A/N: Well, my Fushigi Yuugi high is over, as I have finished watching the DVDs. After I got over the shocking OVA 1, I LOVED OVA 2! Oh, the MUSIC! (I just squealed when I heard the beautiful orchestral over Konan!)

Now I'm getting back into my Final Fantasy VII kick, as I have finally gotten the video game to work. (PS1 games don't seem to work very well on my PS2.) Onward, Cloud!

Speaking of FFVII, when I was watching FY OVAs 1 and 2, I screamed "Sephiroth!" when I saw Tenkou for the first time.

..Now, for those who have no idea what I'm talking about…

Chapter 15: Lover's Promise

Shippou, who was riding on Kirara's back, looked across the endless expanse of forest. "No, I can't see it yet, Kirara." he sighed, scanning for the village. "But I can smell it, we're almost there."

The nekomata growled as Shippou laughed. "Yeah, after riding like this for days, we'll finally get some rest!"

Suddenly the kitsune squealed as he pointed, "There it is, Kirara! We're almost there!"

With an encouraging growl, Kirara and Shippou flew on, to finally complete their mission.


Inuyasha leaned against a tree, overlooking the sunlit fields as the villagers tended to them. So, she's probably going to be there for a while, huh? he thought to himself, remembering how Kagome wasn't there when he woke up that morning. Kaede had said Kagome left very early, wanting to go to school, but she didn't even say goodbye.

She's probably still upset from last night…

Inuyasha mentally cursed himself for that. Why had he said those things to her? He was angry, upset, but he had practically scared her. Just…after all this time, he needed her to understand he was going through hell from their separation too. Yet she had surprised him with her statement.

"Because I won't be able to push you away when it goes too far." What the hell did she mean by that? Does she think that I'll push her that far?

Of course, inside, he couldn't fool himself. He was an inu hanyou, after all. And, to top that off, he had been mated, once. It was only natural that he would desire her in that way as well. But he wouldn't push her…at least; he didn't want to push her. But as long as the curse was there, he wasn't going to do anything that might harm her.

But, he remembered, I don't know if the curse is still there…No one ever told me…If it is gone, than Kagome and I could be going through hell when we could put a stop to it!

"Inuyasha!" A small, high pitched voice said from above. Inuyasha looked up, to see Shippou and Kirara just landing.

"Shippou?" he asked, as Kirara came to a soft landing and transformed in a flash of fire to her smaller form. "What are you two doing here? I thought you were with Sango and Miroku."

"We were." the kitsune replied, sitting down. "But we found Kohaku a few days ago, and Miroku sent me to tell you and Kagome they'd be staying a few more days until he's better." Shippou glanced around the village, sniffing intently. "Where is Kagome? Did you two have a fight again?"

"No!" denied the hanyou at once. Calming down and folding his arms in his haori, he answered, "She just went back to her world, that's all."

Shippou cocked his head at Inuyasha. "When will she be back?"

Shrugging, Inuyasha answered, "I dunno. Probably tomorrow, I suppose." He paused, remembering, "She doesn't know about Kohaku, though. And I was hoping we could meet up with them on the road."

"You mean we're going to start traveling again?" the kitsune whined, already travel-weary.

Standing up and turning away, Inuyasha replied, "Yeah. We can't stop now. We have to find Naraku." He started walking away, with a somber expression on his face.

"Hey!" Shippou asked, watching him leave. "Where are you going?"

Glancing back, with a pained look in his amber eye, Inuyasha replied, "I gotta go tell Kagome about this. She'd want to pack right if we're heading out, rather than staying here for a couple of days."


Like he had done many times before, Inuyasha jumped into the well, and after falling through the swirl of blue light that was the timestream, he ended up in the bottom of the well in Kagome's time.

As Inuyasha looked up at the dark ceiling of the small room, he remembered how he always used to like being here, meaning he was close to Kagome, but now, he hated it. As much as he used to love being around Kagome, now it was painful, and even more after their fight the night before.

I had thought that she had started to trust me once more. Inuyasha mused to himself while climbing out of the well, his eyes downcast. But it just goes to show you can never tell with women.

You can never tell, with her…Inuyasha pushed open the door of the well house, into the blinking sunshine. Instantly, his nose was assaulted with hundres of different and unappetizing scents, one reason why he liked the Sengoku Jidai more. His ears picked up the hum of the city, a constant buzz that never left no matter what time he came.

Walking across the courtyard, he didn't even glance at Goshinboku, not wanting to relive the pain that was brought on by memories of that tree.

He pushed open the door of her house, peeking his head in to glance around for her. He was met with her mother coming out of the kitchen, with a smile on her face. "I thought it was you, Inuyasha-kun."

"Yeah." he said, walking in and shutting the door firmly behind him. Getting straight to the point, feeling uncomfortable under her gaze, he asked, "Is Kagome here?"

Face falling, Mrs. Higurashi replied, "No, Inuyasha-kun, she's still at school."

Inuyasha had just started to swear profoundly, but remembering he was in the presence of Kagome's mother, he dropped it quick. "Uh…When will she be back?"

"In a couple of hours or so." she told him, motioning to the kitchen. "Why don't you stay a while, I'm sure she'll be happy to see you when she gets back."

Following her, Inuyasha muttered, "I don't think so."

Turning around and looking at him in pity, Mrs. Higurashi asked, "What's wrong?", handing him a cup of tea, which he took a long drink out of.

At first, Inuyasha didn't want to tell this woman about the problems he and Kagome were having. But somehow, by either her kind words or the fact that he knew he needed help, he suddenly found himself spilling the story to her.

"I don't understand." The hanyou said softly, his ears drooping. "Kagome just doesn't trust me anymore. It's almost like…she's afraid to get close to me. She says its because she doesn't want to have to—" he hastily stopped himself, glancing up at Mrs. Higurashi's confused face, remembering that Kagome told him she omitted to her mother the fact that she had to kill him, because she didn't want to tell her that she had tried to kill herself as well. "She doesn't want to have to go through it again." He finished quickly. Lowering his eyes and looking down, once again uncomfortable, Inuyasha said in a small voice, "I know what we did before was a mistake, but I'd never do anything if there were the possibility of her getting hurt again."

Sighing and standing up from the table, Kagome's mother turned away towards the window, looking out on Goshinboku. "It hasn't bloomed yet." She mused, making the rather impatient hanyou raise an eyebrow behind her. Turning back to him, she replied, "Inuyasha-kun, you know she's not afraid of you, don't you?"

"What do you mean?" he asked, as if this was news to him.

For a second, Inuyasha thought he saw a tear in the older woman's eye. "Kagome's afraid of what she had to do before…she doesn't want to kill you again, Inuyasha."

The silver haired hanyou stood up in alarm, his amber eyes wide and his mouth open in surprise. "How…how do you…"

"I've heard her in her sleep." She replied, turning away once more, as if the memories were painful. "Kagome's been crying and screaming in her sleep time after time...and then she'll wake up and cry about it, but never let me help her if I try. Though she didn't tell me herself, no doubt because she didn't want to cause me grief, I know what really happened."

Inuyasha too, remembered how he had heard her moaning in her sleep more than once, dreaming of the terrible day. Clenching his fists and looking down, the painful memories floating into his brain, Inuyasha said, "I never wanted to hurt her. If I had known how much pain it would have caused her, then I wouldn't have been so stupid—"

"Don't worry about it, Inuyasha-kun." Kagome's mother said with a small, forced smile, sitting back down at the table. "All is forgiven. You were young, and stupid...like everyone else is at least once in their life."

The hanyou didn't even bother to correct her on the minor detail that it was mainly the effect of the curse that had driven them to eventually… "carry on".

After a pause, Mrs. Higurashi looked back up at him, with an unsure look in her dark eyes. "Inuyasha-kun, I have to ask you something, and I really need you to answer truthfully."

He nodded, wondering what it was about. "What?"

"Do you love my daughter?"

That caused the hanyou to stiffen in surprise, a bright red blush appearing on his face. Of course he loved Kagome, but how was he to tell her own mother that? Looking down and feeling more nervous than he had ever felt around Kagome, he replied softly, "I love her more than anyone I've ever met in my life. When I'm sad…just her being there is enough to make me happy. I protect her with everything I have, and...if I could give my life in exchange for her happiness, I would do it." Though he was still blushing furiously, a small smile was on his face as he finished his speech, remembering how much he loved her.

A similar smile was on Mrs. Higurashi's face, as well as a tear in her eye as she heard the confession from this boy who obviously loved Kagome with all his heart, and all his soul. She knew before she asked him that Inuyasha loved her, but she had to hear it from him before she could go any further. "Then, Inuyasha-kun, will you please help her?"

Looking back at Kagome's mother, though still blushing furiously, Inuyasha asked, "Huh?"

"Inuyasha, Kagome and I both know you can help her get back to the way she was…I don't like seeing the look in her eyes anymore. But, with time, that can change." She told him, knowing that he was the only one who could help Kagome now.

"It can." He agreed, remembering how days before Kagome was nearly back to normal, only to plunge right back into depression, but because of that, he had hope.

"Then, will you try?" she asked, pressuring him a little. "We all need the old Kagome back."

After a pause, Inuyasha replied, "I will do whatever it takes to get my Kagome back again." A second later, he realized the slip of his tongue, and looked at Mrs. Higurashi in horror, afraid of what she would say, but she only smiled at him like she had been before, once again confusing the hanyou.

Women…he mentally grumbled again. You never know with them…

"I'm glad." she replied, standing up and clearing away their tea cups. Just before Inuyasha left the sunlit kitchen, he heard, "Oh, Inuyasha-kun," He turned, and saw her eyes and voice had changed to a more serious tone. "My daughter's been hurt badly…please don't hurt her again."

Feeling it was more of a threat than a request, Inuyasha replied in honesty, "I wont." Before leaving the kitchen to wait for Kagome's arrival in her room. At least, he added, his ear flicking back to the woman in the kitchen as she washed the dishes, I hope not.


A/N: Kagome was in this chapter…but somehow, it didn't quite fit. (Poor Kagome…how come its always her I'm cutting?)

Anyway, this is a scene that wasn't planned, but I knew I needed. Isn't Inuyasha so sweet? Gotta love the boy when he's like that…

(Kagome, I envy you sooooo much.)