Confessions of the Heart
By: Hopeless Romantic
hope_parker@yahoo.com
Rated: Nc-17 / Hentai

Chapter Five
Reunions

            Morning came and Kagome opened her eyes and closed them again, flattening her ears.
            "Why is it so loud?  What are those damn birds doing?  Having a party this early in the morning!" Kagome growled, but stopped her rant hearing giggling beside her.
            Kagome gave Inuyasha a glare.
            "What?" Inuyasha asked, feigning innocence.
            "It's not funny," Kagome growled.
            "Don't worry.  You will get use to it in time," Inuyasha said, sitting up and stretching the sleep from his arms.
            "How can you put up with that?" Kagome asked.
            "Easy, I make sure to be awake before the birds wake up," Inuyasha said with a yawn. "You'll get use to it," he added, standing up.
            Kagome growled at Inuyasha and stood up.
            Inuyasha put on his underkimono and hakama, and then stopped to look over at Kagome as she was brushing out her hair. With a small smile on his lips, he walked to Kagome and stopped her hand.
            "Let me please," Inuyasha said softly, taking the brush from Kagome's hand.
            Kagome smiled brightly as Inuyasha brushed her hair until it shined.
            "Mmm, that feels nice. Wait a minute.  What did you do now?  You are obviously trying to make up for something," Kagome said, narrowing her eyes, trying to turn around and look Inuyasha in the face.
            "What?  Do I need a reason to be affectionate to my mate?" Inuyasha asked, pouting.
            "No, but I'm sure that you have ulterior motives," Kagome said, coldly.
            "Not this time, love. Although, now that you mention it..." Inuyasha began, but Kagome growled at him, making him stop.
            "Well, I just thought of something. What are we going to tell your mother?" Inuyasha asked, putting the brush down.
            "You said before to tell her the truth.  Are you suggesting we do otherwise?" Kagome asked.
            "No.  I still feel that we need to tell her.  I just don't have... what's the word..." Inuyasha said, itching his head, trying to think of the correct word.
            "Tact you mean?" Kagome asked.
            "Yes, that's it. Me, I would just tell her the truth and tell her to deal with it," Inuyasha said, shrugging his shoulders.
            "Not to worry. I'll think of something," Kagome said with a smile.
            "Good. How about something to eat?" Inuyasha asked, slipping his haroi on.
            "Sounds good.  Are you going hunting?" Kagome asked, pulling her kimono on.
            "I don't know.  It depends on what prey I can find a scent of.  We may end up with just song bird eggs," Inuyasha said, as he walked to the screen door.
            Kagome made a face at the thought of eating the eggs. "If you can't catch something, we can stop at that field and eat berries again by the stream," she said, as Inuyasha walked out the door.
            "Feh.  Whatever, woman," Inuyasha snorted, taking off out of the house.
            Kagome smiled and finished getting dressed in a simple green and yellow kimono.
            Satisfied, Kagome started picking up various things and putting them back into her backpack.
            'I have no idea what I'm going to tell them," Kagome thought, until her eyes rested on the boxes that contained their marriage attire.
            "That's it!" Kagome squealed, grabbing the boxes and taking the large outer kimono down from the wall.
            "I know it won't be the same, but it should do to appease mother," Kagome said to herself as she folded the heavy kimono.
            Knowing they would be gone for a time and she was not sure when they would return, Kagome pulled several everyday kimonos and matching belts from the drawers on the wall.  Carefully laying them out flat she put them on the top of the other clothes and things in her back pack, making sure that they would wrinkle as little as possible.
            Kagome picked up the boxes and her backpack as she walked out to the main room to wait for Inuyasha to return.

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

            Inuyasha ran through the forest, tracking several scents.  He caught two scents, one was a deer and the other was a rabbit.
            With a snort and a defeated look, Inuyasha turned and went back to the house.
            'Feh, we can just eat berries until we get to the village,' Inuyasha thought, as he took to the trees to get back quicker.
    

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

            Inuyasha landed in front of the house and walked toward the door.  Taking a sniff of the air he confirmed his earlier thought that Shinzen had already left.
            "Oi Kagome," Inuyasha called.
            "What?" Kagome answered, walking out to the doorway.
            "We should get going. Are you ready?" Inuyasha asked impatiently.
            "Yes. Just let me get the tea pot and cups," Kagome said, going back inside to grab her bag and the boxes.  She went to the utensil area and grabbed the cups and teapot.  Kagome put the items into her backpack, being careful to secure them against falling out of her bag.  
            Kagome smiled and walked back to the door.  She walked out and slid the shoji screen closed with a sad look. 'We will be back,' Kagome thought as she slipped on her shoes.
            Inuyasha smiled as Kagome walked to him.
            "I'm ready," Kagome said, with a small smile.
            "We will come back. Don't worry," Inuyasha said, cupping Kagome's cheek.
            Kagome smiled at him, but was still sad.
            "Now we need to be going.  I need you to cut yourself," Inuyasha said, pointing to Kagome's forearm.
            "Why?" Kagome asked.
            "I need to reactivate the seal to protect the house," Inuyasha said with a snort.
            "How does it work?" Kagome asked.
            "The trees around the house have my blood and pieces of my hair on them. I need to put your blood and hair on them so that we can pass through the barrier that it creates. It acts like a lock," Inuyasha explained.
            "Oh, ok," Kagome said, taking one of her claws and cutting her arm.
            Inuyasha pulled out a couple of Kagome's hairs and stuck a claw into the blood on her arm.  He then took off in a flash spreading the hair and blood around to the trees.
            "There. Now we don't have to remove the seal when we come back. No youkai can enter and to humans this seal makes an illusion of brush and briars," Inuyasha said.
            “Wonderful” Kagome said with a smile.
            “Well, let’s be on our way. Hop on,” Inuyasha said, motioning to his back.
            “Um… there’s a problem with that,” Kagome said quietly.
            “And that would be?” Inuyasha asked.
            “In a kimono I can’t spread my legs very far and I certainly can’t run,” Kagome explained.
            Inuyasha thought for a minute, and snorted. He picked up Kagome and held her in his arms.
            “That will work,” Inuyasha said aloud, putting Kagome down and picking up her backpack.
            “Are you ready?” Inuyasha asked.
            “Yes. Just let me grab these,” Kagome said, bending down to grab the boxes and the folded kimono that were beside her on the ground.
            “Why are we taking those?” Inuyasha asked, nodding to the boxes that were now resting in Kagome’s lap.
            “To appease mother,” Kagome answered.
            “Huh?” Inuyasha said.
            “Never mind. I’ll explain later,” Kagome said, as Inuyasha started running toward the village.
            Kagome was quite content in Inuyasha’s arms, so she soon fell asleep.

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

            Quickly Inuyasha found himself at the clearing they had stopped at on their way to the cottage.
            Inuyasha looked down at the still sleeping Kagome and smiled.
            ‘She is beautiful when she sleeps.  We aren’t that far from the village.  I’ll let her sleep,’ Inuyasha thought, continuing on toward Kaede’s village.

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

            Inuyasha stopped just outside the village limits.
            “Kagome,” Inuyasha whispered, shaking the slumbering woman in his arms.
            “Hmm?” Kagome mumbled.
            “We’re at the village.  You need to wake up,” Inuyasha said, kissing Kagome’s cheek.
            Kagome opened her eyes and yawned with a smile.
            “I thought we were stopping to eat at the clearing,” Kagome said, as she stood up and straightened her kimono.
            “I was going to stop but somebody was asleep. I wonder who that was,” Inuyasha mock growled.
            “My, my. You are more talented than I thought. Imagine, you were sleeping and still made it here in one piece and carrying me,” Kagome sneered.
            “You try my patience,” Inuyasha growled.
            “I thought that was what good mates were to do. Drive our spouses crazy,”  Kagome smiled, walking past a growling Inuyasha.
            “Woman,” Inuyasha growled at Kagome’s back.
            Kagome heard him and just giggled, until she realized that he was now running after her.
            With a smirk, Kagome whispered “Osuwari” over her shoulder.  Inuyasha went face first in the grass screaming Kagome’s name.
            Kagome continued to walk toward the village laughing.
            Inuyasha began to recover from the restraint of the spell. “That woman will be the death of me,” he mumbled walking on to the village.
    

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

            “How much longer are Kagome and Inuyasha going to be gone?” Shippou whined at Kaede, while poking the ground with a stick.
            “They shall return, do not ye fret, child,” Kaede soothed the kitsune.
            “But I miss them,” Shippou sighed.
            Kaede was about to distract Shippou with a story when a loud shouting startled her.
            “Hentai… Get yourself back here, monk. I am going to make it so you cannot reproduce,” a voice bellowed from the forest.
            The voice preceded a fast running Miroku, followed by a fuming and wet Sango.
            “I meant no harm…” Miroku shouted, not slowing down.
            Miroku ran toward Kaede’s hut and slowed to find a place to hide.
            “You can’t hide from me, monk,” Sango yelled, hot on Miroku’s trail.
            “Kyaa!!” Miroku squeaked as Sango knocked him to the ground.
            “I swear, I will rip…” Sango yelled, but stopped at laughing coming from behind her.
            “I see that nothing has changed at all,” a voice said.
            Everyone turned around and was surprised to see Inuyasha with a woman who looked kind of like Kagome, but she was a hanyou.
            “Inuyasha, it is good to see ye. Where is Kagome?” Kaede asked, looking over the woman beside Inuyasha. “By the gods,” Kaede gasped.
            “Yes, Kaede-san. It’s me, Kagome,” Kagome said with a smile.
            “But, how… when… why…” Sango gasped.
            “It’s a long story, but the short end of it is that Inuyasha and I are mated,” Kagome said with a bright smile.
            “Yay!!! Kagome-chan will stay with us forever!” Shippou cried, jumping into Kagome’s arms and snuggling to her.
            “Yes, Shippou-chan. I’ll be here,” Kagome cooed at the kitsune.
            “Feh.. hum…” Inuyasha began but was stopped by a glare from Kagome.
            “I am no longer a human, Inuyasha. I am a hanyou and you can’t brush emotions off on being a human,” Kagome stated with a growl.
            “Ok ok. Back off woman. Sheesh,” Inuyasha said, putting his hands up in front of him.
            “Come, come. We must celebrate this even,” Kaede said smiling.
            “Yes. We must return to my time in the morning and explain this to my family. I only hope that my mother is as understanding and accepting as you all are,”     Kagome said with a slight frown.
            “Kagome-san, we know you are still you, even if you look different. You are still the same person inside,” Sango said, putting her arm around Kagome.
            The group went into Kaede’s hut and talked until late in the evening. The group decided to retire to bed.
            Sango, Miroku and Kaede settled themselves in the hut. Shippou followed Kagome and Inuyasha outside.
            “Hey, wait up. I want to sleep with Kagome,” Shippou cried, racing to catch up with Kagome and Inuyasha.
            “Shippou-chan, I’m sleeping in the godfather tree tonight with Inuyasha,” Kagome said, kneeling down to the kitsune.
            “But why?” Shippou whined.
            “I just wish to. You know Inuyasha doesn’t like to sleep inside and I want to be with him,” Kagome explained.
            Shippou sniffed and smiled at Kagome. “Ok, can I at least sleep below the tree?” he asked, hopeful.
            Kagome looked to Inuyasha who was already settling himself against the trunk of the tree.
            “Feh. Whatever you want,” Inuyasha snorted.
            Kagome smirked at the gruff facade that Inuyasha was putting up.
            “I see nothing wrong with that, Shippou-chan. Good night,” Kagome said, kissing the top of Shippou’s head and jumping up to the limb that Inuyasha was on.
    Inuyasha smiled as Kagome snuggled against his chest.    
            “Goodnight, my mate,” Inuyasha mumbled as he let sleep overtake him. They would have a long day indeed tomorrow. Pushing that thought aside, Inuyasha pulled Kagome tight against him and fell asleep.


* * * * * * * * * * * * * * *
Notes:  More to come.
Thanks to all my readers for being patient with me on getting this chapter out. Real life tends to interfere with writing.

Inuyasha and all related characters belong to Rumiko Takahashi, I do not seek to infringe on her rights. I am only borrowing the characters to expand on the love and romance between them.

You can find my stories at:
Strands of Moonlight       http://strands-of-moonlight.my3gb.com  and  http://strands-of-moonlight.6te.net