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Two to Love

Ch.7

Ready to Run

The new moon was high over the eastern sky as the colors of the night began to trickle in around the materializing stars. A small camp fire was casting its shadows against the evening light.

Two mortals rested near the warmth of the fire. The boy sat in his harori gazing longingly at the girl was sleeping peacefully in her cozy sleeping bag. The once powerful hanyou left his thoughts to drift to a previous conversation he had with Kagome.

"Kagome…"

"Yeah" Her voice was laced with tire from the amount of traveling done that day. What she needed now was to rest.

"I want you to make me a promise." She looked up, startled by his sudden demand of her. In his eyes, Kagome sensed his distress, and immediately forgot her own troubles. "What is it?"

"I want you to promise that if something goes wrong in that castle, You will get out of there."

"Oh Inuyasha, You know that I would never leave you or anyone behind."

"That is what worries me. There are people in that castle who are suffering, but we are in no position to help them without a great personal cost."

"I can't do that Inuyasha. That would go against everything that I know and believe in. How could I live with myself if I knew that somewhere there were people suffering and it was in my power to help them? I couldn't do it Inuyasha. I just couldn't."

"Kagome, don't you understand that we could just be walking into a trap?"

"I came to the Feudal Era on my own, and I know the risks involved in just living here, as me. I could loose everything in a heartbeat…even you."

"Kagome, I'm not going anywhere. I—"

"Well how do I know that!" She yelled at him as tears sprung from her eyes. She turned away, unable to face him. "How do I know I'm not going to loose you."

Inuyasha fell silent at this outburst as Kagome fell into violent sobs. He put his arm around her shoulders and felt her begin to calm down. Choosing his words carefully, Inuyasha attempted to sway her decision.

"Kagome," he whispered into her ear, "If for some reason things get out of control, I want you to go down the bone eaters well to your era and wait for me to come and get you."

Kagome started to tremble, the tone of his voice frightened her. She stifled a protest and remained silent as she heard him continue in his words.

"If I get hurt and can't protect you, I at least want be able to know that you are alive no matter what happens to me. Kagome, I love you, and I never want to see anything happen to you. To know you are safe somewhere would give me reason to live."

Kagome stopped struggling against his argument the instant those three precious words hit her ears. 'I love you.'

"Say it again."

"Say what again—"

"The part where you said that you loved me."

"Kagome…just promise me that you won't get hurt." She smiled at him and shook her head. "Inuyasha, such a promise I could never make just like I could never say that I will selfishly leave you just to save myself. Dangers will always come our way, and it is up to us to stand up and face them together."

He began to protest, but Kagome placed a finger on his lips to stop his word while she spoke her heart's truth.

"Inuyasha, I love you with all my heart and I want to face these dangers with you. We are so much stronger when we fight together. I need you as much as you need me, and I never want to leave your side…ever."

Inuyasha blushed at the memory and glanced back over at Kagome's sleeping form. 'She may not know it yet, but her safety is the whole world to me.'

Kikyo's patience was growing thin as she quickly began to tire of Naraku's game of incessant talking about nonsense. She could slowly feel her previous happiness sinking down into a bottomless pit of despair and disappointment. Her previous happiness quickly dissolved into annoyance at Naraku's continual drawl on unimportant matters as he would normally do before getting to his point.

The sluggish conversation was slowly dragging Kikyo to the point of insanity when Naraku mentioned something of her particular interest. "Inuyasha has suffered most terribly on his intelligence for the mere benefit for his demonic powers."

'Finally!' thought Kikyo in triumph, 'He is about to make his point at last!'

"Which brings me to my point," continued Naraku indifferently, "I can bring back any and all of his intelligence if given the proper amount of time."

"How long?" Kikyo hid her eyes beneath her bangs, "How long do I have to wait to get my only love to return to my side like he did some fifty years ago."

Naraku sighed sympathetically at the miko huddled on the floor before him with her bow resting on her lap and her many arrows placed neatly beside her. 'I hate to see her like this. She is still the same beautiful priestess that I remembered from all those years ago.'

He saw Kikyo shaking violently as several tears fell on the floor and staining her pretty face when she instantly calmed herself and froze her emotions.

'Why Inu Yasha?' Kikyo thought with anger in her heart, 'Why do you always put me in these situations that cause me such great pain? I love you. Isn't that enough for you to be happy? I am always so afraid that you will leave me for that girl, and you make me pretend to be a villain forcing you to go to hell with me. Don't you see that I can only live peacefully in the world of the dead? We could be together, but you always have to push me away.'

Naraku had seen enough suffering for one day and he got up to leave. "Please stay with me. Please, your presence comforts me."

Naraku stopped and coldly responded, "Only fools believe in love."

He refused to look at her; it was too depressing to see such a soul burdened with so much pain. "I must leave you for now. I have other business to attend to. Besides, you appear to need a great deal of rest. I trust you recall where the sleeping quarters are from your previous visits."

He walked into the hall and slid the door shut behind him. The corridors have long been empty of any guests as Naraku slowly made his way around to his own bed chamber in the darkest corner of the castle.

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