InuYasha Fan Fiction ❯ The Breaking of Dawn ❯ Support and Strenght ( Chapter 5 )

Chapter five - Support and Strength

-()-()-

Sango looked up from the task of making breakfast when a shadow fell over the doorway.

She had awakened to find Kagome gone from her room, but since Inuyasha had been missing too, she hadn't worried about it, figuring that he would be the best candidate to tell her what had happened.

After standing in the doorway for a few seconds, the figure in the door moved aside to let a lower person enter. Sango felt her breath catch in her throat when her eyes focused on the newcomer. She had been aware that there would be changes, but still…

Kagome looked stunning. She had no other words to describe her and no other was needed. Rising from her place on the floor, she made her way over to her near sister and looked her over with a concerned expression. She could see that she'd recently cried because her eyes were red rimmed, but still. It did nothing to diminish her beauty. Opening her arms in an inviting manner, Sango walked closer to Kagome and embraced her. "Are you alright?" She asked when she felt her return the hug.

Kagome nodded against Sango's shoulder and forced her voice to sound light and easygoing. "Yeah, it's just that I've got so much to get used to at once. How about you? Did you get hurt?" Sango pushed away from the hug to look her in the eyes.

"I'm fine Kagome, just a little bump on the head. It's nothing."

Kagome nodded again and felt her eyes watering. "I'm so sorry. I should've left. I should've listened to you. I'm such a jerk." She felt responsible for what had happened to Sango. After all, if she had left then Sango wouldn't have had to worry about her safety too. She would've been able to focus all her attention on the fight.

Sango dismissed her concern and drew her in for a new hug. "It's fine Kagome. It wasn't your fault." Looking up from the hug, Sango spotted Inuyasha again. He was still standing by the entrance, looking a little uncomfortable with the whole situation.

She smiled at him and gestured for the breakfast when she broke the hug again. "Does anybody of you want something to eat?"

When both of them nodded, she turned to the food and finished the preparations. "Here you go." She said, as she handed both of them a plate to eat on. They accepted and sat down to eat. Finding a plate for herself she sat down to join them and pretty soon Miroku woke up too.

-()-

Listening to the voices in the room, Miroku finally decided to stop his meditation. He opened his eyes slowly to get used to the light in the room. Suddenly he realised that Kagome's voice was amongst the ones speaking and he quickly turned his gaze towards her.

The sight of her struck him like a vision. He had always admired Kagome's beauty, but now her beauty was so much more. Her posture and behaving, everything about her spoke of more grace, authority and power then she had had before. He had to admit that he envied the hanyou that had, without knowing, captured her heart.

"Ah, Lady Kagome. I see that you have recovered from your ordeal." He began as he found a plate and scooped up some of the food. "I must say, your beauty is more stunning than it ever was before. I would be honoured if you would bear…"

`THWACK!'

Sango put Hiraikotsu down on the floor again and continued the conversation as if they hadn't been interrupted, but she was relieved to see a small smile appear on her friends face from the monk's antics.

Shippo was surprisingly the last one to wake up and the first thing he did was take one look at Kagome, grin and jump into her arms, proclaiming that he liked her new look and smell.

-()-

Kagome sat cross-legged under the God Tree some days later. They had decided to stay in the village for a time before going out to look for shards again. Surprisingly it was Inuyasha that had first proclaimed the idea. The others in the group hadn't protested tough. Miroku and Kaede, at least seemed to think that it would be good for Kagome to get used to the changes in her life before they got into a new fight with demons. Besides, Kagome had figured out that Sango had suffered a slight concussion during the attack, so resting would be good for her too.

Sighing in content, Kagome leaned against the trunk of the tree and tried to relax. She had noticed that Inuyasha had been acting different around her lately, but not in a bad way. He seemed to be more comfortable around her now and he had an easier time of showing his affections when no one else were around. She smiled to herself and admitted that she really liked it.

Inuyasha had also tried to teach her some forms of fighting, but she hadn't been really good at it. Finally he had given up, telling her with only the slightest hint of an insult that youkai often fought on instinct. Therefore it wasn't that surprising that she didn't have any skills and had problems achieving them.

For one thing, youkai often fought against their siblings from the moment they were born. They developed real fighting skills from real fights. Practice fights just weren't the same. When you knew that your life wasn't on the line, you just couldn't fight well. Secondly, since Kagome had such a good heart, he claimed that her subconscious just didn't want to fight unless it was really, really necessary.

She was still stunned. He had actually complimented her, saying that she was too good-hearted to fight.

She thought that he was partly right about his assumptions. For one thing, it wasn't in her nature to hurt anybody and when she was practicing fighting with him… well, lets just say that for her, hurting him and cutting him up with her claws really wasn't an option. She did believe though that she would be capable of fighting if it came to the worst, if it was a life and death situation. After all, even if she loathed hurting any creature, she still shot youkai with her purifying arrows if the situation was too hard for Inuyasha and the others to handle alone.

Looking down on her claws, she flexed them. In the beginning, they had been a real pain in the ass along with her fangs. She kept forgetting that they were sharp and capable of cutting through wood and even stone if enough force was applied to the blow. It had resulted in many scratches covering her skin. And her fangs… she didn't even want to begin contemplating that subject. It was enough to say that she had bit her tongue too many times to count.

Instead of laughing at her clumsiness, Inuyasha had tried to make her look at the bright side of it; at least her capability of healing became better.

He claimed that the healing that was in the youkai blood only got better with `practice'. That meant that each time she got hurt and began to bleed, her healing got better and faster. The worse the injury, the more her healing was forced to improve. That also went for her capability of withstanding pain.

She had to admit that he was right. Her cuts and scratches did heal faster and she nearly didn't even feel it now when she bit her tongue. The only thing that didn't heal tough, were the scars from the youkai that attacked her. The claw-marks were still red and decorated her arm in a fashion that was very similar to Sesshoumaru's stripes on his cheeks and hands.

-()-

Inuyasha watched Kagome for a long time before he finally walked over to her.

Her way of behaving had changed a lot during the last couple of day, even if she hadn't noticed it herself. He had to admit that he admired the `new' Kagome. She was more secure of herself and her temper didn't flare easily anymore. In fact, he hadn't been `sat' once, since he walked in on her during her bath.

Somehow, he too felt different now. At least when he was around her. She had always been able to calm his spirit without trying, but now that she herself was a hanyou, or as close to it as a human-born could become, the invisible bond between them had only improved. The feelings they had shared before her transformation had somehow become stronger.

Kagome looked up at him when he stopped in front of her and gave him one of her rare, special, dazzling smiles. He smiled back at her and sat down by her side, leaning against the tree.

"How are you feeling?" He asked carefully. Even if her anger had calmed during the last couple of days, her other feelings were as a contrast extremely sensitive. He really couldn't blame her. After all, even if she hadn't been raped, she had still been violated in one of the worst ways possible.

Kagome leaned closer to him and rested her head on his shoulder. He really liked it when she did that and he growled a low content response to her actions. She only smiled again and looked up at the leaves in the tree.

"I'm better. I guess I'm finally overcoming the shock of what has happened" She could feel that he nodded against her and her smile widened. She was very grateful for all the support he had given her and she knew deep inside of her that without him, she wouldn't have made it. It had occurred to her just how weak she was after her first breakdown when he had comforted her. She wasn't weak only in body, but in her mind too.

Some of the naivety she had had before was lost and she knew that it would never return. The attack had weakened her and at the same time made her stronger. She was now more aware of the many dangers in her life, but she was also better prepared to deal with them.

She didn't dare to think about how she could've become if it wasn't for Inuyasha. At the crucial moment when her innocent view of men had been crushed and changed, she could very easily have begun to hate them, but then Inuyasha had been there. He had been there to comfort and hold her. He had been there to support her and listen to her. He had saved her. Not only from the would-be rapist, but also from a hateful view on men.

She had loved him even more for that.

"Do you want to begin searching for shards again?" She suddenly asked.

Inuyasha looked over at her and studied her closely. Her gold-streaked gaze bore into his golden. "If you are sure that you are up to it. I don't want you to push yourself." He finally said. She only smiled back at him and waved her hand dismissively.

"I'm okay really. Besides, when you have fallen of the horse once, it's important to get back up again soon." Now why was she suddenly talking about hoses?

"Huh?" He looked at her with a puzzled expression. She continued to smile at him as she explained the expression she had used. "What I'm trying to say is that it's important that I'm not putting it off just because I'm scared that it can happen again. If I do that, then I'll probably never be able to overcome my fear."

"So what you're basically saying is that you're scared of becoming too scared." He finally answered. "Exactly… uh… in a way." She nodded and took his hand as she began to rise from the ground. "We should ask Sango if she's up to it too, just to be sure." She continued as she began to drag him towards the village.

Inuyasha only shook his head as he continued to watch her. `She's really incredible. I don't think that I would be acting the way she does if our roles had been reversed. She doesn't even realise how brave and strong she is.'

-()-()-

A/n: Okay... It's fine if you don't like this chapter. I'm a little unsure about it myself, but it is necessary to explain Kagome's powers and all… And a lot of people have been asking me what kind of hanyou Kagome is… well, I'm sorry to say that I can't reveal that yet.

I'll be updating as soon as I get the chance. And thanks for all the reviews. I didn't expect such a huge response to this story, but I'm grateful that you like it.