Amnesia Syndrome by Zandrellia

Chapter One: Clean Slate

Chapter One: Clean Slate

Darkness that was all it was, nothing binding her to her memories of the terrible fall that thrust her into a jagged rock. No recollections to cling to desperately to assure her that the end of Naraku was won.

The woman had none of these joys that a sure defeat over one's enemy might bestow. All she had was the black, never-ending silence that rested between her eyes and her mind. She sighed and turned to look at her reflection for the sixth time, the water was crystal clear so there was no mistaking that the young raven haired girl with wide eyes was herself.

The people around her, a young boy with dog ears, a girl, another boy, and a small child with a tail had convinced her of only one thing so far: her name. Ka-go-me. It was such a simple name. Within her she could vaguely hear the sound of a woman's gentle voice calling that name to her, someone who probably loved her very much.

She could never make out their faces, though, and even still it wouldn't have mattered. Apparently she couldn't remember names anyway. None of the group that she was with looked even remotely familiar. In fact, the entire scenery of the place seemed odd and surreal.

With another sigh she stood and walked slowly over to where the four were. They all stopped talking and looked up at her, smiling. She could tell that they had been discussing something to do with her; their tone was far too serious for it to be anything else. Instead of getting bothered by it she merely smiled at them and then sat down near the fire, staring into it intently.

Her mind screamed out for information that it could not release. Who am I? Where do I come from? What am I doing here? Who are these people and what do they mean to me? Am I safe with them?

Suddenly a sensation crossed her and she looked at the group, all seemingly in their own thoughts. Yes, she was safe with these people. That she knew. Somehow, she knew they would not harm her.

But it was getting a little boring sitting here having them look at her oddly. With a huff she stood and walked off into the forest. The woman behind her could be heard asking: "Do you think it's okay to let her go off by herself?"

Kagome ignored their responses and just continued on through the trees. She needed some alone time to consider her situation better and they obviously wanted to talk. Passing the river she had been sitting next to earlier she walked further into the deep woods.

Then she stopped when she heard something odd. Laughter. It sounded like a child! Turning to her right she looked out beyond the trees only to see nothing unusual. So, she turned to her left and found a near wall of bushes obscuring her vision. Whoever was laughing was on the other side, she could sense their getting closer by the volume of the giggles.

Slowly she parted the bushes to see a semi-opened clearing among the trees. The source of the laughter was a little girl in a checkered kimono, prancing around aimlessly with a small bouquet of flowers in her hand. The child seemed very happy and she watched as the girl stopped suddenly and stooped to pluck another unsuspecting flora from the earth and into her waiting hand.

Next the child stopped and turned to a rustling sound from the other side of the clearing. From within the rustling came a god. Well, that's all that Kagome could find to compare him to. He was gorgeous! Whoever this was, he looked very similar to the dog eared boy back at the campsite!

Yet, there were differences. Watching the child run up to him and hold the flowers to him while proudly announcing: "Rin collected these for Lord Sesshomaru! Do you think they are pretty Lord Sesshomaru?" A tiny spark within the miko's mind tried to ignite but there was not enough information to get its point across, apparently, so she remained clueless when the beautiful man's name was revealed to her.

His reaction to the child was charming and sweet. It was obvious that he was a man of few words and the little girl seemed to accept this easily, not taking offense when he did not take the flowers from her hand. "Rin. Where is Jaken?" A smooth and gentle voice came from him and the hidden girl thought she would melt then and there.

Who was this man? More importantly, why was she having these odd sensations about him? Was he perhaps someone special in her life that she merely could not remember? Amber eyes turned slowly to land on her and for a moment they simply stared at one another, neither moving nor saying a word. An embarrassed flush crept onto her face and she quickly released the trees, the leaves snapping closed and blocking her vision of the beautiful man.

Backing up slowly she gasped for breath and then turned and ran the way she had come. At the moment he had looked into her eyes only one thought seemed prevalent. Run.