Disclaimer: See Chapter One.

From Beneath the Ashes

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Chapter 5 - Memories Revisited
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"Now, Mr. Inuyasha and Miss Kagome. You know that my services can only help if you both are willing to participate." Dr. Ian Richards said as he leaned back against the soft couch in his office. He ignored the scowl that covered the young man's face. He had been thoroughly briefed by the young man's brother that he would be difficult, but he was the best at treating cases such as Inuyasha's.

"Your appointments will be on Monday, Wednesday and Fridays of each week for the next month, then we will reevaluate your progress to determine if we can reduce them to once a week. Miss Kagome, I will need you to come on the Monday appointments, but Mr. Inuyasha must come to the others alone." he said.

"Today's visit is merely a consultation visit. Wednesday will start our real sessions. Mr. Inuyasha, I expect you to be here at 10:00." he said as he smiled lightly at the scowling hanyou. Standing up, he shook hands with Kagome, ignoring Inuyasha's rude departure from his office.

"I am sorry Doctor. Inuyasha is very stubborn and doesn't think he needs to see you." Kagome sighed gently as she watched the retreating back of her beloved.

"I understand Miss Kagome only too well. Be assured I will do everything in my power to help him." he said.

"Please sir, call me Kagome." she smiled up at the tall, white hair man.

"Only if you call me Ian." Ian replied with a small chuckle. "Sir from a lovely young woman only make me feel much older that I already am."

Kagome blushed lightly and Ian Richards chuckled further. "Please be sure that Inuyasha makes the appointments. It is the only way we can get him to cope with what has happened to him."

"Thank you si. . .I mean Ian."

"You're welcome and have a lovely day."

Kagome turned and hurried out of the doctor's office in search of Inuyasha. She found him leaning against a large oak tree in the courtyard, staring idly off into space.

"Doctor Richards seems to be a very nice man, wouldn't you say so Inuyasha." Kagome said as she slid her arms around his waist and leaned against his muscled chest.

"Humpf." Inuyasha grunted noncommittally, continuing to stare off into space.

"Inuyasha, look at me." Kagome said as she tugged on a lock of his hair that had fallen over his shoulders. He continued to ignore her, sulking. "Dammit, you are acting like a child. Why can't you admit that you need help and accept it? Fine have it your way." She pushed off of his chest before turning around and stomping angrily towards the parking lot.

Inuyasha watched, from the corner of his eye, as she angrily slammed the door to their car and left him leaning under the tree. He turned and looked out nearby forest, before pushing himself off of the tree and with his hands buried deep in his pockets, began walking slowly back towards the shrine. He knew that he was to blame for Kagome's anger, she was only trying to help him. So absorbed in his thoughts that he didn't realize where he was until the sound of wood beneath his feet brought him back to reality. Looking up, he found that he was on an old pier at the end of the lake, surrounded by tall trees. Abruptly he knew exactly where he was and walked quietly to the end of the pier and sat down, staring off into the distance lost in his thoughts.

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"Relax, take a deep breathe and close your eyes." came the soothing voice. As much as he loathed to follow the directions, his body failed to obey him and slumped further into the couch. As his eyes closed haunting memories began to flash behind his eyelids, red and black creeping restlessly across the parade of pictures. Screams and cries of the tortured, sounding real within his ears.

"No!" he yelled and sat bolt upright on the couch. Even through his eyes were open the scenes continued to play in gory detail.

"It's all right Inuyasha. Just listen to my voice and relax yourself. You are safe and no one can harm you here." the soothing and hypnotic voice filled his ears again. "Close your eyes and let's begin again. Let's go back to the day you were captured. Tell me what happened."

Inuyasha's eyes closed and he saw the jungle surrounding him, his fears lessened by the voice coaxing him to speak.

"We are on a long distance recon. I am out front of my squad scouting." He could see the trees flash by as he jumped from tree to tree, suddenly a bright flash of light startled him, causing him to jump in his seat.

"Remember nothing you see can harm you here. Describe what you are seeing." said the voice.

"Flashes of red and white. Yells from my friends. Pain." came the stuttered words, terror beginning to creep into his voice.

"Block the pain, you don't feel it." came a quick reply.

"There's a man standing over me holding a gun to my head. He's yelling at me, but I can't understand what he's saying. I can't move." Inuyasha moaned.

"That's all right, let's skip forward now to the camp. What's happening?"

"It's night, the new moon. They have found out my secret. I am powerless to stop them. They have me tied to a post, my hands high over my head." Flashes of the whip screaming through the night, torches flickering madly in the breeze, screams of agony play wildly though his mind. "No, no more. I just want to go home, help me please." he wailed, his voice cracking and nearly hysterical.

"Everything is all right, we'll stop for now. Wake up Inuyasha."

Inuyasha's eyes popped open and he stared up at the white ceiling, flashes of torchlight still flickering along his vision. Bringing his hand up, he wearily rubbed his eyes before sitting up. When he dropped his hand he saw that Dr. Richards was writing his notes quietly. Hearing movement, he looked up from his notes and smiled kindly at him.

"Well, that was a very good session today, Inuyasha. How are you feeling?" he asked.

"Tired, very tired." Inuyasha groaned as the flashes of red and gold still hovered on the edge of his mind.

"I understand, but you are doing much better at recovering from our sessions. We shall soon be into the once a week sessions. You will always have these memories, but you should be able to handle them once we have finished." Dr. Richards said as he stood up and placed his papers on the desk behind him. Inuyasha stood and walked towards the door without another word to the doctor.

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A/N: Painful memories continue to haunt Inuyasha, will he be able to overcome them or will the tear him asunder. Let me know what you think and thank you for reading.