A Fuzzy Dream by avoria13

Prologue

This is a fanfic challenge from sesshysbabygurl posted on 2007-10-11 at a-single-spark.com

It is, therefore, a Sesshomaru and Kagome pairing.

I own not the wonders of the world of Inuyasha... sadly... *sigh*.

Prologue

"I hate to move her right now – I mean, I know that what the family needs is stability, but... we don't have the money to make payments on the house. I'll have to go and live with my father at the shrine." A worried and tired sounding voice spoke quietly, trying in vain to keep the words from reaching the young girl across the room.

"You need to do what you have to do. We understand, and I'm sure that she will too. Someday. She is fairly mature for her age, and I know that she will accept your reasons if you explain it to her." A man's voice spoke lightly. The deep baritone of his voice seemed filled with regret and sadness, but also pity.

On the side of the room opposite to the two, a small child sat quietly in a dark dress. She was confused and a little scared – she knew that the adults were speaking of her, but she could not understand what they were going on about. All she knew was that she wanted her daddy, and that he was not there – and her mommy said that daddy was gone. Her mommy said that he would not come home this time, and Higurashi Kagome was scared. Suddenly, the small girl felt a pair of small yet strong arms encircle her shoulders and pull her into a hug.

"It's all right, Kagome." The boy's voice was soft, and seemed emotionless, but Kagome felt the catch in his breath; she knew that he was hurting as much as her.

"I miss my daddy, Sess. Why won't he come back?"

"He can't come back, little miko. But if he could be here, he would be."

"Why can't he come home? Me and mommy need him," she whispered sadly. A tear leaked from one eye and made its way down her cheek slowly.

Wiping away the salty drop, the boy replied, "He was really sick, and now he's somewhere he'll be better, but he can't leave that place. But they have stuff there in that place so he can always watch over you."

"Do you think he's happy where he is, Sess?" The girl asked, looking up into the boy's eyes.

"I'm sure he's as happy as he can be, without you and your mom around. He probably misses you a lot, but I'm sure he wants you to be happy too." The boy pulled her in closer, shifting Kagome so that she could rest her head on one of his shoulders. He gently rubbed her back, and in a few short minutes her silent tears had stopped and her breathing had evened out. He stayed that way for a few more minutes, until the adults on the other side of the room looked at the two children.

"You shouldn't take her away from here so soon after her father died," he said accusingly to the woman. "It'll break her heart to leave everything she knows, and you know it."

The man cast a scathing glance at the boy. "Sesshomaru, what have I told you about respecting those older than you? You know nothing about which you speak."

"I know perfectly well of which I speak, Father. I refuse to show respect to those who cannot see what is right in front of them. No matter how much you say this is for her good, you cannot countenance taking her away from her home and her family when she needs stability." The boy's voice was filled with scorn, and his eyes were filling slowly with rage.

"The only family that girl has here, Sesshomaru, is her mother, and she is leaving – tomorrow – with her, to go to the only family they have left. They cannot stay here, and it would be too full of memories and pain to try to do so, even if the means were available. You will apologize to Higurashi-san, Sesshomaru, and then you will leave to go to your room and think over this blatant disregard of your manners. And before you refuse me, keep in mind that I will not allow you to see them off tomorrow if you don't do what I say, hmm?"

Sesshomaru's furious face hardened and seemed to become stone. "Of course. Gomen, Higurashi-san. I have forgotten my place. Goodbye." His voice was flat, showing no emotion.

Gently placing the girl upon the couch, Sesshomaru swept a lock of hair from her face with a tenderness that belied his previous words, then swiftly left the room. His passage made not a sound except for the swish of his formal kimono. Those left in the room – who were conscious, at least – regarded the door for a moment before turning back to the other.

"And I, Higurashi-san, apologize for my pup's insolence. He seems to have an apparent disregard for those who are wiser than him."

"He is simply hurting from the pain my daughter is feeling, and from the fact that we will be leaving tomorrow. He cares for Kagome very much, you know." The woman's voice was gentle, and full of compassion. The man's voice, however, was not filled with compassion.

"He still must remember how to act around those who should have his respect. I did not raise him in a barn, and I expect him to be respectful to his elders and bring honor to our family."

"Do not be too hard on him, Taisho-san. He is still recovering from the loss of his mother, and this tragedy only makes it worse. Remember that. Besides, he's only ten. Allow him a little leeway, huh?"

The man inclined his head in agreement. "Of course. Now, you know you will never be able to leave by noon tomorrow if you do not go and finish your packing. This episode will simply be repeated unless you leave, and it will be better for Kagome if there is a clean break."

The woman gave a wry smile. "You are, as always, correct, Taisho-san. I'll see you tomorrow."

&&&&&&

The girl – Kagome – looked at her mother. She was dressed in another dark colored dress – this one a deep green, one of her old Christmas dresses. "Mama, when are we gonna come back home? Why are we bringing so much stuff?"

Her mother smiled softly at her questions. "We're going to see grandpa, and we're going to stay a long time, Kagome."

"Is that why we're bringing the couch?"

"Sorta."

"But... Grandpa already has a couch! We should leave it here for when we come back." Kagome's eyes took on a stubborn glint, and her mother guessed that Kagome had an idea of what they were really doing.

"No, Kagome. We have to take the couch with us. I'll explain why later."

"Okay, mama... Can Sess come with us? Please?"

"No, Kagome, Sesshomaru has things to do here." Kagome's face fell a little at this, but then lifted.

"But we'll call him every week, right?"

"Of course, honey. We can call him whenever you want to."

The two became quiet as the car stopped and they walked up to the door of the Taisho house. The mother reached for the knocker, but the door swung open before she could sound it.

"Come to say goodbye, then?" The man said. "Well, Sesshomaru went somewhere, so I'll just say our goodbyes for the both of us. I have no idea what happened to him, but I'm sure he'll regret not seeing you two off." He reached out his hand to the mother, and she took it and shook it warmly.

"Goodbye, Taisho-san. Tell Sesshomaru we said goodbye, as well. Kagome?"

"Goodbye, Mr. Taisho-san." Kagome said softly, looking down to the ground. "Please tell Sess that I said bye."

Tousling her hair, the man said, "Of course I will, Kagome."

They were walking back to their car, Kagome dragging her feet, when Sesshomaru ran downstairs and almost barreled right over them. "Wait!" he called.

"Sess! You did come to say goodbye!" Kagome exclaimed.

"Of course I would come to say goodbye. I just had to find something I wanted to give you – to remind you of me."

"Really?"

"Yeah. Really. Here." He thrust a bracelet at her, with a picture of him on it. The beads on it were fairly common, except for a dog charm and the small picture itself, both which dangled off the bracelet.

"It's beautiful, Sess. Thank you!" Kagome threw herself at him, catching him around the neck in a hug. "I'll miss you, Sess," she whispered. "I love you."

"I love you too, Kagome," he whispered back, hugging her tight and taking a deep breath of her scent. With a sob, she pulled away and ran to the car where her mother was waiting. Sesshomaru stood watching their car disappear from sight, and stood there for a long time after, his face unreadable and icy.

&&&&&&

Kagome and her mother were pulling onto the freeway when it happened. A big rig had blown a tire and went out of control just enough to sideswipe their car. The car had been hit at just the right angle to flip it over and send it into a wild spin off of the shoulder, where it tipped upright again after skidding over some bushes. Kagome and her mother lived through the accident with only a few scrapes – but at a cost. One of those 'scrapes' had been a blow to Kagome's head, and while the doctors did not find anything wrong with her before they sent the two on their way, they did not think to ask her questions.

When her mother found out, it was too late to do anything. The car accident that should have taken their lives left them breathing, but had also left Kagome with no memories of her best friend or her life in her old hometown.

&&&&&&

I've been asked to reveal the challenge for this fic... Well, the challenge is pretty much the whole of the story summary – I'm generally bad at them, so I just decided to use the original challenge with slightly different wording. But for those who want it, who am I to disagree with my wonderful reviewers? So:

Posted by sesshysbabygurl (2007-10-11):

I'd like to see a story were kagome and sesshomaru are friends as children, and when Kagome's mom makes her move away she's heart broken. Somehow they get in an accident on the way out of town and Kagome looses her memory. 10 years later she shares a dorm room with him and she doesn't know who he is, basically he needs to get her to fall for him all over again.

Something like that hopefully it's understandable.

Copy and paste... what a wonderful thing... Anyway, if someone is trying to get a jumpstart on a Sesshomaru & Kagome story, there are some great challenges at http://www.a-single-spark.com/fanficchallenges.php?pid=1 and they are the only reason I've been able to make a break into this world...

And for my reviewers? Thank you! You are wonderful!