A/N: Have any of my lovely perceptive readers thought this title to be a little odd? Familiar, perhaps? big hug to reviewers Well, I appreciate you all whether or not you've figured it out or not...but let me explain. This story is titled after the song I will start including in it as of this chapter. Confused? Well, 1999...a duet between Jessica Simpson and Nick Lachey called "Where You Are" was released. Those of you who know the song will recognize it...I think...Hope you enjoy chapter four! Here it is!

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Where You Are
Chapter Four: I'll See You in My Dreams

Inuyasha sat on Kagome's bed, his head in his hands. "How could all of this have been happening for so long, and I didn't even see it?" he whispered to himself. You idiot, you've known it for years...ever since you met her. You're just too stupid to acknowledge what has been right in front of your eyes...

Inuyasha sighed, leaning back and letting one of Kagome's fluffy pink pillows catch his head on the way down. "I am an idiot..." he smirked.

Kagome's scent was surrounding him now. After all, this was her room. Inuyasha grabbed another one of her pillows and hugged it to himself, inhaling deeply. He could feel himself growing tired. He was safe. He was in Kagome's time...in her room. It was all right to fall asleep as long as he was here...

He felt his eyelids grow heavy. Sleep had a powerful hold on him, and he let it win. Besides, it was the only way to see her again until he figured out a way to fix the mess that he had gotten them both into...

There are times
I swear I know you're here
When I forget about my fears
Feeling you my dear
Watching over me
My hope sees
of what the future will bring
When you ride me on your wings
And take me

"Kagome?" Inuyasha called out. "Kagome? Where are you? Are you here? Please..." he pleaded with the darkness. "I need you to be here..."

"Inuyasha!" Kagome gasped. He turned in surprise. She was standing behind him. "Inuyasha, you shouldn't let your guard down. I don't trust her. She could hurt someone. What if she hurt you?"

Inuyasha laughed slightly, despite himself. "I'm so relieved to see you Kagome, and...well, I don't think Manami would hurt anyone. I don't think she knows about this..."

"This..." Kagome repeated somewhat softer. "What is 'this'? Why are you here?"

Inuyasha cleared his throat. "I had to see you. I had to talk to you...and I knew that this was the only way to do that until I can figure out how to get rid of Manami..."

Kagome's eyes met the ground. "I already told you how to do that...but I'm sorry. I can't tell you anymore about it..."

He shook his head. "I know, Kagome. But that's not why I came here..." He took her hands into his own. "I came here to see you. It's the only way I know how to...because I miss you...and I needed to talk to you. I know I'm asleep, but I'm at least here with you..."

"Inuyasha..." Kagome whispered. "I don't under..." she began.

Where you are
Where you and I will breathe together
Once again we'll be dancing in the moonlight
Just like we used to do
And you'll be smiling back at me
Only then will I be free
When I can be where you are

"You don't have to understand anymore, Kagome. You understand a lot more than me already, and you have had to suffer for it. Right now, I just want to talk to you. I have to. It's important. I heard some things from your mom...and I need to hear them from you..."

Kagome visibly shook, and looked down at the ground. Suddenly, she grabbed his hand and sat down, slowly taking him with her. Above them once again were the branches and leaves of the sacred tree.

Kagome sighed deeply. "All right, Inuyasha...I'm ready..."

He swallowed hard. "What your mom said...about you getting married..."

Kagome choked back a sob. "Inuyasha, no...I can't. I told him I wouldn't do it. I don't want to do it...please don't...I'm sorry I..." Kagome took deep breaths as she began to cry. Her cheeks were red, and her hands covered her face.

"Kagome...don't apologize. Your mom told me you told your grandfather that you wouldn't do it..." he whispered.

Kagome coughed. "My mom told you...why I wouldn't...?" She looked up.

He nodded slowly. "She did..."

"You know about...?"

"Kagome..." Inuyasha took her hands. "I have to know..." he whispered. "I have to hear it from you. Is it...is it true?"

Kagome shook her head. "Inuyasha...I can't tell you that." She whispered.

"Why not? Your mother already talked to me about it..."

"Inuyasha...you have to figure it out on your own. The one I love has to return my love. If I tell you the answer, it won't save either of us. You have to come to the answer on your own. You have to go through Manami to get to me...but you...You have to wake up now, Inuyasha. We can't talk to each other any longer..."

"No. I don't want to wake up. I want to stay here and talk to you, Kagome. I can only talk to you when I'm sleeping..."

"Wake up, Inuyasha. Remember what I told you? You have to wake up...you have to waku up..."

Inuyasha gasped as he was shot unwillingly into consciousness. When he woke up, he was curled up on Kagome's bed, still clutching the pillow that was permeated with her scent. He sighed deeply.

He blinked. "Have to go through Manami?" he repeated what Kagome had said in his dream. Jumping up, he began to pace the room. What exactly did she mean? And why wouldn't she tell him if she loved him like her mother said she did? Why did he have to do this on his own? His thoughts ran rampant through his mind as he turned and overturned each possibility. He had to figure this out. He had to figure out what everything meant if he ever wanted to talk to the real Kagome again...

He plopped back down onto the bed. He knew he didn't love Kikyou. He thought he might at one point, but what he felt wasn't love. When Kikyou came back from the land of the dead, he knew she had changed. She was no longer the same person he once knew...and whatever feelings he'd had for her were slowly diminishing.

Scratching his head, he frowned deeply. He owed it to Kikyou to see to it that she would be able to rest in peace...but he knew that when she went, he did not want to go with her.

"Shippo!" he yelled. "Come here, please!"

The small kitsune was at the door only two minutes later. Panting, he looked up at the obviously frustrated hanyou. He blinked. "What is it, Inuyasha?" he asked after Inuyasha did not say anything for a moment.

Inuyasha looked down, meeting Shippo's eyes, and took something small from his robes. He handed the small object to Shippo.

"This is a small shard of the jewel of four souls." The fox nodded, and Inuyasha continued. "Sango, Miroku, and Kirara are waiting in the old woman's village. I want you to bring them back to me, all right? They are going to need to hold on to you somehow in order to be able to go through the well, but I want you to bring them here quickly. I really need to talk to them. Got it?" he finished.

After a second, Shippo nodded, and, with the shard in hand, he rushed out of the room and down the stairs.

"Be careful, kit!" Inuyasha hollered. "Go straight to the village! Do not stop for anything! I don't want Kagome getting mad at me if you end up getting hurt!"

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Inuyasha sat himself at the Higurashi's kitchen table for the second time that day. He let out a deep breath that he did not realize he had been holding.

Kagome's mother looked up. "Are you all right, Inuyasha?"

He nodded slowly. "I'm fine. I just...miss her a lot." he admitted.

"We all do."

"I sent Shippo to go get Miroku and Sango," Inuyasha informed her. "I really need to talk to them, but I don't think it is a good idea to go back to the feudal era right now..."

"Why?" Kagome's mother asked, confusion etched in her voice.

He sighed. "Tonight is the new moon. On top of everything else that I have to think about, now I have to worry about that."

"No one is going to attack you in this time period, Inuyasha," she assured him. "It's safe here. You know that." Putting her towel down, she took a seat next to him and smiled. "You know...if you have something on your mind...you can tell me anything..." she offered. "Ask Kagome. I'm not very good at giving advice, but I'm really good at the listening part."

"I'd love to ask Kagome anything at this point," Inuyasha said under his breath.

Kagome's mother placed a comforting hand on his shoulder. "I'm sure that you will soon, dear," she promised.

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"We're going to the future?" Sango could barely hide the excitement that lit her features. "When do we leave?"

Shippo laughed. "We have to leave now, Sango. It's important. Inuyasha says he really needs to talk to you guys, but he can't afford to come home right now..."

Miroku nodded in understanding. "Tonight is the new moon. I'm sure that has something to do with it..."

Shippo nodded. "Yes. I'm sure that's it." He paused. "Kagome's mom has already talked to Inuyasha..."

Sango coughed. "How did that go?"

Shippo shrugged. "I don't know. I went to sleep for some of it, so I couldn't tell you..." He paused a moment. "Are you guys ready to go?" he asked in a whiny voice.

After a moment, both the demon slayer and the monk were indeed ready to go. The group raced back to the well on the back of Kirara, who joined them on their trip to the future.

The purple light engulfed them on their way through time. After a couple seconds, they landed in the well on Kagome's side of time. Sango and Miroku climbed out, carrying Shippo and Kirara with them. Waiting for them when they walked out of the well house was none other than Inuyasha himself...in human form, of course.

He crossed his arms over his chest. "It certainly took you all long enough to get here," he said in his most annoyed voice possible.

"What exactly is it that you needed to talk to us about so badly?" Miroku demanded with a smirk, his eyebrow rising slightly. "What is it that is so important? You told us you would come back when you got Kagome back. Is she all right?"

Inuyasha shook his head. "Would you give me the time enough to get to that point, please?" he growled.

Sango laughed lightly. "All right, Inuyasha. Start talking..."

"Koji!" Manami yelled, and Inuyasha groaned.

"Ms. Higurashi!" he whined. She appeared at the door.

He blinked. "Could you please keep her...busy...while I talk to Sango and Miroku? This is really important...and hopefully we can figure all of this out very soon..."

"Well, then I'll be glad to help as much as I can." She walked over and wrapped Sango and Miroku in a hug. "You must be Sango and Miroku!" she smiled. "Kagome has told me so much about you!"

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"What is it, Inuyasha? What is so urgent?" Sango sighed in frustration.

Inuyasha cleared his throat. "When I am sleeping...I can visit Kagome. She comes to my dreams..." he whispered. "But I don't think she is going to be able to anymore...I think Manami is too powerful. Kagome never let me stay very long to talk to her...she would always force me to wake up..." he told them. "But she has told me how to get her back..." he smiled.

Sango jumped. "Inuyasha, that is great!" she smiled. "How do we do it?"

"You don't..." he shook his head. "Kagome said that the only person who can save her is the one she loves. Her love must be returned. She said that we had to go through Manami to get to her...but I don't know what that means..."

"That should be easy!" Miroku huffed. "We know that Lady Kagome loves you. It's also painfully obvious how much you love her. So what's the problem?"

Inuyasha reddened. "I don't know. I'm not sure of anything anymore..."

"Inuyasha..." Sango shook her head in pity. "You are the only one who can't see it, aren't you?"

"What do you mean?" he frowned.

"Inuyasha..." Sango grinned. "You take care of Kagome and you protect her. When she is in her time and you are in ours, you mope around like a child until she returns. You constantly worry about her...you're always defending her from other male demons...you're always trying to make her happy in some way or another..." She paused a moment. He looked thoughtful. She blushed. "Listen, Inuyasha. If Kagome is the first person you think of when you wake up, and the last person you think of before you go to sleep...if all that you seem to care about is keeping her safe and making her happy...which you do, there's a good chance you are in love with her. Think about it, Inuyasha. Have you ever been in love? Did you feel like this when you were with Kikyou? It's different...isn't it?" she flashed a smile at him.

He shook his head, his cheeks reddening in embarrassment. He cleared his throat. "Even if it is true," he snapped, "I still don't know what she meant when she said that I would have to go through Manami to get to her. What did that mean?"

Miroku seemed to think about this for a moment. "Inuyasha..." he began thoughtfully. " Lady Kagome is still inside Manami, right?"

After a second, he nodded. "So?"

"Maybe she meant it literally?" he suggested.

"Huh?" Sango and Inuyasha chorused.

Miroku grinned wide. "Inuyasha, the shortest distance between two points is a straight line, is it not?"

Again, Inuyasha nodded.

"So, say I wanted to tell Lady Sango here that I'm madly in love with her?" Sango blushed a deep purple at his 'example'. He inched closer to her. Inuyasha turned his head to the side in confusion. "Well, if I wanted the right effect from it, I wouldn't go to Lady Kagome to talk to Sango, would I?" he paused a moment, as if letting this sink in. "No, of course not!" he exclaimed. "I would go straight to Sango, and say," he took Sango's hands in his own, "'Lady Sango, I love you and I want you to bear my children...'"

Sango paled. "Miroku?" she gasped.

A sly smile crept across Inuyasha's face. "Well, Sango?"

"I...I...we are here to talk about you, Inuyasha!" Sango stammered, her cheeks going through several color changes.

Miroku cleared his throat. "That is true..." he agreed with his friend. Turning to Sango, he kissed her on her cheek. "You and I can talk later, all right?"

Inuyasha coughed. "So I have to..." he stammered.

Miroku nodded. "You have to confront her directly...as soon as you are sure of your feelings..."

"But won't Manami know about the curse? So what if she tries to stop me from reaching Kagome?" Inuyasha asked next. "How do we manage that?"

"That," Miroku smirked, "will require some trickery on your part, Inuyasha..."

"Trickery?" Inuyasha repeated.

He shook his head. "She calls you Koji...maybe she thinks that Koji is already somehow inside of you?" Miroku thought out loud.

"Tell Kagome's mother to take Souta and go shopping or something. I don't want them to be here in case something happens or something goes wrong..." Inuyasha instructed. "I will stay up here..." He held up his hands as his friends reached the door. "You know what, guys? Act as though I am Koji...if Kagome's mom and brother don't know that I'm not, this whole thing will be a lot easier..."

"Right!" Sango gave him a thumbs up.

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Sango began to cry as she descended the stairs. "Mi...Miroku..." she sobbed. "How could this have happened?"

"I know, my dear Sango...we will find a way to get them back. I promise." he consoled her.

Kagome's mother met them at the foot of the stairs. "What has happened?" she demanded.

Miroku shrugged sadly. "We don't know. Inuyasha is gone..."

Manami looked up in interest.

"What do you mean, Inuyasha is gone?" Kagome's mother yelped.

"He will not respond to us...he says his name is Koji...he was getting rather irate...we had to leave the room..." Miroku explained. "I would take the boy and leave if I were you...Sango and I may have to take him down, and we don't want you to get hurt..."

Kagome's mother nearly choked. "All...all right. Souta!" she hollered. "We're going away for the day!" She turned back to them. "Please you two...please get Inuyasha and my daughter back..." she pleaded.

Manami had already begun to make her way up the stairs.

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"So...you finally overtook the stubborn hanyou's spirit?" Manami smiled. "I have been waiting for you to return to me for days now..." She approached him, slowly wrapping her arms around his waist.

"He was strong..." Inuyasha said in his most sultry voice. "It took some time. But I'm here now...with you..." he smiled, snaking his arms around her neck. "Where did the monk and the demon slayer go off to?"

"I think they left..." she whispered seductively. "But who cares?" She stood on her tiptoes, her breath hitting his neck. "We're together, aren't we?"

"Yes, we are..." Inuyasha swept her up into his arms.

Their faces only an inch apart, Inuyasha smiled. Leaning in, he whispered, "I love you..." he kissed her lightly. "Kagome..." he finished, smiling as he pulled away.

Manami inhaled deeply, and Kagome's body went rigid. Inuyasha sat down on Kagome's bed carefully, and held her tightly. He heard another sharp intake of breath, and Kagome's body relaxed. After a moment, her eyes finally opened.

"Kagome?" he whispered. "Is it you?"

"Inuyasha..." she smiled. "I knew you would figure it out!" she wrapped her arms around his neck.

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A/N: Quick update, eh? Well, I had to leave this one here, but I will update again soon. Please review and let me know what you think.