I bite my lips as I don't hear anything from the two brothers, I guess running won't do me any good. I take a deep breath and.I step out from behind the hut.

"I'm sorry, I was out looking for you two because you both left without saying anything, I wanted to see if you were both alright. I got lost and I happened to hear voices, didn't realize they belong to yours until I got close enough to hear...and it eventually lead to me eavesdropping." I tell them straight out.

"We are fine, no need to be concerned. I notice that you are unable to see, it is late Inuyasha, guide her back to her place." I hear Sesshomaru reply back with a controlled and elegant tone.

I then hear him walk away and Inuyasha grumbling, I hold tightly to my walking stick as I hear someone approaching me. My walking stick gets lifted up with a jerk, and then it pulls me to turn around.

"Let's go." I hear Inuyasha say with irritation in his voice.

I didn't say anything as I follow after him, I can almost feel the anger that is radiating off his body. Our footsteps crunches in the snow, I hold tightly to the walking stick so I won't fall. We walk for a while, until I feel him stop and drop my walking stick.

"We're here, I'll see you tomorrow." He says with a flat expressionless tone.

I then hear him turn around and begin to walk away, without thinking I reach out to grab onto him. My fingers opens up and I touch soft fabric, I quickly close my fingers around it.

"Wait." I say urgently.

I feel the fabric tug a bit and then stop I think I got the sleeves of his kimono.

"What?" I hear him respond with irritation.

"I'm sorry, I didn't mean to eavesdrop on your conversation with Sesshomaru. Although I've eavesdropped, but I can't help but notice that the conversation was hard for you. So, if there's anything that I can to help you..." I say to him.

"No...It's fine. I don't need any help. Now go inside before your face freezes." Inuyasha replies back with a slightly softer tone.

I then feel him tug on his kimono sleeve and it slips out of my fingers. I feel the empty air now, his footsteps fading away in the distance. After his footsteps completely went silent, the air around me seem a bit colder. Inuyasha's trying to cover so much of himself, his feelings. I knew that Inuyasha had unspoken things and thoughts, but I finally have a grasp of what it is. Unfortunately, I can only guess and I can't really help him if he doesn't allow me too. I'm not use to seeing Inuyasha like this, it pains me a little. I let out a sigh and I turn around and go inside my hut. As I go to sleep, the snow falls outside, but I'm unable to hear or see the feather light miracle of Winter that is suppose to be soothing and beautiful. Everything fades away. I regain my consciousness, and I sigh.

"I hope today will be a better day for everyone... I feel I should talk with Inuyasha. Since I'm with him almost every minute of the day." I say to myself.

I get dressed and open the door to the hut, I can feel the cold winter air right away, and the occasionally whoosh of the wind. I don't feel the familiar presence that waited for me every single day in the morning for the past week or so.

"He's not here." I say quietly.

Well, It's been a week already I basically know my way to the big hut now. I understand that Inuyasha has some things on his mind so I hope that he can at least find some peace today. I can't always rely on his help, because I won't be able to find my way after I leave this place. I eventually arrive at the big hut and enter inside.

"Ah, Good morning__________" I hear Rin say with a gentle voice.

"Good Morning Lady Rin, Sango, Miroku, Shippo, and I assume your husband Sesshomaru is here as well Lady Rin." I say greeting them with a bow.

"Good morning dear." Sango and Miroku greets me.

"Yes, Sesshomaru is here." Rin replies with a chuckle.

"Hello." I greet Sesshomaru again.

"Good to see that Inuyasha lead you home safely last night." Sesshomaru says with a cool elegant voice.

"Speaking of Inuyasha, why isn't he with you? Don't you two usually come together?" Shippo asks me.

Huh? Inuyasha isn't here? It did seem a bit quiet in here.

"Is he alright?" I ask them.

"Inuyasha tends to go out to take a breather without telling us once in a while in these few years, but he will eventually come back. It's a bit unusual for him to go out when he has you to look after for a while." Miroku replies to me.

"I see..." I nod my head.

We then proceed to eat breakfast together, Rin and Sesshomaru will be leaving after breakfast. It's still quite a lively breakfast despite not having Inuyasha here, my mind keeps going to him though, wondering if he's alright or not. I can't help but wanting to know what really happened, what was Sesshomaru and Inuyasha talking about that made Inuyasha's behaviour change so much last night. Who's Kagome? Who is this person to him? I don't know if I have the right to ask them about something like this, but I want to try to help Inuyasha if I can. After breakfast is basically over, I put down my chopsticks and bow to everyone.

"__________, what is this about?" Sango asks me confused.

"I know I don't have the right to ask this, but I can't help but notice that the whole atmosphere falls and becomes solemn when mentioning of "everyone" being here. I also can't help but notice that Inuyasha is the one that is the most affected. I want to know why, so if you don't mind, can I know?" I ask them.

There's a brief silence, I can feel the tension in the air.

"I don't know if telling you will be any help, it might just pull you into a world of melancholy as well. We don't want to do that to you dear, you seem to have so much joy, and we don't want you to lose that by telling you the past." Sango says.

"I'll be fine, I promise. I want to know so that I can try to ease the melancholic feeling, I want to help Inuyasha. I'm with him almost everyday, and I will be till I leave this place. I don't want to hear him trying to conceal things, and besides, I can tell when someone is hiding something by the tone of their voice and the way they speak, and Inuyasha is pretty bad at that. It will be hard to be with someone every minute of the day and know that they're not being themselves. So please, I know I'm not family, but perhaps I can help." I tell them.

"Perhaps, __________ can help Inuyasha. Sometimes it takes someone outside of the family to help someone out of a dark hole." Rin says softly.

"Perhaps. If_____________ is determined to know, I think telling her will be alright, we have been mentioning the past quite a lot in front of her. I suppose we owe her this much." Sango agrees.

"Thank you." I reply with another bow.

"As you know, our "family" includes more people. There's us, Lady Kaede, the head village and elder priestess, we also mentioned another priestess do you remember that?" Miroku asks.

"Yes, I do. You never told me her name though." I mention.

"Yes, because we don't want to trigger Inuyasha. You see, that priestess's name was Kagome, she was Inuyasha's wife and our dear friend." Miroku continues.

Kagome, that name, that's who she was to Inuyasha, no wonder Inuyasha became so agitated when Sesshomaru mentioned her name.

"I see, where is she now? You said that she's a priestess and your friend, so I assume she would be about your age." I ask them.

"Yes, she would be around our age, but unfortunately, 3 years ago she passed away." Rin says.

3 years ago... that was before I lost my sight. I remember Inuyasha and Miroku coming to my village and I remember Inuyasha gazing at the portrait of the woman, he was acting different as he gazed at it. Was the woman in the sketch Kagome?

"The lady that I drew for Inuyasha that day 3 years ago... was that Kagome?" I ask Miroku.

"Yes, that was Kagome. She passed away a few months before we came to your village. Inuyasha's personality is rash and arrogant, but in these few years, he used it to cover what he is truly feeling. We have asked Inuyasha to be open with us, not to hold it in. But Inuyasha is stubborn, he is proud, it's like if he asks for help it will make him look weak. As a demon, I don't think Inuyasha wants to feel that way." Miroku replies.

I understand that, it's hard for someone to ask for help from others due to one's pride, but we have to understand that asking for help isn't a sign for weakness, when you have shouldered everything you can till you can't anymore, it shows how strong a person already is. Sometimes, we have to realize that life requires asking help from others when there's no other roads you can take. I wish Inuyasha can realize that.

"I see, how did Kagome pass away?" I ask them.

"I realize it may seem weird, Miroku and I are in our 70's, Kagome is in the same age range as us but she left before us. You see, Kagome wasn't from this time, she came from the future. In this world anything can happen, we live in a world of demons. Since she came from the future, we assumed that her body could not adjust completely to the world here despite living for over 50 years here. She lived out her life, but unfortunately she left before us due to her age. The world is cruel but life doesn't pity anyone." Sango adds.

"I see, you must have gone through so much together. I realize that she is Inuyasha's wife, but she was also all of your friend, when someone passes away due to age, we can all learn to move on in time, but why is Inuyasha still holding onto the past after 3 years?" I ask them.

"We were all devastated, when Lady Kaede passed away, we mourned, but in time we all moved on and accepted that fact that Lady Kaede lived out her life and it was time. We mourned for Kagome as well but we all moved on as well, the reason why Inuyasha is unable to move on is because, before Kagome, he was in love with another priestess named Kikyo. She gave up her life for Inuyasha, after Kikyo, Kagome came in and helped Inuyasha move on, and during that process Kagome and Inuyasha fell in love and married. Knowing that, Kagome's passing was a big blow for Inuyasha. " Miroku says.

"I understand now, Inuyasha lost someone before, and he lost another person that he loves. It leaves a big hole in your heart." I say lowering my eyes.

"Yes, I suppose the sad thing is that, Inuyasha has to live through the life of losing another person that he loved. Inuyasha is a demon, he has centuries ahead of him when humans only have years. They say that the person left behind suffers the most, and Inuyasha is that person. We want to help him but Inuyasha kep pushing us away. Inuyasha is stuck in an endless cycle of lost and heartache, he can't move on. He already lost two people in his life, it will take a miracle to get through to him." Rin sighs.

"I think that Inuyasha is lost, it's like he's trying to find a place for himself now." Shippo chips in.

"They say that the gods envy the humans because, they live forever and humans don't. The fleeting aspect of life is what makes life beautiful. I understand now. Everything." I say with a nod.

"Now you know, I'll leave my stubborn brat of a younger brother in your hands." I hear Sesshomaru's voice cutting through the solemn atmosphere.

I raise my head, and I smile. I asked for this, and I said that I will do everything I can to help him, and I will. I'm stubborn as well.

"Now that I know everything, I'll do my best to help him with the time the I have here. I'll start by having him open up to me himself, and I'll go from there. Thank you for trusting me with this hidden past, I'll do my best." I say to them determined.

"Thank you____________, we hope that you will be that miracle. Inuyasha was a lively and loud demon, it's hard to see him as a shell now. Just hearing your determination and compassion is more than enough for us, by the time you leave and if he's still like he is now, then we won't know what to do but hope that he can pull through himself." Rin says.

"I like to believe that everyone can be saved if the people that cares give in their effort to want to see that person be themselves again, even if it means asking for a hand from others. I believe that time is all we need and a bit of understanding. I have a question for you Lady Rin, do you fear that one day Sesshomaru will lose himself after you're gone?" I ask her.

She doesn't respond for a few seconds, so I wait.

"I do and I don't. Everyone's afraid of death, but as long as we lived a fulfilling life, it's enough. I don't think Lord Sesshomaru will lose himself after I'm gone, because I told him that all I wish for when I'm gone, is for him to be happy. We realized what we will be facing when time comes to an end for one of us, but we both agreed to live out our lives together side by side. He knows love and is capable of loving a person and be loved, that enough will keep any being alive." She replies with confidence in her voice.

I smile at her response, it's something that I needed to know in order to get something through to Inuyasha if I want to help him. With that I have taken the job to try and help Inuyasha get over this high curb, I suppose this is something I can do to repay Inuyasha for all the help he has given me so far. Besides, I want to see Inuyasha be himself. They said that Inuyasha use to be brash and stubborn, lively and loud before losing Kagome, and I can see that, but the brash personality now is just a facade to hide his heartache. I want to know what the real him is like. After breakfast, Sesshomaru and Rin leaves. Miroku goes out to do his job, and Sango has to do her duty as Head of the village. That leaves only me and Shippo. Inuyasha still isn't in the village, so the first step is to find Inuyasha.

"Do you know where Inuyasha might be at?" I ask Shippo.

"Barely, he never tells us where he's going." Shippo replies.

Frustration immediately fills my being, I bite my lips as I think. But then something hits me, he's taking a breather. The place that he goes to rest is the cliff with the tree.

"Shippo, there's a cliff with a single tree not far away from here. Do you know where it is?" I ask him.

"I think I know where you're talking about, not a lot of people know about that place, but I think I've came upon it once when I was on my way home from the mountains." Shippo says.

"Great, can you lead me there, I think I have an idea on where he he might be." I say with a smile.

Shippo then links his arm with mine and he leads me to the destination. The snow crunches beneath our feet, the air is cool as it breezes against my skin. By the time we get there, my face feels frozen but I it up because I have a job to do.

"Are we here?" I ask Shippo.

"Yea, it's just up ahead, I see Inuyasha sitting in the tree, his red kimono stands out. It's not too far, it's just another minute of walking and you'll be there." Shippo tells me.

"Thanks Shippo. I'll handle the rest here." I say to him with a smile.

"Alright, don't push yourself too hard__________ the last thing we want is seeing you down." Shippo replies.

"I won't, don't worry." I reply back.

I give him a hug, and I hear Shippo skipping away. I turn forward again and take a deep breath, with my walking stick as my support I begin to walk forward. Soon, I feel a big presence in front of me, I slow down and put my hands out. I soon feel the cold rough surface of wood, it's the tree trunk. I'm here, it's the only tree in the whole field.

"Inuyasha?" I call out.

"Huh?" I hear someone reply back dazed.

"Inuyasha are you up there?" I ask again.

"_____________?" I hear him reply.

Yep that's him, that strong voice that I'm so familiar with now.

"Yes, it's me. What are you doing up there?" I ask him.

"Oh shoot." I hear him say with a grumble.

I then hear him jump down and landing in front of me with a whoosh, the crunch of the snow is loud as he lands.

"I forgot to head back to the village last night, I fell asleep and I forgot to get you." Inuyasha grumbles.

"Hey, you don't need to explain yourself, after eavesdropping on you last night, I assume you would need some time alone to take a breather. I understand. Besides I know my way to the big hut by now, not having you beside me for an hour or two isn't going to kill me." I say with a smile.

"Right. I thought you came here to nag at me for abandoning you this morning." Inuyasha says with a sigh.

I then hear him plop down in the snow and lean back against the tree and then I hear him let out a sigh. I kneel down beside him and I lean back against the tree trunk a well. I can feel the faint heat radiating off of his body next to me, I realized how close we were sitting.

"Although it's just a sigh, but a single sigh can hold so much meaning. " I say into the quiet field.

"It's just a sigh, you don't need to overthink it." Inuyasha replies sounding distant.

"After 2 years of being blind, I can tell when a person is hiding something by the way they talk and from the tones of their voice. The weight of your sighs alone tells me there's a lot on your mind and heart Inuyasha. Of course after eavesdropping on you yesterday, my speculations has became more concrete." I say to him with a chuckle.

"Well maybe you're wrong, because I'm not hiding anything from you. What you heard last night isn't anything important and it shouldn't concern you, you're leaving in a few months anyway." Inuyasha says with a huff.

I listen to every single one of his words, the last few words stood out. "You're leaving in a few months anyway." Why did he say that last part? It seems as if he's tempted to speak his hidden feelings but he doesn't see the point because in the end it will all fade away into the white mist of Winter with no one to hear it. He said that because I will be leaving when winter ends, and in the end it will all be for nothing. Regardless, to me, every minute is precious.

"You are. You see, I like to believe that losing my sight may not exactly be a disadvantage for me. When you're looking at someone and listening to them speak, their expressions can deceive you when their voices are saying a complete different thing. This way, I can solely focus on one's voice and listen to everything that is hidden behind just a few words. Sometimes I feel like I can see the emotions behind the words spoken." I explain to him.

Inuyasha doesn't reply but I can hear his quiet breathing next to me, I turn my head slightly towards his direction but not looking at him.

"Listen Inuyasha, I don't want to force anything, I'm not going to force you to speak or tell me anything about yourself that you don't want to. But I want to let you know that I'll be here to listen if you need to, I know we're not close, we argue, we insult each other but I think after being together every single day for the past week or so, I would like to think that there's some kind of tolerance towards each other now. Sometimes I wish that we can talk like two normal beings for once, and I wish that time can be now. Keeping things hidden inside your heart and left unspoken can destroy a person, I don't want to see that happen to anyone, including you. I know I'm an outsider, but as a person, I'm just asking for a little bit of trust from you, the trust to let me understand you a little bit better." I say to Inuyasha in a soft tone almost in a way that only the two of us can hear despite being in an empty plain covered in snow.

I wait for him to say something, anything, the silence almost seems deafening. I don't realize it right away but I'm holding my breath. I think I may have gone way over my head here, what if things don't work out, what if I make things worse than it is already for him? Can I take the responsibility? I grip my walking stick tightly, I think I can. Inuyasha has guided me back home here everyday and to everywhere when he has been in the dark for years, the least that I can do to repay him is to give him a small light to use and see through the darkness of his past. I push aside my fear and doubt and confidently wait for his reply.

"Why are you doing this? What will you gain?" Inuyasha asks me all of a sudden.

I feel my mind going blank for a second, I didn't expect him to ask me this. I know why I'm doing this, but why did this question all of a sudden make me blank out?