InuYasha Fan Fiction ❯ A Fragile Heart ❯ Chapter Seven: Dream Come True ( Chapter 7 )

"A Fragile Heart"

By: Banshee Puppet

Chapter Seven: Dream Come True

~**~

A dreamcatcher. It was the first thing Miroku saw when he opened his eyes. The second thing he saw was Sango smiling weakly at him. She looked extremely tired.

"What is that?" he nodded to the dreamcatcher that was hanging from the blinds, wincing at the hoarse sound that came out of his throat, more like a croak than like speaking.

"We finally got in touch with Kouga's parents," Sango said softly. "You've been asleep for six days. "Apparently it was a hobby of Kouga's, making these things. His mother insisted that you have this one, since it was his favorite. She's came in this morning with a pile of the things to give to the rest of us. She's very insistent."

"But what is it?" he insisted.

"It's…uhm…" Sango tried to remember how it was explained to her. "To chase away bad dreams. Native Americans used to make them. They thought the good dreams were small enough to pass through the net, but the bad dreams would get stuck. It…catches bad dreams. Well, it was something like that anyway."

"Aa. Doesn't seem like something that punk would do."

"His father's uncle taught him. He…passed away recently."

"His Grandfather. I know about him. Now it makes sense. Hey, where is Kouga, anyway? Is he here in the hospital?" Miroku asked.

Sango averted her eyes. "Miroku, he…" she couldn't keep the tears from falling again. This was just far too cruel. "He…didn't make it. Kouga…he's…"

Miroku suddenly felt like something was about to explode out of his chest. 'Kouga…is dead? Kouga is dead…' it took his mind a moment to realize it before he spoke again. "Sorry Sango, I'm really tired. Do you mind? Must be all the drugs."

"Sure, Miroku, get some rest," Sango said, standing and moving out of the room.

Miroku sighed as he looked at the dreamcatcher. "Chase away bad dreams, huh?" he said, frowning. "The only bad dream I have, is the one where I wake up, and you're gone."

~**~

Kagura looked down at the sleeping Rin and frowned slightly. The wind sorceress wore her old familiar kimono: red, white, blue, and a gold sash. Her fan was held folded in her hand. She leaned over the young girl and brushed the hair from her face. "Forgive me," she whispered. "But I have my sister to think of. This world is interesting, but Naraku still has my heart, so I have to give yours a little bit of a scare."

Rin mumbled something in her sleep and rolled over with a tiny yawn. "Sessho-kun…can we plant more flowers tomorrow?" the girl said in her sleep.

Something jostling her bed woke her but when she rolled over, nothing was there. She sat up, rubbed her eyes with the back of her fist. "Sessho-kun?" she asked, slipping her feet into little purple slippers and wandering out of her room. No one in the living room, nor in the little kitchen unit. Bathroom door is open. The little girl decided to peek into her guardian's bedroom. He was probably sleeping, but just to be sure. Empty. The comforter wasn't even turned down. "Sessho-kun?" she asked. No reply. "Sessho-kun?!" she asked louder. She bit her lip. He wouldn't just leave her here all by herself. Not Sesshomaru. He liked Rin. He wouldn't leave Rin all alone. He would be back any moment now…any moment.

Terrified, the young girl listened to the ticking of the clock in the dark appartment and whimpered. Where was Sessho-kun? And her chest hurt. Maybe it was time for her medicine. He kept it up high, so she would have to climb to get it. That's what she'd do. She'd take her own medicine and prove what a big girl she is. If Sessho-kun didn't think she was a bother anymore, he'd come back. She'd just take her medicine and…ooo, but it really hurt. It really really hurt. Where was he??

~**~

Miroku opened his eyes again. He tried to sleep. But he'd been asleep all week damnit! So, this was insomnia. He stared up at the ceiling. Great. Not even any cracks to count. Not even any tiles to count. What was up with this hospital anyway! Not having ceiling tiles. He'd never heard of such a thing! Hospitals and schools always had ceiling tiles. Always. The moonlight glinted off of the dreamcatcher in the window and he sighed. 'Kouga.' How was that thing supposed to chase his bad dreams away when he couldn't even fall asleep?

Well, damnit, this sucked. He felt like shit. Kouga was dead, he had the worst case of insomnia he'd ever experienced in his entirely too short life, he was going to die a virgin, the meds were starting to wear off with no sign of any more until at least 7 a.m., and he felt like shit. Well, isn't life just grand?

~**~

After dropping Kagome and Inuyasha off, Sesshomaru returned home. It was almost two in the morning, and the apartment was dark. The door was unlocked, but no Kagura. He found Rin on the kitchen floor. She was lying there, panting for breath, curled up in a little ball. The silverware drawer was scattered all over the floor.

"Rin!"

"S-ssesshou-kun…Rin was gonna take her medicine, but she fell down," the little girl said. "Hurts."

Sesshomaru's eyes widened. He lifted her carefully, and checked her pulse by pressing two fingers against her throat. It was erratic, very erratic.

"Take a deep breath, Rin," he told the girl, sitting her on the counter while he got her medicine out of the cabinet and filled a glass of water. The little girl did as told, with a little difficulty.

'Kagura. I'm going to kill her. I'm going to take care of Rin first, and then, I'm going to kill her. Then I'll bring the bitch back to life so that I can kill her again!'

Rin continued taking small, deep breaths until Sesshomaru felt her pulse starting to calm a bit and gave her her medicine. "Keep breathing," he reminded her. "You said you fell. Does anything hurt?"

"Rin's arm hurts," she said. "This one." She pointed to her left arm with her right hand.

"Do this," Sesshomaru said, flexing his fingers. It was already very swollen, he could tell just by glancing at it, now that he was looking for injuries, instead of just taking care of her weak heart.

Rin started to flex her fingers, but winced and whimpered in pain. It looked like he was heading back to the hospital. When was this night going to be over?!

~**~

Kagome could feel a soft breeze blowing through her hair. Vaguely, she registered the smell of Sakura blossoms wafting by on the breeze. Slowly she opened her eyes, and crinkled her nose to prevent from sneezing. Her face was buried in brown fur. She sat up, to find that the meadow she sat in was indeed full of the fresh scent of the pink flowers. The moonlight shone down brightly on a well in the center of the field. 'I've…been here before…' her mind told her.

"G'morning." The voice came from behind her, followed by a loud yawn and a slight puppyish whimper. "K'so. My arm's asleep. You're heavy Kagome-chan."

Kagome jumped, blinked, blinked again. "K-KOUGA!??" But, Kouga was dead!

"Mn. This is another dream, you know. Neither of us are really here. And I don't think you have a lot of time to stay either. You're all white and glowy." He pushed himself into a sitting position. He knew that, were he to remain true to form, he should be glomping her and saying something obnoxious about how she was his woman and all, but, well, he wasn't really in the mood, besides, he still hadn't gotten Sango out of his head. "Miroku is okay, right? Because I had a killer headache when I got here and I don't remember much after the headlights. Well, nothing that would make any sense to you, anyway."

Kagome blinked. She didn't know what to say, or what the hell was going on. A single sound resonated through her mind. E Flat. It kept ringing and she couldn't hear his words.

As it faded, she heard, "…and tell that flea-bitten mutt to keep his hands offa my Sango!"

Again. E Flat. Kouga got up, crinkling his nose. She put her hands over her ears. The sound it was so loud. She couldn't hear anything. He shook her. It stopped again.

"Kagome-chan?" he asked. "You can't stay, can you? It's not that I don't know that but…it's kinda lonely here is all, and I don't know how to go back to where I'm supposed to be."

'Where you're…supposed to be?' E Flat. Again. Something swishing behind Kouga. The brown fur, it was his, she just realized. "Kouga? Why do you have a tail?" she asked before the deafening sound resonated and her eyes shot open. She sat up in a cold sweat to the moonlight coming through her window and the faint scent of Sakura blossoms. 'A dream. Of course.'

Her eyes locked on the shadow of the dreamcatcher hanging in her window. The shape was outlined on the comforter over her lap, wrinkled now that she was sitting up. 'To catch bad dreams, huh?' she thought, looking up at the black suede trinket hanging in the moonlight. There was a perfectly round pink stone in it's center. Instinctively, her hand came to her waist as if in memory, though she didn't know why. The girl got up after a slight shiver to shut the window. Kouga with a tail. Hah. What a bizarre dream.

"No more coffee after ten p.m." she grumbled to herself before rolling over with a large yawn to go back to sleep.

Outside the door, Kagura let out the breath she had been holding. 'That was way too close. I almost had her shards too. Naraku isn't going to be happy."

~**~

Mmkay, I think I don't want to put anything else in this chapter. *chews lip* No, I'm sure. Uh, yeah, I think that's it for this chapter. The last two chapters felt really short, but at least I've got my inspiration for this story back! That's something, I guess. Uh, yeah, anyway…I think…I don't have anything to say about this. Laa.

~B.P.~