InuYasha Fan Fiction ❯ Double Vision ❯ Chapter 55 ( Chapter 54 )

[ X - Adult: No readers under 18. Contains Graphic Adult Themes/Extreme violence. ]

Kagome rose to her feet and walked to the mouth of the cave. She heard the sound of water dripping. The snow was melting. The moon was big and bright, illuminating the dense fog, which shrouded the landscape. Walking out into the moonlight, Kagome made her way across the clearing where she had trained with Kohaku. Finally she came to a pile of boulders, and fell to her knees. She felt an overwhelming compulsion to pray. As she prayed, a pearly pink light began to emanate from her clasped hands. The light spread until it engulfed her body and the cairn. The priestess prayed fervently for a long time. She felt a sense of ominous foreboding. The more she prayed, the stronger her feeling of dread grew.

Sesshomaru jerked awake. Something was wrong. Kagome! Screaming! He jumped to his feet and ran out of the cave. With his incredible speed he was at her side in a minute. He found her staring fixedly at Kohaku’s grave, screaming in abject terror. He gathered her into his arms. Her body was stiff as a board, and she did not stop screaming. His first instinct was to slap her across her face to bring her to her senses. He experienced a surge of self-loathing for even thinking of such a thing. Her face was already so damaged. He could not sense what it was that was terrifying his mate. Sesshomaru cuddled her body to his chest, crooning to her. Suddenly, Kagome seemed to realize that she was being held. She stopped screaming, but her eyes remained wild, her gaze fixed on the grave.

Kagome struggled to regain control. She had nothing to fear. Her mate was powerful, undoubtedly the most powerful being alive in Japan today, and he had promised to protect her. He was holding her in his arms, and there was nothing out there strong enough to take her away from him. Ignoring the pain, she nestled her damaged cheek against his warm chest, seeking reassurance in his steady heartbeat.

The boys were both awake when the returned to the cave. Shippou had thrown more wood on the fire, and it was blazing brightly, as if to fend off the eerie mist that lurked outside. Sesshomaru laid Kagome down on her bed, unwrapping the wet and dirty bandages that bound her feet. He winced at how cold they were. His mate was only human. Walking on those damaged feet must have been intensely painful. He applied salve to her feet and began to bandage them in clean cloth. “Why?” He finally asked.

All three males looked at her expectantly. Kagome shook her head. Shippou asked, “Was it a bad dream, Mommy?” He was scared, and he was not going to pretend otherwise. He had learned fear from a very young age, first at the hands of the Thunder Brothers, and then as his adopted pack hunted that living nightmare, Naraku. The kitsune was well-versed in the power of nightmares.

“I don’t know, Shippou. I just woke up, and felt like I had to go outside. It was as if I was being pulled toward Kohaku’s grave. You made that cairn, didn’t you?”

Shippou nodded. “Jak didn’t want anything to disturb his rest. Kohaku’s been through enough.”

“Is that what you are afraid of, Kagome?” Sesshomaru asked. “That someone will bring Kohaku back to life?”

“I saw his hand! Reaching out from the rocks!” Kagome turned her head into the fur of her bed, refusing to look at her mate.

Sesshomaru resolved that he would fix the grave so that nothing could get into it. “There are many ways to bring the dead back to life. Not all of them require a body.”

They all looked at Jakotsu. “Jak, you said you don’t know who brought you back this time. Do you know how it was done?” Kagome asked.

Jak shook his head. “I have no memory of it at all. I woke up on a pallet at the inn. Bank was there. That’s all I know.”

“It’s nothing like when you were resurrected before, right, Jak? Naraku used bones from your grave, and shards from the Shikon jewel. The jewel is gone now. Does that mean there’s some other source of power?” Kagome looked at Sesshomaru. She remembered something Jaken had said long ago, back when they were enemies. ‘Bringing the dead back from the grave is easy for one such as Lord Sesshomaru.’

“How are we going to protect him?” Nobody answered her. They all stared into the fire.

After a while, when his little pack appeared calmer and their unease seemed to have abated somewhat, Sesshomaru ordered the boys to bed. He gathered Kagome into his arms, and held her as he arranged himself against the wall of the cave. The fire was glowing reassuringly. Their little home was comfortably warm. He looked into her eyes as he parted his haori and cut into his flesh. He did not want to make any assumptions about how completely she had forgiven him. She nodded, and he cradled the back of her head gently in one big hand, holding her against his chest. “Kagome,” he said softly. “I think I may know who brought Jakotsu and Bankotsu back to life.”

Kagome looked up at him, questioningly. He pressed her head back against him. “I was tied to Rin, as I was to Kohaku and as I now am to you, through my blood. One moment she was there, and then suddenly, she was gone. I thought she had died. That’s when I left you by the onsen.” I am so sorry, Kagome, he thought. He could not bring himself to apologize out loud, but he hoped she understood that that is what he meant. She snuggled closer, and he let out a quiet sigh. He knew he would have to leave her again, all too soon. Tonight, he would offer his mate what comfort he could, and he would cherish their time together. He quietly told her of his encounter with his father, hoping she would understand when he left her again in the morning.