Kagome sat next to the sacred tree looking up at the stars. She couldn't remember the last time she had just sat down and looked at the stars and just appreciated the beauty around her. She lay back against the trunk of the tree and closed her eyes. Inuyasha had said he had something important to tell her and had instructed her to wait for him at the sacred tree. She wondered if it was just a ruse so he could sneak off to see Kikyou while she sat and waited for him as she always did. His puppet.
In her mind she could see him and Kikyou, holding each other and laughing as her told her all about his plan to keep Kagome from interrupting their encounter. Tears pricked the back of her eyes as she tried to force the scene from her mind. She opened her eyes and stared up at the moon. It seemed so close here in the feudal era. At home it seemed cloudy and far away from all the pollution. She noticed the moon had shifted quite a bit since she came to sit under the tree to wait and started to consider that maybe she should just go to Kaede's hut to wait for Inuyasha there. Certainly if it was important enough he would track her down there. She could already see the looks on Sango's and Miroku's faces when she would appear in the hut. Disappointed in her. She had sworn she wouldn't let Inuyasha control her anymore. That she would cut the puppet strings and take some charge in her life.
She sighed quietly. Things had changed so much in the last few months. They had almost completed the shikon jewel, and Naraku hadn't been seen or heard from in months. His minions had all but vanished except for the few sightings of Kagura. No one had decided if it was good or bad that he had disappeared so suddenly but after their last fight Kagome had an uneasy feeling things weren't over. She let her thoughts wonder to that day in her mind, replaying the fight in her mind a dozen times, seeing the destruction around her, how powerless she had felt that day as her friends fought to protect her while she tried to find where the jewel shards were on Naraku's body. She shut her eyes tight to try and shut out the memories as she saw Kirara's lifeless body fall to the ground as one of Naraku's attacks aimed at Kagome had hit her instead. She could still hear Sango's screams as she rushed to her fallen ally's side. Kagome's heart twisted in her chest.
Pushing herself to stand as if it would thrust the memories from her mind, Kagome took a few steps away from the tree and tried to get a better view of her surroundings to see if she could sense Inuyasha anywhere. Of course she couldn't. She again thought of leaving and having him come searching for her. The thought made her feel like she had some sort of power here in this world where Inuyasha called the shots. She sighed as her heart knew she would never leave if Inuyasha told her to stay. 'If only he loved me' Kagome thought. Maybe then living with no power would feel somewhat rewarding. But her love was unrequited and as these months had past, she doubted her love for Inuyasha. She had come to think that the feelings were just familiar and in this world where things could change at a moments notice the familiar felt safe and good. Again her thoughts drifted to the last fight with Naraku. The final moments of battle when Inuyasha dealt one final move to Naraku and his body had exploded. Kagome had rushed to the scene and snatched up all the jewel shards and purified them almost instantly. But as she added the shards to the almost completed jewel, she had heard Naraku's voice in her ear. She shivered as she thought of the words now. She hadn't told a soul that she had heard them, letting everyone rejoice in the fact that Naraku was gone.
"For now." Kagome thought aloud.
Again looking at the stars Kagome tried to force the words out of her head. Naraku's slimy voice that still to this day caused her to shiver.
"It's not over yet puppet. One day your strings will be controlled by me and we will work havoc on this world. Just you wait."
Kagome could picture his evil smile as she assumed he would after a threat like that. Was it just empty words to scare her? She didn't know but she hadn't waited to find out. After returning from their battle she had pulled Kaede aside to assist her in growing her powers so she could fight against the unseen evil that was still residing in the feudal era. She had been vague in what she told Kaede, but she knew the elderly priestess suspected there was more to Kagome's sudden interesting in developing her miko powers. The thought of her growing miko powers seemed to pull Kagome out of her state of thought and caused her to look around her to see if there was anyone around. She had let her guard down and that made her angry. She didn't want to give Inuyasha any more chances to make her the damsel in distress. It was at this moment she noticed a figure moving towards her from the dense trees of the forest.
"Shit." Kagome thought to herself. She tried to use her powers to sense if it was a demon or human but she couldn't get a reading from the figure. This unnerved her. Either they were masking their energy or she was in for some serious trouble. Of course she would get into trouble while waiting for Inuyasha to show up. He would probably be along just in time to rescue her and then scold her for not being more careful.
Kagome tried to take a defensive stance as well as scan the area to see if this thing was alone or in a group. She couldn't get any readings anywhere. Whether that was a good thing she was unsure. The figure moved closer to her, and Kagome noticed it was a woman. She wore a hooded cloak, and the only thing Kagome could really make out was the pale yellow hair that hung around the woman's hips. Kagome suddenly had an overpowering feeling of calm wash over her. She felt her tense muscles relax and felt her slouch a little no longer feeling threatened by the woman.
The woman stopped a few paces in front of Kagome and lowered her hood. She looked Kagome in the eye and Kagome was stunned by the flawless beauty of the woman before her. Her skin was white as snow, and as flawless as marble. She had wide piercingly blue eyes, and her long blonde hair seemed to shimmer in the moonlight. The woman smiled at Kagome, and began to speak.
"Hello Kagome. My name is Mizuko. I am the Goddess of water. I am here to warn you of a developing evil plot against you and to tell you where to begin in your journey to complete your fate."
The woman held out both her hands to Kagome and again smiled. Kagome looked at her for a moment, not sure what to say, then looked down at the woman's hands to inspect them. They faintly glowed, and as Kagome examined the woman more closely she noticed the woman's whole body had this faint glow around her. Finally Kagome felt brave enough to speak.
"What do you mean a plot against me? As in someone plans to kidnap me to get to Inuyasha?"
The woman softly laughed as if Kagome's line of inquiry had been just a joke to lighten the mood, and said, "No dear, I mean you are at the heart of a plot. Only you. Someone seeks to destroy your soul and take your power to take control of this world and the next."
"Naraku" Kagome stated bluntly. Her eyes hardening at the thought of Naraku plotting to come after her. Even though she had suspected it, it somehow shocked her that he would go for just her, and not Kikyou who was obviously the more skilled. The woman nodded. "You already were aware he was coming back did you not? He spoke to you before he vanished."
"He did but I didn't think he would come after just me, I assumed it would be the jewel he was after. Or if it was about power I assumed he would go after Kikyou, she is much more skilled then I."
"She might have more control over her power, but yours is much greater then she could ever dream of. You are by far the more powerful miko in the land even with your limited training."
Kagome's jaw dropped. She had never thought to think that she could possess more power than the great Kikyou. Yet again she had more power than any miko in the land. She didn't even know how to begin to process the information being given to her. She suddenly felt like her head was spinning with all the knowledge being thrown at her so quickly. She looked at Mizuko to see she was just standing there, smiling, patiently waiting for Kagome to come to terms with the information being given to her. It just couldn't be possible. It had to be a trick.
"How do I know you aren't Naraku in disguise, or a minion of his trying to mislead me from his real plot?"
Mizuko smiled brightly. "My child I am only here to deliver to you the information, what you make of it and how you choose to fulfill your fate is up to you. But you have to admit, if I were just Naraku in disguise, or indeed one of his minions, don't you think your friends would be here by now to save you? As he, nor his minions are smart enough to mask their scents."
Kagome nodded slowly, she was right. Every time Naraku had tried to disguise himself in the past or sent a minion to do his dirty work, everyone had been able to sense him right away, or at least his evil energy that seemed to flow freely from anything he touched. Looking up at the stars again for a moment, Kagome began to let some of the information sink in. Looking back at Mizuko she said, "So what is it you are here to tell me?"
"You are fated to remain here till you finish the Shikon Jewel as you already know. But what you don't know is that your soul is destined for much more. You must find your true soul mate, the one that will make your broken soul one; and with him you will again fight against the dark one and kill him. After you have killed him you must complete the jewel at any costs. It is only with the jewel that you will be able to accomplish your ultimate destiny."
"What is my ultimate destiny?" Kagome asked bewildered by the information spewing from the woman's lips.
"That I cannot tell you. Only you will know your true destiny when the time is right."
And with that Mizuko turned to leave, drawing the hood up around her face and dimming the glow that surrounded her. Kagome held out a hand to her and said, "Please, I have just one more question before you leave." Mizuko turned to look at Kagome and she felt her arm drop back at her side.
"Before Naraku vanished, he told me he would turn me into his puppet" Kagome paused thinking of the words again and hearing the slimy voice in her ear. Before she could finish her though Mizuko said "Child you have power beyond your wildest imagination. You will always find a way."
And with that she left, leaving Kagome to decide what to do with the information she was given. Kagome sighed quietly and went to sit back down under the tree, a million thoughts racing through her head all at once. However one kept pushing itself to the front of her mind. Mizuko said she needed to find her soul mate, which had to mean that it wasn't Inuyasha. That even though she carried a piece of Kikyou's soul around inside her, they were never meant to be. Kagome surprisingly felt a sense of relief, she felt free. She was not destined to be stuck here to a man who could never fully love her, even if he wanted too. The realization made her smile. But what was she to do with the other information that had been given to her? Should she just wait for her destiny to find her, or go hunt it down and take some control of her life? Realizing that she had wasted half the night waiting for Inuyasha to come find her, she decided she was done waiting. She was done waiting for all of them to realize she had become her own person and no longer needed them to take care of her. With that she stood up and started heading back to Kaede's hut to get some sleep for her kitsune friend decided it was time to start the day.