A/N I do not own Inuyasha or any of the characters, and this idea came from a prompt. I have to say I never expected this story to take off like it did! I am amazed to see how much you all seem to love this idea. Hopefully you all continue to enjoy and can hang on until I figure out what the heck is gonna happen next.
As she lay there gripping her head in her palms, he seemed to appear. He knelt next to her and scooped her up. Her arms left her head and wrapped around his neck. He took off at a speed she had never traveled before, and she had no idea where he was taking her. He never said a word, just practically flew through the trees. Her head was spinning at the speeds he was moving. She felt like she was gonna vomit, between the movement and the pain.
She almost passed out, but it seemed after a while the pain began to subside. Maybe she wasn't going to die. She pulled herself closer to Inuyasha and held him tighter. She needed that comfort. She was terrified. He carried her through the barrier, which should have been impossible, but she was in too much pain to notice. He laid her on her bedding while Kikyou and Kaede both prepared to fight him. As soon as Kagome was on the futon, his form shimmered and vanished. The two were left staring at Kagome, groaning and pitching on the floor in pain. Kaede rushed to her side to see what the problem was, but was unable to determine any cause. After an hour passed Kagome fell into a fitful sleep and Kaede went to look for Inuyasha and some answers. Kikyou kept watch until it got late, Kaede returned without Inuyasha. And went to sleep staying close to Kagome in case she needed her.
Kagome awoke confused in the middle of the night. Why was she in the cottage, and how had she gotten there? Even more confusing was why Kaede wasn't on her futon, but laying on the floor near her. She stood up carefully and stepped around the sweet old woman. She had no recollection of most of the day. She needed water, though. She went to the bucket, but apparently she had forgotten to fill it this afternoon and it was empty. She'd have to go to the well.
Her body was exhausted, and it was hard to move. It took more effort than she could ever remember to crank the bucket up and get a fresh drink. After a few ladles full, she was feeling a bit better, but still struggled to remember anything. She decided to try to retrace her steps for the day. She filled her small waterskin and walked to the meadow. Once she sat down to meditate, she began to get flashes. Small memories that didn't seem to make any sense.
She could remember Inuyasha saying he would be gone, but then remembered him carrying her to the hut. She remembered using her powers a bit and being amazed that some of the spells worked. After so many years of practicing, finally seeing the fruit of her efforts. But something had gone wrong, hadn't it? She suddenly felt like she couldn't breathe. Something was wrong with her. She downed her entire waterskin and still felt like she was dying of thirst.
After a few seconds of trying to control her heart rate, she crawled her way over to the creek. Practically dunking her head in to get a drink. Something was wrong and she couldn't stop it. Tears began streaming down her face. She had no idea why, but the only person she thought about asking for help was Inuyasha. She thought about him and tried to calm her brain down. He was going to help her. He'd already promised.
She focused on him for a minute, and soon she could hear his voice saying her name. Her head snapped up and her eyes searched the area. He wasn't there though. Then his voice came out as a growl.
"What the fuck are you doing?"
Her head dropped towards the voice and she saw him, clear as could be in the water.
"Inuyasha. I-I… How are you there?"
He almost smirked, but it became a scowl instead. "You stupid Witch. You are supposed to be sleeping, it's the middle of the night. Why are you contacting me?"
Her eyes flew wide. She had contacted him? But she hadn't done anything… Had she?
"What do you mean? I don't understand. How have I contacted you?"
"Keh, you are an idiot, and you have a lot to learn. Why did you call out to me?"
She felt her cheeks heat up. Had she called his name? She had been so scared, but had she called him? She couldn't remember enough to deny it.
"I- um- I didn't know I called you. I guess. I was just afraid."
She saw his ears and body shift as if to focus more on her, "What happened? Are you in trouble?"
Oh Kami, how should she answer that? She wasn't in trouble at this second, but she knew something was wrong. She couldn't remember most of her day, and several things she remembered didn't make any sense. But he was working on something important. He said he'd be back soon. She would be safe until then. Her head shook slightly.
"No. No, I'm not in danger. I just think I had a nightmare."
She wasn't sure if it was a lie or not. She couldn't remember. She would tell him everything when he returned. She looked into his eyes and knew he wasn't convinced. She tried to give him a smile, but she knew she wasn't fooling him. She closed her eyes and focused on holding back the tears. Why was she crying? Why were her emotions so out of her control?
His voice was loud and angry. "Kagome, look at me!"
Her head snapped back to him, and her eyes opened, letting the tears she was trying to stop drip down her cheeks.
"Are you in fucking danger?!"
She looked around and then back to him, shaking her head. "No, I just don't remember a lot. Something happened, and it scared me. But I was okay, because you saved me. But you aren't here, so it couldn't have been you. Am I going crazy?" Her voice dropped to a whisper at the end.
His growl surprised her. "What do you remember?"
She tried to think back, but the more she thought about it, the more muddy the waters of her memories seemed to become. She tried to relay how she had been meditating and then started to do a few small spells. Amazed at them actually working. She relayed the headache and faltered at remembering him showing up to take her back to her cottage. That couldn't have happened, right? At her sudden silence, his growl penetrated the silence. Her eyes rose to meet his visage in the water, and she couldn't remember looking away.
"What aren't you telling me?" His voice was almost angry, but she couldn't fathom why. Sure, he was worried something was in his forest, but still. It wasn't a logical reasoning for his ire.
She shook her head, "I remember something, but it must've been a dream. I remember being in pain, I don't know what caused it. I was scared. No, terrified. It hurt so much, and I was actually convinced that I was going to die. I guess I must have passed out and Kaede and Kikyo found me, because I dreamed you showed up and carried me back to the cottage. I dreamed that you saved me, but then you vanished, and I remember them trying to care for me, but mostly I slept. It must have been a dream, but I remember you so strongly. I woke up feeling tired and thirsty. I'm okay now, I think. I just couldn't make sense of it in my head. It scared me, along with all the other dreams."
His growling was low, but still constant. "I'll be back tomorrow morning. Rest and get back to the hut with your coven. Don't leave the house until I return. Tell Kaede to tell you when I arrive at the barrier."
She nodded and ignored the tears that welled up in her eyes. "Thank you, Inuyasha. I'll see you in the morning. How do I turn the spell off?"
His growling stopped and he let out a sigh and a scoff, "Just focus on saying goodbye and remember that I am not there."
She nodded again and closed her eyes, Inuyasha wasn't here. She would see him in the morning, though. When she opened her eyes, his visage in the water was gone. He was gone for now.
She arrived at the hut and went back to sleep, mostly ignoring and only slightly answering the questions from her family. She needed more sleep.
Inuyasha left the small pond near Boksenō and returned to finish speaking with the Aged Demon. He acquired as much information as he could before he had to leave. He would return after the ritual was complete. First, he would try to get several magic wielders together to remove the binding. That would be the first attempt.
Night fell, and Kagome hadn't eaten in a while, but felt no hunger. She felt tired, but still so overly awake. She began focusing on her powers. She needed to see what she could do. After a small flame appeared in her hand, she heard gasps from across the room. Somehow she had forgotten she wasn't alone. Kaede stood and approached with her hands out before her and a smile on her face.
"My child, I am so proud. I was worried you would never access yourself. I knew you had it in you."
She nodded, lost in the orange flame, "Too bad it had to bring my death for me to get them, huh?"
Another gasp, oh no. She wasn't supposed to say anything.
Kikyou spoke first, "Kagome, what do you mean 'your death'?"
Tears welled in her eyes, and the flame vanished. Her palm closed, and she had to decide what to say.
"I-I can't tell you. Not yet, anyway. Hopefully, I can tell you soon, but first Inuyasha told me to stay quiet."
Kaede's smile became a scowl, "You trust him more than your family?"
Her eyes snapped to hers, "Not at all. I'm so sorry. I just don't want to make him angry. He's going to save me and let us stay safe. I need him to be happy. Right?"
She was lying; she hated lying to them. But she didn't want them to leave the forest where they would be in danger. She didn't want to betray Inuyasha. He was the first person who believed in her. Who saw her potential. She had felt like such a failure for so long. Watching her sister succeed at the spells. She wanted to be like her. She looked up to her and admired her so much. But she knew Inuyasha wouldn't hurt them. She actually needed to discuss their agreement again, now to include her possible imminent death. She needed them to be safe if she died. Hopefully, he would agree.
Kaede huffed and walked back to her seat at the table. She picked her spoon back up and resumed eating her dinner. Kikyou looked broken-hearted, and she felt like she had just betrayed her own sister. She didn't want to choose Inuyasha over her family. But she wanted to live and keep her family safe. She had certain priorities.
Inuyasha arrived back at the barrier, but it was still the middle of the night. He chose to wait until she was awake and leapt into a tree to sleep a bit. It had been a long 2 days, after all. As he slept, he dreamt of her. Unfortunately, they were nightmares of her using her powers and dying in incredible pain. Every time he awoke from one, he panicked and almost tried to leap through the barrier. After a while he gave up on the idea of sleep. He meandered to the meadow and he could still smell traces of her terror and panic, and the scent burned in his nostrils. He found himself snarling, and he needed to make sure she was ok. He ran back to the barrier. He needed to get to her.
He arrived back at the edge of the barrier and had to hold himself back from following her scent until he was burned by the invisible wall. He sent his youki out to send the message of his presence. He waited as patiently as he could, hoping to see Kagome. The sight of the old woman had him letting out a low growl.
"Where is she?"
Kaede let out a hum of irritation, then took a deep breath before sitting on a small stump.
"It seems she has decided you are more capable of helping her. Do ye have any idea why she would think that? Especially after I have spent the last decade treating her as if she were my own daughter?"
The low growl in his throat did not go unnoticed by the old hag. "I have no idea what you're talking about, old woman."
"She is dying? Something has happened and now she can use her powers, but it is going to cost her her life? Then, she told me she wasn't supposed to tell me and couldn't tell me anything more. What have ye done to my daughter, Inuyasha?"
A scoff left his lips before he could stop it, then he followed it up with a long, low sigh. "You want to know everything? Fine. I'll tell you everything. Her powers were bound before you ever took her in, but she was too powerful for them to be contained. You still saw them, and so did I. But they were inaccessible due to the bindings. She couldn't use them, but they were there. I took her to the monk who bound them. He tried to remove it, but apparently, he's a drunkard now and he fucked it all up.
I'm gonna fix it. But I don't know how yet. Maybe you and your other daughter can help. I have a few ideas on how to save her, but I have no idea which ones will work. Let's start out simply. Do you know any other magic wielders? I know a couple, but I ain't gonna lie about being on good terms with them. I'm hoping if we can get enough power we can remove the bindings. If not remove them, at least remove her from immediate danger until we can figure something else out. Unless ya got some other bright idea?"
The look on her face showed that she had no idea what she had missed all these years. "They were bound? That's why she couldn't complete the spells. She had everything right, I could tell she was doing everything correctly, but her powers wouldn't release. Of course. Yes, I will leave today to get to our sister coven. I'm sure they'll help. I will speak with Kikyou, and I will send Kagome out." She stood and turned to leave, then stopped and turned around.
"How did you carry her through the barrier?"
He was dumbstruck. "I can't get through the barrier. You know that. Or else I wouldn't be stuck out here, right now."
She shook her head, "ye didn't carry her, but I saw ye set her down. Then when we went to check on her, ye disappeared. She was injured, but I don't know how. Her body wasn't damaged, but she was still incapacitated for several hours. She seems a bit better now."
She stared at him hard. Then shook her head, "Ye have promised not to harm us, ye may enter."
He felt her barrier buzz for a second, then it seemed to accept him and he knew he would be able to pass. He let out a breath and felt some of his tension fade. As he took a breath in, he could smell Kagome, and he felt himself being pulled to her. He didn't take off immediately, but it took an effort not to. The old woman turned and walked back to the cottage and he followed behind her. She was not moving nearly fast enough.