Author's Notes: Hello, my fellow readers and writers! I don't think I took too long to get this chapter up, but I will warn you that my life is about to take a crazy turn. It's like watching an oncoming storm, unable to avoid it. Oh well, I'll deal with it the best way I can: by smiling and laughing. After all, what else is there to do?
I'm glad everyone enjoyed the last chapter, and I'm happy my introduction of Naraku was appreciated. Don't worry, we will be seeing Sesshoumaru very soon, just not quite yet. But know this...he will play a huge role in the upcoming conflict. And as for who he will end up with (Rin or Kagura), I can't tell you that yet for the simple fact that I haven't decided. Hey, I'm an author, I'm entitled to spur of the moment decisions, right?
The only other announcement I have is to let everyone know that the people's choice voting has begun on the website where 'Soul Therapy' is nominated. Unlike the other awards, which are determined by judges, this one is for readers to vote. I'd like to encourage you all to check out the stories (no, I'm not promoting my story, I really think there are some other wonderful Inuyasha stories that have been nominated that you should read). Do NOT feel pressured to vote for me by any means, but I would like to ask that you consider taking a look. The website's on my profile.
That's all I have for now. I hope all of you continue to enjoy this story, and know that we are just now barely beginning to tap the surface of this rather huge iceberg. In my opinion, it's about to get exciting, so hang on! Other then that, all I can say, as always, is enjoy!
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Inuficcrzy: What kinds of treatments am I having? Well, let's see...first, I have an ultrasound treatment for ten minutes (given to me by a very cute guy who is, alas, too old for me), then my therapist massages the muscles around my rotator cuff, and then the fun really begins. My joint has semi-frozen up thanks to six weeks of immobility, so now the first thing we have to do is break all the adhesions in the joint itself, which is quite a painful process. There's nothing worse than your therapist lifting your arm over your head as your body is screaming at you to just put the dumb limb back on the table. Oh well...grin and bear it, that's become my motto. Thanks for taking an interest, and I hope you continue to enjoy the story!
Lizard: I would love to see a picture of the infamous Inutaisho! After all, I use him in several of my stories, and it would probably be helpful to get a good look at him for descriptive purposes. Thanks for reviewing!
Title: Impossible Dreams
Author: dolphingirl0113
Chapter: Ten
Rating: PG-13 (rated for language, violence, and implied sexual situations)
Disclaimer: I don't own Inuyasha.
DEDICATION: For Ted Dorsey, the greatest coach I will ever have, the most wonderful and patient mentor I will ever know, and the best friend I could have asked for. Thank you for everything you did for me in my life.
All the fireplaces were full of flames, warming the house and protecting the occupants against the cold, snowy December evening. The main room was full of splendid colors, including different shades of pink, purple, blue, green, red, and gold, as all the women appeared dressed in their finest gowns, their hair done up in the latest fashions, some in curls, others in braids. Diamonds glittered from around their necks and ears, and gold cufflinks could be seen flashing in the light of the fires on the collars and cuffs of the smartly dressed men. It was a wonderful party.
"Did you see the dress my mama gave to me for this evening?" One young girl with short brown hair twirled before Kagome, demonstrating the large hoop-skirt of her light pink dress.
"It's beautiful, Eri," Kagome replied, her tiny hands fingering the silk fabric delicately. She sighed. "You're lucky...I've had this dress for a long time...soon it will be too small."
Eri tweaked Kagome's cheek. "But then you'll be able to ask your mother for a new dress and she'll have to give you one." The eight year old girl stepped back to admire her friend. "Besides, you look beautiful in anything, Kagome."
"Do you think so?" Kagome glanced in a hallway mirror, twirling, watching as her deep-blue dress, laced in white velvet, followed her body. Her hair was pulled back into a heavily curled ponytail, and her cheeks were lightly tinted with blush.
Smiling in satisfaction, she turned back to her friend. "Yes, I suppose you're right...this dress will do fine tonight."
"I hope you guys aren't planning to just stand out here and talk the whole evening," A new voice commented, and Kagome turned to see her long-time friend, Sango, approaching, her long hair falling down her back in a simple braided fashion, dressed in a jade-green gown of velvet. White opera-length gloves were on her arms, and altogether she looked like she was at least four years older then she actually was. But then, Sango had always been mature for her age.
"We're coming," Eri replied, looping her arm through Kagome's, and all three girls giggled excitedly as they moved into the main room of the Higurashi Mansion, watching as about twenty couples, some young, some old, moved to a fast-paced jig in the center of the floor, the outer rim made up of refreshment tables.
Laughter was everywhere, but one laugh in particular caught Kagome's attention, and she looked over to see her mother, Izumi Higurashi, speaking to a crowd of adults, her head tilted back slightly in flirtation, her entire body seeming to radiate sunshine. She was dressed in a gown spun of gold and silver silk, had carnations in her hair, and to her daughter, she looked like an angel.
"Mama!" Kagome cried out happily, running through the masses of people, darting in and out of legs, to reach her goal, which was the waiting arms of the beautiful woman before her.
Unlike most women of nobility, Mrs. Higurashi was not one to scoff at her child in public, but rather, welcomed her daughter's company whenever possible, and that night was no exception. She turned, her eyes lighting up and her smile broadening as she swept Kagome into her arms with surprising strength, lifting the petite eight-year-old girl slightly off the ground as she did so.
"Kagome, my angel," She whispered, holding her close. "And how are you, sweetheart? Are you enjoying the party?"
"Yes mama, but Hojo isn't here tonight, so I don't get to dance."
Her mother laughed, and Kagome thought it was the most beautiful sound in the world. "Well, I'm sure we can find some other handsome young man who would be glad to dance with you." She looked up and winked at Kagome's father, who turned around, his handsome features soft and loving. "Like, perhaps this gentleman here?"
Her father bowed elegantly, as though Kagome were some beautiful stranger, taking her hand and kissing the back of it lightly. "I would be honored, beautiful princess, if you would dance with me."
Kagome giggled and nodded her head excitedly. After all, not only was her mother the most beautiful woman there, but her father was the most handsome, and she would be so admired in his arms. "I would love to dance with you, good sir," she replied, trying to sound formal. Mr. Higurashi chuckled slightly and led her onto the dance floor.
The crowds parted as father and daughter passed, and there were smiles on the faces of everyone as the musicians struck up a slow, peaceful waltz. Mr. Higurashi bent over so that he wasn't quite towering over his daughter, and Kagome leaned her head against his abdomen, the top of her head barely reaching his chest. Her mother laughed in the background, and she sighed in peace. This was heaven, she knew it, and she never wanted to leave...
"Kagome...Kagome, you need to wake up." Someone was shaking her gently, tearing her away from her dream, her memory, and she wanted nothing more then to push the hand off her shoulder and cling to the fading sound of her mother's laughter. Unfortunately, the voice persisted, and the haze began to clear as her eyes slowly opened to find Sango standing above her.
"Good morning, beautiful," She commented lightly, her eyes kind and soft. She still couldn't believe that her dear friend was alive, after everything she had been through with the slaves.
Kagome rolled her head over to her left side, glancing out the small window showing a misty, early morning sunrise. Yawning slightly, she felt somewhat desolate at the realization that she had in fact only been dreaming, and was now once more in the waking reality that she was alone, without a family, save for her grandfather, who she would be leaving that day.
"Is it time to get up already?" She muttered, curling up against the cold seeping through the thin walls of her grandfather's old home. Sango simply nodded.
"I've held off Inuyasha as long as possible, but he's insisting that it's time to leave now, so that we can cover a lot of ground today."
Kagome felt slightly irritated at the mention of Inuyasha, who was responsible for insisting that they had to leave after only one night of rest at her grandfather's home. She was so exhausted...they had all arrived on the same day, and before that she had been walking, alone, without food or water, for nearly a week. Her body was begging her to just ignore what she needed to do and sleep for another month, here, where she was safe with her grandfather and his love.
But you won't be safe, she told herself, if Naraku remains free. And so, with that thought in mind, she mustered the energy to sit up and roll her feet off the end of the bed, standing up and stretching languidly, immediately missing the presence of the warm covers of her bed.
"Here," Sango thrust a bowl of hot soup under her nose, spoon included. It smelled like chicken broth, and Kagome's stomach grumbled excitedly.
"What's this?"
"Breakfast." Sango said it like it was obvious, and Kagome chuckled as she accepted the bowl into her hands.
"I know that, but...why is it up here?"
Her friend shrugged. "Those people downstairs are behaving like starved animals...there would have been no soup left for you if I hadn't managed to grab some before anyone else knew there was food. It's not hot any more, but it's still at least something."
"Thanks," Kagome nodded, barely managing to reply as she slurped hungrily, completely ignoring the spoon. She was too hungry for such formalities.
A knock sounded on the door, and Sango rose to her feet to see who was there, a few seconds later revealing Miroku, with Shippou on his shoulder. He had a kind smile on his face, and his eyes seemed very relieved.
"Ah, Kagome, you're awake," He came over and sat down on the bed beside her. "Everyone will be so relieved to know that. We feared that perhaps your body would be so tired that it would refuse to wake up now that it had a chance to sleep."
Kagome laughed, but then stopped short as she felt something creeping down her backside. On instinct, she whirled around and her hand found his cheek, leaving a red handprint, her eyes still wide-open in shock. "You...you lecherous baka!"
Miroku just shrugged it off as though it were the most natural thing in the world to be slapped and then insulted by a woman. "In any case," he sighed, "I am happy to find you well."
She was saved, thankfully, from any further responses when Shippou launched himself against her body, attaching himself to her waist, his head on her chest. Kagome hugged him back kindly, a soft smile on her face. "Good morning, Shippou...did you sleep well?"
The little kitsune nodded happily. "Yes, Kagome...with you and Sango beside me it felt like I was with my mama again."
Kagome ruffled his shocking locks of red hair fondly before picking him up and placing him beside her on the large bed, returning once more to her soup. She went silent for a long time, brooding on the problem, or rather, the task, at hand. She had a long, long journey ahead of her...longer then she cared to recognize...but she refused to back down. She knew no one would think less of her for staying, even though she could free demons of the dark diamond shards, but the thought of hiding away in fear while her mother's killer remained free caused bile to stick in the back of her throat.
"Naraku..." She hadn't realized she had spoken aloud until she found everyone staring at her in surprise. She blinked and blushed slightly, finding her soup very interesting as she explained herself. "I'm just thinking about our journey ahead. It's going to be a long one, and a hard one at that. But I'm ready to go, if it means destroying Naraku, and that witch Kagura, once and for all."
Sango's eyes darkened with sadness as she placed a hand on her friend's shoulder, causing Kagome to turn her head and meet her gaze. "It's such a shame, Kagome, that you have been forced to change so much."
The comment surprised her, and Kagome acquired a confused expression. "What do you mean Sango? I haven't changed...not really."
"But you have, in more ways then you'll ever realize because it's happened so gradually." The former demon exterminator sighed and fell onto her back on the mattress, Miroku, Kagome, and Shippou all looking down at her from where they sat. "I remember a girl who was so happy just to be with her mother that she wanted nothing else. I remember a friend who couldn't even dream of hurting someone intentionally, and when accidents would happen, she would cry and mope about for several days as a way of apologizing."
Kagome couldn't stop the grin from widening her mouth as she recalled the time when she had accidentally caused her friend Ayumi to fall from her horse by insisting that they try and jump the fence surrounding her home. Kagome, skilled with a horse, had made it, but Ayumi's horse had sensed the seven-year-olds fear, balked, and sent her flying over the fence, horseless, into the mud. Kagome had felt so terrible after the incident that she had baked a dozen cookies, with the help of her mother, every day for a week, taking them over to her friend's house in the afternoons.
"I suppose I was a little more lighthearted then," she whispered, more to herself then anyone else, even though they had all heard her. She looked down and met Sango's gaze. "But how can you blame me for that? Is it so wrong that I hate Naraku for what he did to my family?" She clenched her fists, her mother's pale face from that horrible day breaking through to the forefront of her thoughts. "He killed my mother, and because of him, my father, Hojo, and his parents were killed due to a slave revolt that never would have existed had Naraku not created slaves seven years ago." Her face darkened. "Oh yes...I hate him..."
She felt a strong, warm hand cover her own and looked up to find Miroku smiling at her in pity, shaking his head. "Don't hate anyone, Kagome. I don't know you very well, but I do know that you wear kindness like an angel's wreath, and hate like a grotesque snake around your neck." He sighed and looked away, towards the window, which now showed the sun clearly visible above the horizon. "Some are born to hate...others are born to forgive."
"You would have me forgive he who murdered my family? He who destroyed everything I ever loved?" Her eyes were full of disbelief, and the former monk shook his head again.
"I'm not asking you to forgive him, Kagome...no one could ask that of you. But I am asking you to fight that hate, lest it spread to others as well."
"What do you mean?"
"It would not be difficult to move from hating Naraku to hating the slaves who killed your father. Then it would not be difficult to move from hating them to hating all slaves, including..." He glanced at Sango and Shippou, "Your friends."
Kagome gasped. "I would not, could not ever hate them! How could you say such a thing! Sango is like my sister, Shippou like my little brother!"
Miroku raised his hand in a silent plea for her to be silent. "I know, Kagome, I know how you feel about them, and I don't doubt your love or your compassion. But hear me when I say that I have seen what hate can do to people. I have watched good men turn evil, and become that which they despised...in the end."
Kagome cocked her head suddenly, an idea popping into her mind that she hadn't thought of before. "Inuyasha..." She breathed. "You speak of Inuyasha, don't you?" He looked away, and she knew it to be true.
"He was never what you would call a gentle boy," Miroku all but whispered, "But at the same time he was compassionate, and would never hurt anyone unless he felt they deserved it. I met him six months after Naraku killed his father and cast him into slavery. He was a hard worker then, full of hope that, if he waited long enough, good would prevail...that is something his mother had taught him, or so he told me. But...it didn't take more then a year in the life of a slave before his heart was slowly hardened, turning him into a man of ice and stone who cares for nothing except exacting his revenge. The only reason I'm still his friend is because I saw what he was before his soul was corrupted by hate...I saw that he could be kind, if given the chance. But others only saw his crueler side, and fled from him in fear. Thus, he has had a very lonely life. Where other slaves found companionship and loyalty in their joint suffering, Inuyasha only found isolation and despair."
The room was silent for a long time as everyone pondered what Miroku had said. It burned at Kagome's heart to think that he had become what he was thanks to slavery...thanks to the cruelty of Naraku. It was one more reason to hate the man, and yet, she thought about what Miroku had said, about how hate could easily poison the mind, and vowed silently, in that moment, to try and remain kind despite everything around her.
Besides, Inuyasha wasn't all bad. He had saved her life, after all, and then protected her again when the slaves had threatened her the day before. So if he could withstand turning completely cruel, then so could she.
As though sensing that he was the subject of conversation, Inuyasha burst into the room then, looking frustrated as he placed his hands on his hips...once the door had successfully clanged into the wall with a loud crash. Unsure of what do to, the others just stared at him in silence, as though believing that, if they ignored him, he would just go away. Unfortunately, things didn't work that way, as was proved by his instant yelling.
"What the hell are you all doing up here? Having a tea party?" He snorted. "We should already be on the road to Naraku's castle. Every minute wasted is a minute lost!" He glanced at Kagome, who was giving him a very strange look...almost like sympathy...and suddenly felt very nervous, which only made his temper worse. "What, do I have to drag you all downstairs? So help me, I will!"
Miroku stretched his left arm above his head lazily, his face, serious a moment before, suddenly soft and casual once more, completely free of worry and care. "Or you could just leave us here, Inuyasha, and search for Naraku yourself."
That caused the hanyou to remain speechless for a few seconds, though he quickly recovered in a sputtering mess. "I...that...I'm not leaving you!" He finally settled for a lame response.
"And why not?" Miroku replied. "All you ever do is complain about how slow we move. We'd just be holding you up, don't you agree?"
"Don't play that game with me, Miroku," He hissed in frustration, feeling more and more upset by the look he was receiving from both Kagome and Sango...but especially from Kagome. "You're all coming with me whether you like it or not! You think I'm going to fight Naraku with the idiots downstairs?"
"You have Kouga..." Shippou offered.
"Kouga's a wimpy wolf, even free as he is from the jewel!"
"I heard that, mutt!" The proud wolf-man appeared in the doorway, just behind Inuyasha, and with his newly recovered strength, whacked the hanyou across the back, sending him stumbling further into the room. But when he looked up, all he saw was Kagome, and his face lit up like a Christmas tree. "Kagome! Kagome, my woman, you're alright!"
At first, as he wrapped his arms around her and pulled her into an embrace, Kagome didn't register that he had called her his woman. But then, as the light bulb clicked on, she frowned and pushed him away enough that she could meet his eyes with her own. "What did you just call me?"
"Keh," Inuyasha snorted, "He called you his woman. Do you have a problem with that? I thought you liked him."
Kagome shot the hanyou a deadly glare, not understanding why he was being so cruel. Taking in a deep breath and trying to remember what she had learned from Miroku, she rose to her feet and brushed off her already filthy, torn blue dress. Even six months ago, she would have felt ashamed to appear with such a haggard appearance, but now...now she was almost honored to look so. It reminded her of what she'd lived through, what she'd survived, and it made her confident that she could conquer any challenge fate still had in store for her.
Putting one of her old, beaming smiles in place, she turned to look at the group in general. "Well, shall we go then?"
Inuyasha glared at her. "What is that supposed to mean?"
Kagome acquired a mischievous look as she walked past him. "Honestly, Inuyasha, you are a hard man to understand. I thought you wanted to get going, and now you're the one who wants to be lazy and stay behind?"
That did it. His nostrils flared dangerously and he flexed his claws, though everyone knew he wouldn't harm Kagome, as he charged after her in silent fury. "Who are you calling lazy, wench?"
"The name's Kagome."
"I'll call you whatever I want wench!"
"Fine, but that means the same rules apply for me, baka."
"Who are you calling a baka, you bitch!"
"Bastard!"
"Hey!"
The sounds of their arguing echoed throughout the modest house as they walked through the hall and down the stairs, and Miroku could only chuckle as he motioned for Sango to walk through the door. "Ladies first."
She rolled her eyes, but accepted his offer anyway, careful not to look him in the eye, but rather hold her chin up haughtily. The man in purple just chuckled and followed after, having every intention of softening the fiery woman to his tendencies before long. After all, he loved a good challenge.
Kouga and Shippou were the last to leave, and before they did so, they looked at each other and sighed, as though they were the same age, and Shippou wasn't a mere eight year old. "This is going to be a long trip," The kitsune muttered, to which Kouga just chuckled.
"You got that right, kid."
