This was her last arrow, her only chance at finally ending this, and Kagome cursed herself for having wasted the others. She pulled back against the bow string with all of her strength, aiming the glinting tip at the demon that hovered above them. It would take perfect timing to hit him, she would have to wait until Naraku was distracted by one of the others, but they were all in trouble. Sango was dragging away Miroku who had foolishly used his wind tunnel and pulled in some of the saimyosho and was once again fighting for his life against their poison. She swallowed and turned back to Naraku, who was watching her closely. If she fired now he would deflect the arrow or break it in two. Inuyasha lay unconscious below Naraku's feet, still down after a wind scar reflected back to him by Kanna's mirror. Kanna as well as the other incarnations had been killed earlier, partially due to Miroku's foolish and very brave efforts. He'd managed to pull in Hakudoshi and Entei along with Kanna and their winged voiceless monster. Kagome held the arrow taunt, now what was she going to do? She couldn't ask for Sango's help until Miroku was out of danger. Until then she was out of luck.

"Do you really think you can stop me Kagome?"

"I'll kill you Naraku, you're foul and evil. I'll never let you get away." She pulled harder on the bowstring; she would have to hope that her spiritual power was strong enough to break through Naraku's barrier. Kikyo had been able to do it, and she was Kikyo's reincarnation, so why couldn't she channel that sort of power as well?

"You're more like Kikyo than I have given you credit for. She was stupid enough to think she could kill me too."

Kagome stared up at him. Kikyo had tried to kill Naraku several times, and been unable too. Inuyasha had told her that much. Kagome swallowed; maybe if Kikyo couldn't do it, she didn't stand a chance. Her eyes dropped once again to where Inuyasha lay unconscious still. She hoped he was alright, wished that he would wake up or that she could check on him, but her bow and arrow were the only thing pinning down Naraku and keeping him from finishing Inuyasha off. She couldn't let that happen. Kagome would stand here as long as it took for Inuyasha to get safely away. "I'm not letting you get away Naraku." She announced finally, her eyes blazing as she fixed her sights firmly on his chest where he held the infant. "I know that child is your heart. If I hit it you'll die."

"You could not break through my barrier."

"The human may not be able too, but I am not so weak Naraku." The low voice swept in from the other side of the clearing, and Naraku turned away from her and into the blinding blue light of Sesshomaru's dragon strike. Kagome glanced sideways only long enough to see that Miroku and Sango were gone. She nodded once to herself and released the arrow. It was only after the arrow had shot away from her that she saw Inuyasha move, and the yellow light of the wind scar joined the swirling vortex of blue and white lights.

The combined force of her sacred arrow, Inuyasha's wind scar and Sesshomaru's dragon strike shattered Naraku's barrier. Kagome cringed away from the brightness of the flash and looked upward as it faded only to gasp. The infant was not dead. Naraku had thrown it high into the air before he had been hit and soaring toward it at breakneck speed was Kagura. Kagome started to call out hoping that someone else would be able to kill it. She had barely made a sound when Sango's voice cut through the air, crying the name of the giant boomerang she had sent flying through the air. It cut through the infant's body at the same moment as a bone scythe. Kagome followed the chain connected to it and stared for a moment at the boy holding it. Kohaku had turned against Naraku. Sango would be so happy.

The light vanished and Kagome stared at the glittering orb that fell toward her, purified by the arrow that had turned all the attacks into a swirling vortex of sacred energy. She held out her hand to catch it stared in awe to find the jewel was all in one piece. "How… It's whole again." She murmured.

"Well yeah." Inuyasha moved toward her, still limping slightly, "We already knew that he managed to corner that pathetic wolf and steal his jewel shards."
"But… Kohaku…" Kagome turned toward the boy that walked toward them, his eyes fixed firmly on Sango.

"Sister…"

"Kohaku… How did you…?"

"I remembered everything Sango, all of it. That night at the castle, when Naraku made me kill all those people, I remembered about the village and Father and you… I remembered everything."

"Then why did you go back Kohaku? Why didn't you tell me?"

"I wanted to kill him. I had to get close to Naraku to kill him, but he found out and… he took my sacred jewel shard thinking that it would kill me, but I lived. I followed him to kill him, but I never got the chance… until now."

"Kohaku…" Sango ran forward, her eyes glistening with tears as she threw her arms around her younger brother.

"Then it really is whole." Kagome stared for a moment at the jewel then turned to Inuyasha and held it out, "here, I decided to let you make your own choice, even though I didn't want you too. It wouldn't be fair of me to not let you. Promise me one thing before you take it though?"

"Kagome…" He stared at her in shock.

"Promise me you'll think really hard about what you're doing before you make any wishes, and… I think you're strong enough how you are, without being a full demon." Kagome turned away from him to watch Sango and Kohaku for a moment.

"Kagome… I don't know what to say."

"Are you truly so foolish?" Sesshomaru had been about to walk away, but stopped with his back to his younger brother, "No stone could make you a full demon, no matter what it is. You will never be anything but a half breed. It is time to accept your fate. No wish can change that."

"You know what Sesshomaru, the only wish I have right now is that you had never been born so I wouldn't have to put up with you."

"Inuyasha what are you saying?" She turned to him and froze. The sacred jewel was sitting on his outstretched palm, giving off a blinding white light. Kagome gasped and turned to look at Sesshomaru, who had turned back and was watching them with a mildly interested expression. Kagome knew that there had to be a way to stop this from happening. Inuyasha couldn't possibly want Sesshomaru gone for good. His brother may have been evil, and cruel, but he had done a few good things in his lifetime, and he had just helped them to kill Naraku. She closed her hand around the stone and wished frantically and silently that Sesshomaru would be saved. When she looked up Sesshomaru was looming over her, being pulled toward her like he was going to knock her over, but as he neared the demon's form erupted into tiny beams of white light and scattered to the wind. Kagome closed her eyes against the brightness and turned away. "Inuyasha… what did you just do?" Her eyes snapped open and she turned to find the half demon.

He was gone. Kagome froze for a moment. Everything was gone. Sango and Kohaku, the trees they had hidden Miroku behind, even the field where they had finally defeated Naraku had vanished. She turned to look behind her, and her eyes met a cold yellow stare. "Sesshomaru…"

"How have you and Inuyasha managed this?"

"Managed what? Where are we?"

"Clearly you could not be behind this, no human such as you could have captured me."

"Captured you? Why would I want to capture you?" Kagome looked at him, shook her head, "To be honest I have no interest in you what so ever. So whatever you've done to get us stuck here you had better send me back."

"I have done nothing. I have no interest in being anywhere with you human. If I had the power to send you away I would." Sesshomaru considered her for a moment. "I could kill you and avoid your bothersome company," He reached for the sword on his belt, and Kagome's eyes widened as she stared at him. The blue light enveloped her and Kagome screamed.

She jerked upright with a gasp. The strange empty world of blackness had vanished and been replaced with her bedroom. Kagome panted for breath, her eyes sweeping the room. She was extremely glad to find it empty. Then it had all been a dream. Of course it had. She'd dreamed of finally destroying Naraku before after all. Why should this be any different? But why had she included Sesshomaru?

Kagome's worrying was halted instantly the moment her eyes found the clock. She nearly fell out of the bed in her hurry to get up. She was going to be late if she didn't hurry. That was if she even made it to school at all. Knowing her luck Inuyasha was going to be waiting for her at the well, shouting that she needed to hurry up or he was going to leave her behind. She sighed, well this time he could leave her behind. She really needed to go to school and get caught up.

The sunlight was bright coming through the kitchen window. Kagome raced across the tile floor, her mind fixed on the time the clock said and nothing else. She nearly ran into the door, but somehow flung it open before the collision and threw herself into the morning air. She was still running when she spotted someone crouched in the doorway to the well house. "Sota what are you doing?"

"It's the cat; I think he's wandered down there."

"So? The only things that come through that well are Inuyasha and I, what trouble could the cat get into to?"

"What are you talking about Sis?" Sota stood and turned to look at her with a slightly concerned expression. "Are you feeling okay?"

"I'm fine. What's wrong with you? There's no way you forgot Inuyasha."

"What's an Inuyasha?"

"Stop it Sota. You aren't funny."

"Okay." Sota looked at her, "Maybe you should stay home today Kagome, you're acting kind of strange."

"I can't stay home! I've already got so many absences I'm failing nearly all of my classes."

"How did that happen? I didn't think you'd missed a day. Have you been ditching or something?"

"I would never ditch class. You know very well that I've missed so much school because I was in the feudal era with Inuyasha trying to put the sacred jewel back together."

"What are you talking about? Did you hit your head or something?"

"No I did not hit my head. What's wrong with you today Sota?"

"There's nothing wrong with me. Wait this is a joke or something right?"

"It is not. Jeez, I'm going to go tell Mom to keep you home today."

"Go ahead. Tell her I don't remember anything called Inuyasha and you've been missing school to go down the well into the feudal era. I'm not the one she'll be keeping home."

Scoffing Kagome turned away from her brother and began walking. If Sota thought he was being funny he really needed a lesson in humor. She would have to hurry to get to school or she would be late and then she would be completely out of luck. She'd already missed too many days of school; she couldn't afford to be late on the days that she finally made it.

The school was quieter than she remembered it being. Kagome wondered why this subdued silence had spread across the campus, something must have happened to keep the kids from screaming and laughing as they entered the double doors into the building. She looked for her friends, wanting to ask what had happened. They would know what was going on, and they wouldn't mind explaining it to her, they knew that she'd been gone after all. But for some reason she couldn't seem to find them anywhere. Annoyed a little she made her way to her first class, sank into her desk and stared at the blank surface. They had replaced it in her absence. Someone who had sat there before her had carved a scratch in the desktop, it was gone now. Still she traced her finger over where it should have been, a little saddened by its absence for some reason. She barely looked up as people filed into the class, heard them gasp and the scurrying feet as they ran away. After the third time she was fairly certain that there had to be a reason, but she chose to ignore it. Then finally she head footsteps and looked up, giving the person a bright smile, "Hi Hojo, how have you been?"

"Kagome, is it really you?"

"Well yeah, why wouldn't it be?"

"We were all pretty sure you had died."

"Nope, I'm pretty sure I'm still alive." What had grandpa been telling people? "My grandfather tends to overreact about things and stretch them a little; you can't take everything he says literally all the time."

"What are you talking about Kagome? This has nothing to do with your grandfather. You were taken after class with the others yesterday; no one has ever come back after the cat demons choose them."

"Cat demons? Hojo is this some kind of joke? There's no such thing as cat demons here."

"Kagome! Be careful what you say." His voice dropped to a whisper, "If you managed to escape death once you shouldn't tempt them."

"Hojo, what are you talking about?"

Cat demons had taken over the world. Kagome ran as quickly as she could, gasping for air. She didn't care that her lungs were close to exploding or that her side was aching mercilessly. She had to get as far away from the school as possible. This had to be a strange dream, or someone's idea of a bad joke. Was it possible that she was under a spell of some sort? Could someone have bewitched her into a nightmare? Or was it possible that she had finally gone insane from all these trips through the well into the feudal era?

She came to a stop finally only to collapse on a park bench near an abandoned playground. She gasped helplessly for air, trying the gather her wits. Hojo had looked so worried when he'd explained that they were ruled by a small tribe of panther demons; that humans had been for almost five hundred years, since they had managed to kill the last dog demon and had taken over control of Japan. She had forced herself away from the school then. She couldn't sit there calmly taking all of this in. The news was too devastating to simply accept it. Now that she was safely away from the hot, crowded room, where people stared at her in shock and expected her to be dead Kagome decided to check a few things.

The glossy cover of her history book was covered in scratches that she hadn't remembered being there before, but she didn't focus on that. She had been carrying the book through the feudal era for some weeks now, there was bound to be some damage from the rough surroundings and countless demon attacks the book had been forced to endure. Nearly holding her breath with nervousness Kagome flipped the cover open, searched out the front page of the text book and stared at what the chapter was titled…

Chapter one: A new world order

In ages past the world had been a violent and ruthless place. Humans were left at the mercy of countless demons and human warlords who hunted the helpless race without mercy and killed them without a second thought. There was great joy at the death of the final dog demon lord, the son of the bloodthirsty dog demon that had claimed the western land as his territory and stolen a human woman to bear the child. The humans rejoiced as the last tribe of panther demons rose to power. Those panthers have ruled the humans since, ensuring that they live positive and fulfilled lives…

"Wow, talk about propaganda…" Kagome sighed, she hadn't wanted to believe it, but if even the history book claimed this was the truth how could she continue to deny it? The panther demons had taken over; somehow they had killed the others and taken control of the world. How had this happened? How could she fix it?Her thoughts whirred in circles around her brain.

Slowly she stood and glanced up at the sky. So supposedly the cat demons had taken over the world, and they had killed her. Then she couldn't go home, it would give her mother a heart attack, and that wasn't to mention her grandfather, he would probably drop dead with shock if she showed up after she was supposed to have been eaten. Sighing Kagome turned toward the street. She had to keep moving and avoid being seen if she wanted to figure this out.

She was in the center of a crowded sidewalk when a face rose out of her thoughts, a face that watched her with disdainful yellow eyes, and wore blankness like a mask. Slowly her memories began to piece themselves together again. She had come across cat demons in the feudal era once; they had kidnapped her along with several other humans and had planned to sacrifice them to resurrect their dead leader. Inuyasha had saved her, but he hadn't been able to kill the leader…. Sesshomaru had done that. "Right now the only wish I have is that you had never been born…" Inuyasha's voice rang in her ears; freezing Kagome so suddenly in her steps that someone bumped into her and several others were forced to divert their paths to keep from running into her.

Her eyes fell slowly down to the ground, and she swallowed. "Inuyasha, you idiot, what have you done…" She felt her hands curl into firsts, and she looked around at a world that should have been hers, but had been irrevocably altered by one stupid half demon. Irrevocably? No, she would find a way to fix this problem and set things right again. It wouldn't be all that difficult, all she had to do was go back to the feudal era, find the sacred jewel again, and make Inuyasha undo what he'd done.

The moonlight slid over her as Kagome moved slowly toward the front door of her house. She'd been watching the house for several hours, straining to hear any voices escaping from inside, but only able to see the lights going on and off. It had been dark for quite some time now, and she couldn't put this off any longer.

The sound of her footsteps echoed and she was certain that any moment someone would hear, and catch her. How would she possibly explain this to them? In this world she was supposed to be dead, consumed by a ravenous horde of cat demons. She sighed inwardly and made her way to the front door, sliding it open to step into the darkened hallway. She closed it silently behind her, and hesitated, waiting for a voice, for a sound to prove that she was caught. There was silence. Slowly Kagome made her way down the hall toward the staircase. A sudden sound made her jump and she spun to stare at the kitchen door, wondering what had made that strange sound. Hesitantly she crept toward the open door, and peaked into the dark room. The sound was repeated. Swallowing she looked more fully into the room, and the rush of noise surrounded her. It was someone crying. She tried to back away, move up to her room to collect the things that she needed before escaping back down the well and correct all these problems. Then she recognized the person crying. "Mom…" The single word escaped her as a whisper, and she attempted to swallow it back, but couldn't. She heard a gasp and tried to spin away as the lights burst to life within the room.

"Kagome…" The name hung on the air like a curse or a prayer. She trembled slightly in the harsh florescent lighting. Her mother moved toward her from across the room, staring with wide eyes, "How… They said that you were chosen… you'd been… How did you escape?"

"It's a really long story Mom." She swallowed and tried to back away, but was instantly caught in a tight hug, "Mom…"

"I thought I'd lost you Kagome. They told me that you'd been killed. How did you get away from them? No one has ever escaped before."

"Well, I… look Mom, there's something that you should know…"

"Kagome, I'm so glad you're alright…"

"Mom, I'm not. None of us are all right. There is something seriously wrong with this place; this isn't how the world is supposed to be."

"Kagome, what are you talking about, this is how the world has always been."Something happened in the past that shouldn't have, and now I have to go make it right again."

"What are you talking about Kagome?" The woman looked at her with concerned eyes.

"I told you that you wouldn't want to believe it." Kagome sighed, "I'm not the Kagome you remember. I can remember this alternate future, I came directly from there. I fell down the well on my fifteenth birthday, do you remember that?"

"You fell down the well? Kagome that well has been sealed for years, you've never been anywhere near it."

"Sure I have, I've been traveling down it for years to the feudal era, trying to piece together the Sacred Jewel because I broke it. You just don't remember because… Something happened, and now I have to make it right again." Kagome stood, "I know you don't believe me, but…"

"Kagome you should know by now that I'll believe anything you have to say. If you say that you can go to an alternate world down the well because you came from another world then… How are you going to fix this?"

"It's all because of Inuyasha, he got the jewel and said something stupid, and kind of wished Sesshomaru was dead, but Sesshomaru is the one who managed to kill the cat demons, so if I can get back to the past, find the jewel and Inuyasha then I can make him undo it and bring Sesshomaru back. If I can manage that then everything should go back to normal again."

"You think that you can do this?"

"Sure I can. It shouldn't take any time at all." She smiled as she lied and turned to the other room, "I just have to grab a few things, then I can go get started."

"Kagome… be careful."

"Don't worry; it's nothing I'm not ready for."

Standing in her bedroom Kagome began to regret coming into the house at all. She didn't like lying to her mother; now the woman would be sitting there waiting for the world to change. There was no telling how long this would take her. She sighed and began dropping things into a large now brown backpack. She wondered what had happened to her yellow one. Strange that everything else seemed to be the same, but all of her belongings were less colorful. Sighing she lifted the overweight bag onto her shoulder and turned to look at her small bed. She sighed again as she contemplated sliding into the bed and sleeping until morning. She should go and get started now, but the idea of getting some sleep and starting out fresh in the morning was very tempting as well. She gave up the notion after only a moment longer of hoping and made her way to the door. She reached for the handle and her vision vanished in a flash of blue light.

She was on the ground, but somehow it wasn't the ground at the same time. Slowly she made her way to her feet and looked around, trying to find something she recognized in the room. Only her room, any room for that matter, had vanished. She was standing in the center of nothing, absolutely nothing. It was dark, pitch black, but somehow there was light around her, she could see that there was nothing around her, but there could have been. It was like she was in some room with walls made of a sparkling black substance she couldn't name. Rubbing her still dazzled eyes Kagome looked around more intently for any sign that she wasn't alone, or for a way out, but no doors with bright exit signs appeared around her. Then for the moment she was stuck. Slowly she began walking, eyes searching the empty expanses around her. There had to be something, someone else.

It began as a pinprick in the distance, a small white speck that she thought for a moment that she might have imagined, except that as she ran toward it Kagome realized that it was growing larger. Smiling a little she increased her speed, felt the ground practically sliding beneath her feet as she raced ahead, speeding her journey. She looked at the ground, wondered how she could have been running on nothing, how she was even standing on it. Shaking her head, reminding herself that she didn't care Kagome began running again, only to stop suddenly as she nearly ran into something large and white that loomed suddenly over her. Her gaze slid over a dark breastplate, across a bushy white fur and to cold, yellow eyes. "Se… Sesshomaru…" She stared up at him for a long moment, her eyes glued to his. She held her breath and refused to back away from him. "How are you?"

"Human, where are you holding me?"

"I'm not holding you anywhere." She looked up at him for a moment longer, then took a step back so she wouldn't have to twist her neck so much to look at him. "Why would you think that? What possible reason would I have to hold you prisoner anywhere?" She demanded softly, already tired of his attitude. She sighed a little, "What is this place anyway?"

"One would expect a jailor to know the location of her prison."

"I'm not your jailor. Trust me if it was up to me you'd be out there running amok just like you used to, but I didn't do this." She glared at him for a moment, "Inuyasha's wish ruined my world too, and the only way I can think of the fix it is if I bring you back to life. So I guess I have no choice, but to help you."

"I do not need the assistance of a human."

"I didn't realize that you had so many better offers." Kagome threw her best glare at him, and received an equally frightening glare from the demon looking at her. "Face it Sesshomaru, you need me. Standing around here doing nothing isn't going to get you free and you're stuck. I'm the only person who can make it to this weird… alternate dimension you've been sent to, and I'm probably the only person who remembers you for some reason, since Inuyasha wished you had never existed, so why don't you lay off the ' I don't need help from the likes of you pathetic human' thing." She turned away from him, "Now if you happen to know how I got out of here the first time this would be the right time to tell me."

"Very well."

"Really? You know how I got out?" Kagome turned back to him, her brilliant smile fading as she watched him draw his sword, "Don't you dare! If you even try to dragon strike me you'll be…" The words vanished to a scream as blue light surrounded her and the dark world of nothingness vanished.