Disclaimer: I don't own Inuyasha or Chibi Vampire (Karin).

AN: This is for DarkAngel048. Also still new to Karin so characters might be a bit ooc.

Last time: Inuyasha had missed her so much and it was good for him. He had grown up some and that was a relief for her and he had gotten along with his brother, even better in her book. So much had happened and she had so much to catch up on. But right now she had to catch up to her friend and soon to be brother in law.

Inuyasha and Kagome watched the couple ahead of them speak in low voices. Kagome couldn't hear what they were saying, Inuyasha could but he could care less and thus was not listening. He was too busy trying to engage Kagome in conversation. He had missed her so much those past years and he wanted all of her attention on him but it was divided between him and her friend that had goo-goo eyes for his brother.

He sighed and grabbed her hand with his own. Initially he thought that Kagome wasn't paying any attention to him but when she tightened her hand around his, he knew that she was with him. That was all that mattered to him and he focused then on getting to the protected chamber that held the Shikon no Tama.

"I wish I could hear what they are saying." Kagome whispered to him.

"No ya don't. It's just a bunch of girly stuff. She really has it bad for him. I don't see why though." Inuyasha huffed.

"Oh, Inuyasha. I guess not all girls want the rough one with the adorable doggy ears." Kagome stated and rubbed one of his ears.

He did a whiny purr and Kagome lightly laughed, pulling her hand away from his ear. She loved him dearly and wanted to spend the rest of her life with him but she also was trying to help insure Karin's future in the past. So little by little she tried to pick up her speed but Inuyasha wasn't budging to go any faster than they already were going. Sighing, she resigned and they stayed far behind letting the two talk to each other without any interruption.

"Kagome told me alot about you." Karin said to him.

"She did?" Sesshomaru asked, yet it wasn't a question.

"Yes. She said that you and Inuyasha were enemies but I don't see that. Lady Rin had said that you are very different than you had been before. I see that difference." Karin explained.

"I believe that my daughter may have misled you both. I am different but not so different that I am not to be feared." was all he said.

"Ok. Well I have no reason to fear you and I've never seen a reason to fear you either. But I will not allow myself to become passive. I will be sure to watch my back." Karin answered.

Sesshomaru nodded. She was a smart girl. A bit awkward in herself and she lacked a confidence that she should naturally have; given her species was vampire. They were supposed to be naturally confident, beautiful, and seductive. Yet here was her. She wasn't confident or seductive. She was shy and reserved but he could still catch onto hints that she was very interested. He would give that she had a beauty about her. He had seen quite a few women that were far more beautiful than her physically but she had a beauty that shined from within and it gave her a special touch of beauty.

Powerful though. She was an untapped source of raw energy and because she was a "psyche" vampire it could either explode into a supreme power or cut off. It all depended on whom she gave her first kiss to. If she gave it to a human, she would be human and according to tradition, have her memories of everything removed of but the one she loved. If she was with another of her kind or a demon; she would remain a vampire and finally be able to ascend to her full potential.

The kind of potential that he liked in a woman and the kind that would get the demon council off his back about taking a mate. It was a win-win-win situation for him. That is if he could get her to agree to his suit. She may like him but they have only just met and as weird as it is, he liked her. There was something infectious about her. Even so, women were the fickle side of any species. They liked to be shown they were loved and appreciated and they liked to show their affections back to their chosen. He wasn't one for showing his emotions and that could be a problem. Maybe he should seek out the miko's help on this one. She had no problem at voicing her emotions to Inuyasha or anyone in general. That he learned first hand. Yes, the miko would be a definate help.

Suddenly he stopped walking and Karin stopped talking. Even in his thoughts he had heard every word that she had said to him. And every word that she had said was all about what Kagome had told her about each and every one of them and she had mentioned a picture of him that the miko had given her. But that wasn't why he had paused. No. They had come to their destination. The chamber where he housed the Shikon jewel for protection.

"We are here." Inuyasha said to Kagome.

Kagome had a confused look on her face. She was looking around as if she was looking for something and then stopped moving and stared at the door. Carefully she went to the door and placed her hand upon it and then dropped it.

"I don't feel anything." she said.

"I made it so that no one would feel it. Not even you can overcome this magic I placed on this room. And no-one but Inuyasha or I can open this room." Sesshomaru explained and opened the door.

Everyone followed him into the dark chamber. There was no light at all in the room but the glowing of the Shikon. It was a dark color, almost black. Naraku's taint was still in the jewel and Kagome could feel it head on then. It was almost overwhelming and she rocked on her feet. Inuyasha was behind her in seconds to catch her if she fell. She didn't but she did need some help to continue standing. The malice was trying to take her over and she hadn't even touched the jewel yet!

With Inuyasha's help Kagome managed to stand in front of the jewel. Carefully she picked it up and immediately felt it grow angry and then calm. Trying to balance its emotions from the souls battling inside. There were voices floating out of it; whispering promises of power and riches. There was also a calmer voice begging to find peace. The constant battle was wearisome and all of the taint was making Kagome feel sick.

Karin pulled from around her neck the jewel shard Kagome had let her keep. It was so pure, even in her care, that it had kept Karin from being affected by the tainted jewel. But as soon as she let the shard fall into Kagome's hands did she feel the evil of the jewel. Almost instanteously she clutched her head in dizziness and her breathing shallowed. It was trying to harm her. Her kind was considered monsters but she was a light unlike any other, brighter than most holy people of the time. She could never be tempted by the jewel into corruption but it could harm her with its evil taint.

No-one understood what was happening. The jewel was acting on it's own to harm. The evil was higher than the purity and was surely stomping it down into submission. It couldn't attack Kagome as she was the keeper and guardian of it, but it did make her physically weaker. Inuyasha and Sesshomaru were too strong to be tempted into the evil acts it wanted to occur. But Karin was not a fully developed vampire. She hadn't found and kissed her other half and wouldn't ever be whole human or vampire or whatever until then.

"Get out of my head!" she shouted, "Ahhh!"

Dark purple waves of energy lashed out at Karin. Each one was trying to pull her to the jewel. Trying to pull her into the accursed bauble. She fought it though. She may not have been physically strong but she was spiritually. Her own soul was fighting in a way that her physical form could not and it was pushing the evil back into the jewel causing it to strike out at her randomly in brutal force.

At one particular push Sesshomaru grabbed Karin and pulled her to him. He was taking her away from the chamber. He left Inuyasha with Kagome as she began to purify the jewel. Karin was clinging to him for dear life. She was terrified of what had just happened and didn't understand it all. He didn't understand it all either. She was considered an unclean creature but the jewel saw her as a threat and attacked her.

Why was she such a threat to it? Was it because she was a psyche and her soul was beautiful, betraying her heritage? That was all he could come up with but he was absolutely positive that was what it was. He just held her trembling form as they waited for Kagome to finish her work. Karin became worried whenan amazingly white bright light shone from under the door. Kagome was doing something in there and they wouldn't know until they came out. When the light dispersed did Inuyasha and Kagome come out of the room. Kagome was drained and was leaning on Inuyasha for support. Sesshomaru and Karin glanced around them and noticed that the jewel was gone.

"What happened to the Shikon?" Karin asked her.

"I purified it. I completely purified it, no trace of evil was in it and I evaporated it. I sent Midoriko's soul on to the afterlife." Kagome explained.

"Good." Karin said.

Sesshomaru nodded, "It is finished."

"After all of these years it has finally finished. The quest is finally done." Inuyasha said with a sigh.

Kagome nodded and leaned her head on his shoulder. She was so happy to be back. Inuyasha was glad to see her and had grown up but most of all she was glad to see that Sesshomaru liked Karin. She was worried though that it happened too fast. She needed to speak to Karin or Inuyasha about her concerns. There was no way that she was going to voice them to Sesshomaru. She didn't have STUPID tattooed across her forhead. As if Inuyasha had read her mind he pulled her to the side and down the hall, saying that they had a few things to discuss.

Karin and Sesshomaru watched them go and she shrugged her shoulders when they disappeared from sight. She thought Kagome was goofy at times but when those two were together they were just weird.

"They are so weird." Karin commented.

"I agree they are an odd combination." Sesshomaru replied.

Karin looked down and noticed that he was still holding her to him. She flushed a little and placed her hand on his. She was nervous now. She had never been held by anyone, let alone a gorgeous demon lord. If Anju had been present she would have told her that she was acting like a floozy and it was unbecoming of a lady. She supposed that Anju would be right, too. Karin looked up and right into his gold eyes. She almost died then. Everything she had to say was almost lost on her. But she managed to say what was needed to be said. Or atleast what she believed was needed to be said in such a situation as the one she was in.

"I'm fine. You can let me go now." she said, her voice barely a whisper.

"I know but I find myself enjoying this position." he said in just same tone.

The fine hairs on her neck stood up as a shiver raced down her spine and her face turned blood red. It was so wrong of her to want this man and having just met him. Just as it was so wrong for her to be leaning in the way that she was. His breath was hot against her lips and his hand grasping her neck was hardly preceptible as his lips captured hers. She could hear the voices of her family in her head. But they were drowned out by her own voices. One asking if she understood what she had just done. Asking if she realized that her fate had been chosen by that kiss. Then there was the other cheering her on. But she ignored the voices; all of them, even her own.

All she recognized was her feeling that time wouldn't have changed for her if she wasn't meet him and be where she was. It changed for her because she was right where she needed to be. And she was ok with that and wouldn't change it for the world.

AN: Another finished. Well let me know what ya think.