Summary: Suffering and sacrifice are parts of loving. Letting go is a way of relief and a way to make your love happy. Even if it means to throw away her life, she is more than willing to exchange her life for her beloved happiness. Kagome makes the most important decision in her life. Inu/Kag
Disclaimer: I Do Not own Inuyasha.
Title: Happiness of the one who matters most.
Chapter 1: Secrets
Being able to be with the one you love is a blessing. Being able to give up your love for his/her happiness, is another level of self-actualization. One brave and kind-hearted soul was about to challenge this level. Higurashi Kagome was no ordinary lady. With heart as pure as gold, accommodated any sin one had committed and seeing and understanding one's pain. Kagome was such an incredible person. Accepting one's sin wasn't easy, especially one who had been stealing her soul.
Kikyo had been stealing Kagome's soul consecutively in an attempt to fully revive herself. Tremendous pain struck through Kagome's delicate body, as another ball of soul flew out of her body towards the direction of the forest. Not attempting to grab back her soul, she bent down beside the bone-eater's well, panting and gasping desperately for breath. She knew that she would not die even if Kikyo kept stealing her soul. Within Kagome, there laid two souls. One was Kikyo's, the part which contained Kikyo's miko powers and was embedded within Kagome when she reincarnated. The second soul was Kagome's. The birth of Kagome created another soul, along with stronger miko powers from five hundred years in the future. Her pure heart further developed the powers, therefore her miko powers would not disappear if Kikyo's soul was taken.
Kagome gripped onto the wooden plank of the well, steadied herself as she struggled to stand. Adjusting her uniform and calming her breath, her facial expression returned to her usual. Putting on a smiling face, she continued down towards Kaede's village.
"Hi, miss me?" Kagome announced with a smile as she entered the well-lit hut. Miroku, Sango, Shippo and Kirara were sitting around the bon-fire, eating their dinner.
"Kagome!" exclaimed Shippo as he jumped into Kagome's inviting arms, and started telling her how much he missed her. The rest smiled and greeted her as well.
Just then, Inuyasha entered, carrying a bunch of twigs for the fire.
"Inuyasha." Kagome greeted him as she turned to face him, covering her pain with a weak smile. The paleness on her face was visible to the rest, but not to the dense hanyou.
"You are early for once, wench. Thought you won't be back till tomorrow," said Inuyasha, as he placed the bunch of twigs in the far corner.
"Decided to come back early since we already had some leads of where Naraku might be."
"Wise Decision. C'mon, we chould head to bed so we could set off early tomorrow," With that said, Inuyasha walked to the corner of the room and sat down, preparing for some well-deserved rest. Now that Kagome was back, Inuyasha felt more comfortable. Being able to breathe in her fresh scent calmed him.
Kagome gave a longing glance towards Inuyasha, and proceed out the hut to prepare for bed. Just then, Kaede walked towards her with concern in her eyes.
"Kagome, my child, we need to talk."
Having a vague idea of what the topic of the conversation would be, Kagome nodded and followed Kaede into the forest, away from Inuyasha's sensitive ears.
"Kagome, I sense that something is missing in you. You seemed to be getting weaker and your face is relatively pale. Your aura wasn't as strong as before. What happened?" Kaede approached, voice filled with concern as she sat down on the thick root of a tall tree. Kagome followed.
"I'm fine. Just tired that's all."
"Kagome, as old as I am, I am still a well-trained miko. You cannot lie to me. Your aura will not lie."
Kagome hesitated before finally giving up upon seeing the concern filling Kaede's old but wise eyes.
"It started a few weeks ago. Naraku had trapped us in the youkai's stomach. That night, Kikyo managed to extract a bit of my soul back to her. Although my body had weakened, my miko powers were not affected. Still, part of me is deteriorating. My physical strength is weakening."
"Kagome, my child. This is serious, why didn't you tell us? Inuyasha would want to know." Kaede sighed.
"Don't worry, I'll be fine. I won't die, just not as strong as before. Inuyasha doesn't need to know. It will only confuse him. Besides, I don't want him to have any more negative views about Kikyo than he already had. The betrayal will be too big to accommodate, much bigger than Naraku tricking them into killing each other. I will be leaving this place, so might as well allow one of us to be happy. By reviving Kikyo, Inuyasha will no longer feel guilty and lonely."
"When are you going to start thinking about yourself? It's not confirmed that Inuyasha would want Kikyo back."
"I know he does, Kaede Oba-chan. I know. I'm sure he does. Tomorrow will finally be the day, the day where everything comes to an end. Trust me, this is the right choice. The jewel will be completed and I will purify it. After which, my duty will be done and there will be no reason for me to stay here. I will leave before the well shut me out forever."
"Kagome-sama."
"Kagome-chan."
Out came Miroku and Sango from the bushes, upon hearing Kagome's confession.
"Miroku-sama, Sango-Chan! How long have you all been listening?" Kagome exclaimed.
"From the start. Kagome-sama, are you sure you are doing this? This is not what you want, nor was it what we want. Definitely not what we want!" Miroku replied, face contorted with anger and pain.
"Kagome-chan, please re-consider." Sango added.
"This is for the best. I have made my decision. Just don't tell Inuyasha and Shippo, especially Shippo. He is still young, he doesn't need to know."
The agreement was made and none was to spoke about what had been discovered today.