Fallen Star
by Jessa

Chapter 6: Apologies and explanations.

Two hours after nightfall found the shard hunting group anxiously awaiting Inuyasha's return. Kagome was jumping up at every sound, convinced it was the hanyou, only to be disappointed every time.

Miroku was trying to get Kagome's mind off of her worries, but was failing miserably. Kirara paced back and forth between Sango, Kagome, and the edge of the clearing they'd set up camp in, still in her small, cute form.

A twig snapped in the forest. Kagome rushed toward the sound. "Inuyasha?" she called. The image that met her eyes was not one she ever would have imagined.

Inuyasha lay cradled in the arms of the female youkai who had tried to kill him two years before. On her right side, Sesshoumaru stood, looking injured and a little dazed. On her left, Rin bounced in place.

"Inuyasha!" Kagome screamed. "What did you do to him?" she demanded, glaring pointedly at the white-haired woman in front of her.

"Calm yourself, young one. I have done nothing but rescue him and bandage his wounds as best I can. But he has other injuries which I cannot tend. Sesshoumaru-sama suggested I bring Inuyasha to you, miko, to see if you could save him."

Kagome looked at Sesshoumaru suspiciously. "Who are you, and what have you done with Sesshoumaru?"

The female youkai laughed. "That is exactly what I asked him. He just muttered something about him being the one to kill Inuyasha, not some fire-rat youkai. I didn't quite catch it all." Hoshi moved closer to Kagome, who backed up a little. "I'm not going to kill you, miko." Kagome stopped backing up and Hoshi whispered, "Sesshoumaru-sama is injured as well, but I don't know how badly. The fire-rat youkai he fought was quite strong. He saved Inuyasha's life. And possibly mine, as well."

Kagome side-glanced at Sesshoumaru. Her earlier assessment of him seemed to be correct. She noted that most of his armor was gone and he seemed to be bleeding from a deep wound in his left shoulder.

They walked to the camp, Hoshi carrying Inuyasha's still form. When they stepped out of the trees, Sango and Miroku shot to their feet, weapons at the ready.

"Kagome-sama, get behind me!" Miroku shouted, ready to release his wind tunnel.

"No, Miroku-sama! Sango-chan! It's all right. Inuyasha needs help." Kagome jumped in front of the small group she was leading, spreading her arms wide to signify her protection.

Sango waited until Miroku lowered his hand, then warily lowered Hiraikotsu. Kagome ran to her overlarge yellow pack and pulled out a pot. "Sango, can you get some water boiling? Miroku, I'll need your help to move Inuyasha. Shippou, there's some cloth for bandages in my pack. Could you tear it into strips this wide?" She held her fingers about two inches apart.

"You," she said to the female youkai, "can put Inuyasha on my sleeping bag. Right over there."

Hoshi followed the young miko's gesture and laid her burden on a strange-looking futon while Kagome began fishing around in her pack again. After a couple of agonizingly slow, frustrating minutes, she cried out in triumph and pulled out a white box.

Kagome set about cleaning and bandaging Inuyasha's wounds. When she was done and satisfied that the hanyou would live, she picked up the white box and the small pile of bandages she had left and walked over to Sesshoumaru, who had taken a seat on the ground against a tree. He watched her carefully as she knelt on the grass next to him and growled when she tried to care for his wounds.

"I'm just trying to help!" Kagome said indignantly, still attempting to get the wet cloth she was using close enough to wash the blood away. "Hold still!"

Hoshi cut off Sesshoumaru's answering growl. "Sesshoumaru-sama, please. Act your age. Cooperate with Kagome-sama, or I'll make you wish you had."

The taiyoukai sniffed disdainfully, but complied, albeit grudgingly.

"I'm sorry," Hoshi said after a few moments of watching the girl attempt to work on the taiyoukai's injury.

"Sorry? No, it's all right. I need to learn how to do this anyway. So you don't have anything to be sorry for," Kagome said, concentrating on cleaning Sesshoumaru's injured shoulder through the large rip in his kimono.

"Not for this, Kagome-sama. For two years ago."

"Two years. . .?" Still concentrating.

"I did not want to kill the hanyou. I was honor-bound to do so, however. He killed the man who would've been my mate. For that, I could not forgive him." Hoshi had the miko's full attention now, and had a feeling that everyone else was listening closely as well. "I loved Akira dearly. And he loved me, too. That always amazed me; how he could love me so much and so easily when my kind ruthlessly slaughtered his. I didn't understand it then, and I still don't understand it now."

"You— you would've married a human?" Inuyasha's weak voice asked. "He would've died of old age before you knew it. So, why?"

"Because I loved him," Hoshi said simply. "You need to rest. You took quite a beating, Inu-baka. I'm surprised you're still alive, let alone conscious."

Inuyasha scowled at Hoshi from his prone position. "I ain't gettin' up, wench, so just leave me alone," he bit out. "Why would you mate a human who's just going to die a lot sooner than you will? Losing people hurts."

"I am very well aware of that, Inu-baka. But, and maybe you didn't know this, a mating between a human and a youkai can extend the human's life by far. It can also shorten the youkai's life. But, since very few youkai take humans as mate, this practice is not very well known. But even if it didn't work like that, I still would have chosen Akira."

"Youkai like you disgust me," Sesshoumaru spat. "Humans are weak. They are prey, not mates."

"So, father disgusts you, then?" Inuyasha asked in his typical 'badger-Sesshoumaru' tone of voice.

"And what of Rin-chan?" Hoshi asked quietly, watching the little girl chase fireflies at the other side of the small field. "If humans are prey, why is she still alive?" She sat seiza-style on Sesshoumaru's right side, opposite Kagome. "Here, let me help you, Kagome-sama."

Kagome sighed in relief and handed over the washcloth. "Arigatou gozaimasu, ah. . ."

"Hoshi," the golden-eyed woman responded. "I'm Hoshi of the Northern Lands." She looked down at the ground, giving the impression of guilt/shame or gathering courage.

"Ah. Arigatou gozaimasu, Hoshi-sama."

"Just Hoshi, onegai." Hoshi looked at Sesshoumaru. "Gomen, Sesshoumaru-sama, but in spite of the size of the rip in your kimono, your wound cannot be cleaned through it. Take it off."

"This Sesshoumaru does not require your help, traitorous wench." He looked away.

"Bad move," Hoshi said, an edge to her voice. Quicker than anyone could follow, her right hand flashed out and a resounding smack! rang through the clearing.

Note: Currently, this is all I have written. It makes me kinda sad, but I'm not sure if I'll have time or opportunity to finish it with everything that's going on, so if anyone would like to take up the challenge and maybe write more for it, you have my permission. I would like to read it if you do, though.