InuYasha Fan Fiction ❯ Patchwork Family ❯ Flying Through the Blue, a Minor Crisis, and a Fearful Confession ( Chapter 37 )

A/N: All Inuyasha characters and references belong to the creator of Inuyasha, Rumiko Takahashi and published by Shogakukan. Any other characters are more than likely my own creation. If I borrow directly from another story I will do my best to make sure I give credit where credit is due. I will be pulling some material (ideas and inspirations) from Burn Notice, Leverage, Scorpion, Supernatural, and Lockwood & Co.

I was on an editing roll, so here’s another chapter already

I have actually started another story that just wouldn’t leave me alone… once I get a bug in my head it doesn’t stop until I exercise it a bit. Anyone interested in another? It doesn’t have the meat to the bone that Patchwork does, and it’s mostly just drama, fluff and smut >.<

Even worse, I have an idea for yet another that I just made notes on tonight, and it’s feeling like it may be as insistent as the last one.


*** Flying Through the Blue, a Minor Crisis, and a Fearful Confession ***
03212015 (numbers are for my own purposes, don’t mind them)

Kagome had to admit, the weather was nice. As they walked down the beach the sun’s rays sunk into her, warm like nothing else could be. She had a whole new appreciation now for that fiery, shining light. There’d been days she was sure she would never see it again. Inuyasha walked ahead of her and she couldn’t help being slightly fascinated by the way the clear sunshine seemed to make his silvery hair brighter.

They reached a rocky outcrop once they got past the ridge that backed the house. This formation spilled out into the water, creating skinny stone peninsula of sorts out into the water. Inuyasha dropped the bag he was carrying and jumped up among the masses of dark wet stone. He turned to look out to sea and said, “this is where we usually swim when we’re out here on the beach.” He held out a hand and she took it, climbing up to stand next to him.

She could see why he liked it out here. She closed her eyes a moment and again appreciated the quiet in her head. This close to the ocean, even the faintest echo of the Dead Space that she could hear at the house was gone. It was just her and the lapping water. She imagined such a quantity of salt water kept anything dark or unnatural away, at least, anything from the other side of the veil. It was strange to be so quiet and alone, but it was peaceful too. She opened her eyes to see Inuyasha easily striding from rock to rock out toward the curve in the stony structure. When he reached the widest part of the curve, he stood for a moment, watching the water move in and out before he bent down, almost like a runner at the start of a race.

His muscles tightened like springs and he leaped, launching himself farther than she ever could have done herself, even at peak shape. He moved at least twenty feet into the air as if it were nothing, tucking his feet under him and twisting so that he dived into the swells. Kagome’s eyes widened and she moved faster, finding her way to the large stone he’d jumped from. It was several long seconds before she saw him surface.

Inuyasha was grinning and shook water from his face as he looked back at her. He employed a powerful free style stroke, moving swiftly through the water as he swam back to the rocks. When he got to within ten feet of the place where she stood, he stopped to tread water.

Kagome looked back to see they were almost thirty yards from shore. He seemed comfortable enough but she peered through the water at his kicking legs a little nervously. “How deep is it here?”

Inuyasha looked around, judging the distance and said, “not too bad. This part of the shore has a pretty gentle slope. Even way out this far it’s only maybe 25 feet. There’s a big drop off not far from this side of the rocks. That’s why the kids are only allowed inside the curve of the rocks. Kagome chewed her lip for a moment, glancing at the water on the far side. 25 feet sounded plenty deep enough to her. The thought made her shudder inside.

He kicked his way closer and floated on his back. “It’s actually not too bad. It’s warming up already. You could probably come on in. They won’t be ready to leave yet.”

Kagome shook her head immediately and sat down on the stone, letting her legs hang over the edge. He eyed her curiously and raised a brow. “Don’t know how to swim?”

She considered the question. Would it be easier to just lie and tell him she couldn’t swim? She saw how comfortable, how happy he was in the water and sighed softly, shrugging as she admitted, “I can swim… yes. I used to take Souta to the pool all the time when he was little.”

“Then you just don’t like to?” Inuyasha asked, trying to imagine such a thing. Rosalind liked to tease both him and Sesshomaru that they were dog demons but that there must be some fish in their genes somewhere. Both of them loved the water and she’d learned to love it easily right along with him as a kid.

Kagome just shrugged again, shaking her head, not knowing what else to say without going into details she didn’t care to think about. She watched Inuyasha swim a few laps to the farthest edge of the stone curve and back before he finally climbed out, flicking a little water at her as he squeezed the excess out of his long dripping mane. She wiped the salty water from her arm and smiled a little as he shook water from his ears. They picked their way back to shore and headed down the beach, making the rest of the short trek to the boat house.

The building looked like a worn wooden warehouse jutting out into the water to Kagome. When they walked in she paused for a moment to appreciate the large catamaran. They hadn’t been kidding. The Warden’s did have some serious money. She didn’t know much about boats, but this vessel had to have been worth several hundred thousand dollars… at the very least. And it looked as if there was another similar to it in the next stall, as well as a much smaller boat that would carry maybe four passengers.

Rosalind was sitting on a bench keeping an eye on the Rin and Shippo as they ran from one end of the boat to the other. As Inuyasha and Kagome got to the plank leading from the dock to the aft deck of the boat, Sesshomaru descended from the upper level, lowering himself easily over the railing and dropping to the deck in a way that made Kagome think of a gymnast, rather than bothering with the stairs. She was beginning to feel clumsy in comparison to these demon men every day. She’d always kept in decent shape, and had always thought herself pretty nimble, but when she saw the way the Taisho brothers moved, she knew she could never compete.

Sesshomaru glanced at Inuyasha and said smugly, “good, you’re already wet. You can do the hull check when we get into the light.”

Inuyasha rolled his eyes and stepped onto the boat. When he saw Rosalind looking over his shoulder he turned to see Kagome eyeing the water where it shifted under the walk-aboard ramp. For a second he wondered if he was going to have to go back and get her. However, despite the surge in nervous fear that was plain in her scent, she swallowed and stepped out onto the plank. With a few quick steps she hopped down lightly onto the deck. Inuyasha looked at her, his lips tugging in a small grin when she breathed out a sigh of relief.

She seemed to sense his amusement and explained uncomfortably, “I’ve never been on a boat before.”

“Do you get car sick at all?” Rosalind asked. Kagome shook her head, adding, “and I’ve flown plenty of times. My dad got airsick but I never had a problem. I loved it.”

The red head gave her a reassuring smile and said, “you should be fine then. Both these guys are decent pilots.”

Sesshomaru quirked a brow at her statement and said evenly, “Thank you for that generous assessment.” Rosalind’s lips curved and she tried not to laugh.

Koga and Ayame came in just then, leaping nimbly from the dock onto the deck. Ayame slid down on the bench next to Rosalind, dressed in a brown and silver two-piece and cut-off shorts, tucking her reddish brown wolf tail carefully next to her. Kagome smiled a little, wondering what it would be like to have a tail to consider every time she sat down. Koga stood next to them in ragged gray shorts similar to the ones Inuyasha wore. He crossed his arms over his chest and asked, “anyone else coming out?”

Inuyasha shook his head. “I don’t think so. Miroku and Gabe are working on the van for a while, and going into town. I left the bug feed for the apartment with them. They’re more likely to hear anything that comes across on it than I am out here. They can call us if something happens.”

Sesshomaru gave a slight nod of approval and made his way back up to the control consul on the upper level. Inuyasha walked along the starboard side, releasing the heavy chains that held the boat steady against the dock. Rosalind corralled the two kids into seats facing the water, off the back of the boat where they could be buckled safely in. Rin suddenly cried, “what about Axel? We forgot him!”

Rosalind shook her head and told her, “I think Axel is probably happier to stay home and guard the house. He’ll be there when you get back.” She sat down next to them and waved to the bench to the side of where she and the kids sat. “If you guys sit there you can still watch the wake. Sometimes dolphins will follow a boat for a while if they think the trail we leave in the water looks like enough fun.”

Kagome raised an eyebrow in surprise and looked at Inuyasha, who just shrugged and nodded. She took a seat next to Shippo and Inuyasha sat down next to her, leaning back comfortably and propping one ankle on the opposite knee. Koga joined Sesshomaru on the upper level as the engines rumbled to life. The boat was slowly maneuvered out of its slip and into sunlight and open water. Sesshomaru nudged the boat out about a quarter mile before he shut the engines down again and called, “hull check. It hasn’t been done since November.”

Inuyasha sighed and got to his feet, yelling back, “throttle locked?”

“Throttle locked,” Sesshomaru confirmed, coming down the stairs. Inuyasha turned and strode across the short back deck and said, “back in a few.”

With that he stepped off the edge and disappeared under the water. Sesshomaru made his way to the aft ledge as well, bending to check the straps tying down a jet ski wedged into a portable docking pin along the back of the vessel. Kagome listened, waiting anxiously for Inuyasha to return. Rosalind leaned back comfortably on the seat and explained to Kagome, “it won’t take long. They go down every so often to lay eyes on the bottom and sides of the hull below water line, just to make sure everything looks right.”

Kagome nodded once and said, “makes sense. If there’s a problem you’d want to know before you got miles from shore.”

Sesshomaru stood and returned to stand near Rosalind, telling them, “I’ll take a look at the underside later and go over it with a brush. It’s easier if we do it more often.”

Kagome considered this for a moment and asked, “barnacles?”

Koga stretched his legs out on the empty seat next to him as he answered her, leaning against the bend of the U shaped portion where he sat with Ayame. “And algae and other things, yeah.”

Shippo wrinkled his nose and asked, “barnacles are those rocks that grow on the side of the boat right? They smell funny.”

Ayame smiled a little and nodded, “yes, but they aren’t rocks.”

Rosalind tried not to laugh and explained, “they’re a type of crustacean, like krill and shrimp. They attach themselves to anything they can, from whales and turtles to boats.”

Rosalind was helping Rin rub her shoulders down with sunscreen several minutes later when Inuyasha finally surfaced again. He grabbed onto a long handle and pulled himself easily up onto the large panel at the bottom of the steps, set slightly below the waterline. He performed the same ritual as before, wringing out his mane of hair and shaking his head a little to clear his ears, before he said, “all clear. It’s a little crusty but not too bad, and no damage.”

Sesshomaru nodded once in acknowledgment and returned to the upper level to restart the engines. Rosalind threw a towel at Inuyasha and he caught it, wiping his face, arms and chest before sitting down again next to Kagome. She smiled a little, feeling some of the sea water dripping from his shorts slid across the waterproof seat pad to wet the legs of her own pants. He’d been right about bringing an extra set of clothes for later.

She heard an electric humming sound and looked around. Inuyasha waved a hand towards the steps and told her, “there’s an electric winch for the sails. I can tell you that’s technology I can appreciate. I don’t have to do any of that by hand now unless I want to… and I don’t.”

Kagome craned her neck a little, but her sight was blocked by the awning over the aft lounge where they sat. Inuyasha stood and held out a hand. “Come on, I’ll show you.”

She took his hand and let him usher her up the steps to the top level. There were two more long padded bench seats and the control console where Sesshomaru stood, his eyes watching the cables move and the billowing white fabric of the sails tighten as the light wind filled them. He was smiling slightly in satisfaction and he looked more relaxed for a moment than Kagome had seen him before now. He turned as they came up and Inuyasha said simply, “better view up here.”

The man at the wheel nodded once and turned back to his work, pushing the throttle slowly forward. Inuyasha led Kagome to the railing across the front of the upper level as the boat began to move and she wrapped her fingers around it. Only partially out of concern for her safety, he placed one hand on the railing and stood behind her, wrapping his other arm around her waist to hold her against him.

Inuyasha couldn’t help but be impressed. She was a little awkward at first as the boat picked up speed heading out to sea. But within a minute she automatically began to correct for the movement under her feet, shifting her weight as necessary to stay balanced. She might do just fine standing alone… but that didn’t mean he was letting go.

As they reached cruising speed she looked up at him over her shoulder, smiling broadly. Kagome found that, at least for the moment, the vast waters around her didn’t make her nervous. This was beautiful. This was like flying through the blue.

Sesshomaru guided the boat out into the ocean, cruising for about twenty minutes before he throttled back and half lowered the sails. When the sounds of the engines died away he smiled a little again, hearing Rin downstairs as she declared, “time to swim!”

Inuyasha and Kagome, followed by Sesshomaru, made their way back down to the aft lounge where Rosalind had let the kids unbuckle their harnesses, and was pulling out small life jackets from a compartment under the bench. They were a well-known and resigned-to stipulation for being allowed free run of the boat at sea. Shippo especially wasn’t happy about it, but he wore the life jacket. Rin slipped closer and closer to the steps down to the water and Sesshomaru reached out and caught one of the straps on her life vest. He gave her a reproving frown and admonished, “we check first, Rin. You know this.”

She pouted a little but went with Shippo to sit by Rosalind again and wait. Kagome watched with interest as all three of the guys fished a pair of dive goggles with wide, uninterrupted lenses from yet another compartment. Inuyasha and Koga jumped straight into the water with loud whoops, racing each other. In contrast, Sesshomaru took his time, every movement measured and deliberate in the way he seemed to approach everything he did. He slid off the big white shirt he wore over the light-weight pants, folded it, and set it on the table in the main cabin before making his way to the edge of the boat and stepping smoothly out to disappear beneath the gentle swells with hardly a splash.

Rosalind stood and entered the cabin for a moment, coming out with her paddle board and paddle. She propped the items against a railing and began to check them over, making sure they were still in good condition after sitting in the garage for so long. Rin leaned back into her seat, swinging her feet against the bench impatiently and sighing. “How long before we can swim?”

In a tolerant tone, a clear sign that she had years of experience in fielding such questions, Rosalind told her, “until Otosan says it’s safe. You don’t want to jump in and get stung by a jelly fish do you?” Stinging creatures were a minor issue, but they were less scary to talk about with small children. The main thing the guys were really scouting for was any sharks in the immediate vicinity. The demons could see farther and free dive deeper than any human, so generally it wasn’t a long wait for them to take a good look around.

Ayame got to her feet and asked the kids, “you guys want to come up and jump on the trampoline until they get back with the All-Clear?”

Rin and Shippo grinned at each other and jumped up. Shippo tugged on Kagome’s hand excitedly. “Come on! Come watch me jump! It’s fun!”

Kagome smiled and laughed, rising to follow Ayame and the kids around the small walkway to climb onto the bow of the boat. There the kids ran to a large canvas net that looked like something between a trampoline and a hammock strung up at the very nose of the vessel, between the front ends of the pontoons. Without hesitation the kids jumped onto it and began to bounce away. Ayame took the rolled up beach towel from under her arm and spread it out across the dome of the cabin a few feet away, lowering herself to stretch out under the sunlight. She rolled to her side and propped her head on her elbow to watch the kids.

Shippo looked around and crowed, “watch Kagome!”

She laughed again and sat down next to Ayame, letting her feet dangle over the edge of the cabin roof. “I’m watching Shippo, you’re a pretty good jumper.”

The kids laughed and started bouncing in a pattern to throw each other higher in the air. It looked like fun but Kagome thought if she tried anything like that now her leg would seize up again and that would be the end of that. She decided she’d have to start getting some exercise again, working her stiff leg until it functioned better again. She pulled the sweater off so her bare arms and shoulders could soak up some sun and sighed contentedly, relaxing into the warm ocean air.

Ayame smiled and leaned back on her towel, commenting, “I know what you mean. It’s nice out here. I think when the guys get back I’m going to bet Koga a steak dinner that I can swim a half-mile and back before he can.”

Kagome raised a brow. “How do you know when you reach the half-mile point?”

Ayame grinned again and swished her tail once. “Good sense of direction comes with a good sense of distance, even in the water. Koga’s a great swimmer… but I’m faster.” The woman grinned in anticipation of her victory and asked, “what about you?”

Kagome shrugged, moving her eyes to watch the kids again as she said, “I think I’ll just hang out here. Maybe I can help watch the kids so Rosalind can take off for a while if she wants. I’m just happy to be in the sun.”

Ayame didn’t press her, but spread out on her towel with a smile and nod.

About ten minutes later there were faint splashes and a dripping Inuyasha climbed up onto the bow of the boat calling, “alright, who wants tossed first?”

Shippo bounced and landed squarely in front of Inuyasha, holding out his hands. “Me! Throw me!”

Inuyasha swung the kid easily up under one arm and Shippo laughed as they strode out onto the net. He braced one foot against the pipe at the front edge of the net and let Shippo clamber up to hold onto one of his shoulders while he cradled his hands for the boy to step into. His muscles tensed and he asked, “ready runt?”

Shippo nodded, looking fiercely determined. Inuyasha bent his knee a few times, bouncing his weight on the net and on the third bounce, launched the little fox boy out over the water. Kagome couldn’t help an anxious intake of breath, but Shippo was clearly delighted as he flew through the air and performed a mighty cannonball into the water.

Rin was laughing and jumped on the net next to Inuyasha. “Me next!”

Inuyasha nodded and held out a hand. “You next Little Bit, step up.”

He bent and put his hands together the same way for Rin to step into and Kagome watched as he launched her out over the water as well, though a little more carefully with a bit less height and distance. Rin shrieked in delight and slipped into the water with an impressive dive. Inuyasha shook his head and flopped down on the net, watching as the kids popped out of the water and began splashing each other. Ayame sat up next to Kagome and asked, “how’s the water?”

Inuyasha shrugged. “Not bad, actually pretty warm as long as you stick near the surface.”

Ayame stood and shimmied out of her shorts, leaving them behind on her towel as she leaped in only her swim suit onto the net, bouncing Inuyasha before she jumped again and dived off the front of the boat yelling to the kids, “incoming!”

Kagome smiled as they all laughed and played in the water. Koga swam around front of the boat to meet them and the splash fest became an all-out battle. Kagome spread out on the abandoned towel and sighed in contentment, letting the sun warm her through and listening to the sounds of water and laughter.

Rosalind offered Sesshomaru a towel as he pulled himself up out of the water at the back of the boat, but he shook his head, walking by her to open a storage locker. He’d braided his hair into a loose silver rope down his back and the light weight pants clung to him now that he dripped with water. She averted her eyes quickly before she could think too much about the way the long muscles from his legs met rather nicely in the middle with those flowing from his back and shoulders. He bent to a floor compartment and pulled out a large stiff bristled brush with a hand strap.

She swallowed a sudden case of dry mouth and turned away, toeing off her flip flops, and taking her board under one arm. Carefully, she descended the steps to the waterline and stood on the bottom panel to drop the board into moving surf. The water was a little choppier than she would have liked but she thought she could manage. She used her paddle to pull the board close and knelt down, quickly crawling onto the board’s tacky rubber surface on her knees.

Sesshomaru stood with the brush and a few small oxygen cylinders in his hands, watching her maneuver with admirable balance. It was as if she’d been on the paddle board yesterday, instead of at least two years ago. Her body remembered exactly how to stretch, exactly where to station her center of gravity. She knelt on the board and pushed away from the side of the boat a few yards before placing the dripping paddle against the center of her board and slowly rising to her feet. It wasn’t until she looked over one shoulder at him that he realized he’d been staring at her. Something in him seemed to stumble, as if knocked slightly off its precise point of balance, and he pulled in a breath, eyes narrowing a little in momentary introspection.

The Dai-Yokai turned quickly, retrieving a rough cloth from a storage cabinet. He wasn’t entirely certain why, and didn’t care to examine the reasons, but he waited until she’d paddled out of view before returning to the aft deck. He looked out at the horizon, the blue sky, and the slightly rolling swells before he slid smoothly into the ocean once more.

Rosalind had felt his attention on her like a tickle of static over her skin, and turned to see the tall, silver haired man watching her as she moved out onto the water. She tried not to look for more than a second at the attractive figure he cut, standing in the warming ocean breeze, his long braid hanging over sharply toned muscles. His expression was different than anything she could remember seeing before, and she wondered what he could be thinking. After she paddled out of view of the deck she glanced down at herself to check whether perhaps she had clothing out of place or a strange smudge of dirt or grease, but there was nothing.

She checked to make sure her loose, wide necked gray shirt was straight across her shoulders, covering the parts of her she was still a little self-conscious of, even after all these years. She knew they were nothing to be ashamed of and were hardly a secret at this point. Unknowingly, she told herself the same thing Inuyasha had just said to Kagome that morning. Scars weren’t a big deal; not around here. Everyone had them to some extent. They were not a stigma, but a representation of what a person could survive… had survived.

She sighed and paddled out around the side of the boat, feeling her way into the rhythm of the water’s movement. Today wasn’t a day to think of scars. Today was a day in the sun. It wasn’t long before the water’s rhythms calmed her. The sounds of the sea washed her mind and she smiled. It really had been too long.

Kagome opened her eyes when she heard small feet pattering across the deck in her direction. Shippo was headed her way and she sat up on the towel, shading her eyes. “Kagome!” the little boy yelled enthusiastically. He dropped a mesh bag full of colorful items on the towel and plunked himself down to sit next to her. She smiled and tucked an errant strand of long dark hair out of her face. “What’s up Shippo? Whatcha’ got there?”

The kitsune grinned and opened his bag of treasures. “Rin and I wanna race. We have these rings that float. Rosalind says the sinking ones we use in the pool will be gone forever if we use them out here, so we just use the rings.”

Kagome nodded, examining the toys. “So you guys race to see who can get them first?”

Rin ran up behind Shippo and did an excited little dance. The girl was usually so quiet but out here on the boat she seemed younger, like she felt more free to play and be a kid. “I’m gonna win!!!” she cried. She calmed down a little and clasped her hands in front of her in a pleading gesture. “Can you throw them for us though? Rosie’s on her paddle board. And Koga and Ayame swam off someplace.”

Kagome gathered the bag and got to her feet, brushing her pants off. “Sure. Do you guys want to play up front where you were earlier?”

Shippo nodded and the kids giggled as they raced off the top of the cabin, leaped to bounce off the trampoline net and splashed into the water. While this was impressive and looked like fun, it was a move Kagome suspected probably wasn’t condoned by the safety patrol. She pursed her lips in a smile and shook her head, following to stand closer the railing at the bow. She opened the bag and slid the half dozen foam rings onto her arm before she called to the kids. “Ready? Here they come!”

She rolled her shoulders a little and tossed the first ring. The kids paddled after it; and despite the fact that Rin was only half demon in competition against Shippo’s full blooded heritage, she was just as fast in the water thanks to swimming lessons from Rosalind when she’d been four years old. Kagome suspected Shippo’s fluffy fox tail added a little drag to his speed. The fox kit got to the pink ring first and grabbed it, though it was a close thing. Kagome waved a bright blue ring in the air where they could see it and tossed it in the water close to the boat so they could swim back for it, and the furious paddling began all over again.

This time Rin got to the toy first and she whooped in a manner similar to the sound Kagome had heard from Inuyasha. She laughed as the kids tossed the rings with all their might back up to her. “Sit on the net!” Rin called. “Then you can throw them farther out!”

Kagome eyed the wide net where it was stretched between the front ends of the pontoons. It was closer to the water than she cared to go, but the kids were waiting hopefully and she sighed, stealing herself. She was being silly. The net was stable. She’d watched almost half a dozen people walk and jump on it now and there was no reason to allow it to make her nervous. She chewed her lip and carefully slid one foot in front of the other, feeling the fabric dip slightly beneath her as she made her way to the front edge and lowered herself to sit. She leaned back to slide her feet from under her, hooking her knees over the metal pipe that stretched across the front and letting them dangle over the water.

She smiled and waved a green ring in the air before she tossed it as hard as she could. The kids kicked and splashed and had a fabulous time. After about ten minutes of this game Kagome stiffened, feeling the approach of a demon that wasn’t Inuyasha. She’d always been able to feel their energy, thanks to the Miko powers she’d inherited from her grandmother, and she felt it now as Koga strode up behind her across the bow. He stopped at the edge of the deck, just short of the net and looked out at the kids, his arms crossed over his bare chest, dark ponytail dripping water.

Kagome tried her best to keep a lid on her nerves, taking a deep breath and throwing a pink ring again for the kids as she said, “Ayame said something about the loser dishing out for a steak dinner.” She glanced at the wolf demon with a determinedly friendly smile and asked, “did she lose the race or are you on the hook for a date?”

Koga snorted and grinned, muttering, “I let her win.”

Kagome laughed at the sheepish expression on his face as he dropped to sit on his heels. He picked up a green foam ring next to her and tossed it out even farther for the kids and they crowed with delight. Koga could throw much farther than Kagome and with half the effort. She sighed theatrically and said, “aww… you’re making me look bad.”

He snorted and laughed. “I can take over here if you want to go swim.”

Kagome shook her head and shrugged, her smile tightening a little. “Thanks, I’m good here.”

Koga raised an eyebrow and asked, “can you swim?”

Kagome watched his face carefully, trying to read his intentions, but he was almost a blank slate. He seemed to be attempting civilized manners. Slowly she said, “I can swim… yes.” She could swim, but the very thought of being in the water made her skin crawl and her throat tighten. She swallowed and took a deep breath, tamping down her anxiety again. Koga seemed to sense her tension his nostrils flaired slightly as he pulled in her scent, gathering information.

The wolf demon tossed another ring out for the kids and said, “you know… if you really want to keep going after Naraku… if you really want to help take him down, you ain’t gonna make it as a shrinking violet. You’re going to have to deal with your shit and probably take more of it before this is all over. If you aren’t sure you can do that, you should call it quits and head for the hills. We could send you someplace he’ll never find you if that’s the road you need to take.”

She didn’t want everyone to think she was just a raw tangle of naked nerve endings. She’d never been a coward in her life, and part of her was terrified she might not be as strong as she’d been before. The things that scared her weren’t going to disappear and she couldn’t keep going to pieces. She knew it. The things he was saying were just a paraphrasing of thoughts she’d already had, but was trying to ignore. Still, that didn’t mean she had to like hearing them said out loud. Kagome’s jaw stiffened a little and she said quietly, “I know. I’ll do what I have to. I won’t run away. I can’t, it’s too important.”

Koga watched her for a long moment before he said, “just make sure you CAN do what you have to do. The dumbest decision would be to pretend you can until you realize too late that you can’t. It could cost somebody their life. When the chips are down we’re going to have to depend on you as much as anyone else and if you can’t hold the weight, people could get hurt. Any of us could get hurt. Knowing your limits is an important part of working with a team. And no one can judge for sure where your head is and where it needs to be as well as you.”

Kagome ground her teeth a little and nodded once, not saying anything. The jerk was right, but she wasn’t going to have this conversation with him. There was nothing to talk about. When she glanced at him he was looking out at the water and he asked, “so what’s with you and swimming? Why’s it scare you? We checked it out. The water’s deep but it’s safe.”

She kicked her feet a little where they hung over the water and chewed her lip a moment before she said, “I just… don’t like being in the water.”

Koga raised a skeptical brow and said doubtfully, “and that’s all there is to it…”

She glanced at him again and sighed, shrugging as she admitted, “he… Naraku… I had to… spend a lot of time in the water... I almost drowned more than once. He made me tread water until I just couldn’t move anymore.”

“But you can swim?” Koga asked again. Kagome nodded, her mouth twitching around a reluctant smile as she said, “yeah, I used to go to the pool all the time. I taught my little brother how to swim and he was so good, he was the best on his middle school diving team. I was on the freshman dive team for a while too but I’m not terribly competitive.”

Koga seemed to think this over for a moment and said, “so deal with it. You can swim. You like to swim. Why let that creep ruin it for you? What are you gonna do if something happens and you have to swim, and you let Naraku stop you from doing what you need to do?”

Kagome considered his words as he stood up, tossing three more rings for the kids. It only took a split second. She barely saw it coming. Once the kids kicked and splashed clear of the boat Koga leaped into the air and landed on the net, bouncing her forward. Before she knew it she was tilting towards the open water and she gasped in shock and fear.

She twisted, trying to grab hold of the piping, or the net, anything. She just barely managed to catch the pipe with her left hand and cried out again as it wrenched the shoulder that had taken the bullet a few days before. Though it was healed, it was stiff, and it had not been prepared to take her full weight by surprise.

Kagome kicked her feet where they dangled in the water and tried to pull herself up. She managed to get her other hand onto the pipe but it was wet from the water toys and her fingers slipped. Dense blue water closed over her head and she felt it pressing in all around her. It stung her eyes and she kicked and flailed, trying to figure out which way was up.

Rosalind had paddled her board around and was sitting in the middle of it, talking to Inuyasha where he was in the water, running the scrub brush over the outside of one of the pontoons. About the time he heard a splash come from the front of the boat where the kids were playing, there was a surge of hysterical terror that thrashed almost painfully against his thoughts. It was enough to suck the air out of his lungs for a second and he knew something wasn’t right.

He stopped scrubbing and listened, both to the outside world, and the feelings of thick panic beating against his skull, trying to figure out what the heck was going on. He spun in the water and tossed the brush onto Rosalind’s paddle board. When she looked at him in confusion he just said, “something’s wrong.”

The young woman didn’t need to hear more. She just pulled her paddle into her hands again and said, “go!”

Inuyasha dived and swam as fast as he could toward the front of the boat. When he surfaced Rin was kicking her way back towards him. Koga was kneeling on the net, rolling his eyes a little. The wolf demon didn’t look too concerned, and that threw Inuyasha off a little. He knew Koga would never do anything to endanger the kids, but he didn’t see Shippo and the salt water prevented him from getting any information with his nose. Inuyasha swam to Rin and she kicked hard, pointing under the boat.

There was Shippo, swimming alongside a flailing Kagome. The fox kit was trying to tug her to a handle attached to the underside of the boat, on the inside of one of the pontoons next to a window in one of the sleeping cabins built below deck. Inuyasha kicked hard and propelled himself to them. The blinding panic was surging against his mind hard enough to make his head ache.

Kagome coughed and choked as she grasped the handle and hung on for dear life, shaking and starting to hyperventilate. Shippo looked scared and turned to Inuyasha. “I don’t think she can swim and she’s really scared!”

Inuyasha swam up behind Kagome and wrapped his arms around her. For a second she cringed away from him, her eyes a little unfocused as she pulled herself closer to the boat, tightening her grip on the metal hand-hold. “No… please…” she panted out in a hoarse whisper. It was a desperate plea, reminding him of the way she’d begged, lost in fear when she’d woken in the dark with him the other morning.

He grabbed the metal bar with one hand above her own clenched fingers and wrapped his other arm around her, pulling one knee up under her butt to support her in the water as he pulled her tight against him. Rin tread water next to Shippo, looking worried, and Inuyasha told them, “it’s okay, I got her. Why don’t you guys go play around the back and give us a minute.”

They hesitated and he gave them a stern look, his ears swiveling back seriously for a moment. Rin and Shippo gathered their toys and swam for the aft deck. Inuyasha turned his full attention back to Kagome where she clung to the hand rail. He layed his warm palm over her heaving ribs as she tried to suck air into her lungs. “Breath Kagome, you’re alright. What happened? I thought you said you could swim.”

She closed her eyes tight and gasped hoarsely, “I can swim.”

He was confused and shook his head. First thing they had to do was get her panic under control. He couldn’t think straight the way it lanced through his head and she was going to pass out if she didn’t calm down. Inuyasha nuzzled her neck a little, placing his mouth and nose near her ear as he said calmly, “you have to breath Kagome. I’m not going to let anything happen to you. Come on… in…. out…” As he spoke, he pulled in a deep audible breath, his chest expanding with air against her back, and released an exhale, letting his breath puff against her neck. He did this several times until she was breathing slowly with him, more in control of her jumping diaphragm muscle.

After a long minute he asked, “if you can swim what’s the problem?”

She was shaking in his hold and stammered brokenly, “I don’t… want to be in the water. Don’t make me stay in the water.”

Inuyasha frowned, but said with an even tone, “I’ll get you out of the water, but you have to let go of the rail for that to happen.”

Kagome swallowed hard and opened her eyes to look at the place where her fingers grasped the metal handle so hard that her knuckles ached. She mentally ordered her hand to let go, but nothing happened. Though the rational part of her mind knew Inuyasha was there holding her, that he would keep her safe, the irrational part was still a mess of electrified nerves and wouldn’t give her full control.

“I can’t,” she whispered, her voice almost a whimper. The sliver of her mind that watched the situation from the direction of her apparently banished sanity frowned at her, despising how pathetic she sounded. “I can’t let go,” she whispered roughly. The water felt like it was pressing in around her, like it would swallow her up until there was nothing left.

“You can let go,” Inuyasha’s voice said in her ear. He squeezed her gently against his chest again, bumping his knee against her butt once as he reassured her, “I got you. We’ll just swim under the boat to the back, and climb up the stairs. It’s not far and there’s three more handles you can grab if you need to.”

She closed her eyes as she felt her lungs trying to jump out of her control again and dropped her forehead against her hands where the gripped the railing. She breathed in. She breathed out. In… Out…

Inuyasha gave her a moment before he said, “just to the next handle okay?” He kept his knee in place, holding himself, and by extension her, steady with his own grip on the rail. He let his hand slide from her ribs up her arm to her hands where he tugged at her fingers. After a second he felt her tense body relax just a little into him, and she let one hand loose. With a little more coaxing she let go of the hand-hold and he continued to murmur reassurances to her as he started to kick carefully sideways, holding her to him as he propelled them through the water along the side of the pontoon.

Kagome gasped out a small panicked sound and there was another jab in his head as his knee had to move out from under her. He winced a little at the mental discomfort and kept talking to her as he pulled her along. “You’re ok, come on, kick your feet. You know how to swim, tell your feet to swim.”

She turned in his arms against his chest and wrapped one arm around his neck. When she was facing him he could see her eyes were slightly wild and he turned onto his back, holding her body over his and doing his best to keep both of their heads well above the water line. He kicked and used one hand awkwardly to pull them through the water until they made it to the next hand-hold, where they paused and held on for a minute before he talked her onto the next leg of the short trip down the length of the boat. When they came out from under the aft deck Rosalind was waiting on the bottom panel anxiously with a couple towels.

Inuyasha helped Kagome transfer her grip to the steps and Rosalind reached out for her, pulling her up out of the water and wrapping one of the fluffy towels around her shoudlers. “What happened? Are you okay?”

Kagome nodded, still shivering a little, though now that she was sitting on the steps and out of the water, some of the color was returning to her face and she started muttering apologies. Rosalind shook her head and said, “don’t be ridiculous. Come on, let’s go sit down and I’ll get you some tea.”

The trembling young woman nodded numbly and Inuyasha pulled himself out of the water behind them to follow, grabbing one of the towels for himself. They went into the cabin and Inuyasha led Kagome over to the bench at the waterproofed wooden table. She hesitated, soaked as she was, but Rosalind tossed down an extra towel and ordered her to sit.

Inuyasha sank down on the bench next to her and asked, “what happened?”

Kagome shook her head, thoroughly ashamed. Koga walked in and leaned against the doorway, looking at her with consideration and perhaps a little concern. Their eyes met for a second and she said unsteadily, “I slipped… and fell in.”

Koga raised an eyebrow, surprised when she didn’t rat him out, and Inuyasha said, “…but you said you could swim.”

She pulled in a deep breath as Rosalind turned one of the small stove burners on under a kettle in the tiny kitchen. Once she’d steadied herself a little, Kagome said, “I can swim, I used to be really good. I just… I really don’t like being in the water… anymore.”

Inuyasha snorted out a slightly incredulous sound. “That’s an understatement. You scared the hell out of me. It felt like there was an electric spike in my head. I thought someone was dying.”

Koga frowned a little. He hadn’t considered that. He knew from their scent that they were blood tied and they were clearly close, but he was a little surprised at the intensity of their connection. He had a full mate bond with Ayame, and while he could sense her and she him, he’d never felt such a high level reaction from her end of things. They’d been in some crazy situations but she was never prone to panic or fear, even when maybe that would be the smarter response. There was also the fact that neither of the wolf demons possessed any real kind of magic, and he wondered if that amplified things. It would make sense, he supposed, if it did.

Rosalind got out a mug and dropped a tea bag in it, adding hot water before she set it in front of Kagome. She looked at the clock and said, “how about I make us some lunch. That will give you a few minutes to calm down and then we can all eat. The kids can relax and see you’re okay. I think they’re a little freaked out. Shippo thinks you were drowning. They’ve never seen someone have trouble with water before.”

Kagome nodded and apologized again, shaking her head. “Gods, I’m so sorry, it’s so stupid I just…” she chewed her lip a little and glanced at Koga again before she said, “being in the water just makes me a little crazy.”

Rosalind gave her a reassuring smile and said, “well, we all have something that does that. I’m not a fan of tight spaces myself.”

Kagome shrugged miserably, thinking, ‘I have way too many things that are doing that these days. Koga’s right. I have to do something about this. It can’t go on.’

Rosalind pulled the large cooler onto the counter, using the table as a work surface to start building sandwiches. Koga sat down at the other end of the table, taking the high road for once and sparing Inuyasha’s instinctually possessive nerves by sitting nowhere near Kagome, who was still all kinds of twitchy. Rosalind passed Kagome a jar of mayo and a butter knife, then began slicing a loaf of wheat bread she’d brought. She stacked the slices of bread where Kagome could reach them, thinking that if the young woman was anything like her, getting her hands busy would help.

It worked like a charm and Kagome hands steadied as she spread mayo on the bread, laying the slices back out and applying cheese while Rosalind got out turkey and started cutting up a few tomatoes. “So…” she asked, tossing the tomato stems in a grocery sack for the trash. “Why does it freak you out so much if you can swim?”

Kagome’s eyes flicked to Koga again for half a second and she chewed her lip. She glanced at the doorway a little uncomfortably before she cleared her throat and said, “he has a big tank in the basement... in Silverton. When I wouldn’t behave, when I wouldn’t do what he wanted-- he liked to keep me there, treading water until I couldn’t keep myself above the surface anymore.”

Inuyasha and Koga both frowned but Rosalind just asked gently, “and you couldn’t float when you got tired?”

Kagome shook her head. “The tank was tall and narrow, not wide enough to float on my back.”

Inuyasha’s frown deepened. It didn’t make sense. Between the magic she had that Naraku needed, and the fact that he’d been trying to put a child in her, why would he risk her like that? Carefully he asked, “what would he have done if you drowned? Didn’t he want you alive?”

Kagome continued to chew her lip, keeping her eyes on the cheese slices in her hand as she explained. “He left a guard, someone who wasn’t a total idiot. Their job was to watch me and make sure I didn’t drown. They would reach in and yank me up if I wasn’t making it to the surface for air often enough.”

Her eyes went a little unfocused as she spread more mayo, remembering the water pressing against her chest and the feeling of a clawed hand gripping her wrist, pulling her up to the surface and wrapping her fingers around a plank of wood. She frowned a little, remembering how Bankotsu had helped her. He’d found the plank of wood and laid it across the top of the tank for her when he could get away with it. And when she was so tired she couldn’t pull herself up anymore, he’d sat on a ladder and braced his elbows on the plank, wrapping his hands around her wrists and holding her up. She hadn’t had much presence of mind at the time to wonder about that small mercy he’d granted her, but she wondered now. Had Naraku caught him helping her so much, her guard might have been in a great deal of trouble.

Her attention snapped back to the here and now when Inuyasha wrapped an arm around her waist and squeezed her to him protectively. She winced a little as he pulled on the small remainder of her bruises, but was comforted none-the-less. By the time Rosalind called the kids in for lunch Kagome had pulled herself together and was able to smile convincingly enough to reassure them. Once the Rin and Shippo were sure she wasn’t dying or anything, they were their happy, bubbly selves again, though perhaps all of them were a little subdued from all the excitement.