Kagome was practically smothered before she even set foot inside her house. Her brother was the first to see her emerging from the well house and his instant reaction was to rush into the house yelling at the top of his lungs. Her mother was out the door only moments later, followed by her grandfather, and as she found herself being swept into their welcoming arms the only thing she could do was burst into tears of relief at finally being able to see them again. Up until that point, her mind had been whirling with confusion at Inuyasha’s startling confession; she’d even contemplated going back to ask him directly if he’d really meant it, but then Souta had spotted her and…well…all thoughts of leaving again fled her mind when she threw herself into her mother’s arms.
Of course she had some serious explaining to do. She’d been gone for over a month, without a single word as to her whereabouts or whether or not she was okay; her family had been just about ready to give her up as lost to them forever. She apologized profusely, and apologized again to Souta for having missed his birthday party after pinky-swearing to him that she wouldn’t, and also for not having thought to bring his present with her. She’d left her entire pack behind, in fact (including some of her schoolbooks, she remembered with a wince), but then again, she hadn’t really expected to be going home today.
She explained, as best she could, about her illness in the Warring States, and how everyone thought it was too dangerous to move her the whole way to the well without the risk of her getting worse. This wasn’t entirely true, but she didn’t want to mention Inuyasha’s real role in her disappearance, at least not in front of her brother and grandfather. Souta, after all, had a serious case of hero-worship for Inuyasha, and she didn’t have the heart to break his adoring faith in the hanyou. As for her grandfather, well, he’d no doubt go off the deep end and have the well permanently sealed or something in case that “nasty demon” ever decided to come snatch her away again. Not that he could, if what he’d told her was true, but that wouldn’t be enough to stop her grandfather from making absolutely sure. As weak as the old man’s so-called spells were, she was sure he had enough knowledge to succeed so that even she couldn’t break the seal again if he was really determined.
Finally, when Kagome had had all the questions she could stomach, she asked to be excused so she could take a bath and then have a long nap. She was exhausted, at least mentally if not physically. Her mother, as always completely understanding her only daughter’s wish to be alone, quickly shooed Grandfather and Souta outside to finish chores, then followed Kagome to her room to draw her bath while she changed. “So, Kagome, perhaps you can tell me now the other reason you haven’t been back for so long,” she urged gently.
Kagome nearly fell over, peeking cautiously at her through the neckline of the shirt she was in the process of pulling over her head. “Ummm…what makes you think there’s another reason?” she asked as innocently as possible.
Mrs. Higurashi gave her daughter a knowing look. “Dearest, there must be more to the story than what you’ve told us. Even being so badly sick, couldn’t Inuyasha have come back to get medicine from this time to help you? Why rely on the medicine of his time when he knows that our medical knowledge is so much more advanced?”
Kagome squirmed. “Well…you know how Inuyasha is,” she muttered uneasily. “He’s so incredibly stubborn, the dummy…” Seeing as her mother did not look convinced, she sighed and added, “Well…um…you see, he did try. But…uh…he couldn’t get through.”
Mrs. Higurashi blinked. “Why not? Did something happen to make it so he couldn’t go through?”
“Well…kinda…” Her mother was obviously waiting for her to elaborate, so Kagome added reluctantly, “The rosary snapped, and broke the spell I had on Inuyasha. I guess it was what linked us so that he could follow me through the well, but with it broken…” She trailed off with a shrug.
“Oh, dear. I do see how that could present a problem,” the older woman murmured, one hand coming up to rest against her cheek. Her brow furrowed with increasing concern. “Kagome, please answer me truthfully. When the spell broke…did anything else…happen?” Seeing her daughter’s confused glance, she added carefully, “Did Inuyasha…hurt you in anyway? Or maybe…perhaps he touched you in a manner that was…inappropriate?”
Kagome’s eyes widened as the insinuation hit home, and a fierce blush crawled into her cheeks, “No!” she almost yelled. Then, a bit sheepishly, “No.” She shook her head fervently to emphasize her point. “Believe me, Mama, Inuyasha didn’t do anything like that to me! He wouldn’t! H-he does have honor!” She felt almost angry at her mother for even daring to suggest that Inuyasha would hurt her like that…although she was honest enough to be able to see her point. She smiled and added somewhat bitterly, “Trust me, Mama. For this past month, that has been the last thing on Inuyasha’s mind in regards to me.”
Mrs. Higurashi looked unaccountably relieved. “I don’t mean to accuse, Dearest,” she soothed. “It’s just that Inuyasha is so…strong-willed…”
Kagome giggled a little. “Go ahead and say it, Mama. He’s wild. I know that. I didn’t think you’d noticed though.”
“I’m not that unobservant, Kagome,” Mrs. Higurashi replied wryly. “Truthfully, I’d always wondered if it wasn’t those beads he wore that…held him back, knowing that you could subdue him if he got out of hand. He always frightened me, just a little bit…although I do love his adorable ears. They’re so soft!” Her eyes sparkled a little at the memory, causing her daughter to face-fault. “It was your faith in him, though, that kept me from asking you to remain here instead of going back to that place.”
Kagome was still blushing; her mother had no idea just how close to the truth she was. “I-it’s okay, Mama,” she said softly. “Truthfully, when the spell broke, Inuyasha did go a little wild. He…wouldn’t let me come home again. That’s the real reason I was gone so long. He threatened to destroy the well if I went near it, and I couldn’t chance that happening. It was like…revenge for all the sits I ever gave him. I can sort of understand why he acted the way he did, but he went so power-mad with it! During this past month…he really did kind of scare me, Mama. I was convinced that he hated me, and we did nothing but fight. I couldn’t see him anymore.” She swallowed hard and blinked back sudden tears at the grim memories. “It really was a horrible time…and I’m afraid at least part of it was my fault. There was just so much misunderstanding and…I let myself become afraid of him,” she continued in a whisper. “But...then I got sick, and it seemed to give Inuyasha a change of heart.”
Her blush deepened, remembering for the umpteenth time the tender kiss he’d pressed to her lips and his whispered confession. Seeing her mother’s knowing look, she cleared her throat and shoved the memory forcefully away. “He apologized to me and then he sent me through the well. But he told me just before, that he couldn’t follow me here anymore to make me come back again. He said sending me back—not knowing if I’d ever return—was the only way he knew to prove that he really did trust me and he hoped I’d trust him enough to want to return on my own.”
Mrs. Higurashi’s gaze softened as she watched her daughter. Like all understanding mothers, she could clearly see what Kagome was not telling her, and a smile touched her lips. “It seems that the both of you have matured a great deal over this ordeal,” she commented thoughtfully. “It brings to mind the saying, ‘Every cloud has its silver lining’. It seems to me that you and Inuyasha both have found the silver lining in your clouds.”
Kagome’s smile bloomed slowly. “Yeah. I…I think maybe we have,” she admitted shyly.
“Will you go back again?”
“Well…not just yet.” Her brow furrowed a little. “I left my things there, and I didn’t even get a chance to say goodbye to Shippo and Kaede. Poor little Shippo is probably frantic by now. Not only that, but my mission still isn’t complete.” She pulled the jewel shards from around her neck and held them up, watching as they glistened in the light streaming through the window. Sighing, she tucked them away again. “But…I have things I need to accomplish here. Most especially, my schoolwork.” She winced. “I shudder to think of all that work I’m going to have to make up.” Then she scowled suddenly. “I also shudder to think of what kind of lame diseases Grandpa made up for me while I was gone. He better wouldn’t have given me anything gross! Nobody will want to come near me!”
Her mother chuckled. “I’m sure you’ll be fine,” she assured her. “But, Kagome…I do hope you realize that, while grades are important, they don’t need to rule your life. Sometimes, things come along that are much more important in life.”
Kagome gaped at her. “But, Mama, my grades are my future!” she protested. “What about my future career? If I don’t do well in school I won’t have a chance of becoming someone important in life!”
Mrs. Higurashi smiled at her meaningfully. “Are you absolutely sure that your future is where you expect it to be?”
Kagome blinked at her. “…Huh?”
The woman giggled, a very girlish laugh, before reaching out to tap a fingernail against the glass vial hanging around Kagome’s neck. “Sometimes, fate has a way of changing the goals we set for ourselves, to give us something even better in exchange. And Kagome…there is absolutely nothing better in life than loving someone, and having them love you back. By the way, dear, your bath is ready.” And with that proclamation, she gave her daughter a demure smile, opened the door, and serenely left the room.
Kagome stared after her in disbelief, wondering when in the world it
was that her mother had gotten so wise.
She wasn’t going to come back.
Inuyasha stared down into the well despairingly, as he had every evening for the past three weeks, in the vain hopes of seeing the blue light and smelling Kagome’s sweet scent wafting up from the dark depths as she climbed toward him. But, as it had been every other evening, nothing but shadows and the smell of mold greeted him, and he slumped down against the side and sighed heavily. Three weeks. Three weeks of missing her during the day, dreaming of her during the night, wanting more than anything to go back and fix the mistake he’d made of allowing her out of his sight. Wanting to take her into his arms and never let her go again.
Shippo was inconsolable at the unexpected loss of his surrogate mother; the poor little kit had been in a state of depression ever since then, losing his appetite and doing nothing but whine about how much he missed Kagome. But if Shippo felt that bad, then Inuyasha felt infinitely worse. He struggled valiantly with himself; the deep feelings that he’d discovered he harbored for the strange, beautiful girl from the future mingled together with his intense anger and feelings of betrayal in a dangerous, volatile mass of emotion. He’d confessed in so many words that he loved her, and she’d turned right around and trampled his heart underfoot and abandoned him! Stupid, heartless bitch! He should have known better than to get involved! Twice betrayed…by the same person, no less (he felt evil satisfaction in knowing how hurt Kagome would’ve been had she heard that particular thought)! Hadn’t he learned better the first time around?! He glanced angrily at the worn pack resting by his side. She hadn’t even returned for her bag. Or for her books, for that matter. Those oh-so-precious “textbooks” that she was always complaining she needed to study from, so she could return to her world and take her stupid, useless tests and abandon him yet again! Not so important now, were they? Keh! Apparently, she was so eager to be rid of him that she was willing to leave everything behind!
“I shouldn’t have let her take the jewel,” he snarled, clenching his hands until the tips of his claws drew blood. “I should’ve known…she couldn’t be trusted! She just took off and ran! Didn’t it mean anything?” He leaped to his feet and began to pace, before abruptly stopping to glare down into the well. “Didn’t anything I tell you mean anything?!” he yelled, baring his fangs at the emptiness within. It matched the emptiness he felt in his heart all too well, and he hated the feeling. He hated feeling helpless, and knowing that Kagome was in her time, living her life without him, made him feel more helpless than he could remember ever being before.
“I don’t need her,” he growled at himself, trying valiantly to convince himself, to shake the depression which continued to eat away at his heart. “I don’t need her!” He glared into the well again. “Do you hear me, wench?! I don’t need you! Go on! Stay in your time, for all I care! I don’t need to see you anymore! You were nothing but trouble, anyway! So just…just stay there! And…and take this with you!” And he picked up the backpack and hurled it into the well with all his strength, listening for the satisfying thud of it hitting the packed earth below.
There was nothing. Not a sound, and he frowned in confusion, ears perking forward, before shrugging and slumping back against the well again in his usual position, with arms and legs crossed and head bent, a permanent frown on his lips. He stayed that way for all of five minutes before he released a long sigh, then reluctantly rose to his feet and hopped lightly onto the edge of the well, his intense anger already vanishing as swiftly as it had come. Oh, who was he fooling, anyway? His shoulders slumped, and he swallowed around a strange-yet-familiar, aching tightness in his throat. He was glad Kagome had left her bag; it was all he had left of her, now. Her scent still lingered on it; if he left it in the bottom of that well, it would rot and her scent would fade to nothing, and then he’d have absolutely nothing to remember her by. Even though a part of him thought it would be better that way, the rest of him—the part that loved her so very fiercely—just couldn’t stand the thought. So, after another moment of hesitation, he leapt into the well to retrieve the pack. Perhaps, he thought, after that he’d take Shippo for a walk in the forest. The kit was too listless; he was losing weight and that wasn’t good for a growing kitsune. Poor little kit; he really did feel sorry for him. He understood, after all, what it was like to lose something so precious…
So caught up in his sad thoughts was he, that he failed to notice the light which momentarily surrounded him before fading away again.
But anyone who might have passed by in that moment, and perhaps chanced
to glance into the well in passing, would have seen nothing but shadows
in the bottom of it.
Well, that seems like a good place to end it. The chapter, that is. Not the story. *looks innocent*
Okay, there’s something I gotta say. I’ve been following this truly awesome story called Fallen Souls by Cassandra. If you haven’t read it yet…READ IT. NOW. It is absolutely one of THE best Inuyasha fanfics I’ve ever read, and it’s right on ff.net (she does have her own website though, where all the lemon chapters are posted, so you might want to read it there to get the full story). And Cassandra was nice and plugged my story in her last chapter, so I thought I’d return the favor. lol But I am absolutely serious about this. If you want angst, romance (and spectacularly written lemony chapters! ^_~), you’ve GOT to read this. You’re missing out on a real treat if you don’t.
Okay. I’m done raving now. ^_^ See ya in the next chapter!
Quickening
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