Limp

AN: Fourth in the Kikyo series. Enjoy.

This piece is dedicated once again to Namike, and also to Sassybratt, who have both praised me so much that either my head is very big or my face is very red. Ahem. Jokes aside, thanks a lot for your encouragement, guys!

Disclaimer: I do not own any part of the InuYasha franchise. All characters belong to Rumiko Takahashi.

For as long as she could remember, Kikyo had been asleep. She couldn't recall any other sensation than that of folding herself into inky darkness and allowing her consciousness to fade and slumber. She'd been sleeping for so long, she'd forgotten how to be awake anymore.

But one day, she suddenly was. Awake, as if she'd never been asleep. Alert, as if she hadn't spent the last few decades in slumber. The situation at hand didn't even allow her to react in any way, to marvel at how responsive and alive she felt.

She felt a strange, oppressive aura around her, and almost immediately identified it. It was the rest of the soul she was a part of. There was no sense of confusion as she calmly assimilated all the information that was suddenly at her disposal. She had been reincarnated as a schoolgirl named Kagome, five hundred years in the future. Kagome, in turn, had somehow managed to find her way into the feudal era, where she was now. It was Kagome's soul that surrounded her now – Kikyo's consciousness was merely a small portion of the girl's entire soul.

But something was not right. Why had she awoken so suddenly? She should have slept until eternity. Something had shifted in the balance of the world, and it had had such a large spiritual impact that her soul had been awoken. Kikyo mentally frowned, unable to form the expression on a physical face as Kagome currently saw no need to scowl.

Heat surrounded her. She felt entrapped in a solid structure made of some sort of clay. As she waited, she felt something hard strike the clay surrounding her. Kikyo could feel every crack in the clay as it shattered, allowing her eyes to see the world. She was distinctly aware of being utterly naked, but the fact did not bother her. She felt almost… well, she didn't feel. She couldn't make herself feel any sort of emotion at all. Her eyes landed on a withered old hag who clutched a scythe of massive proportions. Kikyo was indifferent as she clutched a frond in one hand, her legs splayed in front of her.

The hag introduced herself as the witch Urasue, and commanded Kikyo to rise. Seeing no reason why she shouldn't, she tried to will her body up, but her knees buckled underneath her. Her body fell to the ground with an almighty crash, and she felt the witch's claws at her hair, yanking her upwards.

All of a sudden, she was back in the void. Kikyo felt oddly disoriented for being a fragment of spirit. What had she just experienced? Was it that… witch, Urasue, who had brought her out of her infinite slumber? Instead of feeling angry, Kikyo felt resigned. What had the hag done?

Kikyo recognized the signs of sorcery. She knew that the hag had tried to revive someone. And since she had inhabited the body for a brief period of time – was it possible that the hag had meant to resurrect her, Kikyo? The former priestess's consciousness settled down in one corner of Kagome's soul and mulled over what she had seen.

Urasue had resurrected her. Sorcery was a dangerous art, and Kikyo wondered why the witch had gone to such lengths to revive a dead priestess. Yes, Kikyo had guarded the Shikon no Tama, and yes, she'd been a miko of extraordinary strength, but… why, after fifty years, had she decided to revive Kikyo? Something about the witch's expression troubled Kikyo.

All of a sudden, the space around her seemed to shift, almost roiling with fear. Kikyo was immediately alert. Kagome was afraid. What was going on? The priestess wished she could see what was going on outside the girl's body, but as her soul was merely a small part of Kagome's, she could not. Kagome's panic made her nearly delirious with fear, being a part of the girl's soul as she was. Kikyo received a flash of a familiar-looking face – the witch Urasue, her bug eyes red and malicious. Why was Kagome thinking of Urasue? Kikyo felt dread. Was the hag trying to do something with her reincarnated body?

A long time passed, and Kagome's fear did not grow any less. Finally, abruptly, the entire soul fell into a daze of sorts. Kikyo immediately sensed the presence of herbs in the girl's body. Had Urasue drugged her? What was the old hag playing at?

At the same time, Kikyo felt another body shift. In a flash, she was behind someone else's eyes. This someone gazed down at a girl in a medicinal bath, black-haired and blue-eyed. The girl seemed shocked, and was gazing directly at her. Kikyo felt the strength behind the gaze – was this the girl Kagome, whose body she inhabited? But then… where was she? Why was she able to see?

The girl was steadily getting weaker. Her hands were tied, and her eyes were closed as she continued to move weakly, obviously trying not to fall into a stupor. The hag nearby said something, and the girl reacted violently. Kikyo was unable to pick up the exact words, but she caught the gist of the conversation. The witch leaned forward, hand outstretched, to take something from the girl – but a powerful barrier deflected her hand. Kikyo watched the scene silently, unable to muster up enough strength to move or speak. A small piece of soul was unable to fully control an entire body, after all. All she could do was watch.

Kagome continued to struggle, but the barrier – the soul – continued to expand rapidly. The body Kikyo inhabited had sat down some time ago, and her eyes were still fixed on the fighting girl. Urasue looked positively predatory as she gazed upon Kagome's soul. Kikyo sighed inwardly as she looked at the girl. She felt a faint stirring of pity – the poor schoolgirl didn't deserve such treatment.

But as Urasue spoke of an abominable incident, Kikyo's consciousness tensed. Memories assaulted her, filling up her vision so that she could no longer see out of the eyes of the body. It was just as well – her soul would not remain longer if something more did not join it. Such a small fragment could not animate a body of clay and bones.

Kikyo continued to be swamped by her memories. The memory that stood out the most was her last day – the day InuYasha, the half-demon she had come to love so dearly, had betrayed her. Anger and pain bubbled inside Kikyo as the same image was shown to her again and again – InuYasha's clawed foot on her outstretched hand, the pale Shikon no Tama dangling from his hands. The sneer on his face. His words.

She was abruptly jerked out of her reminisces as a strong aura filled the entire clearing. The barrier had broken. Kagome's soul had been pulled from her body. Kikyo watched as the bright light lit up the surroundings, and the girl's body twisted and turned in pain. Finally, she fell limp, and the soul gushed out in streams.

Someone was talking, but Kikyo couldn't tell who it was, or what they were saying. The same bright light rushed towards her, and it blinded her as she was engulfed in it. Power surged through her, re-animating her limbs and allowing herself to think clearly once more.

Her eyes screwed up as the soul continued to rush through her very veins. She felt the sensation of hair tickling her bare skin, and felt a strong breeze whip her clothes around. She slowly became more and more aware of the surrounding world, heard the gasps of others, heard Urasue boast about her creation. Kikyo moved forward until her hands rested on the old hag's shoulders. Anger at the woman filled her, consumed her, and with no effort at all, she blasted the witch with pure spiritual energy. She heard an exclamation of surprise from the hag as she fell, and Kikyo allowed the anger to rise up and consume her.

Stupid, thoughtless fool! she thought savagely. She hadn't wanted to wake up again. She'd wanted to sleep forever… why had Urasue ruined everything?

A voice spoke softly – caught halfway between a growl and a whisper. "You're really Kikyo, aren't you…"

Kikyo opened her eyes and raised her gaze slowly. The familiar red-clad, white-haired half-demon stood not far from her. At first, she allowed herself to be caught up in the sheer joy at seeing him again. All memories of his betrayal forgotten, she got up from her previous kneeling position and stumbled towards him, still unused to using her limbs. His name escaped her lips like a prayer.

When her face was inches from his, confusion seized her. What was he doing there? Then, she remembered. Remembered his betrayal, remembered how callously he'd treated her when he stole the jewel, and how smug he'd been. Her stomach began to churn with an emotion that would soon become very familiar.

"Why did you betray me?" she hissed at him, her hands rising to clutch at his robe. She unleashed a wave of spiritual energy, but he wisely sprung out of the way. His startled exclamation had no effect on her as she curled her fingers, wanting to crush the piece of fabric in her hands into nothingness. InuYasha. The very thought of the name made her insides roil in anger.

Desperate hands clutched at her long sleeves, and Kikyo gazed down into an ancient, wrinkled face. Her sister had aged terribly, but there was no mistaking her voice or the single eye that shone so pleadingly at her. Kikyo wrenched her sleeve away, driven by pure hate. In her mind, Kaede pleading for InuYasha merely meant yet another betrayal. When would the deceit stop?

Kikyo reached for a bow and fired an arrow at the half-demon. InuYasha sprang out of the way, puzzlement still rampant on his features. His innocent approach did not fool her. She saw him for what he truly was – a monster, willing to use a human priestess to achieve his ends. Bitter, unshed tears stung in her eyes as she leveled another arrow at him, determined to seal him for eternity – properly, this time.

He deflected her arrow with a sword he pulled from his side – a rusty old thing that almost immediately transformed into a massive blade. The energy from it shattered the bow in her hands, and she dropped it. InuYasha flung his sword aside and lunged for her, locking his fingers around her wrists and stilling her movement.

As the hanyou protested his innocence, Kikyo felt rage well up inside her once more. How dare he – how dare he deny what he had done to her! Men were all the same in the end, weren't they? He had used her and then tossed her aside when he no longer needed her. Tears stung at the corners of her eyes as she thought of how foolish and naïve she had been, to imagine that one with demon blood would actually hold his word.

When she spoke the same words aloud, InuYasha surprised her by drawing her close in an embrace. Sheer shock prevented her from reacting as he spoke gentle, reassuring words in her ear. Kikyo felt herself tremble and hated herself for it. Was she really going to allow herself to be won over by honey-sweet words once more? By false promises?

No.

She gripped his back and sent another burst of spiritual energy into it. Unfortunately, his fire-rat armor protected him well, and she wasn't able to wound him. Kikyo remained standing as he stumbled backwards.

"I can never rest without knowing you are dead," she informed him coldly, her passion cooling – but only slightly. "My utter hatred of you will keep me alive, InuYasha. I will never die when you are still alive!" Her fury re-ignited, Kikyo was about to lunge for him again when she felt something shift in the atmosphere. Behind her, Kagome's eyes were open and alight.

The soul began escaping her body with alacrity. Kikyo screamed in despair as she clutched at her body, trying to prevent the soul from being dragged out. Another unearthly wail tore itself out of her throat as the soul continued to escape, and her arms flew from her body with its force. Kikyo crumpled to the ground, sobbing dryly.

Why… why… I was so close…

Almost all of the soul had escaped her. Kikyo took the initiative and stumbled to her feet, hell-bent on getting as far away from Kagome as possible. She couldn't allow the last fragment of her soul to be re-absorbed into the schoolgirl's body. She would never have a chance to exact revenge ever again!

Kikyo tripped often as she moved farther and farther away, the malicious little part of her soul unable to sustain her properly. She panted as she continued to lumber along, one hand clutching the shoulder InuYasha had clawed, so long ago…

Without warning, the ground beneath her disappeared. Kikyo clenched her jaws together to prevent a shrill scream from escaping as she fell forward off the cliff. It wasn't fair – it wasn't fair! InuYasha had betrayed her and stolen the jewel that had been under her safekeeping. He deserved to die for his actions. Why was fate so determined to allow the traitor to walk free?

A warm hand caught her wrist, and Kikyo felt her body shudder as it jerked upwards. She glanced up, unsurprised to see the vaguely canine features of the half-demon. InuYasha looked saddened, and it occurred to her that she'd never seen him look so sad.

She pushed the thought away. She didn't care if he was sorrowful or not. She didn't care if he was repentant or not – although the way he had furiously denied her accusations made it fairly clear that he was not repentant. Only his death, not his apology, would satisfy her now.

"Return to Kagome," he begged her. "Don't do this."

Her eyes widened fractionally at his rough tone. He was pained.

"Return to Kagome?" she whispered bitterly. "Do you wish for me to die again, InuYasha? Is that what you want?"

InuYasha's face clouded. "No, Kikyo – "

"Silence!" she hissed. "I know what you imply. You wish for me to die. I will lose myself if I return to Kagome. I will never be Kikyo again."

"Kikyo…"

His hand clutched her wrist as her own fingers wrapped around his arm. She felt herself slipping, but concentrated on releasing one last surge of spiritual energy. It flickered on his bare skin, and the half-demon winced.

Kikyo slipped.

"Kikyo!" he yelled, sounding beside himself. "Kikyo!"

She gazed up at him, up into that expressive face, into those vibrant golden eyes that she had so loved. Kikyo's face twisted into a bitter smile. His heartbroken tone pained her, but her pain only served to fuel the fires of her rage.

"Well," she whispered, "if that is what you wish… I suppose I must comply, mustn't I?"

She let go.

AN: I played with the ending bit a little. I know Kikyo doesn't let go in the manga, but it kind of felt so much more dramatic this way… x) I also played with the dialogue. Again, this is more of a narration than anything else. The beginning part might be a little confusing, as it's only Kikyo's consciousness and not really the woman herself. Basically, Kikyo cannot see out of Kagome's eyes as Kagome's own soul is so much bigger. But she can see out of the clay body's eyes as she is the only soul to inhabit it. I'm of the opinion that Kagome's and Kikyo's souls are NOT completely identical. C'mon, it's not possible.

Enjoyed it? Didn't enjoy it? Let me know why.

2,516 words.