They Weren't The Only Ones - Chapter 4 - "Realities"

She'd followed of course.

Against her sister's warning Kaede had darted for the nearest horse as soon as Kikyo was out of sight. For hours she attempted to trail them so she could retrieve her husband but at every turn she was only met with another soul stealer trying to stop her; even a couple of demons were thrown into the mix, each one being stronger and stronger the further she travelled.

Kaede knew there was no way on this earthly plain that she would give up on finding him though. There would always be hope. But at this rate, how long would it take to find her beloved Hiro?

When she didn't turn up around the village the next morning the townsfolk grew worried; fearing that the worst had happened to their beloved priestess. It took them hours to find her and when they did, lets just say that it wasn't a pretty sight.

Almost two villages away the elderly woman was found leaning against the broad trunk of a mighty oak tree; her whole body caked in sweat. The men of the search party quickly discovered that the bitter cold of the night, along with the slight downpour during the wee hours of the morning, had made her fall quite ill. Kaede hadn't even responded to any of their pokes, prods, or pleas to wake and converse to them that she was at least partially alright. Careful as possible, the men eased her up onto the horse that carried the most able bodied man so that they could transport her back to their village for care.

After gathering up her grazing horse, the party began their slow journey back to their home village; all the while being extremely cautious of the elderly priestess in their care. Yet, it was only the villager supporting her on his horse that noticed the lingering traces of lip color and the softness of her (supposedly) freshly washed hair. He was only barely able to hear the single word being mumbled over and over by his charge;

"Yasuhiro... Yasuhiro..."

An old man of his advanced age should never be in a situation such as this. Granted, everything started out beautifully a few days ago, but now? Well, lets just say this this was not where he expected to be if he ever was reunited with his wife again.

In his opinion, being held hostage inside of a damp, depressing cave was not his idea of a good time. Who knew what sort of feudalistic sickness he could catch or the possibility that this was a demon's home and he was invading. Was he, Yasuhiro Higurashi, destined to have his lifelong dream fulfilled only to have it ripped away from him by death due to a vindictive sister-in-law?

No, he wouldn't stand for it! He would fight and gain his freedom!

Drawn from his thoughts, Yasuhiro shuddered as yet another one of Kikyo's soul stealers slightly slithered along his wrinkled skin.

"Only how do I get away from these creepy crawlies?"

She could only dream of it now; the crisp steam of a hot, bubbly bath, a landscape full of the buildings of the future instead of the trees of a forest, the warm comforter hiding a soft mattress in its depths, and lastly, the wonderful scent of bacon wafting towards her sleeping form, urging her to rise and greet the upcoming day

Wait a second; that was real!

She took another deep breath, basking in the wonderful scent of food as if she hasn't eaten for weeks. Little did she know that this fact was true.

A hacking cough escaped her when she breathed in the tantalizing scent again though. Why was there a pain blossoming in her chest? What would cause such a discomfort?

"Lady Kaede can you hear me?"

She tried to speak, truly she did, yet all that came out was a short groan before another bout of coughing attacked her. The elderly woman attempted to rise and make a healing potion for herself, but a gentle set of hands stopped her.

"Easy, you've been down with fever for more than two weeks." The gentle hands eased her back down to the futon, at which time Kaede finally saw the face of her caretaker; the headman of the village.

He tucked a loose wisp of hair behind her ear lovingly, "You really had us scared for a while. You were touch and go for a while before getting better. But when you didn't wake up after that is when we really started to worry. I suppose one could say that every would have been heartbroken if our beloved priestess succumbed to death."

The headman took a few minutes to prepare food and drink as well as administer more of her premise medicine.

"I must say that you had a severe fever Kaede, which at this time of the year I would expect, but I've never seen a sickness so common put someone in bed for two weeks."

Nodding in agreement, Kaede went back to eating her meal while mulling over the many things plaguing her mind. Each one was beginning to worry her more and more as time went on.

If what the headman said was true and she was sick for almost a whole moon cycle, was all of what she believed had happened in the past few days created from an illness?

Did her beloved husband not bring her flowers? Walk her back to her village and home? Tell her what had happened to their only child and of the family he had in the future? Did he not make her feel young again by kissing her senseless and then sharing in the experience if making love like they had done in their youth?

Were the past few days all a lie?

Was she beginning to lose her mind as her mother had in her final days?

She was shaken from her thoughts by her caretaker. He'd obviously been trying to get her attention for a while due to the concerned look on his face. Never once would she show it, but her frazzled mind was afraid to hear whatever he was about to say.

"Kaede, my dear friend, I know that you've only just woken up but I must ask you; do you have any idea why you were two villages away? Do you remember what caused you to go so far?"

The old man saw her hesitation, she knew, but how could she answer such a question? Should she tell him what she believed she'd actually lived through? How would he take to the explanation of Kikyo and her being returned to life so long ago. Sure, the man had caught her with Yasuhiro the second day they were reunited, but, what if that was part of the sickness too?

"No, no I don't."

When in reality she remembered every little detail. Little did she know that the headman was informed by the villager that carted her home about the small details he'd noticed.

"Then, Lady Kaede, if that is true, where is your husband?"

Her heart beat just a bit faster then. It was real, it was all real! Silent tears started to slide down her cheek though when she thought back to her husband and their recent reunion.

"Oh Yasuhiro, where are you?"