Chapter 10: The Eighth Hour- Vanished Memories

A younger version of Kagome was kneeling beside a younger version of Inuyasha. Leaving the older Kagome standing there completely lost to what was happening. Was this just another freaky dream or illusion? If she hadn't have been through a number of other weird thing in the last few hours she would have thought so. Kagome took a few steps forward so that she could get a better look at the pair.

Yes, it was definitely a younger her. This little girl dressed in a pink dress, with a bright red ribbon tied in the back of her head; had the same face, eyes, and hair that she did right now. Kagome cast a quick glance up at the tree and recognized it as well. When she was little she would run out to the small woods that were right behind her house and spend hours and hours climbing the trees. But there was one tree in particular that she love to climb more than any other.

She would spend countless hours climbing its branches, or just sitting underneath and daydream… her mother once asked her why she would do this and she replied that she was waiting for someone.

Hold on… waiting for someone? Did she really say that? It's been so long she couldn't remember…

The older Kagome looked back down at the couple and watched them.

"Hi," said the younger Kagome to the younger Inuyasha as she tied a bandage around his arm. "My name is Kagome. What's yours?"

"My name is Inuyasha," he said to her younger version. "And I'm the prince of the Spirit World."

Little Kagome gasped. "Prince of the Spirit World?" she squealed in a high-pitched voice. "No you aren't… really? Are you serious? If you are then why are you here? What happened to you? What are you doing underneath this tree? Where did you get all those injuries? Are you really a prince? Where's the Spirit World? What's it like there? And are those doggy ears?"

The older Kagome smiled to herself. Her mother told her that she had a bad habit of asking a lot of questions when she got excited.

Little Inuyasha was staring at her with a look of amazement as if he had never seen anything like her before. "You sure talk a lot."

Little Kagome laughed with a slight blush. "Yeah, momma says I ask too many questions. But I can't help it, you know?"

Little Inuyasha shook his head. "No I don't. I don't really talk all that much."

Young Kagome tilted her head in a confused way, "Why?" she asked.

Inuyasha shifted uncomfortably, "I'm a half-breed," was his simple answer. "People think that half-breeds shouldn't be allowed to speak.

"Half-breed?" repeated young Kagome in confusion.

"Can't you see?" said Inuyasha showing her his fangs, claws, and his dog ears. "I'm half demon and half human. Even in the Spirit World there's no place for me. Humans are afraid and hate me because I'm part demon and demons look down on me because I'm part human."

"Why should they?"

Inuyasha looked at her like she was crazy.

"I mean…" went on little Kagome, "What's wrong with being half? The way I see it you get the best of both worlds right?"

Inuyasha shook his head in an exasperated way, "You're the first person, other than my mother, who thinks like that."

"Your mother is human?"

"She was…" he said sadly.

Little Kagome had gone very pale and leaned back onto her knees. "I'm sorry. I didn't know."

"Don't apologize," said Inuyasha. "It's not your fault."

"Yeah… but I know what it's like to lose a parent."

Inuyasha raised his head in surprise. "How do you know?"

"Because… my daddy is dead," she answered sadly. "So I know what it's like when you lose someone."

The older Kagome looked at her younger self with sad eyes. It was true. A few months after her parents came home with Sota, her father had gotten into a bad car accident. He fell into a coma… and he died just a few days later. Kagome could feel her eyes beginning to tear up as she thought of her father…

Suddenly her younger version brightened up. "But it's ok now," she said happily. "I still miss daddy but I still have mommy. And she says that daddy is now a guardian angel and he's watching over me and my family now."

Inuyasha rolled his eyes. "You honestly believe that?" said Inuyasha in a disbelieving tone.

Both the younger and older versions of Kagome glared at him with a dark look. "I have to," said little Kagome. "I miss daddy so much that I ache… but that thought makes it better… if only a little bit." She suddenly smiled again, "And you know what? I'm sure that your mommy is watching over you right now."

Inuyasha had gone very red and turn his head away from her so that she couldn't see the blush. Little Kagome smiled as she went back to tending his injuries.

As Kagome watched them, she gasped. She fell to her knees and clutched her head in pain. This memory suddenly came to her… it was like a powerful river bursting through a dam from within her mind.

As she held her head… the memory came back. She could clearly remember now…

'That's right,' she thought as she saw herself tending to Inuyasha's wounded arm. 'I remember… I went outside to play in the woods and I saw him leaning up against the tree, holding his arm.'

*Flashback*

Her eyes snapped open.

When she was little, she went out to climb the trees; while she was walking towards her favorite tree she saw a boy resting on one of the lower branches. She got scared and hit behind a tree and watched him. She never saw this boy before and mommy had warned her about strangers. As she watched his slow breathing and the sweat drip down as his face clenched in pain she thought that he might've been hurt. Kagome hid behind the tree and gazed at him for a long time. Kagome didn't know what she was doing or why she was doing it; but she mustered up her courage and walked forward until she stood right underneath the tree branch.

"Are you alright?" she asked timidly.

The boy's eyes snapped open at the sound of the voice and tumbled out of the tree.

"OWW!" he yelled out as he hit the ground with a loud thud. "What the hell are you doing!" he yelled at her. "What was that for?"

"You don't need to yell!" Kagome shouted back. "I just wanted to know if you were ok! So stop yelling at me!"

The boy suddenly shut up. "You wanted to know if I was ok?" he asked in amazement.

Kagome had been surprised that HE was so surprised. "Yeah," she said hesitantly. "I just saw you up there… and I was wondering if you were hurt. Do you need help? I can go and get my mommy and…"

"NO!" yelled the boy again.

He yelled so loud that Kagome had to press her hands over her ears to block out the noise. "Why do you keep yelling?" she said angrily.

"Look," snapped the boy. "I'm doing fine on my own. I don't need anyone to look after me. So just go away."

"But…" began Kagome as the boy turned his head away from her and huddled closer to the tree. "I said I'm fine. Just go away."

Kagome stamped her foot in anger. "Fine! I'll go!" and without another word, she turned and went stomping away, fuming the whole time.

After a little while however she stopped walking to look over her shoulder. She couldn't see the boy anymore… but she couldn't just leave him alone… could she? No… daddy had always told her that if someone needed help then she should do whatever she could to help them. Even if the boy was mean and rude to her, he needed help.

She went off running towards the house.

"Kagome?" said her mother in surprise. "What are you doing back here so soon? Usually, you're out for hours and I have to practically drag you back in."

"Nothing mommy," said Kagome as sweetly as she could. "I just came inside to get something."

"Like what?" her mother asked. Before Kagome could think of a good answer, Sota began to cry from upstairs, which was her mother's cue to go and take care of him. As soon as she smiled and went upstairs, Kagome waited for a minute to make sure she was gone before heading to the downstairs bathroom, reaching up to the medicine cabinet and taking out a small first aid kit. She had decided that she was going to help the boy, whether he wanted her to or not.

She quickly left the bathroom and went over to the fridge to get a cold bottle of water. As soon as she had what she needed, she was out the door. Kagome ran passed the trees to reach him.

Yep, he was still there.

He was still leaning up against the tree and she was right to think that he was hurt. He looked worse with each passing second, and she knew she was the only person around who knew that he was here. It didn't matter if he was mean… she wasn't going to disappoint her father.

She took a deep breath and made herself known. The boy looked up at her with startled eyes before he started to growl like a dog would. "What are you doing back here? I thought that I told you to go away!" he turned his head, not wanting to look at her.

"Because I want to help you!" said Kagome and she went over to his side. "My daddy always taught me that if there's someone out there that needs help… then I should at least try to take care of them!" she said this with such force that he didn't dare argue.

Once she had calmed down, she held out the water bottle. She could see in his face that he was dying to take a sip, but was concerned that she might've done something to it. "I swear," she said softly. "I just want to help you. But if you don't believe me," she took the lid of and took a few small sips. After waiting a few minutes… the boy reached over and began to drink as if he never tasted water before. When he took the bottle from her, she noticed that his nails looked more like a claws than anything else…

After he had drunk all the water, he demanded to know why she was helping him. Kagome shrugged, "Like I said, my father always said to help someone if they need it. No other reason. Now can I look at your arm? I have a first aid kit and I think that I should be able to make it feel better."

*End of Flashback*

"I remember now," whispered Kagome with a tear running down her cheek.

She met Inuyasha when she was a young child and tended to his injuries. Every day for a few weeks, she went go to him with food, water, and medicine and did whatever she could to make his pain go away. When she went to see him, they would talk for what seemed like hours; she soon found out that she could talk to him about anything. She would tell him all of her hopes, dreams, fears, memories, and everything else that came into her mind.

And in turn… he would tell her everything about his life. He talked about his parents, his brother, the world that he lived in, how he was always bullied in picked on for being a half-demon…

He had become her friend… her source of comfort… like a ray of light at the end of a dark tunnel

Thinking about it now… it was like some kind of a fairytale. In fact, it was just like a fairytale. He was the prince and she was the young maiden from her favorite story. When she was with him, it was like time stand still for just the two of them, and that was fine by her. Kagome finally understood everything. Why she love Inuyasha even though they have only known each other for a few short hours. The truth was that it wasn't that she had just started to love him… it was because she never stopped loving him.

She had been in love with him for most of her life… ever since the day the met underneath that tree… Yes, even though she was only a child… she just couldn't help falling in love.

But then… one day when she went to the tree… he had just disappeared and she never saw him again. After he left… Kagome had lost her energy. She missed him so much that the pain was unbearable. She went out to the tree everyday for almost 2 weeks; but once she realized that he wasn't coming back, she tried so hard to forget him… that she must've blocked Inuyasha out from her memories.

That would explain why she didn't remember him. What Inuyasha said to her earlier made since now. When he asked her if she knew his face… he was wondering if she remembered him!

But why did he just leave her like that? She needed him, and he left.

Not that it mattered to her. She knew that she loved him. And he loved her. That was all that she needed to know. Her memory faded and she once again blacked out. Only this was the kind of darkness that was both peaceful and beautiful. This time she didn't have any nightmares; she dreamt only of Inuyasha and of the feeling of his lips on hers.

And she also of a poem she heard a long time ago that seemed to fit the mood perfectly.

Roses are red,

Violets are blue.

You told me you loved me

And I loved you too.

But the roses have wilted

And the violets have too.

So now I lie here,

Dreaming of you.

(Sorry for taking so long. I've had a major writer's block. What do you all think so far? Now that Kagome's remembered that she loves Inuyasha, what's in store for them now?)