News spread to Azula and Zuko quickly about the young girl's sudden awakening. Azula was the first to see her, determined to know who and what she is to the Avatar. "Pathetic how your so called 'friends' left you behind, don't you think?"

"What's pathetic is your energy," Kagome merely shrugs. "Empowered yet terrified. Don't see that combination often." The Fire Princess frowns in response. "You're a perfectionist, huh? Not a hair out of place." Kagome refuses to answer anything she was asked by her, not after her attack on Aang. This teen would have to find information in a different way.

The next to visit is Zuko, yet there was no surprise there. Kagome could hear him clear as day when she was in the spirit realm, making it somewhat difficult to focus on the task she had. She knows his hardships well. "So you're awake."

"Thank you captain obvious," she says snidely. "I thought I had to pinch myself to make sure I'm not dreaming." She doesn't look at him, not daring to see the face of the male she was slowly growing fond of.

"How?" Zuko gruffly asks. "How are you still here? How are you awake?" Then it clicks for Kagome. The world thinks the Avatar is dead. Without thinking, Kagome laughs bitterly at the thought of the Avatar dying only a few weeks after finding her.

"Because I can be, is that a problem?" Kagome quips as her laughter dies. "Thanks to you I'm sure the world thinks him dead."

"I'm not the one-"

"I was there, Prince Zuko," she interrupts him, his name rolling off her tongue like poison.

"Exactly," he glares at the back of her head, thankful she wasn't turned towards him. Zuko didn't think he would be able to face those sapphire eyes of her's. "Then you should know that it wasn't my choice!"

"From what I saw, Prince, you had a choice," Kagome says as she snaps her head towards him. "Be the person your Uncle knows you can be, or succumb to Azula's demands and lies." His breath hitches in his throat, surprised that she had even known about that tidbit of his life.

"As if you know anything about me," he sneers. "You're just a child that was with the Avatar."

"Yeah well this child can beat your ass any day." Their gazes meet, both unable to look away from each other as they continue to bicker meaninglessly.

"That fight doesn't count," Zuko defends. "Those attacks weren't meant for you. It was supposed to be between me and the Avatar." His rage begins boiling his blood, upset that this girl was able to get under his skin so much. "You were just in the way!" Kagome pauses for a moment, knowing this isn't the first time someone had said that to her. The pain reaches her eyes as she merely stares at the male on the outside of her cell. "Nothing would be different if you weren't there."

"Don't you think that I know my existence here is a sham?!" Kagome snaps at him as tears sting her eyes and threaten to fall. "Just leave me alone."

"Obviously you don't know how useless you are to them then," he continues despite her telling him to leave. "They are better off without having to worry for a complete stranger." Her tears finally fall as her chest clenching harshly at his words, her mind blurring what was reality and what was memories.

"I said leave me alone, Inuyasha!" she screams as she covers her face with her hands, not daring to look back up to the male in front of her. She can't face him now, not after calling by that name. It wasn't him, yet at the same time it was and it was causing more pain than she thought it would. There wasn't a chance that Zuko would remember anything from all those years ago and Kagome knew it, yet she wanted to hope that she could have him in her life again. This isn't her Inuyasha anymore, however. This was a broken Prince trying to find his path in the world that has been against him since the beginning. Zuko silently stares at her sobbing form, his own chest aching in an unfamiliar pain.

"Fine," he says lowly, as if afraid to scare her. "I'll leave you be." Kagome continues to cry, holding herself as she hears his footsteps fading away. Zuko isn't her Inuyasha and she needs to realize that before she hurts herself further.

That following night, Zuko is greeted by another memory in his dreams. He saw flowers grow larger than humanly possible before being lifted by an obese male with a jagged smile, being dropping into the males mouth and swallowed. He tries climbing the inner fleshy walls of the man, threatening to slaughter him once he gets out. Zuko's body is pushed back by a wave of liquid, his sharp nose picking up the unmistakable scent of medicine. Seeing as he was in the stomach of the man, he didn't have much time before he was broken down by the stomach acid. Using his clawed hands, he attempts to breakout through the flesh just to be bounced back like he was hitting rubber.

Then a sickening feeling washes over his body, feeling weaker as the moments pass and the silver hair he had gotten used to turns a pitch black in color. His senses dull and his strength leaves him. His body fills with panic as the situation sets in, yet luck is on his side as he sees a hint to escaping his flesh prison. He calls for his sword using the scabbard after being smacked back into the acid. The sword seemed to be repelled from the rubber type flesh of the male that ate him, however it made the man vomit from the sudden assault to his stomach, Zuko claiming his escape in the disgusting wave of bile. "You pig!" Zuku feels himself yell as he swings the sword in its lesser form towards the fat male. He springs up in retaliation, dropping his body onto Zuko and making his vision go black.

As he awakens again in his dream, Zuko finds himself held down by multiple vines full of thorns. He was bleeding out, that much he could tell in this situation and it was confirmed by the fat man. A gleam of light catches his attention, making him look at the man's belly button. Anger fills his person, knowing that those had to be stolen from Kagome. He voices his concerns and the balloon of a male mentions he had found it inside his house. Zuko could feel his heart stop knowing that Kagome was nearby and possibly in danger herself.

Once the man leaves the room, Zuko struggles against his binds, only making his wounds deeper as he moves to free himself. Moments of this personal torture pass before he could feel his vision start to fade from him. The man chooses that time to enter, questioning how he could still possibly be alive as he throws down that white and green outfit he had grown so familiar with. The pig of a man had Kagome and Zuko couldn't control the emotions rising up. How could he constantly put her in so much danger? "What did you do with her?"

"You'll see her soon enough." Is the only answer he could really hear, hinting at the fact that she was already eaten.

"Bastard!" he sneers as he reaches towards the man. "I'll kill you!" The vines holding him start to break from the ceiling as a small windtunnel appears from Kagome's shirt, aiding in Zuko's freedom. He finds the small forms of his friends once his bindings are off of him. Taking this moment of peace, Zuko rushes off to find Kagome as he didn't believe what the vile male had told him.

He could hear faint yelling from behind a nearby door, recognizing it to be Kagome's as he breaks down the door using his sore body. "Kagome!"

"Inuyasha!" she responds hopefully as she stands from her bath of sake fully nude.

Zuko's eyes snap open as he sits up suddenly. His face felt like it was on fire from the image of Kagome's body basically on display for him. Rubbing his face with his hand, he lays back down and stares at the ceiling of his room as he thinks over this new memory. At this point, Zuko knew that these were dreams of memories from his past life and gave up on trying to forget or fight them. He covers his eyes with his forearm, groaning slightly at the dull ache in his head. He hasn't been able to get her out of his head since he first heard her speak the name Inuyasha, his thoughts always finding their way back to her and now that he had gotten this memory, he wasn't sure if he could distract himself for much longer. Not with how soft her skin looked after being soaked in sake, how her eyes shimmered with hope when she saw him, or how she smiles at him. Deciding he liked seeing her smile more than cry, Zuko sets a goal to make her smile again, even if it's not exactly for him. It was a warmth he hadn't felt before and he is the Fire Nation's Prince.

Seeing as he wasn't going to be able to fall back to sleep, Zuko forces himself out of bed and slips his robes on. There was a need to see her filling his chest once exciting his room. He was sure he was making careful, hidden movements through his home and straight to her. Who was trapped behind cell bars in rags. It just hasn't sat well with him since the memories started controlling his dreams. Zuko stops once at the doorway where he could see Kagome's resting form. Facing the entrance in a curled position with a pained expression on her face.

"Kagome?" Zuko calls out before he could think. It might be a rude wakeup call with all that happened yesterday, yet something in him yelled to wake her. She flinches slightly, her features slowly relaxing from the scowl. "Hey, Kagome." He wasn't trying to be too loud, yet it was just enough to wake her completely as her eyes flutter open before she sits up.

"Oh," Kagome yawns while rubbing the sleep from her eyes. "What do you want?" She pulls her legs over the side of the uncomfortable bed, too tired to hold a glare at the older male.

"I, uh.." he clears his throat looking back to the latest memory. "I wanted to apologize." Zuko couldn't meet her eyes, a dust of pink covering his cheeks.

"What for?" she tilts her head to the side as she rests her hands on the edge of the bed. "Bickering yesterday?" Zuko nods slightly. "Don't worry about it." Kagome shrugs, standing to stretch a bit to fully wake up. "It's not like I'm a prisoner of war or anything."

"How can you just say that so casually?" He was stunned, his gaze snapping to hers. "You should be fuming with rage and screaming that I'm a monster."

"Who said I wasn't fuming?" Kagome's tone is like ice, sending a chill down Zuko's spine as she holds his stare. "Just forget about it, Zuko. Can't change the fact that it happened." She sits next to the bars of her cell, giving him a look to tell him to do the same. "But I appreciate the thought."

"So you're actually willing to talk to me?" he asks softly as the guilt weighs heavy on him and sits down.

"What else am I going to do?" she laughs gently, knowing she couldn't be upset with him for too long. "You've been my main source of entertainment since I got here."

"But you've only been awake for-"

"For a day," she finishes for him. "Fully aware of that." Kagome's eyes hold a bit of mischief, purposefully not telling him something. Zuko has seen that gleam before but he couldn't place it as his stomach twists with sudden butterflies.

"Then how-?"

"I could still hear you when you came to talk to me." The slight gleam of mischief turns into a shine of amusement as Zuko blushes from the embarrassing confrontation. "Speaking of, how are you and Mai doing?" she asks, no hint of malice or jealousy was laced or hidden within her voice, just pure curiosity. Kagome didn't see it as her right to be jealous of his current relationship, not knowing Zuko well enough to consider anything romantic with him. She would get to know him for who he is, not what she remembers of his past life. Inuyasha isn't Zuko just like Aang isn't Roku or Kyoshi.

"We're fine," Zuko almost stutters out, unable to maintain eye contact with her as he balls his hands into fists. He wanted to tell her about the dreams he was having, about seeing her in a different lighting and full of life. Zuko wanted to confirm what he was dreaming of were memories.

"How's Azula? As insane as ever?" Kagome laughs lightly. He doesn't respond, however, too lost in his own thoughts to realize she was speaking to him. "You know, it feels rather weird that I know so much about you but I have no idea who you are." Kagome hesitantly reaches her left hand through the bars of her cell as she moves onto her knees. "Almost like a dream." Her finger tips graze his clenched fist, shocking him from his thoughts.

"Yeah," he sighs out, watching her hand rest on his now relaxed fist. "A-a dream." His voice sends a chill through her.

"You're here for a reason, right?" Kagome asks as she watches his face.

"R-right," he nods slightly as he pauses for a moment to think of what to say. "I wanted to know about the person named Inuyasha."

"You want to know… about Inuyasha?" she repeats in slight shock. "Why do you want to know about him?" Of all things he could want to know about, why was it Inuyasha? Confusion clear on her face, Kagome waits for him to respond in silence.

"Do you want the truth?" Zuko answers with a question as Kagome nods. "I think he was me in a past life…" Kagome simply stares at him, not confirming or denying his claim as he continues. "I-I've been seeing through the eyes of someone else in my dreams. And you're there but you look a few years older?" He doesn't look at her as he explains, feeling embarrassed he was even admitting to seeing these memories. "You were wearing this weird green and white outfit with a red scarf."

"How-?" Kagome quivers as tears string in her eyes.

"I saw someone who looked almost exactly like you," Zuko says as he finally looks up, regretting it instantly at the sight of tears threatening to fall from her eyes. "But she was so cold and distant. And I saw what she put you through because of Inuyasha." Kagome let's the tears stream down her cheeks, her heart clenching at her own memories. "Inuyasha didn't deserve you or anything you did for him." As much as she wanted to respond, her sobs wouldn't let her with her hands cover her face. "I-I didn't mean to upset you…" She only cries harder, wanting nothing but a hug at the moment. Zuko grabs the keys from the sleeping guard and quickly opens her cell to step inside. He wouldn't normally do this, yet something was telling him to, that he needed to. Kneeling down beside her, Zuko pulls her into a hug to try and help. Kagome clings onto him much like she had done in his dreams as she cries into his chest. "I'm sorry, I shouldn't have said anything…" The way her arms felt around was nothing like how he felt when he was hugging Mai. With her it seemed a bit forced, like she hadn't wanted to in the first place. Yet with Kagome, he felt that warmth from before and it seemed natural for him to be with her, not Mai.

"Thank you for telling me," Kagome whispers. "You have no idea how much this means to me, Zuko." Said male, however, was not expecting that response. He was used to being yelled at and sent away like a bad child, not thanked. Zuko keeps his hold on her until she stopped sniffling, finding that she had fallen asleep in his arms fills his being with that warmth as a small smile graces his lips. Gently lifting her and putting her on the bed, Zuko then leaves after locking her cell again.

"Thank you for giving me a chance," he whispers with his back turned to her from the doorway, not noticing the smile appearing on her features.