Author's Note: Hello lovelies! This third chapter is another time skips (a very common theme in this story), just after the defeat of Naraku! I hope this chapter makes sense to you all because it did in my head. I took a few piece from the Inuyasha manga and pieced it together with my memories of the anime ending. But of course, I added my own twists and flairs. I hope you enjoy! Also please read the afterword because there is some updates on this story as well as another!

The world around her was dark, a black hole with distant flickering lights glowing. There was no floor or ceiling, no sky or ground, just her body floating in mid air. At first her heart raced, panic freezing her very veins, her vision blurred with tears. She felt lost in an endless pit, devoid of any substance or meaning.

Trying to be rational about the whole ordeal, Kagome searched her mind for what had just occurred before she ended up here. She had just been in the middle of a battle-worn mountain side with all her friends basking in their victory.

'Naraku is dead. The jewel… The jewel is gone…'

A bright light appeared in front of her, the figure of a woman being barely visible through it. She squinted her eyes at the sudden contrast and after a moment her eyes focused on the woman in front of her. The woman seemed to be dressed in a warriors kimono, one that existed long before the Feudal Era.

"Kagome… Thank you…"

"Midoriko… You're still here."

Midoriko smiled, her ghostly face was beautiful as if she had never aged here. Her clothes were worn, tattered as though she had just left a war ground but nothing blemished her visible skin.

"Kagome, you have completed the Shikon no Tama and with the death of Naraku, the jewel has brought you here to take my place in the battle. I have lived for hundreds of years in this jewel and both myself and Magatsuhi, my great adversary, have grown weary. We have reached our limit in our battle and must move on from here."

Kagome's heart caught in her chest. Stay here? Fight forever? Why her?

"Why has it brought me here? Why have none of the other owners of the Shikon no Tama been brought her to take your place? It's been in the hands of many Miko's including Kikyo… Why me?"

Midoriko's expression changed, her brows wrinking and turning upwards, her smile faltering and turning downward.

"You are like me Kagome, we both possess four spirits in our soul, Aramitama, the spirit of courage, Nigimitama, the spirit of Friendship, Kushimitama, the spirit of wisdom and Sakimitama, the spirit of love. We are the only utterly pure souls to touch this jewel, and I was the one who formed it. This jewel is the physical manifestation of all four souls within me to contain myself and Magatsuhi, the greatest evil I have ever known. In order to fuse the jewel together as a whole you had to unknowingly master the power of each of the four spirits in yourself and battle against the greatest evil of your time, Naraku. Don't you see it? You were meant to take my place in the battle against evil. Only you can do this Kagome."

Kagome was stunned into silence. She could not slow her heart, her head spun and nausea overcame her. The very idea that her entire existence would be forever trapped here, the one place she never thought she would be, was causing her to panic.

"B-But don't I get some sort of choice?! I thought I would just be ripped from one world or another and now I will be kept from both?!"

Midoriko came closer, reaching out one translucent hand and placed it on her shoulder. Kagome looked into her glowing eyes and saw all of the regret and empathy Midoriko was feeling. She knew the woman did not wish for Kagome to share her fate. Yet it all made sense, the stories similar in many ways, history condemned to repeat itself over again. Kagome, Kikyo, Midoriko, the three women doomed to live in the light and be consumed by the darkness of evil.

"Kagome… You have one way out of this. You may make a wish, just as every holder of the Shikon no Tama made, but you have to make the right wish. One that will save everyone."

Midoriko's ghostly image dimmed from view in a the matter of seconds, leaving Kagome once again alone in the void.

'The right wish…'

She wracked her brain thinking on it's meaning. Her whole intention was to save everyone, but intent meant nothing when the execution of it turned all wrong.

She thought of Kikyo and what she could only guess was her wish. Kikyo only wanted to see Inuyasha again, and her wish was fulfilled over fifty years later and obviously not in the intended way. She could wish with every good fiber of her being and yet the outcome could turn sour. What would she wish for that could not possibly go wrong?

She recalled a time shortly before she came to this world, of her grandpa going on about the usual holy relics. He had spoken about the jewel only once, telling her that each wish was more evil than the last, and the only way to destroy is was…

What had he said? She had probably tuned him out at that point but she did remember him mentioning it.

Grandpa, Souta, Mom, Inuyasha, Shippo and everyone else counted on her, she could not fail this time. She thought about all the people who were relying on her to make the right wish but what was it? Then, like a crack of lightning, it dawned on her.

'The only way to destroy the jewel of four souls is for someone to make an utterly selfless wish, with the only intention being to save everyone. You cannot want a single thing for yourself, only the good of all.'

"I know my wish…"

Her voice echoed through the air, as though it bounced off invisible walls. Midoriko came to her again, her hands clasped in front of her, her lips slightly upturned at the corners.

"Kagome, what is your wish?"

Kagome balled her fists to keep her hands from shaking, her own self-doubt nearly crushing her vocal chords from speaking. Everything depended on her and she could not let the Shikon Jewel fall into the hands of another living thing.

"I wish for the jewel to be completely destroyed."

Midoriko's eyes shined bright, lifting her cheeks gracefully in the most pleasant smile she had ever seen. She looked utterly relieved to finally hear the right wish.

Blinding light cracked through the darkness, skylights back into reality. The jewel was shattering from the inside, ceasing to exist. Before the light reached them, Midoriko reached out her hands to Kagome, grasping her hands and squeezing them with lifelike grip.

"I am free now Kagome, as are you, to choose where you would like to spend your life. I hope you find happiness and peace."

Instead of fading into the dark, Midoriko seemed to glow in a golden light, dissolving into it and raising upwards, vanishing from eye shot. She watched until she could not see any trace of the golden beams. She refocused her gaze in front of her where more light poured into the dark space and noticed not a yard away from her an old, wooden well opening, light shooting upwards from it. Kagome willed her feet to move on an invisible floor, approaching the well with caution. Once her knees brushed the edge, she peered down only to see a white open space, nothing to give way into where it lead.

Silently agreeing to herself that this was her only way out, Kagome took a large breath and placed both hands on the edge of the wooden structure, climbing onto the ledge and letting her feet dangle in the beyond.

'I want to go home…'

She silently prayed that she didn't misplace her trust in an old habit as she let herself slide off the edge and down into the unknown well.

The first thing to come back to her was her hearing. She heard voices that sounded miles away, not able to make out words, just voices of people who sounded familiar. She focused harder, picking out atleast three calling to her, a woman and two men.

After a few moments of focusing she could finally make out words.

"Kagome? Please tell me you're okay," The woman sounded close to tears, worry seeping into every word.

"Give her some space, she's not even conscious yet. Don't overwhelm her," This male sounded almost angry, his tone demanding and sharp.

"Kagome, I'm right here. I just need you to wake up." The second male soothed her, clearly worried for her but also reassuring.

The second sense to return was her nerve endings on fire, screeching in pain as if she had fallen from a great height. She also felt a warm hand holding hers, rubbing their thumb across her palm.

The third sense was feeling the aura's swirling around her. The one that called to her the most was a yokai energy tugging at her own, reaching out towards her, caressing her and calming her. Even though she could feel pain in places she didn't know existed, his aura was like ice on her wounds.

Finally, her eyes cracked open and she was staring up into an early afternoon sky, complete with fluffy white clouds that blocked out most of the direct sunlight. It had been morning when they fought Naraku, which meant she hadn't lost much time in the day, yet she felt like she had been gone for hours in the dark.

"Kagome, love, please tell me if you hurt anywhere. You fell from a portal a few yards above the ground and you hit pretty hard." There was that calm voice again, the same person holding her hand and reaching out to her aura. She mustered enough energy to turn her head toward the voice, meeting a pair of shimmered blue eyes. His face was tan, his lips full and pulled upward in a blinding smile, his hair handing down and brushing his shoulders.

"Kouga…" Her throat was raw, her tone gravely and weak. She felt like she was dying, but she had never been so happy to be alive to see his face again.

Sango came into view, tears running down her cheek, clearly overcome with worry. She knelt down beside her, pressing her fingers along her ribcage, making Kagome wince in pain.

"Sango, she needs a moment to rest, let her try to sit up." Kouga had waved Sango's hands away from her torso.

"We need to make sure she doesn't have any broken bones before she even tries to move." Sango's tone was blunt, clearly not happy about him intercepting.

"Sango… I'm okay. Just aching all over. Nothing's broken," Kagome lifted her head up, finding her muscles twinged with effort. She gripped Kouga's hand harder and he nodded, grabbing her other hand to steady her and letting her use him to push herself up. She took her time but eventually managed to lean up into a sitting position. Her heard spun slightly, but besides that she just felt extremely fatigued and achy.

"How's your head?," Sango asked.

"It's okay I'm just a little dizzy, like I spun in circles."

Sango rushed to her feet and out of sight. She came back holding a water sack from Ah-Un's saddle bag.

"Here, drink. You're probably just dehydrated from the battle."

Kagome took the water with gratitude, gulping the fluids down greedily. She hadn't realized how thirsty she had been during the battle. A fight to the death didn't usually leave room on the agenda for time outs.

Once she had her fill she handed it back, thanking her profusely. Kouga kept his eyes on her the whole time, trying to gauge her pain level, to see how badly she had been injured. She had been sucked into the black hole of the jewel's destruction and had been gone for a short time, the rest of the group panicking and searching for her in the nearby woods. Kouga on the other hand stayed exactly where she disappeared, not moving from the spot until he felt her aura near him. By the time he sensed her she was only inches from falling to the ground. He sprinted toward her but did not make it to catch her before she landed. He had called out for help, turning her over and inspecting her face and body for any external injuries and found only a few cuts and fresh bruises from the battle. He was forced to wait and watch until she awoke, hopefully unharmed.

His internal beast was constantly pacing the entire time she slept. He could not take his eyes off her, even knowing her heart beat was not enough, he needed to see her deep brown eyes open, staring up at him.

Seeing her awake set his beast at ease like he had never known. Yet seeing her in pain was not easy for him. He had to hold back every instinct to pull her into his arms and lick all her wounds clean and massage her aching muscles. He knew she wasn't ready for it yet, but he hoped someday soon she would be.

"Kouga?" She looked at him with a concerned expression, as if he were the one hurt.

He smiled at her, cupping one of her cheeks and sighing in relief.

"I'm just happy you're okay."

Her cheeks glowed with warmth, blushing at his close proximity and obvious care.

"I'm happy you're still alive. Naraku almost had you for a moment, I saw his tentacle catch your side and I panicked. My arrow almost missed. I definitely need more practice." Her smile brightened her eyes, as if a dusty curtain had been pulled away to reveal stain glass windows.

"I'm sure I can help with that. But tell me… What happened to you wherever you went?"

She paused for a moment, recalling what occurred before she awoke.

I made the right wish. Jewel is gone. Midoriko free. I made my choice to stay… here. With my friends.

Her eyes immediately flooded with tears from her memories. She had an indescribable feeling radiating through her body, both sad and happy.

"I uh… I made the right wish. The jewel is gone forever and she let me choose… where I wanted to stay and I decided… I am needed here most." Her voice grew more and more quiet as she continued her explanation, the ending near a whisper, as if she only wanted him to know.

She didn't crumble like she had before, she had too much happiness to let her sadness overpower her. She knew she had closed off a part of her life that mattered very much to her, but her future was never meant to be in her birth era. Her future was to change the past.

She was home.

Thank you so much for reading guys! This chapter was a bit of a filler as I am currently working on a one-shot story for a contest winner! Once upon a time, several years ago, I lost all inspiration to continue writing my most popular fanfic called Poison Ivy. I rewrote some of it a few years ago in hopes of revamping it for me but it just didn't cut it. However, I still have several loving fans for it and one of those completed a contest I held for my 100th review. The winner was rewarded a one-shot story of a couple of their choosing (Hinata and Naruto from NARUTO). Don't worry this will not take too much time from my main focus! I should have several more chapters for this story next week, as well as this spicy one-shot! More details and a link will be posted in the next chapter!

Don't forget to Review, Favorite and Follow for updates on future chapters and let me know how you're liking Roots of Time thus far.

-Sincerely Song