InuYasha Fan Fiction ❯ Time Changes Everything ❯ Shared Dreams ( Chapter 3 )

Shared Dreams

Kagome moaned and shifted; her hip hurt and the ground was hard. Why was the ground hard? She reached her hand out and touched the…floor? `What's going on? Where's my bed?" She opened her eyes but it was still dark. "InuYasha?" The sound of her voice reverberated off the walls making her wince in pain." InuYasha where are you? Its dark and I can't see." She called a little softer, trying to avoid the harsh echo.

"Your demon isn't here, Kagome. No one is here." a voice echoed "They've all abandon you, leaving you to me." A light appeared in the center of the room casting brilliant rays of light and rainbows around. The entire room was a giant soft pink crystal

Kagome shielded her eyes at the sudden onslaught of light. "Who are you? What do you want from me and where is InuYasha?"

"I told you already, the demon abandoned you to me."

"And who are you?"

"My name is Binin."

Kagome stood and winced at the pain on her hip. She touched the sting carefully and was shocked to feel it so cold. She carefully limped to the center of the room, the clacking of her shoes echoing loudly in her ears. "So, where are we?"

"Kagome, do you not recognize what you work so hard to protect?"

She looked around the room but nothing looked familiar. The lights in the room dimmed and the walls became translucent. Kagome gasped as she saw the fire and…was that…a giant shard? She gasped, "Are we in, are we in one of the, the shards?"

"What a bright girl you are, Kagome." Binin said laughing as he emerged from the wall of the shard to stand in front of her. "There's no fooling you is there?" The handsome demon towered over her, his eyes sparkling deep green and his hair a glossy black, his skin so smooth and perfect. He looked familiar somehow….

"Naraku!" Kagome yelled, forgetting the harsh echo. She reached for her bow, only to find it missing. Panicking, she backed away and hit the wall of the shard behind her.

***

InuYasha sat staring at Kagome in the dark, the flame from the fire was just enough to cast a dim halo around the rocks. A breeze picked up and sent a shiver over Kagome's damp skin. He sighed and threw another few logs on the fire. The night was only half over and he doubted the day would be better. Kagome stirred in her sleep, moaning.

The fire started to devour the new logs he had added and in the growing light, InuYasha could see Kagome starting to sweat again. Out of the corner of his eye, he caught sight of a bright pink light on her neck. Slowly reaching out, he unzipped her sleeping bag, exposing the now glowing jewel shards. The light suddenly dimmed, as if ashamed to be seen. Sighing, he sat back to keep watch over her again.

Something wasn't right. His ears twitched forward as he heard her moan again and reach to her hip. He quickly unzipped her bag the rest of the way and moved her hand, exposing the blotch. Gingerly, he reached out and touched it, which had started to turn a light iridescent pink color. It now looked more like a stain on her skin than anything. He could feel her heart beating at a furious pace under his hand.

Feeling something poke him, he moved his hand. In the middle of the pink, there was a small black dot. Blushing, he moved closer to see, his breath sending a shiver down her spine. "The stinger, it's still in there. Maybe that's why she's not getting better." He said to himself, plucking it out.

Kagome moaned and tried to roll away, but he held her firmly in place as he washed the wound of poison. The glow left the sting and heat slowly returned to it. Smiling, he lay down next to her and placed his hand over the wound. Her heart was still racing, but at least it was looking better.

When Kagome shivered again, he covered them both up, replacing his hand on her hip as he fell asleep.

***

Binin laughed "Dear girl, I had hoped you were smarter than that. Naraku is my brother, and I assure you Kagome, we are nothing alike."

"Why am I here?" She asked him, unsure whether to believe him or not.

A bright flash of light filled the room, blinding both Kagome and Binin. When their eyes cleared, there was a big red and white wall standing between Kagome and Binin.

"InuYasha!" Kagome yelled throwing her arms around him.

"What the hell is this Kagome?!" he asked, confused.

"You're in a jewel shard in the bottle around Kagome's neck." A voice told him from behind.

InuYasha spun around, drawing Tetsusaiga "Naraku!"

"You know, that's not the first time that's happened today. My name is Binin. Naraku and I are brothers and nothing alike."

"I don't give a damn who you are! I wanna know why the hell Kagome is here instead of in her body!"

"I needed her help. I was accidentally trapped in the jewel, by the woman named Midoriko. I was with her when she was attacked. As the battle of the demons wore on, she created the jewel and I was caught up in the blast and have been trapped ever since. The shard I was trapped in got caught in a demon scorpion. As it stung her, I took her soul into the shard with me. If I had not, she would be dead."

"Wait, you were with Midoriko? Then why wasn't your body found in the mass? We saw it, we were there. There was no other human in the cave." InuYasha said, narrowing his eyes.

"Wait….You said you were Naraku's brother," Kagome said, pondering the situation. "Naraku was created out of hundreds of demons. How can you be his…brother?" She finished, her eyes widening in realization. "You're a demon, just like he is!"

"My, my, but you are clever aren't you! The only difference is, I'm not part human. Onigumo sold his body to the demons, I'm pure demon, unlike others here." He said, looking pointedly at InuYasha.

"Bastard!" InuYasha yelled, charging at Binin.

Kagome reached out and grabbed InuYasha by the shirt stopping him before he could attack. "No! Not in here! There's no telling what an attack like that could do to the shard with us trapped inside."

She turned back to Binin. "You told me that you and Naraku were nothing alike! You're exactly like him!"

"And that's where you're wrong my sweet little one. Being full demon, I don't have Onigumo's lust and I'm stronger than Naraku is."

Kagome took a few steps back and looked down. The floor of the shard was so flawless so perfect in all but one spot. Under where Binin stood, was a small black spot, not normally visible, but in the firelight it shone like an onyx. "InuYasha" she said, in a voice not her own "Step away from me please." Indicating a spot on the floor; her instructions were so cold, they seemed to hang in the air.

InuYasha looked over to see Kagome glowing. It was if the shard had taken all its powers and transferred them to Kagome. He scrambled to the side that was furthest from the others, where she had told him and stood frozen, watching nervously.

The power coursing through her body created a wind, gusting and blowing. Kagome dropped to her knees and the room stilled. Toughing the floor with her finger, a light shot out and enveloped Binin.

InuYasha could feel himself lifting off the floor. Looking to Kagome, he could see her body levitating the same as his. The moment their feet no longer touched, the entire room lit in a bright light that shot through Binin, ripping him apart. A deafening shriek tore though the room as the body disintegrated.

InuYasha touched the floor and ran to catch Kagome as she fell, exhausted to the floor. The light that had coursed through her body gathered itself in the center where Binin had been standing.

"Midoriko." Kagome said before passing out.

"Demon, care for the girl until you wake and when you do, remove the shards from around her neck and open the bottle. Her soul will return to her body. You must care for her demon, and care for her well."

He glanced down at Kagome then back up at the priestess whose soul he was now kneeling in. "How am I here with her if her soul is trapped? Shouldn't I be trapped here too?"

She looked down at his hand, which had unconsciously made its way back to cover the wound on Kagome's hip, and smiled.

InuYasha's eyes followed her gaze and jerked his hand away, blushing when he realized what he had done. He fumbled for a place to put his hands, finding none with his robe still on Sango. Giving up, he crossed his arms over his chest with a scowl and glared a hole through the wall.

"Do not be shames or embarrassed, InuYasha. It's that very bond that brought you here to save Kagome." Seeing InuYasha's ears twitch was the only sign she would receive that he heard her. "Your soul traveled to hers through the connection you unknowingly made when you fell asleep touching her wound. Your soul sensed hers was in danger and went to rescue it, not letting something as small as distance or a barrier stop it. It seems, my dear sweet boy that your soul has figured things out before your mind has."

"Midoriko, wait!" He called after her as she started to fade away.

"I know the question you'll ask and the answer you seek. The solution will present itself when the time comes. Until then, make the most of the time you have left. Let go of your past but don't forget it. Look to the future, but don't live for it. Dear, sweet InuYasha, you already know the answer, you just have to dig deep inside your heart to find it." She said, fading.

He was stunned, "I already know? How the hell does she figure that? If I knew, why would I be asking?"

InuYasha looked down at Kagome. How could two people look so similar and so different at the same time? He had long ago stopped comparing Kagome to Kikyo. It was useless; they were as different as night and day.

InuYasha sighed. These damn women, they were really starting to piss him off. Life was so simple before they came. He would come and go as he pleased, eat when he wanted, sleep when he wanted. He didn't have to worry about others or get involved in their meaningless lives it was Kagome; she had done this to him. Kikyo didn't care what InuYasha did as long as no humans were injured.

Kagome insisted that they stop and help anything that even looked like it needed it and it was rubbing off on him. He had found Kaeda struggling under a heavy load three days ago and had run to help her. He had helped and with out even being asked! Kaede wisely chose not to mention the incident again when InuYasha scowled and gave his usual "Feh!" as she thanked him.

InuYasha looked back down to Kagomes sleeping form. One woman had tamed his wild soul and her reincarnation had tamed his wild heart.

"Is that really such a bad thing, InuYasha?" Midoriko's voice called out softly.

Some how he knew she hadn't left and somehow wasn't surprised that she could sense his thoughts as well. Kagome and Kikyo always seemed to know what he was thinking as well. Maybe it was a priestess thing.

"No, its not; I don't ever want to go back to being alone again." InuYasha began to grow uncomfortable. Midoriko could read his thoughts, sense his confusion and even self doubt. She…she even knew how he felt about Kagome and he didn't even know that.

"InuYasha, in your heart, you already made that choice a log time ago."

"Well apparently my heart isn't speaking to my brain because I still don't know the answer."

InuYasha sighed as a heavy wave of peace washed over him. Peace was something he hadn't felt in such a long time.

"Midoriko, what will happen to you now that the demon is gone, after we leave here?"

"Binin was just a part of the larger demon that fused together. When the jewel shattered, so did the demon sealing a part of him within each shard. Unknowingly, Binin helped me destroy this part of him. You see," she continued when InuYasha gave her a questioning look, "when he brought himself to Kagome by way of the scorpion, he used the largest and most powerful part of himself, thinking that if he got Kagome to help him, he could destroy me. He didn't count on her being as cunning as she is and figuring out his plan. Because he brought her here, I was able to use her powers as well as my own to purify him. Kagome just lightened my burden by ten fold.

"She is one of the purest, kindest, most beautiful souls that I have had the pleasure of coming across. She compliments you, InuYasha."

InuYasha blushed, "Feh!" but for some reason didn't hold the condescending bite that it usually had.

"Hey Midoriko, why haven't I woke up yet; is something wrong?" he asked after what seemed like an eternity of silence.

"I held your soul here a bit longer than I intended originally. It was so damaged by the hurt and pain you've seen, I couldn't let you go like that. It's not complete however."

He heard the lilt leave her voice, leaving it strange and hollow. "You've had some horrible things happen to you, child, and it breaks my heart to see it. Take comfort in knowing that even though I couldn't heal those wounds, in time they will heal."

The soft, comforting, pink world InuYasha had become accustom to began to fade as the smell of burning wood and night air hit his nose. He took a long, deep breath and was overcome by the new feeling of happiness that surrounded him.

For just that one breath, that one moment, everything in his word was perfect. He found a place where he belonged, friends to keep him company and some one that cared for his safety more than her own.

Sitting up, he brought his hand up from Kagome's hip to her neck and unfastened the clasp that held the necklace with the shard bottle in place.

Holding it up to the light, he could see black and a brilliant blue swirling through the pink of the shard.

`The blue must be Kagome's soul' he thought to him self in awe.

The blue kept trying to mingle with the black, but was shoved violently back each time it got too close. He realized that was the hurt and the pain that Midoriko had healed him of. He felt horrible looking at it, ashamed that that he left something so ugly in something so beautiful.

Just then, the shard glowed brightly and the black was purified to a brilliant shade of purple. InuYasha gasped as Kagome's soul rushed to his and they swirled through the pink together. It was the most beautiful thing he had ever seen in his life.

"Thank you, Midoriko" he said softly, opening the bottle. A soft breeze caresses his face and could almost feel lips on his cheek, mouthing "You're welcome."

The shards glowed brightly as Kagome's soul left the shard. When the light receded, he could see that there were still remnants of his and Kagome's souls left swirling and dancing with Midoriko's.

Kagome sighed in her sleep and shifted her weight to move closer to InuYasha.

He put the shards on the blanket between them as he lay back down beside her, placing his hand once again on what was quickly becoming his favorite place on her body.

That little spot seemed cut just for his hand. Did Kikyo have a place like that on her body, a place that seemed it was cut just for him? He couldn't remember and right now, he didn't really care to all that much. For the second time that night, his world was perfect.

"InuYasha," Kagome whispered, squeezing the hand that was on her hip "thanks for coming to get me."

"Feh! Listen to us next time when we tell you not to go off at night by yourself." He scowled and gave her hip a light squeeze to take the sting out of his words.

He felt a movement at his feet and kicked at it, sending Shippo flying over into the tree.

"InuYasha! That's not fair; you're sleeping in my spot! Kagome's ok now so I should be able to sleep there again!"

"Quite, Shippo, before you wake the others!" Kagome scolded him as she lifted the covers for him to cuddle in front of her.

Shippo crawled under the covers sticking his tongue out at InuYasha as he nuzzled up under her chin.

"You little runt!" InuYasha growled, reaching up to flick Shippo on the ear.

"OW! Kagoooomeee!"

"InuYasha, Go sleep in your tree!" Kagome whispered loudly as Shippo rubbed his now sore ear.

Kagome could hear him get up and felt the covers go back over her body as it missed the now absent warmth. She giggled as she heard him stalk off grumbling about tying rats tails in knots and hanging them from trees.