I do not own Inuyasha. Not mine. Never will be.

This is the Forest Primeval

I shot an arrow into the air,

It fell to earth, I knew not where;

For, so swiftly it flew, the sight

Could not follow it in its flight.

I breathed a song into the air,

It fell to earth, I knew not where;

For who has sight so keen and strong,

That it can follow the flight of song?

Long, long afterward, in an oak

I found the arrow, still unbroke;

And the song, from beginning to end,

I found again in the heart of a friend.

Longfellow

Focus, Kagome. She thought softly as she looked at the target in front of her. The tree had several of her arrows embedded in the flesh of its bark. She'd been trying for hours to perfect an arrow of sealing like the one Kikyo had used to place Inuyasha into stasis for fifty years. The arrow had frozen time for the hanyou. It had bound his energies. It had been tuned to her own energies so that she could free him one day. But she had known she was dying. She knew that the only one who could have freed him was her reincarnation. Stop it, Kagome! Focus. You need to learn how to do this. If you can, we might have a chance at defeating Naraku… You might be able to buy us some time. She shook herself and sighed as she tried to find her center again.

Across the clearing, Miroku and Sango watched her as the sun was beginning to set in the Western skies. Shippo had gone with Inuyasha to gather wood for the fire. They were waiting for the rest of their group to arrive. Kirara purred in Sango's lap as she pet the fire cat in her diminutive form. It is going to be interesting when everyone shows up… The demon slayer thought as a frown touched her brow. This fragile truce has to survive or we might never defeat Naraku. Kohaku will die if we do not. So will Miroku. This has to work. It simply has to.

"Baka…" Kagome cursed after she'd let another arrow fly. It had hit its mark, however it was only an arrow of binding, not one of sealing and stasis as well. She sighed and looked down at her hand. A piece of fletching had become embedded in her pale skin and was bleeding. She sat on the ground where she'd been standing beside the arrows she'd pierced into the earth for easy access and then lay down her bow. She pulled the slender piece of feather from her hand and whimpered slightly as it bled more. She brought her hand to her lips and sucked away the excess blood until the wound ceased its seeping. Once the bleeding had stopped, she pulled her hands from her lips and focused her energies so that she could heal the wound closed. Since the death of Kikyo, Kagome had gained, or, more correctly, regained the miko abilities she'd been berated for not having access to. She could heal herself now and the wounds of others. Her arrows were even stronger in their power. She found a deep connection to the earth again and discovered that she was subject to precognitive episodes. Often times they were only dreams, but every so often, in battle, she could sense her opponents next move as well as where their weakness would appear. Controlling her new abilities depended entirely on her learning to control her emotions.

Of late, that had become more and more difficult. Inuyasha had lost the will to live and fight. It was the only reason that they had made their uneasy truce with his half brother, Sesshomaru, and had welcomed Kouga and his wolves into their circle for the final battle with Naraku. Though her beloved hanyou voiced his disapproval, he did little else. Kagome realized that she would lose her best friend, whether they won or lost and it made her heart ache. It was the other reason she was so desperate to perfect the arrow. If she had to, she'd seal him again to a tree until she could find a way to save his life.

Once the slit in her hand had healed, she stood and returned to her task. Every time she began focusing on the arrow, she wondered again why Kikyo would have made such an arrow when she obviously knew she was dying. She also wondered why she would do such a thing knowing doing so would sap all of her energies and make her incapable of healing herself when she needed to most. She could have purified him, then saved herself and regained the Shikon no Tama. But she didn't. She sacrificed herself to save him knowing she would be reincarnated. Did she know that she would be reborn as me and return to free him? Could she have seen that far into the future? When I first saw him there, pinned to the tree, I felt like I was looking at my destiny. Maybe I was. Maybe that's why he woke. Maybe that's why… The arrow was released and it glowed fiercely when it hit. Her eyes widened as she walked toward it and focused once she was near. She'd done it. The arrow of sealing… "I understand now…"

"What did you say, Kagome?" Miroku asked as he stood and approached her. He sensed the arrow and smiled faintly. "Well done! I hope it can be replicated when we fight Naraku."

"It can. I know its secret now." She said softly as a sad smile touched her lips.

"Oh?" He frowned faintly at the sadness in her smile. "What is that?"

"She surrendered." She murmured and closed her eyes as she disbursed the arrows with a wave of her hands. She looked to Miroku and sighed. "She surrendered to her powers and allowed them to work through her so that she could create something that would give her time. She knew she was dying. She knew that she would never heal if she did anything but purify Inuyasha, but she needed to keep him there so her heart could find the answers and discover some resolution. She loved him too much to kill him. Even in her rage, she loved him so she did the only thing she could do. She surrendered to her destiny. And here I am."

"You can't know that." Came Inuyasha's icy words. "You can't pretend to understand what happened."

She sighed and met his dead eyes with her own. "But I do understand, Inuyasha. I was given that knowledge, remember? And I am her, whether you will ever admit that to yourself or not. I might not be her, but I am her. And I know, had it been me rather than Kikyo in the same situation, I would have done the same thing. She couldn't kill you any more than I can let you die." She knew she was treading on dangerous ground, but she couldn't stop herself. This was Inuyasha. She loved him completely. If you love someone, sometimes you do things that hurt them because you have to. Sometimes you walk away and sometimes you stand firm and force them to hear the truth. "The woman whose been calling herself Kikyo, who that witch formed out of clay, was only a fracture of who she was. It was her rage and pain and desperation. Not the part that loved you, Inuyasha. It was the part that needed you and your pain so that she knew she wasn't hurting alone."

"Shut up!" He snarled and ran forward, pinning Kagome to the tree harshly enough to bruise the whole of her back against the unyielding bark of the wood. "You don't know her! You can't know anything about it! You'll do anything to try to take me away from her!"

She winced and closed her eyes, but did not cry. "Inuyasha." She began, and felt her heart beginning to break as she allowed her own truth to slip through her lips. "I'm her reincarnation. When she died and my soul was healed, I gained access to all her emotions and memories from the moment that she was resurrected in her clay body. What I'm telling you is the truth. And this is also the truth. I wouldn't do anything to try to take you away from her, because I know I can't do anything that would force you to release your strangle hold on her memory. I accepted that a long time ago." She met his wavering, broken gaze and sighed faintly. "I love you, Inuyasha. I will always love you and I've grown enough to realize that, as much as I do love you, I don't want you the way that Kikyo wanted you. You're my best friend. You're my brother."

He dropped her and took a step back from her. He looked stricken and lost. "Stop!"

She shook her head and stood with another wince from the bruises he'd caused along her body. "I won't. Because you need to hear this. I love you, Inuyasha. I will always be here for you. I've decided to stay here with you when we complete the Shikon no Tama and I make my wish, but not so that you can fall in love with me the way you did with Kikyo. I know your heart. You'll never love like that again. I'm staying because I don't want you to be alone. I'm staying so you'll always have your best friend when you need me. I'm staying because I won't let you give up and I know that so long as I am in your life, you won't let go."

"Please stop this, Kagome…" He whimpered and fell to his knees in front of her. "Please, I only want to go to her."

She knelt in front of him and reached out, caressing his cheek. "Death won't take you to her. She hasn't reached nirvana. She is me reborn. If you die, you will only be reborn without her. Hell isn't for heroes, Inuyasha. It's for monsters like Naraku who only know evil and malice. They go there because they've squandered the gift of life, throwing the world out of balance. You aren't a monster. You're my best friend. You're my brother. Please don't make me face this time all by myself. Come back to me and live again. Please." She whispered to him.

His golden eyes met her azure ones and he felt himself lean into her touch as she spoke. He was crying, but he didn't care. He was hearing her, finally. She was his Kagome. His best friend. His sister. And he loved her. He couldn't leave her now. He wouldn't. He pulled her into a tight embrace and closed his eyes. "Promise you won't leave me." He whispered as he drew in her scent, memorizing her as family.

She smiled and held onto him with all her strength. "I promise, Inuyasha." She laughed softly and they pulled away from each other slightly. She met his eyes and saw the spark that had been missing rekindled. She kissed his cheek and laughed when he pulled back with his eyes even wider.

She was about to stand up when she sensed the faint prick of the jewel shards approaching fast. Kouga… She thought only an instant before she was pulled off the ground and away from Inuyasha. She screamed sharply in surprise and then found herself in the wolf youkai's arms with his ice blue eyes looking down warmly at her. She poked his chest with two fingers harshly. "You could have given some warning!"

"Kagome, my love! You should know me better than that by now!" He laughed as he let her down to her feet. "How are you doing, you beautiful creature? Has that mutt been taking care of you properly? My woman deserves nothing better than…"

"She AIN'T your woman!" Came the sudden outburst of Inuyasha as he charged forward in rage. He swung his claws at Kouga who, honestly, had not been expecting them to be wielded. The last few times he'd visited, the forlorn Inuyasha had simply frowned at his antics and turned his back. The wolf youkai did not dodge quickly enough to completely evade Inuyasha's claws connecting with his shoulder, though he was able to bound away quickly. He looked back with a deep frown as Inuyasha helped Kagome up from where she had fallen while ducking away from the attack. "Are you alright?"

She nodded and smiled with faint anger causing her brow to twitch. "You could have also given me some warning, Inuyasha. And considering why we're meeting this evening, I suggest that you go and sit down before you really get into trouble."

Kagome walked away from the hanyou who had just been pummeled into the ground. He whimpered and slowly sat up. The word had been so gentle when she'd said it. She hadn't wanted to hurt him, she'd only wanted him to stop his posturing. He realized this fact and stood and dusted himself off and went to his task of making the campfire. He realized that the others in his little pack had watched the whole interplay between himself and Kagome and, while that had brought some red to his cheeks, he was still reeling so much that he couldn't really bring himself to care. What he cared about was Kouga forcing himself on Kagome the way he always did. Inuyasha admired her strength, willfulness and fire. No one should ever try to control her or force their will onto her, even if she loved them. And he knew with much certainty that she did not love Kouga.

Kagome returned to her spot in front of the tree and returned to practicing her arrows of sealing. Kouga walked up behind her and watched her as she worked. He was fully weary of Inuyasha now and so he tread lightly as approached while she notched another arrow and aimed. He felt her focus and then leaned in gently and nipped her ear.

She gasped and startled. Her arrow flew wildly away from its target into the forest. She felt it hit something. No. Someone. Her eyes widened. I Shit! /I "Kouga! Why did you do that?!" She turned on him in fury and he backed a few steps away with a smirk on his face.

"To see how focused you really are!" He replied, laughing.

"Tell that to whoever I just hit out there!" She retorted in anger and then turned and ran into the forest. Because the arrow had sealed the power of who ever she'd hit, she had no idea who might have an arrow jutting out of them, though she did know that it was a youkai of significant power. There had been a pulse of resistance before the youkai had been completely sealed. Her heart leapt as she sensed another jewel shard and heard the cries of a child and the shrill and panicked words of the little toad, Jaken. Oh Kami… I am in such SUCH deep shit…