to her, she neatly took away the opportunity. It hadn't helped his mood when Kikyo's collectors tried to get his attention, and in failing, it had driven her into the open. Her reaction to his dismissal hadn't improved his mood or thoughts. It only gave him another reason to believe his suspicions. He growled again and picked up his pace as he spotted them getting out of sight. When he got close enough to listen, he wasn't prepared for the conversation he overheard. His ears drooped slightly as he listened.

Does she hate me that much? He wondered. It would certainly serve him right after what he'd said. While the problem had bothered him, he should have said it differently. But the argument that had come on the heels of another visit from Kikyo had brought the wrong words out. There were similarities between them, but there was a world of differences as well. He just wished it hadn't taken him so long to figure it out. It had been difficult to look at Kagome in the beginning. But in the last two years her image had replaced Kikyo's in his mind. He refused to admit how much he'd missed her every time she had gone back to her time, and the last six months had been unbearable. Hadn't he made amends with the others, he feared he might have gone insane. There was a calmness her presence brought to him; her aura soothed his youki. If he had to be completely honest, there had been a connection since the moment she'd awoken him.

He shook his head to clear those thoughts. It did him no good now to dally about the past and what ifs. He took the opportunity to check out the changes in not only her, but their group as well. Her changes were the most obvious physically and spiritually, but it was her new position in the group that caught his attention. Rather than walking next to Kagome, Sango now walked slightly to the side and behind with Miroku. Shippou sat on Miroku's shoulder and Kirara mimicked the action on Sango's. He smirked slightly; if they'd been a true inuyoukai pack, Kagome would be the undisputed alpha female with the way she carried herself and her position in the group. His inner youki surged briefly with possessive pride and admiration.

He quickly tamped it down and prayed she hadn't noticed. While the separation had provided a brief respite to get himself under control, it hadn't worked as well as he'd hoped. His instincts were surging to the front, nearly overriding his human senses; and he'd somehow known the instant she was back before he even smelled her. And if this distance between them didn't shorten soon, his control would be the one shortened.

Kagome frowned slightly as they neared the first village. They wouldn't be staying; however, it wouldn't hurt to stop and check on any rumors. The problem lay in whether or not her friends would keep to the story. In this village she was known to be Kikyo's reincarnation and they would wonder about her new attire. She hoped no one would ask out right about it though. If so, she would tell them she was training under Sango to learn self-defense techniques that would keep her alive until help arrived.

She glanced down to the pocket in her jeans that now held the shards. It was too easy to remove them from around her neck. At least now she stood a better chance of keeping them if the enemy had to just about kill her or at least strip her to get them. On the heels of that thought, she wondered if Kouga would try to retaliate now that she wasn't the same timid female as before. She knew she'd only succeeded in facing him successfully because she'd caught him extremely off-guard. She'd acted so unlike herself that it had shocked the wolf long enough to let her take the shards, even briefly. If he'd been prepared, she'd most likely be nursing a couple of injuries back at Kaede's. Hopefully she would be given a chance to truly apologize to him… unless it came down to fighting for her life, which she honestly hoped not.

Besides her talents, her own demeanor was changing, and she knew it, she felt it. She wasn't a silly teenage schoolgirl anymore. She was a young woman and that meant leaving childish things behind. And as she thought back to her treatment of Kouga and Hojo, she'd realized that she'd been allowing them to think they stood a chance. She had given Hojo hope every time she'd accepted a gift from him. She had affirmed to Kouga that she was his every time she sat Inuyasha when they fought. In short, she'd unconsciously been playing with their emotions.

She stilled cared for their feelings, never wanting to deliberately hurt anyone, but it was past time for her to grow up. She had come to realize that everyone would have their feelings hurt at some point in their life whether it was by her or someone else. At eighteen she had been trying to hold on to the ideals and dreams she'd had at fifteen. Her last argument with Inuyasha had proven that. The same pettiness and bickering echoed in their words as if it were the first argument they'd had. It was then that she had seen she was being nothing more than the same child she'd been when she'd freed him. But she changed that; she'd gone home and gotten her life there in order, using the advances of her era to her advantage in order to better equip herself for the past.

She'd never be on par with Sango, but at least now she stood a fighting chance of protecting herself and thereby allowing Inuyasha to stop worrying over her every time he got into a fight. Now he'd be able to concentrate on killing his opponent instead of seeing to her safety. Yet…she knew he seemed to enjoy playing the hero for her and now she wondered if this new side of her would only bring up more arguments.

"A village to the north sends word to travelers to stay away. There is a small demon infestation that is nonetheless destroying the fields and crops; otherwise, nothing new."

Miroku dutifully reported his findings to the rest of the group when he rejoined them on the outskirts of the village. Kagome had opted to simply walk around to the other side while Miroku had entered the village. Inuyasha was still nowhere to be seen, but he was more than likely in the trees, following Kagome. The houshi would never doubt the hanyou's protectiveness of the miko, despite the things he might say or do.

"Were they asking for help, Miroku?" Sango asked. Kagome was distracted with something in the forest.

He shook his head. "They claim to be able to handle themselves, but they want to warn others away until the problem is completely resolved."

"Keh, then unless you want to stay in the forest tonight, you better move it."

Miroku jumped, Sango squeaked and Kagome chuckled as Inuyasha suddenly made his presence known from the tree above the houshi. Kagome shrugged as she announced that she'd sleep anywhere. Shippou hopped onto her shoulder and agreed. After a brief discussion, the group settled for simply going as far as they could until nightfall. When Inuyasha took off ahead of them, for a brief moment it felt like things were back to normal. But one look at Kagome's new attire and weapons brought reality crashing back down.

"May I help you?"

The woman turned from her perusal of Goshinboku to face Kagome. Her long black hair fell to her knees; the sunlight casting an odd dark green color to it. As Kagome approached, she noticed the woman's eyes were not brown like she'd first assumed, but rather a dark reddish color. For a brief moment she thought the woman was youkai, yet the woman's strong aura said she was something else entirely. There was power in the woman; power to be feared, yet Kagome felt only calm.

"I believe I may help you, actually," she smiled.

(one hour later)

Kagome sat in stunned silence as the woman finished her story. For the most part it was believable; after what she'd seen through the well, believing the things this woman revealed wasn't much of a stretch of the mind. She took a deep breath and replayed the conversation. Alternate dimensions, another planet… no problem. But Kikyou? Could Kikyou truly be the kind of person the woman believed her to be? Was Kikyou'd hatred so great that she risked her own soul, Kagome's soul? She was Kikyou's reincarnation so shouldn't that mean she was like her as well? But she wasn't; she told Inuyasha that repeatedly. They were almost like night and day.

"I realize it is a shock, but she will succeed if you do not stop her."

"Why me?" She sputtered. "I mean, why not you since you're the one..."

"Because my duties are to more than one plane and timeline," the woman replied, cutting her off. "I can't simply track her down. I'm not omnipotent, Kagome. That's why I need your help. The soul is yours; you'll be able to locate her for me. When you do…"

"You complete the cycle." Kagome finished with a sad sigh. "It seems so… wrong, somehow. It wasn't her fault."

The woman nodded slightly. "In the beginning that was true, but now she's gotten above herself. Technically, neither of you should still be living. She was to lay peace to his heart and then return to you. I can't allow her to break the rules."

"There has to be other options."

"She's the walking dead, Kagome. What other option would she have?"

Kagome sighed and glanced up into the branches of Goshinboku. Inuyasha wouldn't want it this way, she thought bitterly. Unbidden, his last words echoed in her mind.

"Me. Give me a chance to…"

"Do you know what you're contemplating; the repercussions of such an act?" The woman narrowed her eyes in a combination of disapproval and questioning.

Kagome nodded. She had a pretty good idea of the consequences, but if it would make Inuyasha happy she was willing to do it. She was brought out of her reverie when the woman handed her a small grey key. It looked old, yet new at the same time; the kanji on it simply read 'Fate's Key". The look of it reminded her of one of the old skeleton keys Mama had for her trousseau.

"Simply say my name and the key will activate. Use it when you find her. Until then, I advise you think hard about what you're suggesting. To do such a thing affects more than one person."

Kagome jerked awake with a quick intake of breath. She glanced to her companions and was relieved to see that she hadn't woken them. Thankfully Shippou was sleeping with Kirara tonight or she might have dislodged the kit when she'd jarred awake. She slowly sat up and rubbed at her temples; why would she dream that now?

Lightly throwing off the blanket she'd brought as opposed to her usual sleeping bag, she grabbed her pack from its place as her 'pillow' and quickly rummaged through it. Finding the almost hidden zipper, she opened it and sighed with relief that the key was still there. She really didn't need to lose it and anger the owner. Rearranging the pack, she put it back in its place and rose to her feet. Judging from the low flames in the fire-pit it was roughly a couple hours after midnight.

While it was early fall, the night still held a trace of summer warmth to it as she made her way to the nearby stream. They'd chosen to stop just before nightfall even though they probably could have made it to the next village a couple hours after dusk. Inuyasha had chosen the spot with the excuse that there was a stream nearby with fish for dinner. He had provided the promised fish and then promptly retired to a tree; watching them as usual.

She climbed onto a decent sized rock and swung her feet into the water. The water, like the night air, still held a trace of warmth as though trying to avoid the coming cold. She leaned back on her hands and turned her face to the sky, mentally naming the constellations as she spotted them. She knew she wouldn't be able to sleep for a little bit after that dream. She'd made her choice months ago and time had only reinforced her decision. She briefly wondered if Inuyasha would use the Shikon to become human when everything was finished.

As though her very thoughts called him, he approached from her right. His youki reached out tentatively, like a child wanting to touch something and unsure if he would be allowed to do so. When her aura remained passive, he let out a soft breath, leaving her to wonder if he thought she'd treat him as she had with Kouga. They remained that way for minutes; neither wanting to break the silent truce, yet both knowing it had to be done.

Inuyasha had watched her since she'd awoken, having never fallen asleep himself. She was just barely returned and he'd be damned if he let her out of his sight. He wanted to know what she'd been looking for in her bag, but wouldn't ask. Whatever she'd found had calmed her and that calm still prevailed when he'd approached her. Remembering the encounter with Kouga, he'd reached out with his youki to see if he would receive the same shock. When she'd neither accepted nor denied his presence, he let out the breath he'd been unconsciously holding.

He studied her in silence as she stargazed; amazed once more in the changes. She'd begun to bring exciting changes within himself in the last couple of years and he'd had to cling almost desperately to his control in the few months prior to her leaving. Arguing with her had become his defense against the emotions he wasn't ready to acknowledge until Naraku was gone. Seeing her now, with this new confidence and power, still brought those same feelings back, but it was daunting at the same time. He felt those inner changes within her almost as clearly as if they were his own. He'd smelled the sadness on her when she attacked Kouga. He knew then that despite the almost drastic outward changes, inside she was still the kind, caring Kagome he'd first met. She would mourn her defensive actions, even those with reasonable excuses.

As he'd gotten used to her new clothes and the presence of the katana, one other thing had begun to stand out to him. Anytime she'd gone through the well, she'd returned smelling faintly like the pou-loo-tion of her time. After he'd first complained about it, she'd begun to take care to bath frequently to rid herself of the smell. In the last year the scent had been replaced with his, in combination with her own; due to riding on his back of course. That hadn't bothered him at all; unless Shippou brought it up. Damn kit was too nosy; he briefly wondered if Shippou had noticed it yet as well.

No, this had been the longest she'd been separated from him and the discovery was hard to swallow. By now it should have worn off; so then how did he explain that she still smelled like him? It was confusing to say the least. Mates smelled of each other, but she wasn't his mate. He took a subtle sniff; yup, still smelled like that soap of hers and him.

"What did Kikyou have to say this time?"

The silence shattered as her soft voice drifted on the wind, bringing him out of his thoughts. "I didn't talk to her."

He kept his voice neutral and steady, even though he was on edge inside. Only two days back and she was inquiring about the one person guaranteed to make them argue? He didn't understand. She would usually ignore him, yell at him or go off and cry whenever Kikyou showed up. He knew she tried to hide her tears and he'd wondered why she cried until a certain taijiya had clued him in. He didn't want to fight with her tonight; not when she'd finally come back and he hadn't yet had the chance to fix things between them.

"But you always do." Her voice trailed off, turning the statement into a question.

So that's it, he thought. He was confusing her about as much as she confused him today; he held back a smirk. "She wasn't dying or anything, so it wasn't important right then."

The moment the words left his mouth it felt like a sudden weight had dropped around them. He could sense the sadness in her as she withdrew her feet from the water and turned away from him.

"Oh," she replied. "I'm sure she'll come back if she needs you."

The hanyou stayed glued in place as she headed back to camp, while his youki surged and demanded that he comfort her. When he finally regained mobility and cursed himself for making her sad as he too returned, she was already asleep once more. With the dawn and rising of the group, he was no closer to figuring out what he'd done or said wrong this time.

A/N:

Have I mentioned how awesome my beta is? LOL

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Standard Disclaimer: Inuyasha is property of Rumiko Takahashi.

All other characters are mine unless otherwise mentioned.