Kagome was blind, dumb, floating in the darkness of her mind. She had no weight, no body, no eyes, no mouth, free and floating was all she felt. Then awareness came back with a rush. Kagome felt something hard and plastic inside her throat that made her instantly gag and hack, her throat convulsed trying to shove the object out. Weak hands suddenly grabbed the plastic protrusion and pulled, sliding it out of her throat an inch at a time. Suddenly sensors around her, big bulking machines started screaming and shrieking alarms signaling certain death.
Kagome sat up and re-learned how to breath, she leaned weakly against the hospital bed, a woman rushed in a panicked look on her face, until her eyes focused on Kagome. It was her mother, she smiled tears sprang instantly from her eyes as she hugged Kagome tight. "How?" was all Kagome could lurch out of her battered throat. Kagome's mother handed her a cup with straw, Kagome drank thirstily. "Sweetie, you were in an accident, don't you remember? You fell down the well head first, and it sent you into a coma." Kagome blinked at her uncomprehendingly. She cleared her throat to speak. "But how did you get me back from the feudal era?"
Kagome's mom made a worried face, and checked her forehead for a fever. "What are you talking about, you didn't go anywhere."
Kagome's mind refused to think that it was all fake, maybe her mom just meant one time she fell in the well. Kagome coughed and cleared her throat, "How long have I been out? Inuyasha must be really worried by now."
Her mothers eyes grew big, and she leaned a little away from her. "Who is Inuyasha?" It was Kagome's turn to look worried. "But mom you've met him, you know white fluffy ears, red hakama, silver white hair, is rude all the time." Kagome could never forget Inuyasha, he was definitely one of a kind. Then her mother shook her head. "Dear, I have never met anyone like that. You have been in a coma for a year, you cant have met anyone."
Kagome's eyes bugged. A year!! And her mom didn't know Inuyasha, which means that she never met him. And that means that all that time, all the work, the searching, the almost dying, Naraku, Inuyasha, Miroku, Shippo, Sango... None of it happened. She had been dreaming it all in her coma. Kagome's mind was reeling, the past year that she had been in the feudal era had changed her, and chiseled and defined her. All the stress and worry and plight and misery never happened, and it meant nothing.
A sob came out of her mouth before she even realized what she was feeling, then tears flooded her eyes and the sobs kept coming, one after the other. The past year of her life, the one that never happened, mad pain came sobbing and broken from her heart. Her mother held her, confused but quiet, willing to give comfort even if she didn't really understand why. After awhile, Kagome calmed and wiped away her tears, and pulled away from her mom and sighed. "I'm okay now. What day is it?" Her mom smiled softly at her. "It's a miracle, its been exactly one year since you fell in, so its April 4Th, your 16Th birthday."
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Kagome was finally home, after hours of nurses and doctors looking at her to make sure she wouldn't relapse from her miraculous recovery. They did everything they needed to get out of the hospital to be able to leave. Kagome was dead tired, being in a bed for a year, had weakened her. She was visibly thinner, all her muscles had shrunk without being used, and she was white as a sheet from never seeing sun, and she was so hungry it hurt. Kagome laid down on the couch, and her mother started making her food and dinner. In the morning, grandpa had gone to see a friend at the old people's home, and Souta was in school. It had just been a normal day for her mother, going to see Kagome everyday during her morning shopping, never expecting her to wake up. It would be a huge surprise to see her home, and her mother looked forward to their home being happy again. Kagome asked her mom how she was going to pass high school a year behind, which her mother had already though of it. Her mom was going to hire a tutor and Kagome was to be home schooled.
Kagome was sitting on the couch sipping some warm green tea, and snuggled into a fuzzy blanket she loved. Watching cartoons was not nearly as entertaining as it had been before she went to the feudal era. Her mind decided that the wish on the jewel had changed her history so that none of it had happened. The coma was just the universe's way to cover it all up. So technically she had done all those things, it just doesn't exist now because of her wish. It made her happy and explained the weirdness, and because she didn't have any better ideas. Kagome thought about the well, she resisted the temptation to just go look at it, she was scared it wouldn't work, and scared it would. It was the only thing linking her to the past.
She understood that this was a chance to live a normal life now, in the time she was supposed to be in. Yet, Kagome was sad that friends that she had grown so close to were gone. The connection you make with people who you have gone through life threatening situations and saving each others lives, is a very small but strong bond, linking you with that person for the rest of your life. She had lived with them, another family to support each other, she had spent everyday with them, waking up, eating, laughing, crying, sleeping, and dreaming together. How does that just go away?
Depression hit Kagome hard, tears ran down her cheeks, and she cried silently. She felt bitterly alone and confused, broken and weak, a phantom of a living being. Kagome felt so heavy with sadness that she seemed in pain. But determination swelled in her heart, she would go through each day, lead a normal life, at least for her family it would look like it.
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