InuYasha Fan Fiction ❯ A Passing Cloud ❯ The aftermath ( Chapter 3 )

[ P - Pre-Teen ]

Disclaimer that I forgot about the last two chapters O.O: I don't own Inuyasha... XP. If I did I would be out writing it and making moneyand not writing fanfiction, which is making me lose money because I am working on this instead of getting a real job.

Author's note: About that last chapter...again...you know how when sometimes things look good in your imagination but when you write it down it turns into crap? ...That's what happened. When I'm done with this story I'd like to go back and rewrite it, but until then, I'm just going to use it as a stepping stone into the main plot of the story. Anyway...please enjoy this new chapter, I hope.

Chapter Three

It only took a few seconds for Miroku to realize that it didn't matter how many times he yelled her name, or how loud he raised his voice...Kagome had been completely drained and she wasn't going to regain conciousness for quite some time. He didn't want to leave her here by herself, but Sango and Kirara still hadn't returned and he didn't want to waste any time in looking for them. And there was also Shippo... Poor Shippo who had been killed protecting Miroku. He wasn't going to be able to carry both of them through the forest, but he had no means to dig even a shallow hole to place Shippo in. He gave only a moment of thought before unfastening his outer robes and placing them over the small body; on their way out of the forest he would come back and retrieve him in order to give him a proper burial. Then he didn't waste another second and set about lifting Kagome onto his back and starting off into the trees.

"Sango! Kirara!" he called out, over and over again, hearing nothing in return each time. "Sango! Kirara!" he called out for what felt like hours, as sweat began to drip and sting his eyes, and the weight on his back seemed to increase with each step he took, but the sun would be setting soon and the impending darkness would make it even more difficult to find them if he didn't keep going as long as he could now. "Sango! Kirara!" he called out, beginning to wonder if he was even heading in the right direction, but he pushed such thoughts out of his head and reminded himself he shouldn't let himself lose hope just yet. "Sango! Kirara!" he would keep calling out until his voice was reduced to nothing more than a hoarse whisper.

"Sango! Kira-" he began to shout again when his ears picked up a quiet roar in the distance. "Kirara!" he recognized and felt a new burst of energy that allowed him to stay in his feet long enough to follow the sound.

He came upon a small clearing and stopped short, placing Kagome gently on the ground and running over to the still body Kirara was laying next to.

"Sango!" he exclaimed, kneeling down next to her and taking her gently into his arms. "Sango...please...wake up...please..." he spoke, but upon first touch he felt that her skin had already grown cold. "No...I don't want to lose you too...please come back..." he whispered as the tears began to fall from his eyes.

It was dark the next time Kagome opened her eyes, and she couldn't recall a single thing that had happened; then again the pain in her head was so great she wasn't really able to think about much at all at the moment.

'Where am I again?' she thought to herself, and suddenly sat up straight, fearing herself to be alone or possibly having been kidnapped.

"Be careful," a ragged but slightly familiar sounding voice spoke to her from the darkness. "You should probably lay back down for awhile."

"Inuyasha? Is that you?" she whispered back as she felt a hand on her shoulder guiding her back down to rest of a soft surface.

The voice waited a moment before replying. "No," it said to her, sounding very solemn. "it's Miroku."

"Oh. Where are the others?"

"Don't worry about it. Just go back to sleep for now." he insisted and she obeyed him without further questions.

Miroku sighed inwardly as he continued to stroke Kagome's hair soothingly until he was certain she had gone back to sleep. He dreaded the moment she woke up again, and asked the same question, and he would have to be the one to remind her.

Miroku got an early start the next morning, and got moving the moment he saw the first ray of light peaking over the horizon. Kirara was relatively uninjured and was ble to carry Kagome on her back, while Miroku carried Sango in his arms by her side. They came upon the spot where he had left his purple robes to cover Shippo and he retrieved them and they continued on into the abandoned town where Miroku sought out a shovel and immediately set to work, even though he felt incredibly guilty doing so. He knew that Sango would most likely wish to be buried within her own village, but even with Kirara's help there was no way he'd be able to travel quickly enough to both Sango and Shippo's respective homes to bury them. The ground was still soft from the rain, but no longer muddy, and it didn't take him very long at all to finish his job. He had just finished patting down the last bit of earth and giving his private good-byes when he heard Kagome begin to stir again.

"Nn...my head...where am I now...?" she spoke to herself before noticing Miroku approaching her. "Miroku...where- ...what's happened to you?" she changed course when she noticed he was wearing only his black yukata and the dirt covering his hands. Before he was able to respond she continued with her original train of thought. "Where are we? Where have the others gone?"

"Don't you remember anything?" he spoke gently, hoping she would remember herself so he wouldn't have to tell her. His fears were realized whenever she shook her head.

"Yesterday...we fought Naraku...don't you remember? Inuyasha sacfrificed himself in order to defeat him..."

Kagome's eyes grew wide as the memories came flooding back. "Inuyasha!" she cried out, jumping to her feet only to fall back down to her knees, and Miroku lunged forward to catch her.

"And Shippo and Sango...they're gone too. We're the only ones left." he sadly informed her. She grabbed onto his arms, he could see the desperation coming back to her eyes. "We have to go back! Please, we have to get them back! Isn't there any way we can-"

"Kagome, stop." he gently cajoled her. "Stop. There's nothing we can do."

"Don't say that! There's got to be some way...I could try to reopen the portal, and-"

"No." he said simply, putting his finger to her lips to hush her. "You're exhausted. Your powers are spent. And even if you could reopen the portal...getting Inuyasha back from hell would be almost impossible. Besides...it wouldn't get the others back."

"No..." she weakly resisted, struggling to get free of Miroku's tight grasp. He must be lying...there has to be a way...he doesn't know what he's talking about!

Miroku only pulled her tighter into his embrace, hoping to calm her down before she managed to hurt herself. "How can you give up so easily?" she sobbed into his chest, and he felt the pain inside of him multiply.

"I'm not giving up. You can't give up when there's nothing you can do to about something. If I thought there was a way to bring Inuyasha back that wouldn't put you in danger I would have tried it already, but there isn't. Sometimes...sometimes it really is better to accept things as they are than to have false hopes."

Her sobs only came harder, and he held on to her harder, and he didn't let go of her until she succumbed to her exhaustion once again.

Miroku gave up two nights of sleep in order to get Kagome back to Kaede's hut as quickly as possible. She had only woken up again once, and had managed to stay calm, but refused any water Miroku tried to give her before going back to sleep again. By the time they arrived at Kaede's Miroku was feeling almost as exhausted as Kagome probably felt.

Kaede, while rather frail and sickly herself, was able to take the both of them in and nurse them back to health. It only took a few herbs and several hours of sleep for Miroku to get back on his feet and help Kaede out while she was caring for Kagome, who was slower to get her energy back. By the third day Miroku began to wonder if maybe telling her to give up hope was the right thing to do after all; it was something she needed to hear, but maybe he should have waited until she was better to tell her. That same day Kaede came out to him as he was tending her garden to let him know that her physical health was back to perfect, but she still seemed to lack any interest in getting back on her feet.

"I think ye should go in and speak with her."

"I don't know...I'm not sure if she would want to see me."

"Oh pah! Ye two are all ye have right now. Ye should put everything in the past and go remind her that you're still her friend."

He sighed, but nodded, and went into the small room where Kagome was sitting on her futon with Kirara on her lap.

"Kagome," he spoke, and she shifted uncomfortably, but didn't look up at him. "I know what I told you the other day wasn't what you wanted to hear..."

She didn't verbally respond to him, but her body language told him that she certainly agreed with him.

"But I couldn't let you hurt yourself by trying to get Inuyasha back!"

"So you thought it would be better to hurt me first instead?" she finally said to him.

"No! I didn't mean to...I was trying to keep you from getting hurt!"

"Well good job." she replied quite sarcastically and he moved to kneel down next to her.

"Please Kagome, can't you try to see things from my perspective? I was only trying to do what I thought was best for you!"

She returned to giving him the silent treatment again, and the more seconds that ticked by, the more Miroku felt himself losing his patience with her.

"You're not the only one who lost someone, you know!" he said, his words finally making her look at his face for the first time since the incident, and she saw the sadness in his eyes, and she felt her heart soften once again when the realization hit her.

"Miroku..." she called after him, but he had already left her side and exited the hut. She moved to go after him, but he was already out of sight.

"Kaede-" she began to ask, and Kaede answered by pointing in the direction he had gone and watched her run after him with a hint of worry on her face.

"Oh dear..." she sighed to herself as she returned to finishing the work in the garden "Whatever is the matter with young people?"

Kagome caught up with Miroku several minutes later where he had stopped to rest in the lush grass, and she took a seat next to him whether he liked it or not.

"I'm sorry." she spoke first, switching roles with him when he was the one to not say anything. "I guess I was just so preoccupied about losing Inuyasha, I wasn't able to give anyone else much thought. I...I loved Inuyasha. And I know you loved Sango. And we both loved Shippo like our own brother. ...I just...wasn't thinking. Not to mention you did so much to bring me back here, and I've been so ungrateful to you."

"It's okay. I understand." he said truthfully, but she shook her head still.

"No, you've done so much for me even after all that happened. Thank you."

He nodded and gave her a smile, which she returned, and they sat together silently for a long time until she spoke again.

"How's your hand?"

He held up his hand which was uncovered and solid flesh. "I didn't even get a chance to think about it until we got back. I don't think I've really even realized that I've gotten my life back."

"At least that's one thing you can be happy about."

He gave a small nod, and let a few minutes pass before bringing up something that had been on his mind the past few days.

"Naraku is gone, and the Shikon jewel went with him to hell where it belongs..." he said, and she nodded in encouragement to continue to his point. "And you've recovered and have your energy back. Everything is finally finished...so now...I think, maybe...it's time for you to go home Kagome."

"What! Go home, but I-" she argued, and he interrupted her.

"There isn't any reason for you to stay here. You have a family waiting for you Kagome. You should go back to them, and back to the life you had."

"But...but what about you, and..."

"We can manage by ourselves, you don't have to worry about us. ...You don't belong here anymore Kagome."

Her eyes began to water, but she knew he was right. Now that everything was over...and everyone was gone...there was no use for her here.

She nodded and he reccommended she go back tonight, before she changed her mind. She should keep her family waiting a moment longer after all. She returned to the hut to retrieve her backpack and say farewell to Kaede and Miroku escorted her to the well just as the sun began to set.

"After all this time, I can't believe it's finally over." she said as she sat her backpack down and looked about the area one last time. "...Are you sure I should go now...are you going to be okay ...with everyone gone?"

"Yes." he insisted, and he gave her a gentle smile to cover the sadness in his eyes. "It's been nice knowing you Kagome. I hope things go well for you when you get back."

"You too.." she said, and ran forward to give him a hug, which he returned softly and she stepped back to pick up her things and hop over the well.

"Good-bye." she whispered as she jumped into the hole and disappeared into the dark bottom.

Miroku stayed for a few moments, looking down at the empty grey bottom of the well before he turned to go back to Kaede's.

"Good-bye."

More author's note: I might not be able to get a new chapter up for awhile...I hope next week by the latest.