A Miko's Heart

Chapter 1) Kagome's Realization & Kikyou's Confession

I sat there along the lip of the well that I have become so fond off for the past few months. This is my only link between 'my world' and my world. I thank Kami-sama everyday for allowing me the chance to experience what I have come to know as my life. The sun shone with such intensity that it was comforting. The perfect temperature. I yawned lazily as I realized I could fall asleep right then and there not caring that an angry InuHanyou would bite my head off. I giggled at the thought and tucked a stray lock of raven hair behind my ear in it's rightful place. I then looked to my outfit and giggled even louder. How silly I looked. Why did I where my sailor-fuku everyday? It was rather silly. I wouldn't be going back to school anytime soon. This was my home... No, not my home away from home, but my home. The other era felt like my home away home and I always found myself longing to return to the Sengoku Jidai.

I sighed once again as I remembered what I saw moments earlier. The scene broke my heart more than usual because in that instance I made the most important yet easiest realizations of my life. A tear trickled slowly and aimlessly down my face as I recalled what I had seen minutes ago.

–Flashback–

I followed InuYasha out of the village when I saw him leaving. "Where is it that he's going?" I asked myself even though I knew very well where he was going. Kikyou's Shinidama Chuu had been spotted and I knew at the very pit of my heart he was running off to see her. It completely unfazed me until the reality of what I saw next sunk in.

"Kikyou." InuYasha whispered with such softness that I almost grew jealous of her hold over him. "What are you doing here?" he asked her. I thanked Kami that I was standing downwind of him, for the moment. Kikyou flashed him a small smile of appreciation. "InuYasha. What are you doing here? Shouldn't you be protecting Kagome?" Kikyou asked. I was surprised, she used my name. What was Kikyou up to?

InuYasha stammered and stuttered from then on and then found his words. "Kagome's fine. Why would you even care though?" he asked. Kikyou flashed another smile, but instead of leaving like the first it stayed. "She is my re-incarnation, the only one next to me able to defeat Naraku, and the reason for allowing love to come back into your heart. Why wouldn't I care?" Kikyou told him. Kikyou cupped her hand against his cheek and her smile grew sweeter. "InuYasha, do not tell me that you have forgotten your vow to always protect her?" Kikyou told him.

He grabbed her hand and looked straight into her eyes. "What about my vow to protect you?" InuYasha demanded. Kikyou chuckled slightly at this. I had never seen her so laid back, so care-free before. "That's a useless vow, InuYasha. We both know it. How can you protect someone already dead?" she asked him. His eyes widened. "What are you saying?" he asked her with a tinge of confusion floating in his voice. "Do not act like such a baka, InuYasha. We both know that we have moved one from each other." Kikyou told him straight out. My mouth fell wide open at this. What was Kikyou trying to pull? Didn't she know how much InuYasha loved her? Was she trying to force him to choose me? "Kikyou! Don't say those things!" InuYasha exclaimed and pulled her into a hug.

"InuYasha, tell me. What do you feel?" she asked him in a whisper. "Surely you can feel the coldness of my touch, the hardness of my body." she told him. Kikyou looked up into InuYasha's eyes and smiled once more. "InuYasha, I love you. I never stopped but the fact of the matter is we can never be. We are in the past and it's the present now. Living in the past will only cause you grief. I can tell that Kagome has won a place in your heart." Kikyou said.

"Kikyou..." InuYasha whispered before trying to take her back in his arms. Kikyou refused this time and left the InuHanyou befuddled. "InuYasha, we definitely shared love in the time we had together, but looking back it was only a crush. A convenient love. Don't get me wrong, I would have gladly stayed by your side if we had a future but honestly InuYasha, think about it! What brought us together?" she asked him. The silver haired ball of confusion just stared at her with a blank expression. "The longing for acceptance... The need for love and the want for freedom from all the torment we both endured. You wanted an escape from the nightmare you lived through and I wanted an escape from my duties to live as a normal woman." she told him.

"We both used each other, not on purpose and not for evil purposes, but we still used each other. I loved you in either form you took so don't get me wrong there either. I only asked you to become human so that we might have had the luxury of dying more closely together." she finished. "But... What's wrong with being together once again?" InuYasha asked her. I froze right then and there. Was he choosing her? Either way I cared, but only wanted him to be happy so I would have tried to live with his decision. That caused a hearty chuckle to leave Kikyou's lips. "The fact that your heart belongs to another and that my life has been over for fifty years. I do not belong in the world of the living and I only wish to be laid to rest once the whole business of Naraku is taken care of." she told him. "How can you be so sure that my heart belongs to Kagome?" InuYasha demanded.

"Your eyes... It's all in your eyes. Your gaze always softened far more for her than it ever did for me. I saw a new man in those eyes of yours that I never saw when we were together. You feel alive with her, far more alive than with me. Don't tell me that these past months haven't been happier for you than it was with me." Kikyou asked me. InuYasha once again stuttered. "You won't hurt my feelings, InuYasha. I already see it." Kikyou told him. I had half a mind to fall over right there and then when I heard that statement. Was Kikyou telling him to be with me?

"W-What are you saying Kikyou, Nani?" InuYasha asked her. "To follow your heart and let go of the past so that it could finally rest." Kikyou merely requested. "There is no more that I can expect from a man already in love.. You gave me my wish, to live as a normal woman. Those days I loved you were the days I molded myself into an ordinary person so do not feel like you betrayed me, like you failed me. Because in the end, you were my hero." she told him. InuYasha blushed. Kikyou went up to his ear and whispered something in it. I was still able to hear it though. "Now go be Kagome's hero like it's meant to be." she whispered and I knew right then and there I had to get back to the camp...

–End Flashback–

In the time I spent sitting here I knew that I loved InuYasha. The feeling and knowing was always there, but I never admitted it out loud or in my thoughts freely until then. I silently thank Kikyou for moving on and letting go, but am saddened because she rejected InuYasha for the first time. Yes, my heart broke but only for InuYasha because he had to make a choice. Though I knew Kikyou had already made a choice, InuYasha still needed to decide something for his own being. I laughed when I also realized something. InuYasha wouldn't admit to me the minute he got back that he loved me. He'd do it on his own time... or probably when it was too late. But I didn't care... As long as I heard it before I died I would forever remain happy. "Oi, wench! What are you doing using up your energy? You should be back at camp resting!" came the voice of my beloved InuHanyou.

I turned towards InuYasha and smiled. "I am resting, InuYasha. Resting in the sunshine of a beautiful summer morning." I replied. I could feel him roll his eyes and then he joined me. "What's so great about the sun?" he asked in a gruff tone. I looked at him straight in the eyes. "It makes me feel energized... Like I'm alive..." I replied and giggled as I ran off towards a stream. "Oi! You should be resting!" he called after me. "Then catch me first!" I yelled back to him. "I wonder why she's so happy all of a sudden." I heard him grumble and then I heard the clang of his katana as he let it rest at his side once more. "Fine! Have it your way!" he yelled after me and began to run.

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Author's Note: Now if you noticed this wasn't OOC. InuYasha still held his exterior and Kikyou finally got the justice she deserved. She may have never said things like that altogether but look back at the episodes she begins to accept InuYasha and Kagome's relationship and you will find she has said things such as that. I also know this was a bit cheery, but writing about love gets me that way... I am a huge romantic... ... And if you tell me InuYasha was never open with his feelings for Kikyou then read Chapter 465: Hikari Light of the manga and then you can decide if what you're going to say is true! I won't say what happens because it will be a HUGE spoiler.. P! Please read & review and let me know on anything... Oh and here's an in story Japanese dictionary!

Kami-sama - God ((Can also be just 'Kami' and can also mean 'Lord'))

InuHanyou - Half Dog Demon ((Inu - Dog; Hanyou - Half Demon))

Sailor-fuku - School uniform

Sengoku Jidai - Feudal Era ((Also known as the 'Warring States Era'))

Shinidama Chuu - Kikyou's Soul Stealers ((Literally means Soul Snatchers))

Baka - Idiot ((InuYasha's favorite word other than Shimatta - Damn... Teehee))

Nani - What

Oi - Hey

Wench - Much like the insult of 'bitch' but a bit less insulting

Katana - A weapon much like that of a sword only it's more lightweight, smaller, and easier to handle. Note: InuYasha Tessaiga is always in katana form unless in battle...