Rediscovery

A/N: Sorry I haven't written in soooo long. Testing and various other things have totally blocked up my time, and I've been sick many-a-day this season. But now I'm back!! So enjoy.

Kagome lifted her head, sore and heavy, from the wet pillow. Her eyes felt dried out from the many tears she had cried, and the dull pound of an oncoming migraine was making her room blur and spin around her.

But through the haze of sadness and self-pity, Kagome could see clearly. People say that at the most horrible, painful moments, everything becomes clear, and one sees like on has never seen before. Well, Kagome felt as if the world was dark, but yet, just a few shades brighter than before. She was going to end her personal hell…. going to stop lying and find out the truth about the man she had once loved.

It all felt like a dream- his profile was hazy in her mind, the many strolls in the park erased from her memory by the cruel time that had ripped them apart for so long. She would find him- she had to. For her sanity.

And for her heart.

Memories she had forbidden herself to think of came in bits and pieces, like dogs that had been hit by the newspaper and slinked back to their owners, tails between their legs. Pictures of his smiling, happy family, the congratulations, the feeling of togetherness- they all came back in a slow but steady trickle. Like a shot, the needles of remembrance sank in, inserting the cure to her pain.

But the needle was painful, too.

Trying to sort her fragmented mind into a coherent thought, Kagome sighed. We met in the alley. He was shot. I took him home, then to the hospital. We start dating. We go to see his family… then nothing.

Wait a minute. His family!!

Kagome gasped excitedly. If she could track down the other Taishos, she'd somehow convince them to cough up his whereabouts. Their house…. The bar. The dark alley. The door… but everything was fuzzy at that point. " Ah hah!" Kagome said triumphantly, her voice cracking from the misuse of the past night. They were demons. And SHE was a miko… she could sniff 'em out.

Kagome KNEW she looked crazy, marching around the Park Square with a blindfold over her eyes, hands stretched out in front of her like a zombie's. Trying to recreate the moment of their walk, Kagome closed her eyes and concentrated on the feeling… the feeling of his arm brushing hers, his face aglow with the sunset. The feeling she had in the pit of her stomach whenever he was near.

Suddenly, Kagome felt the pull of a familiar youki tugging at her senses. Heading in that direction, she took a swerving, drunken path around the Square. Suddenly, she bumped into the object covered by the youki. Ripping off the blindfold, she subdued the dry that wanted to fall from her lips. It was nothing but an old man, toddling along with his cane. He was obviously youkai- and Kagome knew him because he took care of all the neighborhood strays.

"I'm so sorry," she said, her voice ringing with sincerity and sadness. "Don't worry about it," the man said, continuing on his way.

But then, to her left, Kagome heard a creak. A heavy door… it sounded like it was swinging. Picking her way between dumpsters and alley cats, Kagome rapped on the door sharply. It swung inwards, hinges rusty and creaky with age. And then Kagome saw something that broke her heart.

Sesshoumaru was sitting, slumped, over a barstool, his face rugged and unshaved. He was pale, paler even than usual, and he looked like he hadn't eaten in months. Seeing as youkai could do that, Kagome really didn't put it past him.

His eyes were hazy, their beautiful gold shadowed by drugs and alcohol. A wine glass was perched in his shaky right hand, and in his left was a small wad of wax paper. Inside, Kagome could tell, was a dry, brown, leafy lump. Marijuana.

Running to him, Kagome felt hot tears course down her cheeks. She ripped the wine glass from his grasp, smashing it on the table. Glass shards flew in all directions, lighting the bar with the reflection of the light on a million tiny surfaces.

She pulled the marijuana away from him, disgust clear as crystal on her ravaged features. How could you do this to yourself? How could you? Dropping it in the trash bin, she held his wrist, searching for a pulse. Finding the faint beat of his heart, she leaned down and caressed his face lovingly.

"It's okay, I'm here," she cooed, her voice cracking with relief.

His eyes seemed to clear for a second, and he smiled. Really, genuinely smiled.