Legend

Prologue

By: Lazuli

lazulidreamer@yahoo.com

              

               Kagome felt another tear slip down her face as she

gripped the Shikon no Tama. She wished that she did not

have to go home, but she had promised Kaede at the very

beginning on this quest that she would protect the jewel.

It seemed that she had no choice at the time…and then

when she broke the jewel her duty rose doubly. She knew

at the time, in some vague part of her mind, that if she didn’t

search for the jewel shards in the past, then her future might

not even exist. It would be overrun by demons or completely

destroyed. So she quested, and fought with beside Inuyasha

for over two years. It took so long to collect the shards of the

jewel. To defeat Naraku….

               She held the jewel tighter in her hands, the smooth orb

unable to find a purchase in her sweat dampened hands. She knelt

at the mini shrine that once again held the bones of Kikyo. The

shrine had been rebuilt, and the miko had been laid to rest once she

realized that she no longer needed to search for Naraku herself, to do                             

her duty as a miko. Inuyasha still loved Kikyo, Kagome was sure of it.

His face was close to betraying his emotions when Kagome finally

laid her to rest. She had offered Kikyo the one thing that she would

need to be with Inuyasha, and Kikyo had finally realized that her soul

was in it’s proper place, and that it wasn’t going to be punished anymore

for the crimes that it had committed when she was alive fifty years ago.

               “Kikyo…I know that you can not hear me, but I hope that you

rest in peace. You wanted to be with Inuyasha so badly; because you loved

him. You were willing to die for him, and I know that he wanted to die for you,

with you.  I wanted him to live. I guess that was our difference, ne, Kikyo? I

wonder what you were like during your life. I’m sure you weren’t the bitter

person that I met. The brief glimpses that I caught of you when you weren’t

trying to kill me…there was still something that you kept that made Kikyo be

Kikyo. And…Inuyasha wouldn’t have loved you if you weren’t a kind person.

You helped him at first, Kikyo. He realized love after his mother died. You showed

him that. I only wish that I could be here for him. I love him, too…but I can’t survive

here. I’m from a totally different world it seems, sometimes. Inuyasha should have

been with you. You should have accepted your soul back, so that you two could be

together. Why didn’t you, Kikyo?”

               She paused to wipe away a sudden splash of a tear on the shrine’s roof, and she

gave a shaky smile. “I guess it was never meant to be. I…” Her conversation was ended

abruptly when a pair of clawed hands whirled her around, concern in the golden eyes of

Inuyasha. He looked at the mini-shrine and then at Kagome, who was trying to erase the

tracks of her tears, hoping that Inuyasha would not inquire about why she was talking to

Kikyo’s grave.

               “Kagome…are you ready?” The soft words shocked Kagome, and she stared up at

Inuyasha startled, before regaining her composure. “I don’t want to go back today, Inuyasha.

Can I just…be here alone for a bit?” She noticed his eyes dart to the grave again, but there

wasn’t that deep sadness or longing there anymore. He didn’t look heartbroken…

he looked sad, as if he did lose someone very dear to him, but it wasn’t heart wrenching,

and the look he bestowed upon Kagome made her heart hurt worse. What was he thinking?

                “Feh…make up your mind, wench.” There wasn’t any bite to the remark, and

Kagome stood up on shaky legs, holding onto the sleeve of Inuyasha’s robe for support.

“I have made up my mind. I want to stay here. With you.” She looked boldly into his

eyes, amazed by the shock that was there, but there was also relief?

               *It better not be for the damn jewel. I don’t think that he wants to become

a full youkai at this point, and even Inuyasha wouldn’t want to drag Kikyo from

the grave for a second time. Kikyo had never wanted to be dragged out of her peace

of death…or the death of the personality of Kikyo.*

              

“Are you sure about this, Kagome? My time…this time is not what you are

used to. You…you know that it’s dangerous.” His eyes seemed to reveal to

her the inner struggle that he was having with himself. “I…I can’t put you

in that type of danger. You have to protect the Shikon no Tama, Kagome.

It’s your duty…” His voice trailed off as the pale jewel glinted in the dying

light of the sun, and he swallowed thickly, trying not to throw away his pride

and beg her to stay with him always. He would protect her and the jewel if

it meant her staying with him. That damn jewel…so much havoc and

unhappiness it caused. For him, for Kikyo and a host of other people. He knew

how unhappy it had made Kikyo, giving her an eternal duty that not even

death could sever. He grimaced. Except maybe for that one part…

He shook his head from those thoughts. That had been over a year ago now,

and it had no bearing on Kagome’s choice. He didn’t want to see her

unhappy like that. At least in her time, the jewel would be safer. She would

be safe from the youkai that attacked the holder of the jewel.

“Inuyasha…I know that this time is unsafe…I’ve been here off and on for

the last two years, and you’ve risked your own life to save mine many

times.” Here, a pause, and a grin. “I’ve saved yours, too, damn it, so I know

that I can defend myself and protect the jewel!”

 

He took a step closer to her, and took one of her hands in his own, trying

to get his message across. It was still hard for him to reveal his emotions.

He had changed so much since Kagome had woken him up. He felt freer

then he had been before the seal had been placed upon him. “Kagome…I

don’t want to see you become unhappy. The jewel is a heavy burden. It’s

all right if you go home. I’ll still drag you back here so that you don’t forget

about us.” With a slight grin, he patted her hand once, and then walked off,

without looking back, leaving Kagome to wonder what exactly Inuyasha was

getting at. She looked at the jewel down in her hands again, the faint light

now making it look as dark as it did when it had been cursed by that Dark Miko,

and she quickly hid it from her sight. She only wanted to be forever with

Inuyasha. Even if she did go home, or stay with him, she would grow older

and older, until he saw someone to old to love, to be with. She sniffled again,

knowing that the tears were inevitable. It was like Peter Pan…she laughed at

that thought of Inuyasha in a pair of tights, flying with a group of orphan children. 

She brushed any remaining dirt from her clothes and walked to Kaede’s hut,

preparing to spend her last night in the Feudal Ages for a long time.

As she stepped in the door, her eyes took in Kaede and Miroku, Shippou, and

Sango. She couldn’t make out Myouga, but she knew he was probably

sleeping on Kiara, the demon-cat that Sango owned.  She would miss them so

much. They were all sleeping peacefully, and she quietly lay on her sleeping

mat and curled up, holding back her sobs, not wanting to disturb anyone. She

would say her goodbyes in the morning. Her last conscious thoughts were

about the jewel, and Inuyasha.

I don’t want to take care of the jewel my whole life, like Kikyo was supposed

to do, and I don’t want to leave Inuyasha. Isn’t there someway that I can be

with him, forever? I know that he would become a human…but I don’t want

him to do that. I love him the way he is, and he doesn’t like his human form,

because he feels weak in it. I want to be with Inuyasha forever….

As Kagome’s eyes drifted shut, the jewel in her hands gave off a faint glow,

surrounding the sleeping girl. The light dimmed after a few seconds and was

not visible again, and the group slept on, unaware of what had happened.

 

 

“Aahhh!!!” Heads snapped up as a scream tore through the early morning,

and all eyes in the room focused on Kagome. Miroku was the first one to

focus his bleary eyes on Kagome, and he stared in shock, ignoring Kagome’s

annoyed look at his scrutiny.

“K…Kagome-sama! What happened to you?” Kagome’s eyes were wide

with shock, and their normal brown seemed to be replaced by an amber

color. She was currently looking down at her hands, at the claws that had

somehow replaced her short nails. Kagome whimpered as the normally soft

sounds of breathing met her sensitized ears, and they twitched, as if eager

to take in all the new sounds around her. They still hurt from the force of

her own scream. She heard someone coming in the hut, and she knew that

it was Inuyasha. She turned her eyes toward him, and he paused in shock

for a moment, but he didn’t look as surprised as she thought he would. He

just sighed softly and held out his hand to Kagome, leading her outside.

Shippou turned to Miroku, Kaede and Sango. “Did I just miss something

here?” Miroku shrugged and turned to Sango, who looked equally confused.

 

 

Inuyasha turned to his changed Kagome, feeling a slight headache. So this was

what he had smelled last night…that subtle change in Kagome’s scent, and

that flash of light he saw…. had she unconsciously used the jewel? To make

herself a hanyou like him? He gripped her hands in his, trying to comfort her

in any way possible. 

“Kagome…you’re a…hanyou now, like me. Why did you do it? Why? I thought

that…” Kagome’s eyes closed for a moment, and her ears twitched. She frowned

for a moment, pulling her hands from his, putting them to the side of her head,

and then she paused, her eyes opening with that shock once again.

“Inuyasha…what do I look like? My…ears…my hands…is it my eyes, too? Am I

a really a hanyou?” Her golden eyes were full of tears again, and he sighed. This

was something that he never could have foreseen. He never could have pictured

Kagome as a hanyou. Never! It was such a strange picture, but…he gulped, noticing

how beautiful she still looked as one. She was always pretty to him…he couldn’t deny

it. Kikyo had been beautiful, and Kagome had looked so much like her. Kagome had

her own beauty, and was glad to see that it had not been destroyed, but the youkai

part of her seem to enhance that simple beauty of hers.

Small pointed ears on the top of her head blended in with her white hair perfectly, and

her golden eyes matched his own, and the only other

features changed about her that he could see was the claws that she now had

instead of human nails, and the small fangs instead of a set of regular human teeth.

She looked basically the same, but he knew that in her world, there would be so

much difference to those who knew her. They would probably not know her for a

youkai or a hanyou, but she would be labeled as much of a freak as he was when

he was younger. When he still lived with his mother.

“Inuyasha…” Kagome’s quiet voice reached his ears, and he looked down at her still

fragile looking form. “I can wait until I’m human to visit my family. I wonder when I

turn human?” Her smile was teasing, and Inuyasha could tell she was trying to relax

herself as well as him.

Inuyasha leaned backed thoughtfully. “I don’t know, Kagome. That bastard

Naraku got to choose whenever he turned human…maybe you can do the same?

You weren’t born a hanyou…” A wry smile appeared on Kagome’s mouth,

hushing him. “And I didn’t merge with thousands of low life youkai, either.” She

muttered, and smiled. “I can wait, Inuyasha. It will give me…time…” Already

her eyes turned inward again, as if contemplating, and he wanted to shake her

out of her introspective mood.

“Kagome…maybe we should go now. You could create quite a stir with your

family…and I can’t wait to see your mother grab onto your own ears!” He reached

toward her ears, as if to grab them, and they twitched away from his fingers. He

grinned, enjoying this. It wasn’t something that he would have chosen for her, the

life of a hanyou, but he knew that she would be okay.

“Inuyasha…my friends, though…and….” She winced, and his eyebrow rose

inquiringly. “Hai, Kagome? Who else?” She squirmed under his gaze and

mumbled under her breath, but he heard her perfectly.

“Hojo…” His other eyebrow rose, clearly interested in this Hojo person. “Is

he important to you, Kagome?” He looked amused at the girl’s blush, but he

couldn’t help feeling jealousy.

“Iie…he’s not special to me, like that…he thinks that I’m really sick, and now

he’s going to think that I’m cursed.” Inuyasha’s eyes saddened at this. Of

course she would think that she was cursed. She never asked to be a freak.

Kagome read his look and shook her head firmly. “No! Inuyasha…mou! I

don’t think that way…it’s Hojo. I think that…maybe you are right. That I

should show my parents before it’s too late.”

Inuyasha wondered what ‘too late’ was, but he didn’t press upon it. “C’mon,

wench. We should get back to the others. They’re going to think that you

lost it, or they lost it.” Kagome nodded slowly, her eyes carefully shielding

her emotions from him, her ears flicking back and forth nervously. He was

going to have a lot to teach her…his Kagome.

 

Eh, that’s the end of that part, minna-chan. What did you think? This is a type

of prologue for Legend. I hope you enjoyed, and please review!