Chapter 16: Impossible

A/N: Um… hi again. I know that this is a late update. Ok so its a VERY late update. But since like, June 11th I've been up in my summer house, which for some extremely inconvenient reason has had no online connection. (grumble) (grumble) Stupid phone lines… anyway the point is I couldn't update because of it. (Therefore it is not completely my fault). Ok? Ok. Once again I apologize. Also… I have total writer's block when it comes to this story… don't ask me why or how. I've never even had it before. I used to laugh at people when they told me they had it… to all those I've laughed at before… I'm so, so, sooo sorry! I had no idea how frustrating it is! GRR! Anyway…

Disclaimer: I do not own Inuyasha. However I do own several characters present in the fanfiction, including: Tetsuya and Kimiko (Kimiko is the little girl who offered Inuyasha the hat several chapters ago, I did add her into the last chapter, but for some reason the website didn't save my changes when I uploaded the document. (sobbing) Anyway, the house Miroku's been taken to is hers. She's out gathering herbs to try and help get the toxins out of him now. She'll be coming back. But other than her and Tetsuya, the characters belong to Rumiko Takahashi. So don't arrest me.

Impossible

Seconds turned to eons. Time doubled back as if to linger over Kagome and Inuyasha's reunion. For those few eternal seconds, Inuyasha's body was completely numb.

Kagome stood above him silently, suspended thirty feet over the crusty yellow road. Behind her stood Kagura, whose hand, both slender and strangely crushing, was resting on her shoulder like an anchor, the only thing tying Kagome back into reality. Everything else was lost. The wind sorceress noticed with tightly sealed excitement the way the younger girl was barely breathing, Kagome's widened eyes never left the hanyou's… that was good. Maybe something was coming back to her… quickly Kagura pushed aside her feelings and resumed her scripted act. "Naraku has sent her to you to fight against you, Inuyasha. He wishes you the best of luck, though he assures you that you won't be able to survive."

"Kagome?" Sango breathed, her voice feint. "Inuyasha… tell me I'm not going crazy."

He couldn't hear her. He would never hear her. Not when Kagome was standing right there. He could already smell her scent reaching out like to drift around him, encircling his body, every muscle burning with taught acid. He found himself caught him off guard by its gentleness and familiarity… for the first time in the year since she had died he let his grip on the Tetsuigia slacken.

So he hadn't been imagining things earlier… he knew he had been able to detect her scent from inside Kimiko's hut (A/N: for explanation on who Kimiko is, please read the disclaimer written above, or if you didn't read the disclaimer at all, then please go read it. Unless you want to be confused… in which case. Umm… whatever floats your boat… I'm ruining the moment aren't I? I'll just go away now). He would recognize it anywhere. Her scent was like vanilla lilacs … and sun-dried, cinnamon-honeysuckles… chamomile… he couldn't even describe it. But… his mind started to grasp something that was very very wrong… The scent was tainted with something. It was another smell that to him was all too familiar… bitter. He practically snarled as he recognized it… Naraku… Naraku's scent was all over her. He wanted to be sick.

Kagome couldn't bring herself to move, her limbs were weighted down with the shock. Seeing Inuyasha was like taking a jolt of electricity into her body through her throat. She couldn't explain it, or even understand it. But the young man standing in front of her, with those intense golden eyes, was overpowering her somehow. She was being drawn in by him; he was getting closer and closer to her, though neither of them were moving. It was like… like her world was getting smaller, shrinking around him, until he was the only thing left. She couldn't stop herself… but why?

Kagura's hand suddenly left her shoulder, and she had lost her last tie to reality outside those golden eyes. But she didn't really care… because she hadn't really been connected in the first place. But soon the woman's voice penetrated her rapidly shrinking world and pulled her back almost as quickly as she had become lost. "Things are not always as they seem, half-breed. And very soon you will find that this girl is no exception."

"Gods… it is Kagome…" Came the faint whisper behind him. Inuyasha didn't have to turn around and look at her to know that Sango was deeply shaken. Her Hiraikotsu was half-resting in the dust, little piles of the yellow piled up around its edges. Her fingers were half curled around the red cloth that she used to strap it to her back. He could smell the fear beginning to soak through the slayer's body. "This isn't possible." She sounded uncharacteristically weakened or hollow. He didn't need his sense of smell to know she was afraid.

Inuyasha bit his lower lip for frustration, his fang piercing a bit of the tender flesh and salty, bitter blood leaked into the corner of his mouth. He knew it wasn't possible, but… he wanted to believe it. He wanted to believe that Kagome had returned to him so badly… why couldn't she just be real? He allowed himself to take in everything he could about her, the beautiful doe-eyed girl he thought he would never see again. At the moment she was pale and breathless, but still strangely beautiful. Her long silk black hair fell around her face gently. Her gentle, cocoa-colored eyes looked into his, looked through to him, and he knew they were the same as before.

"Inuyasha…" She whispered his name, quietly, so quietly that he could barely hear her. At the sound of her voice, his all too familiar desire to protect her practically crushed him. He didn't care if she wasn't real. Or if it wasn't possible. All he knew was that she was back, and this time he wasn't letting her go.

"Kagura! Let her down now!" He demanded, knowing there was little else that he could do. If he tried to go up there and take her himself, he knew that Kagura would just summon a gust to send Kagome and herself higher into the thin, blue air. That would be a complete waste of time. Another thing he didn't like was that he couldn't use the wind scar to just cut them down. Because he might hit Kagome…

Kagura smirked behind her fan. " 'Let her down now?' " She echoed, slightly bemused. "And if I don't?"

His grip tightened on the Tetsuigia, a harsh snarl tightening his face for only a moment. He made sure the sorceress could see the blade gleam. "Then I take her from you." he drawled darkly. "For the last time: let her down and hand her over now."

Kagura laughed wickedly, if she had inherited anything from Naraku, it was his laugh. It was enough to send chills down anyone's spine. "You make her sound like some sort of object, what with all your 'hand-her-over s…" She mused. "But I suppose if you want her so badly I could arrange for something…" she smirked as the hanyou's eyes narrowed in suspicion. "Don't give me that look, Inuyasha." She said, placing her hand between Kagome's shoulder blades. "She's all yours." With a gentle shove, Kagura pushed Kagome's unsuspecting figure from the feather, watching emotionlessly as the girl disappeared over the edge, never even having the time to scream.

Sango's muscles tensed on reflex, her hand now gripping the hiraikotsu till her knuckles were pressed white. She started forwards to try and save her best friend. But a certain silver-haired someone happened to beat her to it.

Thoughtlessly he shoved the Tetsuigia back into its sheath, and shot himself into the air with an effortless push from the balls of his feet. He kicked up a few clods of mud as he took off, though he was too distracted to notice; all of his focus was trained completely on saving Kagome. She was in his arms before either of them knew it. As soon as she touched him he felt his concrete heart jolt and liquefy to water. Her delicate form fit perfectly into his ready arms as they started their decent. He never thought he would ever feel that sensation again… that feeling of holding her in his arms. It had never seemed so special before…

They landed gently, silently as Inuyasha sank to his heels after his touchdown. Kagome was so shocked at first that she couldn't react. Then, she was so happy to be alive, that she didn't stop to think how it had happened. She turned around to thank him, whoever he was, for saving her life and met his piercing eyes. Choking on her words of gratitude, she realized who her savior was: Inuyasha… the enemy. She was in the hands of the enemy… the murderer. Just looking at her made her feel weak and powerless. She didn't know how to use her powers, she didn't have any way to protect herself… she was completely vulnerable… so naturally she did the only thing she could think to do: scream.

"Let go of me!" SLAP! Her hand hit the side of his face with a loud and solid echo that rivaled even Sango's. Inuyasha was stunned. So stunned, that he let her scramble out of his arms, watched her dumbly as she clutched her bow and arrows to her chest. She no longer thought about the fact that she still hadn't remembered how to use them. Now they were only a weapon… a way to protect herself from him as she backed away.

Inuyasha finally came to his senses. He blinked once, and then as he watched her practically trip over herself trying to get away from him, his expression hardened. "Kagome?"

The ice shot through her entire body like a thousand little needles as Kagome lost her breath yet again. "W-what?" She whispered, her entire body on edge.

Inuyasha frowned, his eyes still holding that incredible cruelness that seemed to be directed only at her. "What?"

Kagome's body was practically shaking as the name replayed over and over inside her mind. 'Kagome?'

Inuyasha looked suddenly suspicious. "What's wrong?" He asked, his hard voice making him sound as if he were interrogating her. "Kagome, what is it?"

She wasn't listening to him anymore. Her eyes went colder as she studied the man who, supposedly, had been terrorizing her village for the past few years. She examined him carefully. His body was concealed from her by his large, baggy red clothes, but he must have been in phenomenal shape to have been able to have moved that fast and jumped that high. She felt herself frown as she noticed his face. There was a certain harshness in his face… No matter how strangely handsome he appeared to be with his long silver hair and square-cut jaw, he still looked… mean. 'And… his eyes…' his hard, golden eyes declared to her rebelliously that he didn't trust anyone. He didn't love anyone. He wasn't capable of loving anyone… His eyes were tight, protective barriers around his soul. Just looking at them made her shiver.

And yet… somewhere inside them, she thought she could see a few traces of fading kindness… had they been kind before? Maybe something had happened to him. Something to make all the kindness in his eyes gradually disappear. Very slowly they were giving way to sadness… or something else similarly painful. He was losing some part of his beautiful eyes… 'Whoa!' She caught her thoughts as they drifted through her mind without her permission. 'Stop it!' She tore her focus away. 'Don't think about things like that!' She berated herself. 'He's a monster.' She looked back up at him, unable to keep herself away. 'He's a monster…' She could practically hear the doubt in her own thoughts now. 'He's… a monster… so… why did it feel so… right to have him save me?'

"Kagome!" his voice snapped her out of her trance. "What iswrong!"

She shuddered. There was that name again… that name that threatened to set something free inside her… "Stop it!" She burst out, closing her eyes against him. A pressured feeling that she didn't understand grew stronger whenever she looked at his face. "Stop calling me that!" She tried to back away further, but he caught her wrist. His hand was so strong…

"Kagome, what are you talking about!" He demanded.

"Stop!" She tried to yank her hand away.

"Kagome!"

Suddenly frustrated, she rounded on him. "Can't you hear me? I said STOP IT! That's NOT my name!"

He blinked, remembering the conversation they had had when they first met, back when he was still pinned to the tree, and Kagome was only just fifteen. It seemed so long ago… He shook the memory out of his head. "Then what is your name!"

"You should know!" She snapped. "It's Sayuri!" She didn't know why or how she had become so angry with him. She didn't even remember the transition between being petrified to being furious. She hadn't even realized she was capable of being this annoyed.

Unfortunately for Kagome, Inuyasha let go of her wrist as soon as she decided to tug again at his hold. She stumbled backwards, tripping on a stray rock in her fear-induced clumsiness. Gasping, she braced herself for the impact after the fall. It took her about ten seconds to realize that she was never going to hit the ground. Strong hands were wrapped around her waist, holding her up… and those intense golden eyes were staring at her again. "Inuyasha?"

He didn't release her. He never even seemed to blink twice at the thought of keeping her so close to him. He just held her as if she were in the middle of a dip on some dance floor and studied her face like he was looking for something with harsh, critical eyes. The more she looked at them, the more she thought he was confused. Angry, but confused… The man was very different from what she had expected a murderer to be like.

'What are you talking about?' She snapped at herself, shaking her head and trying to regain her reason although she couldn't seem to keep a grasp on it. 'Inuyasha is your enemy! He almost killed you! He's the reason why you can't remember…' She told herself. Naraku had said so… she knew she could trust him… if she couldn't trust Naraku, then who could she trust? She knew Inuyasha was evil. 'Then…' she thought to herself, still locked in the staring match with the silver-haired man. 'If he's so evil… why can't I look away from him?'

"Kagome…" Her body shuddered when she heard that name again. It wasn't just that the name was disturbing to hear, but it was the way he sounded when his voice said it. "What did he do to you?" he said softly, his anger apparent. His grip around her waist grew tighter as his face grew angrier, until she thought that he was going to crush her spine in half. Then, without warning, he pulled her upright, out of her dip, pressing her alongside him with his left hand. With his right, he pulled out an enormous, metal sword. Kagome gaped; it had to be as big, if not bigger, than she was. She had never seen a weapon of its size… or at least, she didn't think she had. But then… until she had her memory back she wouldn't know anything for sure. Inuyasha turned from her to Kagura, who stood thirty or so feet above them. "Kagura!" He shouted, his tone making her flinch. "What did he do to her!"

Kagura smiled. "Why, whatever do you mean, Inuyasha?"

"You know damn well what I mean!" He snapped. "Something's happened to her, and I know it was him. So spare us the interrogation and just tell me what it was he did to her!" He snapped.

Kagura stared blankly at him, as if she hadn't heard.

"If you like the arrangement of your organs then you'd better answer me, now." His death grip tightened around Kagome's waist, crushing her to him, not even noticing the way her cheeks flushed, her breath constricted. "What… did… he… do?" He asked the sorceress again.

Kagura only smirked. "Is that a threat, Inuyasha?"

"Feh." He spat out, "Depends on how you answer the question."

She still didn't answer. Kagome remained pressed up against the hanyou's side, confused as ever, and about ready to question both the hanyou and the sorceress when something else caught her attention. There was a low, rumbling coming from somewhere… and it was growing louder. She followed the sound to Inuyasha's throat, and stared dumbly at him. Was he… growling? Was this guy actually growling? 'What a… what a creep…' She thought mentally to herself. 'What kind of man… actually growls?' Suddenly her thoughts stopped as her eyes moved from his throat, traced his jaw line, and moved up past his face and silver hair to… ears. She didn't believe it. She must have been seeing things. They weren't human… they were… dog. 'I don't believe it.' She said firmly to herself. 'Those can't be real… they can't be. I mean, the guy doesn't really have dog ears does he?' She found herself almost unable to resist the sudden urge to reach out and touch them. And besides, her arms were practically strapped to her sides anyway. There was no way she could ever get free of this kind of death grip. He had her trapped.

Suddenly, the cold fear shot through her body and struck her like a brick to the head. Her heart lurched into her throat. Trapped… of course. Why hadn't she realized it before? He had her pressed up against him, and she was unable to move. He was trapping her. He was going to kill her. 'No way…' She thought to herself. 'Now way am I ever letting him hurt me… not again.'

"Let go!" She shrieked suddenly, taking everybody, even Kagura, by surprise. She started squirming as hard as she could, her bow and arrows still clutched in either hand.

Inuyasha's body tensed in response, the murderer turned to look at her, apparently annoyed. "Kagome! What are you-"

"I said let go!" She yelled, noticing the way his ears flattened against his head. "Let go of me, now, you filthy demon!" Flashes of fear were shooting through her. Every story Naraku had ever told her about the murdering demon Inuyasha returned to her with enough fore to knock her over. She thought about how he had killed all those people, how he had almost killed her… he was the reason everything had gone wrong. He was the reason for everything. She felt a sudden hate bubble up inside of her, and she glared up at him with disgust. "I said let me go!"

His arm dropped from her side like a rock, and for a moment he only stared at her, his expression going from blank to suddenly furious. Before she could blink the tip of the massive blade was pressed up against the soft flesh of her throat. The feeling of the cold metal against her skin paralyzed her and she found herself once again staring into his eyes, only this time, she saw something she had never seen before: murder. His voice was low and dangerous, it sent shivers down her back. He snarled at her, showing fangs that she hadn't noticed before. "Who are you." He drawled angrily. It wasn't a question. Kagome opened her mouth to yell at him about her name again when she realized she couldn't speak, something had happened to her voice. And when she looked at the utter fury in Inuyasha's eyes… she knew he was going to kill her.

A/N: heh heh… wow the author likes cliffies. Plz don't kill me. Anyway I have the next chapter halfway written, so I promise it won't take such a long time to update as this one did. I'm slowly plowing my way through this weird case of off again/on again writer's block when it comes to this story… maybe I've over thought it too much… oh well. If you think this chapter sucked and was way not as good as you were expecting… I'm really really sorry. Hope you can forgive me. Its probably this writing funk that I'm experiencing. Updating soon I promise. (pinky swear) Oh and by the way if you're not satisfied because you expected the instant romance to bloom up again between Inuyasha and Kagome, don't worry, it will happen. But the point of this story is sort of her realizing she's in love with him even though she can't remember him… it has to at least be semi-gradual. As it was, I wasn't half sure I should have put in all that stuff about his eyes and all… whatever.