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llebreknit : if this chapter didn't answer your question, you're just going to have to keep reading :O

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Chapter 11 - Kagome; Lost and Found

Sesshomaru arched an eyebrow at the bloody mess before him. The sheer number of demons that had surrounded the females was surprising enough. Even more amazing was that one of the girls had survived.

When Rin caught sight of him, she latched onto his leg and sobbed hysterically, all the while refraining from looking at the miko's battered body.

Kagome had done everything in her power to protect Rin… to the point where she'd lost her life. In his mind, she had proven herself worthy of being saved. Unsheathing the Tenseiga, he angled it toward the girl's body. The imps of the underworld appeared before him and he easily disposed of them.

Kagome did not stir.

'Strange,' Sesshomaru raised the Tenseiga again but the imps were nowhere to be seen.

Sesshomaru knelt by her side and slid his arm around her slim shoulders, pulling her into his lap. Deciding that there would be no way to carry her with just one arm, he conjured his translucent youkai cloud and flew himself and the two humans back to the castle.

As they advanced toward the Western Manor, Sesshomaru saw Kiome and Kiara waiting anxiously on the front walkway. Sesshomaru landed in the same crouching position that he'd took off in; his arm still secured around Kagome. Kiara dutifully pried Rin from Sesshomaru's side and rushed her away, all the while shushing and reassuring her.

Sesshomaru took no note; he was still eying the injured miko in his embrace. How could she have not been able to defend herself? Those demons were nothing compared to demons that she had undoubtedly come by in her travels.

Becoming aware of Kiome watching intently, the lord's golden eyes reluctantly left the strange girl. "Take her to the infirmary," he ordered.

Kiome nodded and carefully lifted Kagome from Sesshomaru's lap. Turning away from him, she began walking briskly toward the infirmary. When she arrived, Sesshomaru was already there. He gestured for her to follow him and led her into a private room. Kiome gingerly placed the girl on the large white bed in the centre of the room.

Ignoring the demon lord standing at the edge of the room, Kiome quickly began tending to the unconscious girl. She removed the ruined kimono and was astonished by the amount of damage Kagome had sustained. Her legs had pieces of flesh hanging from thin sections of skin. A large gash stretched from her stomach down to her left knee and her limbs were decorated with numerous bite marks.

Deciding to leave the remains of her strange undergarments on, Kiome hastily retrieved a pail of warm water and a small pile of clean rags. Dipping a rag into the water, she began methodically cleaning away the dirt and dried blood from wherever she could. Once the washing was complete, Kiome summoned Sora; the castle's head healer.

Sora rushed in, directed by the urgency in her voice. Bowing to Sesshomaru, who lurked in the corner, Sora planted himself next to the large bed, "How may I be of service?"

Kiome nodded toward Kagome, "Please heal her to the best of your abilities."

Sora murmured his agreement and ushered the demoness away from the bed. Returning to the bedside, he studied the human. Before beginning, he placed a finger below her nostrils to make sure that she was breathing. A tiny rush of air reassured him and he rolled up his sleeves; there was a lot to be done. He positioned his hands over the girl's broken shin and began muttering under his breath. Sora's slim fingers began glowing with a soft, white glow.

Sesshomaru watched in interest as her entire leg was engulfed in the white glow. At first it seemed as if nothing was happening but he saw Kagome's foot slightly shift to line up properly with her knee. He had mended her broken shin. As he looked on, Kagome's leg put itself back together. Flawless skin stretched up to Kagome's upper thigh, looking sorely out of place next to the rest of her tattered body.

As the healer did his job, Sesshomaru's mind wandered. His eyes followed the soft shimmering of light that started at Kagome's toes and trailed innocently up her leg. Usually, he didn't stay to watch Sora work, he had better things to do but today something held him there; Tenseiga had failed. 'Perhaps it is because she is a miko.' Becoming lost in his own thoughts, Sesshomaru's eyes narrowed defensively when something in the corner of his eye moved; it was Kiome. She stepped forward as Sora stepped aside. Sesshomaru's eyes traced the body of the patient and he was astonished to find that it was flawless. Soft curves and fair skin assaulted his vision and the girl appeared to be sleeping peacefully.

Sesshomaru's mind slowly came back to reality when he noticed Sora frown and turn back to Kagome. Instantly, Sesshomaru appeared on the other side of Kagome's bed. He stared down at her and watched as Sora placed two fingers on a designated spot on her neck. After a moment, relief poured into his face.

"She has a strong pulse," he reported.

"Wake her," Sesshomaru commanded.

Nodding, Sora called softly to the girl. He snapped his fingers loudly beside her ear and even shook her lightly. Sora's brow puckered, this was not normal.

"What's wrong?" Kiome murmured, looking on with concern.

Pursing his lips, Sora thought for a moment. His lord would not be pleased to hear this. "She appears to be in a coma."

"Isn't there anything we can do?" Kiome inquired.

Sora shook his head and chose his words carefully, "I suppose you could speak to her. No doubt her mind will forge some sort of imaginary world if you will. Talking to her will add some reality to this world and make it easier for her to transition back in the event of her waking up."

Kiome nodded and Sora bowed before exiting the room. She looked up to find herself alone in the room. Her eyes came to rest on Kagome's peaceful features and Kiome couldn't help but wonder what sort of reality the girl was in.

Kagome's eyes fluttered open and she found herself lying in the middle of a grassy meadow. Trees lined the perimeter of the wide meadow and the sun warmed her bare arms and legs. Looking down at herself, she was shocked to find herself back in her familiar green and white school uniform. "Where am I?" she asked aloud, not speaking to anyone in particular. Getting to her feet, she poked around in the trees, making sure not to lose sight of the homely meadow.

"Kagome! Kagome, where are you?" called an all too familiar voice.

"Inu Yasha? Inu Yasha, I'm here!" Kagome answered, returning to the meadow.

Seconds later, Inu Yasha burst into the meadow. He paused for a moment with an unreadable expression on his face. The next thing she knew, strong arms were wrapped around her small frame, "I've been looking everywhere for you."

Kagome was taken aback at the hanyou's straightforwardness, but after a moment's hesitation, she welcomed his warmth and returned his embrace. All too soon, the embrace ended.

"I missed you," Inu Yasha admitted, holding the girl at arm's length.

"How long was I gone?" Kagome questioned, puzzled.

Inu Yasha gave her a strange look, "You disappeared without a word right after we defeated Naraku. Nobody had a clue where you were, I even checked in your time."

Silence permeated the clearing as Kagome processed his words. 'What…' Deciding not to dwell on it, Kagome pushed the thoughts to the back of her mind. Looking into Inu Yasha's carefully guarded expression, she could feel tears gathering in her eyes, "I missed you too, Inu Yasha."

His eyes softened and he hugged her again. Lifting her bridal style, he smiled down at her reassuringly, "Everyone's waiting for you."

Kagome's lips turned upward in a smile and she observed the passing landscape as he began walking. At the sight of Goshinboku, Kagome could feel her heart warm. Her eyes watered when the village came into view. Feeling Inu Yasha's eyes on her, Kagome wiped at her eyes, "It's nothing," she assured him.

Before long, Inu Yasha had pulled aside the straw flap covering the entrance of the hut.

This time, Kagome couldn't stop the tears. Sango, Miroku, Kohaku, Kaede, Shippo and Kirara turned to greet Inu Yasha but froze when they caught sight of her.

"Kagome!" everyone got to their feet and surrounded the pair.

Kagome felt Inu Yasha setting her down and she rushed forward and pulled everyone into a group hug. "I'm so happy to see you all!"

After exchanging sentiments and hugs, the group sat down around the hut and Kagome finally noticed two infants sleeping peacefully in the corner, "Who…?" she pointed at the two and let her question trail off.

Sango and Miroku exchanged a loving look, "They are our twins," Sango informed her.

Kagome gaped, "You two got married?"

Miroku's brows knit together, "Kagome-sama… do you know how long you've been gone?"

The miko paused, "A week?"

Everyone in the hut swapped uneasy glances, "Kagome-sama, you've been gone for over a year," Miroku finally said.

Kagome gasped, "How is that possible? I don't remember a thing."

"Perhaps you could use some alone time," Kaede commented, disturbed by the miko's distraught features.

Standing abruptly, Kagome nodded, "I think so too." Turning, she exited the hut.

Inu Yasha quickly followed after the girl. Snatching her hand, he pulled her to a stop, "I won't let you out of my sight."

Kagome turned to face the hanyou, "Inu Ya—"

"Not after you've been gone for so long," Inu Yasha interrupted.

"…" Kagome smiled tearfully and managed a nod.

Inu Yasha wiped her tears and his fingers gently brushed loose strands of hair from her face.

"Mama's probably worried," Kagome mumbled, finally breaking eye contact with the young hanyou.

"We should get going," he agreed. Inu Yasha began walking in the direction of the well, keeping a firm grasp on Kagome's hand.

When they arrived at the foot of the well, Inu Yasha's pulled Kagome toward him, "Ready?"

Blushing slightly, Kagome nodded.

Inu Yasha leapt into the well and Kagome released a satisfied sigh as she felt herself being enveloped by the familiar, welcoming darkness.

Twenty minutes had passed. Most of the villagers had stopped searching for the red-clad hanyou and left to tend to their families.

"Did you find anything?" Miroku called to a group of passing villagers.

"Iie," replied a young man apologetically, "Good luck finding your friend."

Miroku sighed, "Arigato."

Jiya looked up from her rummaging, "Houshi-sama, do you truly believe that we will find any more clues to Inu Yasha's whereabouts in the village?"

Miroku deflated, "Not really, though it would be nice if we did. What do you recommend we do?"

"I think that we should forget about the town and look in the forest," Jinenji piped up.

"Iie, though it is likely he is in the forest, Inu Yasha can take care of himself. We should go back to the hut and wait for him," Jiya vetoed.

Reluctantly, Miroku agreed and the trio silently began the walk back to the tiny hut outside the village.

Inu Yasha set her unconscious body down in a small clearing. He leaned against a tree and trained his golden eyes on her blood stained body. How could she look just like Kagome? 'Does that mean… No! It's not possible. Kagome is alive!' Inu Yasha allowed his head to fall back against the tree trunk. How could he have let this happen?

A slight movement caught his attention and he straightened up. It was the miko. She was stirring. Slowly she opened her eyes and Inu Yasha froze.

She had no pupils.

Her eyes were a very light brown shade that seemed incomplete sans pupils.

The girl sat up and her eyes circled the clearing before coming to rest on Inu Yasha.

He stared back into her alien eyes.

"You are confused," it was more of a statement than a question.

Inu Yasha frowned, "Your eyes."

At this a sad smile crept onto her face, "They are something aren't they?"

"…"

"But I could say the same of your eyes… they hide so much pain and betrayal," Kayo gazed deep into his eyes and Inu Yasha got the peculiar feeling that she could see right through him.

"Aren't you blind?" he asked roughly.

A soft smile, "Yes and no. I can't see your face but I can see your aura. Emotions and suppressed feelings are all quite apparent to me."

"What is your name?"

"Kayo… why did you bring me here? We are not in the village anymore."

"We are in the forest. I…" Inu Yasha frowned, how would he even begin to explain his situation to her? He started over, "You—"

"Such an array of emotions… here let me help you explain," without warning, the girl scooted closer to Inu Yasha and threw her arms around him, all the while murmuring something in a strange tongue that Inu Yasha did not recognize.

Inu Yasha's eyes widened, it was as if a vacuum had been let loose in his mind. All his memories surged away from him and melted into the body pressed against his.

Kayo gasped as his memories bombarded her senses. All his pent up emotions and repressed thoughts became hers within a moment's time. Everything that he had experienced from his childhood up until this very moment flashed before Kayo's eyes. She felt the pain that he had felt at every occasion, the happiness, the fear, the emptiness; everything that had made him into who he was today. Inu Yasha. She pulled away from him and stared at him, unaware of the tears escaping her eyes.

"Why are you crying?" Inu Yasha asked, alarmed.

"Inu Yasha, you've been through so much."

"How do you know my name?"

"I learned it from your memories. These women… Kikyo and Kagome, we share the same face."

Inu Yasha nodded wordlessly.

The tips of her fingers grazed his face. She knew exactly why he was so unhappy. "If Sesshomaru-sama has a human companion, there is a chance that Kagome might still be—"

"Enough. I don't want to talk about it."

Kayo nodded silently, her fingers dropping away from his skin. She noticed the spark of anger in his aura.

Inu Yasha sighed, "How are you able to do that? Are you a miko?"

"Hai, but my abilities have nothing to do with me being a miko." Seeing his expectant expression, she continued, "My family was killed by demons when I was young, so the village miko took me in. She was training me to become the next village miko. One day our village was attacked by a fearsome demon that spat deadly poison. This poison was scentless and clear as water. It was capable of burning anything from wood to skin in an instant, but that same poison when boiled with the correct herbs could heal almost every injury within a short span of time after it was boiled. The old miko knew this and when she defeated the demon, she collected poison from the demon and from puddles around the village. She kept it in specially lined buckets around the hut.

"All the villagers knew not to touch it, but of course outsiders could not be expected to know. There was a family that would visit every so often and their son was quiet bothersome. Every time they would visit, he would wander off to find and harass me. This time was no different. He came upon a bucket of poison behind me. Thinking it was water from the stream; he picked it up and stood behind me. He told me to look up and when I did, he dumped the contents of the bucket on my face. The poison splashed onto my face and burned horribly. Fortunately, most of it slid off my face and missed my mouth completely. But my skin and eyes burned.

"The boy screamed and called the village miko. He told her what had happened and she came immediately with the powerful potion created from the demon's poison. She trickled the liquid onto my face and lightly massaged it into my skin. My skin healed before their eyes. When she got to my eyes, she paused and gave me a choice. She told me that while she could pour the potion into my eyes, she could not touch my eyes to rub the areas where the poison had been. She told me that my eyesight would never be the same again; that I would see different than others. She also told me that if she did rub the potion onto my eyes, I would go through excruciating pain and it was not certain that I would ever be able to see again.

"I made my decision then and told her to just spill the potion onto my eyes. The potion seemed to have healed my eyes, but I could not figure out the strange shapes I saw. Nobody seemed to want to come near me anymore, so I worked with the village miko every chance I got, trying to figure out what all the colours meant.

"One day, I saw something I thought I would never see again. The miko's face. It was surrounded by a fiery glow. It was a rebellious orange with a tinge of red in it. Anger. The miko was very angry, but from what I could see of her face, she was very calm and composed. The glow of her aura spattered her features with orange and she looked fearsome indeed. When I asked her about it, waves of blue rippled through her aura. She told me that I could no longer stay with her. She told me that the villagers were scared of me; frightened by my strange eyes.

"I left. Unsure of what to do next, I became a nomad. I travelled from village to village and when I saw in their auras that they had begun to fear me, I would leave. I've repeated this cycle so many times that I've lost count how many villages I've been to," Kayo finished, eyes downcast.

Inu Yasha was at a loss for words. What does one say to such a story? But his mind flashed back to her arrow. "The demons… Your aim… Surely they can't have been feeling anything? How did you know where to shoot?"

Kayo smiled, "Do you have emotions?"

The hanyou frowned, "Hai."

"Are you not a demon?"

"I am."

"A hanyou, I believe?"

"Hai."

Kayo smiled at the boy's ignorance. "Every living thing feels and has understanding, even plants. The demons' auras surrounded them and I aimed for the top, where I assumed the demon's head would be. After I released my arrow, I saw confusion, fear and then anger. I assumed I hit."

"Mm, there was a glow around your arrow."

"I know, I have seen it before and wondered what it was."

"The only two people I know—"

"Kikyo and Kagome."

"Hai… it is an indication of your spiritual powers."

Kayo paused, "Meaning?"

"You are the jewel's new protector."

"Jewel?"

"The Shikon-no-Tama."

"Me?"

"Hai."

"And you?"

"I will help you complete the jewel."

Sango muffled a gasp, 'Kagome! No, this can't be true!'

Wheeling, Sango stretched her cramped limbs before limping away quietly. Once she was sure that she was out of earshot, she picked up the pace; cringing every time she put weight on her twisted ankle. Nearing the edge of the forest, Sango slowed to a walk and slipped back into the hut.

By the time she had entered a peaceful slumber, she had convinced herself that Inu Yasha was mistaken and Kagome was still alive.

A/N) Hmm, so I know when I first uploaded this everyone thought it was a bit confusing that Kagome's coma-dream thingy wasn't in italics... so I was going to do it this time around but then I realized that I use italics for thoughts, dreams and flashbacks. Whatever Kagome is experiencing at the moment is not any of those, therefore no italics (: Sorry for any confusion this might cause.

Also, I know it's kind of lame and very uncreative on my part but Kayo's name is actually composed of the first two letters of Kagome and the last two of Kikyo... thus proving she is indeed a reincarnation? :O Keep reading to find out ;)

Review (: