InuYasha Fan Fiction ❯ Facets of the Living Jewel ❯ Apudne te vel me? ( Chapter 10 )

Disclaimer: I do not own Inuyasha or the other characters. Ms. Takahashi does.

 

Fonts for thoughts:

[Inuyoukai]

(Inuhuman)

`Others'

 

 

Apudne te vel me?
by Licentia poetica

 

Inuyasha kept his back turned to the group. `I can't believe that Kagome is going to talk about what we did up in the tree. I know that things are different in her world, but that different? Is mating something to be discussed openly? Is she just going to have a good laugh at the hanyou?' He tensed his muscles to leap from the area before his weakness could be exposed, but before he could move Shippo tugged at his hakama.

 

“Inuyasha, did you scare away the big youkai? Or were those sounds Kouga?”

 

Inuyasha scowled down at the kit. `Big youkai? What in hell is he talking about?' He narrowed his eyes and Shippo backed away, jumping into Kagome's arms and glancing back at him nervously.

 

“What big youkai, Shippo?” Kagome asked kindly, ruffling the fur on his head.

 

“Well, I woke up because there was this big, rumbley sound and I could tell it was coming from here! Right here where you guys are!”

 

[The kit heard the Mate Call. We are the “big youkai” he asked about.]

 

(Oh shit! We've got to keep him quiet!)

 

[Foolish human! Any being with ears and understanding heard that Call. The entire purpose of the Call is to warn and intimidate males and attract the alpha female.]

 

(I'm the fool? You don't understand! She'll be so embarrassed that we won't get near her for days! She'll go through the well!)

 

`Keh! Both of you be quiet so we can hear what else he's saying!'

 

Shippo had a hand on Kagome's cheek and was staring intently in her face as he continued, “…and I thought you might be in trouble `cause it felt like there was a big youkai over here, but Sango and Kaede said you were probably safe and it stopped when I smelled Kouga and then we found you and Inuyasha had you in a submiss….” Shippo's voice trailed off as Kagome made a soft embarrassed whimper and Inuyasha gave a low growl, neither of which could be heard by human ears. He looked carefully at her face and twisted around to look at Inuyasha. `Uh oh…they're both bright red and they're looking everywhere but at each other. I think I know who was making the sound and I'd better shut up. I always make them mad and then Kagome leaves!'

 

Miroku suddenly had an idea who might have been making the “big, rumbley sound” and why. A wicked grin spread over his features and he couldn't resist cocking an eyebrow at Inuyasha. “Would you care to enlighten us about any enlarged youkai, Inuyasha?”

 

“Shut it, monk!” Inuyasha growled, his stiff stance conveying his increasing irritation. `Gods, humans are a pain!'

 

`Oh gods! How can I salvage this situation?' Kagome thought as she tried to think of an explanation that would keep her interaction with Inuyasha as private as possible and yet explain the sounds. “Umm, Shippo, there was no big youkai over here. Uhh…Inuyasha was just, umm…purring to me!” She smiled brightly at the kit as he gave her a dubious look.

 

Miroku's grin got bigger.

 

“Purring? Kagome, you silly, he can't purr! He's a dog hanyou!” Shippo shook his head at Kagome's foolishness.

 

`I think I'll just die of embarrassment right now. The look on Miroku's face isn't helping me any.' Kagome's smile faded and she tried another explanation. “Well, he knew I was upset about something, so maybe he was just trying to make me laugh.”

 

As Miroku opened his mouth, Sango suddenly elbowed him in the ribs. `Enough of this! I've got to prevent him from embarrassing them anymore.' She glared at the monk and stepped in front of him as he rubbed at his bruised side. “It was a nice thing for Inuyasha to do, Shippo. Kagome is sad because she misses her home.” She ignored the mystified looks from both Inuyasha and Shippo as she asked innocently, “Kagome, you said you had something to tell us?”

 

“Yes.” Kagome took a deep breath and tried to compose herself. “Something happened while Inuyasha and I were up in the tree. I think it's important.” As she searched for the words to describe her experience, her stomach twisted in a knot of fear. `Who was that male voice? What kind of magic can pull me completely out of time?'

 

“Keh!” Inuyasha rolled his eyes. `I wish that Kikyou would just come and take me with her to hell, it'd be better than this!' Turning to her with a low growl he rasped, “Gods, Kagome! I can't believe you'd just—,” then he saw her face and scented the acrid tang of fear emanating from her. `Oh shit, she's frightened. I didn't mean to scare her!' His ears drooped and he glared at the ground.

 

Kagome walked over to him and gently placed her hand on his arm. `Maybe he thinks I'm going to talk about what happened between us, but I don't understand it myself! Right now it's the other issue I need to talk about.' She tried to reassure him by giving him a knowing look but he wouldn't meet her eyes. When he pulled his arm away from her hand and turned from her, she stood by his side awkwardly. `What have I done wrong now?' Miserable and confused by his attitude she began to tell the others about the time paths.

 

“Something very strange just happened to me.” She ignored how Inuyasha's ears drooped even further. “I was up in the tree with Inuyasha and, well…I guess the best way to explain it is that I got pulled out of our world, out of time.” Inuyasha's ears perked up and he glanced sideways at her, his expression suddenly focused and concerned.

 

`What? I didn't scent any change in her and there was no sense of youki!'

 

Ignoring the worried expression on his face, Kagome continued to explain the time paths. “Everything was frozen around me and there were these…paths, like threads running off into the distance. I had to choose between them.” She chose her words carefully as she described her experience, leaving out some of the details. `No one needs to know what the real possibilities were and I still don't understand why my `submission' was important to Inuyasha.' For the kiss on the second path she said, “I just turned around to Inuyasha but Kouga got angry and left.” For the third choice she was even less explicit. “So I picked the last one. It was one that gave us time to talk with Kouga.”

 

[She chose to submit to us so that she could speak with the wolf?]

 

`I don't know if it means anything…her scent is confusing. Hell, she's always confusing!'

 

(Look at her eyes and her face. She's frightened and embarrassed and she doesn't understand what we were trying to show her.)

 

As Inuyasha turned toward her with an odd closed expression on his face, Kagome suddenly felt defensive. “Well, we need to keep him talking with us! He does have two shards!” She turned away from him as he narrowed his eyes at her, worried that he would criticize her in front of the others again. `I don't know what's happening but I'm doing my best. I don't know what he wants and I'm frightened!' She bit her lip hard and crossed her arms, trying to control her nervous response to his focused stare.

 

(We're scaring her.)

 

`How the hell am I supposed to tell her what we meant with everyone else here?'

 

Miroku spoke up, relieving the mounting tension between the two. His voice was intent and inquisitive as he asked, “Kagome, did you sense any evil in that place? Is it a place or could it be a manifestation of your thoughts?”

 

Sango continued, “Was the voice Naraku's? Could he be trying to harm you by sending you there with magic?”

 

Grateful for their intervention she answered, “I seemed to be both in my body and somewhere else. I knew some of the paths were evil, or at least dangerous.” As Miroku opened his mouth and Inuyasha growled she held up a hand to forestall any more questions. “I don't know how I knew and,” she glanced at Sango, “I didn't recognize the voice. I know he was male and I got the strangest feeling that I knew him from somewhere.” She crossed her arms again, looking down at a pebble in the dirt and scuffing it with the toe of her shoe. “The scariest part was that I felt I had chosen some of the other paths before…and there were paths that were dark and felt evil.” She shuddered as she recalled the malevolence radiating from some of the time threads. “I know that I've been in the same place, at the same time, making the same decision before. It was frightening to think I'd been through it already.”

 

“We'll protect you,” Shippo said bravely as he patted her cheek.

 

She smiled wanly at him, but as she looked up at the others she was startled by the odd, introspective expressions on their faces. “What's wrong? Why are you all looking like that?”

 

Sango shook her head and said quietly, “I had the sense that I was repeating a decision today as well, Kagome.”

 

“I have also experienced a sense of déjà vu, Lady Kagome, however I did not have the privilege of choosing a path.” Miroku turned to Inuyasha. “And you my friend? Have you also had the sense that you were repeating a part of your life?”

 

Without realizing it, Inuyasha had moved protectively closer to Kagome. He gave a low growl and answered, “Who cares? I think we should get back to the village. Something isn't right here and we need to find out what it is, especially if Kagome is the focus of some youkai magic.”

 

Miroku shrugged. “So, all four of us shared the sense of déjà vu.”

 

Inuyasha growled low as he began to walk toward the village. “Déjà vu? What kind of weird word is that?”

 

The others followed, Miroku's shakujou jangling as he fell into step next to Inuyasha. “It is a phrase from Kagome's psychology book. It means `already seen' and it happens fairly often in humans. Perhaps it would be wise to gather some more information on our experiences.”

 

“My stew is probably burning by now,” grumbled Sango. “Can we discuss this over dinner with Kaede?” She jogged down the path and Miroku's pace increased so that he pulled ahead.

 

Inuyasha slowed so that he could walk next to Kagome, growling softly as Shippo held on to her neck with one hand and patted her cheek with the other, effectively preventing him from asking her any of the questions that were plaguing him. `I need to find out what happened back there. Why did she submit again after acting like it was the last thing she would ever do? How did she leave me through the time paths she described? Why didn't I know she was being pulled away? How can I protect her if it happens again?' He voiced a growl of anger at his helplessness and both Shippo and Kagome glanced over at him.

 

Kagome smiled tentatively at him and patted Shippo soothingly as the kit whimpered. `There she goes, trying to hide her fear from me and the kit. Too bad we both can smell it on her.' Shippo met his irritated gaze and shrank down into Kagome's arms while voicing an almost inaudible whine that was meant to pacify an alpha. `Gods, what I wouldn't give for a little time alone with Kagome; without Shippo, without Kouga, and without this strange magic that pulls her out of time where I can't protect her!'

 

[Take her back through the well. No one can follow us.]

 

As they gathered around Sango's cooking fire, he spoke to the group. “I think Kagome should go back to her time.” He crossed his arms and spoke gruffly to hide his anxiety.

 

“Why, Inuyasha? I don't want Kagome to go!” yelled Shippo.

 

“Because she's not safe here!” Inuyasha answered with a fierce growl. “She's the target for the magic or whatever it was. I want her to go home and I'm going with her.” He avoided Kagome's astonished gaze. `I don't know how she feels about what happened.'

 

Miroku fingered his chin and seemed lost in thought as he calmly stated, “It is a wise decision. Maybe there is something in her era that we could use to explain these phenomena.”

 

Kagome nodded silently as Kaede came out of her hut. `Everyone is feeling odd. Is this another game of Naraku's? I wish I understood more about what's happening.'

 

Sango spoke in her normal dry tone. “Let's have dinner first before we make any decisions. Kagome might be safer in her era, but for now let's just eat.” Her confident voice echoed back from the huts and they settled into making dinner, the ordinary routine giving them a sense of comfort.

 

Kaede shared the stew and they explained the situation to her, but no one ate much. The only one who could be cheerful was Shippo, and even he seemed to falter when Kaede had no solution to the problem.

 

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

`Beloved, it is Time.' To anyone who had not heard the voice before the emphasis on the last word would have seemed odd, but the woman who sat in a meditative pose in the darkened building smiled.

 

Her back rested against a wooden half-wall that was one side of a well. A shimmering blue light surrounded both her form and the well, causing a rippling effect in the walls of the building that would have confused any observer sitting next to her. The supposedly solid walls were in constant motion, flowing randomly between one scene and another. At one moment the woman appeared to be surrounded by a grassy meadow with a green forest nearby, and in the next a courtyard with one immense lone tree, several small buildings, a gated fence, and a home surrounded the building. As the blue light undulated across the inside surface of the walls, the views rippled with it. To the inexperienced observer it would have been nauseating, yet the woman seemed relaxed and at ease.

 

The voice, deep baritone and gentle, seemed to emanate from the light. `Also, She is able to control the husk now. It will be a risk, but we have to take it. I'm growing weary. You have no idea how many time threads we've been through!'

 

The woman did not stir. The sound of her voice echoed in the building although her mouth remained closed and her face still. `Kagome is still so young. What if things go wrong again?'

 

`Beloved, we have no choice. When Kagome was born we knew that we could not make the decisions. She is the focus of the Nexus and they must make the decisions.' His voice became tired and anxious. `You must explain somehow and they will get help on the other side from Her.' He placed another odd inflection on the final word.

 

`All right, I'll try. You'll get the message to Her?' This time, it was the woman who placed an odd inflection on the final word.

 

`It is difficult. The other fights Her influence, but She is strong. We'll manage.' The male voice sounded cautious but hopeful.

 

`I love you. I have missed you…in a way I'm happy that it's all coming to a resolution now. Again. I just wish…,' she hesitated to finish the sentence.

 

His voice came softer now. `I know, Beloved. Remember I love you. Even if it all goes wrong we'll be together in some Time, I'll make sure of it. After all, it isn't very often that a Time Lord falls in love.' She could almost see the smile behind the words.

 

The undulating views now showed a group of figures, unfocused in the distance, walking toward the well in the forest meadow.

 

`They are coming.' His voice was crisp and determined.

 

`You're sure that you can bring them all across?' she deliberately teased him, hoping to lighten the mood and end things on a happier note.

 

`Please.' He sounded a bit irritated. `I know how to anchor the wormhole and manipulating it for two more isn't going to take that much extra energy. Just be ready for some surprised people.'

 

`Yes, love. I know that you know what you're doing,' she soothed, but couldn't resist teasing him again, `but you did let that centipede youkai across a few years ago.'

 

`Hey! That was the Nexus, not me!'

 

The figures in the glade came into sharper focus as they neared the well.

 

She softened her mental voice to try to convey her love for him. `I must go, love. I don't want her to find me here until she knows about you…and me! I'll speak with you again when I've told them.'

 

`Soon it will be decided, Beloved. I guess you'll have trouble telling her why I haven't been there. It's always the same but different each time. Please tell her that I love her and I'm looking forward to seeing her after all this. The Nexus will drive her until it's completed and then we can all be together as a family again. Farewell.'

 

`Farewell, my love. Be safe.'

 

The blue light dimmed and the shimmering patterns ceased; the woman opened her eyes to the inside of the old building. She stretched her neck and shoulders, holding first one arm and then the other above her head. Groaning a little at the kinks in her muscles, she extended her legs and stood up. With a sad half-smile, she reached back to pat the well.

 

“I miss you.”

 

She walked to the door and slid it open. The afternoon sunlight streamed in the room, blinding her for a moment. `I'll wait outside for him to send the whole group over…as I've done so many times before but can't remember that I've done it.' She rubbed her arms as goose bumps appeared at that disturbing thought. `It's strange to know that I've done this before and might do it again.' She walked through the door and turned around to shut it, smiling fondly down at the ancient well. `His love makes up for my strange life.'

 

A young boy came running in through the gate and she smiled in response.

 

“Hi, Mama!” he shouted.

 

“Hello, Sota! Welcome home!” Mrs. Higurashi stepped away from the Shrine of the Bone Eaters Well to greet her son.

 

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

 

After cleaning up the dinner dishes the five set out for the well, leaving Kaede looking through some old scrolls to see if she could find anything to ward Kagome and keep her from being drawn out of time.

 

Kagome sighed and hitched up the strap of her rather empty backpack on her shoulder. `I wonder when I'll be able to come back. I know Inuyasha won't want me to come if we can't figure out what's going on.' She felt despondent, her mood from earlier that day settling on her again. `I don't know what happened earlier with Inuyasha but at least he's coming with me.' She tried to smile at Shippo as he ran up to her but even his flowers didn't make her feel more cheerful. She glanced ahead where Miroku and Inuyasha were walking. `They look lost in their thoughts. I wonder what Inuyasha is thinking?'

 

Miroku was replaying his kiss with Sango over in his mind. `Maybe if we take a walk later she'll let me kiss her again.'

 

Inuyasha was replaying a different kind of kiss in his mind; one with fangs and tasty bare skin.

 

(Maybe we should try a kiss on the lips this time.)

 

`Nah. She'd never let me do it. I don't know if we should try the Mate Call again, either.'

 

Sango, striding next to Kagome with a bemused expression on her face, was focused on Miroku. `Why did he grope me? It was almost as if he didn't want to do it…as if he did it to give me a way out of being embarrassed.' She sighed.

 

Kagome walked forward almost blindly, distractedly watching Shippo run to and fro gathering her flowers. `The Time Paths didn't feel wrong. It didn't feel like I was under a spell, it felt like I'm meant to be there and control the choices. Gaah! Is this part of my miko powers that I don't know anything about? Is this something I have to talk to Kikyou about?' She stopped suddenly as she almost ran into Inuyasha's back. `Oops! We're already at the well.' She gathered Shippo for a hug and he raced off to get her one more flower. As she returned Sango's comforting embrace, the four adults stood close together at the edge of well.

 

The ground evaporated underneath them.

 

Shippo, running back toward Kagome with the last flower in his small hand, cried out as the entire group was swallowed by the well.

 

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

Translation: Apudne te vel me? Latin; Your place or mine?

 

Thank you RPW The Hun for beta work!