Hello everyone, Luna here! Hope you're enjoying the story. I know it's a slow start but please hang on with me, some exciting things will be coming up. This is a long chapter, but it's setting up the way the rest of the story will play out.
If you enjoy, please review! It means a lot to me.
By the time Isa awoke, the night had passed and the sun was high in the sky above. Kagome and Sango had kept a watchful eye on her all night, pressing cool cloths to her fevered head and stroking her hair when she whimpered in her sleep.
The girl had come as a surprise to everyone, and when Inuyasha dropped her (quite literally off his back) in Kaede's village nobody knew exactly what to do with her. First thing was first, the two women sent Miroku and Inuyasha far away. Miroku would only try to cop a feel, much to his protest, and Inuyasha would offer no help except agitated fidgeting.
The night was long, and Sango often worried out-loud about the fact Isa may not break through the fever. Even if she was a demon, as Inuyasha claimed, her body was weak and made up of only skin and bones. She had been left for a very long time and was struggling to sweat her fever out.
When she finally did wake, it was to Kagome's eager brown eyes. "You're awake!" Her head was propped up on a pillow and her body covered in a blanket, she felt as if she were a child next to her mother.
"Where am I?"
"Oh, you're in a village. You're safe. We found you last night in the woods and brought you back here to see if we could help you." She was smiling eagerly at the girl, happy to see that her eyes didn't look nearly as dull as they had the night before.
"I'm safe." She said it out-loud as if to confirm it within herself. She rolled to her side and put weight on her arm, groaning as she lifted herself up to a sitting position.
"Don't push yourself too quickly, you're very ill."
The blanket fell away and she stared at her clothed body, obviously perplexed with the style and clothe. "This is… This is new." She rubbed her hands up and down the soft material of the shirt, seemingly enjoying the sensation.
Kagome smiled and took a deep breath before venturing a little further, "Do you remember anything about last night?"
Isa shook her head from side to side, her brown hair falling in glossy waves down her shoulders.
"You don't remember anything, huh?" Again, another fierce shake of her head in response. Her hair whipped into her eyes. "What do you know?"
Isa stopped for a moment, chewing on the inside of her lip. "My name. My name is Isa, I know that."
"It's nice to meet you, Isa. My name is Kagome."
"Ka-go-me. I like that." She thought for a moment before her eyebrows furrowed together, "But I am otherwise empty. There's nothing inside of me." She cast her gaze downward, ashamed. "But, I do feel as if there's something that should be there. As if I were full of memories once."
Kagome nodded understandingly, "Just give it time, ok?" She sent Isa a reassuring smile, to which Isa responded to sheepishly. "If you remember anything, just tell us."
"Us?" Her head cocked to the side.
"Oh, yes. There are more people than just me. Would you like some fresh air, perhaps you can say hello?" Isa shrunk at the prospect, suddenly she felt like pulling the covers back to her chin and feigning sleep. Kagome had been kind, but suddenly the only world she knew was the hut she awoke in. The thought of a world existing beyond the coziness of the four walls surrounding her made her feel feeble.
"You can do it." Kagome took her hand and helped her heave herself up. "How does it feel to stand?"
"Good. It feels good." Leaning heavily on Kagome's side, the two hobbled their way out of the door and into the sun soaked morning. The warmth filled Isa with determination. I like warm things.
They took a few uneasy steps forward until Sango met them, running up to the strange duo. "You're awake! It's so good to see you up."
Isa cowered against Kagome, suddenly unsure. "Sango, this is Isa."
"Nice to meet you, we were so worried about you last night." Relief washed over Sango's face, her features relaxed but tired. Why was she worried about me? "It's wonderful to see you on your feet."
"It's nice to meet you." Isa's formalities stumbled out of her mouth, echoing from a memory of social manners deep within her subconscious.
Isa's eyes caught on Sango's hair, tied up in a ponytail to keep it away from her eyes. Something inside her snapped, suddenly, as if a memory had just come loose from the thread within her mind. "I like to tie my hair up too. I remember."
Sango tilted her head curiously, Kagome quick to fill in the gaps. "Isa is having trouble with her memory…" Sango's eyes darkened, she had experienced her brother's memory loss as if it were her own.
"Well," she forced a smile on her mouth, though her eyes remained strained. "It's good to see you've remembered something. Here, take this." Sango quickly undid her ponytail and gave Isa the tie she had been using. "It's a gift."
Isa's fingers toyed with the material for a moment, as if her fingers hadn't remembered how to use it. But, quickly her long fingers brushed back her hair deftly. Her digits worked nimbly to bunch her hair into a messy bun, the actions swift and natural. "I remember this." She smiled, triumphantly. This was how she liked her hair. Messy and out of the way.
Sango and Kagome smiled at her, and Isa took her weight off of Kagome. "You're doing great." It felt wonderful to have two people cheering for her, strangers as they may be.
Suddenly, as if the tenderness of her memories were being pulled away, a large crash boomed through the village. "Oh brother…" muttered Kagome, obviously perplexed.
A small, orange ball of fur ran towards them at lightening speed, wailing loudly. "Kagome! He's trying to kill me!" The brightly colored puff ball bounced it's way up to Kagome's shoulders, where it quivered in fear. Curiously, the ball of fluff seemed to be a small fox demon.
"Inuyasha won't kill you, I'm here to protect you." Kagome sounded sweet, but in her eyes she seemed irritated.
As if on cue, a red flash of cloth shocked Isa backwards. She stumbled on her new legs and crashed onto her bottom. Her legs stuck out awkwardly beneath her. She gazed up at the flash of red.
"Give him over, Kagome. He's got another thing coming." The man she assumed to be Inuyasha was boiling with rage, his fist clenched.
"That's Inuyasha." Isa pointed up, happy to be able to identify another new thing in her ever-growing world.
He glared down at her, "Oh, she's up." He was the opposite of the two women, he didn't seem happy to see her or to hear that she was awake. "What're you doing on the ground, huh? What kind of demon are you?"
"Demon?" she asked, curiously.
"Inuyasha, don't say things like that. She doesn't remember! She doesn't know who she is!" Kagome fumed with rage and suddenly Isa felt scared.
"I'm not a demon."
He glared down at her again, "You are. I smell it on you. What kind of demon are you, anyways?" He turned up his nose at her, her legs shivered as she tried to rise. "A shit one, probably."
"I'm not a demon." Her mind whirred, suddenly there were too many people and too many things to focus on. Her brain strained with effort as suddenly something important seemed to be on the tip of her tongue. She suddenly felt as if she were drowning, the air in her lungs turning to water as she panicked.
"What's wrong?" Sango wrapped an arm around her, worried. "Inuyasha, why the hell would you talk to her that way? She's not well!"
"How else is she gonna remember?" Her turned away, obviously set in his opinion that his way was the best way. "Somebody has to treat her like an adult. She's not a child, you know."
It was true, she had the body of a woman. She was obviously older than Kagome, her body had fleshed out and she had definitely left her days of girlhood behind.
"I'm not a demon." Isa repeated, panting on her words.
"Look what you've done, Inuyasha." Argued Kagome. "You've upset her."
"I'm not a demon." Suddenly her eyes popped open. "I'm a half demon."