~Their Salvation~

~Chapter 62~

Humming, paper, soft scratch of something small and sharp on said paper, and a soft ticking sound that reminded Inuyasha of Kagome's old clock he had broken, that is what he heard now.

"Look." Nitta's voice was so distant he nearly didn't hear her, but he did, causing him to flutter his eyes open. He was in what looked to be a little kid's room, scribbled drawings were hung all over and self-made stuffies littered the small bed in the corner. He looked in the middle of the room to see a little girl laying on her stomach scribbling away on the paper in front of her humming happily. Inuyasha grew curious and walked closer getting on his knees.

"H... Happy... bif- no." Her handwriting was awfully shaky and clumsy, it was hard to read it at first.

"Happy birthday... mama." He finally was able to read it. The drawing looked to be a really messy drawing of a woman and a little girl.

"Yes, I finished it!" The girl suddenly cheered as she jumped up onto her knees making Inuyasha flinch back, it was obvious she didn't see him.

"I hope mama will love it, too bad papa isn't here." She chirped, then muttered. However, she quickly shook her head with a bright smile.

"Time to surprise her!" The girl got onto her feet, no shoes or socks on, and quickly ran out of the room. Inuyasha had to run just to keep up with her, he had no idea how she was actually that fast.

"Mama!" The girl called, then she slowed down.

"Mama?" No response. She calmly looked around, then froze as the drawing slipped from her fingers as she stared at something. Inuyasha rounded the corner, and his breath hitched. That was the woman from that one dream of his, Nitta. That alone confirms this was Hana as a little girl. She rushed over and dropped to her knees next to her mother, she looked to be unconscious, then how did she have this memory?

"Mama?!" She shook her mother, pure terror in her eyes.

"Uh, uh, wh-what do I do? Mama?! Mama!" Hana begged with tears in her eyes.

'I thought Nitta said she was calm, knew just what to do?' Inuyasha thought, his brows furring in confusion.

"P-Papa isn't home, uh, I- but-" Hana looked around frantically, Inuyasha felt an actual sting of pain in his chest seeing her like this.

"Hana, call for help." Inuyasha muttered softly in his own begging manner, he just couldn't take that horrified look on her face anymore. Come to think of it, has he ever seen her like that before? No, not even when he was first freed, nothing but a mindless monster, hovering over her, she was scared but not like this. Almost reacting to his voice, Hana froze for a moment, blinked, then gazed around once more.

"Huh? R-Right, yeah! Th-The neighbors have a phone I think." She then got up and turned running right out of the house leaving Inuyasha with Nitta laying on the floor, unmoving.

Inuyasha slowly opened his eyes, the world had faded so he figured the memory came to a close, he was right.

"Now, you know." Nitta said in a soft tone.

"But- no, I don't. You were already unconscious, how did that happen??" Inuyasha asked even more confused. Why would Nitta do that to Hana, she was terrified!

"I had no choice, Inuyasha, let me say that right now. You see..." She trailed off, once again, looking out the window. Inuyasha looked as well, Hana was laying in the grass next to Aia, Kaito, Kaida, and Shippō, a little butterfly was resting on her nose making her giggle.

"She should be dead." Inuyasha gaze snapped right back at Nitta as soon as she spoke those words.

"What?"

"She should have died at birth, she was very ill, small, fragile." Nitta looked to be in pain when speaking of this making Inuyasha feel bad for her, but he still wanted answers.

"I... I know it is selfish and dangerous of me to do when I wanted to conceal myself, b-but... I couldn't see my baby girl die." She looked Inuyasha in the eye making his breath catch in his throat.

"I used my powers to keep her alive, but she was still in so much pain, suffering, so..." She looked out at Hana again.

"I apparently gave my life for her's, and it just so happened to be the right call." After that, the room fell silent.

"She needs to know, Nitta. She still thinks she's holy when obviously she isn't."

"I never said she wasn't." Inuyasha gave a confused look.

"Who do you think was the first holy spirit, the one who gave humans the gift to possess such magics?" Nitta asked.

"It... It was you, wasn't it?" She smiled and nodded.

"However, because she herself, like I, is still a demon by nature, she still can be hurt by priestesses and monks." Inuyasha shivered greatly, if she didn't have that necklace and that really was magically Kagome, she could have been killed.

"Tell her, Nitta, and be honest no matter how brutal. She might get upset at first, but she's a smart girl. If anything, show her what you showed me, that should be proof enough." Inuyasha said, still not moving from his better judgment, Hana needed to know.

"I... Yes, yes you are right." Nitta took in a deep breath, slowly letting it out.

"Everyone, if you could, there is something we need to talk about, it's urgent!" She called, and of course, everyone shuffled in. Sesshomaru gave Inuyasha a knowing look, he had heard it all. Inuyasha merely nodded, then looked back at Nitta as everyone settled in.

"There is something I must show you, Hana, then I need to tell you something important that I should have told you before." Hana looked confused but nodded. Nitta held out her hand, so Hana took it. To the others, only a mere second passed, but to Hana, it felt all too long.

"Wh-Why... Why that?" Her voice wavered making Inuyasha take her hand to calm her down.

"Hana, I am your mother." The room fell dead silent and heavy, Kaida even squirmed because of it. After what felt like ages, Hana finally spoke.

"What?" Nitta frowned a little.

"I know it's-"

"She's dead, my mother is dead." Hana said in a very stern tone taking everyone in the room by surprise.

"Please Hana, let me ex-"

"If you were just wanting to indulge me and give me false hope, then just shut up!" Suddenly, she shot up and bolted out of the home making Nitta quickly stand.

"Hana!" Before another word was spoken, Inuyasha bolted out the window to catch up with her.