You Wanna What??

Disclaimer: I don’t own Inuyasha, but I have it on good authority that someone has him tied up and ready to be dipped in chocolate. I’m not telling where, but I have been offered partial custody in exchange for my silence.

Chapter Four

Kagome wandered around the loosely knit conglomeration of stores, searching for something. She weaved expertly in and out of people, barely feeling the brush of their shoulders as her distracting thoughts consumed her. She paused outside a large window, briefly examining a pair of shoes that would go perfectly with some outfit she had yet to purchase.

Her eyes flickered up to meet her own reflection. She was insubstantial, a ghostly figure in the opaque glass. Before her there was a startling array of colorful footwear and behind her she could see people streaming around her. She was a young girl alone in a sea of people. Only her eyes had any substance. They were dark, piercing and troubled.

Kagome Higurashi was lost.

She was lost and no one had yet to find her. With every passing day, week, year the feeling grew until it threatened to devour her. Every time she crossed over to the other side of the well her identity became more fragmented. A gaggle of giggling girls about her age, passed seemingly through her and her brooding eyes watched them go. On the one hand she was a young woman, just barely old enough to go out and experience the world on her own. Without the disruption of the well her life would have been so completely different. She would be preparing herself to go away to the university at this time. She would have had the grades needed to qualify for the entrance exams and she would be entrenched in her own pack of friends, laughing as she bought the perfect clothes for the coming semester.

She was much too young to consider marriage.

Once on the other side of the well all of that changed. She became older and wiser. In the feudal era she was of age wed and bear children. In fact at the tender age of eighteen she was considered by many to be on the shelf. She faced perils on a daily basis, risking her life for the Shikon no Tama. Many looked to her for guidance both spiritual and physical as a priestess of the highest order.

So who was she? A miko or a school girl?

Where did she belong?

Only when she was with Inuyasha did she feel whole. He was the only one who didn’t look at her as either or. He saw her as a woman, plain and simple. With him her sense of self wasn’t shattered, she was just Kagome.

Her mother was correct. In the era that she was born in she was much too young to consider marriage and as she stood here immersed in the never ending flow of people from her time, her mother’s words made sense. She was on the cusp of womanhood and the resentment she felt building inside of her dispersed as she walked side by side with her peers. However, when she was in her adopted era, that resentment bubbled to the surface again like puss beneath a poorly healed scab. She was old enough to be married, she deserved the title wife and she did not like being denied it.

She had to come to terms with the fact that she was lost and would not be found.

Where did she belong?

Inuyasha could not live in her era with her. Even if he could adapt, his heritage was too recognizable. He could never be apart of society. So did she ng hng here? Her family was here. Her mother, grandfather and Souta. She loved them so much and it hurt beyond words to think about being separated from them, but she loved Inuyasha too.

Did that mean she belonged in the strange world that she was magically transported too? In the era that she wasn’t born in but a strange twist of fate allowed her to visit. There Inuyasha was accepted and so was she after a fashion. As long as she didn’t think to hard on the lingering stares she received or display her above average education while in public, she had no problems. Once she opened her mouth and her futuristic opinions of feminism dripped from her lips that acceptance quickly faded. Her friends, Kaede, Sango, Miroku and Shippo loved her, but when she was there in that time, her family could not reach her. It was not like moving across the country, she was not a phone call away. She was in a different time, a different place.

Where did she belong?
She was lost and was yet to be found.

Only in Inuyasha’s arms was she whole. Only then did she feel as though nothing else mattered. It didn’t matter what time they were in as long as he held her tight.

She grimaced, hefting her bags up to her shoulders and turned on her heel. It was time to go back to her place. It was time to go where she belonged.

*~*

“Keh, Women.” Inuyasha muttered to himself as he walked down the path, absently kicking a small rock as he did. He didn’t think he would ever understand them. First they tell you never to leave them and the first thing they do is run off and abandon you. It seemed that every woman in his life had done that. His mother, Kikyou and now Kagome. Inuyasha’s ears flattened and sorrow swelled in his heart as he continued down his lonely path.

His mother had insisted on the human custom of marriage with his father and look where it had gotten her. Dead that’s what. She had married the great Lord of the Western Lands, but that did not protect her, instead it endangered her. She wasn’t safe in his father’s court where the other less powerful youkai hated her. So when his father was called away to do battle with the great dragon that eventually killed him, he had sent her and Inuyasha to live with her family. His father thought they would be safe there, but that was a mistake.

The veil of marriage did nothing to protect her from the hate that bedding a youkai provoked. Her family had treated her cruelly and coldly, telling her that she was a traitor to them and their kind. They pointed to her puppy eared son, saying that he was proof enough of her treason.

One evening she had burst into their rooms and gathered him up into her arms, escaping out into the gardens and passed the low walls. They ran though the forest, but the sounds of approaching men soon overtook them. She stuffed him into the hollow arms of a half dead tree, telling him that no matter what he must remain silent.

He watched in muffled horror as she was captured and beheaded before his very eyes. He bit his lip until his fangs drew blood, but emaiemained still, obeying his mother even in death. The men took her body, searching the area fruitlessly for him, before finally retreating back to the manor.

As the cold gray dawn peeked over the horizon, Inuyasha crept out of his hiding place. He scented the air, smelling his mother’s jasmine perfume, worked leather from the men’s armor and the smell of sweet blood. He knelt down by the pool of crimson, the last remaining evidence of his mother’s existence and he howled his agony to the awakening forest.

Ever since that day he haen oen on his own, but he learned a valuable lesson. Marriage was only a word, nothing more.

During his thoughts he had turned back towards the well and now he stood at the base, staring into the deep pit. He would not allow Kagome to leave him like everyone else. He vowed to protect her, the way he couldn’t protect his mother or Kikyou for that matter. The only way he could do that was if she was in his arms where she belonged. He gathered up his resolve and leapt in the well, swearing that this time he would return with his mate.

*~*

He surfaced on the other side of the well in time to see Kagome dragging something very heavy down the steps. She sensed his presence and turned to face him, a smile lighting her features.

“Help a girl out, will ya?” She motioned over to him while tugging on an overstuffed bag at the same time. As she leaned all of her weight away, the strap on her bag snapped and before his horrified gaze she began to tumble down the steps. With a flash of red he caught her up against her chest, saving her from a potentially nasty fall.

She grinned up at him, her eyes dancing with merriment. “Nice one! Way to save the day, puppy boy.” She pecked him on the lips before struggling out of his hold. Inuyasha let her go, completely dumbstruck. Why was she acting so nice? So playful? It was as though nothing had happened between them.

“Feh women. I don’t understand you.” He glared at her back as she leaned over to examine the damaged bag. She looked back over her shoulder, flashing him a toothy grin.

“You’re not supposed too. We are contractually obligated to confuse all males of any species at least once a day.” He blinked at her and she turned back to the bag while giggling at his blank expression.

“Figures.” He tucked his hands in his sleeves, cocking his head to the side as he watched her bend over again and her skirt rode up her milky thighs.

“Stop staring at my butt,” Kagome demanded without turning around, “and make yourself useful.” She hefted the heavy bag at him, confident that he would catch it easily. She made her way out the door to retrieve even more bags. He followed her outside only to be brought up short by a small field of packages.

“What is all this crap?” He growled, instantly uneasy at the sight of so many shopping bags surrounding him. Kagome caught sight of his panicked expression and she instantly pictured him in the middle of a department store holding her purse while she tried on new clothes. She giggled inanely and Inuyasha’s ears pinned back against his skull at the sound.

She waved han hand at him, still laughing. “Just stuff for Sango’s wedding. Decorations and the like.”

“What does she need it for?” He huffed, still off center by her strange behavior, but willing to accept the unspoken truce between them.

Kagome shrugged while handing him bags until they hung off him like ripe fruit on a tree. “She wanted some things from my time to make the event special. She said that it was kind of a reminder of fate. If I hadn’t come along she would have never met Miroku. I think that’s totally bogus. I mean, they were meant to be no matter what, so even I hadn’t shown up they would have gotten together.” Kagome continued to prattle on while Inuyasha glared at her slender back. He noticed that she hadn’t looked him directly in the eyes since he had arrived and now her comments were causing his jaw to clench.

He didn’t like to think about what would have happened if Kagome never found her way down the well. Where would he be now if she hadn’t come? Still pinned to a tree, dreaming of vengeance, that’s what.

Where would Kagome be?

His ears drooped as the thought invaded his mind. He had never really considered the turmoil the existence of the well caused his mate. After all these years he still didn’t appreciate all the sacrifices she made. Her school, her family, her life. She gave it up all to repair one small mistake she had made. She could have easily retreated back here and never returned. Oh, he could have dragged her back and in fact he had the first time, but if she had been determined she could have stayed away.

And he would have been alone again.

A clawing need rose up inside of him. He had to claim his mate again. To feel her flesh against his, her lips on his, to be inside of her. He dropped her bags unceremoniously on the ground causing her to look up and frown at him with annoyance.

“What the he...” His lips cut off her words as his tongue thrust into her lush mouth. He clutched her to his chest and she melted into him, reveling in the feel of his body next to hers once again. She had yearned to be in his arms again and she had barely controlled herself when she saw him pop out of the well. She wounded her arms around his neck, burying her fingers into his thick mane of hair. He picked her up so her feet dangled off the ground while backing up into the well house, gracelessly slamming the door shut before pinning her up against the nearby wall.

Inuyasha lips skimmed down over her white throat, indulging in her sweet taste. Her head dropped back against the wall and her breaths came in quick hard pants. Distantly she heard the rending of material and the tinkling of pearl buttons as they scattered across the floor, but then his hot mouth was devouring her aching breasts and logic deserted her. She surrendered to the maelstrom of sensation that invaded her senses.

Inuyasha ravished her body, setting off fires of need that swept across her heated flesh. One clawed hand dove under her skirt, cupping her bare cheek and lifting her up off the floor with unconscious strength. His other hand, combed through her hair before gathering a fistful at the base of her neck. He levered her head up to meet his amber gaze and he waited for the haze to clear from her eyes.

“You won’t leave me.” It was a demand, not a question. Kagome felt the warmth of acceptance surround her, the feelingwholwholeness that she couldn’t obtain anywhere else, but in Inuyasha’s arms.

“Never.” Her one word was met with a blaze of wet kisses and lustful moans. Her long legs wrapped around his waist as he held her close to him.

His thick length jutted forward, escaping the confines of his hoari, seeking her warmth. She arched against him and he hissed with pleasure as he sank into her velvet depths. Coils of desire curled in her stomach, winding tighter with every thrust of his hips. She bit her lip, desperately trying to still the cries that echoed inside of her. She was acutely away of the rough wood wall at her back and the feel of his robes brushing against her thighs. All she could see was the flash of his eyes and the silver of his hair. All she could hear was the sharp rasp of breath as it flowed from her to him. Only that moment existed and nothing beyond their bubble mattered.

Inuyasha’s tongue skimmed over her neck, feeling for the thrumming of her racing pulse. He could smell her tangy blood just below the surface of her delicate skin and the youkai inside of him roared with exhilaration.

He could feel Kagome’s muscles clench around him in a seductive massage of pleasure. Her passage became impossibly tight and he thrust with more power, seeking their ultimate goal of bliss. His lips drew back from his ivory fangs and he scraped them over her skin, tasting the salty flavor of her sweat. He sucked her flesh into his mouth, savoring it for a moment before he bit down with savage intensity.

Kagome reared back, her entire body shuddering from the waves of pleasure that crashed down on her. White lights danced behind her lids and small keening wails escaped her throat. Her hot blood spurted onto his tongue and the sensation of her body convulsing around his and her unique flavor sent him spiraling over the edge with her.

He gently lapped at her mark, healing the wound with his saliva. He kept her pinned against the wall, still resting deep inside of her. Kagome slumped in his arms, her head resting against his arm, her arms closed in peaceful oblivion.

He inhaled deeply, his happiness shadowed by a l nal nagging doubt.