InuYasha Fan Fiction ❯ To Accept One's Fate ❯ - To Remember The Forgotten - ( Chapter 2 )

Author's Note: I have bad news: my computer broke down and it won't be fixed before Friday. I hope that I can get back to work soon, but the good news is that my beta-reader XoxGaaraxoX was very fast with this chapter, so here it is. I hope you'll enjoy. =)

 

Disclaimer:

I do not own Inuyasha - Rumiko Takahashi does. But I do own this plot.

 

 

 

 

 

Chapter 2

To Remember The Forgotten -

 

 

 

“What?” Miroku whispered, not trusting his own eyes. He watched as the body of the warrior vanished, and was replaced by the body of an old, white-haired woman.

 

“What's going on here?” Inuyasha asked harshly as he jumped down from the tree to stand next to Miroku.

 

Shortly after him Sango and Kagome, with Shippou in her arms, also arrived. Kagome took a good look at the old women. She wore similar clothes to Kaede, only her hakamas were in a dark blue. Her hair was completely white. She wore it in a big knot at the back of her head, and somehow the aura of this woman seemed familiar to Kagome.

 

“You're an illusionist, aren't you old woman?” Miroku asked her as she looked up at him.

 

“Stop the chitchat Miroku!” Inuyasha shouted, and pushed him away so he could stand in front of the woman.

 

“What is the meaning of this, you old hag? Why did you attack us?” He pulled the woman up by her collar and looked her straight in the eyes.

 

“Inuyasha!”

 

Kagome pushed herself between the mysterious woman and her friend. Then she glared angrily at the half-demon.

 

“Don't be so harsh on her!” she scolded.

 

“What? How can you say that? She tried to kill us!” Inuyasha yelled, trying to defend himself.

 

“I didn't try to kill you,” the woman spoke softly. With one hand, Kagome grabbed Inuyasha's arm. He wasn't about to release the woman.

 

“Please - release - her,” the young priestess said very slowly. She held his golden gaze with her own brown eyes.

 

“No way I...”

 

But he couldn't say any more before Kagome interrupted him with a very loud and clear…

 

“Sit!”

 

Immediately the beads around his neck started to glow and pulled him down to the ground; but not before he released the collar of the old woman's clothing. With a loud thump he soon laid face down on the cold forest floor. Kagome didn't bother to look at her friend. Instead she turned her head to the woman.

 

“You're really an illusionist?” she asked, reiterating the question Miroku had asked before her.

 

“No,” the woman answered, looking into the surprised faces of the group.

 

“I'm a witch,” she clarified, “I'm just good at what I do.”

 

Kagome could see a little smile on the old woman's face.

 

“But if you didn't want to kill us,” Sango interrupted, “then why did you do all of this?”

 

“Do what?” the woman asked. Kagome and her friends glanced around their surroundings. They could see that nothing in the clearing showed any signs of the battle before. Even the trees that were destroyed by the demon illusion were complete again.

 

“We're getting nowhere with this,” Miroku muttered and took a step forward, “Why did you create this charade?”

The witch looked down at the ground.

“I wanted you to leave my forest - is that so bad?” she asked innocently. Before she could ask more questions, Kagome heard a grumble from the ground. Inuyasha tried to stand up, cursing between his teeth about some stupid beads or bees. She couldn't really tell.

 

“So this is your forest?” Kagome asked, ignoring the cursing half-demon. The witch nodded.

 

“Then what is your name?” the girl wanted to know.

 

“You shall call me Tomoko.”

 

“It is nice to meet you, my Lady,” Miroku said to her, and bowed down a little.

 

“Please let me introduce you to my friends. This lovely lady is Sango,” the monk pointed to the demon slayer, who waved shyly with her right hand and smiled a little.

 

“…her loyal comrade and friend Kirara. Sitting on her back you can see our friend Shippou. And…” he took a step aside, so Tomoko could get a full few of Kagome, “…this here is Lady Kagome.”

“..Oh, and don't forget Inuyasha,” he added quickly.

 

Miroku put his foot on the half-demon's back and earned a low growl. Tomoko smiled, nodding her head in acknowledgement.

 

“We assure you that we meant no harm while entering your forest, Lady Tomoko,” Miroku said lifting both of his hands to show her his palms.

 

“You can never be too sure in these days...” the woman mumbled. It seemed that her look pierced straight through the monk in front of her. She pulled herself from her thoughts.

“But I do hear honesty in your voice young monk. My apologies, I didn't mean any harm either. Maybe you young people would like to join me at my home for some tea?”

 

As they all agreed and quickly collected their belongings, they started to walk with the old lady. Inuyasha pouted silently as he watched their backs get further away.

 

Kagome turned and shouted over her shoulder:

 

“Don't make such a fuss Inuyasha and come on!”

 

 

 

 

 

*****************************************

 

 

 

 

When everybody settled around the fire in the big cave that Tomoko called her home, the old lady gave each of them a warm cup of water. It had been boiling in a small kettle above the fire with a few herbs in it; which to Kagome smelled absolutely delicious. She took a sip and decided that it tasted delicious too. Inuyasha sat alone a few meters away near the entrance of the cave, and didn't bother to face them. With his sword in his arms, he glared into the deep forest.

 

Kagome took a good look around. There were furs hanging on the stone walls of the cave. It looked like they were the furs of some rabbits, maybe even a deer or two. Right next to them she saw weapons. A bow with arrows like she had; and a short dagger that looked old but very, very sharp. A big pile of straw seemed to be the witch's bed. Deeper in the cave where the moonlight couldn't reach the cold, grey stone wall; she saw corned beef, bread, and more herbs. Obviously the woman didn't live very luxuriously.

 

“Have you done this before, Lady Tomoko? Created an illusion to scare people away?” Miroku smirked and took a sip of his hot tea.

 

“Yes…I did,” the old woman answered slowly.

“I even scared a whole company of samurai warriors away by creating a dragon,” She laughed dryly.

“I didn't want those wars they waged... now they have to live with the consequences. And one of them is that nobody is permitted to enter these woods.”

 

“Because you want your peace, Lady Tomoko?” Kagome asked. She could feel the sorrow of the woman wash over her.

 

“Yes... peace. I didn't have peace for a very, very long time,” she told them numbly.

 

“So you must have seen many battles,” Kagome guessed and took another sip of tea. She felt the warm liquid trickle down her throat, and spread through her belly.

 

“Every battle witnessed is one too many. I can tell you have all seen too many of them. Every single one of you has, mmh?” Tomoko said and turned her head to look at Inuyasha.

 

“And I can see the wounds of those battles have scarred your souls; even if you would never admit it.”

 

“Keh!”

 

 

“But if you were one-hundred-and-twenty-one years old like me, you'd think that you'd stop to care about the loss, the pain and the sorrow - but you don't. You never will,” she added bitterly.

 

 

Kagome almost spat her tea out.

 

“One-hundred-and-twenty-one years old?! I didn't know that it was possible for a human to reach such an age... sure in my tim... er.. where I come from it seems quite possible but...” She trailed off and looked into the amused faces of Sango and Miroku. Even Shippou couldn't hide his smile.

 

“What?!” she asked with a flick of anger in her voice.

 

“She already gave you the answer Kagome,” Sango told her with a little smile that she tried to hide behind her cup of tea.

 

“She's a witch and for her to reach this age means she must have some great powers,” the demon slayer explained to her friend. Kagome felt the heat slowly rising up in her cheeks.

 

“I'm sorry…I didn't mean to…” she mumbled, a little ashamed.

 

“There is no need for apologies,” Tomoko told her and tried to stand up.

“But tell me…why do you seek to pass the mountains? It is almost winter, and this time of the year is the most dangerous. Why would you take such a risk?” She took hold of a wooden staff and pushed herself up.

 

“Maybe your friend should come inside. It's very cold tonight,” Tomoko said pointing at Inuyasha. He was still sitting at the edge of the cave, sniffing the air, and watching the forest.

 

Miroku followed her look.

“Don't mind Inuyasha. Sometimes he can be really... stubborn,” the monk smirked.

 

“Keh!”

 

“But I think we should explain our reason for disturbing these woods. Maybe you can help us,” Miroku said with a low voice. Kagome pulled Shippou in her lap and stroked gently over his back. She turned her eyes away from the little kid to watch Tomoko. The witch stood next to the fire, stirring the pot right above it before making herself another cup of tea. When she settled herself again, Kagome began.

 

“Did you ever hear of the Shikon No Tama, Lady Tomoko?”

 

“The Shikon No Tama? Well… of course. The Jewel of the Four Souls, created by the priestess Midoriko by her very own death,” the witch replied.

 

“You see Lady Tomoko,” Miroku started, “Lady Kagome here is the guardian of the jewel...“

 

“The jewel? How can that be possible? The jewel has been gone since the death of its last guardian...”

 

Kagome could see how Inuyasha's ears twitched and his body tensed up.

 

“Yeah, now it's back...” Kagome interrupted. She tried not to look at Inuyasha. She gave the old lady a sad smile.

 

“The jewel was reborn into the body of Lady Kagome. It was stolen some time ago by a demoness by the name of Mistress Centipede, and hunted by many other demons after,” Miroku elucidated. His eyes wandered towards Inuyasha while he spoke.

 

“To protect it, Lady Kagome had to... destroy the jewel...”

 

Thanks Miroku…that's a nice way of saying that it's my fault we're all in this mess...

 

“De - stroy?” Tomoko repeated slowly, and Kagome could see how the color of her face faded to an unhealthy white.

 

“The jewel shards are spread all over Japan and now we're here to collect them in order to make the jewel whole again,” Kagome explained to her. Tomoko looked over at the young woman. A single strand of white hair fell down over her right eye, but she pushed it back behind her ear.

 

“It sounds like a heavy burden you have to bear,” she noted.

 

“That... is not all,” Kagome told her quietly as she stared at the little fox demon in her lap.

 

“I assume that you've heard of the circumstances... of Ki-Kikyou's death,” Kagome said quietly. She could hear Inuyasha take a deep breath, but he didn't say anything. When she finally looked up she saw Tomoko nodding.

 

“And that it was a half-demon who killed her?” Kagome added. She saw how Tomoko's eyebrows furrowed.

 

“ItwasnotInuyasha,” she spewed out abruptly, almost chocking on the words. Tomoko turned her head to look at Kagome's friend.

 

“I see... so you were the half-demon?”

 

“No, I told you it wasn't him!” Kagome repeated, putting Shippou aside and standing up to go to Inuyasha. She knelt beside him and laid a hand on one of his shoulders.

 

“Inuyasha and Kikyou were tricked,” she almost whispered. Inuyasha tensed and glared at the floor.

 

“Inuyasha, please? Look at me?” she pleaded, reaching out with her hand.

 

She wanted to touch his face; to turn his head so he could look at her. Only inches before her fingers could meet his skin she stopped - she froze in her position. As she saw him take a deep breath and finally look her in the eyes, she dropped her hand. The sadness in his eyes was too much for her. She knew that he tried to hide it; that he would never allow anyone to come this close to discovering his true feelings. She wasn't disappointed when he suddenly shook off her hand and stood up to face the witch.

 

“If you need to know, Kikyou sealed me to a tree fifty-three years ago!” he spat out. Kagome groaned.

 

“Naraku tricked you! It wasn't her fault.”

 

“It doesn't matter Kagome. The last face I saw before I lost consciousness was hers. The last words I had heard were spoken by her. She hated me at that moment with all her heart, and she had wanted me to die. I know it was Naraku who tricked us both, but it doesn't change the fact that I believed for so long that it was her who betrayed me. It doesn't change the fact that she believed it too. It was half a century for anybody else but it was like nothing for me or for her,” he shot back. Tomoko stopped him.

 

“Na-ra-ku ... you say?” she asked.

 

“Do you know him?” Sango asked her as she put her cup aside to lean forward.

 

“I've heard of him - and a long time ago I saw him,” the old witch answered. Inuyasha rushed forward.

 

“You met him?” he asked.

 

“Of course I did. It is almost fifty-four years ago but I still remember it very well.”

 

“Inuyasha, that is one year before Kikyou ...”

 

“What did he want from you?” Inuyasha interrupted Kagome, glaring at the woman.

 

“Inuyasha!” Kagome shouted. Everybody in the cave turned to her.

 

“It is impossible that the man she met was Naraku, don't you see? At that time Kikyou was still tending the wounds of Onigumo - the man who later became Naraku,” she reasoned. Before anybody could say more, Kagome took her bow and aimed an arrow at the witch.

 

“So who are you and what do you want?” she asked icily.

 

“I am Tomoko. I already told you that.”

 

“So you say that you don't lie? I can't believe you. How is it possible for you to have met Naraku? He wasn't even created at the time. It can't be true.”

 

“Maybe it was somebody else,” Miroku said softly, trying to calm the situation. He laid a hand on one of Kagome's shoulders.

 

“Tell us, Lady Tomoko, what did he look like?” he asked the witch and squeezed the shoulder of the young girl.

 

“I couldn't see much of his face, because it was hidden by a white baboon pelt and...”

 

“It can't be!” Inuyasha shouted, pulling the woman to her feet by her collar.

 

“What did he want?” now it was Kagome asking.

 

“He was looking for a weapon.”

 

The young priestess's thoughts raced. She still didn't believe the witch. It just couldn't be that this woman had met Naraku fifty-four years ago. But she didn't feel any evil aura coming from her. When she looked her in the eyes she saw nothing more than the truth. Then again she only knew the witch for two hours, how could she trust a stranger? She also knew that they could not just leave, and that they couldn't let this puzzle go unresolved. It had Naraku's handwriting all over it; but still, she had the feeling that the half-demon might use this old, innocent lady. Use her just like he had used Inuyasha and Kikyou; or Kohaku, Sango's younger brother. Either way she just had to find out. But to do that she had to trust Tomoko.

 

“Inuyasha, let her go,” Kagome told the half-demon calmly. Slowly she put the arrow down. When Inuyasha still didn't show any signs of obeying her order, she took a step forward to put a hand on his arm.

 

“Trust me Inuyasha,” she whispered, and with a low growl the half-demon did as she said. Kagome turned to Tomoko:

 

“Then tell me…what weapon?” she asked. Tomoko sighed.

 

“Maybe you should sit down. What I have to say will take time.”

 

 

 

 

 

*****************************************

 

 

 

 

 

 

When everybody was sitting on the ground around the fire, this time with Inuyasha at Kagome's side, the old witch started to tell her story.

 

 

“There was a legend that the people in my village would tell the children. I was very, very young when I had heard it the first time, and I believed every single word of it. Had I known back then that this legend would be the only thing that would remind me of my village, I would have listened more carefully,” Tomoko started.

 

“It was the legend of the old time, when there was war all over the country. Human warlords and demon lords had tried to rule over the country. They would have done anything to achieve more power. You would think that demons are cruel, but believe me, there are places in a human's soul that are much, much darker… merciless and horrid….”

 

“It was at that time that a demon had created a powerful weapon. Whoever was strong enough to hold this weapon would be the ruler over demons and humans. Nothing could destroy it. Everybody longed for the power of this weapon, but nobody had the prevalence to hold it. Nobody was able to use it. The power of the weapon was so strong that it could kill a demon, and lock it away in hell where the creature would suffer an eternity. It was powerful enough to consume a human by its light; to give a man's life to our gods where he would be punished for his sins...”

 

“But in all this darkness there was still a light. There were demons and humans who wanted nothing more than just their freedom and peace. They had decided to lock this weapon away for good. Nobody would ever try again to get a hold of it. So at the risk of one's life they had took this weapon and brought it to a sacred place, hidden from every living creature. They bonded the weapon for all eternity and nobody would be ever able to use it….”

 

“They hid this weapon so well that nobody ever found it again. After a while the people had stopped speaking of it. It took another decade to stop the war, but there was never peace,” Tomoko stopped with her story and looked at everybody with a somber visage.

 

“And it was this weapon that Naraku asked for,” she added.

 

Miroku was the first to speak after the long contemplative silence. He cleared his throat.

 

“Why would he come to you?” the monk asked.

 

“Because I'm the offspring of the one who hid the weapon. It was my great-grandfather who risked his life to save thousands. But I couldn't give him any answers...”

 

Kagome noticed the sad look and suddenly she could see how old Tomoko really was. She could feel the sorrow of the old woman…it was overwhelming her like a blanket that wrapped her body and absorbed the warmth of her soul.

 

 

“What did Naraku do then?” she asked softly. She could hear that her own voice was shallow and empty; just as shallow and empty as the expression on Tomoko's face was. Tomoko lifted her head to look her directly in the eyes.

 

“He had burned down my village. He took the survivors and let them stand in a line. He asked me again if I could tell him anything about the whereabouts of the weapon. I told him that I couldn't do that. He struck the first one down. It was a close friend of mine. When his blood reached my feet, Naraku asked me again. I still couldn't tell him anything. He then killed a young girl…” She paused for a short moment.

 

“He did that until everybody from my village was lying dead on the ground.”

 

“You just stood there and watched them die?” Inuyasha asked her with a deep growl in his voice.

 

“I would have done everything to save them if I only could have! Naraku wasn't alone,” Tomoko added bitterly.

 

“Who was with him?” Sango's voice asked. Kagome knew that the young woman was reminded of her own village, and the death of her own family.

 

“It was a witch just like me. She sealed my powers as long as she and Naraku were there. I couldn't have done anything. If my powers were better trained at the time I might have had a chance, but...” Tomoko trailed off and looked down at the ground.

 

“And what exactly is this weapon?” Miroku asked as he crossed his arms in front of his chest.

 

“Nobody knows. Even my great-grandfather could not tell me. They had stopped speaking about it. I believe they had even stopped thinking about it, and they stopped caring... all that mattered was that the weapon was locked away for good. I think my great-grandfather wanted to forget…”

 

“That is indeed a terrible story, but it still doesn't make much sense. Naraku was created because of Onigumo. The man had offered his body to demons to become one of them - but that was fifty-three years ago and you told us you had met him fifty-four years ago,” Sango explained to her.

 

“That is correct,” the witch answered.

 

“But how can that be?” Kagome asked, turning to face her friends.

 

“Maybe we should go after this weapon for ourselves. If Naraku was looking for it all those years ago, maybe he's still looking for it,” she suggested.

 

“But how can we be certain that it really was Naraku? Sure, the man Lady Tomoko spoke of wore a white baboon pelt, but that proves nothing,” Sango pointed out to her, and stood up to stretch herself.

 

“What do you think Inuyasha?” Sango asked the half-demon.

 

“Keh. I don't know what you guys are going to do but I sure do know that I'm going to hunt down Naraku, and take the jewel shards out of his cold, dead hands,” Inuyasha answered haughtily.

 

“So we should do nothing then? Just go on trying to find a lead to Naraku when we're standing right in front of one?” Kagome asked him, and couldn't believe that she really had to argue about something like that.

 

“What else do you want to do? It was more than fifty years ago that this old hag claims to have met him. What should we do about this?” he replied a little testily.

 

“You don't think it may be a lead to Naraku?” Kagome asked, and crossed her arms in front of her chest.

 

“A fifty-four year old lead? I don't think so. Naraku wouldn't waste his time for just an old legend,” Inuyasha answered.

 

“Well, we just heard that he did waste his time!” the priestess shot back.

 

“I think I have to agree with Inuyasha,” Miroku injected. He nodded his head and stood next to the half-demon.

 

“This lead may be too old for us to follow,” he finished.

 

“Too old? I can't believe you guys!” Kagome felt a hand on her right shoulder and turned her head to face Sango.

 

“Do you really think that this is the lead we have been waiting for?” Sango asked the younger girl seriously.

 

“I think we should go looking for it - if we find it I'm certain we're going to find Naraku too,” Kagome told them with determined conviction. Inuyasha grabbed Kagome's arm and drew her closer to him.

 

“You don't have any proof that she is telling you the truth Kagome, and I don't like her. Something is foul here,” he hissed quietly.

 

“I know, don't you think I do? Something is wrong but I don't think it's Tomoko. The aura I've felt since yesterday is stronger here but I can't figure out why; I think Naraku is behind all this. Maybe he has taken control of Tomoko?” Kagome suggested gently.

 

“Then we already fell into his trap Kagome,” Inuyasha sighed. The young woman chewed on her lip.

 

“Yeah... maybe you're right. I'm just so desperate. I mean, nothing has happened for almost six weeks and now this! I guess I just got carried away... I don't know. But still...”

 

“Maybe you should stay for the night,” Tomoko offered, interrupting them. Kagome turned her head.

 

“That would be lov...”

 

“No way!” Inuyasha cried before she could finish. Inuyasha and Kagome looked at each other.

 

“Are you crazy wench?” the half-demon asked her furiously

“Have you lost your mind? There is no chance that we're going to stay here. I don't trust her,” he hissed.

 

“Let us stay here for the night. Maybe I can find out more. We can go in the morning to look for Naraku; but let us just stay here for one night. I have a strange feeling about this too Inuyasha, and believe me, I know it could be a trap. I just want to figure out what's behind all this. Don't you?” the priestess answered reasonably. Inuyasha just rolled his eyes and Kagome smiled. She turned around to Tomoko.

 

“We would love to!”

 

 

 

 

***

 

 

 

 

 

“Inuyasha?”

 

“Yes?” he answered her. His voice sounded soft and a little bit sad. He knew what this was about.

 

“Why are we doing this?” Before he could answer she began again:

“Why do we hurt ourselves like this? It is obvious that we both long for something that is just not meant to be. Not after all that has... happened…”

 

Though she didn't look at him she could feel how he stiffened beside her. The sun was warm against her skin, and wrapped the setting in a faint golden light. She could feel the warm wood of the old well underneath her fingers, even though personally she felt like an ice flower. The heat just couldn't get to her. The trees were whispering to her and the birds sang a song she couldn't understand. When he didn't answer, she turned her head to see him staring into the forest; the forest that the villagers named after him.

 

Inuyasha's Forest.

 

“I have to let go Inuyasha... we both have to let go….”

 

He turned his head and she looked straight into those golden eyes of his. Suddenly she was afraid she could lose herself into those eyes; maybe she already had. Something lay beneath their amber surface, and sometimes she wasn't sure if she wanted to know what it was.

 

“I know... it's just that... I think I'm afraid,” he spoke. His voice was husky.

 

Now it was her turn to stare into the forest. The sun broke through the branches of the trees and it almost seemed as though its light was golden liquid that spread over the forest floor. She never thought she could have a conversation like this with Inuyasha; and she never ever thought that the half-demon would be so honest with her. He had changed… the truth was that they both had changed.

 

She was not the same girl that had fallen into the well, and ended up in some weird feudal fairy tale. She was not the naive girl that had believed everything would turn out alright, no matter how bad it got. She had seen people dying…seen young children slaughtered by demons. She'd watched women crying over their dead husbands and sons... this was not a fairy tale. It was real. The cruelty of it made it real for her and everybody else.

 

“I am too,” she said after awhile, “But the truth is... I have been afraid for a long time now, Inuyasha.” She didn't look at him but she knew that he had turned to look at her with curiosity. She tried to explain herself.

 

“You know, when I first met you I was terrified. I thought I was going to die because of that demoness. But ... you rescued me. Even if you didn't really want or mean to…you did....” she tried to smile but she could already feel the tears rising behind her eyes.

“…and then our journey started. With every new day I spent at your side I felt... a little bit more enamored by you. I realized too late that I had already fallen in love with you...” she trailed off.

 

“Kagome...”

 

“No, let me finish, please….” She sniffed a little.

 

“The day I saw you kissing Kikyou, I knew that I loved you. And suddenly I began to feel afraid. I thought I would lose you. I knew that I never would have had a chance, but even that knowledge didn't stop me from loving you. With every day that passed, those feelings were growing... and I noticed that I was dying little by little inside.” She looked him straight in the eyes then, and she could see how much sadness lay behind those deep, golden pools.

 

“I never meant to...” he started but she interrupted him again.

 

“No, please. I know Inuyasha. It's okay. You know, these last few weeks I have thought a lot about us. And I came to the conclusion that we'll be always friends. No matter what. And you know... that's okay with me. It really is. I rather have you as a friend than...”

 

She couldn't speak anymore because of the tears that had long since started flowing down her cheeks stopped her. She laughed sadly.

 

“Isn't it that ridiculous? I'm happy and certain about my decision but I'm still crying…” She felt him put his arm around her and she leaned into him.

 

“I'm sorry,” she whispered.

 

“Don't be Kagome. I have to thank you, you know?” She moved herself from him enough to look up at his face.

 

“What?”

 

“For sharing this with me. I know it must have been hard for you... but... I'm glad. I don't know if I could have had the strength for this. So... thank you.”

 

 

 

***

 

 

 

Kagome suddenly opened her eyes and realized that she had been crying in her sleep. She sighed and looked around the cave. All of her friends were still asleep. Even Inuyasha had taken some rest, leaning against the cold stone in front of the crackling fire with his sword tight in his arms. Tomoko rested peacefully just a few meters away from Kirara and Shippou on her straw bedding.

 

She rubbed her eyes. It seemed so long ago, yet she still had dreams about that day. Sometimes she thought that she might have betrayed herself on that day. It felt like she had spoken those words, but didn't mean them at all. Sometimes she wished that Inuyasha would have just kissed her back then, and told her that everything was going to be fine…that he loved her.

 

But he didn't do that - and it was okay. It was something that she had wished but not hoped for. She didn't really expect him to do that either.

 

It was one of those rare moments when Inuyasha had really spoken to her. When he had opened up, and hadn't tried to hide his feelings behind his hard mask. It was the last intimate moment she had shared with him since. Three years ago she would have been angry; angry that he acted like it had never happened. But today she was just glad that she did have this conversation with him; that he did open up to her, if only for that single moment. Today she knew that the feigned ignorance was just Inuyasha's way of dealing with all of those feelings. He never had the chance to learn how to deal with them in another way.

 

Kagome sighed and got up. She couldn't sleep anyway. She grabbed her sleeping bag and used the soft fabric as a blanket, slinging it around her body. It was freezing and she knew that the weather was harsher near the mountains.

 

She took small steps as she went to the opening of the cave to look out into the night. It was dark but the full moon gave enough light for her to easily see the trees, bushes and even one, small fox in the distance looking for something to eat. The light enveloped the world before her in a soft silver tone and it made her feel even colder on the inside.

 

She would have said that it was peaceful, but it was not. She still had a light tickle at the back of her head and she felt uneasy. Something told her that it was not right for her to be here…that it was dangerous. But she couldn't tell what exactly made her feel like that - at least not yet.

 

As she stared at the clearing before her, she couldn't forget the words Tomoko had spoken earlier. She just didn't understand how it was possible that the old witch had met Naraku fifty-four years ago; unless they didn't know everything about him. But it was impossible. It took them very long, but after months of chasing Naraku through Japan they had put every peace of the puzzle together.

 

There was no doubt that Naraku was the villain Onigumo - or at least Naraku was created of him. A bandit who had sold his body to demons so he could get to the Shikon No Tama, and to Kikyou. He created a plot to tear Kikyou and Inuyasha apart, and it had worked. Kikyou had died and Inuyasha was sealed to the Sacred Tree for fifty years.

 

There was just no way that Tomoko could have met him. It didn't make any sense, but she also didn't believe that the old woman would lie to them. Yes, it sounded strange - even to her. But Kagome knew that she could trust her heart, and it said that she should trust Tomoko.

 

“Problems sleeping?” a voice said behind her. She swung around to look into the face of said woman. Tomoko smiled.

“Yes,” she replied, and turned her head to the forest again. Suddenly she felt the coldness creeping through the fabric of her self-made cloak.

 

“You know, I didn't always live like this,” Tomoko told her softly.

“A long time ago there was a village nearby... I lived there. It was the same place that I had met Naraku. But after that incident I came here. Somehow this cave makes me feel secure. It sounds silly, does it not?”

 

“No,” Kagome whispered. She watched her breath dance in white clouds before her eyes, “Not at all.”

 

Somehow the witch's revelation reminded her of her own feelings - when she was younger she had wanted to run away too. Away from her feelings and memories. She knew it wasn't the same, but when Tomoko had told her about that... it felt familiar.

 

“Kagome,” Tomoko stopped the train of her thoughts as she spoke the priestess's name.

 

“Do you know that you can change all of this?” The girl blinked twice and looked at Tomoko with a curious expression on her face.

 

“How do you mean?”

 

Kagome saw Tomoko fold her arms behind her back. Her expression seemed empty as she stared at the quiet forest before her - it almost seemed as if the forest was the symbol for Tomoko's soul… abandoned, old and slowly dying.

 

“You could change the ways of the past,” the witch finally told her.

 

“I already do that.” She only whispered those words, not sure if Tomoko had heard them. The witch turned to look at her.

 

“No. For you, this here,” she pointed with her finger at the ground, “is the past. But for me it's the present and for everyone else too. So when I speak of the past I do not speak of this time, girl.”

 

“Then you know?” Kagome asked breathlessly.

 

“I know more than you think Higurashi Kagome.”

 

She glanced behind Tomoko - suddenly her bow seemed too far away, even though it was only a few meters. She felt afraid and somehow she thought that she would be safer with her weapon. Tomoko knew that she could travel through time, but how was that possible? She had never told her that. Unless...

 

“Naraku?” she asked and she was surprised by how foreign her own voice sounded. Tomoko laughed.

 

“No. It is me. You can trust me,” the witch assured her. Then her face took on a serious expression.

 

“But would you do it? Would you change the past if you could?”

 

Kagome looked at the old woman. It didn't make her feel comfortable to know that Tomoko knew her most well kept secret. It actually hadn't sounded right when the witch had asked her those questions. But when she saw the wrinkles around the old blue eyes of Tomoko, and the warm smile on her face - how could she suspect her to be an evil witch? No, it didn't fit in the picture.

 

“To stop Naraku? To save the lives of the innocent?” She hardly could hear her own voice and it seemed that time had stopped.

 

“Of course I would.”

 

She couldn't believe how quickly those words left her mouth. But it was nothing she had to think about. It was clear to her; she would always fight against injustice.

 

“That is all I needed to know,” Tomoko told her as she tried to get back into the warmth of the cave. Kagome took a hold of her arm.

 

“How do you know so much about me?” she asked curiously. Tomoko looked at her.

 

“Just be patient and you will see the answer with your own eyes, young one.”