To those I couldn't respond to:

InuKag: Thanks so much for the review! I'm glad you're enjoying it, especially Inuyasha's cuteness.

Somewhere Beyond This

Chapter 20: Rescue Me

My chest hurt from labored breaths as I darted clumsily through the dark forest. The steady pound of my footsteps echoed in my ears as I tried desperately to keep the boy in front of me in sight. I swatted away another tree branch wet from the previous rain, stumbling over a tree root. Fear filled my heart as I ran faster, feeling my sides ache and my legs burn from the adrenaline coursing through my veins.

Stopping was not an option. If I dared to slow down even a little, or allowed a moment of rest, I was doomed to a fate worse than death. I had to keep up with the screams, had to keep moving in order to save what was already lost. It was a battle that I continued to fight with no end, refusing to give up the memories that burned the backs of my eyes every time I closed them.

I opened my mouth to call out the boy's name, but my throat constricted as I felt tears well in my eyes. The thump of paws behind me alerted me to the approaching danger and I reached out toward the spark of red weaving in and out of the trees. He was so fast, almost like a figment of my imagination. But I refused to give up on the boy, knowing he needed me.

"Kagome!" a voice called through the darkness of the forest. I didn't recognize it or pay any attention to it. The voice was simply a distraction.

I kept my eyes attentively on the red-haired boy, knowing that if I even blinked, he could be gone. I continued to run, feeling the dew cling to my skin and the damp ground sink beneath my feet. Leaves and branches tugged at my clothing and scratched my bare legs. I ignored it, feeling nothing but the burning ache where my heart thudded painfully in my chest.

I didn't know where I was anymore. I had no idea where camp was or where my friends had hidden. How had I gotten to this place? How had I been separated from Inuyasha and the others? Suddenly, no longer was my attention focused solely on the little boy running ahead of me. I began to worry, thinking of my friends and what was to become of them. We're they alright?

"Damn it," a man growled, his voice echoing in the trees around me. I didn't stop, but my eyes sought the branches, looking for the source. "Stupid girl."

Someone was mocking me, laughing at my slow movements and fearsome gaze. I furrowed my brows in concentration. There was no time to be thinking of the others. I had to find the little boy.

But when I focused my eyes back to the forest in front of me, he was gone. My pursuer had stopped long ago and I was left alone with only the silence as comfort. I stopped running, heaving deep lung-filled breaths as I turned around and around, looking for a way out.

No one was there. I was all alone in a forest with no name, stranded in a place that didn't exist.

"Mama!" I called out into the darkness, needing my mother's comforting embrace. Tears began rolling down my cheeks before I even knew they were coming. I fell to the ground with a desperate cry, my hands and knees meeting the mud in an angry crash.

I felt a sharp pain shoot through my chest where my heart thumped with anguish. My eyes widened and I knew death had drawn near. I would never be able to save the little boy or return to my family. My friends' smiles came to mind and I whimpered. Death would take me in the dark forest, cold and all alone, waiting for a rescue that would never come.

Before I closed my eyes to the torrent of heartache, rain cascaded down from the heavens.

X.x.X.x.X.x.X

"Kagome, wake up, damn it."

I wearily opened my eyes to see amber looking at me with concern.

"We have to move."

I barely registered what the man said. Silver swept across my cheek like silk.

"Sango! Get the kids and find shelter in the trees!"

Water slapped against my forehead as the sky cried tears of sorrow.

"Damn woman."

The man picked me up and slung me over his back. Inuyasha was pretty strong, I finally realized.

I gazed around our camp, watching as the children followed my best friend into the trees, and Yuka helped Miroku hobble through the sand. Ayumi was draped over Kouga's arms, her body seeming lifeless and pale against his skin.

The signal fire flickered and sizzled high into the air. But it wasn't growing to great heights. Instead, it was shrinking, becoming smaller as the seconds passed. The rain was dousing it out. All of our hard work …

I heard shouts of command ring through our small group - something about saving the food and taking the water. Were we going somewhere?

I was too tired to think about it.

X.x.X.x.X.x.X

Oh that smile. That wolfishly handsome smile. Blue glittered under the sunlight as he stared at me, eyes twinkling with humor. He wrapped his arms around my waist, his hot breath coursing across my skin. I looked up at him, tracing my gaze along his chiseled jaw. I clenched his shirt into a fist, feeling his lips meet my neck. I groaned as a sensation rippled down my spine.

It was so wrong – so very, very wrong. My body withered under his touch, loving every nibble and whispered word. But my heart thudded with rejection and hurt. My soul pushed against him, refusing his affection and loving gaze. I love him, but I don't. I want to love him, but I won't. I need to kiss him, but I shouldn't. I can cry for him, but I can't.

Emotional confusion overcame me, knocking the breath from my lungs. Gone were the intense blue eyes that openly confessed their love, replaced by guarded amber. Black turned to silver as it swept against my cheek, caressing me in a mournful embrace. His hands tightened around my waist, bringing me closer to his chest, and to his heart. I heard it beat painfully with my own.

And then he was gone. Like the breeze, his arms vanished from around me as he was swept backwards through the sunlit forest. My feet were rooted to the spot, forcing me to watch the distance grow between us. He beckoned to me with his hand, calling out for my voice of confession.

But I couldn't speak, couldn't stop the dark-haired girl that grasped him from behind. She dragged him further into the forest as the sky turned red in color. Her smile carved a hole in my chest as I sunk to my knees.

A strangled cry tore from my lips as waves crashed over me, drowning me in the depths of the ocean. The man and woman blurred on the surface, moving farther and farther out of my reach. My lungs filled with water as I began to drown in the black abyss. Red tainted my vision as crimson liquid swallowed me whole.

Blood seeped from my heart, leaving me lifeless.

X.x.X.x.X.x.X

Water trickled into my mouth and I coughed, my body shaking as I tried to dispel the liquid. My eyes shot open to be met with concerned blue orbs, and black brows furrowed with worry.

"Kagome," Kouga called as my sight focused on the man hovering over me. His voice was wrong. It wasn't the one I wanted to hear. It was too rugged and deep. Not at all like the voice my heart craved.

I licked my dry lips and rolled my head side to side. My gaze sought my surroundings, trying to find out where we were. There was sand and blue sky. It had to be daytime. "Wh-where?" I asked, my voice hoarse.

"We're on the beach," my boyfriend said. Was he still my boyfriend? I couldn't remember if I had told him that we weren't meant to be. Did I tell him? Or did simple hints ward him off? Oh goodness, the hurt look in his eyes from days ago. It pained me to remember, but it pained me more to forget.

"Rain," I mumbled, closing and opening my eyes.

He nodded. "Yeah, we had a storm yesterday. Had to stay in the forest for the night as cover."

That would explain all the water. We must have had a lot of rain. After all, I drowned because of it. Wait, did I drown? If I had, would I be here with Kouga? Maybe we all died and now I was in heaven. I didn't hurt anymore. At least, not physically. Did I?

"Inu-Inuyasha," I whispered, needing to see him to confirm that he was still there.

Kouga's eyes darkened with pain as he averted his gaze, looking toward my right. "Hey, dog-breath!" he yelled. A thump of footsteps dug into the sand as they approached.

Fear grasped my heart as visions of a dark forest and a red-haired boy came to mind. Suddenly, it was all too bright as Kouga left my sight, leaving me in the sun for what seemed like forever. Then Inuyasha was above me, his arms crossed over his chest. But the concern never left his eyes.

"Hey, you alright?" he asked, kneeling down next to me. I must have been lying down, in the sand perhaps?

I had no strength to nod my head. "I thought you were gone," I mumbled, my voice inaudible to my own ears.

He must have understood me because he grasped one of my hands into his own. "Keh, I'm not goin' anywhere, wench."

I tried to smile at the nickname, but I was too tired to do even that. "I'm glad…"

I never got to see the expression on his face, as my eyes closed and darkness consumed me.

X.x.X.x.X.x.X

My favorite color was green. Like the uniforms in middle school. Or like the grass in summer time and the scent in the wind. Could green be a scent? I shook my head as I laughed, rolling down the grassy hillside toward the cool river below. I landed with a thump on the bank and lifted my head up to peer through my dark tresses.

Pink was a pretty color, too. Like the flower I was staring at as it spun with the welcomed breeze. I think Sango would like it. Even if she was a tom-boy, that girl was more complicated than a time machine. I plucked the flower and smelled its scent. Heavenly …

When I opened my eyes again, the sky above me was beginning to turn purple. It appeared as if a storm was coming. The wind suddenly picked up as it raged around me like a hurricane. Who knew Miroku's favorite color could be so violent? Everything around me was suddenly uprooted and sucked toward the growing clouds of darkness. I hated the darkness. It left me cold and lonely.

I closed my eyes and placed my hands over my ears, willing the storm to pass by without taking me with it. I gripped the pink flower tightly in my hand, refusing to let it be swallowed up with everything else. It was a fighter, and would never go down without using every last ounce of its energy to withstand the current.

I opened my eyes to see the river had turned red, murky and bubbling with heat. I watched as it began to overflow with the sudden rainfall of blood that stained my clothes red. I couldn't stand. The wind was too great that it would sweep me off my feet if I so much as moved. The red water crept up the hillside toward me, beckoning me to jump into its depth. Why did water want to swallow me? Why did the blood desire to suck my body dry? It hurt so much.

Heat seared up in front of me as the water sprayed up like a fountain. I closed my eyes against it, not wanting to see it rain down upon me. My skin burned with the touch, causing a shriek to tear from my throat. I shook to avoid the droplets, but the pain never left.

It would leave so many scars.

X.x.X.x.X.x.X

I was screaming.

"Damn it, would you keep her still?"

"I'm trying!"

Who was fighting? They sounded so close. The grips around my arms and stomach tightened. Maybe if I stopped screaming, they would let go …

I breathed deeply to calm my body, and opened my eyes to see three fearful faces looking back at me.

"Kagome?"

It was Sango who spoke first.

"So much blood. So many scars," I mumbled, trying to remember what I had last seen.

"It was just a nightmare," my best friend assured, running a hand over my forehead.

Someone sighed beside me. "She hasn't eaten in days."

"Don't you think I know that, wolf-shit?" Inuyasha could be so temperamental sometimes.

"She must eat to regain her strength." Miroku was sitting at the base of a tree, his violet eyes watching me intently. "Don't let her fall back asleep."

I yawned and closed my eyes, unconcerned with their conversation. "Tired …"

"No, Kagome, listen to me," Inuyasha called through my drowsiness. He held my face firmly in his hands, forcing me to look at him. "You have to eat something. Then you can sleep."

I furrowed my brows with aggravation. "Not hungry."

He growled. "I didn't ask."

Before I knew what was happening, a hunk of charred meat was forced up to my face. It smelled weird and I had no intention of eating it, but with sleep only a few bites away, I felt my resolve wavering. I didn't taste anything when I bit into it, and didn't feel any different when I was done. I only thought of sleeping, as I was too tired to do anything else.

Just as I closed my eyes to give into my body's needs, Inuyasha snapped my head to attention once more. "Not yet, Kagome. You can't sleep yet."

"You said I could," I bit back, displeased with the way he lured me in.

"Come on, Kags," Sango called gently. "Let's go for a walk."

I couldn't tell how it happened, but next thing I knew, I was leaning on Sango and Kouga for support as they practically dragged me down the length of the beach. The ocean water lapped against the sand, just out of my reach. Did it want to drown me again?

"The signal fire has been burning strong," Sango commented from beside me. "And the kids are holding up pretty well so far."

Souta, Hitomi, and Kohaku were all right. The signal fire was still going. Those were definitely positive signs. How many days had passed since we started the fire though?

"You've been out for a few days," Kouga responded, as if hearing my thoughts. Had I spoken them aloud? "We've been worried about you."

"Yeah, you really scared us." I turned to see Sango giving me a really worried look.

"I'm okay," I promised. Although with my hoarse voice and weakened state, it was hardly convincing. I could read it in their eyes.

We walked along the length of the beach for what seemed like hours, but the sun never moved. Sango and Kouga talked to me about how everyone was doing. Miroku was still in pain, and although we worked hard to clean his wound with water every day, it appeared as if his broken leg was becoming infected. Inuyasha was constantly on edge about something, always tapping his fingers or pacing around the camp. I wasn't really sure why. Maybe he was just irritated that we had yet to see sign of rescue.

"Ayumi?" I mumbled, turning my head to look back at the camp, hoping to catch sight of our sick friend.

I didn't miss the way Sango and Kouga exchanged glances. "Come on, Kags," Kouga said quietly, turning us around. "Let's get you back to camp."

I was too tired to notice that they didn't answer my question. The promise of sleep had my thoughts drifting elsewhere. In less time than I thought possible, I was sitting down under a tree again, second guessing if we had gone for a walk at all.

"Inuyasha," I called, turning my eyes to my ex-boyfriend. I didn't really care at this point that we had a past or that we weren't meant to be. It didn't concern me that showing affection for him was wrong. I just knew that death would come for me soon. The dreams told me so. If I was going to die, I would have no regrets.

He sat down beside me with a puzzled look. "What is it, Kagome?"

I smiled and leaned my head on his shoulder, snuggling into the warmth his body heat offered. I felt a shiver race down my spine as he wrapped his arm around me, and my heart beat with the thrill of new found love.

The dreams weren't as bad then.

X.x.X.x.X.x.X

"Hey there, Kagome!" Ayumi called over the courtyard in front of the high school. I turned around and smiled, waving to my friend. Eri and Yuka appeared soon after and the trio hurried to catch up with me on my walk home.

"Hi guys, how are you?" I greeted, slinging my backpack over my shoulder.

They fell into step beside me as we walked toward my family's shrine. "How are we?" Yuka asked with a raised brow. "We should be asking you that."

I cocked my head with confusion. "What do you mean?"

"You've been out sick for two weeks," Eri stated, exchanging a glance with Ayumi. "Your grandfather said it was your diabetes again."

Diabetes? I don't remember ever having diabetes before. Maybe gramps has gotten a little senile with old age. Besides, I was attending my Biology class yesterday at Tokyo University. Inuyasha and Kouga had gotten into a fight about something. Weren't we going on a trip?

I didn't have time to voice my thoughts to my friends, as they were already within their own conversation. Something about boys and classes, things I didn't have the luxury of gossiping about anymore.

"We'll see you later, Kagome!" Ayumi called as I parted ways with them. They waved at me with smiles and I felt my heart ache. Before I could tell them goodbye, Eri vanished into thin air. A frown marred Ayumi's lips as she began to fade, leaving Yuka to crumple to the ground with anguish. Tears rolled freely down her cheeks as she peered up at me with hopelessness in her eyes.

"Yo," a man called as he landed beside me. I turned startled eyes to see Inuyasha staring at me with a content expression. But at the same time, it wasn't Inuyasha at all. Although he had silver hair and gold eyes, a pair of dog ears sat upon his head and he was dressed in ridiculous red clothing. "You ready to head back?"

I didn't understand what he asked me. "Back where?" I questioned, completely baffled by the events that occurred within the last few minutes. "I don't understand."

He growled (which sounded strangely like a dog) and folded his arms into the sleeves of his strange attire. "We have to hunt for the jewel shards, remember?"

No, I didn't remember. I had no idea what 'jewel shards' were or where he wanted me to go. Did he hit his head too hard in the plane crash? Or was he just messing with me? I had to vote the latter, as we weren't on the best of terms right now.

I shook my head and quickened my pace, hoping he would get the hint and leave me alone. I rounded the corner of a building and was faced with a large forest. An old well stood in the middle of a clearing as a car zoomed passed me.

"Kagome, you've returned!" a woman called happily. I glanced over to see Sango dressed in what appeared a fighting outfit from feudal Japan. A large boomerang was slung over her shoulder and she was accompanied by her cat, Kirara, who had grown to an immense size.

"Perhaps we should stop at Kaede's hut before we continue our journey?" Miroku's violet eyes twinkled with humor as he walked toward me. He was dressed in old monk robes and carried a staff that jingled with each step.

And then before I could stop him, a little red-haired boy jumped into my arms. His green eyes shimmered with happiness. "We missed you, Kagome."

Tears came to my eyes as I fell to the ground, cradling Shippo to my chest. I ignored the shouts from my friends and allowed my body to wrack with sobs that came without fail.

Was everything to end in pain?

X.x.X.x.X.x.X

"Kagome," Inuyasha called to me, dragging me from sleep once more.

I was more aware this time. I could feel the sand beneath me and the gentle touch of the wind. The scent of the sea washed over me as Inuyasha shook my shoulder gently. Something whirred in the distance, although I had no idea what it was.

"Hm?" I mumbled groggily, opening my eyes to peer around me. The sky was golden as the sun rose just over the horizon, taking the bite out of the chilly air.

I looked up at my ex-boyfriend. His silver hair shined from the sunlight and his amber eyes were lit with hope that I didn't dare create. A rare smile was on his lips.

"Come on," he persuaded as he stood up.

I still didn't have the strength to walk on my own. Thinking it over, I suppose my willful starvation stole me of any function. My body didn't have the energy to do anything but sleep. Even now, I felt a yawn coming on.

Inuyasha picked me up bridal style as I slid my arms around his neck, feeling his hand grasp firmly around my back and thighs. He walked with quick strides as I listened to the cries from the other survivors. I didn't understand what they were so worked up about. I could tell by Inuyasha's posture that there was no danger.

I briefly saw Sango fall onto Miroku in an embrace as the children jumped up and down, waving their hands in the air. Yuka collapsed with tears streaming down her face, but a smile blessed her lips. It was all so confusing.

Inuyasha reached the edge of the beach to where the water lapped gently at our feet. He stood me up and wrapped a hand around my waist to support me. "Look, Kagome!" he cried happily, pointing toward the golden sky.

I looked up, feeling as if I was dreaming again. I thought about pinching myself, to make sure that this was no dream. But when I felt Inuyasha tighten his hold around me, and heard the rumble come closer, I knew it couldn't be a dream.

There, on the horizon, was a helicopter. It quickly approached us with a small boat following farther behind. I never thought I would be so happy in my life. I felt tears come to my eyes as I watched the helicopter fly overhead before circling around the island and coming back to us. The boat came closer and I heard a voice over a radio, calling out to us.

The waves crashed gently upon the sand as birds chirped from the trees. Gold faded to blue as the sun continued to rise above the horizon. And then something happened that had my heart fluttering in my chest. While everyone cried tears of joy behind us, and the wind brushed gently against my cheek, Inuyasha did something unexpected.

He swept me in his arms and kissed me.

A/N: How was that? I know the dreams may be a bit confusing, but if you'd like to try and figure out which each one meant (there were four total), by all means do. Let me know what you thought of this chapter. The story is winding down now, as you can tell, but I have a couple more small twists in store. So keep your eyes out for the next chapter.