InuYasha Fan Fiction ❯ A Second Chance At Love ❯ Time For A Change. Pt. 1 ( Chapter 26 )

[ X - Adult: No readers under 18. Contains Graphic Adult Themes/Extreme violence. ]

Disclaimer: Still don’t own them. Haven’t turned into Takahashi-sama yet.

Thank you to my betas Wendy and Deborah for another wonderful job! And thank you to everyone who reviewed! I enjoyed reading them. Duchess


“The winds of change are howling through the desert. Nothing shall ever be the same again…”
~anonymous


Chapter 26: Time For A Change Pt. 1

Sitting on her knees, Sango stared down at her friend as her mind tried to wrap itself around the fact that the young girl before her was really dead. She was oblivious to the happenings going on around her as her heart tried to deny what her mind was working on accepting. She’d finally gotten her brother back, and thanks to Sesshoumaru he would continue to live, but now she had to let go of Kagome.

Why? Why her? The question kept going over and over in her head. Kagome was the least one of them who deserved to die over all this. All she’d ever done was try to help people. Didn’t that count for anything? And the sad part about it was, that even if the young priestess had had a choice she would have chosen death if it meant saving her friends.

She was always doing things like that! Sango couldn’t help feeling a little annoyed with the miko. She wondered if Kagome had allowed herself to die knowing if she did she would take the jewel with her and all this trouble with the Obake would be over. Yea, even through all her grief, she’d noticed that the Shikon no Tama was no longer in the girl’s hand or anywhere nearby.

She wondered idly if any of the others had noticed yet.

Sango doubted they’d noticed though… at least not yet. She figured there would be a whole lot more yelling going on then there was. And not just at the Obake. She was sure that the miko, dead or not, would have been getting a fair share of the name calling as well.

Contrary to popular opinion, Inuyasha was not as dumb as many liked to believe and accuse him of being. Even though he seemed to take a leave of absence whenever Kikyo came around, Sango had always had a feeling that Inuyasha knew just what he was doing. His methods were not always the best way to go about things, but he usually arrived at the same conclusion as everyone else… just a bit a slower sometimes.

It couldn’t be easy getting over your first love. Then realizing you are falling for another who has a striking resemblance to the first… and she happens to be her reincarnation. As for Miroku and Lord Sesshoumaru… well, she was sure they would have a problem coming to the conclusion she did. After all, didn’t anyone else find her death just a little to easy?

Sango ran a finger softly over the palm of Kagome’s left hand. There was a small scorch mark in the soft flesh where she figured the jewel had been sitting. She guessed the bright light that had come from the jewel and the miko had been even hotter then she had thought. The Jewel of Four Souls was said to be very powerful, but rumors in her village had said the jewel was even more powerful then it was believed to be. That at the heart of the jewel was held its true power, but since the jewel was able to be used for good or evil depending on the soul that possessed it, the power at the heart could only be possessed by One: the True Guardian of the Jewel.

Sango wondered if that was the power the Obake was trying to get at and if so, did he believe Kagome was the Shikon’s True Guardian? She’d always assumed that power to be no more than a myth. The thought was mind boggling, for that would mean Kagome was destined to be even more powerful then what she already was.

Could one person handle such power and still hold onto their sanity? Sango didn’t know, but she believed if anyone could have it was Kagome. But none of that mattered now.

Kagome was dead.

****

The woman stared down at the young woman lying on the dais. A white flowing gown had been placed on her since no earthly means were allowed in that place. She quietly took in the girl’s features and sighed to herself. The child was so young! What was happening to her was not supposed to happen for many more years, yet circumstances had caused the Ancients to take action early and now things were moving along sooner than was meant… and a life was lost because of it.

It was a good thing that some mistakes were able to be put right. She couldn’t bear to think that things were going to stay as they were. Now, the priestess would have a choice to make, and though it was a choice she wasn’t meant to make for many more years, much hung on her answer and whether she was mature enough to take on the responsibility.

Things were happening much too soon, but it was too late to do anything about it now. They would have to go forward and hope the world would not suffer for it.

She turned to look at the men behind her. This was the first time she’d ever laid eyes on the four of them since they had concealed themselves away. She looked from one Ancient to the other, as she liked to refer to them as, and hoped they knew what they were doing.

”Are you sure there is no other way?” she asked them for what seemed like the millionth time. “She is still so young.”

“There is no other way,” said the one with the deep brown eyes. He was the oldest of them and to look into his eyes was to see knowledge in all its glory. “The Obake had come too close to accessing what does not belong to him. We could not allow him to use her so.”

“Could she not have prevented it?” asked the woman worriedly. If the girl could not protect the power in the jewel, how was she to do what they needed?

“Can you prevent from happening what you do not know is occurring?” ask the man gravely. “She knows nothing of what she is meant to protect and one day wield. How was she to stop him from accessing what she, who is meant to access it, can not?”

“We did not want her to have to deal with this now,” spoke the Ancient with the ocean blue eyes. The sparkle that could usually be found there was missing. “So we had agreed to wait, but the choice has been taken out of our hands. Now, if we are to remain as we are, we need her.”

“But, how can she help you now?” she asked as she gave a glance over her shoulder at the prone body behind her.

“It was our mistake and we shall put it right,” said the emerald eyed Ancient with
conviction. “One way or another she shall walk the Earth again.”

“She will awaken soon, my lady,” the last Ancient with ruby eyes spoke. “Tell her what you will, but leave this business of life and death to us.”

The four men turned then, as one, and began to walk back the way they had come. Neither of them turned to look back at the woman staring after them or the young woman still lying on the dais, even as a slight groan came from her proving the last Ancients words.

“What if she asks me?” called the woman after them.

“You can not tell her what you do not know,” replied the first one over his shoulder, then a moment later they disappeared.

The woman lowered her head as she stood there. She couldn’t deny what they said; they were right. She couldn’t tell what she didn’t know and she didn’t know how the priestess died… though she had seen it all. It did not make sense to her. Even though the process was painful and permanent it should not have caused the young miko’s death. What had went wrong? Where had the Ancients made a mistake… a mistake that cost a life?

Her long black ponytail fell over her shoulder as she shook her head, trying to understand it all. She froze when she heard a soft sound behind her. She did not worry about any foe sneaking up on her; not there. No foe could get in where she was at now. The only person behind her was the sleeping woman.

She heard another sigh and whirled around causing her hair to fly and whip around to the other shoulder as her eyes connected with deep blue ones.

Stepping closer to the younger woman, she gave her a reassuring smile. She knew she was probably confused as to where she was.

“How are you feeling?”

Blue eyes flicked back and forth between dark chestnut brown eyes as she took in the miko garb covered with armor. She knew this woman. And wherever this woman was so were… Blue eyes darted around, looking for the demons she was sure would be there. None were. She turned her eyes back to the other lady and saw the shine of amusement in there depths.

She frowned.

“Midoriko-sama?”

“Hello Kagome,” she smiled as she nodded at the girl’s questioning look. “Are you feeling well enough to stand?”

Kagome nodded as she sat up slowly. Looking down at herself she took in the long gown and looked back up at the legendary priestess in question.

“Your clothing are still on your body, dear,” she answered the unspoken question as she offered a hand to help the miko to her feet. “Do not fret. Earthly possessions are not allowed in this place. Sacred it is, and sacred they keep it.”

“Where am I?” asked Kagome as she took in the beautiful garden around her. There were lovely flowers everywhere and big open spaces filled with nothing but grass as green as the evergreens. It was beautiful.

“We are… between worlds I guess you could say. In this place you see what your subconscious feels is the ultimate peaceful place; your perfect place. For me, we are near a stream. A mountain is to our backs and a vast field before us. I know not what you see, but we are, none the less, in the same place,” she shrugged idly as she released the younger woman to stand on her own. “This is neither Heaven nor Hell.”

“Heaven…” breathed Kagome as she looked around her taking in the differences between what Midoriko said she saw and what she, herself, was seeing. “I am dead.” It wasn’t a questions; something told her that she was here because she’d died. Just like Midoriko.

“Yes,” said the other miko with sympathy in her voice. Her face showed nothing but simple fact. It revealed neither grieving, sadness or anything else.

Kagome nodded. “How?”

She shook her head as she answered truthfully, “Something went wrong. That is all I know.”

Kagome nodded once more as images of the battle with the Obake filtered through her mind. All she remembered was after she’d purified the Shikon no Tama and had looked up to tell the demon it was finished she’d met with a sinister look coming from him. The hairs on the back of her neck had stood up from that look and then the next thing she knew he’d attacked and the pain had caused her to fall as she’d cried out. It was like nothing she’d ever felt before and never wanted to feel again. Then she’d felt this intense heat coming from the middle of her chest and though it hadn’t stopped the pain of the Obake’s attack it had pushed it to the background. She remembered thinking she was going to die from all that heat and pain and then thinking nothing at all as her world had gone dark.

The Obake must have killed her, she thought as she squeezed her left hand around the object that lay forgotten within her grasp.

“The Obake…” she began as she focused her eyes on Midoriko, but for the life of her she couldn’t figure whether she was asking a question or telling an answer.

“Perhaps,” answered the priestess; taking her words as a question. She thought once more about what the Ancients had said–‘it was our mistake…’–and wondered once more what part they played in all this. “Perhaps not.”

“Well,” swallowed Kagome as she gave a humorless laugh, “it was bound to happen right? Sooner or later, it was bound to happen…” She blinked and looked away as she fought against the tears threatening to fall.

Midoriko stepped closer to her then and placed a gentle finger under her chin. Bringing her head back around to face her, she silently took in the swimming blue orbs as they fought for control.

“Later then sooner, no?” she smiled gently and wiped at the tears that escaped. She couldn’t help thinking how much younger the miko seemed with the tears in her eyes.

“Yea…” she agreed with a sniffed as she wiped at her face.

A sharp pain pierced her chest as she thought of her taiyoukai. She rubbed idly over her heart with her hand as she thought about Inuyasha, Shippou, Sango and Miroku in turn. She began to slightly shake as her mind came around to Sesshoumaru again… and the tears she was fighting won the battle as they spilled down her cheeks.

She didn’t want to leave him.

Kagome thought about her mom, Souta and jii-chan and her heart grew heavy with the thought of never seeing them again. Her mother had always been so understanding; allowing her to go between time because she knew it was something her daughter had to do, and now she would never get to tell her mother thank you. She was never going to see her brother win his baseball games or see his graduation. She looked away again as the tears filled her eyes once more as memories floated through her mind. She was never going to hear one of her grandfather’s many stories that he’d told a hundred times before or see him throw his o-fuda at… Inuyasha.

They had gone through so much together.

Her shoulders shook with the force of her tears as she tried desperately to get air into her lungs. Silently she slipped to her knees as everything she was leaving behind finally hit her and one certain male’s face dominated her mind’s eye. “Seshou…” she sobbed to herself as she rocked back and forth, “…maru.”

Midoriko looked away as the young woman finally broke down. Her heart went out to her as she heard the girl’s sobs. She understood how it felt to love someone and not be able to be with them. But, Kagome had hope because she would not be staying there; the Ancients had said as much. Midoriko wanted to be able to tell her that, but she knew the distraught woman would have questions and she did not hold the answers to them. So, she gave Kagome a moment to grieve for herself, her friends, and her love before she took a step a closer to her and stooped down.

“Do not despair,” she intoned softly to the other woman. “All is not lost.”

“How can you say that?” said Kagome as she looked up at the priestess with tears in her eyes and streaking down her cheeks; an incredulous look on her face.

“You will see,” she grabbed Kagome’s elbow gently and urged her to stand with her. “Trust me. Things are not always as bleak as they appear.”

Kagome silently followed her lead as she wiped vigorously at her face and stood up. She didn’t know what Midoriko was talking about, but she chose to trust the woman anyway. She gave a small nod as she followed the other miko and listened to her talk.

“All will be explained to you in due time, but for now, first things first: the bakemono.” Midoriko grimaced as the image of the demon came into her head. “You must know what you are fighting if you are to destroy him. And while he may be the most powerful of his kind, he is not the only one out there… even if he does believe so.”

“Midoriko-sama, I don’t believe I will have much to worry about. I doubt I’ll be fighting him again,” spoke Kagome with a sigh.

“The future is not writ Kagome and I do not believe your story is finished,” she answered with a quiet look over her shoulder. “Now, as I was saying… I know not what the bakemono’s true name is or was, for he was telling the truth; he has lived a long and extensive life. But the point is that he did live, and when he lived he was not as he is now. He was quiet and reserved and very powerful. He stayed to himself out of necessity. He did not use his powers to harm though he very well could have had he chosen to. Kami, knows he was given ample reason.”

“Reason?”

“People fear what they do not understand, Kagome. And people fear power that is greater then their own, especially when one is kind and gives them no reason to fear them.” Midoriko gave her a contemplative look before continuing. “He didn’t use his powers the way others felt they should be used and in that time, for a demon with power greater then most, it was kill or be killed. None the less, he soon learned that he must fight to keep what was rightfully his in the first place. Deciding to do to others what they had planned or tried to do to him, he began to change.”

Kagome nodded absent-mindedly as she thought of what Midoriko had just said. She knew that fear was a driving force for man. It not only gave them the strength to do things they would not normally do, it made them do things that weren’t morally right. Many evil things had been done by man over there fear of the unknown from the destruction of nations to the destruction of an entire people. People used their fear to justify those actions. But, fear was not always bad. Sometimes, when one bothered to understand there fear and therefore take control of it, they usually found the courage to stand up to what was causing the emotion. There were so many reports of abuse and kidnapping in the world in her time that it brought a satisfied smile to her face when they told a story of someone fighting back and getting away from there would-be-attacker. And when the person was asked how they’d escaped many admitted to being more afraid of what would happen if they’d stayed or not fought back. So, yes, Kagome understood the motivation fear could cause, she wasn’t quite sure what the end of Midoriko’s statement was getting at.

“What do you mean?” asked Kagome with a confused look. “I don’t think I understand.”

“It’s simple really. They tried to take his power so he took there’s.” Kagome’s eyes widened as she blinked at her in shock. “Many felt it was a fitting punishment. A sort of… ‘a eye for an eye’ type of thing. What they didn’t expect was that all those powers coming from very unfriendly demons would have the power to change the quiet demon. You see, it is in the bakemono’s nature to be violent and mean, but when you add unhealthy feelings to the equation… well it changes him. And it’s a known fact that a demon’s power is governed by its emotions like most creatures with power.”

“If it was in his nature to be cruel then why wasn’t he mean before all of that?”

“I’m not sure really. Most believed it was a result of his not being raised around his own kind. The Obake was raised by an elderly human couple and while they taught him many things they could not teach him about himself or his own kind, therefore growing up different from the rest, but still the same. Perhaps if the humans had lived a bit longer he may have learned to control any negative feeling he might feel or be caused to feel by the actions of others, but that was not the case and they died well before he would have been considered old enough to be on his own, yet he was much older then a human adult.”
Midoriko stopped then and sat down gracefully beneath a tall thick oak tree. Kagome took a seat beside the older miko on a fallen tree trunk that was over-ridden with flowers and moss.

“I’m sorry to say that the Obake did not have an easy life. He was not accepted by many humans for he was not one of them, though there were some who still kept him in their hearts for they knew the couple that had raised him. Demon’s did not accept him because he was too friendly with humans but obviously held plenty of power to kill them if he wished. The fact that he didn’t wish to kill the humans, or anyone else didn’t go down well and it was only a matter of time before they were doing everything possible to kill him… even going so far as to kill the humans that did accept him.”

Kagome’s face showed the horror she felt as she stared back at her. That anyone, even a demon, would kill innocents just to get to someone else was scarier than anything she could think of. Naraku had threatened and killed others for his own personal gain, but she couldn’t recall for even one moment that he’d ever taken a life just to make Inuyasha angry. The thought that someone cared so little for life was horrific.

She didn’t have any personal experience of how it felt to be ostracized by the people around you just for whom and what you were, but she knew what kind of an effect it could have on a being. She’d been traveling with Inuyasha for a long time and she knew very well how deeply it hurt him to be considered not good enough by both demons and humans alike. It made one feel as if they had no place they belonged. And Inuyasha hadn’t been the only one to be treated so; she still remembered both Jeninji, a kind and gentle horse youkai, as well as Shiori, the pretty little girl hanyou who’s father’s spirit was watching over her and who’d wanted nothing more then to be with her mother. Kagome could only imagine how the bake must have felt and despite what he’d done to her and her friends a piece of her heart went out to the young demon in him that had been made to feel unwanted. No one deserved to feel like that, but sadly she knew they wouldn’t be the last.

She couldn’t help thinking the bakemono’s life sounded sad and lonely.

Midoriko ignored the look on the young woman’s face. She knew perfectly well how the story sounded, but the miko needed to know so she could understand just what she was fighting. In a quiet voice she delivered the most important information.

“And that is how the young Kanna came into the story.”


****

Inuyasha tried to rein in his rage while he kept a close eye on the demon hovering above them. It was taken everything in him not to attack the bastard that for killing Kagome, but something was making him stay still. Perhaps it was the grin on the Obake’s face or the look in his eyes that he was trying to hide. For some reason he got the feeling the demon didn’t mean to kill Kagome, which would make sense, since Inuyasha was sure that you it wasn’t possible to take the innate power of the dead. Innate power is found only in the soul or mind and neither sticks around after death.

So why did the Obake kill her? Or was it an accident?

He took a quick glance around the room: Sango was still on her knees by Kagome’s still form, Miroku stood a couple paces in front of them as if to block them from the demon’s view, and Sesshoumaru stood beside him a few paces to his right, as still as a statue.
Perhaps, it was the lack of reaction on the demon lord’s part that stayed his hand.
Didn’t he love Kagome? Why was he standing there as if he could care less that the miko was dead… and that the Obake was the cause of it? ‘Did he not care what happened to her?’ wondered Inuyasha with a puzzled look as he turned his gaze away from his brother. He wasn’t sure how he felt about that. Kagome died believing his brother cared and part of him wanted that to be true, but another part of him wanted to believe he was right about his brother and that the cold hearted demon cared for nothing other then himself.

He wasn’t sure he could handle it if that belief turned out to be false. Then it would mean that the lord just didn’t care about him.

Inuyasha had already explained away Rin’s presence in his brother’s life: his brother thought of the ningen child as property, nothing more. As for Jaken? He needed no explanation; really who would bother? No, all he wondered about was Sesshoumaru’s non-reaction to the fact that Kagome was dead, if that was the case. He knew better then anyone how good his brother was at hiding his true feelings.

oooo

Sesshoumaru could feel the hanyou’s eyes on him. Inuyasha and whatever was going on inside his empty head was the least of his worries right now. What he was concentrating on was the rage that was doing its best to take control inside him. He wasn’t sure what was angering him more; the fact that she was dead or that he had failed to protect her. It had been a long time since he’d last tasted the flavor of defeat and failure and he still had not grown a liking for it.

He had warned her that the Obake–whom he was currently staring at–was more then what he appeared. Why did she not keep her guard up? He realized that part of him was angry at the miko–for allowing herself to be killed–though the larger part of his rage was directed at the bakemono.

Sesshoumaru’s eyes were red as his eyeballs turned blue even though he knew it wasn’t a good idea to engage in battle with the demon right now. His anger was deeply clouding his judgment and he was feeling an uneasy tightness in his chest that he couldn’t remember ever experiencing before. What he needed was answers.

He needed to know why the obake killed her when he was sure the demon needed her alive. He needed to understand what the demon was after; what was the price he’d placed on his miko’s life?

Then he would take pleasure in killing the bastard.

No one messed with what was his. Her life belonged to him… as did her death. The bake would pay for taking what belonged to him.

“Why?” he asked the question everyone was thinking; including the bakemono.

Nearly everyone in the room jumped when his quiet voice was heard. The room had been so quiet for so long that no one had expected the sound or for him to make it.
The Obake stared down at the demon lord as he noted the rage and hurt he was trying to conquer. The lord was the youngest demon lord he’d ever come across in the entire span of his life and was just about one of the strongest. Granted the demon lord was not as strong or as powerful as his father before him, but the demon lord was well on his way to surpassing the late InuTaisho.

If he let the inu-lord live, that is.

He had, at first, planned on leaving the two dog demons and the humans alone after he’d gotten what he wanted from the miko, but one of them had messed with his plans and now they all would die. He usually only killed when he wished to take someone’s power, but their deaths he would do for free because he was pissed off.

Why they would kill someone they called a friend? He had no idea. Maybe they felt it was the only way to protect her. Whatever there reasons were they had taken from him his only chance at ultimate power and he’d be damned if he was going to let them get away with it! No. They would rue the day they decided to cross him!

But, first he needed time to think about just how he would kill them and to recuperate from the injury he’d sustained from the miko’s attack. He knew that taking time to heal would also give the two inu-demons time to heal as well, but he didn’t care. They were no match for his superior strength.

“You have until the full moon rises to leave this place,” he told them, ignoring the lord’s and the hanyou’s questions.

“And if we don’t leave?” asked Inuyasha in a hushed tone as he balled his fists.
He stared into the hanyou’s eyes for a moment then replied, “Then you will face the consequences of staying.” Then he disappeared as quickly as he’d come.

Each one of them noted the sun was already rising outside the window as they realized they’d fought the demon through an entire night. No one moved or commented on the realizations.

After a moment to be sure his anger was well in hand, Sesshoumaru turned and walked towards the taijiya and the miko lying in front of her. He bent down and silently gathered the miko in his arms then stood back up. No one stopped him as he moved towards the door.

“So we’re leaving?” asked Inuyasha, for once, with no sarcasm or anger in his voice.
Sesshoumaru stopped a few paces from the door, but did not turn around to look at any of them.

“Do what you want Inuyasha. I care not.”

“Where are you going?”

“Out.”

He resumed walking then. Inuyasha, Miroku, and Sango exchanged looks as she stood to her feet and Kirara, now small once more, jumped into her arms and curled up with a small yawn. Slowly they all moved towards the door to follow the Lord of the West.


****

“Kanna?” Kagome gave her a confused look. She’d forgotten all about the void demon in all the commotion with the Obake, but now that she was reminded her mind raced with all the possibilities of what the demon’s role was in all that was taking place. “So she’s real.” Was she one of the demons who tried to harm the bakemono? Did she try to suck him in her mirror?”

“No,” responded Midoriko, with a tilt of her head she wondered briefly how the miko would react to what she was about to reveal. “Kanna is the daughter of one of the couples that had been killed by a demon trying to learn the bake’s location. She was only seven at the time and was very close to death when he found her curled up in the side of her mother’s corpse.”

“Kanna’s human?” she asked in disbelief; blue eyes wide.

“Yes… well she was anyway,” said the miko with a shrug. “The bake nursed her back to health then, knowing she would need to protect herself, gave her the power of an Abyss demon and the mirror she carries; thereby giving her the power of the void. She also gained the ability to see across space.”

“Kanna can see into time?”

“No not time; space. She can see what anyone or thing is doing anywhere else in the world at that very same time.”

“Oh,” nodded Kagome as she thought about this. It did explain how Naraku was always able to find them when they, at the same time, could never find him.

“So, in essence she’s a hanyou; half demon, half human. Though he’d changed her he didn’t desire to take away her humanity. He had no reason too. He keeps her with him and at times he hides within her or her mirror. It was while he was hiding inside her that he was lured to the power of Onigumo calling forth the demons to take his flesh. Onigumo’s lust for Kikyo and his need to have the Shikon no Tama produced very nasty emotions in him and those very emotions attracted the Obake. Of course, by this time the bakemono had already heard of the jewel and was after it. Onigumo was just a means to an end, but then hanyou, Naraku, did not hold the same lust for Kikyo as Onigumo and he wanted the jewel for himself; this caused problems for the bake and somehow he coerced Naraku into releasing Kanna and therefore him as well.”

“Is Kanna still alive?”

“Yes, he protects her as he protects himself. She is his only friend and helps him remember. He would never allow harm to come to the child, though I guess ‘child’ is no longer the correct term for her.”

That revelation brought up another question, but Kagome pushed it to the side for a moment as she focused on the jewel first. “How did he learn of the jewel?”
”Everyone knew of me and my war with the demons,” sighed, Midoriko. “And even more knew of the jewel I created, with the help of the Four Souls, when the battle between me and the demons looked to be going the wrong way. The jewel was my last hope. I would imagine anyone could have told him about it.”

“Does the Shikon no Tama hold more power then I was previously told? Is there more power inside the jewel?” she asked quietly. She’d finally worked up the courage to ask the other priestess the question she’d been dying to ask since the moment she remembered the Obake and the battle.

Midoriko stared at her as she tried to decide just how much she should tell the younger woman. She shrugged to herself after deciding telling the woman couldn’t really do any harm; she was going to find out soon enough anyway.

“There is a rumor that within the jewel, at its heart, lays a power stronger then almost anything else out there,” she replied as she looked into deep cerulean eyes. “That power is said to be the True Power of the Shikon and it is held and protected by the Four Souls themselves. Only the True Hogosha can access the power. They say she, and she alone, will be the one to wield the power of the Ancients and within her soul will they reside.”

‘There’s that name again. Guardian’ said Kagome to herself with a sigh. She was beginning to think it wasn’t a coincidence.

“Is it true?” asked Kagome. “You helped create the jewel. Do you believe the rumors?”

“Yes, because I know it’s true.”

“Why haven’t I ever heard about this? Why aren’t you the True Guardian?”

“I don’t know why you have never heard the tale. Kikyo had believed she was the True Guardian and was forever running from it. And I’m sure your friend, the taijiya, knows the story,” she said evenly as she faced forward once more. “As for your other question: I was not chosen.”

“Chosen?”

“Yes. The Four Souls chooses the Guardian and only they know why they chose who they chose.”

“Did you want to be chosen?”

“At one time, yes,” sighed Midoriko as she answered truthfully, “but while I was the soul it was birthed from I am not the one meant to wield the power and I understand that. Honestly, I’m thankful for it.”

“Why?”

“Because a person who wants the power is not meant to have it,” she answered seriously as she turned back to face her. “Only those who do not desire great power have the mentality to control it. Power corrupts, Kagome. And one must be forever vigilant if they are to remain as they were before such power”

Kagome sat quietly as she thought about that. She thought about Inuyasha and his want to be a full demon and what happened when he was given that want. Inuyasha didn’t have it in him to control that power. She wondered if that was what Midoriko meant when she said that people that desired great power couldn’t handle it.

She had never wanted great power, thought Kagome with a mental shrug. All she’d ever wanted to do was to fix the mistake she’d made when she’d shattered the jewel and be able to help her friends when they were in battle. She liked having the ability to purify demons when necessary, but she would never abuse that power. For instance, she wouldn’t go around purifying every demon just because they were demons. Just the thought of purifying Inuyasha, Shippou, Sesshoumaru, or even Jinenji as well as a host of other kind demons she’d met on her journey with Inuyasha… The thought was too horrible to even consider.

She thought of Sesshoumaru then. He wanted to be more powerful. Would he one day change? She decided to put the question to Midoriko.

“The Taiyoukai seeks to better himself. He is already a very powerful demon, much more powerful then most. So, to become better he must become more powerful,” she explained quietly. “But he does not seek his power through easy means such as the jewel or talismans. He seeks to gain through experience. This will not only help him grow in strength and power but in character as well. Therein lays the difference.”

“Am I the chosen?” Kagome stared at her bare feet as she asked the question she wasn’t sure she wanted the answer to. If the answer was yes, it would explain what the Obake had wanted from her.

“Yes, you are.”

Kagome breathed in deep before releasing it slowly then she nodded. She’d think about what that all meant later… if it meant anything at all now that she was dead. After a moment she turned her head sideways to face the woman beside her. She waited for the other woman to return her gaze before speaking.

“What did you mean when you said Kanna helps the Obake remember? What does she help him remember?”

Midoriko gazed back at her as she thought back over her words. She gave a slight nod when remembered what the other was referring to.

“The Obake believes the first time he killed and took another demon’s power was the day he died…” she began quietly with a small exhale,” and I guess, in a way, he’s right. It was the time he changed for the first time and it would also mark the beginning of his addiction to power. I think, her presence, somehow reminds him of what he once was and keeps him somewhat grounded. She has protected as many lives, if not more, as he has taken.”

“So, he isn’t dead?” she asked, though it really wasn’t a question.

“Did he look dead to you?” came back, the priestess, with her own question.

“No, he didn’t look dead at all.”

Midoriko nodded and faced forward. “Then there’s your answer. He is very much alive. But, like with every life, he has his weaknesses too. You just learned of his greatest weakness.”

Kagome sighed as she faced forward as well. Yes, she knew what the bakemono’s greatest weakness was…”Kanna.” but did she have it in her to exploit it? That was the question.


****

Sesshoumaru lowered the body in his arms onto a stone platform to the right of the Keep not far from the area where they had fought the Spirits. He stared down at the face of the woman who he was finally willing to admit to himself he loved and fought the urge to ball his fist in anger.

Why wouldn’t Tensaiga revive her? Tensaiga had revived so many before, why not her? Didn’t it think she deserved a second chance? For the first time his heart was in it to revive someone from an untimely death, and the sword would not listen to him. Was it him? He had thought he’d finally mastered his father’s legacy to him, but now he wondered if he was ever meant to master the sword.

Thinking of his sword brought thoughts of his father to him. Why was he remembering the demon now? Seeing him in his thoughts when he’d gone so long without seeing him there before? Even at his father’s grave he had not a thought for his father. Why should he? The demon, obviously, had no thoughts for him.

“Do you not wish to remember me, my son?”

Sesshoumaru froze for a moment before slowly lifting his head to gaze at a now bright sky. Did he really just hear his otou-san’s voice? It was one thing to remember things his father had once said to him, but his father had never asked him that before. His father had left him, not the other way around. Why should he bother to remember a demon who, did not bother to remember him when it counted?

His father had gone into battle to protect the woman, Inuyasha’s mother, whom he had taken as his mate and the infant Inuyasha when he was wounded and knew he possibly would not survive the attack. And he’d had the nerve to ask Sesshoumaru to watch over the woman and her child should he die! He knew he wasn’t going to live and he went anyway!!

Sesshoumaru had been angry at his father for a very long time for that, but he’d tried to honor his father’s wishes and had kept an eye on Inuyasha and his mother. Though he hated to admit it, and would never do so aloud, he could never find fault with the ningen woman. She had stayed true to his father’s memory and had only spoken good things about him to a young and impressionable Inuyasha until her death. Something he could not say for his own mother… and his father had been alive at the time.

He had taken Inuyasha into his home after her death, but things had not worked so well. He could not get over the fact that his father had given his life to protect the hanyou when he was not nearly as great a warrior or demon as himself. Sesshoumaru had lost count of how many times he had to save the hanyou from one demon or another. So, he had taken it upon himself to train the pup. He could not have the hanyou going around carrying his father’s name, and therefore his own, and not know how to fight properly, but somewhere along the line the fighting had turn from sparing to something more… something that was much more dangerous.

But no matter how many times he’d come close to killing the hanyou, he could never go through with it.

What was it about himself that those important to Sesshoumaru chose the hanyou over him? His father had, Kagome had, and even Rin did not like it when he fought with Inuyasha. He didn’t know when his mind had turned things into a competition between him and the hanyou, but somewhere along the line it had. And now, that finally, someone had chosen him he failed to protect her.

Perhaps his father had chosen right after all, when he chose which son would wield which sword as well as who to die for.

“I would have done no less for you were it you in his place or a similar situation. I taught you to protect what belongs to you, it is only right that I do the same.”

Sesshoumaru heard the words in the very familiar voice, but he had lived too long believing one thing for him to just change and believe another. And if it was so, why had the voice waited so long to tell him so? Why tell him now?

“Because you would not have heard me. Now, your heart is open again and you are slowly returning to the son I once knew and becoming the lord I knew you would be.”

Why? What made him so different from previous years?

“You have learned to love, my son. That is the difference.”

‘Koi?’ he thought with a frown. He would have scoffed aloud if it wasn’t foreign to his nature to do so. What was love to him? Yes, the miko had said she was ‘in love’ with him, but she also said she loved his brother. So, how much stock could he really put on her sanity? In all his experience with the emotion it did nothing, but cause pain or worse; death. His father had loved a female human and her son and look where that got him. Rin’s parents, he assumed, had loved her and where were they? Dead. Look how much Kagome and the female taijiya took from his idiot brother and the lecherous monk. He’d watched them on and off for the last few years and he’d seen their pain. He had already admitted to possibly loving the miko, but how was he to know for sure? All he had to go on was the foreign feeling in his chest that kept him from leaving her side, but yet caused him to be angry with her for dying. Was that love? Love was not worth all the trouble it brought.

Even the voice of his father had just admitted to being willing to give his life for… him.
Sesshoumaru blinked then. His eyes stared at the sun high in its sky, but saw nothing. His mind was still far away trying to process what he’d just figured for himself. His father did love him.

But, if that was so, why did he leave him? He kept coming full circle. His father’s death belonged to him!

“Is there nothing you would die for, my son? Nothing you would give your life to protect?”

Was there? He asked himself the question and already had an answer. He had killed to protect his charge, Rin, and he knew that he was prepared to kill anyone who would have tried to harm his miko. Sesshoumaru had promised her as much. But… would he have given his life for hers? He wasn’t certain, but he had a feeling that he would have no problem placing himself between her and the sharp side of a sword. And though he was loathed to admit it, he had even killed to protect Inuyasha… in the past and the not so distant past.

He remembered one time when the hanyou was still a pup and he’d been chased over a cliff by three minor demons…

He’d been returning to his personal chambers after having a practice fight with some of the warriors under his command when he’d heard Inuyasha’s voice. The pup had been pleading for him to come to him.

*Help me aniki, please! Please come help me!*

He could hear the fear in the little inu’s voice and though a part of him had wanted to let Inuyasha fend for himself, a larger part could not allow the child to do so. He didn’t know what danger was making the hanyou call for him and another part of him wondered when Inuyasha had learned to call for him with his mind. He’d never shown him how to do it, or even tell him it was possible.

Sesshoumaru had heard a small whimper in his mind and the next thing he knew he was heading out of the castle at top speed, without his armor, and in the direction he could sense Inuyasha’s aura.

Half way there, he sensed the aura of three other demons very close to where he knew Inuyasha’s aura was coming from and he’d immediately sped up. He couldn’t believe it took three adult demons to corner a pup the equivalent of a seven year old ningen child. Sesshoumaru stopped for a moment to take in what he saw when he arrived at the cliff overhanging the east side of the forest below.

A worm demon was hanging over the edge taunting what he could only assume was Inuyasha since he could not see the hanyou only sense that that was the direction he was in. There was a rat youkai just behind the worm trying to urge the other demon to hurry and grab the demon before he falls. While next to the rat was a centipede youkai who seemed to only be capable of laughing and repeating whatever the rat was saying.

“Come on and grab him already!! I can almost taste him he smells so delicious!”

“Yea, yea delicious!” said the centipede, tongue hanging. “Come on, grab him!”

They were all too busy worrying about the pup to realize the danger that had just walked up behind them. Sesshoumaru saw as the worm demon seemed to slither further out over the ledge and decided that was a good moment to attack.

In one swift move he had the centipede on its back under his foot while he’d neatly spun and slashed the rat across the throat using his dokkaso. Not even ten seconds had passed when he turned his attention on the last demon. The worm hanging over the cliff. He heard Inuyasha give an almost quiet whimper and he moved into action.

Grabbing the centipede with his claws dripping in poison he quickly killed the demon as he used his free hand to fling out his whip and wrap it around the worm pulling him back and away from the cliff. The worm had begun screaming when he’d recognized him and trying to plead for his life. Sesshoumaru wasn’t hearing it. With a quick flick of his wrist his whip had cut the worm neatly down the middle, killing him instantly.

Just before he’d killed the worm he’d saw Inuyasha’s head peak up over the cliff from the corner of his eye. He sensed no injuries on the pup, so he did not say anything to him.

“Next time hunt on someone else’s lands,” not that there would be a next time, he thought as he looked down at the corpses before turning and heading back the way he’d come. “Come Inuyasha.”

He had walked away assuming the hanyou would follow him, but it had only taken him a moment to realize the pup was, in fact, not behind him. He was on the verge of calling for him again when the smell of tears reached his nose.

He stopped then.

Slowly turning around, he stared as he watched the hanyou struggle to pull himself over the ledge, a feat he knew the boy could easily handle if he weren’t shaking so much. He could see the tears streaming down Inuyasha’s young face and he’d suddenly realized the child had been more frightened then he’d thought, and was now pushing himself because he was afraid Sesshoumaru would leave him behind.

This was a ridiculous reaction for the hanyou to have. Why would he come to his aide if he was going to just leave him afterwards?

Next thing he knew, he was walking back towards the child without any conscious decision of his own and had scooped the hanyou up into his arms using his tail before he could think better of the action. When he’d realized what he’d done he’d immediately thought to put the hanyou down when the pup had pressed his face into his tail, tears still streaming down his face. He could feel the little body shaking as if it were a leaf in winter and figured the harm was already done, might as well let him stay where he was at.

*Aniki,* he gave the small bent head a shocked look when he heard the small voice in his mind again. The hanyou had really mastered that ability. “Thank you, Sesshou.”

He gave the hanyou a small squeeze before he could change his mind when he heard the pup voice his gratitude. With an almost smile he responded the only way he knew how.

“Do not call me that horrid name koro.”…

Sesshoumaru blinked twice. He hadn’t thought about that moment in years. That was the first time he’d save the hanyou’s life… the first of many. The woman had died not long after the incident by the cliff and he had taken Inuyasha to the castle to live. For a while things had been all right between them, but as the hanyou had gotten older and more head strong his resentment towards the hanyou grew until there came a time when they did nothing but fight

Things had only continued down hill from there. Inuyasha spent less and less time at the castle–avoiding Sesshoumaru, no doubt–and more and more time in the forest and at the village near the Bone Eater’s well. He wasn’t sure when or how, exactly, the hanyou had found out about the Shikon no Tama, but he knew when the pup first attacked the miko to get it and everything that occurred between them afterwards. It was when Sesshoumaru’s informant began delivering evidence that proved Inuyasha was taking more of a liking to the priestess then he cared for had he immediately washed his hands of the hanyou.

Filthy hanyou was not worth his time.

It would be months later when he would run across the hanyou again… and only because he was looking for him. Sesshoumaru had learned what happened to his father’s swords and upon learning some things had realized he needed the hanyou to get to the Tetsusaiga; he’d already acquired the Tensaiga.

But, he was soon to learn the hanyou would not be of any help to him; he was going to have to wait fifty years for his opportunity to get from the hanyou what he needed. He did not know that at the time though…

…”Master Sesshoumaru, we have located the hanyou sir,” said Jaken from behind his master. He was trying desperately not to shake as he knew what he was going to say next was not going to make the inu-lord happy. Why was he always the one to have to report the bad news?

“Where, Jaken?”

“He’s in the west part of the forest, sir. The part the ningen’s have named ‘Inuyasha’s Forest’, sir.” He wondered if it was wise for him to draw out the bad news or if he should just blurt it out and run. Lesser demons then himself had lived many years using that strategy.

Sesshoumaru waited patiently for his retainer to tell him what he wanted to know. He would not ask twice.

“The hanyou, master, has been sealed against the Goshinbuko by a miko’s arrow. He lies in an eternal sleep and no one but a priestess of the same power or higher can awaken him,” continued Jaken, head bowed as he answered the unspoken question and waited for his master’s reaction.

So, the hanyou had finally proven to be just as weak as he believed him to be, thought Sesshoumaru idly. He had not anticipated such an event, and now had to rearrange his plans. Truth be known he had not imagined Inuyasha had gotten himself into so deep a trouble as this and found the thought slightly amusing, if also a bit disappointing. He wanted to see it for himself.

Sesshoumaru turned then to regard his loyal vassal. Jaken tried to hide his fear, but when his lord leveled his piercing gaze on him, he couldn’t help himself when his shaking started up again. Quickly dropping his staff, he prostrated himself at his master’s feet and prayed, to whatever Kami would listen, that he wasn’t killed for having to be the one to tell his lord the terrible news.

“We tried everything to wake him Sesshoumaru-sama, but the slightest touch to the arrow from a youkai and they are instantly purified, master. We knew not what else to do,” he added, his face pressed against the ground.

Sesshoumaru stared down at the cowardly demon and wondered for the umpteenth time why he didn’t just dispose of the vassal himself and be done with it. The kappa demon was weak, but loyal and very useful at times, he pointed out as he moved forward walking on the prone demon in the process.

“Get up, Jaken.”

Jaken groaned at the pain of his mistreatment, but, as quickly as possible, did as he was told. “Where are you going, Lord Sesshoumaru?” he asked then squeaked and slammed his mouth closed when he realized he was questioning his lord. Not that it mattered, since his lord merely ignored him and kept walking.

In no time at all Sesshoumaru stood in front of the Goshinbuko staring up at a sleeping Inuyasha. He took in the arrow pinning him to the tree through his shoulder and felt a myriad of emotions surge through him. He puzzled over the fact that one of those feelings was worry as he wondered if the priestess the hanyou had spent so much time with was the same who had sealed the idiot to the tree. He wouldn’t be surprised if it was; humans were not to be trusted only tolerated (should one feel prone to do so). He had an inexplicable urge to protect and defend, but quickly pushed the unwelcome feeling away. It seemed the hanyou had proven to be more like their father then he thought; they both were brought down by a female ningen. At least their sire had proven to be a better judge then the hanyou, though not by much since she was still human.

“It is as I told you, Lord Sesshoumaru,” piped in Jaken from his left, “He is in the enchanted sleep and will not awaken on his own. The youkai who told me of the hanyou’s fate also said that he has not been this way long. Perhaps two days, five at best.”

He had no doubt that the hanyou would one day be awakened or released, he seemed to have an abundance of good fortune even if it wasn’t displaying itself at the moment, and resigned himself to wait. Sesshoumaru could see as well as sense the power of the miko in the arrow and did not bother touching it, but he could find the miko who had caused him to rearrange his plans and make her pay for it.

No one messed with this Sesshoumaru.

Sesshoumaru turned away from the tree and headed towards the village he knew held the person he was looking for. He usually didn’t go near filthy ningen’s, much less enter one of their (just as filthy) villages–his superior senses could not take the stench of human flesh for long–and took it as another offense against him by the miko for making him have to do something he otherwise would not have.

When he entered the village, Jaken scurrying along behind trying to keep up with his larger and faster stride, he took no note of the human’s who’d stopped what they were doing out of fear and curiosity to watch him. He had no idea what was going through their minds and truthfully didn’t care, but he could sense a lingering sadness permeating the air around the village; a heavy grief that he ignored as he moved towards the village’s small temple.

He moved through the gates of the shrine and came to quick stop, causing Jaken to run into the calf of his left leg. He heard the thump of the retainer hitting the ground as he looked around suspiciously. His suspicion was unnecessary though; she wasn’t there… and hadn’t been for a few days if the weakness in the barrier at the gate was anything to go by.

Sesshoumaru turned when he sensed someone coming up behind him. His eyes immediately fell on the little girl standing before him. She had long dark hair that fell to mid back and dark eyes with one covered up by a cloth that covered part of her forehead as it wrapped at an angle around her head. She couldn’t have seen more then eight or nine summers.

“Hello,” said the little girl quietly as she stared at the pretty youkai before her. She held no fear of this demon that had a small resemblance to the hanyou her sister had spent so much time with; this one was prettier though.

“Where is the miko of this shrine, filthy ningen?” asked Jaken with a sneer as he tried to look down his nose at the child, which wasn’t easy as she stood a couple of inches taller then him.

The child wrinkled her nose at the demon as a sad look came over her face stealing the gleam that was in her eye. “There is no miko here.”

“You lie!! We know there is a miko here! Don’t try and protect her because my master will find her and then she will pay for her grievances against him! You can’t hide--”

“Quiet, Jaken,” said Sesshoumaru as he brought a heavy foot down on the small demon’s head.

Watching the little girl closely, he had not missed the tears that had suddenly formed in her eyes even as his nose had caught their scent. He had not been surprised to see the child reduced to such a state, Jaken often had that effect on children, ningen and youkai alike, and usually he only had to show his face; but what did surprise him was the spark of anger he saw growing in the same tearful eyes.

The little girl tilted her head back to look up at the taller demon after he moved closer to step on the little toad that was speaking badly about her sister. From what the ugly one had been yelling at her, it sounded like the pretty demon was here to hurt her sister, but she would not believe it just like she wouldn’t believe what the rest of the village was trying to force her to. No matter what they said, she would not believe Inuyasha had killed Kikyo. She knew he would never have hurt Kikyo, because she knew Inuyasha had loved her sister… but it didn’t change the fact that Kikyo was dead… and she was alone.
She refused to shed another tear over the matter though. What would happen would happen and there was nothing she could do about it. If there was one thing she understood, it was that.

From one look into her watery eyes Sesshoumaru understood: the priestess had died; recently died too.

“Grandmother is training me to be a miko like Kikyo, though I doubt I will ever be as strong as she was, but she insists. She says my job here won’t be nearly as difficult as nee-chan’s was since the jewel was burned with her body,” she shrugged as she looked away from him. “I can only hope she’s right, for I don’t think I would ever be able to hold off as many demons as she had. Grandmother is old and her memory isn’t what it used to be and I doubt she is going to be around much longer so I must learn as fast as I can.” People die and she couldn’t do anything about that either. Death was another thing she understood well. “She doesn’t like me very much. I don’t think she likes the look of me. She’s forever saying that I’ll never get married, not that I want to marry, but she teaches me and I take care of her home. She’s family. All that I have left, so I guess its okay she doesn’t like me, right?” She turned her eyes back to him then, in question.

Sesshoumaru stared down at the child. She had seemed much older a moment ago while she was talking, but now she had a sad vulnerability about her that he usually found undesirable in a being, but did not bother him so much in the child before him. No, he doubted she would ever be as powerful as the sister she spoke of, especially if she had been strong enough to be entrusted with the protection of the Shikon no Tama, but he did not think this child would be easily defeated once she was trained properly… at least not by a lesser youkai then him. She would never be a match for him, as her sister wasn’t, but she also would never have to worry about being on the wrong side of his claws either.

“No,” he answered her before turning away from her. Whether or not she understood his meaning was not his concern.

“Are you family to Inuyasha?” called out the child as she raced after him.

He was on the other side of the outer gates by the time she’d reached him, though he had heard her question long before she’d caught him.

He stopped in regards to her to turn around. Sesshoumaru gave the child a short nod in silent affirmation.

“I’m sorry.”

He would have tilted his head to the side in wonder if it wouldn’t have been so basic of him to do so. Instead he stood quietly and waited for her to explain what he wanted to know. Why was she sorry? Was she sorry he was related to the hanyou? He often was too, when he allowed himself to feel sorry, which wasn’t often. Or was there another reason for her statement? He would have asked her, but he felt he’d already spoken to her enough. He didn’t usually lower himself to speak to a ningen. That’s why Jaken was still alive.

“He’s not dead though, you know,” she answered his unasked question when the silence grew too long for her. “He should not be there anyway, for I don’t believe he was to blame no matter what the rest of the people here say. I would release him myself if I could, but I don’t hold the power to. Grandmother says there isn’t a miko alive anymore who does, but it can’t always remain that way, right?”

Oh. So that was why she was sorry, he shrugged mentally at the inadequate reason.

“Get away from him Kaede,” yelled an old woman wearing the faded clothing of a miko as she ran up to the child. “Learn from your sister’s mistake child, do not repeat it!”

“But, Grandmother–”

“No! He is a demon and not to be trusted!” she tried to yell at the child but her voice was quivering too much to give the desired affect. “Kikyo trusted one of his…” her voice died off as she looked into the gold eyes of the demon.

“YOU FILTHY OLD HAG!” screamed Jaken his face red over the disrespect the old witch was giving his lord. “DO YOU NOT KNOW WHO MY LORD IS!?!” he waved his Staff of Skulls at the woman, wanting desperately to set her on fire, but she was standing too close to the child and he couldn’t harm the girl. For some reason his master didn’t want her harmed. “HE IS LORD SESSHOUMARU, TAIYOUKAI OF THE WESTERN LANDS! YOU WILL ADDRESS HIM AS LORD SESSHOUMARU, IF AT ALL!!”

A murmur went through the village as the people took in what the little toad waving his stick around had said. They had all been wondering just who the powerful youkai was and now most preferred not knowing as it was slowly sinking in as to just who Inuyasha had been and what this visit might mean for them.

Kaede stared at the beautiful youkai with a mixture of awe, surprise, and confusion on her face. She wasn’t really sure what everything the ugly little demon had said meant, but she understood enough to know the youkai was very important. Which, to her, meant Inuyasha was important too.

Sesshoumaru watched the child with the same blank look as he had been doing since he first laid eyes on her, before turning around. He ran a slow eye over the entire village in a silent warning. He was sure he didn’t miss anyone as they all had come to witness his exit from the temple. He knew that they had heard what the girl had asked him and they were most likely assuming, as she had, that he was upset over the hanyou’s fate… and most likely they believed he blamed them for it. If that were true none of them would still be standing, but he could see the fear in their eyes and smell it in their stench; so whatever worked for them.

After making sure his message was received he gave the child one last look before orbing out.

“LORD SESSOUMARU WAIT!” yelled Jaken as he tried to catch a hold of the orb. “PLEASE DON’T LEAVE ME LORD SESSHOUMARU!”…

Now, that was a memory he had forgotten all about. It seemed he was susceptible to children once before too. He wondered if the child, Kaede, had placed a charm on him and he had not detected it, before quickly dismissing the thought. Now that he had remembered that he also remembered coming across a miko wandering his lands not too long after that had occurred and with a little… incentive on his part had gotten the woman to head towards the village the little girl lived in.

After that, he had forgotten all about the child and the village. Fifty years had gone by before he had laid eyes on either of them again.

Sesshoumaru took note that the others had followed him outside, even Inuyasha, but he did not turn to them or acknowledge them in anyway. He was still trying to understand his own rage at the miko’s death. His eyes still glowed with his feelings as his mind worked through his troubling thoughts.

“Love is not meant to cause pain my son. You provided me with all the joys in my life for a long time. She gave me more joy.”

Sesshoumaru listened to that with only half an ear. He knew many things did things they were not meant to do. He didn’t trust love anymore then he trusted any other emotion. They clouded the judgment and distorted the perception of things. No. It was best to deal with truths and facts.

And fact was he was in love with Kagome. And now she was gone. He would have never imagined that he would fall in love with a ningen, much less the one he did fall in love with. Perhaps he also was more like his father then he thought. He would never forget the first time he met the strange female who was traveling with his brother. He’d found her way of dressing inappropriate and far too revealing and had immediately believed her to be Inuyasha’s whore. Sesshoumaru remembered she didn’t much care for the thought when he’d told her so. She was full of such passion and emotion that you could, literally, guess what she was feeling just from the look on her face at the time. Not that you had to guess; she was always sure to let you know.

Especially when she was angry.

“MY NAME IS NOT WHORE! IT’S KAGOME. KA-GO-ME!! JERK!”…

He nearly smiled at the image of an irate miko with her hands fisted on her hips invaded his mind.

He remembered how she had defended Inuyasha to him and had placed herself in front of the hanyou to protect him. He thought she was annoying and loud, but he couldn’t help feeling intrigued. No human had ever had the courage or foolishness (depending on who you asked) to stand against him like that. It had surprised Sesshoumaru when she’d been able to grab Tetsusaiga and remove it at his father’s grave and he couldn’t, and it had surprised him when she’d shot him with her arrow, because he was sure she didn’t know how to use the weapon. She had continued to surprise him every time he’d come across his brother and his group. And it didn’t hurt that she smelled infinitely better then any other human.

She was the reason he began to think there might be some hope for the ningens after all. She was also the reason he didn’t mind keeping Rin with him. There was something about the child’s optimism and energy that reminded him of the strange miko who traveled with his brother.

But, now she was dead and he had every intention of staying here until the bakemono returned. The demon would pay for his actions.


****

Kagome sat quietly next to Midoriko and let her mind process everything that she’d learned. She understood that she was dead and that she was the Shikon jewel’s chosen guardian. She didn’t know exactly what that meant, but she didn’t really think that mattered now. Even though Midoriko thinks her life isn’t over yet, but while she was willing to hope she wasn’t about to start believing. She’d seen many strange and wonderful things happen since she’d come through the well years ago, but refused to set herself up for disappointment.

Then there was the Obake and Kanna. If Midoriko was right, and she was to get her life back somehow, how was she supposed to defeat the Obake? She still wasn’t sure how to access the jewel’s true power and apparently she was the only one who could. And had did the Obake know that? How did he know what she was when she didn’t? And she didn’t even want to think about Kanna and what Midoriko had said and, more so, what she hadn’t said about the child who really wasn’t a child.

Midoriko could see that heavy things were weighing on the young woman’s mind, but she would not let the miko wallow in self-doubt and fear. Things were going to change. After all, if she had died with no way to change it she would not be here in this place in-between worlds. This was just a waiting place, a place for the soul to go when the doors to the other two worlds are closed against you. She was only here to put right what should not have happened in the first place. Then she would finally be able to move on. She was, honestly, looking forward to a rest. Perhaps she’d even be able to see her love again.

“I have something for you,” she said as she reached inside her left sleeve to an inner compartment and pulled out the object. “I am glad it can finally be returned to you.”

“What is it?” replied Kagome with a curious look. She couldn’t think of anything she might have lost.

“This,” she handed over the small blue orb.

Kagome silently took the round object from the other priestess. It was a blue ball about the size of a tennis ball. It looked to be made of glass and seemed to have a foggy substance inside it. She’d never seen anything like it before. “Midoriko, I don’t know what this is.”

“Do not concern yourself about the orb itself; it is merely a container of sorts. What’s inside of it is what belongs to you.”

“Inside of it?” murmured Kagome as she brought the ball closer to her face to examine it better. “I don’t see…” She trailed off as the smoke inside began to swirl and the ball began to vibrate in her hand. She watched in fascination as an image began to form in the middle of the fog.

Kagome blinked when the image was clear enough to identify; it was a face.

“Kikyo?” she spoke aloud as she stared back at the familiar face.

“I am sorry,” said the image of Kikyo from inside the sphere. “Forgive me.”
She watched as the image slowly faded before turning and giving the woman beside her a questioning look. “I don’t understand?”

“She has returned to where she belongs and in doing so is returning what she had taken from you.”

Kagome blinked in surprise, but said nothing just in case she was wrong. She turned to look back at the ball with new eyes.

“The other half of your soul,” continued Midoriko after a moment.

Kagome didn’t know what to think. She was shocked that Kikyo had done it, but she was even more shocked that the miko had gone back to Hell… or wherever she’d come from to begin with. She couldn’t imagine the other miko had deserved to go to Hell when she died the first time. As for this time… she didn’t know. It wasn’t Kagome’s right to judge her. She was glad to have her soul back.

“How does it work?”

“You break it to release the soul and it will do the rest.”

Kagome nodded thoughtfully. “Will she be alright?”

“Yes,” answered Midoriko with a nod. “You are her reincarnation, but you are not her. A better explanation is that you are the essence of what Kikyo use to be, but you are your own person and have your own character,” she explained with a light shrug, “you are the essence of Kikyo as she was the essence of me. Your soul did not belong to her any more then her soul belonged to me.”

“What will happen to her?” Kagome knew there was a hanyou who would like to know the answer to that question and if she was to have the chance to see him again she would like to be able to tell him. She also admitted to her own curiosity on the matter.

Midoriko gave her a thoughtful look then smiled. “You really do care about all life don’t you?” she asked, but did not wait for a reply. Midoriko had already come to the conclusion that the Four Souls had chosen right when they had picked a guardian. They could not have done any better. “She will be judged for her actions. It is in her favor that she did not steal the souls of anyone living and nor did she kill to gain more souls, but she must answer for her crimes. It will be taken into consideration that you bear her no ill will.”

“How do you know that? I could wish her to pay for what she has done to me and all the things she tried to do to me.”

“Yes you could, but you don’t. You are a good hearted person Higurashi Kagome and it’s not in you to wish harm onto anyone. You have a pure soul.”

Kagome just looked at the other priestess but said nothing. She really couldn’t say anything since there was no point in denying the truth. She hadn’t a clue if that stuff about her having a pure soul was true, she doubted it since she’d had bad thoughts about people before (Inuyasha being one of them) and was sure she’d have them again, but the part about her feelings toward Kikyo were accurate. She didn’t wish the priestess any harm because she understood how the woman felt even if she didn’t agree with her actions or her intent.

“I’m not the one she was out to hurt,” said Kagome in explanation for her feelings. “It’s not my forgiveness she should ask for.”

“No you’re not the one she wanted to hurt in the end, but you were hurt by her… numerous times, I might add.”

“Hurting is a part of life, my mother always said,” shrugged Kagome.

“And she’s right; it is. But that does not give a person the right to hurt others.”

“No it doesn’t,” she agreed.

Kagome was still staring at the sphere in her hand. A part of her was afraid to open it for unknown reasons while another part of her couldn’t wait to do just that. In reaction to her contrary feelings, instead of throwing the orb down and letting it break her hand squeezed and held it more tightly.

“Are you going to open it?”

Midoriko had been watching the other woman and she could see her indecision over the sphere even if she didn’t really understand the cause of it. She thought it was fairly simple really; the soul belonged to Kagome; nothing to think about.

Kagome nodded as she glanced at the priestess then with a deep breath she released the ball. She watched as the ball fell to hit the grass near her feet. She wondered idly if the ball would even break on such a soft surface as it seemed to almost drift slowly to the ground. Her eyes widened as the sphere shattered on impact and the fog within was released immediately. The fog rose swiftly around her with an inner blue light. She sucked in her breath as her body went stiff for a moment then an almost tingly feeling came over her as her mind seemed to swirl in a dizzying way before going blank.

Kagome blinked twice as she looked around her. She was lying in the grass on her back with Midoriko staring down at her. She didn’t remember moving. She stayed where she was for a moment as she tried to think about what had happened then she breathed more easily when she remembered the sphere and the other half of her soul inside. Staring up at the blue sky she didn’t think she’d been out for too long since the sky didn’t to seem to look as if any time had gone by. She didn’t know that in the place she was that no matter how much time passes the sky would not change with it there, but she was right no less; she’d only been out for a moment.

“Are you all right?” asked Midoriko quietly as she held a hand out to her.

Kagome nodded as she accepted the help up with a small smile.

“Good,” responded Midoriko once the other woman was standing. “I must go now. My time here is finished now that I have told you what I could and returned your soul. The rest is for them to explain.”

“Who?”

The priestess gestured towards a spot behind Kagome with a nod. “Them.”


To be continued…

A/N: FF.net wouldn’t allow me to upload 40 pages in one update, so I had to cut it in half! lol Should be out in a couple of days.