The Unwanted Wish
Chapter 1: The Cost to Protect
I can't believe I'm here again.. It's been so long.
Kagome looked up to the bright morning sky and could hear the sound of the birds in the forest. Taking in a deep breath she closed her eyes and held back any tears that dared to form in her eyes. She wouldn't allow it, he always hated when she cried and she wouldn't allow herself to cry after so long. His voice was still clear in her mind, she could almost hear him say 'Don't start crying on me, wench, it won't do any good.'
Allowing herself to smile at the thought of the hanyou chastising her, the miko opened her eyes and braved her journey forward towards Kaede's village. No doubt everyone would be happy to see her and she wondered if Miroku and Sango did get married after she left. Curious as she was, her pace was steady and without hurry. She was scared, in her own way, and it took all of her courage to keep going. To face what she knew was real. Inuyasha wouldn't be there, his death hadn't been some nightmare years ago, he truly was gone forever. It was what kept her from the feudal era for so long…
Kagome.. Stop it. It's been years. It will be nice to see Sango, Miroku, Shippo… I'm sure they've missed me.
She smiled to herself once more and allowed happier thoughts to come to her mind, thinking of how much Shippo must have grown, how Miroku and Sango were doing, and if Rin was adjusting well to human life. Slowly the village came into view and the miko took in a deep breath before descending down to the village. She had made sure to wear her school clothes for the last time just so everyone would recognize her. It had been three years and she knew turning up in Inuyasha's fire rat robe would not be easier on her heart. No, her familiar green skirt and sailor top would be better, for now. Once settled she would change into something more fitting of the time.
"Lady Kagome! Look, it's Lady Kagome!" Some children began to call for her and shout her name and the village lit up in an instant. People put their work aside and greeted her with smiles, thanks, and praise. With all the commotion it took only a minute before Miroku appeared in the distance, hurrying down to the group of gathering townspeople. "Kagome, it is you!"
"Miroku, oh my goodness! You haven't changed a bit." Kagome couldn't help but give the monk a large hug, though with her bags it was hard for him to return the favor. For once the priestess noted he made no attempt to cope a feel and she grinned to herself; Sango had reigned him in.
"Look at you, though, you've grown... Sango will be overjoyed to see you." Waving goodbye the villagers who begrudgingly resumed their work, he led her to a hut in the back of the village. Slightly larger then the rest, it was a nice place and she nervously entered to the shouts of joy from the slayer and a happy kitsune who was now clinging to her leg. "Kagome, Kagome, it is you, you're here! You came back!"
"Oh, Shippo.. I've missed you too." The miko knelt down and wrapped one arm around the now larger Shippo. He hadn't grown much, but considering he was a demon, it was still a substantial growth. Sango was in the back, covering her mouth in shock still. Tears were beginning to form in the corners of her eyes. "Oh, Kagome… we've missed you so much."
"It's good to see you too, Sango... How have you been?"
"Well, it's a long story, so get comfortable."
And with that she noticed the small bassinet beside her and she gasped in silence.
^.^.^.^
"Wow, I'm just... Surprised is all. A lot has changed." Kagome looked back to the hut where the three children slept. Miroku and Sango laughed gently and exchanged a look that only they must have understood. The monk stood up and quietly went back inside his home no doubt to give them time to talk alone and to watch over his newborn son. "Yes and no, I suppose… but what do you plan to do now, Kagome?"
"I don't know, I just.. After school, I felt like I had to come back here, you know? I know so many demons will be after the Shikon no Tama now that it's back in this time, but I couldn't avoid it any longer. I packed as much as I could and came back without much of a plan." She looked up to the stars and listened to the crackling of the fire in front of the three. Shippo had long since fallen asleep on Kagome's lap and she dare not move and cause him to wake just yet. "I thought I'd never be able to come back, not without Inuyasha here, but I just didn't belong in my own world anymore. This place has become a part of me that I just can't give up… plus I missed you guys too much! I mean, a few years and I come back to find three kids?"
Sango blushed and smiled, looking back to the hut with such love in her expression before looking back to Kagome. "I was so surprised by the twins… our son though, I feel a hundred times better. I wasn't able to leave the hut for a few weeks with the girls, now here I am out in a few days."
"I'm sorry I missed it… I'm glad Rin was able to help, she's growing up fast too, isn't she?" Sango nodded and looked down the ways towards Kaede's hut and the small addition nearby for Sesshomaru's ward. "Kohaku has taken quite a liking to her, he always brings her presents back from his trips."
"He's made quite a name for himself, hasn't he? I" Sango couldn't have looked prouder in that moment and Kagome felt a bit of jealously. Sango had her brother back but at such a cost. It was wrong to think that way, and she quickly dismissed it, though guilt still lingered. "He has, so many people and villages request his help and when he's home he's always helping us with any little chore or keeping the kids happy. The girls love to play with him."
"I think.. I think I may see what I can do as a priestess. See if I can help people as well." Sango smiled at that, glad she had found a starting point for her new life back in their time. "I tell you what, why don't you take one of my old Taijiya outfits? I don't think I'll be using them any time soon. Wear it under your miko's robes, just in case. Plus it'll help remind you to come back safe to us."
"Thanks Sango.. It'll be nice to have something of yours when I'm away. A reminder of… Home."
^.^.^.^
"Those robes suit ye, child, always have." Kaede smiled as she looked up to the newly dressed miko. Kagome was surprisingly comfortable in her new attire and not too warm, thanks to the fair weather of spring. The folded school uniform in her hands was placed on a shelf and the younger miko took a moment to say goodbye to that part of her life. "Keep them to remember me, okay? I don't want to keep them any longer but I can't bare to get rid of them completely."
"I'll keep them safe just as I have the Tetsusaiga, have ye no worry. Why don't ye go out and enjoy the day? We can talk of this land's troubles later." Kagome smiled and let her fingers trace over the hilt of Inuyasha's former blade. While she couldn't truly use the blade it gave her comfort to carry it at her side, as if Inuyasha was watching over her. Stepping out of the hut, the arrows in her quiver rattled gently from the slight ducking motion to ensure her bow couldn't clip the doorway. Outside the village was once again bustling as it had done the day before. Everyone greeted her warmly but this time kept at their work. They knew she wasn't leaving anytime soon and if she did, she would be back.
^.^.^.^
"Rin, you seem so excited, what's going on?" Kagome looked up from the parchments she was studying on various herbs and other reagents. Rin had been anxious the past few days and it slowly began to dawn on her what that probably meant. "Lord Sesshomaru's coming soon! I can't wait to see him again!"
"He visits you often?" The younger girl beamed and nodded several times. It was clear Rin would get no studying done until the Daiyokai visited. Kagome couldn't help but smile, though, Rin had grown up and was becoming quite the healer… yet she still held such devotion to Sesshomaru despite all that time spent apart. She wondered for a moment if Rin would leave the village when she came of age, even though that was still several years away.
"I'd like to see Sesshomaru again, as well."
"Lord Sesshomaru," Rin laughed.
Some things never changed.
^.^.^.^
"This pouch.. It will make it so the priestess has no idea she's holding it?" The little monkey demon looked up to it's dark master, their face masked by the night. With it's fear evident, it reached out slowly for the small pouch that contained the Shikon no Tama and took it in his hands.
"Yes, she will not even know it has been taken. The copy I made will last long enough for this. And the kodama pouch will conceal the jewel's whereabouts from her. Return to me when you are finished. Fail me and die a most painful death. Succeed and you will be rewarded." The yokai cringed from the threats and nodded in silence as he made his way quickly to begin his task, the priestess would be bathing in the hot springs for awhile but not forever.
"You are sure, Kikyo?" The voice rang out like a small bell in the wind and Kikyo looked away from where the monkey had left and to the ground below her. "Yes, my mistress. My reincarnation still yearns for him. She will, when prompted, wish for his life. Her heart is in balance, the jewel will grant her wish."
"We shall see, I hope for your sake you are not wrong. While we have been successful so far, there is still much to be done. I swore a thousand lives a day and I will have my revenge. I will be free of this wretched place."
"With Inuyasha at my side… I will not fail you."
^.^.^.^
"Oh, wow… That was refreshing." Kagome stretched her arms up into the air as soon as she was done affixing Tetsusaiga to her hakama's belt. With so much on her mind and possibly a new destination in mind, it felt good to rid herself of the world's worries for even a short time. While Kaede didn't know much, the talk worried her. There was something going wrong in Japan, peace had not lasted for long after Naraku's death and with no other plans in mind, Kagome decided she would look further into the problems that plagued her new home.
About to head back home to Kaede's village, the miko was stopped when she heard the sound of a sobbing woman. Rushing towards the sound, she found a young girl about her age not far away, crying against a large tree on the side of the dirt path back to town. She looked exhausted and a complete mess. Approaching with caution, Kagome knelt down beside her slowly. "Excuse me… Miss? What happened, are you hurt?"
"I-… I, he's gone, he's gone! My Makoto… they say he's dead… no, I won't believe it…" She began to sob uncontrollably, slipping further to the ground and the miko's heart ached at the sight. Had this been her in the past, when she returned home after Inuyasha's death after the defeat of Naraku? She bit down at the inside of her cheek at how much her mother must have hurt to see her like this. "I… I know how you feel, it hurts… but it does get better with time, I promise."
The girl looked up from her arms and to the priestess looking as though she was about to shout at her but no words formed and she simply let tears stream down her face until she could find the ability to speak once more. "You have… lost someone, priestess?"
"Yes, he was to be my… husband." Kagome looked down and offered a small smile that did little to mask the pain she herself was feeling. It felt funny to refer to Inuyasha as a husband, for her it would always have been mate. But she didn't feel like bringing up half demons to the girls in her current state. "I miss him greatly, the pain is still there, but it is bearable now."
"How… how do you do it…? How do you not live in the past, wishing he was still with you…? Makoto is all I can think about! He is everything to me!" The young woman began to tear up again, her anger getting the better of her.
"All it takes is time… I wish…" She paused a moment, her hand running over the hilt of Tetsusaiga. "I wish I could use this old sword to protect everyone… so no one would ever have to feel our pain."
"WHAT!?"
Kagome couldn't feel anything, she couldn't see anything. Everything went white and eventually faded to darkness. She felt her limbs begin to twist and turn, her entire body starting to burn as if her very blood was on fire s it coursed through her veins. She wanted to cry out and lash out at anything, the pain so great. It took everything she had to finally cry out in shrieking pain, her voice echoing through the first with the sound of ripping flesh.
And in that moment, everything including the pain was gone. All of it replaced by darkness and the sound of approaching footsteps in the distance.
^.^.^.^
"Ah, ye finally be waking up, child. We've been worried about ye." Kagome's eyes fluttered open and slowly began to adjust to the light. It seemed so bright after such a long time spent in total darkness. Forcing her eyes to stay open despite the pain the sun light brought, she kept still, her body protesting any movement. "Try not to move, yet, we still not be sure all of what happened to ye yet."
"I was… at the springs, this woman… she was crying… she had lost her lover… I said I wished I could protect everyone from our pain… then I just remember darkness… and pain." Kagome rolled her head to the side, looking to the old woman beside her. She had a look in her eye that Kagome could recognize that doctor's used when they didn't know how to tell someone bad news.
"Kaede… what's wrong, why are you looking at me like that?" Despite all her body's protesting, Kagome shot up in bed before she could answer, afraid of what to find. To her happy surprise she was able to move with some pain and clearly still had both arms and legs. It was then, as Kaede tried to find the words, that she noticed the blood beneath her nails. Or should she say… claws. "K-Kaede…" She looked horrified at her own hands, beginning the shake. "What… what happened to me!?"
Her tongue ran over the teeth in her mouth to find her canines and to her horror she found longer and sharper teeth that cut into her tongue slightly. Panic beginning to rise, her heart beating as though it would leap from her chest, she brought her clawed hands up to feel the top of her head where two small dog like ears now sat. Touching them and feeling them as her own body she fell back against the bed, feeling faint and as if she was about to pass out.
"Calm ye self, child! It will do ye no good to get so upset." Kaede put an old wrinkled hand on Kagome's shoulder and gripped it tightly to give her something stable at that moment. "From the looks of it ye be turned into a half demon, but by what magics I know not."
At that moment, the sound of shattering glass from the other side of the room echoed and both miko looked over to see the Shikon no Tama shatter apart. Kaede got up as quickly as she could for her age and picked up a few of the pieces. "This… this not be the jewel! It's a fake!"
"I said… in the forest, I wished I could use this…" she motioned towards the Tetsusaiga resting beside her, "to protect everyone so no one would feel the pain of losing someone they loved… I… the jewel? Did it do this…?" Kaede dropped the splinters of glass to the floor and turned back to look at the younger Miko. "Aye, perhaps… the bigger question is who created this fake… so accurate that neither ye nor I would know. And how did ye not know ye were carrying the jewel?"
Kagome looked to her belongings and sat back up, beginning to go through everything that had been with her. It wasn't until she picked up a small white pouch did she look up to Kaede again, a questioning look across her face. "A bag made from the skin of a kodama… aye, they be strong enough to mask the jewel's power… but to kill one? They be evil and strong, that be certain… but if they had the jewel, why hide it with ye?"
"Maybe… I made the wrong wish." Kagome turned away and looked down to her hands, running her claws over her skin, the sharpness reminding just how it felt to hold Inuyasha's hands.