DEDICATED- This chapter is dedicated to my friend and favorite writer in the world, (She's tough competition for Poe, but he's dead.) Miss Sleepwalking Chicken and HAP. Were it not for her comments, criticism, and support for this story, my attention span would have run out long long ago and I would be working on (oh god) Broken Thunder. (gags self with spork) Had she not answered my request a year and so ago, and read this story, I doubt that this story would be anything close to what it is now

And had I not the incredible urge to impress her and (cough controlhermindandstealherstoryideasoutofherhead cough) ... become her ... buddy this story would be utter and complete SHIT. So if you enjoy this story, a large hunk of appreciation should be laid on the pimpin shoulder of Picken. Thanks so much for your reviews and support Picken. Not to mention ... she's the ONLY person who reviewed EVERY single chapter of this story. Wow. You're so generous, Picken! I must run off to a corner and sob joyfully.

I think this is one of my more favorite chapters and one that most of you will melt over so I decided to dedicate it to her. Because its a special chapter to me ... and now its gonna be one for her whether she likes it or not. Mwahaha. Enjoy.

All's Fair in Love and War

Chapter Twenty Six

Were it Not For Pain

The moon looks so pretty tonight. said Inu Yasha abruptly, as he stared into the sky. The bright orb he mentioned, a waning gibbous, was glowing a pale grey-yellow and the surrounding clouds were illuminated with its reflected light. The largely unpopulated area she lived in provided him with an excellent oppurtunity to star gaze with Kagome, warm and tired, breathing lightly, laying down aside him.

He pulled a silver strand, illuminated by the moon out of his face and tucked it under his head. He re-adjusted the pillow under his head, feeling his knuckles rap against the shingles of the roof. Kagome lay next to him on her side, body slightly curled in towards itself. Her eyes were shut and she looked asleep, but she wasnt. Every so often, he would have to poke her shouder to keep her that way. He didn't want her to fall asleep yet. Even if they weren't talking, he liked knowing that she was aware he was with her.

She inched closer to him, knees slightly touching the fabric of his pants. He turned his head, which rested upon his joint palms. He pulled his elbow in and turned towards her, pushing away the strand of hair that fell over her face. He much preferred to see her face. She crinkled her nose at the hair that moved across her face and smiled.

It is pretty... she managed to mumble, though it was far from understandable.

Her mom had driven them home and Shippou fell asleep in the car, so he just put him in Kagome's room. They decided they wanted to stay up a little more, so she pulled him out to a flat part of the roof of her house. There was an area that was flatter than the others, so there they both lay, a blanket covering both their bodies, and a single pillow under each of their heads that was shared between the two. He enjoyed just lying there. Something about it made him feel so relaxed and happy.

Even with the addition of Shippou to his house, that slight feeling of paranoia never really left him. He always crouched down at any sudden movement of noise, always flinched when something startled him, always covered his face when somebody raised their hand threateningly. He remembered one time, when him and Kagome and Sango and Miroku were playing around after school, he made a joke and Sango feigned to slap him.

Inu Yasha!' she squealed and raised her hand over his head. His eyes widened and he curled his head in, raising his arms over his head. The laughter died down in the group as they stared at Inu Yasha, cowering down. The thick silence blanketed the once light hearted moment and Inu Yasha peeked through his fingers before quickly pulling his arms to his side, looking down and blushing.

Inu Yasha? Kagome inquired. You okay? she asked.

He quickly straightened back to his original position, correcting the strange cringe his spine had acquired. Oh, sorry, it's nothing. he mumbled quietly.

After all the abuse, he had developed a reflex to any kind of physical threat. He couldn't even realize that he was doing it anymore, it was like an instinct.

Kagome sighed and he felt her breath against his skin. The warm breath on his skin disappeared, now replaced by the rigid night air. Then, the warm breath returned, and his skin turned to gooseflesh. He inhaled again and closed his eyes, opening them every once in a while to keep awake.

Kagome had always given him this strange feeling. He couldn't exactly put a name on it, but it was this warm comfortable feeling. Something about her made him feel like it was all going to be okay. Like he would take a thousand of his fathers beatings if it meant he could see her smile again. She had given him hope, inspiration. Every so often he would wonder what things would be like if she hadn't been there for him to fall back on.

What would he be like? Would he still be afraid, or lonely? Would he still believe in tomorrow? Would things have ever gotten as good as they were now? No. He couldn't imagine a life without her. He was strange to this feeling. Dependency was not something he was used to. The last person he could say he really depended on was his mother. And look at her now. She was dead somewhere, and he didn't even know where.

He turned on his side and stared at the girl that lay on her side, breathing lightly and looking so innocent in her sleep. Raven bangs covered her forehead and pink lips lagged to the side, pouting ever so slightly. The moon reflected off of her skin and made her illuminate with a certian shine that the sunshine could not bring out in her.

Who - or rather, what- was this girl? This strange and rather- to him at least- beautiful person? She had changed his life in a matter of months and looking back at himself in the beginning of the year and now- he wasn't sure of who he even was, what he was, or why he existed before, if all life meant was to be by her side and to see her smile. Yes, that was life, and a good one. Kagome. Was she all he needed? Of course not. No, Kagome was not all he needed, but ne didn't need her any less than he needed to breath, than he needed to eat and sit in his tree after the school hours waned away.

The plain and simple fact is that she was neccesary.

Hey Kagome? he said softly, though loudly enough to rouse her from her sleep. She opened one eye.

she grunted in reply.

What's your favorite color? he asked.

The sky was thick black by now, dabbed by the occasional star or two, and every once in a while a dark grey cloud would float past the moon in the sky. Everything else was just black by now. The lights in the lightly populated neighborhood were all out, and the rooftops of the houses were black as the rest of the night. He could only see her. But he liked it that way. Her one aqua eye looked at him, though it was half lidded and looked quite tired.

She laughed softly. And why do you want to know that? That was certaintly random.

I don't know ... Um, I'm bored. And I don't want you to fall asleep yet. He said it softly and his voice reminded her of a child asking to be put to bed. S-so ...? he prodded shyly.

Well, since you persist, it is Cerulean Blue. she said, caving in to the soft and undeniably adorable way he asked her. She could have sworn that any moment now he would ask her to sing him a song and tell him a story and kiss him good night.

What is that? he asked

It's a real pretty cross of blue with a small dab of green. Its nice and dark, but really pretty. Kind of like the color of the ocean once you hit really deep water. she said. What's yours? she asked.

Well I don't really know. No one has ever asked me. he said. I guess I like red. He supposed he liked red the best. He looked pretty good in the haori that her mother had given to him and it was red.

She laughed. I like red too. she said. But blue still kicks its ass.Oh, keh. You go now, ask something. he said.

She looked around and thought for a moment. If you could have any disability, what would you choose? she asked.

Let's see. he thought hard for a while and then looked at her. Can't I just be normal? I could have um ... a missing toe or something.

Kagome giggled. No, come on! Pick something! She said playfully.

His little boyish grin flattened out as he exhaled and he tapped his fingers on the roof shingles as he thought. I would want to be numb. he said. The world around them was dark, but he was close enough to her to see the look of enstrangement that crossed her blue eyes.

Inu Yasha, why? she asked, and leaned closer, so that their nose tips were only a few inches apart. Her voice sounded strangely erious in contrast to the former light hearted conversation.

Because... If I was numb, then I wouldn't have to feel pain. If someone hurt me, it wouldn't hurt. It wouldn't matter and I wouldn't care. If I was numb, then pain wouldn't stop me. No one could hurt me. he said. A thick silence blanketed them before Kagome opened her mouth.

Who would hurt you Inu Yasha? she asked. Her words were soft, and she spoke them in a fearful way, a very quieted way, unlike the Kagome he knew. It almost sounded like she was afraid that if she spoke them any louder, the words would hurt him. She looked down when she said them but he heard her loud and clear. An ear shattering silence engulfed them, and neither could find the strength to look at the others eye. Kagome was the first to speak.

I mean, I don't think that I like being sad too much, but ... There are so many other things to feel, so many beautiful things. And the things that feel good far outshadow the things that are bad. Pain fades in the face of things like happiness, or pride, or ... love.

And ... and even if something hurt a lot, a whole lot, as long as we survived it ... It would make us stronger, wouldn't it? I think it should but ... But some things are too painful, I think. And if we aren't made stronger by things that hurt then we ... we would die. But that's how it works I guess. When the stress is not enough to break us then we are made better. And that's how we all get by. Those things that used to hurt us eventually stop hurting and they become a part of us. We are made deeper and after bitterness, sweet feelings of joy, that once seemed so far away, feel that much more amazing.

But joy would not feel so good if it were not for pain. And until we fear we can lose it, we can not truly love being happy. Because we take things for granted when we rely on them. People take for granted that they are not sick, that they are not starving, that they are not dead. I mean, just being able to sit here right now with you, that's contentment in itself. Even though we don't like to go through tragedy ... we don't like to lose things, we want to be able to have stability on something, knowing all too well at the same time that everything in this world is constantly changing ... It would defeat the purpose of being human if we couldn't feel those things.

He was taken aback. Kagome spoke like a shy child woud to an adult the entire time. Her voice seemed to take on a life of it's own. It would start strong, the fade and flicker, dancing around before stopping completely, occasionally tripping. And although he had never told her anything about his father- no, he wouldn't dare burden her with that- everything she just said shot him straight through the heart.

What would one say to something like that? What was there to say?

Kagome had said it all.

Author's Notes

Fanfiction dt net no longer allows me to reply directly to your comments, so I will have to put the responses disguised in the author's notes, forcing you to read them. Mwahaha.

A bit of news- My mom's computer is broken and that means that for one, Fingertips' last chapter won't be uploaded till the computer gets back on the net, and secondly AFILAW updates will be slowed to about every other week or week and a half. Also, I have a tendency to get grounded.

Wow, you guys had a lot of interesting thoughts as to who the two people are. Most said it was Kieu and Inu's mommy. One person said it was Kagome's mom, which was kind of cool having another opinion. I mean, if you think about it, Kieuseru could have been involved with both of them. Think about it. The woman obviously had a child and most of you were quick to think Inu Yasha but hey, both Kagome and Inu Yasha have mothers, so you never know. I may be leading you on, and I may just be leading you off now because you were right but hell, you never know. I mean, how do you even know that the woman he is involved with is someone you've met so far? (giggles)

Anyone still curious as to Kagome's um ... species or whatever the hell word I should have used there?

Well, chapter 25 holds the record of amount of reviews recieved in a chapter seeing as 47 people reviewed it! Yaay! I feel loved! Hugs and oreos for everyone! (I'm trying to lose ten pounds so I can't eat them. -Sob-)

Please review!

(Short chapter coming up next. I apologize ahead of time.)