AUTHOR'S NOTE:

I absolutely LOVE the comments I have been getting for this story.

For JJ who worries: I'm sorry :P

I would say I'm sorry about how Kagome has been suffering, BU-UUT that would be a lie. Like I said a few chapters back, I have been in an 'I hate Kagome mood, so lets make her suffer.' I'm sure eventually it will pass so don't worry! .

The story does have a happy ending … I hope (since I'm not the type to kill of main characters.) Personally I think it's cruel to kill characters you love.

SLIGHT SPOILER

**cough, cough** Veronica Roth and Suzanne Collins **cough, cough**

DISCLAIMER:

I DO NOT NOR WILL I EVER OWN INUYASHA OR ITS CHARACTERS. I DO HOWEVER OWN THE PLOT AND DRABBLE OF THIS STORY.

Last time:

"Her name is Kikyo." She looked so sad when she said this and I felt a pain in my heart at the name, but I had promised not to ask. I also felt immense sorrow.

She looked up at me suddenly. "I must go now. I protected you this time as much as I could because you needed to have a bow, and the next time you wield it, it should not affect you. But I will not be able to do it again. I don't have the energy to do so." She picked another flower. "I weaken every day that passes, which means so do you. Inuyasha must find a way to save us, and soon, before it is too late."

She stood up and held her hand out to me. "Good luck, and hopefully we are together soon." She stepped away and began to fade into nothingness. "Until then, stay safe." And with that she disappeared completely.

Chapter 12: The Witch

Laughter could be heard in the darkness where I stood. I dare not move without expressed permission to do so. After all I was merely a doll in most eyes.

Naraku stepped out of the shadows that had concealed him for the past several hours. What he had been doing I could only guess at. But chances are he was finding more grotesque ways to change himself, now that he had most of the jewel shards anyway. Not that he found any on the girl's person when he first brought her here over a week ago. Hence the main reason he let her go, he knew eventually she'd have them back in her possession. Most likely he'd attack again then.

Though surprisingly enough, no one has questioned where they are since she was returned to them. 'Then again that might be the last thing on their minds right now.'

Inuyasha and his pack of misfits were less than a day's journey from their destination, and Naraku started going even more insane.

'Hopefully he calls Kagura back before she's found out.' I worried over my sister's safety. Not cause Inuyasha would kill her but because she might do something stupid while away to anger our master.

"Kana, show me Kagura." He demanded and I obliged.

I willed my mirror to show Kagura sitting in a tree a distance away from her quarry, but still within her sights. She was looking off into the distance not really watching them, but thinking almost. She sat there idly playing with a flower in her hand, twisting it this way and that, not really noticing its existence. Her chest rose and fell with a sigh as she closed her eyes and ley her head back against the tree she was in. Suddenly she bolted upright and clutched at her chest, grimacing with pain. The flower she had been holding slowly fell to the ground beneath her.

Naraku chuckled as he held Kagura's glowing, beating heart in his hand and squeezed again for good measure. He let up on her heart and she opened her eyes to glare at nothing. She mouthed out his name in distain as sweat beaded on her brow. She appeared to have gotten his message for she sat up straight and turned her focus towards Inuyasha with a scowl on her face. He knew how much she hated to be controlled, and relished in doing it anyway.

Inuyasha's POV:

"Hey Inuyasha? Is Kagome ok?" Shippo jumped onto my shoulder as we continued on our way south. I was hoping we were getting close but the mountains never seemed to get any closer. No matter how many steps we took towards them. I was starting to think there was some form of a barrier around it, like Mount Hakurei except I wasn't purified and neither was Sesshomaru.

I looked back at Kagome who was walking with Sango silently with downcast gaze towards her feet, she was paler than she was the day before, which began to worry me. 'Last time she regained color before too long.'

"She'll be fine so long as we get to the witch." I told the kid to reassure him and myself. She really wasn't looking too good after that attack yesterday. She told me what happened while she was unconscious and how her knowing soul protected her from the worst of it. Which made me wonder how bad it would have been if she didn't. I shuddered at the thought.

Shippo began to fidget on my shoulder which was starting to annoy me. "What is it now, Shippo?" I sighed in annoyance.

"Kagome isn't going to die is she?" the small voice asked in my ear.

I grabbed the kit off my shoulder by the back of his kimono. I held him at my eye level. "Why the hell would you ask such a question?"

He cowered in my grasp. "B-because she doesn't seem to be getting any better, and she keeps falling unconscious, and she gets head-"

"She's going to be fine Shippo." I growled, I couldn't really get mad at him for his concern since no one told him exactly what was going on. The concern in his eyes didn't fade much as he looked back at her while she trudged ahead. I could hear Sango trying to get her to talk to no avail. I put him back on my shoulder and patted his head. "She'll be fine, I promise Shippo. I'll do my best to take care of her."

He sniffled a little. "Ok." I couldn't help but feel bad for him since she was the only mother figure he looked to and relied upon. Sango didn't really count as she didn't care for the kit the same way Kagome did. Shippo had to deal with having Kagome there but not at the same time, it was hard, I knew. I missed her more than I thought possible. I wanted my Kagome back, healthy, and whole.

It was hard to watch as she struggled with the slightest things since the attack. It was even harder to have her look at me in the eye and not know who I am, let alone be terrified out of her mind when I touched her that first day. My heart felt as though a part of it was missing and would never be whole again.

'We have to get to that witch demon.' I thought. I looked back at the miko who looked no better than before.

I stopped dead in my tracks as a familiar scent was carried in the wind, growling could be heard from my throat as Shippo caught on to the scent too. I turned around to find Sesshomaru turning to where the scent was coming from, his eyes widened as he looked back in my direction.

"Get her out of here Inuyasha, I do not know how she will fare if she sees him." Sesshomaru urged as he began to get into a defensive stance. "I will delay him as long as I can. Without killing him."

I gathered Kagome up into my arms as fast as I could, she gave little protest as I took off towards the mountains as fast as my legs would carry me.

She huddle close to my chest as the wind beat at her small frame. She hadn't really been eating right since she was returned to us so it was no surprise she was fact it was slightly worrying. "Inuyasha where are we going in such a hurry?" she whispered loud enough for me to hear.

I glanced down at her, "We're going to the witch demon, remember?"

"Yes. I remember." She mumbled. "But why did we take off so fast and leave everyone behind?"

I wondered how much to tell her cause I didn't want to outright lie to her. I thought it over quickly before stating, "Mangy wolves."

Her eyes grew wide when I glanced down again at her sharp intake of breath, "Wolves?" she exclaimed hurting my ears a bit. "But what about the others? And Shippo! He's just a kid!" alarmed she tried to get free.

"Calm down Kagome, they're fine!" I ground out trying to keep her in my arms lest she fall.

"How do you know?!"

"Cause they're not enemies." I explained, 'well not really' I thought. "Sesshomaru and I decided it would be better for your health to take you away so you didn't have to suffer again." I ground out, feeling slightly depressed at the thought of her going through that again.

"Oh." She stopped struggling and snuggled back into my chest. "Thank you."

"For what wench?" I was confused. 'She's thanking me? From taking her away from that wolf?' despite the circumstances I smirked at the thought. 'Wait till I tell her after she remembers who she is,' my smirk died almost immediately, 'If she remembers.' I continued to run towards the mountains urging my legs to move faster.

Kagome's POV:

The sun was only a couple hours off from setting when a huge set of stairs came into view ahead of us. Inuyasha grinned at the sight of them and if possible ran faster. How he wasn't tired after hours of traveling at a breakneck speed was beyond me. All while carrying me as he ran, I offered to get on his back if that would help but his eyes grew wide at the mention of it and he firmly told me no. I assume it has something to do with things I didn't remember so I shrugged it off and made myself comfortable.

We were past the point of seeing the bottom of the steps when Inuyasha stopped running.

He sniffed the air around us before taking a cautious step forward.

Before his foot even touched the ground a voice could be heard coming from the trees. "I wouldn't do that if I were you."

He froze and drew his foot back, firmly planting it on the ground next to the other. He set me down on my own two feet which felt really odd since I had lost feeling in the a while back. "Come out and show yourself!" Inuyasha hollered into the trees.

I had to cover my sensitive ears from it lest he break them.

A lady wrapped in a black cloak appeared at the tree line. She was maybe Kaede's height, if not shorter. She had a head of white hair braided down past her waist. Her eyes were a brilliant shade of cobalt and her lips a dark shade of red. A strange contrast against her pale skin. For someone who was supposed to be old she didn't look to even half of Kaede's age, which confused me. She carried a staff with a glowing orb at the top by her side. If anything she looked like a white haired beautiful young woman, a short beautiful young woman.

"Are you the Witch Demon?" Inuyasha asked before I could.

She wrinkled her nose at the title given to her. "Yes, though few know of me by that name, most call me Astrid." She reached up and tucked a stray hair behind an ear. "Who did you hear about me from?"

"Myoga, he said you could help." I stated as I stepped around Inuyasha.

Her gaze flicked over to me and took me in. "And who might you be?" she took a step forward. "And what assistance might you need from me?"

"My name is Kagome, I was attacked by Naraku." Her eyes flashed with recognition at the name. "He did something, something to my mind and took my memories from me." I explained looking her in the eye. "Myoga told us about you in the hopes you could help me get them back, without," I trailed off unable to finish.

"Without what, girl?" Astrid asked urging me to continue.

Inuyasha answered for me. "Without triggering whatever it is Naraku did to her mind. Every time she comes across something that triggers a memory what he did attacks her mind." He explained coming up to wrap an arm around me. "I used a blood bond to save her life after he attacked, and she became a hanyou. But she is also a miko."

The woman's eye's clouded with confusion at this. "How could that be? Demon and miko are opposites, yet you claim she is both?"

I looked up as a shadow covered us from above and Sesshomaru landed next to us on the steps. "Yes. For I have witnessed it myself." He stated as he stood there.

Astrid bowed to Sesshomaru even though she was the elder. "Hello Lord Sesshomaru. I will take you word for it." She stood straight again. "Follow me then." And she led the way to the top of the stairs which was a very short climb thankfully.

She stopped at the entrance to the grounds. "Before I help you, you must know, this is not going to be easy nor painless on Kagome's part. She will have to fight a lot of the battle on her own with a guidance from me only." She looked me in the eye before asking. "Are you up to it? Once started it cannot be stopped. You either succeed or die."

I stared back at Astrid with determination. "I am tired of not knowing who I am and hurting others because of it. I am tired of being used for another's ends. I am ready."

She nodded and led us through the entrance to her grounds and home.

AUTHOR'S NOTE …again:

Well here's another chapter. I hope you enjoy! Read and review!

I'll have another one up soon… I promise.