InuYasha Fan Fiction ❯ The Mystic Miko ❯ Finding the Pattern ( Chapter 3 )

Disclaimer: I do not own Inuyasha and co.

A Mystic Miko

Chapter three: Finding the Pattern

The next morning they moved on toward Edo. After discussing their options, they had agreed to return to Kaede's to rest up and think about this change in their plans.

They traveled all that day and made their camp beside a small stream. Dinner consisted of the remains of yesterdays hunt and Kagome found herself sitting on Inuyasha's right and Kikyo on the other side of him.

`Why do we always end up in this formation? Earlier I had noticed this and tried to sit across from them at the lunch break but eventually I had found myself at his side. I wonder if Kikyo noticed this. Maybe its her that is making this happen.'

Kagome accepted her bowl of food from Miroku and still tried to think about any possible explanation. Then she noticed that even Shippo, Sango and Miroku were setting in a pattern.

Miroku sat on the other side of Kikyo and shockingly Sango was next to him. Shippo was able to either sit beside Kagome or in her lap.

"Hey guys, have you noticed that we always gather around the fire in the same formation lately?" Kagome asked them.

The looks they gave her answered her. They too had noticed this. "Is there a spell on us?"

"No, not one that I can detect." Miroku said.

"Kagome, I want you to try some thing. Try to sent out your scenes to us and the surrounding area." Kikyo said.

She nodded; Keade had taught her how to search with her scenes, hoping that she could find the shards faster that way. She did this every morning now. Sometimes she could find them, sometimes it just left her with an idea of what was about her.

She closed her eyes, `Hmm. Lets see.' Kagome relaxed her mind and began to focus on Sango as she was across from her. She made out her aura and then she stretched her senses out until she could 'see' all the others. Again she spread her senses out further till she reached the tree lines and the edge of the stream.

"Ok, Kikyo. Now what do I do?"

"Is there any other being aside from us?" Kagome shook her head. "Do you feel any residual after effect of any spell?" Again a no. "Do you feel as if there is something missing from your view?" She nodded in affirmation. "Good, that is were you will start. Look closely at our auras and try to fine what is missing."

Kagome nodded her head then looked at each of her companions' aura with her minds eye. Kikyo's was a soft pink image because of her miko powers. Sango had the normal human aura of green and Miroku's was a blue due do his priest abilities.

Shippo's had a rusty brown aura. This spoke of his Kitsune heritage. Inuyasha's, well his was very different from anyone's. He had two colors to his; it was like looking at a flower. There was a deep green at the center of his body and then a pale yellow shined around that.

Inuyasha could feel the intense sturdy Kagome was doing with his aura. "What is it, wench?" It was driving him nuts not seeing her eyes boring into him, as her senses seemed to be.

"Why do you have two colors?"

"What do you mean?" Inuyasha glanced down at himself and checked his haori and hakame. `Both are still red. What is she talking about?'

"You are seeing both of his auras, Kagome. His human side is the center and the outer ring is that of his youkai." Kikyo said.

"What color am I, Kagome?" Shippo asked.

"Rusty brown, Shippo. A nice color I believe. And before the barrage of questions, Sango your green, Miroku is blue and Kikyo is a light pink. Same as me."

"What…." Inuyasha started. Then stopped. Kagome decided to let him know later. He didn't seem to want the others to know.

"Very well, Kagome. You have done that first stage correctly. Now look deeper at them. Find that which is missing."

Kagome looked at each of their auras. Nothing seemed to feel off to her. Except for the tilt to Miroku's. Setting her senses on him she looked for any reason for the tilt. Slowly a fine line of his aura came into focus. It stretched away from him and then seemed to be intertwined with another. Switching her focus to Sango, she found that a line of her aura was that which Miroku's was intertwined with.

At this sudden understanding she found an under laying pattern that connected each of them to the other. "Kikyo, there is a pattern made of lines from our auras. It's what was missing."

"Very good. You have found the spell I used."

"What!" Inuyasha turned his eyes to Kikyo.

"I knew she needed training. I placed a spell on all of you and myself, when I came into your camp that night."

"So is it removable?" Miroku asked her.

"Yes, but Kagome must find the way to unravel it. There is no counter spell or any way of force to remove it. Kagome, you must become use to your powers and to do that you must learn to make it move to your demands. Find the knot in the pattern and unravel it. There is a side effect of the spell. Until she unravels it we will be forced into formations like this until then. I don't think that it will hamper us much. But the sooner you complete this task the better we will all feel."

Kagome nodded her head. She followed her line through the pattern. And found a dead end. Literally, her line just stopped at the other end of the pattern. At some points in the weave, hers wove around the others, but there were no knots. When hers was near Kikyo's it turned fuchsia in color then went back to pink as it twisted away.

"This isn't going to be easy." Kagome groaned.

"I never said that it would be."

Silently the group finished their meal and began to set up their sleeping areas. As each individual had either trained or was naturally intoned to their being, they felt each intense scan that Kagome did.

"Will you stop for the night? I can't take this any more. How are we to know if anything is coming into our camp? Go to sleep, wench!" Inuyasha really didn't mean for his words to be as harsh as they sounded.

"Gomen, Inuyasha. I hadn't realized you could sense it." His ears lowered to his head at her tone. She was just trying to learn.

"It's alright, just, go to sleep. Think about it tomorrow." He jumped into a tree and got comfortable in the branches. He watched Kagome settle into her sleeping bag and then listened as one by one the group fell into deep sleep.

All but one, he noticed. Glancing down he saw Kikyo lying at the base of his tree. She had pulled her legs in tight to her chest and sounds of intense heart wrenching sobs came from her buried head.

Gently he jumped from his perch and landed quietly next to Kagome. Keeping his eye on Kikyo he shook her shoulder until she moaned at being shaken awake. Quickly he put a hand on her mouth and the other behind her neck. He eased her up to a sitting position then pointed to Kikyo.

"Why is she still mournful? She seemed alright today," he asked her.

Yawning, Kagome looked over at the other girl and grimaced. "She was suppressing her emotions, Inuyasha. I can only imagine the tortures her mind is putting her through."

"But, why? We have all forgiven her, haven't we?"

"It's not us, it's herself. She hasn't allowed herself to forgive. And she won't until she is ready. Go to her, Inuyasha, ease her pain."

"What, but I thought..?" He was confused now. What about the kiss they shared. Did she really want him to be with Kikyo? Could he really have the both of them?

"She needs you. And I know she needs to feel that someone is holding her up, someone who is willing to be her support. Unlike the rest of us, she has no one. I would go to her, but its not me she needs. You are a connection to her past. While I am a reminder of these last few years." She wiped the few tears of shared sorrow from her eyes and looked at Inuyasha.

"But what should I do?"

"What you have always done for me. Take her into your lap and tell her it will all come to her soon. That she needs to let go of the sorrow and look forward to tomorrow. That I need her straight and you will need her support." Still Inuyasha sat by her. Grinning at the proud hanyou that is too scared to comfort another, she stood and taking his hand, dragged him over to the miko.

Half way to Kikyo, Inuyasha stopped her. "Kagome, earlier you said I had two colors, what are they?"

Kagome smiled and then placed a hand on his face. "A beautiful green is the core and a shinning yellow is the outer ring. I wonder what it will look like when you change?" She smiled at his sudden frown and then stretched her height to his and lightly kissed him.

He smiled at her. 'Yep, its official, she defiantly confuses me.'

She pulled him along to Kikyo then pushed him down with his back to the tree he was sitting in earlier. She pulled at Kikyo's shoulder, making sure that Inuyasha was the only one that Kikyo would see; she got ready to sprint away. As Kikyo uncurled, she leapt out of sight.

Kikyo looked over her shoulder and saw Inuyasha sitting beside her. 'What does he want? Can I not be left to my sorrow? I only wish to be alone.' She turned her head back, intent on ignoring him. But it seemed he had other plans.

Following Kagome's advise, he reached out and took hold of her shoulder. Pulling back gently he make her look at him. 'She is so alone. Even in the mists of our group she is alone. Something I once thought I was. But Kagome showed me that I wasn't. Now, I need to show her.'

Taking a firm hold on her upper arms, he pulled her, blanket and all into his lap. Settling her and wrapping his arms around her, he began to think of what Kagome said to do.

But what does he say to her? What will allow her to know that her grief will be brief?

"Go ahead Kikyo, let it go. I will be here for you. This will pass someday, but I will be here for you, as will Kagome and Sango, Miroku and Shippo. We won't let you be alone."

Kikyo clung to him and listened to his words. He said that she was needed now, that she had things to do. She needed to train Kagome and help him defeat their enemy. And that she also had a place to stay now, people that looked to her and some that needed her.

Her sobs slowed until she fell into a fitful sleep. Inuyasha felt her body twitch and heard soft cries of sorrow and guilt from her, caused by the dreams she was still being haunted by.

Kagome looked over at them and could see the helplessness in Inuyasha's eyes, as Kikyo still fought herself. She stood and took her sleeping bag with her as she approached them.

Kikyo sat in between his legs, his left leg was bent to support her back and his right was bent over her own legs. He held the blanket up around her shoulder with his left arm and had his right draped across her lap.

Kagome came up and sat down on his right. She reached out and placed her hand on Kikyo's ankle. As predicted she calmed and seemed to fall into a deeper sleep.

Inuyasha caught Kagome's eyes and saw her shrug. Kagome wedged her feet between Kikyo's ankles then drew her sleeping bag over herself and then snuggled up to his arm.

Though the position wasn't really comfortable, Kagome felt a peace come over her and soon she too was deeply asleep.

Inuyasha remained awake for the remainder of the night. 'What is the connection between the two? Why is it that when Kagome touches a sleeping Kikyo they both become relaxed and at peace with themselves?

Could it have something to do with their soul? Perhaps the contact brings it together. Do they share their dreams?'

Long into the night Inuyasha's mind raced. He had to find a way to help Kikyo balance herself and keep Kagome from thinking of going home for good. They didn't even know for sure if Kikyo could still sense the shards. Sure Kagome said she still had the aura of a miko, but do all mikos sense the shards? If that were so, wouldn't they have come across them?

But that wasn't the reason he wanted Kagome to stay. No, she was special to him. He loved her; she was family, as well as everyone else in the group. They had showed him that he was wanted and needed by them.

As the sun rose, Inuyasha realized that though his mind was racing with questions, he felt completely as peace. The combined scents of the girls lay about them and brought with it a calming presence. Inuyasha breathed deeply of the scent and watched as the clouds turned from light pink to pale yellow.

O.o.O.o.O.o.O.o.

So how was that chapter? I know it's short but hopefully they will get longer. No promises. Please review and maybe my muse will pick up her pieces of thoughts and sort them out for me to figure out what they mean.

Later.