Beginning to End

By Rynnie

Disclaimer: I do not own Inuyasha.

This is a one shot.

I guess I, being the only one to witness everything, should be the one to tell the story of what really happened almost 500 years ago. I write this only after witnessing her birth; as she is the one, who started everything and will in a way, end everything. Her grandfather sealed her fate with out an ounce of remorse. I will start with her end.

His blood was turning cold, the hairs on the back of his neck stood on end. He smelt death hanging in the air everywhere, as if it was trying to find him. He knew this blood that was spilt, but couldn't bear to believe it.

The lone figure raced as fast as he possibly could, already knowing that he was too late. He couldn't save her again. As he reached a small clearing in the forest, he found her body, sprawled out against the hot spring's natural wall. She had been off guard, the attack upon her went unnoticed even as the swift arrow entered her throat and she let out a strangled last cry.

He picked her up and laid her in his lap. There was nothing he could do but watch as a trickle of blood, still warm, slide out of her mouth and down her chin. Her blank and shallow eyes gazed unseeing onto his face. He needed to know who had stolen her life from her. He wanted revenge. He clenched his teeth and dug his nails into his palms. He heard a pitter patter of feet and knew the others would soon join him and know of his failure. They entered the clearing and were instantly by his and her side. Inuyasha stood up.

"She's dead." He said. "I was too late." He turned and leaped off into the woods, anger flitting dangerously out of his hands, taking out his wrath on anything in his path.

Inuyasha was away from his band of friends for more than a week, wrecking havoc onto the woods surrounding his lover's deathbed. I thought it pointless and stupid at that time, for who could fall in love with someone and something so fickle? But as I have grown older, I know how many of my thoughts have changed. I am a changed being and will ceased to live like I used to.

However, Inuyasha had fallen once again in love with that one called Kagome. With her death, he became a fearful beast and spent night and day trying to find out who had killed his Kagome and why. In that time he was away from his group, they washed her body and dug her a grave, not knowing when Inuyasha would return to them.

In a way, they knew that they might have to dig her back up again and give her body to her family, so the Priest named Miroku held a weak barrier over her – to protect her from the bugs and insects that feed on the dead. They knew what killed her – it was the arrow. One quick shot to the neck was what felled the beautiful woman that now lay a mere two feet under the earth.

When Inuyasha returned, he was thin and scraggly looking. The group instantly told him what they had done with Kagome and fed him and cleaned him. He told them the information he had learned on who had killed Kagome.

"It was Kikyo." His sentence was abrupt and straight to the point. Sango stood and grabbed her weapon.

"Inuyasha, I don't care of your feelings for Kikyo, but I will kill her!" Sango yelled. Miroku instantly rose and held onto Sango's trembling form.

"Please, Sango, please sit with us and figure out how to handle this." Miroku said painfully. He already missed Kagome's happiness, her cooking, the way she made everyone feel better. She had been the reason he had joined this little escapade anyway, other than searching for the jewel shards.

Sango reluctantly let the monk guide her back down to him. She dropped her weapon and started sobbing into Miroku's chest.

"She was my best friend. When I betrayed you all, she was the one who said it would be alright and welcomed me warmly back into the group. She gave me the strength and courage I needed to face Naraku and find Kohaku. Kagome supported me when I thought no one would and now she's gone! I should've gone with her to the hot springs – it's my fault she's dead!"

"Sango! It's not your fault – it's not anybody's fault on what happened to Kagome. If you had gone with her to the hot springs, you probably would've been killed as well! Now please Sango, lets talk this through." Miroku hugged her against him as she tried to stifle her crying.

I left the conversation at that point; because of then I had no interest on what was happening to them. I had come by because of chance, a coincidence as some might say. I just paused long enough to know what had happened before I went along my way. It was none of my concern as to what happened to them at the time anyway.

I learned on what happened later from my servant, who happened upon the small battleground. He told me the story in detail, fearing I would slay him if he made one mistake.

"Inuyasha!" Kikyo pleaded. "Why are you doing this?" Inuyasha was above Kikyo, her body in tatters and her stolen souls leaking everywhere into the misty night. Inuyasha was filled with suck grief over what he was about to do.

"You killed Kagome!" Inuyasha screamed with such a rage that Kikyo saw why he had come to kill her; Kagome meant more to him that she ever did. Before Kikyo could ever open her mouth to speak, Inuyasha ripped her open and shattered her clay body on the grassy floor.

"I never thought I would lose her because of you." He whispered into the wind, a single tear instantly wiped from his face once it fell. Inuyasha turned and walked away, the clay pieces of what was left of Kikyo turned to dust and blew away with the breeze, finally seeking solitude and putting her soul at ease.

The next part of the story I can only guess at; Inuyasha and his followers moved on to kill Naraku, though with Kagome's death, part of all of them had died as well and they all could no longer fight as they used to.

The demon exterminator fell easily once her demon companion, Kirara, was killed. The Priest fought much more fiercely once his fiancée was bleeding to death; he sucked everything he possibly could into his wind tunnel before Naraku's poisonous insect's venom finally put him to rest, right next to Sango's body. Inuyasha threw Shippo away from the battle, but he was cornered by Naraku's many demons and eaten alive.

Naraku, beaten and in agony, retreated from battle like the coward he was. Inuyasha leapt after him and pinned him into the rocky ground. It was here that I happened upon the battle and waited quietly in the shadows of the outlining forest.

"I'm going to finish you here and now!" He screamed, anger, pain, and sorrow in his voice. Naraku smirked, laughing evilly.

"I see you've killed Kikyo in revenge, right Inuyasha?" He said, an arrogant tone in his voice. Inuyasha froze. "Too bad, Inuyasha, that you murdered the wrong Kikyo, for it was me in disguise that killed Kagome. It was fun witnessing the real Kikyo's hurt and painful looks as her true love killed her so unmercifully." Inuyasha trembled and dropped the tetsusaiga as the information came to him.

"No," Inuyasha said unbelievingly. "No! It wasn't supposed to end this way!" Naraku stood over the already defeated Inuyasha.

"Oh," he said mockingly, "but it has. Everything ends the way the more powerful want it too." And with that, he pierced Inuyasha through his chest and injected his poison into Inuyasha's helpless form.

"You won't kill me Naraku!" Inuyasha yelled, gripping his fang and shoving it deep into his heart. "I guess," Inuyasha choked out, blood dripping from his mouth, "that Sesshoumaru can finally have this sword." Naraku glared at Inuyasha's body.

"I was supposed to be your demise hanyou!" Naraku yelled angrily. He withdrew his tentacle from Inuyasha's body, turned, and flew into the dawning sky, never by me to be seen again.

Of course as I wondered out into the battlegrounds, I instantly felt like something inside of me had died as well. At the time I had no idea what this feeling was, but now I understand. It was sadness. Sadness that the people I had sometimes fought beside or fought with were now gone. Not understanding what this feeling was at the time, I grew angry and frustrated. I took their bodies back to where they had laid Kagome and buried them next to her. Shippo's body I never recovered, but a scrap of his pelt I found and placed with the Inuyasha group.

Now looking back I still don't understand why I did it, it wasn't like I ever cared for them back then. Not that I really do now either – I didn't know them well enough back then. It was much later that Naraku had gained the whole Shinkon no Tama and made his wish upon the jewel to become a full demon.

"So, how does it feel being a full fledged demon, Naraku?" I asked so many years ago to his naked and revolting form.

"Lord Sesshoumaru," he said mockingly, "how long I have waited for this moment. You shall be the first I kill in this new body of mine! I will be the most powerful and-" I never let him finish his sentence and instantly killed him with a flick of my wrist.

His face was full of shock – I was amused he would fall so easily. It seemed to me like the Priestess Midoriko had done her job well as Naraku's filthy wish was granted poorly and he was given a weak form that a human could easily kill. The jewel was gone forever and where once a great evil was, was now gone.

Now, 500 years later, I have been living with the humans as a doctor. Rin grew in age quickly by my side and I found her presence most pleasing. We wed and mated, and instantly I understood what I thought to be my father's mistake. Humans were such precious creatures – they needed something more powerful to take care of them.

Rin of course, died a long time ago, but I have watched out for our descendants over the years. I found one piece of information extremely amusing. The very woman I tried to kill when I first met her, Kagome, was actually one of my and Rin's great great great grandchild, or something to that affect. It is so easy to see it now – Kagome and Rin's facial likeness. She really does share common aspects with my now dead wife. Of course, over time the story of the Shinkon no Tama grew out of control and somehow rumored that who ever was named Kagome would be instantly condemned to travel back in time and help defeat an evil with the cost of her life. I tried to stop this nonsense, but in the process realized part of it was true.

Kagome was born by myself today, a healthy baby girl. I told her mother, another one of my descendants, that she would be the reason for this time. The mother of course, had no idea what I was talking about. Little did I know that her father, yet another one of my descendants, was listening and knew the story of the Shinkon no Tama.

"Kagome." He said. "We should name our baby girl Kagome." I turned quickly and knew that whether or not this child had been named Kagome, her fate would have been the same.

Outside in the lobby, Kagome's grandfather stopped me. "Some are born to die." He said gravely. I nodded, understanding.

"And others are meant to live for all eternity." I answered. He looked startled.

"So you where there to witness it all?" He asked, and then shook his head. "Do not tell me anything of what happened, as in fifteen and a while years time, I will come to you with that question, doctor."

"Please," I said pleasantly, "call me Sesshoumaru. In fifteen years time I will have already written what happened, as I am the only one who lived to witness it all." I turned and walked out of the building, on my way home. I instantly started this story and am surprised on how short indeed such a long history is.

I guess I will start writing down everything I know about what happened and observe this Kagome. Perhaps I will even see my little brother in this time period. I know I must not let anyone from the past see me as it may ruin the times. Part of me thinks by telling them what is going to happen, it will stop and they will be saved. But if they are indeed saved from this death, what will save them from another?