InuYasha Fan Fiction ❯ She Who the Prophecy Foretold ❯ From Between Worlds to Between Brothers ( Chapter 46 )

Chapter 46 - From Between Worlds to Between Brothers

 

 

Kagome was in a dark place. Everywhere she turned was unending blackness. She could not see the ground beneath her feet. She couldn't even see her hands as she held them in front of her face. She called out into the darkness. “Hello? Is anyone there? Where am I?” Suddenly she saw a small pink light in front of her. She immediately started moving toward it but no matter how fast she ran it never seemed to get closer. “What is happening?! Someone answer me!” she screamed into the seemingly endless space.

 

“Calm yourself, Kagome,” a soft female voice whispered. “You are safe. You are not alone.”

 

“Who's there? Why is it so dark?”

 

“You are in-between. This is the only place I can speak to you.”

 

“Who are you? In-between? Am I dead?” she cried out, terrified.

 

“Who I am is of no consequence at this time my dear. You are not dead. Not entirely.”

 

“Not entirely? How can I be not entirely dead? What does that even mean? Damn it! Why can't I see?!”

 

“Kagome, I only have a short time. Please, I need you to calm down and listen to me.”

 

She took in a couple deep breaths in an attempt to calm. When she was as close as she was going to get she spoke. “Alright. I'm okay. Talk.”

 

“The shards, Kagome. They are a part of you. A part of your body, a part of your spirit. They call to you. They need to become one with you again.”

 

“What do you mean? I have some shards but how do I…”

 

“You must press each shard to your heart. They will be pulled into you, become a part of you. No one will ever be able to take them from you. They can never be removed from you again. Each will make you stronger, more powerful. That is all I can tell you now. You have to go back to him. He needs you. They all need you.”

 

The small pink light faded and Kagome was left in darkness once more.

 

~

 

They were running as fast as they could and could feel the two larger demons, one carrying Shippo, flying above them. They had been planning a run, but not like this. They were heading to where they last felt her. She couldn't be dead. It wasn't possible. No, this had to be something else, something like the well. But this time they had felt fear. They had felt pain. But it couldn't mean that she was gone. They just got her! How could she be gone?! How could their father have allowed such a thing?

 

~

 

As he stared at her, at her closed eyes, her dark lashes, her pale lips, and her sickly yellow skin his wrist slid from the now sealed wound at her throat, his hand falling to her chest. He opened his clenched fist to spread his fingers, covering her heart. A tear fell down his cheek and landed on hers, followed by another and another. They each slid down the curve of her beautiful cheek and past her cooling lips, tracing her jaw line and rolling down the delicate curve of her throat. His tears pooled on her chest before reaching his outstretched palm. There was a sudden blinding light originating from under his hand, shining out between his fingers. He had to close his eyes at its intensity, the villagers who had been watching in complete silence shielding their eyes as well.

 

The light started to fade and he slowly opened his eyes. He could feel her again. Their connection had returned. Then he heard it. Her heart had started to beat again. It was slow but it was beating. He looked down at her, studying her face. Her eyes flew open as she took in a gasp of air. She looked up at him as her breathing regulated, her eyes full of confusion looking into his which mirrored her feelings perfectly. Somehow she was back. He didn't know how and he didn't care. It didn't matter how. She had come back to him. He leaned down and kissed her, long and slow before moving to kiss every inch of her face. He kissed her chin, her cheeks, her nose, her eyelids that had fluttered closed again during their kiss, everywhere he could touch with his lips he did before returning to her now pink lips once more.

 

“I will never let you die again. I am so sorry, Kagome. I failed to protect you. I placed you in danger and I didn't protect you. Never leave me again. Please, promise me. Never again.” His voice was a desperate whisper filled with his pain.

 

The villagers were frozen in shock. Whispers of “She's alive,” and “He saved her,” drifted through the crowd, though neither of them heard them at all.

 

~

 

A little bit closer than last time seven running white inus skidded to a stop and the two flying demons landed at their side. They were relieved. Confused but relieved. They could feel her again. Now they needed to decide what to do. Did they continue on to find her or did they go back to camp and wait?

 

“Someone should return to camp and tell Rin and the others she is okay,” Shinji said to the others in inu, barking rather than transforming to speak.

 

“We should all return. That is what Kagome would want,” Kazue replied.

 

“But I wanna see Mama!” Isamu whined, literally.

 

“We will all return. She will come back in the morning. It is what father would tell us to do. She is safe with him. She is even happy at the moment so we do not need to worry.” Yoshi looked at the others who looked like they wanted to disagree. “Neither of them would want us running around the forest after dark. If something else happens we will go to her. She doesn't need us now while they are searching for Uncle Inuyasha.” They all grumbled but agreed and the group turned to return. Their sister needed them, needed to know things were alright. And the slayer and the monk were sure to be worried as well.

 

~

 

She reached up and cupped his cheek with one hand, wiping away his tears with her thumb. “You cried for me,” she whispered.

 

“I love you. I thought I lost you,” he whispered back, leaning into her touch.

 

“Sesshoumaru, I'm sorry.”

 

“You have nothing to apologize for. This was entirely my fault.”

 

She sat up and pulled herself into his lap and threw her arms around his neck. Looking into his eyes she could see traces of red that were slowly fading back to gold as his arm moved to hold her tightly. “No it's not.” She snuggled her face into mokomoko which wrapped around her waist in response. “I should have stayed further back or at least paid more attention to my surroundings.”

 

He shook his head before burying it in her neck, his nose pressed into her pulse and his eyelashes brushing her skin. “It was my fault. You will not convince me otherwise. How do you feel? Are you in any pain?” He breathed her in, reveling in the beautiful scent that no longer held the stench of death.

 

“No, I'm fine.” She looked surprised for a moment. “Huh, I really am fine. No pain or anything, but how did I…? Tell me what happened.”

 

“I tried to remove the poison but it had already spread too far. I gave you more youki but it didn't help. I even gave you my blood. I am immune to most poisons because of the strength of my own. I was hoping with some of my blood you would be able to fight the poison, but it didn't work or it was too late. And you died. You stopped breathing. Your heart stopped beating. Our connection cut. I thought I lost you. And then there was a bright light. I had to close my eyes and when I opened them the connection had returned and your heart started beating again. I don't know how but it doesn't matter. You're back.” He looked up as he felt a presence approaching. It was the woman who had stopped the villagers from attacking him.

 

“We want to thank you for rescuing us,” she said while looking at their two saviors. “I do not even want to imagine what would have happened if you had not arrived.”

 

Kagome turned and smiled at the woman, her skin now back to a normal healthy shade. “No problem. It's kinda what I do,” She looked at the demon lord who held her tightly. “…and once that guy threatened me there was no way he was going to leave here alive. Oh! Sesshoumaru, did you get the shard?” She watched as his brows furrowed. “What's wrong?”

 

“I remember taking it out of the arm. It was in my hand but I don't know what happened to it. I must have dropped it.”

 

“No, I don't sense it at all.” Her eyes widened in realization. “Was it in your hand when you put it over my heart?”

 

“It is possible but that does not explain where it went.”

 

“Oh yes it does. But there's no time for me to explain. We need to go. It's almost sunset already!”

 

“Please, stay the night with us! We owe you our lives.”

 

Kagome looked at the woman as she stood up, finding that her ankle no longer hurt a bit. “I'm sorry but we can't stay. We have somewhere to be.”

 

A man stepped forward now. “You will always be welcome in this village. Please come and see us again so we can repay you. May we know the names of our saviors?”

 

Kagome reached down and untied the ribbon from her leg and grabbed her bag, bow and quiver of arrows from the ground while Sesshoumaru stood directly next to her, making sure she was steady and wouldn't fall. He had a feeling he wouldn't move more than a foot away from her for a very long time. When she stood again she smiled at all the people before speaking to the man who she guessed was the village headman by his much nicer clothing. “My name is Kagome and this is Lord Sesshoumaru of the Western Lands.” She laughed lightly as gasps spread through the crowd. “And we have to be leaving. Take care, alright?” They all had dropped to their knees and were nodding with their heads nearly touching the ground.

 

“There is no need to kneel. You should keep watch for more snake demons. I believe there is a nest nearby. This Sesshoumaru will take care of it as soon as I can.” He watched as they looked up hesitantly before nodding at them.

 

“We appreciate that very much my Lord. Thank you very much Lord Sesshoumaru and Lady Kagome,” the headman said carefully. Sesshoumaru wrapped his arm around Kagome and formed his youki cloud, lifting them off the ground and back towards the west.

 

“You're not gonna trap me in a tree again, are you?”

 

He chuckled before nuzzling into her neck again and pulling in her scent, so full of life once more. “I cannot promise such.”

 

“I hope he's okay. We're not going to make it before sunset and we're not even sure he's there. Oh Kami I hope he's there.”

 

“I cannot think of anywhere else he would go. We will be there in just a few more minutes.”

 

~

 

Inuyasha hadn't realized the new moon was coming until it was too late. He had felt his senses weakening as the day wore on and he knew he would never make it back to camp before sunset. He would just have to stay in the cave until dawn. He'd done it tons of times before and no one ever found him. He was safe here in his secret place. He sat just inside the entrance, watching as the sun crept lower and lower in the sky. For a moment he had a really odd feeling, like something awful had happened but in a few minutes the feeling was gone as if it had never been there at all. All thoughts on the strange feeling were forgotten and he grimaced as the transformation began. It didn't necessarily hurt but it wasn't any fun as his ears slid from the top of his head to the sides and shifted into human shape. His gums tingled as his fangs pulled in and his fingers twitched as his deadly claws became useless, dull fingernails. His hair and eyes changed color and he found himself squinting in the darkness.

 

“I should have built a fire,” he muttered to himself. “Damn I'm hungry!” The now human hanyou moved deeper into the cave using memory alone since he couldn't see a thing. It was going to be a long night.

 

With his weakened senses Inuyasha never saw it, never heard the buzzing sound, and never smelled the scent of Naraku that it carried. But it had seen him. A single Saimyosho had watched from among the leaves of a tree right outside the entrance to the hanyou's secret hiding place. It wouldn't be secret for long. Neither would be his biggest secret. It had watched as he transformed from a rather powerful hanyou to a weak, defenseless human. The poisonous insect flew away, heading directly to his master. Naraku wouldn't get to use the information tonight but he only had to wait a short while until the next night of the new moon arrived. And then the inu hanyou would be vulnerable once more. If only Inuyasha knew that the date of his death had already been set. He only had twenty-eight days to live.

 

~

 

“Can you sense him yet? Or smell him?”

 

Sesshoumaru couldn't help the growl that escaped him. He was beginning to get frustrated, as that had been the seventh time in as many minutes that she had asked him the same questions. “Kagome, I told you. When I sense him I will tell you. There is no need to ask. The cave is in that rock face in the distance.”

 

Kagome squinted her human eyes in the increasing darkness, trying to see what he was talking about. “I'm sorry. I'm just worried. The sun has already set and we haven't reached him. I am always more comfortable when I am with him and I think it helps him too. Did you know I'm the first person to ever find out? Besides family of course. But he never told Kikyo. The live one or the undead one. He never trusted her with his secret.”

 

“He chose well when he chose to trust you. He is here and safe. We'll be with him in a minute.” Kagome let out a sigh of relief as they landed in the opening to the pitch black cave.

 

Inuyasha heard a noise at the entrance to his hiding place followed by footsteps. He couldn't see who or what was there and it frightened him more than he would ever admit. He stayed perfectly still and held his breath.

 

“Inuyasha? Where are you?” Kagome asked the darkness.

 

“Kagome? How the hell did you find me? How did you get up here?”

 

“This Sesshoumaru brought her.”

 

“Fuck, Kagome!” Inuyasha yelled from the darkness. “Why did you do that? Now nothing's gonna be able to stop him from killing me! You know I can't take him like this. Damnit!”

 

“Inuyasha, shut up and relax,” Kagome said calmly. “He isn't going to hurt you. He brought me because I was worried and didn't want you to be alone tonight. Why did you leave? And why didn't you come back before tonight? You should know better!” Behind her Sesshoumaru wrinkled his nose. There was just the slightest trace of a familiar scent lingering here but it was too weak for him to identify.

 

“Damn, woman. If you're gonna ask questions at least give me a chance to answer them. I needed some time alone to think. That's why I left. And I didn't realize how long I'd been here until I felt it starting. By then it was too late. Did you really have to bring him here? This place was a secret. Now that bastard knows about it and I'll have to find a new one. I'm fucking starving! Tell me you have some food in that bag of yours.”

 

“Uh, Inuyasha? It wasn't a secret. I'll explain in a minute but let me find you some food first.” She began to rifle through the bag before producing a flashlight and turning it on. “It there anything to start a fire with? I brought ramen for you. If not though I have some jerky and chips too.”

 

“There's wood in the corner. Do you have your fire sticks?”

 

“My matches, yeah.”

 

“Fine. Point that light over here so I can find the wood and get it ready. And then I want some jerky. I haven't eaten for days and this human body seems to mind a whole hell of a lot more than my hanyou form.” Kagome held the flashlight aimed at the rear of the cave and watched as Inuyasha gathered and arranged the wood before she moved over to start the flames. In minutes there was a roaring fire and the cave was bathed in light. Inuyasha took the jerky she offered him before moving to the back of the cave once more to watch her prepare the ramen and glare at his brother.

 

Sesshoumaru stood behind where Kagome knelt, looking down at her. He couldn't bring himself to move away. He wanted her in his arms, not on her knees serving his ungrateful little brother. Feeling the eyes on him he glanced at said brother, seeing the distrusting way he was observing him. “Is there a problem, brother?”

 

Kagome looked up at them both. “What's wrong? Inuyasha, are you alright?”

 

“Keh. I'm just fuckin' perfect. Just wondering why the bastard is staring at you like that is all.”

 

“Inuyasha, don't call him a bastard. You two need to get along and your attitude makes it a lot more difficult. Here, eat your damn noodles and be quiet for a while.” Seeing her remove the pot from the fire he scooted forward and grabbed the chopsticks she held out to him before digging in. There wasn't a whole lot of point in her putting the noodles in a bowl since he was going to eat them all anyway. “Don't eat too fast. If you haven't eaten in days and you gorge yourself like you like to you'll end up being sick.”

 

“I don't get sick, wench. You know that.”

 

“Sure. Sure, but don't come whining to me when you throw up your dinner because you ate it too fast. You're human at the moment, remember?”

 

He just shot her a look and a “Keh,” before returning to his beloved instant noodles. She let out a sigh before settling against the cave wall. Sesshoumaru sat down beside her and she leaned into him, resting her head on his fur covered shoulder. He couldn't hold back the smirk as his little brother's eyes widened and his hand froze halfway to his mouth, noodles slipping from the chopsticks to land down the front of his haori.

 

“I'm really tired all of a sudden.”

 

“This Sesshoumaru is not surprised. You have had a rather busy day.”

 

Kagome laughed softly. “Yeah, you could say that.” She looked up then. “Inuyasha, are you okay? You've got noodles all down the front of you.”

 

Her words snapped him out of his moment of frozen confusion. “I'm fine, Kagome. I just… your… your touching him.”

 

“Yeah, and? Look, I know that he told you he was interested in me so don't play all shocked. Yes I'm touching him. He told me how he feels and I'm pretty sure I feel the same way so you're just gonna have to deal with it. Besides, there's something I want to show you, some things you need to know, need to see first hand.”

 

`She feels the same! Did you hear? She loves us back!'

 

`Yes, this Sesshoumaru heard. We do use the same ears. How would I have missed it?'

 

`No need to be so rude. You should be jumping up and down!'

 

`This Sesshoumaru does not jump around like a child.'

 

`You're lucky she can see through your tough exterior. You need to loosen up.'

 

`She died in my arms less than an hour ago. However happy I am that she believes she feels the same as we do it does not change the fact that I failed to protect her.'

 

“You mean you actually like the great lord of the icicle?” Sesshoumaru failed to hold back the snarl the erupted from him at his brother's words. He was still on edge, his beast still floating just below the surface. While he wasn't fighting to get out he was still holding on to a portion of control which was keeping Sesshoumaru from fully relaxing.

 

Kagome looked up at him as the snarl echoed in the small cave. Completely ignoring Inuyasha she reached out and gently traced the markings on the right side of his face. He leaned into her touch, closing his eyes and breathing in her scent. She didn't even look towards the hanyou as she chastised him once more. “Inuyasha, you need to stop the name calling. Don't make me say it. We both had a busy day and a very difficult evening today. Please, just be nice for me for a while, okay? Finish eating and then I'll show you. Maybe then you can stop being such a jerk.”

 

“Keh. I'm not being a jerk! I'm just trying to protect you! You can't trust him, Kagome. You don't know. You have no idea what he is really like!”

 

She turned and glared at him. If he had them at the moment his puppy ears would have plastered to his head. “I know. I understand more than you do. Damn it! Fine.” She stood, careful not to hit her head on the low ceiling, and knelt right in front of Inuyasha. Sesshoumaru merely watched as she removed the chopsticks and pot from his hands and set them to the side.

 

The human hanyou was looking at her in confusion. “What the hell are you doing? I was fucking eating that!”

 

“Close your eyes.”

 

“What the…”

 

She growled, the sound rumbling in her throat. “Close…Your… Eyes… Now.” He looked into her eyes and saw that she was serious.

 

“Alright, fine. Geez, Kagome. When did you learn how to growl?”

 

“Never mind that. Just relax.” Inuyasha took a breath in and closed his eyes. He stiffened slightly when she rested her hands on his head, her fingers buried in his black hair. “I said relax. I'm not gonna hurt you.” He relaxed a bit and she started. She showed him all the things Sesshoumaru had shared with her over the last few days, showing him the truth about things he never before understood. When she was finished he went limp and leaned forward into her arms. His face was buried in the crook of her neck as he soaked in all the comfort she could give.

 

“Is it true?” he whispered into her throat. “Are you sure it's true?”

 

“Yes, Inuyasha, it's true. I could tell when he showed me and I know you can feel it too.”

 

“But… all this time…?”

 

“You never understood him. He's nothing like you think. Inuyasha, he wants to be your brother again, like when you were little. Do you think you could do that? I know it might take a while for you to get used to everything, but wouldn't it be nice to have a real brother instead of an enemy?” She could feel his tears rolling down her neck as he nodded against her. “Good. That's really good.” Slowly he pulled back from her and looked to where Sesshoumaru still sat, wiping his eyes on his sleeves.

 

The demon lord slowly nodded his head at his little brother. “It is all true, Inuyasha. This Sesshoumaru has tried in the past to explain things to you.”

 

“I know. I never let you talk. I'm… I'm sorry… really. I don't understand why… why did Kikyo lie to me? Why would it matter to her whether we got along or not?”

 

“I think that she wanted you for herself. She was lonely and you were lonely and you formed a kind of bond based on how each of you was separated from everyone else by one thing or another. If you and Sesshoumaru had talked you would probably have left her to go home. I think she was afraid you would leave her and she would be alone again.” Kagome spoke softly while running her hand through his hair.

 

Inuyasha watched her closely as she spoke before nodding his agreement. “I guess that makes sense.”

 

“But none of that matters anymore. All of that was supposed to happen just the way it did or the prophecy wouldn't come true. If she never pinned you to that tree then I would never have come to release you.” Kagome was startled when he swept her into his arms.

 

“Thank you Kagome. Thank you for helping me. I don't know what I would do without you.”

 

“You don't need to worry about that. You will always be my friend. Always.”

 

“Even if you end up with him?”

 

“Of course, silly. He's your brother, your family.”

 

“I already promised you I would never take her away from you, brother. It was the truth then and it is still true now. You are welcome at the Palace Moon Inuyasha. You always have been and always will be.”

 

Inuyasha slowly released Kagome and both brothers stood. Kagome watched, close to tears, as they embraced for the first time since the death of their father. As he pulled back Inuyasha smirked. “Okay, so you're not a huge asshole but I'm still warnin' ya. If you hurt our Kagome I will kill you.”

 

“I would expect no less.”

 

Kagome smiled widely. “Our Kagome? I was unaware I belonged to either of you let alone both.”

 

“Yeah well you better get used to it. You're mine. But I'm willing to share you with him so long as he treats you right.”

 

Kagome laughed aloud before handing the once again seated hanyou back his chopsticks and noodles and moving to sit beside Sesshoumaru once more. He wrapped his arm around her shoulder and she drifted off to sleep with her face buried in mokomoko once more.

 

 

 

Author's notes:

 

Was the suspense really that terrible? Even when I said she wasn't going to stay dead? I had a lot of fun writing that battle scene and I'm glad so many of you enjoyed it, even if you did want to get out the torches and pitchforks. I think it was worth it. Not every chapter can end of a fluffy note.

 

I've started putting this up on fanfiction.net, same pen name. Listed the first 20 chapters in 2 days. I'm thinking about taking a bit of time and going through and checking for mistakes, doing a bit of touch-up. I had to change my scene break format for ff.net and I like the new once better. I suppose though that no one would be too happy about it if I did that instead of writing new stuff, eh? I suppose I could tweak just one chapter every couple of days so you guys don't have to suffer.

 

I actually have a few moments of silence here! My step-father took Destiny to the park. He promised her like two weeks ago and is just now doing it. I don't know how long they'll be gone but I have to say, the quiet is nice. I don't know if I said before or not but we've got a different kind of household over here. My husband and I and my mother and her husband (not my dad - they got married two years after I did) all bought a house together. My mother is my best friend and we tried to live apart but it never worked. We were constantly on the phone or at each others house and my mother was miserable without me. This is easier and cheaper. The only downside is that Destiny can no longer go spend the weekend with grandma cuz grandma is here! I miss those weekends sometimes when you get a whole day or two break to let your brain be a grownup. Of course I have a lot of help on the whole day to day stuff. Mom has claimed all rights to bedtime stories so she gets her ready for bed every night since she works all day. On the weekend they have waffle-palooza (mom's word, I swear) where they make a huge batch of waffles to freeze for the week. Mike (step-dad) cooks dinner a lot of the time and Destiny loves to help. My husband works third shift so he spends his time with Destiny in the mornings which is very helpful since I stay up to all hours of the night. I get to sleep in. So it's not so bad to be a stay at home mom in this house. Its really just me and her while daddy sleeps for about five hours and that's when we do all our school and crafts. Well gee, that was quite a bit of blather. Not quite sure where that all came from!

 

Reviewer Responses -

 

Sunset Love - I could never kill Kagome off permanently. Just needed a good dramatic scene. Good luck with your finals!

 

Sweet Dark Silence - Please no curses, unless you're gonna curse me to fall through a well into the feudal era. I'll take one of those.

 

Sandra - I hope you didn't have a bad day, really. My oldest nephew is a teenager now but I honestly think my four year old has a bigger attitude. My mother says she's my clone except I was never quite so mouthy when I was little. No, she acts like me at 12 or so! I hope this chapter makes you feel better!

 

Ceira/N8tivegurl - I didn't want to further traumatize the poor little guys. No seeing a dead Kagome in daddy's arm today. Maybe next time. ;-)

 

TrulyOutrageous - Let me let you in on a little secret. I really don't like things that end badly. Like the House of Sand and Fog. I absolutely hated that movie because everyone died at the end! I can't stand things that end in tragedy so you can be assured that everything will always eventually be alright. I don't like stories that end with character death or break ups and broken hearts and the like. When I take the time to read something I want it to keep me interested and make me happy at the end. If this story ever ends it will be on a happy note. Wow, I'm really talkative today!

 

Sandra once more - I actually did enjoy it quite a bit. It let me know how into the story all of you are to get all worked up over a cliffie. Made my day!

 

Kawaii Kilala - Good guess on the dream sequence thing. No mournful howl this time, unless of course you count the one from sweet dark silence. She let out a good one in her review. Definitely guilty of setting up suspense. It's fun too! Twelve kids, definitely stressful, and a Japanese exchange student is absolutely awesome. Must be great to be able to ask someone questions that can actually answer them! My husband has decided he is going to train attack gerbils to run off any boys after his little girl. Honestly, he said that.

 

K.M. - Glad you found the story and even happier you like it! Sorry about the cliffie. Actually, I'm really not but you know, it's always nice to apologize. ;-) Hope you liked this one!

 

Kagome-chan - Honored to be a favorite! I don't like snakes either. Could ya tell?

 

M0cha fairy - Glad you like the story. (I actually just typed glad you liked the review! Almost didn't catch it too!) Just a question. What part are we Ewwwwing about?

 

Chaos - Nope, not a trigger for the transformation. Daddy's got something to do with it.

 

Arryelle - My husband still acts like he did when we met and he was 16. I don't think he ever wants to grow up! Thankfully he was responsible and a hard worker then or I would be screwed! I hope the sad was worth it. Gotta have ups and downs, right?

 

Iloveprettysilverhair - Glad you liked the fight scene. That would be the…. Third I think? The boar w/ the shard, the alpha fight, and hebitoru. That's all of them, isn't it? Damn, I wrote the thing and I can't remember. I'm gonna have to go back and read the whole thing again. I have all the posted chapters in a word file, wide margins and everything, only 12 font and it's 317 pages! 185,426 words, not including all the authors notes. Biggest thing I have ever written in my life. I don't even want to imagine how long it will be by the time I'm done being as the journey hasn't even started yet! We still have a whole week in Kagome's time before they can go! I have a feeling once they start moving there will be more fighting. Oh, I just remembered one! The Kouga/Inu/Sess fight if you would count that as a fight.

 

Syoze - Birthday coming up - what's gonna happen is a secret! Shhh! Ouch, 60 bucks down the toilet, literally! Hehe. I made myself laugh. Sorry for laughing at your misfortune. I would die without the internet and I have this sneaking suspicion a whole lot of people would be rather upset too. Kagome could never really die! She has too much crap to do!

 

Lester Joe - I was gonna ask if it really was shorter but I guess it was. Didn't notice until now but it was about 1500 words less that the last couple. Glad I can hold your interest! Now we just have to hope I can hold my interest! Like twelve different ideas have been popping into my head and I've been being a good girl and just jotting down the basics rather than starting another story while working on this one. That would get messy fast!

 

Suleimacastaneda - Glad you like it!

 

Vicki - glad you found it, and even happier you like it! I try.

 

Inu lover - If you lynch me then you'll never find out what happens! Glad you're enjoying my newest obsession.

 

Bre - Glad you like it. Thanks for the review!

 

Jean - Glad you liked the battle. That one wasn't even that hard. The alpha fight I outlined first, decided on the major hits, and then wrote it. This one just flowed out. Now if only I could just plug my brain into the computer and save my fingers the time!

 

Cocoke5 - amazing to think that something I wrote actually brought tears to your eyes! You guys are all giving me so much self-confidence over here! We decided on the whole homeschool thing while I was pregnant, maybe even before. My husband and his older sister both dropped out of school because they were bored and my nephew is heading the same direction. I was always irritated by the whole busy work thing, waste of time. This way we can go at her pace and she'll never have to wait for everyone to catch up to her. Add to that the bullies (I had a huge problem with that in elementary school and I went to a Lutheran school. The principal actually made excuses for the kids that tortured me everyday. “It's just because they're so smart” actual thing she told my mother. Can you believe it?), the teachers who don't care (no offense to any teachers, I know some are great but when I came to Florida I had several teachers for three years in a row that never even bothered to learn my name), the whole physical/sexual abuse stuff you read in the papers all the time, and finally the fact that she's being raised pagan, definitely not a mainstream, accepted, or understood religion. I've read horror stories about teachers telling pagan kids they're going to hell and scaring the crap out of them. I always wanted to be a teacher but I figured why should I teach other peoples kids and let strangers teach mine when I could teach mine? This way I know what she is being told and other people's opinions and behaviors won't drag her down. And once again I've gone off on a tangent. Damn!

 

Ginrei - Probably in Orlando. Not that far away but still a bit of a drive for a hermit like me. I'm sure it would be awesome though! Hope you survived the evil cliffie!

 

Brainshake - Let's see, I sleep from about 2 or three a.m. to whenever my husband manages to drag me out of bed. I spend every evening from about eight or so til the 2 or 3 typing my poor fingers off! Oh, I need you're email address. In the review it only shows your ID. Either put it in your next review or email me at cmk2cmm@aol.com and I'll add ya.

 

Dee - The chapter would have been up nearly two hours ago if I didn't keep going off in all directions in my responses today. I'll bet this is the longest string of author's notes I've ever done! Hope you survived the wait!

 

Inusbabe - I'm not sure it ever will end. I can see myself still working on this one this time next year while still having done the whole chapter nearly ever day stuff. Makes my head hurt a little to think about it. I just have way too many plans for the plotline!

 

Devious authoress - Did I ever mention that I love your name? I'm updating! Going into hiding wouldn't really change too much over here, but then you would never get the end to the story!

 

Childofthemoon - You're sweet to say that I'm sweet.

 

Monk miko - Tests suck! I'm so glad I never have to do that again. Although I suppose it would be fun to take a class or two here and there. Always liked learning. Kind of a nerd. Of course I have something up my sleeve! And they're big sleeves too! I'm working on making myself two gorgeous kimonos with those huge sleeves. Love it! But then I don't have a lot of time to sew since I'm always typing! Never fear! Kagome could never die! I couldn't to that to myself, I mean to my readers, yeah, right, that's what I meant. Til next time!

 

 

Anyone who wants to be added to my updates list, email me at cmk2cmm@aol.com

 

Single Spark readers please try to remember to rate when you review if you can! I love watching that number go up, almost as much as I like reading your reviews! You all make me feel so special!

 

And now I'm done, I swear.