EDIT! Edited June 21, 2007 by Turtle Kid. Thanks!

Disclaimer: I am not going to repeat myself. I do not own any of the characters of Yu Yu Hakusho or Inuyasha for this chapter or any others in this story. In truth I will most likely never own any of the characters of Yu Yu Hakusho or Inuyasha. They belong to their respective owners (which is not me).

These are the pairings, but remember romance is not my goal here.

Yusuke/Keiko
Kuwabara/Yukina
Inuyasha/Kagome
Miroku/Sango
Sesshoumaru/Kagura

Traditional pairings, ja?

For all you Kikyo fans this may very well be the one and only time Kikyo is the central character in the chapter. I don't like her and I think she should stay dead. But you didn't click here to read about my hatred for her so onward! To the story!

"Kaede," Kikyo called, grimacing in pain. "Please burn this with my body," she requested as she indicated the Shikon Jewel in her hand. She collapsed as her spirit left her body.

The young girl's eyes widened in panic at the collapsed form of her sister. "Kikyo!" she screamed.

Unbeknownst to the villagers, as they gathered their dead priestess's body a blue haired deity hovered over the crowd. The spirit of Kikyo appeared next to her looking disoriented.

"What happened?" she asked to no one in particular.

The deity floated over to her and gained her attention by smiling kindly at her, "Hi! My name's Botan."

"Hi…Botan. Is that my body?" she asked calmly while her eyes followed the solemn procession.

Botan scrutinized her carefully, "…Yes."

"So I'm dead."

"…Yes."

Kikyo sighed and her eyes turned to the body pinned to the tree. The body of the young half-demon did not move as it was studied by the Kikyo. "I can't believe he killed me. I-I loved him!" Tears escaped her eyes and cascaded down her cheeks.

As Botan's pink eyes softened she patted the dead priestess's shoulder comfortingly. "Actually…"

She looked up, her brown eyes were now red rimmed. "What?"

Botan fidgeted underneath the intense stare. "Since you're already dead I suppose there's no harm in telling you…Inuyasha wasn't the one who attacked you. It was another demon, another half-demon, actually, named Naraku."

"What? What! No. No. No," she kept repeating it to herself as she launched herself closer to the bound half-demon. "Please, please, no. I have to undo it. Please," she turned pleading eyes onto Botan.

"I'm sorry. I—"

"I killed him!"

"He's not dead!" Botan shouted over Kikyo's voice.

Kikyo's eyes narrowed dangerously, "Explain yourself."

"You didn't kill him. He's just pinned to the tree until someone capable of releasing him from your arrow comes."

"How long before someone powerful enough comes. A year? Two? Fifty?! He's as good as dead. Please, it has to be me. I have to fix this. Please, Botan," she asked, not willing to give up.

Botan sighed, "I'll put in a request with Lord Koenma, but the chances are slim."

Kikyo nodded. At least there was a chance. She couldn't give up hope.

-

Kikyo waited in a long line of spirits. They were all approaching a gate. As she got closer she saw a purple ogre directing the spirits into different directions. He had a stack of papers in his hand. As each spirit went in a different direction he handed the paper to a pale green ogre with glasses. He sorted them into different piles. A red ogre occasionally ran up with more papers. Kikyo concluded that the papers had the judgments on them.

Kikyo mentally berated herself for falling for such a trick. Of course Inuyasha wouldn't hurt her. But she had hurt him. A tool. That was all she had been. She should have had faith in him. At least let him explain. But she hadn't. Instead she had attacked him and bound in to a tree for who knows how long.

She felt all her bitter anger rising. She forced it away with some difficulty, imagining a little box she locked her anger there, to be saved for another day.

When Botan found her still standing in the eternal line, Kikyo was calm, serene. "Kikyo!" Botan called as she swept down on her oar, "Koenma considered you request. He can't let you go back, but because of your diligent service he's willing to offer you a chance at reincarnation. Your memories will stay here, of course, and it isn't guaranteed that you'll even be in the same era, but that's the best he can do."

Kikyo gazed at her calmly. "I accept."

How did you like it? Be truthful okay. Just so you know I reply to all my reviews, but not in my story. That takes up too much space.

Remember this is just the prologue and the other chapters will be much longer.

Review!