Safe in the Enemy's Arms

That evening, when the sun had just set, Kagome and Inuyasha stopped for
the night in a forest, setting up camp within walking distance of a lake. It
was just them, because the group had heard two separate rumors of
abnormally-powerful demons which had been attacking villages. Miroku and Sango
had left for the nearer village, where supposedly a serpent demon was hanging
around, and Inuyasha and Kagome had left for the farther one. That way, both
jewel shards could be recovered safely. As for Shippo, he had stayed behind to
help Kaede, who had thrown a hip out the other day.

Before they laid down, they decided to have supper first. Inuyasha got a
fire going quickly, eager for Kagome to get the ramen cooked. As she stirred
the cooking noodles, he growled slightly. “Can’t you make it go any faster!”

Kagome answered, seeming subdued, “No, not really.”

When the ramen had finished cooking, Inuyasha devoured his portion
within two minutes, record time for him. Looking over at Kagome, his ears
drooped slightly as he saw that she seemed to be just staring off into space,
her food sitting forgotten in her lap. “What’s the matter, Kagome?”

Kagome looked up, startled. “Huh?”

“I asked you what’s wrong. All stinkin’ day, you’ve been real quiet. I
mean, you haven’t even sat me once! Obviously, something has to be on your
mind.”

Kagome pursed her lips. She couldn’t get that dream off of her mind, for
some reason. Maybe it was because of the fact that, other than being outside
her body, it had not been that unrealistic. Although she hated to admit it,
Kagome knew that Inuyasha’s heart had belonged to Kikyou first, just as
it most likely would belong to her in the end. She shook her head, dispelling
the depressing thought. “It’s nothing, Inuyasha.”

His eyes narrowed slightly. “Kagome, don’t lie to me.”

She set her noodles down and wrapped her arms around herself, avoiding
Inuyasha’s gaze. “I had a nightmare last night, okay! It was one that really
scared me.” She waited for the dog hanyou to tell her that this was stupid, or
something of that sort, but was surprised when he instead came over to sit by
her.

Inu’s dark brows furrowed as he looked at her. “A nightmare? What was it
about?”

“Well…” Determinedly staring at the ground, Kagome recounted the nightmare
to him, but left out the part with Kikyou, filling in the blank by saying that
she was unable to find him. Hearing no reaction from Inuyasha, Kagome looked up
and gasped when she didn’t see him beside her. Before she could look around,
though, two red-clothed arms wrapped around her from behind, and Inuyasha
pulled Kagome gently against him and leaned back against a tree.

“Kagome, you have absolutely nothing to be afraid of. I would
never leave you, especially all alone in the middle of the night. I’ll always
be here to protect you, no matter what. Always.”

“I know, Inuyasha,” Kagome murmured, tired. “But I also know that I’m
your shard detector. Of course you wouldn’t want me to get hurt, because then
it would be a lot harder to find shards.”

Inuyasha’s shoulders slumped slightly. “You’re not just a shard detector
to me, Kagome. I actually do care about you. A lot.”

“You mean it, Inuyasha?”

“Uh huh… Kagome?” Inuyasha’s voice was tentative, as though he was about
to breach a subject that he hated thinking of.

“Hmm?”

“When we finish off Naraku and finally complete the Jewel, what are you
going to do? You’ll have to choose one place to stay, because once the Jewel
has been used, it’ll be gone for good. You’ll be stuck on one side of the well,
with no way to get back. What time period will you choose?”

“I don’t know. I guess I won’t know until it’s time to choose… a lot of
things could happen between then and now, you know?”

“Yeah…I know.” Inuyasha sat there, his arms wrapped loosely around
Kagome, contemplating this for a little while. Again, he spoke up. “Kagome?”

She stirred in his arms, not even opening her closed eyes. “Hmm?”

“I don’t want you to be gone forever.”

Hearing no answer, Inuyasha looked down at Kagome, and saw that she had
fallen asleep. He sighed and settled back against the tree which he leaned
against, closing his eyes. His furry ears drooped as he, too, fell asleep.

I know that you’re hiding things

Using gentle words to shelter me…

Your words were like a dream

But dreams could never fool me

Not that easily

-“1000 Words”, Final Fantasy X-2, the gamestyle='mso-bidi-font-size:9.0pt'>