The scent of rain permeated the air, the silence of the forest as thick as the rolling black clouds completely blocking the light of the moon from reaching the thatched roof of a certain newlywed couple.
Rolling over, Kagome's eyes fluttered open despite no stimulus. Greeted with complete silence and her surroundings as black as pitch, her heart slammed in her chest.
Sitting bolt straight, she held her head in her hands as the burning fear brought tears to her eyes. Not again. No. She wouldn't be stuck in the darkness. Couldn't be.
She couldn't see a single thing. Her life plunged in darkness once again. Those three long, tortuous days three and a half years ago haunting her. The emptiness of the void created by the jewel swallowing her whole, filling her completely.
She didn't know she was screaming until she felt the iron-like strength of Inuyasha encompassing her.
"Shhhh, Kagome. I'm here. It's okay. The wind blew the candle out." His husky freshly-awake voice comforted directly in her ear. Her sobs lessened as she turned, wrapping her arms around his neck and crawling into his lap as much as she could.
"I-inu-inuya-sha.. I was so scared.. it was so dark.. so q-quiet." She whispered, her face buried into his neck.
He held her closer, his eyes softening at her trembling form in his lap. "I won't ever leave you alone again. I swear it." His breath dissolving into her hair, warming her from the frigidity of her terror.
In the darkness of the hut, Inuyasha held his wife. A reminder that this hadn't been a dream. There were consequences for actions, post-traumas and scars. And in every moment like this, in every reassurance, it only confirmed what he felt in his soul. That they were brought back together for a reason.
And that reason would be to heal each other's wounds. Visible or not.