Thanks for the reviews. I have been going over the other chapters to correct them, but there will be no changes in the story itself, if somebody was wondering.

I don't own Inuyasha or The Rise of the Guardians.

Text = thinking english

Text= thinking japanese

"Text"= talking english

"Text"= talking japanese

Chapter 6: Shatters of Reflection

Kiara landed in Central Park amidst a small grove of trees which decked their arrival. Kagome jumped of her back, so the neko youkai could transform into her smaller, less attention drawing form. It was still dark. There were no people around. The miko looked up at the light-giving moon and pulled up the hood of her midnight blue jacket. Her eyes scanned the area, then came to rest on her bow. They will be looking for a girl with a bow. ,she thought. But it is too risky to leave it behind. The sengoku jidai was easier -no camaras, commen knowledge of the supernaturall. She loved her home time, but life tended to get difficult when she was here.

Suddenly Kiara growled, transformed and pushed her behind a tree, before the girl could even blink. But before she could question her companion's behavior, something landed closely with a loud bang. Surprised, the miko reached for an arrow, but didn't draw it. A snow cloud, that the landing had swirled up, was all she could make out as she carefully peered past her tree. "I know you are there." a voice came out of it́s center.

Kagome relaxed and let go of her arrow. It's Jack... she thought and took a deep breath, then froze up in shock. It's Jack! Immediatly she jumped out of her hiding place. "Why are you following me?!"she shot. This was the last thing she needed. Kiara stood behind her unsure, with her head lowered close to the ground, ready to attack, if needed.

Jack inspected the area with a neutral expression and swung his staff lazily over a parkway. An ice-layer spread out over the path. "Why I'm following?" he repeated. "Really no reason." His icy blue eyes focused at her and she flinched at the anger in them."That you just ran off without a word while we are at war with Pitch is no reason!?"

The girl looked back determinated. What is wrong with you?!she scolded herself. You fought thousands of youkai! You can stand up against Sesshumaru! You will not flinch because some boy is angry because you brought yourself in danger! "I really should have used the toilett-trick, hm?" she said slowly, ignoring that he did not like the sarcasm in her voice. "I'm sorry to have been worrying you. But you and your friends wouldn't have let me go, if I would have taken the time to say goodbye."

Now he was mad. What was she thinking? "Of course not!"he shouted back. "Pitch is looking for you! And when we are speaking of friends -yours is crying!"

Kagome flinched back and bit her lips. Ayumi ... Yes, she had known, her actions would hurt the girl. But she also knew that this group, the Guardians, would take care of her and ... "Taking her with me would have been much worse." she told him stubbornly. "I'm not going somewhere safe."

Other than what she expected, when she looked back to him, all anger had fallen from his face and was replaced by understanding. "Listen, Kagome." he said and walked closer to her. "I know that. I know what you are planning. However, going after Pitch on your own is a very bad idea." He grinned self-consciously. "Believe me. I tried once and it didn't end well." His grin faded for a moment, before turning into a warm smile. "But that́s what friends are there for. So let's go back and kick Pitch's ass together. Everyone is waiting." He kept his smile in place, while he studied her. All kinds of emotions had been displayed in the miko's eyes, while he spoke. Each too fast to identify.

How does he know that? Kagome stared at the boy. The pulses of Shikon's aura went unnoticed, although normally she was very sensitive to them. How does he know what I want to do. Angry she shook her head, unconsciously stepping closer to Kiara. It wasn't her fight. "No, I can't go back..."she whispered, then looked up to him. "Now listen here: I don't know how you knew we would be flying back here, but don't dare to follow us any further! If you're worried ...about me fighting Pitch, I can calm you down. I'm not planning to."

"What?" Jack stared at her. "You are not-? But then why did you want to go back to Manhattan?! I thought you were planning to track Pitch down by going to the last place you have seen him!" He didn't realize that he was flying again. Her blue eyes were hollow. "That's true." she spoke. "I need to know where he lives. So I never go there."

"Are you kidding me?!" Jack shouted. Wind gathered around him."You are running away?! Hunting Sandi around the world is no problem, but as soon Pitch shows up, you run?!"That doesn't make sense! What is wrong with her?!

"Like a coward."she agreed. She hated herself for this. But she knew her place. Even if Shikon disagreed with her. War is a good teacher in such things. "It's better this way."

"Better?!" he got even madder. "It's better to be a coward?!What is that supposed to mean?! Do you even know what you are talking about?! There are millions of children out there! Pitch is after them! We must protect them! Is that so hard to understand?!"

"I know that."she said, reminding herself to stay calm. Her fist balled against her will. He musn't know. This isn't my responsibility. "You and your friends defeated him before, now didn't you? So you can do that again. You don't need my help." Everyone will be safe! So get a grip on yourself! She didńt look at him.

Kiara growled in warning, as the winter spirit came closer. "Which allows you to run off?! You know?! As if! If you knew, you wouldn't run! You would fight! We both know you can! But no! You have to run! Truth is, I don't think you even care!"

"Of course I care!" Kagome exploded. With tears in her eyes she spun around to him. "That is why I'm running! So you have even a chance of winning! Ím the reason Pitch became that strong!" Realizing what she just said, she clapped her hand over her mouth. Oh no!

Jack looked at her in shock. She gave Pitch his strength? Silence settled between them. He watched her as she closed her eyes and shook her head. It wasn't her choice, whatever she means.

How could I be so careless. Kagome was thinking to herself at the same time. He must think now that I'm the enemy! She readied herself for an attack. But when she looked at him, he was relaxed. The white haired boy studied her worriedly. "What do you mean?" he asked.

She turned away, so he couldn't see that he had unknowingly given her the rest. An attack she knew how to deal with. It was easy. This wasn't. Now he would start asking questions, which would lead to more questions that she wasn't allowed to answer. Even though her instinct told her to trust him. If there is a prize for rotten in judgment, I guess I already won that. ,she remembered. History is repeating itself, isn' it? "Go back." she told the waiting boy. "Your friends are waiting."

"I know where Pitch's lair is."

The miko spun around to winter spirit. "He is stronger there than anywhere else." he explained. "That is why we don't go there. He would cage us and we would have to watch him take over the world." Then he smiled. He knew she wouldn't go anywhere, before he told her the location. And she knew that, too. She glazed at him because of that. Jack sat down and waited. Kiara looked back and forth between them. In the end, Kagome sat down across from him, but stayed quiet. There was a pause.

"I'm about a hundred years old." He told her, thinking of an stragety. If he wanted her to talk, he needed to win her trust. "The man in the moon created me."

It worked. He had cought her off-guard and gained her curiousity. "He created you?" the girl asked warily, despite the child-like glance in her eyes. It made Jack smile. "Yes, he did." he confirmed. "Sandi, North, everyone of us had once been human. Not that I knew that for some time. Anyway, I died long ago while saving my sister from falling in a frozen lake. The moon brought me back to life and gave me my... well, he made me, what you see now."

She looked up at the moon, then at him. "I always thought you were born at the same time as the winter." she mumbled thoughtful to herself, then asked carefully, "You didn't know?"

Now it was his turn to stare to the sky. He took his time to answer. "When I died, I lost my memory. The moon never told me more than my name and there weren't exactly many others to ask." Jack hesitated. "Last Easter, during the fight with Pitch, some of my memories returned. And kids believed in me, finally. Things are easier now..."

Kagome stared at him in shock. Is he telling me nobody could ever see him?! Her thought raced. That's impossible! Nobody can take that for so long! "I believed in you ever since I can remember!" she said. And immediatly got red and bit her lip.

The white haired boy blinked at the girl, then smiled thankfully. Her face turned an even darker red. Hesitating she took a deep breath and reached for the lock of her collar, which she unlocked with her ki. She had to give them the basic information. Maybe the Guardians needed it to defeat Pitch. Kagome looked at him. Hopefully my feeling is right and I can trust him. Shikon let his aura flare surprised, so she wapped her aura around the gem in a compforting gesture. "This is the Shikon no Tama."she said.

"It changes color, doesn't it?" he asked. His eyes were fixed on the gem, but it's guardian could only find curiosity in them. "You noticed?" she asked and nodded. "Yes, their color changes due to the status of the souls, that make it up. This is their normal color. When a dark aura is mixing with theirs, they're in pain and turn black. The pain is then transmitted in my body."

Is that what happen during the fight? Jack wondered. "Was that why you broke down after shooting that arrow? And why are their souls in a gem?"

"I am the guardian of the Shikon no Tama." the senshi-miko explained. "I was born with it in my body." She hung the necklace back around her neck. "It was created 1239 when the miko Midoriko tried to purify a powerfull kodoku youkai and accidentialy cursed their souls to be caged in this form forever."

Shock. The winter incarniation stared at the innocent looking gem. "They... can't get out?" he wanted to know. Kagome gave a sad smile. "That's why I take care of them." she confirmed. "They are defenseless." The gem gave an angry red glow. The two had to smile at the souls' attitude. "The curse also affects their surroundings." the miko continued. "It lures out the evil and makes it a hundred times stronger. Over the centuries it even become believed, they could fullfill every wish, but that is nonsense. Dangerous nonsense." She locked eyes with Jack. "It is believed this gem dissapeared five hundred years ago. And that is good so. If their existence is found out, there will be war again. And the penetrating media will bring it to a whole new level."

Jack nodded in understanding. He would keep this secret. She fears war. No wonder she didn't trust us at first with this. I bet normally she trusts nobody. "But I don't see how any of this affects Pitch's strength."

She shook her head helplessly. "I'm not sure yet, how it works, but I am certain, Pitch's strength is somehow connected to Shikon. In the year 1460, you Guardians defeated Pitch for the first time. In the same year Shikon went into the world of the dead with it's last guardian, Kikyou. It came back in our world as I was born, but I first found out, when Shikon awoke two days before Easter, when Pitch rose against you once more. That day, on my fifthteen birthday, I was kidnapped through a time portal and landed in the year 1510, where Shikon's curse strengthed due to a youkai war that broke out around it. At the same time you fought Pitch, before he dissapeared for fivehundred years. I passed tose fivehundred years, when I returned home with Shikon at the end of the war. And now Shikon is stronger than ever before, because the souls inside are now learning how to get around the curse and be able to do things, even when they are still caged. Bunnymund said, Pitch is stronger than ever before. Maybe getting Shikon farther away from him, can weaken him. That's why Ím running."

Jack thought over it, then shook his head. "Okay, the facts are strange." Jack agreed. "But you aren't the one giving Pitch strength. Nor is Shikon no Tama. The wars do." -"There was no war on my birthday and Pitch still got stronger."-"This is nonsense. How should that work? It must be a coincidence." -"Jack." Kagome said seriously. "Time travelers believe in many things, but not in coincidences."

They stared at each other, the tension thick with unsaid fears, arguments and opinions. The way she sat there was all too familiar to Jack. She was lonely and doubted everything. No words of comfort could change that in this situation, he knew.

Kagome was lost in memories as the snowball hit her. Shocked she looked up. Jack smiled at her mischievly and created the next snowball in his hand. "Jack, what are you-" and was hit straight in the face! Angrily the girl washed it off her face. Now you pay.

Kiara watched with wide eyes as the two started a snowball fight. Blinking serveral times she transformed into her smaller form and sat down a safe distance away. A smile appeared at the youkai's face, as she declaired all inhabitants of this era for insane and watched the children play.

They lost track of time. Jack laughed out loud and Kagome couldn't help but notice how nice it sounded. He on the other side was relieved to discover, that the child-like glin was back in her eyes and shining through her very being. They played on until they forgot, why they had begun. Neither of them wanted to stop.

"What is going on here?" an angry shout came suddenly from above. North's sled flew above their heads and Bunnymund glazed over it's rim. The two stopped immeadiatly. Tooth appeared beside the bunny. "Oh, thank goodness! We found you!" she shouted. "Jack! Kagome! Pitch is attacking!"-"Where?" Jack asked at once, forgetting all at once to block the last incoming snowball. Ayumi came in view. "Kagome!" she shouted, her face in tears. "Pitch is in Tokyo!"

Hope you enjoyed. Till the next chapter, sweet dreams and watch out for yourselves in the dark. (Please review.)