Disclaimer: I don't own Inuyasha or Cardcaptor Sakura.

By: Natsu no Hinagiku

"Alas my love, you do me wrong,

To cast me off discourtesly,

For I have loved you well and long,

Delighting in your company,"

The sweet melody was carried away by the air. Light and soft as satin, silky and honey sweet. The voice was coming from a young woman. She looked about seventeen, with long onyx colored hair and pale porcelain skin. She was dressed all in black, sweeping the stairs of her shrine. Her slim, petit figure sway slightly with the song.

"Your vows you've broken, like my heart

Oh why did you so enrapture me?

For I remain in a world apart,

While my heart remains in captivity..."

The next verse in the song flew through the breeze and reached the ears of a young man. He too looked about seventeen, with steel grey hair and deep olive eyes. He was tall, maybe about six feet, with skin like snow and square glasses. He lifted his head when he heard the song and unconsciously moved closer to the source of the sound. The sound got closer and a little bit louder and he found himself in front of a shrine.

The shrine was enormous. A set of maybe a dozen flights of stairs, with each set having maybe seven stairs each. At the very top was a red Torii. He couldn't see very well what stood past the Torii, but he glimpse an enormous oak tree, with its branches full of spring green buds. It swayed in the breeze and the man felt himself mesmerized by it. Something was drawing him to it. As he got closer, he felt the sensation growing and growing. Then realization hit him. The tree was giving off large amounts of ki. He continued moving farther up the stairs, closer and closer to the tree. As he reached the last step, he heard the same sweet, melodic voice he heard singing earlier.

"Excuse me," she said softly, "Are you okay sir?" He snapped out of his stupor. He smiled gently at her and nodded. Now that they were merely a few feet apart, he got a better look at her. Her hair was wavy and as black as night. When the sunlight struck it just right, it was shot through with shades of dark sapphire. It glistened in the sunlight and tumbled onto her small shoulders and cascaded down her back. Her pale, smooth skin contrasted starkly with her hair, as well as her eyes. Her eyes were a shade of smokey blue. They were wide, making her seem full of childish innocence. But when he looked into her eyes he saw a haunted look that almost scared him. The look of someone who has seen too much for such a short life time. His gaze trailed down from her eyes to her small nose and lush coral lips.

"Do you live here or work here?" he asked her, mirroring her quiet voice. She looked warily at him for a moment, searching his eyes.

"I live here," she told him, her eyes daring him to try anything. She was tensed, as if she were preparing to strike or block at any time. He smiled disarmingly at her, causing her defense to go up even more. So he raised his hands up in a gesture of surrender.

"Hey," he told her, "relax. I just want to know about that tree there." he pointed to the large oak tree that called to him. She studied him for a moment, as if to gauge his true motive. Finding none, she dropped her guard and held her hand out to him.

"Come," she said, "I'll show you to it." He took her hand and she led him up the last step onto the top level. Walking to her right, she let go of his hand. In his head, the man admitted to himself that he did miss the warmth of her hand and like how soft and small it was.

She took her slim hand and placed it on the trunk of the old oak tree. The man watched her interestedly, and watched as she unconsciously traced an old patch of the trunk that was stripped of its bark. In the center of that patch was a deep scar.

"It looks as if it were caused by an arrow," he commented offhandedly. The woman jerked her hand away from the tree as if it had burned her and sat down wearily on the box that rimmed the tree. She motioned for him to sit and he complied.

"This tree is very old," she told him, her voice throaty and her tone impassive, "maybe a few thousand years. It is the very place where the hanyou Inuyasha was sealed." The man's interest perked up.

"Inuyasha? From the tale of the Shikon no Tama?" he asked excitedly, "It's my favourite legend! So this very tree is where he was pinned for fifty years?"

"Fifty years?" the woman's voice was guarded now, with her face like stone, revealing no emotion, "Do you know how the rest of the story goes?"

"Yes," he told her proudly, "The part where the jewel was shattered and the most peculiar group of people joined together. When the priestess Kikyo and the hanyou Inuyasha joined forces with the demon cat Kira, the huntress Sayuki, the monk Midori and the wolf baby Shiroi." He was startled by the woman's low, bitter laughter.

"No, that part of the story is wrong," she told him, "There are too many errors to even name. But yes, the hanyou was pinned here, freed fifty years later by a priestess. She was, however, not Kikyo." The man was utterly confused. The way the woman spoke, was as if she had lived it. The way her eyes flashed when he had mentioned Kikyo and Inuyasha and the old legend.

Not to mention of course, the tree. Its release of ki had halted and it felt as if it were a normal tree. Actually, not even a normal tree, for even they exerted some ki. It felt dead.

"The story was a demon cat named Kirara, a huntress named Sango, a monk named Miroku and a fox child named Shippou. Kikyo had died fifty years prior to the unsealing of the hanyou, but was brought back to life later on," the woman recited dutifully, sounding as if she were talking almost to herself to remind her of it.

"And the priestess's name?" the man asked curiously. The woman bit her lip.

"Her name was forever erased from that time," she told him seriously, her eyes glazing over as she reminisced. The smokey blue was a dull color and she was silent. The man began fiddling around, his hand trailing the tree's trunk, consuming the enormous amounts of ki. The silence was stifling and awkward.

"I think I should go now," the man said quietly. She nodded and bowed to him. He took his leave, walking slowly down the stairs.

"Her name was forever erased from time," the woman's sad, low voice echoed in his mind repeatedly. It followed him from his the minute he left the shrine to when he stepped back into Tomoeda. The anguished way she said it stuck with him as he walked into his home. And when he got to the threshold of his room, he stopped and realized something.

He had never gotten her name.

Meanwhile, the woman was in a daze. Just like that, one stranger walked in and all her past was dug up for her. Closing her eyes, she let one single tear drop. Inuyasha...Shippou...Miroku...Sango...Kaede...Kirara... They were all completely out of her life. Just one jewel and her present was given to her, one jewel and her past was taken away. She reached into her shirt and pulled out the Shikon no Tama. It pulsed and then lay dormant. She held it in her hand once more, looking at it with something like fondness and disgust. The jewel symbolized her past, but it was the reason she was taken away.

Flashback

"No! Inuyasha!" she screamed. The winds swirled around him as he performed the Kaze no Kizu. He focused solely on Naraku and it had left him unguarded in the rear. Kanna was stalking up quietly on him, mirror in hand. She positioned her mirror and it aimed straight for Inuyasha. Kagome grabbed her short red bow and aimed a shot. She gritted her teeth, "Hit the mark," she whispered, releasing the taut bowstring with a twang and letting the arrow fly. The arrow went at breakneck speed, leaving a trail of blue light behind it and slammed into Kanna's mirror. The mirror was not completely full of souls however, which caused the arrow to ricochet off the mirror. Inuyasha instinctively ducked and the arrow's path was set. It imbedded itself deep into Naraku's filthy black heart. He let out a piercing cry, one that Kagome believed she'd never forget. She watched as the evil that tormented them for so long disintegrated and was nothing more than a pile of ash. Kikyo watched this all happen, both pleased that the evil fuck was finally killed, yet annoyed that it was not she that spelled out his demise for him. She shot a blast of miko ki at the ashes though, just to be sure and the ashes turned white and scattered to the winds.

Hakudoshi watched his "father" die and tried to escape with alarming speed. Sango was wise to his tricks and threw the Hiraikotsu at him, effectively splitting him in half and killing him.

"It's over," Kagome whispered, "It's finally over." She walked over to where Naraku's clothing lay and plucked out the nearly completed Shikon no Tama. She held all the shards in her hand, praying as Kikyo had once taught her to do. A pink light engulfed the area. It was blinding and all present had to shield their eyes. When the light died down, there lay the complete and purified Shikon no Tama. She looked around at everyone's faces. They're was a mixture of joy, sadness, pride and love. She smiled at them and ran up to embrace them. As she ran, the Tama began pulsing. Sango, hunched over the body of Kohaku looked up through teary eyes. Kagome was running towards them, Shikon in hand, a dazzling smile on her face. But she was slowly disappearing, fading away. She stopped and paused, surprised. Tears trickled down her face as she held the jewel.

"Good-bye," she whispered as she faded away totally, leaving many stunned friends. Shippou was the first to recover.

"Kagomeeeeee!" he wailed, his cry echoing over the battlefield. He, Sango, Miroku, Kanna, Kagura, Kouga and even Inuyasha and Kikyo wept as they realized their friend was gone forever. Sesshoumaru turned and left the battlefield, walking at a sedate pace. Rin, Jaken and Ah-Un sat waiting for him in their glade.

Nobody saw the lone tear trickle down his cheek as he thought out his good-bye to the brave little woman-child who had earned his respect. Rin was crying too, her face wet with tears.

"Kagome-neesan is never coming back, is she?" Rin asked Sesshoumaru, her large doleful eyes swimming with tears.

"No, Rin," he told her curtly. He lifted her in his arms and set her gently on Ah-Un with Jaken. And they flew off.

End of Flashback

Kagome had awoken in her room. When she came downstairs, her brother told her that they had found her passed out under the God Tree. She wept for two days and ate little. At her little brother's coaxing, she slowly ate more and opened up more. But her life was now irreparable. She had estranged herself from her friends, isolated herself from her family and now mostly did shrine duty. Words rarely passed her lips, and most were to her brother.

One night, while they were enjoying a thick hot stew, she made an announcement. "I," she began quietly. This got her family's attention. She barely ever spoke anymore, so this must have been important. "Am moving." she declared. Her family's eyes widened and her Grandfather was the first to speak.

"But but.." he sputtered, "Who will care for the shrine and such?" He was positively aghast. Kagome and Souta were the only ones with magic in their blood anymore, and he was getting old. They were his favored granchildren too.

"Cousin Kuwabara could do it," Souta offered. It was possible too. Kuwabara also did have large amounts of spirit energy, though he wasn't as bright. He was loyal and trustworthy though. Grandpa silently contemplated this.

"Where are you going?" Kun-Loon, Kagome's mom, asked her. She was watching her daughter with her soulful black eyes. Her daughter never did enjoy staying in one place since her fifteenth birthday.

"Tomoeda," Kagome told her, "It's a pretty small town just a little south of here. Maybe half an hour's drive away."

"You may go, under one condition," Kun Loon told her, "you will take Souta to live with you." Kagome's eyes bugged out and Souta was staring at his mother incredulously. She sighed. "I guess I couldn't keep this quiet forever." She looked into Kagome's eyes, then Souta's. "I'm dying slowly of leukemia." Kagome's face drained of all color.

"Why didn't you say anything?" she whispered. Kun Loon looked pleadingly at her daughter.

"I was only diagnosed last month. And I didn't want to worry you guys. You already have enough to deal with," her eyes were on the Shikon around Kagome's neck. "Just take Souta, please?"

Kagome nodded and looked down. 'She was not going to cry. She was not going to cry. Aww, dammit all to hell,' she thought, as tears spilled down her cheeks. "I will," Kagome told her, sobbing quietly. She neatly stacked her dishes and put them in the sink, her eyes red. She then ran out of the room, tears trailing behind her. She ran into her room and flung herself onto her bed.

Souta sat against Kagome's door, hand clenched tightly as he listened to his sister's muffled sobs from against the door. His family's world was slowly crumbling. His mother was dying, his grandfather was getting older and older, his sister was slowly dying on the inside and he would be leaving his shrine. A tear tracked down his cheek. Angrily, he brushed it away. He was going to be strong for everybody. Souta stood tall and walked silently off to his room.

The Higurashi household was a quiet one that night.

One month, three weeks and two days passed in utter despair. Kun-Loon's condition got a little bit better but Ji-chan's got worse. His health was declining and he could no longer walk about on his own. Kagome moved on slowly, but the familiar twinge was there whenever a memory was accidentally brought up. She put up a cheerful front and kept through it.

Souta had been disappearing for hours on end everyday. Every single day during the afternoon to sunset he was nowhere to be found. His family worried for him at first, but when he showed up faithfully around sunset everyday then they trusted him to go to his own devices.

What none of them knew was that he was training. Everyday he ran for a few hours and then spent the rest of his afternoon training in a copse of trees nearby with weapons. He had only managed to master the Higurashi weapon, the bow. He could shoot a wing off of a butterfly if he so wished to. He was as good as Kagome was with the short bow. He could not yet wield a long bow. At the age of twelve, he was five feet tall, slightly shorter than a long bow. Kagome was only five foot six, so even only her head was higher than the long bow.

Kagome too had been training though. She now used a long bow. It was a gift from Kikyo and Kaede. A bow of polished dark yew, its ends engraved with carvings of lilies. The bowstring was even made by hand, the sinews of a rabbit coated in beeswax. Kagome enjoyed the way the bow sang when she loosed an arrow and the accuracy as it shot through the air, penetrating whatever stood in her way as it hurled through the air at a deadly rate. It was lovely and easy to master after all her practice in the Feudal Era. She had moved on to the staff. She had found it in a lovely little thrift shop. It was made of thick, strong peach wood. Its shaft was sanded down to make it smooth and was easy for Kagome to grip. The head of the staff was simple, an elegant silver violet, twisting down from the top to about a quarter of the staff. Violet was an attraction of good luck and silver was a very durable metal. Miroku's staff had been gold and after some speculation, Kagome decided not to get it, because even though it honored her good friend, it was a weaker metal and more prone to breaking. She twirled it around, thwacking the air around her as she learned to use it to balance herself. Often she got callouses and sores and she tripped over the staff a lot, but a month of practice was doing her good. Eventually it was starting to become her favourite weapon, after the longbow of course.

She could wield a staff quiet well, but she was learning something new. She had always wondered how Miroku's staff was so strong, but she finally found out why now.

It had happened quite on accident. She had been doing her meditation as usual during her morning routine and heard a rustling. She grabbed her staff and the perpetrator turned out to be a harmless, fat cat named Buyo. But when she had picked up the staff, she felt a queer sensation. It turned out that she had accidentally channeled her spiritual energy into her staff. She was learning to control it though, because too much power could have exploded the staff. But she kept doggedly at it, meditating more and controlling her ki. Kagome could separate her spirit energy and her holy energy, careful not to intertwine the two or accidentally hit something with her holy energy. She loved channeling spirit energy into her weapons. The crackling, electric blue power glowing, the pulsating feeling, the thrumming of power. It was amazing to her.

So she and Souta trained secretly, neither knowing about the other, each determined. Higurashi-san and Higurashi-jii-san were proud of their children/grandchildren. They were becoming fine young people and it was hard to part.

"Good bye, Jii-chan, Mama," Kagome whispered, hugging her mother and grandfather fiercely as she was preparing to depart. Unshed tears glistened in her eyes and Mama Higurashi was proud to see the small spark of fire in those eyes like chryscollas. Souta came up to them next, his eyes clear and his jaw set. Higurashi-san knew it was taking all his determination not to cry. He hugged them tightly whispering, "I'll miss you," in their ears. Then he let them go and clambered into Kagome's car. Higurashi-jii-san and Higurashi-san watched their children go, Kagome's dark purple car getting smaller in the distance.

"My babies are all grown up," Higurashi-san sniffled, her eyes watery. She watched until the car was completely out of sight. Sighing melancholily she walked into her shrine, her father walking quietly behind her.

"It's pretty," Souta remarked, eyeing the fairly large house. Kagome sighed and nodded.

"It cost me a great deal of money squirt, so you had better not damage it," Kagome warned him, scowling at the odd assortment of bulging things in Souta's bag. She could only imagine what kind of weird tools of evil lay in that bag. "Help with the boxes." Souta nodded.

"Aye aye Captain!" he shouted, giving her a mock salute. She giggled.

"At ease, soldier," she said, "Here, take the box with the blankets in it," Kagome instructed him, watching him try to grip a box clearly labeled 'Fragile'. He let go of the box and picked up the one labeled 'Blankets'. She herself took the fragile box, careful not to jostle the contents too much. She deposited it onto the kitchen counter and went outside to pick up more stuff. Souta had already taken in the draperies and it was now up to Kagome to take the mattresses. She hauled them into the house and placed them in the two largest rooms on the upstair floor. Souta was sitting on her trunk now and swinging his legs.

"Shouldn't we unpack?" Souta asked, looking curiously at Kagome's pink bicycle. It sat there on the driveway, and it was in the general direction that Kagome was walking towards. She shook her head.

"Later," she told him, "Let's explore the neighborhood first." She mounted her bike and Souta mounted his. They biked off, heading towards the heart of Tomoeda. At the center of the little town was a shop called Maggi's, two schools and what Kagome supposed was a grocery shop.

"Kagome-nee-chan," Souta said, looking at the store called Maggi's, "I wanna take a look inside." She nodded and got off the bike, taking Souta's bike and securely locking it to a bike rack. She stepped in first, cautiously taking in her surroundings.

"Welcome," a kind faced woman with long dark purple hair greeted them from behind the counter, "I haven't seen you people here before, are you travelers?"

"No," Kagome answered her slowly, "My brother and I recently moved here." Recently was an understatement. They had just come to Tomoeda about an hour and a half ago.

"I see," Maggi said, the smile never leaving her face, "Well, take your time." Kagome smiled at her in return, nodding and bowing politely. She wandered the store until Souta called to her.

"Look at this, nee-chan!" Souta said delightedly. Kagome rushed over to see what he had found. Souta stood near a rack holding swords and bokkens. Kagome picked one up, interested. Slowly opening the sheath, she searched the katana.

"It's very well made," Kagome told him, studying the swords, "they're probably steel mixed with silver. The handle was made with oak."

"And look at the kanji on it!" Souta said, fingering the writing lightly, "It says Ancient on it." He glanced admiringly at it, and decided to check its sister sword. It was the same material but the kanji on it said Fledgling. Souta looked at and the sword just seemed to click with him.

"Nee-san, I'm buying it," he told Kagome, trusting his gut instinct. Kagome raised her eyebrow at him. She flipped over the price tag.

"You sure? It's five thousand yen," she told him skeptically. He nodded resolutely and she sighed. "Okay, then I'll buy the ancient one," she pulled five thousand yen from her wallet and he took five thousand from his.

"Is this all?" Maggi asked nicely. They nodded. "Thank you, have a nice day." She waved them from her store and they took their purchases and left the shop. They remounted their bicycles and cycled off, back towards their home.

Souta's mind wandered on the way home. That sword had just seemed to call to him and its size was perfect for him. When he held its hilt in his hand, he felt almost a pulse of power and recognition...

"Souta!" Kagome said shrilly, snapping him out of his reverie. He shook his head to clear his thoughts and saw a young girl around his age absentmindedly wandering. She was about three feet away from his bike. Expertly, he swerved around her, and pulled to a halt.

"I'm sorry about that," the girl told him nervously. She smiled at him and Souta held his breath for a moment there.

Her hair was short and a very beautiful hazel color. Her face was round and she had the pale skin common amongst the japanese. It was her beautiful jade eyes that made Souta pause. Those soulful green eyes that looked older than she did.

"It's okay," Souta told her sheepishly, "I wasn't even looking at where I was going." He laughed awkwardly and she giggled.

"Kinomoto Sakura," she announced, bowing politely.

"Higurashi, Souta," Souta told her, bowing and smiling charmingly. Blue eyes met green and time paused. Then Kagome cleared her throat a bit, startling the two youngsters. Sakura looked down at her watch.

"HOEEEEEE?" she screeched, "I'm gonna be late! Touya-nee-san is gonna kill me! Sorry, I gotta go. Bye!" She waved to him and immediately began running. Kagome biked up to where Souta was still standing. She chuckled.

"That was cute," she told him, biking around him in circles as he began to mount his bike. He blushed a deep crimson, only making Kagome laugh harder.

"Shut up, Nee-san!" Souta whined, ramming his bike wheel against the back of hers. She stop laughing but was still snickering from time to time. They biked home and any passerbyers would have raised their eyebrows at the siblings. The female was snickering and the male was riding about red-faced. They got home without any more accidents or delays. Dismounting, they parked the bicycles in the empty garage.

"We'll have to unpack," Kagome reminded him, unlocking the front door and stepping in, "then after that, do you want to train with our new katanas?" Souta nodded eagerly and Kagome laughed. "Then let's unpack really fast." At the fastest speed they could muster, they made the futons, hung the curtains, put away the dishes and put away their clothing and weapons.

"Whew, that was quick," Souta panted, admiring how settled their house was beginning to look. Kagome gazed appraisingly at the house. "It's beginning to look settled already."

"Yeah," Kagome said, "but we should repaint the place. I'm thinking maybe a neutral, café au lait color for my room and green covers for my futon. A sort of forest-like approach.

"Ummm..." Souta thought for a moment, "How about a sky approach for my room? Like, the walls can be dark blue with stars and the covers and furniture be all black?" Kagome nodded approvingly.

"Let's start katana training. Its like kendo, but with real swords, okay?" Kagome asked. Souta nodded, he had taken Kendo before for a few years, training with Urashima Motoko. She was an expert and had taught Souta a lot.

"Alright," Souta said, unsheathing his blade. Kagome mimicked his action, "I'm going to be the teacher here, okay?" She nodded. "Now hold your blade ready." Kagome held the blade expertly and stood in her ready position. Sango had gone through holding a blade during a period where there was a significant lack of jewel shards. It was all the training in the katana she had, as Naraku had attacked after. "Now," he told her, "You attack me and I'll block." I nodded and slashed at him. He held his blade horizontally, blocking her attack. "Now, other way around."

He slashed at her and she tried to block it, her sword coming up horizontally to block his. She did it rather clumsily though and the sword nicked her skin. She looked down at the shiny trail of claret blood, shrugging at Souta's worried look, she raised her hand and healed the cut.

Souta watched fascinated. The healing she did was cool. It hadn't just sealed the cut, she made it all go backwards. It was like watching a movie on rewind. The blood trickled upwards and the cut slowly sealed itself, making it look as if it never happened. "Wow, Sis!" he said amazedly, "Can I do that too? What other spells do you know?" Kagome smiled fondly at him and ruffled his hair.

"I'll teach you tomorrow, squirt. And I know a lot, Kikyo and Kaede taught me all they knew. I'm using a spell on both of us now, to hide our holy/magickal auras and stuff," she told him, "Now, let's keep going." They practiced for another four hours, then stopped to shower and eat dinner.

"Mmm! Teriyaki!" Souta cried happily. He picked up his chopsticks and smiled. "Itadakimasu!" he said with gusto and began chowing down. Kagome rolled her eyes and also said itadakimasu before eating her beef teriyaki at a slower pace. Souta gobbled it all down hungrily to the last grain of rice.

"Gochisosama," he said, carefully putting his bowl in the sink and washing it. Kagome finished a moment later, saying Gochisosma and cleaning her bowl.

"Now go to bed, we start school tomorrow," she told him sternly. He smiled and said oyasumi nasai before skipping off to his room.

E N D C H A P T E R