InuYasha Fan Fiction ❯ Patchwork Family ❯ The Inherent Difficulties with Time Travel ( Chapter 39 )

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.


*** The Inherent Difficulties with Time Travel ***

03212015 (numbers are for my own purposes, don’t mind them)

Excepting the brief time Kagome had spent in the water, irrationally certain that she was going to die, she’d enjoyed the day on the boat. She would’ve been happy to spend every day of the rest of her life in the sun like that. However, when they finally pulled into the boat house that evening, she did breathe a sigh of relief as she stepped back onto the solid dock. She had a brief mental image of herself dropping dramatically to kiss the ground and shook her head, smiling a little grimly. Yeah, she was brave alright… Pathetic.

Rosalind lifted the cooler stacked with some of the swim gear but Sesshomaru swung easily down from the upper deck and took it from her without a word. She stood for a second in surprise before she said, “okay…” and turned to get her paddle board. That however, was already being hefted by Koga, who walked right by her with it on Sesshomaru’s heels.

She watched them go, a little non-plussed, and Ayame laughed, dropping an arm around her friend’s shoulders. “Let it go Rosie. I don’t know about you but that’s one of the reasons I keep them around.”

Rosalind smiled too and shook her head, following the she-wolf off the boat. “Think everybody will be satisfied with junk for dinner? I’m tired.”

Ayame rolled her eyes. “They’ll survive a night of hot dogs. I’m thinking we should do another fire on the beach, a perfect end to a good day off.”

Inuyasha and Kagome followed them off the boat and the half-demon said, “I vote yes, especially if we still have stuff for smores.” Rin was clinging to his shoulders as he hefted her piggy back style and Shippo ran ahead of them, crying, “smores, smores, smores!”

Kagome laughed at the little boy’s antics and followed them towards the house in the fading dusk. This normalcy would last for just a little longer, and she would enjoy every moment of it. She looked back out at the rolling breakers and resolved to spend some of that time trying to get this business of hers about the water figured out, or at least at a tolerable level. It made her bristle with indignation but Koga had been right.

Inuyasha noticed the tension in her face as they walked into the house and raised a brow. She smiled a little and sighed, consciously relaxing both her shoulders and her mind, letting him feel in the threads of their mental bond that she was alright. She was finding it was far more effective than telling him with words.

The two of them made their way back to the bedroom and Kagome gathered fresh clothes. She winced a little as she pulled the band out of her salt crusted, tangled hair. As she was massaging her scalp where she stood in front of the dresser, Inuyasha paused behind her and wrapped his arms around her waist, letting his hands slid over the smooth fabric of the swimsuit at her sides. She was still dressed in the suit and had just let her yoga pants dry in the sun as they’d relaxed on the top deck, rather than trading them for the shorts. She hesitated only a moment before she sighed and leaned back into him.

Inuyasha kissed her neck once, inhaling through his nose and pulling in her scent. She still smelled like Kagome, but now also of the ocean, and he found he liked this version of her almost as much as the way she’d smelled coming out of his garage. She turned and let her arms slide up around his neck. A part of her brain told her to stop, to back off, that she shouldn’t be doing this, but she promptly ignored that voice. Somehow it was easier to do after having been out on the water all day, mostly pretending that the rest of the world didn’t exist.

Inuyasha was pleasantly surprised when she rose up on her toes and kissed him. He returned the gesture with enthusiasm, running his tongue along her bottom lip. He smiled against her mouth as he muttered in amusement, “you taste salty.”

She smiled too and laughed a little, dropping her eyes from his, letting her hands fall to slide down across his still bare chest. After a quiet moment she said, “I think I might shower before dinner.”

Inuyasha shook his head. “We’re just going back out to build a fire. You’ll only smell like smoke later.”

She chewed her lip and considered this with a sigh before admitting he was probably right. She was a city girl, what did she know? She grabbed the dirty pair of her borrowed jeans, one of her t-shirts and her sweatshirt. There was no point in putting clean clothes on a dirty body. Inuyasha put on a dry pair of shorts and a black t-shirt while Kagome was changing in the bathroom.

She’d washed her face and was trying valiantly to get a brush through her hair, but it was proving impossible. Inuyasha found her scowling at herself in the mirror and he shook his head, taking the brush from her hand. Kagome released the grooming tool in surprise and he ran it under the tap to dampen it before he stood behind her, picking apart the snarls until he could mostly get the brush through the mess. Then he ran the brush through his own hair a few times for good measure and pulled it back in a sloppy tail. When she glanced up at his reflection in the mirror he pulled a face. “What? When you have hair like mine and you spend years living in the woods, you get good at tangles. Cutting it short never does me any good, it grows back too fast.”

Kagome laughed to herself, thanking him and finger-combing her hair into a sloppy bun before she resigned herself to her current appearance and followed him out.

Rosalind was in the kitchen tossing everything she could think of into a box for a dinner that could be cooked on a camp fire. Hot dogs, which she loved despite the fact that she knew they weren’t really food, potatoes and a roll of aluminum foil, chips, bread, ketchup, mustard, pickles. She surveyed the box and sighed, committing to a healthy meal the following day. She tossed in the bag of leftover smore fixings for good measure and stacked a pile of blankets from the linen closet on top of the whole thing.

Miroku and Sango wandered in, Shiori following them and looking upset. The little girl ran up to Rosalind and held out her arms in a clear request. The young woman pulled the girl into her arms and bounced her up to sit on one hip. “Hey sweetheart, did you have fun with Mom today?”

Shiori shrugged and didn’t say anything, sucking one thumb and hiding her face against Rosalind’s neck. Her heart melted and she rubbed the little girl’s back. Sango shook her head and smiled ruefully. “I feel like the bad guy. She’s upset, I think she was lonely without the other kids. She’s used to Shippo at least being around.”

Rosalind rocked automatically, walking the girl back and forth a few times as Sesshomaru strode in. Miroku looked up and told him, “scanners were quiet, no movement on that front. How was it out there? The weather was good today in town.”

Sesshomaru nodded once by way of response, watching Rosalind walk with the four-year-old against her shoulder. Without his looking for it, the memory of a younger version of this woman rocking his own, much younger daughter in the same way floated to the surface of his mind. It was a sight he’d seen many times, though usually only in passing. Despite the ache of Rhiannon’s sudden passing that was attached to that time, the memory did hum pleasantly in a way against the inside of his chest.

Rosalind looked up, still rocking and soothing as she said, “it was fun. There was a minor accident and we found out Kagome’s not so good in the water, but she recovered. I can’t believe I didn’t come out and get on my paddle board more in the last few years. I forgot how much I missed it.”

Sango smiled and said, “I have a board too now. We should go out together sometime on the bay. I’ll have to remember to load it up on Monday when I’m in town. I have to pick up some more school clothes for the kids anyway.”

She eyed the box and blankets stacked on the counter, eyes twinkling a little with anticipation as she asked, “dinner on the beach tonight?”

Rosalind nodded and said, “hot dogs and baked potatoes.” She looked a little guilty and followed it with a cringe and apology. “Sorry, I’ll do better tomorrow.”

Sango shook her head and took her daughter, who transferred good-naturedly enough from one shoulder to the other. “Don’t worry about it, you’ve been out all day. You look wiped. Hot dogs sound fine. We can take the stuff out with us if it’s ready.”

Rosalind nodded and Miroku came forward to pull the load into his arms. He led Sango and the little girl into the hall and followed the other kids as they raced back out of the house to meet Koga and Ayame. Rosalind shook her head as the big black dog ran right after them at top speed, barking his celebration at their return. She smiled and muttered, “where do they get their bottomless batteries? I want one.”

Sesshomaru made a small amused sound in his throat and raised a brow curiously as she began digging in the refrigerator again. She met his eyes when she pulled out a container. Her mouth quirked in a smile and she said, “you hate hot dogs. Will these be alright? They’re leftovers but a burger or two should taste okay broken up with one of the potatoes and some butter, salt and pepper in a packet of aluminum foil. I thought you might like that better, maybe with a dinner roll or two. I could set the whole thing in a packet near the hot coals.”

Internally he breathed a small sigh of relief and nodded, grateful for the alternative, and said, “that is preferable, yes.” He wondered for a second how she knew. He’d never eaten one of the pieces of alleged meat, in her presence or otherwise. ‘Hot dogs’ just didn’t smell right…

He studied her a moment, noting the extra color in her cheeks and asked, “you’re sun burned?” She’d put sunscreen on both the kids, even though Shippo neither of them really needed it, and he couldn’t imagine she would have then neglected to apply it to herself. She brought her fingers to her face and gingerly patted the slightly pink skin. She frowned for a moment in thought before her face cleared and she smiled ruefully. “I’m probably just a little wind burned… from being on the jet ski.”

The Dai-Yokai frowned a little and before he could think better of it, brought one hand up to brush the faintly raw skin with his thumb. It was warmer than normal due to the irritation and he said more to himself than to her, “I should have considered that. We won’t go so fast next time.”

She scowled a little, though it was without any real animosity. “You better! Any slower and I’d think you were coddling me, and that’s just not acceptable… Lord Sesshomaru.”

Rosalind poked his side gently, flashed him a teasing smile, tossed a few last items in a bag and strode from the kitchen. Sesshomaru stood for a moment, unsure of what had just happened. She’d never used his title before, not really, and there was little doubt the words had been used somehow in an endearing jest, yet he didn’t actually feel mocked… which generally would have been his immediate response.

Gold eyes narrowed slightly as he pondered this. He almost let out an impressed laugh in the empty kitchen as he realized the scrappy little female he’d brought home all those years ago had grown into a woman that could speak with a silver tongue when she cared to… and he’d never noticed it happening.

They all pitched in to collect a pile of wood, adding it to the remains from their last fire. As the sun finished sinking below the horizon, the flames were crackling merrily, despite the wood still being partially damp from the rain the day before. Kagome wrinkled her nose and laughed as Inuyasha burned his hot dog just as black as he did his marshmallows, then covered it triumphantly in ketchup. Gabriel returned from town and joined them before long, downing four hot dogs and two pickles all by himself, and Rosalind reminded herself to buy an extra package or three next time. There had only just been enough with all the demons present.

She actually managed to eat more than usual herself, curled in the warm sand next to the fire as the night’s chill fell around them. All the swimming had made her muscles feel well used in the best way and she slouched a little against Gabriel, who tolerated his new position as a leaning post without fuss, pulling his oil stained sweater off and passing it to her when it started to get later and colder.

Sesshomaru watched this exchange and felt something stir in his chest. He refused to even entertain the possibility of disapproval. There was nothing wrong with Rosalind sharing space with Gabriel, and he was glad she was being kept warm, the skin of her bare legs illuminated by the fire light. ‘However’… the beast in his chest rumbled to him testily… ‘it should be you that offers her those comforts, not Gabriel.’ He narrowed his eyes a little as he dropped his gaze to the fire and determinedly turned his mind to other matters.

Inuyasha was silently having a rather strange internal moment of his own. For the third time now tonight, he stared at Kagome out of the corner of his eye. She was a beautiful as ever, her skin a little tanned from all the sun she’d gotten today. She laughed, smiling across the fire at Miroku and some joke he was making. The way the light played over her face in the dark, she looked more familiar than ever… and suddenly… finally… it hit him like a ton of bricks just why she looked so familiar. She did look a little bit like Kikyo, a Miko he’d been close to many, many years ago back in Japan, but that wasn’t it. He was almost sure that he’d seen exactly her before, but in a time and place she couldn’t possibly have been.

Kagome noticed his staring and raised a brow, bringing her hand up to her face to self-consciously brush some loose strands of hair behind her ear, whispering as she ducked out of the conversation with the others. “What?” She smiled a little, asking playfully, “what’s going on in there?”

He just stared at her for another moment before he asked, “you wanna go for a walk?”

She looked surprised, but nodded agreeably and got to her feet. Inuyasha told the others they’d be back in a bit and Kagome followed him down the beach, wondering what was on his mind. It had looked like some kind of difficult epiphany, but about what she couldn’t guess. They walked for a few minutes with the noises of the group around the fire fading into the distance, overtaken by the quiet night and the hushing of the surf.

Finally Inuyasha sighed and asked, “you lived in all your life… right?”

Kagome shrugged, explaining. “Mostly… we moved overseas for a few years but my family’s always called Portland home, since my grandparents came to the states and built the main house.”

Inuyasha frowned a little in thought, asking, “and overseas… you guys were in north Africa, because of your dad’s security work? You never went anywhere else?”

She nodded, tucking her hands into the big pouch pocket on her sweater. “That’s right.” She wanted to ask what on earth this was about, but he’d been more than patient with her over the past days, so she decided to grant him the same courtesy. He didn’t speak again for several minutes and she just walked beside him, keeping him company.

Quietly, he asked, “did you know anything about me before now? Ever see me before?”

She frowned and looked up at him in confusion. Kagome thought very carefully, making absolutely sure of her answer before she said, “I think I might have heard your name a few times in conjunction with the Wardens. I didn’t really know who you were. But no… I never saw you before the day I woke up at your apartment.” She hesitated, remembering her resolution to be patient, and asked carefully, “Inuyasha, what’s wrong?”

He wasn’t angry, or upset, but he was not as calm as she use used to, almost agitated. His ears twitched this way and that, and he looked down at her, studying her face carefully. She was still frowning when he sighed again and shook his head. He rubbed at his face with one hand and said, “I’m not sure.. It’s insane. I need some time with this… and I’m probably wrong. I don’t think I want to get into it just yet.”

Kagome’s eyes turned out to the distance and she looked a little uneasy. He stopped and turned to her, brushing her hair back from her face and pulling her to him. He wrapped his arms around her and after a moment she relaxed against him, letting her head rest against his shoulder. She closed her eyes for a moment and breathed him in, the smell of Inuyasha warm and woodsy. She hesitantly reached out to the edge of her thoughts, looking for him, for his mind, just to see what was there to feel.

She frowned again, feeling the brush of a shifting worry that rustled and felt like a restless animal that wasn’t at all sure which way was safe, which direction was the right one. She wrapped her arms around his middle, knowing she was too small to hold him the way he held her, but wanting to comfort him in some way all the same. When she leaned back to look up at him he was clearly deep in thought. After a second he laid a kiss on her temple and said, “I’ll tell you if- and when- I figure it out. Otherwise it may not matter. Can you trust me?”

She thought about it for a really long minute, again, making sure it was true before she answered him, and hoping she wouldn’t regret it later. She nodded, meeting his hooded golden eyes in the dim star light. “I trust you.”

When they returned to the fire, everyone was partaking of smores, and while Inuyasha had three of the treats, he seemed a little distracted by whatever was going on in his head. The preoccupation was obvious, as he wasn’t usually the introspective type, and Kagome hoped whatever troubled him was something he’d be able to find a solution to. She found his solid sense of ease at her side, his determination to be just what, who, and where he was in the world was something she’d come to rely on. It reassured her in a way she couldn’t quite put her finger on.

Before long the kids were all conked out and Rosalind even found herself nodding off against Gabriel’s shoulder. He grinned and laughed, wrapping an arm around her shoulders to keep her from falling over. “I think it’s time to pack it up, been a long day for everybody.”

Rosalind pulled her eyes open and sat up straight, shaking her head a little and blinking. They gathered their things and she left the wolves to extinguish the fire, this time grateful when Sesshomaru took the box from her arms. He surprised her though, by tucking the box under one arm, and her under the other, letting her lean against him and taking some of her weight. She was so sleepy she didn’t protest. She just smiled and poked him in the side once playfully before wrapping one arm around his waist companionably as she said, “thanks for today.”

His lips twitched in an almost-smile as he glanced briefly down at her before turning his eyes ahead to the path. His smile might have been a little broader, but he could hear the rustling sound coming from her chest, and he surmised that the smoke from the fire seemed to be a factor in the sound’s rising volume, though he only really had the two examples to go by. He couldn’t recall hearing the sounds before, but they weren’t loud, and he’d never been looking for them. Quietly, he suggested as he opened the front door, “you should take a hot shower before you sleep.”

She looked up and asked, “do I smell? I’m sorry. I didn’t even think…”

He shook his head and observed, “your lungs are tight again.”

Rosalind blinked for a moment, taking stock of herself as they stood in the foyer and realizing he was right. She’d been tired and preoccupied, and hadn’t even noticed. She shrugged and nodded once. “I’ll get Rin to bed and then I’ll go shower. I think Inuyasha’s bringing her in now.”

Sesshomaru shook his head and issued his order. “Rin’s already asleep, she’ll be fine. Go.”

She shrugged again, giving up, too sleepy to argue. He was right anyway and she knew it.

Kagome smiled as she saw the little girl’s sleeping face over Inuyasha’s shoulder as she followed him down the hall to Rin’s room. He’d asked a few days ago if she ever wanted kids and she’d said she didn’t think so anymore. She lay a hand over her stomach, now knowing that at least she had the choice, and she wasn’t as sure. Maybe someday, if she got through all this mess alive. Maybe. She shook her head and sighed, smiling ruefully. All it took was a hot guy toting a cute, passed out little girl and she went mushy.

Inuyasha laid Rin down carefully in her bed and pulled her blankets up, tucking her stuffed dog in with her. He met Kagome back in his bedroom. She was sitting on the edge of the bed, toeing her shoes off as she said quietly, “now… I’m going to shower… I’m all sticky and sandy.”

He rolled his eyes and smirked. “Go for it. It’s all yours.”

He waited until he heard the water running in the bathroom to go find Sesshomaru. There were sounds coming from various directions as people were in the process of turning in for the night, and Inuyasha found his brother’s study and bedroom empty. Finally, he found Sesshomaru sitting with a mug of tea at the kitchen table. The room was dim, lit only by the small lamp over the stove, and there was a second mug out on the counter with a fresh strainer, apparently still waiting for hot water.

Inuyasha glanced at the second cup next to the kettle and arched a brow. “Expecting company?”

Sesshomaru met his eyes briefly before returning his gaze to the tea in front of him. After a moment he said, “in a few minutes I’ll take it to Rosalind. She’s in the shower, but hot tea and ginger helps her breath come easier.”

Inuyasha frowned and narrowed his eyes, ears twitching once in concern. “What’s that mean? Is she sick?”

Sesshomaru shook his head once and said, “I’m not certain what the problem is. She doesn’t wish to tell me. Smoke and exertion, perhaps cold weather seem to narrow her airway, but she’s used to it.” There was also that strange moment she’d had when he’d inadvertently cornered her the other morning, her heart beating erratically, her whole body going very still.

He couldn’t tell yet if that was linked or another issue entirely. He despised not having enough information. His eyes flicked up to meet his brother’s as he told him, “listen to her lungs next time she’s active. It’s not difficult to hear.” His eyes dropped to the table and narrowed in agitation for a moment. His quiet tone was a bit critical as he said, “I never noticed before this week.”

One of Inuyasha’s ears twitched again and he frowned in thought, then seemed to shake himself and pulled out a chair, leaving an empty seat between himself and Sesshomaru. “I’ll listen for it… But we may have another problem.”

Sesshomaru’s shoulders stiffened a little and he became less thoughtful, more alert. When Inuyasha seemed to be having trouble spitting out whatever was on his mind his older brother ordered with a little annoyance, “speak.”

Inuyasha scowled at him for a second but leaned back in his chair and asked, “you remember the night Kagome got shot-- you said she looked like- ” He stopped for a second, things he hadn’t thought about in a very long time coming uncomfortably close to the surface.

“I said that she resembles the priestess Kikyo,” Sesshomaru supplied, growing impatient.

Inuyasha nodded once, eyes a little distant for a second before he focused again and said, “she does look a bit like Kikyo, but that isn’t it. She looks familiar to me but not because of that.”

The half-demon frowned again in irritation. “I’ve been wracking my brain, trying to figure it out.”

Before he continued Sesshomaru commented smugly, “a difficult process, I’m sure.”

Inuyasha pulled a face and flipped him a middle finger for a second before he said, “I’ve seen her before; not just someone that looks like her… I saw Kagome before. But it doesn’t make any sense.”

Sesshomaru’s eyes narrowed slightly and he asked, “what are you saying?”

Inuyasha seemed at a loss for a moment before he said, “I think... I could swear that I saw her… at the Goshinboku.”

Sesshomaru considered this statement and said, “she has yet to live a quarter century and it has been at least 80 years since you’ve set foot anywhere near the Goshinboku tree… unless you made a sentimental trip back to Japan that I’m unaware of.”

Inuyasha rolled his eyes. “No, I haven’t been back, and Kagome’s never been to ”

“Then what you are saying is not possible,” Sesshomaru said, taking a sip of his tea and leaning back in his chair as if he’d just explained to an idiot child that one and one made two. “Did you feel the need to share your decent into madness for a reason, Inuyasha?”

When Inuyasha didn’t snap back with a snarling protest or rude gesture, Sesshomaru wondered if there wasn’t perhaps more to his brother’s thought after all. After a silent, brooding moment Inuyasha told him, “I spent 50 years knocked out under magic and pinned to that tree with Kikyo’s arrow. When I finally woke up, the first thing I saw was Kagome. I could swear it was her; and she was able to pull the arrow out of my chest. But…”

Inuyasha shook his head and pulled a hand over his face in frustration. “It’s been so long I can’t be a hundred percent sure and I don’t see how it could be.”

Sesshomaru raised a brow slightly. “How certain are you?”

Inuyasha thought for a second before he returned his brother’s glance and answered, “about 98 percent… maybe. But she didn’t look any different than she is now, not younger, and not older. So… if it was possible… it would have to happen soon.”

He groaned in irritation. This was making his head hurt. Time travel was for science fiction movies. It had been more than 500 years since he’d escaped the sacred arrow that had imprisoned him. But that wasn’t right… he thought. He hadn’t escaped. He’d been freed, rescued… if not by Kagome, then by a girl who looked impossibly like Kagome.

“The girl who pulled the arrow out wore strange clothes…” Inuyasha said slowly, brow lowered as he tried to pull those memories closer-- to see them more clearly. “I remember she looked weird. She wore clothing that looked like what people wear now. I think… maybe jeans and a green sweatshirt… but that would mean…”

He broke off again and asked, “have you ever heard of anyone pulling off something like this?”

Sesshomaru considered the question for a long minute, draining his cup before he said, “I’ve learned not to insist certain things cannot happen. I possess several objects myself that harbor rather improbable magics. It does seem a rather strange coincidence that you’re drawn to this girl now, hundreds of years later and on an entirely different continent, but then…” He paused thoughtfully and finished, “coincidence is rarely just coincidence.”

The younger man looked troubled as he asked, “so if we assume it is possible for her to show up five hundred years ago… what if I’ve screwed everything up? What if Naraku screwed it up? How are we supposed to know when- or how the hell she’s supposed to go back and pull my ass off that tree?”

Inuyasha was not accustomed to fear. It was rare that he felt anything even similar, but now there was a cold bolt of it lodged in his heart. There were all sorts of theories about what happened when people messed with time lines in fiction. How could he know what was true? Would he wake up tomorrow morning and find himself still stuck to a tree, covered over with roots on the other side of the Pacific Ocean?

He prayed not, because if things had gone differently and he’d been bound to that tree for centuries, he had little doubt that he would have lost his mind. He’d given so little thought at the time to the girl who’d released him. There’d been a fight, and she’d been desperate to survive, so she’d taken a chance on him–or that’s what he’d thought had happened.

Inuyasha remembered then that he had at first confused her with Kikyo, but the girl had felt different to him than anyone he’d ever come into contact with. She’d smelled strange, and talked in somewhat broken Japanese. Mostly she’d spoken in what he now knew was English. He’d killed the demon that had been after her, more out of the explosion of relief in his freedom and excess pent up anger than to help anyone in particular-- and then he’d taken off.

Another idea hit him hard. If she had gone back in time and saved him, how the hell would she have gotten back? What if she never had gotten back? What if he had to lose her now to save his own skin 500 years ago? That thought made him want to growl and he stood up, getting a beer out of the refrigerator and pacing the kitchen while he downed it.

Sesshomaru watched his brother pace and thought the matter through. It was indeed strange. Finally he said, “there is no reason to think things have been altered to keep her from going back, if it was her at all, because she’s already done it, and therefore she will do it, though I expect the safest choice would not to speak with her about it.”

Inuyasha swallowed the last of the beer and chucked the bottle in the garbage, shaking his head in confusion. “What the hell is that supposed to mean?”

Sesshomaru narrowed his eyes in concentration, going over the thought again in his head to be sure before he said, “there is likely little you can do but to ensure that if the opportunity arises to call her to Tokyo, you make sure she is able to get there and let events run their course. It looks as if it will be an important trip for both of you, whenever it happens. It may be tomorrow, or it may be a few years from now.”

Inuyasha wanted to rip his hair out in frustration but instead he asked, “and what if she never makes it back? I don’t know if she disappeared again after it happened. It might be years, or she might not come back! I can’t….” He let out a long breath and leaned both hands against the counter, trying to smooth his temper out. It had never been an easy thing for him.

“Think,” Sesshomaru said simply, getting to his feet and pouring hot water into the fresh mug waiting by the stove. “Did you ever see her again in the village? Or hear of a strange, half-breed girl speaking a foreign tongue and appearing suddenly in the area?”

Inuyasha shook his head slowly. “No… but that might not mean anything. I didn’t spend much time close to the village. And it wasn’t like they were gonna talk to me about the latest gossip. The humans there may have associated my name with the forest, but that doesn’t mean they wanted anything to do with me, or that I spent any time with them.”

He glared at Sesshomaru and snapped, “and don’t call her that.” For years Inuyasha had fielded insults of every kind, and ‘half-breed’ had been one of the most common ways his enemies, including his brother, had referred to him. It still held the power to stir his ire if he was already out of sorts.

Sesshomaru smirked a little, remembering what the world had been like at that time and place. “Do not be foolish, little brother. You know what I meant. She is clearly half European and half Japanese. It would have been highly unusual back then in that area. It’s likely that her appearance, combined with her alien speech, clothing and mannerisms were quite frightening. The superstitious fools probably thought her a new kind of demon. That could either save her life or damn her, depending on how fast she’s able to make her exit.”

Inuyasha felt another cold bolt in his chest grow larger as he realized his brother was right. “IF it’s her…” Inuyasha added. Mostly, he figured he would just pray he was wrong. He wasn’t sure what it would do to him if he lost her, only so that he could continue on here alone, never knowing what had happened to her after she pulled that arrow from a demon trapped against the side of the god tree. In a distressed tone he asked, more to himself than his brother, “what if something happens to her before she gets to go back? She’s almost died twice in the last week.”

Sesshomaru cocked his head a little before he said, “I expect that is why you felt the need to go swimming the day she was in the river. Everything happens for a reason, Inuyasha. Absolute chaos theory is a ridiculous myth. Too much of this universe stands only because of an impossible balance, and yet despite the fact, it stands… even so.”

Kagome was starting to get a headache and she finished dressing quickly in Inuyasha’s bathroom. The agitated shifting creature she’d felt at the boundaries of her mind earlier on the beach seemed to be more active as she’d turned off the shower. Now the ‘Inuyasha-esque’ creature was positively straining against whatever barbed-wire bonds of emotion it was tangled in. She winced as it made her head throb for a moment and glanced in the mirror to make sure her pajamas were straight before she tossed her things back into her bags.

She poked her nose out into the hallway but the house was quiet. She padded down the halls to the front of the house and made her way to the kitchen, where she heard the low thrum of male voices and felt Inuyasha’s agitated thoughts. For the briefest of seconds, she considered waiting in the hall to eavesdrop, but she quickly remembered their easy detection of Kohaku at the start of their meeting the other night and discarded the idea.

When Kagome stepped into the kitchen doorway both demons stopped and looked up in a way that made her feel like she’d just walked into class naked and without her homework. Cautiously she asked, “what’s going on?”

Inuyasha shook his head and straightened, dropping his hands from where he’d been leaning on them against the counter. He seemed to think for a moment before he shrugged and said, “nothing.”

Kagome arched a brow and scowled slightly at the obvious lie. She crossed her arms over her chest, leaning against the door frame. “Is there something I might do to help with this nothing?”

Sesshomaru smirked, looking thoroughly entertained and let out a low laugh, shaking his head. Her scowl wasn’t as steady as she would have liked when she turned it on the Dai-Yokai, but she fortified it as best she could. The brothers exchanged glances and Inuyasha glared at Sesshomaru, muttering, “shut up. You’re not funny.”

Sesshomaru took the fresh mug of tea and walked past Kagome, giving her plenty of room as she stepped closer to the door frame away from him. He just adopted an amused smile and said, “good night, Kagome.” She watched him disappear down the hall before she turned back to Inuyasha and asked, “what was that about? What’s happened?”

She looked concerned and he sighed, realizing belatedly that the link he’d been taking advantage of when it came to their limited mental access to each other went both ways, and she was figuring out how to read it. He’d let himself get wound up, hadn’t been able to keep it in check, and she’d picked up on his feelings. When he didn’t answer her right away, her mind and scent shifted uneasily and she began to wonder if she’d mis-stepped somehow. A little anxiously, she asked, “are you angry?”

Inuyasha felt the zing of her tension alongside his own and he let his expression slacken, stepping back from the counter and coming over to her. “No, I’m not angry.”

Kagome reached out to his tangled thoughts with hers, wanting to reassure him somehow but not knowing how to respond to this mystery problem. Uncertainly, she felt her way along the new mental space at the edge of her consciousness. She decided that it wasn’t all that different from the way she interacted with the closest layers of the Dead Space, and that was something interesting to consider all by itself.

Inuyasha raised his brows in surprise when he felt something that was definitively Kagome in his head. It was a strange combination of feelings: smooth, soft, strong, warm and cool all at once, like a sort of living steel with a velvet matt finish. His inu yokai’s mind automatically associated it with her scent, somehow combining the sensation with the idea of raw vanilla and rain. This ‘Kagome-ness’ seemed to brush against his mind in a way that was insistent and comforting. It was one of the strangest experiences he’d ever had, and he smiled a little, shaking his head, this time almost curiously.

He met her eyes and said, “well, that was an interesting trick.”

She looked a little surprised and asked, “it worked? I wasn’t sure if I was just losing my mind and imagining it. You can…” she scowled a little in frustration, realizing there really was no language that properly described the process of back and forth that seemed to happen over their mental connections. Lamely she finished, “you can feel it? When I sort of reach like that?”

Inuyasha nodded and said, “yeah… it’s weird though.”

Kagome was chewing her lip and he ducked his head, forcing her to meet his eyes again. He mentally pushed himself back against that smooth, almost feline twist of her thought-mass with clear curiosity, the same way a loyal canine might lean against ones side and look expectantly for a response. Her lips tugged into a faint smile as she sensed him and she said, “it helped today, that I could feel you there- in my head.”

He looked confused for a second and she added with some shame, “when I was being an idiot about falling in the water.”

Inuyasha frowned and pulled her small form under his arm, steering her down the hall again to the back of the house. “You weren’t being an idiot. Plenty of people don’t care for swimming in open ocean; and most people would be completely cracked after what happened to you. You just have some quirks, that’s all.”

‘Quirks…’ she thought. ‘That’s a kind way to look at it.’

When they made it back to the bedroom, Inuyasha changed into a pair of sweat pants and they curled up together in the blankets. Kagome fell asleep quickly, and he wrapped himself around her, doing his best to keep his temper even for her sake, and in an attempt to keep himself sane. But he couldn’t stop from re-examining the centuries old memories and looking for details.

The girl had been pressed against the tree, and him, if only for a short time. He’d mistaken her initially for Kikyo, hadn’t had any real idea of how many years had passed while the spelled arrow kept him in a magically induced coma of sorts. In fact-- he frowned as he remembered bits and pieces of the short exchange; they’d briefly argued. He hadn’t understood half of what she’d said, and thought the reverse was also likely. But she’d been crying as she’d grasped the shaft of the arrow. She’d been nearly screaming something before she’d removed the arrow, but he couldn’t quite remember what her words had been, beyond that they’d made little sense to him. He hadn’t learned to speak English fluently until much later. He’d assumed she was just scared of the other demon that was after her.

So much had been going on around them and then he’d just left. It had been years before he’d ever stopped to give the strange girl more than a passing thought. Inuyasha had spent many decades feeling he didn’t deserve the things he had now, and he found himself relapsing slightly into that old perspective as he pondered the shameful fact of how little regard he’d had for the girl who’d saved him in a pretty major way. Not just anyone could have pulled that sacred arrow free and released him. The magic wouldn’t have allowed it. But it was just possible that someone like Kagome could have done it.