Chapter 19: Heartache

Inuyasha grunted as he got rid of the last body onto the fire. He was shocked that the village would be attacked this way, but Sango and the villagers had done a number on the monsters before they got there. He could smell Kagome's blood, but he knew Link was already there and as much as he wanted to, he ended up staying put.

As he cleaned the sweat off his forehead, he looked over to see Miroku fretting over Sango, but he knew not to worry. She was a lethal fighter and from what it looks like, the villagers were not afraid of anything either.

Which then arose the argument of leaving the village and going to Kakariko instead.

They were all gathered in the Mayor's house to discuss, as Bo was not too keen with the idea of leaving his village.

"This is my village! I should stay here and be able to defend it!"

Jaggle shook his head, "Look what happened today. Ms. Sango killed the majority of them until the rest arrived. Kagome fended off three of them by herself while Uli gave birth! Hyrule is perishing and we should leave! Our children are in Kakariko!"

"If we leave, there won't be a home to come back to for them!"

"Home is where we are all together," Uli strongly said from her spot on a chair, "I agree, leaving should be best."

Miroku looked at Bo, "Kakariko is better protected thanks to the gorons. There's plenty of room there."

Sera nodded, "We thought we were safe because we are further south. That is not the issue. You alone cannot defend us. We are greater in numbers."

Bo's eyes were getting redder, his hand trembling as he ran it through his face.

"The children are there, so is my daughter but she has no memory of me. I've lost that, I cannot lose my home."

Inuyasha scoffed, "But she's not dead. She's very much alive and in our asses whenever we go. You should be grateful for that."

Inuyasha's words cut him deep. The young woman may not remember who she is, but she in fact was alive and in good health. It had to count for something.

"We can set off first thing in the morning," Link offered to everyone, "I'm not going to force anyone to leave, but whoever wants to move to Kakariko for the meantime, can come with us. We need to return there before going to Castle Town. Think about it tonight and meet us in the morning outside of my home."

With that, the young warrior decided to step out as he was not in the mood to hear them argue further. He knew Bo blamed him for what happened to Ilia, he was aware he should've protected her better.

He went to Uli's home in hopes to clean it up a bit before she got home. He looked around and was bitter seeing her humble home in almost ruins.

"I'm sorry."

The soft meek voice made him turn around quickly. There she was, standing on the doorway. The bandage wrapped around her shoulder was starting to soak through due to the movements. She had a few cuts and bruises, but she was okay.

He was confused by her apology, "What do you mean?"

"I should've put up a barrier around the village," she avoided eye contact as she rambled, "I should've been able to feel them coming. There's a lot of damage that could have been prevented."

Surprisingly enough, Midna is the one that came out of his shadow, "Stop it!"

They were both shocked at the imp's outburst.

"You need to stop that! Did you not see his relief after we got back? No one died! You protected Uli and you helped deliver a baby! Imagine if you had not been here? Stop with the doubts for crying out loud."

She huffed, crossing her arms angrily as she glared. However, just as she took deep breaths, she realized what she said and how she said it. Sure enough, a faint blush could be seen on the pale gray of her skin.

Link shook his head but approached Kagome as Midna hastily retreated into his shadow.

"She said what I was gonna say."

Without a response, he went up to her and wrapped his arms around her in a soft embrace.

"She means so much to me," he softly spoke against her ear, "You're truly a blessing. Thank you for protecting them."

He pulled away slightly to see her face. Her eyes were wide, a deep blush set in her face as she looked at him.

He's never set eyes on something as beautiful as her. She was making it more and more difficult for him to depart when the time came.

He heard her whispering his name, but he did not reply. All he did was close the distance between the two of them.

The kiss wasn't as hasty as the last one. It wasn't a peck.

She was surprised to feel his lips as soft as they were. How many times did she dream for him to kiss her again? This wasn't a kiss to say thank you for what she did. She could feel him putting his heart on it.

She did the only thing she could do, she kissed him back. He wanted to chuckle at the softness and her hesitancy of kissing him back. It held an innocence that would make him fight twenty gorons at once for her. He would run through the hot desert just to see her. Be damn Zant and Ganondorf. Nothing could ruin this very small moment that held him over the edge.

He had been afraid when he saw the smoke from a distance. The three of them had sprinted the rest of the way to find Fado barely fending off a bokoblin. After that they got to work, but he heard Uli's scream and it's what made his heart stop.

He fought his way into the village until he reached the familiar home. He was expecting to see one of his worst nightmares become true, but it did not happen thanks to the woman he was now kissing.

They slowly parted, both of them breathing heavily. He placed his hand behind her neck and tucked her under his chin and just held her.

They were both thinking the same thing, but alongside those intrusive thoughts was the same response.

"Screw it."

Link was not too keen on Fado staying behind, but the man held a deep love for the goats that he could not bring himself to abandon them. Mayor Bo also stayed, as he was afraid of facing his daughter and leaving the village unattended. Uli was tired and she would rather be with her son if something were to happen than far away. They prepared the carriage that would be pulled by two horses, with Link riding Epona and watching it from the back. Miroku offered to take the reins of the carriage with Sango by his side so everyone else could rest inside. It was a tight fit, but they were making it work as they were advised to only bring the essentials.

Kagome decided to ride with Link to make more space inside the carriage. Part of her just wanted to hold him close. He could tell, so he gave her hand a gentle squeeze as she sat behind him.

They were all sore and tired, but the faster they made it to Kakariko, the better. Inuyasha would take the lead to clear the way in case of any monsters. Although some would say they were at a disadvantage for being out in the open, with Inuyasha's skills with his sword, he could safely use it and not worry about attacking someone of their own accidentally.

If it was up to him, they would've rode through the night. However due to the weight of the carriage, he knew than to make the horses work extra harder at night. They camped out, taking turns on keeping watch so the villagers could get some proper rest.

He was overlooking them from another part of the field. He had to climb a bit, but his viewpoint was perfect to see any signs of potential danger. Inuyasha had hunted a couple of squirrels so they could eat for the night. He then realized he could not see her.

Soft hands were placed over his eyes, "You're too distracted."

He chuckled as he gently removed her hands. She smiled brightly at him as she sat down.

"You should be resting," he murmured as he noticed everyone was getting ready for bed.

"So should you but you're up here."

He rolled his eyes, "I'm keeping watch. You know, trying to ensure we all make it tomorrow to Kakariko."

"Good point. You think because there's hardly any monsters that we are getting there faster?"

"Miroku leads the carriage like a maniac. But yes, we've hardly come across anything. We should be there by the early afternoon if we continue going at this pace. How's your shoulder?"

She looked at her bandaged shoulder before answering, "It burns a little, but it's fine."

"At least Renado will be thrilled that I'm not the only one that gets shot with an arrow."

She gawked at him, just for him to laugh as she shoved him. She was noticing that ever since yesterday, he was being more playful with her. She didn't know what to make of it, but she found herself growing warm whenever he would act like that or show a bit of affection.

Which she was grateful he's kept at a minimum. She wasn't sure how the others would act.

They stayed in silence for a couple of minutes until Kagome started to yawn. He gave her a look, "You need to go to sleep. Tomorrow is going to be a long day."

She knew he was right and could not argue with it. She surprised him by giving him a peck on the cheek before walking away, not looking back at him to see his reaction.

To say the least, he was wide eyed and could feel the blush starting to appear on his cheeks. He cleared his throat and went back to looking over the camp. Midna decided to then appear, letting out a chuckle as he turned away from her.

"You know, it's good to see you like this."

He gave her a look as he whipped his head to look at her quickly, "How so?"

She stared up at the moon, "You've been trying to hide away from the inevitable. It may provide you more strength than weakness. You deserve it."

Those were not the words he expected to hear from the small imp. He was used to her witty sarcastic attitude, but she always surprised him with moments like this.

They had gone through so much already. He knew the importance of finding the last mirror piece. He could feel the worry she had for her own world.

"We will find the final piece," he strongly said to her, "And I promise you, I will end Zant for what he did to you."

She knew he never made promises he could not follow through. She stared at him, wondering where the scared farmboy was. She was not looking at just any swordsman, she was staring at the descendant of the hero. If anyone could follow through with killing Zant, it was him. He was valiant and strong, his spirit bigger than hers. She cared for him deeply, so that she would make sure he would never suffer after this.

They were all tired by the time they finally reached Kakariko. The surprised screams of the children echoed all over the village the moment they realized who was in the carriage. Colin could not stop crying as he held on to his mother, his small hands resting on the head of his new sister. Talo and Malo held on to their parents, Beth wailing loudly as she held on to her mom.

The reunion was heartwarming. Kagome and the rest could only look from the sidelines.

Link noticed the way Ilia was looking at everyone and he could see her eyes searching. He had told her who she was the daughter of, so he could tell she was looking for that person. It brought back to think about her memory. He needed to help her regain it.

He took advantage to talk to Renado as everyone was being reunited. He needed to know if the past couple of days there's been any changes.

The shaman was able to tell him that indeed, she remembered a village not far from Kakariko where a woman helped her. She wasn't sure of the exact location, but Link decided to take a look at it to be safe. If it could help somehow for her to remember, then he would do it.

He set off on his own to find said village, preferring to leave the rest in Kakariko in case anything were to happen. He did not want a repeat of Ordon to be safe. Kagome wanted to go with him, but she understood this was something he had to do alone.

Surprisingly enough, Shad came to Kakariko a few hours after Link had departed. Kagome greeted him right away and caught him up to date on their latest adventures. Just as she mentioned the next place they needed to go was the heavens, the young man was thrilled.

He got up from his spot on the table and quickly went on his pack. He was speaking so fast, they had difficulty listening to what he was saying.

"There's an ancient race that resided in the skies," he rambled on as he went through the pack of papers he pulled out, "I've been researching them for years, after my father passed away. I found this book but there's only so much I've been able to translate."

He was skimming through the pages but Kagome caught it before he turned the page. She frowned, as the artifact seemed too familiar, until it dawned on her.

"We need Link," she said, "I think I know how to piece everything together. But we need him back, he may have something."

His eyes were wide with excitement, "Of course!"

They spent the rest of the afternoon with him showing her almost all of his research. He could not contain the excitement as this was the first person to show him any kind of interest for his research. It felt good speaking to someone that wasn't shunning him away or calling it rubbish.

Just as Miroku came into the room and was taking in all the chaos of parchment paper and notes, that's when they heard the sound of Epona being back.

She felt her heart skipping a beat as she helped Shad put things away before going to find Link.

She could hear light crying as she got closer to the Shaman's shed. She could see some of the villagers peeking through the windows. As she neared the door, her eyes widened as she saw Ilia holding Link's face, kissing him.

Inuyasha came up behind Kagome and saw the scene in front of him. His eyes were wide as he could already sniff her tears. As he went to grab her, she turned around and walked away. He tried grabbing her wrist again, but hissed in pain and pulled away quickly. His ears flattened against his skull as he saw her running to the graveyard. He felt Sango coming up but he shook his head, "Leave her."

Back at the shed, he did hear that tiny little gasp.

He grabbed Ilia's hands and pulled her away, his blue eyes frantically looking at the door, where he knew she saw everything.

The short blond woman looked at him confusedly, "Link?"

He stared back at her, took in the vibrancy of her green eyes as she now looked at him how she used to, and not a stranger. For how long did he yearn to see her back to normal? He grew up with her. She was his best friend.

Maybe if Hyrule had not fallen, if he had not met Kagome, he could've lived a life with her. A simple life with him herding the goats and doing occasional trips to Castle Town. Expanding the tree house to something more family friendly.

Uli seemed to understand the internal turmoil of her son, as she carefully came forward and with a gentle smile, greeted Ilia who hugged her with so much emotion on seeing her again, knowing who she was.

However, Uli locked eyes with Link and without making a sound, she told him to go.

He pushed through the villagers as they were now swarming in, some of them congratulating him but he paid no mind. He could hear the whispering of Midna, telling him how stupid he was.

He thanked the goddesses for his heightened senses, as he knew now where she had run off to, but to his luck, her friends were in the way.

He was tense as he made eye contact with Sango. Inuyasha was just leaning against the rock wall, just looking at the ground with his arms crossed.

"Were you engaged to her prior to the accident?"

The slayer's voice seemed to pierce him like a knife. He shook his head, "No. She's my best friend, I love her. But not like that. I never promised her anything."

Just as Sango was about to say something, they heard her scream.

She made it to the dead tree at the end of the graveyard as the sob rocked through her body. She felt nauseous. She felt dizzy.

It had only been just a few months, yet she felt like this. She felt stupid for letting her heart guide her.

Was she surprised however? He had a whole life before things fell apart. He was thrown into something he did not decide for himself. It would explain all the times Ilia would fret over him. Her mind didn't remember him, but her heart did.

She felt the wind stop and the dead leaves stopped rustling. She felt unusually cold as she got up, wiping the tears from her reddened face.

It was pitch black, the only thing giving her light was the moon.

"You're shedding tears for something absurd child."

The voice came from behind her, and it made all the hairs of her arms stand.

The voice was deep, but cool and collected. It sounded sinister.

She turned around to lock eyes with a very tall man, probably seven feet tall as his form towered over her. He was wearing a dark cloak, but she was sure he was wearing heavy armor under. She took in the shade of orange of his eyes, almost like burning flames. His hair was a deep orange that seemed to contrast with the deep tone of his skin.

Although she's never seen pictures or anything of the liking, she knew who this was.

"Do you want me to take away that pain, child?"

She had absolutely nothing on her to defend herself.

He extended his large hand, "Come with me. I can take you home. Back to where you belong. As it should have been from the beginning."

She finally found her voice, "No."

His chuckle was dark, "Don't you want to see your family Kagome? Your mother is deeply worried about you. I can take you back right now, give you the life you should have been living."

"Stop it," she hissed as she grabbed her head. She could feel a strange pressure, like if something was trying to get in.

"You don't belong here Kagome."

"Stop it."

"Come with me."

"Stop!"

Mom, I could have sworn I heard Kagome just now.

"STOP!"

She felt her energy pouring out of her out of anxiety and fear. It engulfed and pushed out whatever was giving her head pressure. When she opened her eyes, he was gone.

She was shaking severely when the others found her collapsed on her knees. Her gray eyes were unfocused, the tears streaming down her face.

Neither Inuyasha nor Link could sniff anyone around.

Sango grabbed her shoulders gently, "Kagome? Kagome what happened?"

Inuyasha was hesitant to hold her, as she had burned him with her spiritual energy earlier. He hated sniffing her tears, feeling her anxiety. He's only seen her shaken up like this just a few times. She was terrified.

She finally seemed to snap out of it, quickly cleaning her face with her hands.

She kept her head down as Sango helped her up, "I think I know how to get us to the heavens as the sages said," her voice was barely above a whisper, "Let's finish this so we can go home."