Hotel California by Chibi Koneko

Part I

I'm planning on making this fic part of a series, but it can also stand by itself. The idea came to me while listening to the Eagles' Hotel California, and I just HAD to write it. Just so you know, parts that are just italicized are flashbacks, words that are only bold are just there for emphasis, and parts that are italicized and bold are just random lyrics from random songs. The parts that are italicized, bold, and underlined are lyrics from "Hotel California."

Disclaimer: I do not own Inuyasha because my name is not Takahashi Rumiko, and the government won't let me change my name. Neither will my parents. Darn. I don't own "Hotel California" because I'm not part of the Eagles, and I don't own the one line from "Iris" by the Goo Goo Dolls (thank you to those who supplied the name). I don't own the third Harry Potter movie, but I do bash it a bit; please don't take offense. I also don't own Winnie the Pooh; some rich guy does. I do, however, own this idea. :::slaps copyright on very small book entitled Plot:::

With all that out of the way, please enjoy!

Hotel California: Part I

On a dark desert highway, cool wind in my hair,

Warm smell of colitas rising up through the air.

Up ahead in the distance, I saw a shimmering light.

My head grew heavy, and my sight grew dim;

I had to stop for the night.

Kagome had been traveling for what felt like years, but it was in truth only a day, a very long day. A name reverberated through her mind: Inuyasha. Even thinking of the name made her eyes clamp shut in pain. No, she would not think of him. She could not think of him; to do so brought more pain than her body and soul could handle. Another name brought her pain, but it also brought hatred.

Naraku.

He was the cause of all this pain. He had done all this. Naraku. He himself had delivered Kikyo to hell, and he sent his human soul, Onigumo, with her. After releasing Onigumo, Naraku had become a full youkai and, as a result, much stronger. His miasma had choked and disabled her from fighting. Using her arrows required focus, and she lacked it while her powers continually attempted to purify the tainted air and the youki that had tainted it.

Inuyasha had not been affected by the miasma so much. Kagome almost doubled over from pain; she was thinking of him again. She decided to thinking of safer thoughts. Sango had brought Miroku to Kaede, who created a barrier around the kazaana; it had grown by half in only a day or so. Neither of them had gone with Kagome and In-- her companion. Sango was the best person to leave with Miroku because she had injured her right arm in the last fight, and even though she could still throw Hiraikotsu with her left arm, Miroku had insisted that she stayed. Kagome had left Shippou with Sango but took Kirara with her. Kirara, however, soon had to hasten to the aid of her mistress when they discovered that Naraku had sent "friends" to keep the taijiya and perverted houshi "company."

Naraku's poison kept Kagome preoccupied, but it barely fazed her companion to begin with -- Kagome forced herself not to think of his fierce amber gaze. Before long though, he had been pushed to his limits. He collapsed and did not get back up. Then Naraku had turned to Kagome....

No, she would not think about that either but for a completely different reason. The memory made her shudder in fear.

So now Kagome was walking far, far away... And for her, it technically was a long time ago! The thought depressed her more than cheering her up; it reminded her of home, where her mother, brother, and grandfather were, a place that Kagome knew she would never see again. It had always been a possibility, but now it was a certainty. She would never see her family again. Once again, a burning hatred surfaced with a name.

Naraku.

Oh, how she loathed that man. No -- he was no man. In Kagome's eyes, he did not even deserve to be called a hanyou or especially a youkai. He was a monster, a spawn of hell. He did all this to her. For the first time, Kagome had a personal reason to hate him. Before that fateful day, she had only despised him because of his acts towards others. Now.... Kagome did not realize that she had completely stopped in the middle of the dark forest path until she felt the sting of fingernails biting into her hands. She looked down almost mechanically only to stare at her bloody hand. She flexed it a few times just to make sure it was there.

Bleed just to know you're alive....

Where had she heard that before? Kagome found she could not remember; she was dead tired and needed a place to sleep. She looked up from her hand to see if there was a clearing nearby. She did not see a clearing, but there was a light ahead. It shimmered in the path before her, and she somehow found the strength to move ahead. If it was a village, maybe she could pull a Miroku -- provided they did not already have a village miko.

A sweet smell suddenly rushed toward her with the wind that floated around her, brushing through her hair, and it took all of Kagome's will to stay standing instead of just collapsing into the field of flowers to her right and sleeping until the Fat Lady from Harry Potter began to sing; no one could sleep through that! Kagome groaned as more memories from home began to surface, and this time she could not stop them....

Kagome tossed her much-lighter bag over the top of the well and hauled herself up via the rope ladder her mother had made for her to use when coming home; she did not really need it for jumping into the well because Inuyasha was always with her when she was going back. He had taken it upon himself to arrive at her house before she was scheduled to go back just to make sure she was ready at the appointed time. Then he stayed with her to ensure that she did not "dawdle."

Damn, she was thinking of him again. It hurt so badly.... Then her memory continued....

Walking slowly, the young miko opened the door and shouted, "I'm home!"

Rapid footsteps drew her attention as her brother slammed into the room. "Kagome!" Souta shouted gleefully. "You're finally back!!"

Kagome blinked a few times before asking slowly, as if he was stupid, "Are you okay?" She felt his forehead. "Nope, no fever.... What's gotten you so excited suddenly, eh?"

Souta beamed. "Now I can go see Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban! Okaasan wouldn't let me go see it until you got back so we could go together! But now you're back so we can go right now!" He said all of this very quickly and literally dragged Kagome -- who was still trying to decipher what he had said -- into the kitchen.

"Hello Kagome," Kun-Loon smiled, "you look well, so I suppose that Inuyasha stops long enough for you to eat and sleep?"

"Just barely, okaasan. Souta was trying to tell me something earlier, but he was talking much too fast. Do you mind telling me why he's so happy to see me?" Still smiling, Kun-Loon explained the situation to Kagome, who blinked a few more times. "Okaaaay...." she said slowly. "So you want me to take Souta to see the third Harry Potter movie?" Her mother nodded happily. "Alright!" Kagome chirped. "But I need a hot bath first, and then some food... And then we'll go see the movie. Okay, Souta?"

"YES!" He started to bounce around the room before his mother told him to go upstairs and get himself ready; he bounced all the way up the steps, reminding Kagome of Tigger from Winnie the Pooh. Speaking of, Shippou might like some of those old books that she and Souta had learned to read with. Kagome made a mental note to go in search of them before Inuyasha showed up to drag her back to Sengoku Jidai.

After a long and luxurious (not to mention relaxing) bath, Kagome met Souta downstairs, and then the two of them started out for the theater. After laughing at Ron's expense and grumbling about the discrepancies through the entire movie (not to mention snorting at the cheesiness of the hairless werewolf), the siblings left the theater. It was one of the best times Kagome ever had with her brother in a long time, and she would treasure this memory forever....

'Forever is a long time,' Kagome thought dryly. Aching and fatigue wore her down until she thought she had lost even the energy to breathe.

Then she saw it. It was a palace; it had to be. It was designed like a fortress, but with all the decorations it looked more like a yacht party without the water -- or the yacht. Kagome's heart sank so far down that she was sure it was hanging out in New York* by now. It was the home of either a taiyoukai or a very powerful human lord. Where was she anyway...? Oh, yes, the Western Lands. Kagome's heavily lidded eyes flew wide open, and then she saw him in the doorway looking as though he had not a care in the world. The Lord of the Western Lands. The taiyoukai that had tried to kill her numerous times (discarding the fact that she had provoked and attacked him as well). The brother -- half-brother -- of the hanyou that she dared not think of.

Sesshoumaru.

There she stood in the doorway;

I heard the mission bell,

And I was thinking to myself,

'This could be heaven or this could be hell.'

Then she lit up a candle, and she showed me the way.

Shock registered in Kagome's mind. He was so calm, so collected. So Sesshoumaru. Yet he did not make any malicious move toward her. In fact, Kagome doubted that he had blinked once during the few minutes they spent staring at each other. Did he ever blink? A few more minutes passed. The answer was apparently a "no" for that question. So what was the next one on her list? Suddenly, a bell rang from within, and Sesshoumaru finally broke the silence.

"That is the bell signaling for everyone to come inside. The gates will be shut in five minutes. Come in if you wish, although I would not recommend staying outside." An unknown beast howled from the forest behind her, causing Kagome to shiver from both the cold and fear. Funny, she didn't remember having the energy to shiver....

Gazing solemnly at Sesshoumaru, she sighed and nodded slightly before slowly moving toward him. At the moment, Kagome found she did not care if the large building in front of her was her school or Naraku's movable fortress; all she wanted to do was sleep for about five hundred years. Then she could wake up and just go to school like everyone else. She could see her family. And, most importantly of all, she could live her days without being constantly reminded of him. Of course, staying with Sesshoumaru would not really help her in that aspect. They did, after all, have the same eyes....

After reaching the taiyoukai at the open gate, she followed him down a long hall. There were murmurs of voices behind the shoji screens, but Kagome could not make herself care. If they did not like a human staying there -- and a miko at that -- then it was just tough. After all, the Lord of the Western Lands invited her in. Wait, why did he invite her inside anyway? Perhaps he knew what had happened. Sesshoumaru was reputed to have eyes and ears everywhere, and he himself got around pretty well too. So it was not impossible. What was that Sherlock Holmes quote again? Oh, yes. "When all that is impossible is eliminated, then whatever remains, however improbable, must be the truth." Kagome liked that quote; it was precise and to the point. It did not get her all confused when she tried to understand it, and she never had to go to her mother or learn a hard lesson to fully appreciate it. Quotes are like that sometimes.

Sesshoumaru finally stopped in front of a door that looked like every other door to Kagome. He silently opened it and allowed her inside. Kagome went straight for the futon and was asleep before her head hit the pillow.

There were voices down the corridor;

I thought I heard them say...

Welcome to the Hotel California.

Such a lovely place,

Such a lovely face.

Plenty of room at the Hotel California;

Any time of year, you can find it here.

I'm not quite exactly where it would be straight through the earth from Japan, but New York is convenient. ^^

Here's the part of the song that will be included in Part II:

Her mind is Tiffany-twisted, she got the Mercedes Benz,

She got a lot of pretty, pretty boys she calls friends.

How they dance in the courtyard, sweet summer sweat.

Some dance to remember, some dance to forget.

So I called up the Captain,

'Please bring me my wine.'

He said, 'We haven't had that spirit here since 1969.'

And still those voices are calling from far away,

Wake you up in the middle of the night

Just to hear them say...

Welcome to the Hotel California.

Such a lovely place,

Such a lovely face.

They livin' it up at the Hotel California;

What a nice surprise, bring your alibis