InuYasha Fan Fiction ❯ A Second Chance At Love ❯ A Plot Revealed Pt.2 ( Chapter 21 )

Disclaimer: Move on, move on! Nothing to see here.

Previously…

Kagome was starting to worry. She had to get out of there, but she couldn't leave with Naraku still trying to get at her friend.

"Yes, I have," she lifted up her other hand, palm facing up, a ball of energy appeared in the center of her palm and then quickly morphed into the form of an arrow. A bow made of pure energy formed the index finger of her other hand. "Here's something else I learned. Hope you like it."

Naraku's eyes widened as she connected the power arrow to the bow. The pink light they formed grew even more intense as she pulled back on the string of the bow. He could feel the high level of energy coming from her and took a nervous step backwards.

For the first time, Naraku was beginning to think that perhaps his plan wasn't the best of plans.

He stiffened as he felt a burst of energy heading in his direction.

Kagome had released her arrow.

Chapter 21: A Plot Revealed Pt. 2.

Miroku kept his eyes on the Spirits as he moved to stand in front of the miko. He knew he had to protect Kagome's body until she could do it herself, but he also didn't want to hurt the spirits… that is of course, if he could hurt them. Not all of the Spirits were evil they all just wanted what every dead person wants, what Kikyou wanted: a second chance. And if they could have a large well a power with that second chance, well, who wouldn't try to take it?

But, that body belonged to Lady Kagome and Miroku was not going to let them have her. Not without a fight. Besides, he surely didn't want to be around the Taiyoukai Sesshoumaru should one of those Spirits succeed.

So the question was; how did he protect Kagome without hurting the Spirits? He needed a shield. One that would keep them out without causing too much damage and that wouldn't block Kagome's connection to her body.

Miroku had just the thing to do it, but there was one problem; that type of shield would not hold up against a whole lot of Spirits trying to get through it. And there was an awful lot of Spirits coming closer to them.

He sighed to himself, there was nothing for it. He lifted his staff high above his head then brought it swiftly down, slamming the base of it into the ground. Letting it go, he watched for a second as the staff stayed standing straight up on it own, then bringing his hands together, palms touching, he began to chant softly.

Sesshoumaru and Sango watched as the monk's staff began to glow with a golden light. Sango took a precautionary step back as the light began to expand and slowly encompass both the monk and miko. Soon all they could see was a huge ball of golden light, then with an audible pop the light disappeared and they could see that Kagome and Miroku were inside of a huge bubble.

The staff was standing in front of them glowing with a slight hum radiating from it.

Miroku connected eyes with Sango for a moment before turning his head to look at the Taiyoukai.

"Hold them off as long as you can," Sesshoumaru just stared silently back at the monk. Though he didn't say anything, Miroku knew the demon lord would help. Sesshoumaru wouldn't let anything happen to Kagome, "and pray she doesn't take much longer."

Miroku focused his eyes on the Spirits as Sesshoumaru turned around to look as well. He knew it wouldn't be too much longer before they would attack.

Sesshoumaru placed his hand on the hilt of Tokijin. He knew that with the Spirits not having a solid form that he really couldn't do much damage to them with his swords, but he could slow them down. There were, of course, ways to 'kill' Spirits, to send them back to the other side and shut the door on them forever, but that would take too much time and there were too many of them to waist the time. Sesshoumaru would have to settle for not killing them… for now.

He quickly drew Tokijin from its sheath causing the blade to sing quietly with the quick motion. Sango tightened the strap holding her large boomerang, Hiraikotsu to her back and then withdrew her sword out of the sheath at her waist as she took a defensive stance.

She'd never had a cause to fight a Spirit before, but she knew there was no way to actually 'kill' them with either her sword or her boomerang, but she knew that she could at least slow them down by causing a huge amount of energy loss and that happened best when they came into contact with metal. So, her sword was the best weapon to use.

Sango stood a few paces behind and to the left of Sesshoumaru. The Spirits would have to get through them both before they could get to Miroku and Kagome, and even then they had to get through the monks shield first. She hoped that would give Kagome enough time to finish whatever was taking her so long and get back to her own body.

"They're here."

Sango heard Sesshoumaru's warning at the same time as she saw the first Spirit move in to attack.

*****

Kagome watched as her power in the form of an arrow soared on its path straight for Naraku. She knew he could not get away from it and there was no way he could survive it for it held more power then he had within him in the form that he held. She did not like killing, even something that wasn't quite alive, and wished for a moment that there was another way.

After all that Naraku had put her and her friends through and all the innocent people he'd hurt with his selfish need to have things that did not belong to him she couldn't help thinking that he was getting exactly what he deserved.

Naraku tried to move out of the way of the oncoming attack. He was sure he did!! He was sure he had specifically told his feet to move… only problem is; they didn't.

And that puzzled him.

It also killed him, but really it was too late to worry about that now. He was obviously not at full strength yet, and why he didn't notice that and realize he was not ready to take the miko on, was beyond him. He could only assume that it had something to do with being in the hanyou's mind.

Naraku decided that was something else to hate the hanyou for.

Kagome watched as Naraku's eyes grew wide with fear as her arrow drew dangerously close. She watched as her arrow made impact and his back arched with pain and shock. It seemed that even to the last second Naraku still didn't believe in his own mortality.

"ARGHHHH!!"

Kagome stiffened in shock as an image of large dark blue eyes flashed before her eyes. She blinked twice. She knew those eyes. She'd seen them before. Back when Kaede told them of Kikyou's past.

"This isn't finished, miko."

Her mind snapped back to him when she heard him. Kagome stared impassively as his body broke up into small dark pieces and slowly disappeared. She was shaken and confused, but she was determined not to show it.

"Maybe not," she whispered back, "but, you are Naraku."

She watched till shining blood red eyes were the last to go before releasing a breath she hadn't realized she was holding.

Kagome turned back to look at Inuyasha and waited for golden colored eyes to focus on her.

"Its time I left Inuyasha. I've been here too long already." She waited for a reply and when she didn't get one she continued, "Maybe its time you returned too. Besides we need to talk."

She saw something flicker in his eyes, but it was gone to quick for her to identify. She watched him nod.

"See you on the outside."

*******

Sesshoumaru swiftly slashed through the nearest Spirit then spun around on his heels and chopped of the heads of two more. All around him he heard screams as he, Sango and Kirara, dispatched as many Spirits as they could. The fire neko had shown up not to long ago out of the blue and had started fighting to protect her mistress. And while they were keeping the Spirits away from Kagome and Miroku every one they got rid of returned thirty seconds later to try again.

Sesshoumaru sighed quietly as he continued to fight. This was getting them nowhere, but the Spirits wasn't going to stop until they got to Kagome and he wasn't going to allow that to happen.

He turned around suddenly when he felt a power spike. He watched as a large group of Spirits were blown back and carried away by a huge gust of wind. He turned in disbelief to find its source and stared at Kagura as she guided the Spirits away from them with her fan.

After taking a moment to make sure they were far enough away to give them time Kagura turned her head to look at him.

Red connected with gold.

Sesshoumaru watched until she broke the connection and continued to defend with air and wind. He wondered briefly why she was even bothering to help them before turning to stop a Spirit coming from his right.

***

Miroku watched apprehensively as the fight waged on around him. He'd felt a small sense of relief when Kirara had shown up out of nowhere to help Sango and Sesshoumaru. For a moment there he had become a little worried that the Taiyoukai and the Taijiya would not be enough to hold back so many Spirits. He'd watched helplessly when three Spirits had somehow slipped pass the Taiyoukai and started beating at his shield and even though the shield was holding it wouldn't continue to if more Spirits made it pass the two fighters.

So, when he saw Kirara he'd felt a little better and when he saw Kagura join the battle… well, besides being a little curious he was also happy. Especially when she dispatched a huge amount of Spirits and even though she'd only blown them away with a gust of wind, he knew it would take them a while to cover such a large distance and get back here.

Hopefully, he sighed to himself, Kagome would be back in her own body by then.

He closed his eyes and try to focus more of his energy into his shield then paused in confusion when he felt a itch in his senses.

!twinge!

And there it was again. He opened his eyes to take a look around. He looked in wonder at his barrier when he saw the gold light around the bubble's edge glow brighter for a second then recede back, like a pulse, to the softer light it was before. Then the pulsing happened again. Twice!

!twinge!

!twinge!

And the itching.... He watched for a moment as he realized the pulsing in his barrier and the 'itching' in his senses was happening at exactly the same times. He narrowed his eyes in thought as he concentrated on the 'itch' in an attempt to discover what was causing it.

Miroku froze then.

Something was trying to get in!

Whatever it was, it was strong! He looked around surreptitiously and was just about to close his eyes once more and see if he could somehow try and get Sesshoumaru's attention when he saw it.

It. A long white beam of light, like a long length of thread, reached from somewhere outside of the barrier to his left to somewhere behind him.

'Behind me?' he wondered to himself. 'Kagome!' he spun around in alarm when the realization hit him. He stared in shock at the miko. While he couldn't see where the thread was going on the outside of the barrier he could see where it ended on the inside of the bubble. Kagome.

He watched as the barrier his friend had put around herself pulsed quietly and then the thread of light would pulse afterwards. He followed the thread with his eyes to where it stretched outside of the barrier, but nothing was there. It was as if the thread just stopped in mid-air.

'Could it be Kagome?' He wondered why, if it was her, he couldn't see her? He hadn't considered that his barrier, in addition to keeping the Spirits out, would also do the same to Kagome. While it appeared that the barrier wasn't interfering in the connection between Kagome and her body it was still not letting her in.

Which brought up one small problem.

Miroku knew the easiest way to handle this was to just simply drop his shield. But, what if it wasn't Kagome on the other side of the thread? And if he dropped the shield how did he prevent one of the other Spirits around them from getting to Kagome's body before her, if it was her?

Okay, so that was two small problems. He knew that Kagome's shield was too weak to fight against any of the Spirits now, so if any of them got there before she did they would most likely win the prize.

Miroku couldn't let that happen. But, how did he stop it and get Kagome in. Assuming that the thread was from Kagome….

He had a plan, but he would need the others help.

He quickly turned back around and concentrated on his barrier once more before it weakened any further then it already had when he'd lost concentration. After waiting to be sure the barrier was still doing well and sufficiently strong, he used his aura to contact the Taiyoukai.

***

Sesshoumaru was in the middle of a battle with four youkai spirits, two on either side of him, when he felt the strange sensation at the edge of his senses. He took a concentrated search of his senses as he sliced through one of the spirit on his left. Something was pulling at his aura, almost like a tap on the shoulder, to get his attention. He couldn't figure out where or who it was coming from.

There weren't many people, or youkai for that matter, he knew that were sufficiently well versed in auras to be able to do that little trick. There was the old woman from the village, Kaede, who had the knowledge, but not the skill to; which probably meant that Kagome knew how as well, but without her body she was a mote point. There was Jakin, but this was an unfamiliar aura prodding at his, and then, of course, there was Toutousai, that meddlesome fool.

He dispatched two more spirits and had the great fortune of two more showing up immediately to take there place. Sesshoumaru sighed inwardly. The battle was quickly becoming tedious to him, yet he continued if only for the reason it was quite obvious that the Spirits really wanted the miko's body… and he wasn't allowing that to happen.

He effortlessly leaped into the air to dodge an oncoming blow when he felt the 'tap' to his aura again.

'Who?' he thought to himself as he took a quick, surreptitious, look around. 'The monk,' he decided as he tried to look in his direction. He wouldn't be surprised if the monk knew how to use an aura connection and how to make one when necessary. Nope, the monk, now that he thought about it struck him as the type who would know a great deal about such things. Sesshoumaru continued to fight as he waited patiently for the 'tap' that he suspected would come at any moment…… There!! He quickly extended his aura and reached to make the connection.

'Monk?'

'Well, its about bloody time!'

Sesshoumaru arched a brow at his tone of voice, but did nothing else for once. He waited silently for the houshi to continue.

'You still there, Sesshoumaru?'

He could hear as well as sense the worry in the monk thanks to the connection. He could also feel a slight twinge of fear from him and felt something in his gut drop in response to it. He had a sinking feeling that the fear the monk was feeling had nothing to do with him. Something was wrong; he could feel it.

'If I were not, houshi I doubt you would have a need to ask.'

'Hm. Yes, well, we have a problem.'

Sesshoumaru could feel the relief go through the monk and drown the fear, but the worry was still there. He quickly began to make his way to the monk, but because of the never-ending Spirits, it wasn't easy.

'Sesshoumaru its Kagome. I think she might be trying to return to her body, but because of my shield I cannot sense if it is truly her and I am skeptical of lowering the shield in case it is not her.'

'What has happened?' he asked with an arched brow.

'Her life thread is humming, so I think that she is trying to return but cannot breach my shield because right now she is, in essence, a spirit. Even with the connection to her body she will not have the strength to get through since she has been gone for so long. She is weakening.'

Sesshoumaru silently processed this as he looked around and located Inuyasha's body on the ground. The hanyou was no longer glowing and appeared to just be resting. 'It seems all of my brother's guests have departed.'

'What?'

For a moment, he had forgotten about the connection with the houshi and all that it entailed.

'Unimportant. Release the shield.'

'If I do then her body is up for grabs and her shield is no longer strong enough to hold off any Spirit should one other then herself get there first.'

'Create a pocket which is only large enough to allow one Spirit in at a time and we shall protect it from others.'

'I had a different idea, but alright. Let's hope Kagome does not take long to notice it.'

Sesshoumaru silently agreed. He could imagine the complications it would cause if something other then Kagome was to get to her body first. He sighed and moved to get the taijiya and Kirara and bring them closer.

It took a while to get over to the taijiya, double the time it took to get to the neko, and the thought irritated him to no end. He was not the type of inu-youkai that played 'go fetch' and the five minutes he took to get the other two and get back to the houshi to take up position somewhere to the monk's right he'd probably killed, if you could call it that, more Spirits then he had in the forty minutes he'd been fighting earlier and getting severely bored.

He watched out of the corner of his eye as Kagura sent another group spinning off in a whirlwind to only Kami-sama knew where.

Sesshoumaru arched his brow when the houshi gave a slight tilt of his head in his direction. He figured that to mean that the monk had opened a hole in his barrier directly behind where he was standing.

Now it was up to Kagome.

****

Kagome hit at the barrier again and sighed. She'd been trying to get through for a while and couldn't do it. But, that was the least of her problems. No, what was a bigger problem was the fact that her powers were extremely weak and getting weaker, and not only that the weakness was finally starting to hit her mentally now. She was exhausted! And getting very tired; which wasn't good. As a Spirit she shouldn't be feeling the limitations a body would feel and the fact that she was, didn't bode well for her. Not to mention all these Spirits fighting to get to her body was really beginning to scare her.

Kagome knew that if one of them were to get to her body first the shield she'd placed around herself would not hold up very long against them and if it happened to be a Spirit that had more then a mediocre range of power… her shield would hold at all. It would cave in like a wet noodle.

She would give anything to have Miroku let down his barrier, but she also would give anything for him to keep it up for as long as the Spirits continued to stay there.

If only she could find a way through Miroku's shield without him having to lower it! She had been sure that the life thread she had used to keep contact with her body would work with any situation, but she figured her powers were too weak to sustain her through the barrier… a barrier that was made specifically to keep Spirits out.

Kagome sighed deeply and fought desperately not to succumb to the fatigue that was calling her name. She placed her hand lightly against the surface of the barrier. She could feel the magic wanting and waiting for her to press closer so it could push her off. She closed her eyes and drew on what little strength she had left to search Miroku's shield for any flaw that she could exploit and get inside. Not that she had much hope in that happening. Miroku was always very thorough. He would always tell them that a job was not worth doing if you weren't going to do it right.

For once she wished he wasn't so thorough all the time.

She could faintly see her powers lightly humming around her as she used them to feel around Miroku's shield. So far she didn't have any leads and she was beginning to fade. She could feel the panic in her rising from the pit of her stomach like bile and was trying to calm down her breathing. Then she realized she couldn't breathe and that sent her right into her own apartment in Panic City.

Then she felt it!

'There!'

She felt it again. There was something in Miroku's barrier. It was as if his powers just stopped for a few seconds then started up again. Like a gap in his magic. 'A gap? It's not like Miroku to…' her thoughts trailed off as she thought about what she had just said.

'A gap!!!'

She screamed in her head as she wondered if what she was thinking was right. She hoped so. Kagome slowly made her way in the direction of the 'gap' she felt. She kept one hand on the barrier, as she moved awkwardly towards it, to keep herself steady. There was a strange sensation pulsing around her, which puzzled her since she didn't understand how she was able to fee anything in this state.

When she finally reached the hole she began to make a sigh in relief when she remembered that she couldn't sigh. As she tried to move through the opening she nothiced that it started to get harder to move; almost as if someonoe or something was pulling on the back of her clothing trying to keep her from moving forward.

Kagome turned her head to look over her shoulder to see if something was indeed holding on to her.

It was a good thing she was non-corporeal, because if she was she would have fell over rolling on the floor laughing at what she was seeing.

There behind her, no taller then her kneecaps, stood a little…man? Yeah, man. Holding on to her clothing for dear life with a look that was a mixture of frustration and determination on his face. She could almost feel the imaginary tears from the stitch that would have been in her side if she were solid. What did he think he was going to do inside her body?

"Excuse me?" she giggled. "Could you let go of me please?"

"No," the little man grimaced at her as he looked up at her.

That calmed her considerably.

She frowned. "Why not?"

Kagome could have easily shuck him off, but she was curious as to why so many Spirits wanted her body.

"The power," he replied candidly and tightened his grip on her.

'Huh?" she asked confusedly. "What do you mean?"

"That body of yours may have lost considerable strength without your soul, but it holds more than enough to sustain half of us here by itself. Can you imagine how much power that is? No wonder he wants you."

No, she couldn't. Was she really that powerful? She didn't feel like it. And what did he mean by 'no wonder he wants you!'? Who? Naraku? How, did they know about him?

"What are you talking about? Who wants me?" she shuck her head in question. "I'm not letting anyone have my body."

Then she began to flicker.

Her time was rapidly running out and the smaller Spirit knew it. Kagome narrowed her eyes at him as she watchd the smirk appear on his ghostly face. He was distracting her on purpose!

With a growl she yanked her clothing out of his hands and tried not to show just how much energy it took for her to do that simple act.

She couldn't believe how drained she was. She really needed to get to her body and fast.

****

Sesshoumaru sighed once more to himself. He could sense her fading energy behind him as well as that of the other Spirit with her, but he couldn't turn to look or help. The Spirits were proving themselves to be very tricky when they started to realize they were going to lose. Now they were taking to attacking him, and only him directly. They were coming at him from all sides, except his back, as they figured he was the one they had to get through. While their strategy may have brought up the entertainment value, they still lacked a certain something to get his blood flowing.

It really was a sorry excuse for a battle, if you asked him.

And what the hell was taking the miko so long? He knew her time was running out fast and after everything they'd done to keep her body safe he was beginning to wonder if she was going to lose it anyway,

******

Kagome started to turn away from the little Spirt. She couldn't stand around chatting all day. But, she was stopped by the words she heard him speak in a soft voice.

"It is not your body he wants, miko. There is a darkness that resides here and it will not rest until it has whatever it is that has cought its interest."

Kagome turned back around and eyed him warily. Her body tensed as she felt her aprehension wash over her.

"And what is it that has caught this person's interest?"

The Spirit stared at her quietly and for a moment she thought he wasn't going to say anymore. Then he seemed to give a small sigh as he took a small step… or float, she wasn't too sure which, away from her.

"We're not really sure. It has been along time since he has found something to pique his curiosity. Whatever it is it concerns you. But, perhaps you are the one who can do what others before you could not. Some believe you are. Good luck my lady and be careful for your task is not easy and may be the hardest thing you will ever have to face. "

He's letting me go… Kagome stood and watched as the little man Spirit began to walk away from her. Vaguely she registered that the others were also leaving and that her frieneds were exchanging puzzled looks between them. But why? What was this thing that he was talking about? She had a feeling it wasn't Naraku as she had once thought.

"Your not talking about Naraku are you?" she called quietly after him; deciding to be sure this time.

"No. I'm not," he called over his shoulder then slowly disappeared as his body lifted into the sky.

Kagome stared after him silently.

"Return to your friends miko and prepare yourselves. Learn what has already come to pass and try to understand it. And perhaps you will make a change for us all."

She heard the words, but the Little Spirit was no longer in sight.

"Why me?" she called out, but wasn't really expecting a reply. She turned to do what the voice said for her to do and return to her body only to stop short when she did indeed receive a reply.

"Because there is no one else who can."

Those were the last words she heard whispered on the wind as she moved to reunite with her body. There was much to think about and more to discuss.

~*~

Shippou: We're back!! Psss… Duchess finally bought a comp that wasn't built in the prehistoric era. (giggles)

Duchess: Hey! You little runt, I heard that! (points finger at him)

Shippou: AHH! KAGOME!!

Kagome: (laughing) Duchess, he does have a point. We had a pool going on whether you would get a new before it gave out on you or if you would work it to the end! (laughs again) Oh, and speaking of that; you made me lose 30 dollars! I actually said you'd get a new one first! I was giving you the benefit of the doubt.

Duchess: Well, I don't know why you thought that! Wait. I mean….

Sesshoumaru: That is what you mean.

Duchess: Shut up Sesshou. No one asked you.

Sesshoumaru: (arches a brow) What did you just say? No one tells this Sesshoumaru what to do.

Duchess: I believe I just did since there is no other Sesshoumaru here. Shall I repeat it?

Inuyasha: I think she told you Fluffy! (laughs and points at Sesshou)

Sesshoumaru: (ignors Inuyasha and moves closer to Duchess) If you think its wise.

Duchess: I said; sh-(Sesshoumaru has moved forward with the speed of light and places his hand over her mouth as he pins her to the wall. Duchess's eyes widen in shock)

Sesshoumaru: Now repeat it . ( rubs a claw gently down Duchess's cheek to her neck)

Duchess, getting desperate, licks the hand covering her mouth. Sesshoumaru takes a step back and looks down at his now wet palm.

Sesshoumaru: You licked me.

Duchess: Yes. Next time don't touch my mouth and you won't get licked!

Something ferral glows in Sesshoumaru's eyes causing Duchess to take a hasty step to the side.

Sango: Well. Shes in trouble now…

Miroku: Yes but a good kind of trouble. (grins)

(Sango smacks him in the back of the head)

Miroku: What was that for? (rubs head)

Sango: (shrugs) You deserved it.

Miroku: (smiling) Then that meas I get a free feel. (wiggles eyebrows)

Sango: (rolls eyes) At your own risk hentai!

(they turn back to Duchess and Sesshou. Miroku with grin on face.)

Duchess: W-why are you looking at me like that Sesshou-chan? (still trying to move away)

Sesshoumaru: (eyes glowing bright) You licked me. Well, Duchess if that's how you want to play… Lets play. (lunges for her)

Duchess: AHH! (turns to run… but, sadly isn't quick enough)

Sesshoumaru: (catches Duchess around the waist and tosses her over his shoulder as he heads out of the room) Don't leave now Duchess. We haven't even started yet.

Duchess: SESSHOU! PUT ME DOWN SESSHOUMARU!! (looks at the rest of the gang) Aren't you going to help me!?

Everyone: No. (watches as Sesshou disappears with Duchess out of the door)

Shippou: Well. We're back!! (rotfl)

A/N: My betas: I don't remember who you are because all email addresses were deleted from my account during the obscenely long time I couldn't get online. (sigh) So, if you guys could send me your email addresses I'd be grateful… as well your names! LOL All I remember is a Wendy Bugosh… I love that name! Ummm… do you still want to beta for me? Okay… I'm going to go finish typing now…