The Pain of Memories : Her Past Revealed The Pain of Memories Her Past Revealed

Things were rather quiet in feudal japan. In a feild not far from the village where the Miko Kaede lived, four companions sat relaxing. It was a nice peaceful day. A few clouds were dotted in the endless sea of blue above and the sounds of a stream in the distance could be heard along with the sounds of the forest behind them. Miroku, taking full advantage of the serenity of the clearing, was meditating. Although it couldn't really be called meditating as every so often an eye would crack open to take a glance at its secret true love, Sango. Being in a high level of "lechorous monk" knowledge, Sango knew very well that he was watching her, so she reframed from doing anything that would give him any sort of satisfaction. She sat, lent up against a tree, just sorting through her thoughts. A soft mew broke her from her thoughts along with a gentle nuge for her to continue with her petting to her twin-tailed neko yokai, Kirara. After a few fruitless attemps of getting attention, Kirara ran off in search for Shippo. The small kisune was sat by a heap of daisys he had gathered. Trying his very best, he was planning on making a daisy crown for Kagome for when she got back. But none of the friends knew it would be alot sooner that expected.

Kirara and Shippo's attention was pulled towards where the old well was at. Someone was coming back and they had a pretty good idea who it was. Kagome wasn't due back for at least another three days, so the only person it could be was Inuyasha.

"Whats that idiot gone and done wrong now!" muttered Shippo "Hey guys! Inuyasha's back!" he called.

Everyones head turned and waited to see a furious Hanyou come storming through the trees but it never came. Thinking something must be up the group walked over to the clearing where the well was placed. On arriving, no angry Inuyasha could be seen. In fact no one was there. Running up to the well, Shippo began sniffing. His eyes went wide and his large fluffy tail drooped.

"Shippo, what is it?" asked Sango kindly.

"It wasn't Inuyasha who came back. It was Kagome and she's crying." he sniffled, finding it hard to control his own tears.

Sango shot a worried glance at Miroku. It was extremely unusual for Kagome to return without Inuyasha and even more unusual for her to seek refuge here after a fight. Normally it was the other way around. Something bad must have happened in her time, and with little knowledge of Kagome's era they they had no idea what to expect if and when they found Kagome.

"Sango, my dearest, i think it would be best if we searched for Lady Kagome. If we split up we can find her faster." stated Miroku.

Sango nodded in reply and took off in one direction. Miroku in another and the same with Shippo and Kirara.

"Kagome...What could have happened? I swear if its someting Inuyasha's done i'm gonna beat him to a pulp!" thought the yokai taijiya, as she ran.

There was normally only two places Kagome went to cool down. One being the hot springs and the other the sacred tree. Knowing that Kagome would rather be found by herself rather than the boys, Sango wasted no time in running to the tree of ages. As she ran past some large, overgrown bushes she could hear the sound of light sobs from up ahead.

"Found you..."

Kagome was sat directly under the sacred tree. She knew not why she came to this era or why she got so upset in the first place but something told her that deep within her mind she knew the reason. If only she could remember. It was like a horrible memory but no matter what she couldn't remember it. The more she thought about it the more pain bolted through her body. Trying her best to remain calm she willed her mind to banish the photo and feelings it brough with it from her mind, but it was all in vain. She felt confused, sad and in pain. So she cried. Not having a clue as to why but she sobbed her very heart out. Only when she heard someone aproaching did she stiffle her crys. She had no sorce of protection and her head hurt to much from crying to run. Staring to panic she backed up against the tree.

"Kagome..!"

She sighed in releif. It was only Sango. Quickly wiping away her tears she stood and waited for her friend to appear.

"Kagome! There you are!" cried Sango, happily "How come your back so early, and...And what is this?" she asked wiping a stray tear from Kagome's cheek "Okay, whats he gone and done wrong now?" she joked.

Kagome gave a small smile and hugged her best friend, the girl she thought to be like a sister.

"Sister...That girl in the photo, she looked an awful lot like Sango...but who is she?"

The image of the photo flashed in her mind again, setting off a second round of tears. Just as the tears stopped Miroku, Shippo and Kirara came running through the bushes. Walking back to the well they started to talk.

"Kagome...Why were you crying?" asked Shippo, snuggling into her neck.

The young Miko swollowed hard. She didn't want to start talking about it and burst into tears once again. But unless she gave the kitsune an answer he would let the subject drop. Wracking her brain for something to say she fell silent. Seeing her hesitation, Miroku answered for her.

"Shippo, Lady Kagome seems tired. We should leave all questions to a time that is best suited to her, okay?" he said, in his most mature voice he get in such a short amount of time.

Nodding her thanks, Kagome noticed they had reached the well. Saying her goodbyes she stared into the dark depths of the well. She had forgotten about how she had left so suddenly, without a word to her mother or Inuyasha. Her mother was probably going into full panic mode and Inuyasha was bound to be angry.

"Mama is gonna kill me, thats if Inuyasha don't find me first! I really should have said something before i left..." she thought, jumping into the well.

Meanwhile, fivehundered years into the furture, Kagome's mother sat at the kitchen table with her father. The two had been talking about weither or not to tell Inuyasha, knowing very well that he was most likely to fly off the handles. Along with that they discussed what they would say if either Kagome or Sota asked about the photo. Inuyasha had been all of the city searching for Kagome but of course he found nothing. Coming back to the shrine to see if Kagome returned on her own, he sighed deeply. There were just to many smells in Kagome's time and the sounds where giving him a headache. It was on his return that he was summound to the kitchen.

"Inuyasha, we both agreed that you should know what got me in such a panic. But please, before we tell you, you must promise to listen first then you can go off on a rampage, okay?" she joked.

It was the first time he had heard her laugh all day. The sound was soothing, just like Kagome's laugh. The Hanyou sat down and nodded his reply. Clearing her throat, Kagome's mother started to speak.

"Inuyasha, those people in the picture are nothing more than...memories. Bad ones, at that. Oh, i'm sorry i shouldn't have said that. I should never speak ill of my daughter." she said covering her mouth lightly.

"But you ain't said nothing about Kagome so why you apologisin'?" cut in Inuyasha.

"No. I ment my other daughter. Kagome and Sota's older sister, Mai. You see at one point i had three children. The girl in the photograph was my first born and the man was their father. My husband."

"Huh? Why'd you say "At one point"? Where's Mai now?"

"Mai is dead, my boy." snapped Gramps, his voice stern and serious.

"Dead?! But how? When did she..?"

"It was on Kagome's sixth birthday. Mai and Kagome were playing...And...There was an accident. Mai was killed instantly. Kagome, somehow survived. Mai's death was hard on all of us. Kagome took it worse than expected though. Her and Mai were extremely close. And while everyone was greiving, Kagome seemed to be the only one truly suffering. You see, Kagome's father was very fond of Mai. In his eyes he only had one daughter. And that was Mai. When she died, he turnt violent...And lets just say Kagome was the one that took the brunt of his wrath.." she said, willing the tears that welled up in her eyes not to fall.

"I don't understand...What wrath? What did he do to Kagome?!" asked Inuyasha, gripping the table hard through anger at the thought of Kagome in danger.

"What i'm saying is, Inuyasha, Kagome's father use to..."

"Mama! Inuyasha! Where are you?" yelled Kagome.

Her mother quickly stood and called for her daughter. Hearing her come down the hall way she turned to Inuyasha.

"You must never say anything to Kagome. She was in an accident not long after and so she doesn't remember anything about Mai or her father and thats the way its going to stay." she whispered, rather bitterly to Inuyasha's surprise but then again when it came to a mothers love, "hell hath no fury"!

When Kagome reached the kitchen she instantly dismissed the concerned looks on her family's faces. Just by scent alone Inuyasha could tell where she had been and that she had done some serious crying. The slightly red and puffy eyes told him that much.

"Kagome...I wish i could just take away all the pain you feel. When you cry it feels like my heart is being ripped out peice by peice." he thought "Mind tellin' me why you went back without me?" he snorted trying to regain the "Mr attitude guy" look without looking to stupid.

Kagome sighed deeply and ignored his question. Not that she could give him an answer anyways, she didn't know why she went back herself! Walking to the table she picked up the album and headed upstairs. Curious as to what she was doing, Inuyasha followed.

"Inuyasha, what has mama said to you?" she asked as he closed her bedroom door.

His muscles tightened. He wanted so badly to tell her the truth but he couldn't risk hurting her. He wanted to ask her questions that her mother had only half answered but he knew that even if she did remember he doubted he would like the answer. But he couldn't and if her mothers temper was anything like Kagome's then he really didn't want to be on the receiving end of her wrath.

"Wrath"

That word again. Kagome's mother had used that word but just what did she mean by it? So many questions popped into his mind, all of them having forbidden answers.

"Whats happened to you, Kagome? Just what did your father do to you?"

His thoughts were cut short as Kagome touched his elbow. Her eyes were filled with such emotion it was almost unbearable to look at them. Such pain. Confusion.

"Inuyasha? What did she tell you?" she asked gently.

He couldn't take it anymore. He grabbed her shoulders and pulled her into a strong embrace.

"I'm sorry, i really am Kagome. you gotta beleive me when i say i really wish i could tell you, i hate lying to you. But...I can't say anything." he mummbled into her hair, taking in her sweet scent.

Returning his hug, she felt like her heart was going to smash into thousands of peices. The way he was speaking. He sounded so truthfull and like he was going to cry. Something her mother had said to him really had him rattled but she knew better than to perster him. Pulling back she shot him a smile and held his cheek in her palm.

"Lets go back. Forget about today and concentrate on finding the jewle shards. Sound like a good idea?"

Next Chapter

Previous Chapter