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Every Night Has Its
Dawn
Chapter #1
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His head rolled slightly to the side, his heart
instantly warming when he was greeted with her smiling face, her
ebony tresses pulled back into a loose ponytail at the nape of her
neck. Her voice ringing gently as she chided him playfully. "It's
about time you woke up sleepy head!" She moved a piece of his
silver hair out of his face tenderly. "I was beginning to fear
that you wouldn't wake up at all!" He gave a chuckle,
propping himself on his elbow so he could be eye level with her.
Gently, he tucked a piece of hair behind her ear. "On the
contrary, I have just fallen asleep." He whispered wistfully to
her, taking note that despite all their dream meetings, her face was
still a blur to him - in which even the color of her eyes were hidden
to him. She cocked her head to the side, her pink lips
frowning in confusion. "Fallen asleep?" He could feel the
disappointment radiating off of her. "Are you saying . . . that
this is just a dream to you?" Suddenly he was at a loss
of words. He tried to stare through the foggy blur that hid her
features from him - tried to see her. But it was as if a piece of
heavily frosted glass stood between them, and no matter how much he
willed it to shatter, it remained unbroken. He didn't know what to
say . . . he didn't know what she wanted to hear. All he knew was the
truth. "I am asleep . . . this can be nothing other than a
dream." The disappointment she had felt earlier must have
tripled tenfold, for it easily washed over all of his senses - he
could barely feel her feather like caress on his cheek. And before he
could sort out all of her emotions, their lips were dangerously close
. . . and her warm breath whispered across his skin in a way that he
had to remind himself that she wasn't real . . . that she wasn't
really Her. "Have you forgotten?" Her words
pierced his heart in a way that no other's could, and his denial was
immediate. "NO!" He held her hand to his cheek urgently,
afraid that he would loose her touch so soon. With his eyes shut
closed and their foreheads touching, he spoke to her with passion. "I
could never forget you . . ." He nuzzled her face softly,
inhaling her familiar scent. Suddenly, her warm breath became
unnervingly cool against his lips . . . and the world shifted
underneath them. "Remember your promise." Their
lips connected, and his universe spun with old, faded memories. "
I have a proposition for you." "I asked if you
missed me . . ." "You? Kill me? That is highly
implausible." "Who's
Kuronue?" "You opened your heart to the
enemy." "Keep her safe for me . . . don't let her
come back here . . . not until it's safe." "NO! YOU
CAN'T LEAVE ME!" "I'll - I'll find you. I'll find a,
a way . . ."
The moment his eyes closed he felt her
presence - even before his mind had submerged itself in sleep. He
felt his lips curl into a smile when he felt her arm drape across his
chest while her other hand occupied itself by playing with his silver
tresses. His eyes opened lazily, not at all surprised when he was met
with blue skies instead of his bedroom ceiling. Sighing in content,
he relished the moment with her, knowing that his time was
short.
And then he was drowning in a sea of stormy blue . . .He lurched forward gasping for air as a beads of sweat slid down his neck. Slowly his pupils dilated and the pitch dark bled away so he could see the outline of his desk against his white walls. He was in his room.
His previous panic faded and with a groan he fell back into his pillow. "Fuck." He pressed the heels of his hands to his closed eyelids and took a deep breath. It had never been that vivid before . . .
"Hn. I didn't think you out of all people would allow a simple nightmare to disturb you fox."
With his hands still pressed against his eyes, Kurama gave a halfhearted chuckle. "I didn't think you out of all people would be so concerned." He lowered his hands to rest on his stomach and took a sidelong glance to his window sill, where the short demon sat leisurely, crimson eyes fixed intently on him.
Hiei immediately glared at him before turning away to casually look at the surrounding houses, giving a soft huff. "Hn."
Kurama smiled, knowing full well that the conversation was over. Bringing his hands to rest behind his head, he basked in the comfortable silence. His mind almost instantly wandering back to Her. He replayed the dream over and over until he could remember every detail . . . he knew all to well the frustration that would come later if he allowed himself to forget. However, when it came to recalling the ending he frowned. He hadn't forgotten her . . . he couldn't have if he tried. As long has he could remember she was there, always waiting for him.
When he was young she was just a presence - a spirit with no body, no features. She was something he felt. But as he grew older little details emerged . . . when he kissed the top of her head his world turned blue-black and suddenly he knew that her hair was black. It was like a puzzle . . . and thankfully, Kurama had always been good at puzzles. After 17 years of putting the pieces together he knew she was his his other half, knew that he had died in her arms, and most importantly, he knew she wasn't from that time.
He couldn't count the hours that he had plagued himself with questions concerning her. Was she here? In this time? Would he find her? Could he find her? The questions were endless and the answers limited.
His chest swelled with the mixture of emotions that always came when he thought of her. Worry, pain, longing . . . love. He had been waiting so long to find her . . . he was still waiting. He put up with Yusuke and Kuwabara's jokes of him being gay because they didn't know any better . . . they didn't understand that he was still committed. Even if their mating was in a separate lifetime, she was still his. And he was still hers . . . god he wanted to find her.
"You seem . . . troubled fox."
A bitter chuckle clawed it's way out of his throat before he could stop it, and by the time he realized that it was he who laughed, he didn't much care any way. Hiei wasn't one to question, nor was he one to worry enough to mention it to the others. The spikey-haired demon was secretive creature, even when it came to other people's secrets.
Kurama took a sidelong glance at the man sitting on the window sill. His mind contemplating whether he could tell him his inner most secrets . . . if he should tell him. His lips pursed as his eyes wandered to his blank ceiling. The burden of knowing he may never see her again, that she may come back to her time and be alone and afraid, had weighed heavily on his heart for years. His soul may be demonic . . . but his body wasn't. Every part of him worried that when she finally came he'd be gone, or that he would be too old and weathered to give her the life and love she deserved. But Hiei wasn't like him.
Hiei was a demon in a demon's body . . . Hiei was immortal.
He sat up in his bed, allowing the blue sheet to fall from his bare chest and puddle at his waist as he leaned his upper body against the bed's headboard, his head hitting against the wall with a dull thud. With a deep breath, he found the courage to lock eyes with his friend's.
"There's something I need you to know . . ."
Hiei's only responded with raised eyebrows; but it enough to prompt Kurama to continue.
He told his story solemnly, not having to look at his demon friend to know that he was listening intently. He felt his shock when he admitted to him that Youko was indeed himself and not a different soul altogether. Of course the surprises didn't end there for Hiei. From his deal with Naraku to his marriage to the woman of his dreams, no important detail was left unsaid - and in a matter of hours Hiei knew Youko's life story . . . Kurama's life story.
Now, with everything said, they simply sat in silence. The fire demon being too stunned to speak effectively, and Kurama too tired of talking to speak another syllable. Soon however, the silence turned awkward and stale. And Hiei, though normally the kind to bask in quiet, felt that it wasn't his place to impose himself on Kurama's somber reflections any longer. Now knowing what he knew, things fit together too perfectly - and Hiei himself, as inexperienced with love as he is, could only imagine the kind of pain losing Her had caused his friend . . . and what's worse is to have to wonder day in and day out if she would ever come back. Kurama was stuck in a web of promises that he couldn't break - too deep to break away and move on but too hopeful to give up.
Kurama must have interpreted his lack of reply as uneasiness, because he soon broke the silence with an apology. "I'm sorry if I've been a bit forward. I simply-"
"Why?" Hiei cut him off, catching his friend's eyes with his intense red ones. "Why are you telling me this, and why now." His tone was serious and even - devoid of its usual edge.
Kurama felt
his lips curl at the corners into a somber smile, his eyes softening
ever so slightly. "Because out of all of us, you are the
only true demon . . . you'll outlive me Hiei." He broke their
eye contact to look past his friend and out into the rest of the
world. "She'll come one day. I know she will. It's simply a
matter of time . . . time that I don't have and can't control."
He closed his eyes for a moment, glad that Hiei had yet to interrupt
him, before looking back at the fire demon. "I know it's a lot
to ask . . . but when I die I need to know that someone will be there
to tell her that I tried . . . I love her more than anything Hiei . .
. I just need her to know that."
For once, it was Hiei who broke the eye contact. And with a soft 'hn', he turned to leave out the window - but not before tossing a final few words over his shoulder. "I'll keep three eyes open." And then, he was gone. Disappearing into the morning's early haze of dark grays and blues.
Kurama watched the spot where the fire demon had been only moments before, when the image stormy seas suddenly flashed behind his eyes. Emerald eyes widened momentarily, before his features softened and a smile - a true smile spread across his face.
"Blue. Her eyes are blue . . ."
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She shivered lightly, pulling her coat around her in an attempt to lock out the cold, and licking her lips to moisten them from the frosty air. She wasn't surprised to see her breath puff from her mouth. The morning was young and peaceful, if not a little too cold for her taste; the streets of Tokyo city still bare of life and untouched by the sun's direct light. She sighed contentedly, and continued her brisk walk to the Shibuya Train Station. It was well known to her that the trains wouldn't even start running until another hour or so, but for the past four months she couldn't help but feel that there was never too much time to think . . . especially in that she herself had more than enough to contemplate on.
Slowly, the tall buildings moved aside to reveal the paved clearing in front of the station, of which laid under the paws of the bronze statue she had come to see before she went to work for nearly a whole season. Standing in front of the famous dog, she allowed herself to gaze up at him with a somber smile. "Looks like another fine morning to wait, no?" The statue did not answer, and she didn't expect it to.
She turned towards the station, where the dog faithfully watched, and used his pedestal to gently lower her pregnant self to the ground in front of him. She watched with him, knowing well that in an hour the crowds would come and her spot would be invaded by all the other's that waited for their loved ones by the unmoving Hachiko.
Once the faithful pet of a man named Eisaburo Ueno, a professor that taught at Tokyo University, he was now a legend. As the story's told, every day, Mr. Eisaburo would commute by train to teach at an off-campus site; and every night, Hachiko would wait faithfully in front of the station for his return. Even after the good professor had died of a stroke at the University, Hachiko waited for him to come back. Going home only when the sun's rays touched the earth, only to come back again when night fell to wait once more. It was not until nine years later when he followed his master in death that he failed to wait for him in front of the station.
Today, it was a favorite place to meet friends and loved ones coming off the trains before heading off to enjoy each other's company. But to Kagome, he was more than that - her and Hachiko were kindred spirits, both waiting for someone who was never to come.
She had discovered Hachiko's company nearly a month after she discovered her pregnancy; and only a week after she had summoned up the strength to leave the house. With a job a few hours before and after school, the hour or so she had with him every morning was the little time she had to think, to remember. In some ways she supposed that having only a single hour to dedicate to thoughts of him was a good thing - if she dwelled too much it surely wouldn't be healthy for the baby or for herself. Yet, at the same time, she felt that thinking of him so little could very possibly depress her more. But her life had grown so complicated . . . she couldn't afford to spend more time with his memory.
Not long after she dug herself out of despair and began picking up the broken pieces of her heart, with Inuyasha's help of course, the realization came to her that her life was going to go through drastic changes. Her mother, bless her kindness and understanding, would pay for every expense and wave aside the scorning looks of the neighbors that the baby would bring without hesitation. But Kagome couldn't, wouldn't, allow her mother to suffer from her choices. The day she recognized Hachiko as her kindred spirit was the day she began working at department store as a greeter, bowing and welcoming any person who walked through their doors. Kagome herself was at first shocked that after her interview she was hired. The chance that they would except her with her grades, let alone the fact of her growing pregnancy, was mind boggling to her. Upon her voicing these thoughts, her new boss merely chuckled, his eyes crinkling at the corners. As far as he was concerned, he said, having a pregnant woman greeting customers would only bring more in. "People are attracted to young to-be mothers. Woman like you simply have an energy that attract people." And so she began working for Mr.Yuko at the starting wage of nine dollars an hour, and with a twenty-five cent raise every two months. Two weeks into her job, she made yet another change that would alter her lifestyle forever.
She left Eri, Yuka, Ayumi, Hojo, and everyone else at Furinkan High school in exchange for a school in the Mushiyori area, appropriately named Mushiyori High school.
For Kagome, the decision was not a hard one to make. The thought of being cornered by half the student body asking about her pregnancy, and the other half talking about it didn't sit well with her. She had enough to worry about with out having to watch her reputation go down from the toilet to the Tokyo sewer system. Besides, it would have been impossible to focus on graduating with Youko's memory popping into her head every time a student looked at her weird. Mushiyori High school was the perfect option. It was a mere ten minute walk from work, no one knew her, and best of all, the requirements were set extremely low. Kagome, with the bad grades she had, was easily able to pass into the top twenty percentile - a place she hadn't seen since she had left for the feudal era.
She had no doubt that people would still ask her about her pregnancy, or give her strange looks. But what mattered was that their opinion didn't. They could talk, and stare, and joke as much as they pleased. They didn't know her, she didn't know them. The only reason she was there was to get her degree and go. And at the moment, that was exactly what she was doing.
With less than a semester away from graduation, she was hoping beyond hope that she could graduate early . . . especially with the baby being due the week the rest of her class graduates . . .
She caressed her growing bump with a sad sigh before her eyes unconsciously moved to the ring on her left hand, losing herself in the gem's deep blue. It had taken months for her to finally accept the fact that Youko wouldn't be coming back to her - that even he, the master thief, couldn't steal back his life. But as much as it hurt her to know that his last promise to her would never be fulfilled, it warmed her heart to know that she would never be completely alone.
She had Inuyasha. And though he would never be able to mend the gaping hole in her heart, his place as her best friend would always remain.
He had stayed by her side since the beginning, and had countered his promise to Kikyou with the promise to her that he would always be there when she needed him. The instant the words left his mouth, Kagome understood that they were meant to help her cope with Youko's loss - to help her stop crying. Never the less, the words were comforting to her aching soul. And she was quick to answer his promise with one of her own. "There will never be a time I don't need you." Though tears were rolling down her cheeks at the time, warmth flooded through her; she knew that her words were true. Since then, he came to her home every night so that he would be there when she came home from a long day of work and school . . . in many ways Inuyasha was her Hachiko.
The only difference was that when she left this world, he wouldn't keep waiting for her . . . Kagome knew him well enough to know that. They loved each other in a way that most friends don't - their love was deeper level than most friends never reach. They held each other's lives in their hands numerous times; they had dealt with fears of death parting them on countless occasions. But Kagome knew in her heart that if the time ever came that she would die before him, he would be overcome with the same emotions she had felt when Youko left her - sadness, loneliness, guilt . . . but she understood that he still had Kikyou. When she died, he would mourn for a time, but inevitably he would keep his promise to his past love. As much as it hurt her believe it, she knew it to be the truth. In the end he would run to her, and in her arms he would descend to the depths of Hell. Of coarse that was only the present truth.
Kagome had never given up on the hope that she would somehow be able to change Kikyou's mind. To make her realize that Inuyasha's destruction was pointless. And now with the Shikon Jewel whole, and in their possession, the possibilities were endless for the couple. Well, at least as far as she was concerned. The jewel would have been used for them already if Inuyasha hadn't protested against it . . . his argument being that if they wished her back into the living then he would be putting Kagome's life at risk. Something he had promised himself long ago he would never do. And so Kagome was left to find another solution for Inuyasha and Kikyou, and another for getting rid of the jewel for good.
She sighed.
Out of their close group of friends, Inuyasha and her were the only only ones whose worries hadn't been settled with the destruction of Naraku. Sango had been reunited with her brother, though exactly how he managed to stay alive with out the shard was unknown. The only thing Kohaku remembered was being greeted by a familiar girl with brown eyes and a lopsided pony tail and a distant white figure in background. Kagome of coarse immediately assumed that it was Sesshoumaru's doing, but when Miroku was kind enough to remind her of his grudge against Youko and Inuyasha her resolve crumbled enough for her not to mention it again.
Miroku, with his Kazana gone and a full life ahead of him, was true to his promise and proposed for a second time to Sango. She of coarse said yes, and the wedding plans commenced almost immediately. Within the next month they were married and living happily together in Kaede's village. Within three months after that Sango was diagnosed with the pregnancy of her first child - and due four months after Kagome.
She smiled to herself as she gave her stomach a motherly caress. It was nice to know that she wouldn't be the only one going through the pains of childbirth, and even better to know that she would have Sango to cheer her on if Inuyasha fainted - which she knew was bound to happen. He of coarse denied her suspicions full-heartedly, he having decided that he would be staying near her head when the time came. Just where Youko would have been . . .
Kagome knew that when the time came it would hurt her to see Inuyasha there instead of him - especially with their features so similar. But she also knew that she needed him, and everyone else, there when the time came. It was the reason she decided to give birth to her child in the feudal era instead of in the hospital. She may not know how much it hurt, but she knew that she would give up comfort and painkillers to be surrounded by them any day. They were her painkillers, and she knew that if they could help her survive Youko's death, they could help her survive through childbirth.
She tilted her head back to gaze up at the sky, fascinated by the way the early morning rays pierced through the dark clouds, igniting the dull color with pink and purple hues. She knew people would soon come crowd the streets, and the trains would come rolling in; she knew her peace would soon be lost. But she couldn't find the will to get up . . . not just yet.
Just a little more time to remember.
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I know the wait has been longer than expected, but hopefully it was worth it. I really hope it was worth it. For me the first and last chapters should be superior to any other. Hopefully this chapter has lived up to the expectation. Thankyou for waiting patiently!
Marinaaa: Had I had a way to contact you I would have replied to your review sooner! I too believe that happy endings have nothing wrong with them! We'll just have to see whether or not this story will have a happy ending eh?
Once again, I do not own Inuyasha or Yu Yu Hakusho. If I did, I wouldn't be writing this.
Please read and review! Support is always much loved 8)