Kagome sat on the rim of the well staring off into nothingness. Inuyasha had made his choice. He had chosen Kikyo over herself, and as much as it hurt, there was nothing she could do about it. He had made his choice, all she could do was react to it. And that was why she was here once again in the feudal era of Japan. She looked down at the shards of the Shikon no Tama. These glittering shards were the only thing that connected her to this world; they were the key through the well. She smiled sadly down at the them. Before Inuyasha had chosen Kikyo it had been her task to find all the shards and reunite them once more. Kikyo could now do that. She was no longer necessary. That was why she was leaving for good this time.
Kagome sighed quietly to herself. ' Are you sure you want to do this?' a voice asked from the farthest corner of her mind 'Can you really let them all go just like that? Won't you regret leaving them? Sango, Miroku, Shippo,Kirara, Rin. . .and Inuyasha...' She sighed again. She would miss them. She would remember them always. Kagome tilted her head slowly up to the sky and watched a single cloud float by. However, she no longer belonged here. Kikyo would take her place and she would go back to her own time. That was how it should be. Slowly she stood, her resolve which had wavered just a moment ago now firm. It was time.
She walked along the path to Kaede's village just as she had done so many times before. This time she noticed every dip in the road, every fallen twig. Perhaps it was because this would be her last time traveling along this way, her last time to notice. She was in no hurry as she had been so many times before. She was unconscionably memorizing every detail of her last venture in this age. Her feet took her on a slight detour until she came to stand beneath the great bows of the Goshinboku.
She reached out and lightly touched the place where Inuyasha had been sealed for fifty years, where she had removed the arrow that had sealed him there, and in doing so, freed him. And by freeing him, allowing him to enter her life and her heart. She closed her eyes and remember all the times she had shared since that time, with friend and foe alike. She remembered all the people she had meet, all the places she had been, all the wonders she had seen, all the lessons she had learned. But most of all she remembered a certain dog-eared hanyo. She opened her eyes as she heard quiet foot steps behind her. She smiled at the irony of it. It was here that her adventures had began, it was fitting that this be the place that they end. She turned slowly and saw him.
He was simply standing there watching her. She slowly walked up to him until they were standing across from on another.
"Inuyasha..."
"Kagome...I..." He paused trying to find the right words.
"It's alright. I understand. You have decided to stay with Kikyo." He looked down at his feet as Kagome continued. "And now I am simply in the way." She paused for a split second. "These are for you." She slowly placed the shards of the Jewel of Four Souls on his palm. "May I ask one more favor of you before I go? Would you please say good bye to the others for me?" She turned, not even waiting for his reply. Kagome paused at the edge of the clearing and turned around to gaze upon the hanyo she loved. "Good bye...Inuyasha." And then she turned and walked out of the clearing...and out of his life. . .forever. . .