Disclaimer - I don't own InuYasha. If I did, I wouldn't be sitting here at the computer dreaming, I would be back in the bedroom . . . ahem, never mind that last thought. I don't own InuYasha, okay?





Author's Notes - Not many this time folks : ) Writing is coming okay . . . slow, but pretty steady. I'm not sure where I'm going with it atm, but it will, as always, be one hell of a ride.

Oh, this chapter is dedicated to all those Kikyo fans who felt I hadn't done her justice with Kagome's blow up : ) Here is my apology to you, and my thanks. To all of you who, like me, aren't overly fond of Kikyo . . . just keep an open mind. I'm treating it now as if there are two Kikyo's . . . the one that Urasue made, and the soul that is happy to rest and let Kagome and InuYasha be. So, don't worry, be happy . . . and well, you know the rest. Read, review, and tell me what you think.



OH, and so I don't forget, go read Chapter 13 people. I replaced the notice with Chapter 8 : )





Chapter 9 - Understandings (Part 1)



"You have to go relax sometime, InuYasha. For god's sake, just go already! We'll come and get you if she wakes up."

InuYasha cast one last look at the hut, then glanced back at his friends, sighing in defeat. "Feh. Alright, I'm going, I'm going." Sighing, he turned his back on the now grinning couple and stalked off, grumbling to himself.

Miroku shook his head, watching InuYasha walk away, and tightened his arm around Sango. Together, they settled down on the step to talk and keep an eye on Kagome.



*------------*------------*-----------*------------*



White.

That's the only word Kagome could think of to describe where she was. There was nothing but white.

"What . . . where am I?" she wondered out loud.

"Asleep," a familiar and oh-so-despised voice answered. She turned to find herself facing, of all people, Kikyo.

"What are you doing here?" she wondered, noting the sadness in her former incarnation's eyes.

"This is the only place I can talk to you," Kikyo answered her quietly.

"Talk to me? Last I knew you wanted to kill me, not talk."

"The construct me wants to kill you . . . . that is only one part of me. The rest resides within you . . . happily I might add. My life is over and has been for a long time now . . . I have no wish to live again. I never did."

"Then why are you here?" Kagome asked suspiciously. This was not something she would ever have thought would happen.

"Your miko powers are newly awakened, and my sister cannot teach you how to use them. I, however, can teach you, since your powers are identical to my own. But I can only teach you here, in your dreams, where the boundaries between the realms of the living and the dead are weak."

"Why should I trust you?" Kikyo sighed, and sat down gracefully on the non-existent floor.

"You are a danger to yourself and your friends if you remain untrained with such potential. I came forward to offer my help, if you will let me." She shook her head slowly. "Kagome, I am dead. Once the construct me is also dead, I can return my consciousness to the peaceful slumber Urasue pulled me from." She held up a hand to forestall the questions bubbling in Kagome's mind. "Before you ask . . . yes, the feelings you hold for InuYasha are your own, not offshoots of mine. Your feelings are much stronger, and undiluted, then mine ever were. InuYasha and I were not meant to be, it is that simple. I have no regrets on that fact. In fact, I am very glad that you have been able to accomplish what I could not . . . healing his heart of the it's past wounds."

Kagome could only stare at her former incarnation in shock. This was a completely unexpected development. 'She knew about my concern over whether my feelings were mine or hers? What else does she know that I haven't told anyone?" She sank down to sit across from Kikyo, facing the miko with wary trust.

"You are both right, somewhat," Kikyo continued. "Maybe it was just my loneliness and isolation that caused me to reach out to him . . . in either case, we should have trusted each other more. But you were wrong about my wanting him to be human. It wasn't a lack of acceptance for what he is . . . it was just the only way I could see us being able to live together in peace. If not for the jewel . . ." She sighed. "All of that is in the past now anyway. As I was saying . . . I truly want to help you control your newly awakened powers . . . and the sooner that construct is put to rest, the better. For all of us."

Kagome nodded slightly. "Okay . . . how long will this take Kikyo?"

"Time has no meaning here . . . so in reality it shouldn't take very long at all. A couple of weeks at most. But we will definitely want to take it slowly . . . after all, it took me years." They shared a small, sad smile at that. "Well, since you seem to have agreed to allow me to help you, let us get started then, shall we?"



*------------*------------*-----------*------------*



InuYasha awoke with a start. Blinking his eyes in an attempt to reorient himself with his surroundings, he glanced up at the sky. It was nearing noon . . . which meant he'd only been asleep for a few hours. He rolled off his perch to the ground below, and started walking slowly towards the village. Half way there, he changed his mind and turned to go to the hot springs. With all that had gone on in the past month, he hadn't done much more than take a quick swim in the very cold water of the river, and it really hadn't done much in the way of getting him clean. A soak in the hot springs would improve that tremendously, as well as giving him some much needed time to think.

'What if she doesn't remember? Will I be able to tell her again? It took me forever to do it the first time . . .' he thought to himself. 'Why is it that things can never be easy between the two of us?' He sighed.

Arriving at the hot springs, he quickly shed his clothing and stepped into the water. Finding a spot where he could relax and not drown, he dropped his head back on the shore after gathering his hair up above the water. He hated getting his hair wet . . . but he knew he was going to have to wash it soon enough anyway. Staring up at the sky, he watched the clouds drift lazily overhead as his mind mulled over his current dilemma. So much of his heart depended on what, if anything, Kagome remembered when she woke up. He doubted he would be able to get the nerve up again to tell her everything he had said to her in the dream. With the sudden development of her powers . . . well, who knew what was going to happen in their quest now?

He sighed deeply, feeling the heated waters of the spring relaxing muscles he hadn't even realized were wound tight as springs. His life was never easy, was it? The future was so uncertain, especially where Naraku and the quest for the shards was concerned . . . and what would happen once the jewel was whole again? Would the well continue to work? Or would it force Kagome to make a painful choice between her friends and her family? Would it even give her a choice? So many uncertainties, so many possible outcomes . . . and very few would end in anything but pain. One thing he did know though . . . he loved her. Completely, deeply, insanely . . . he loved Kagome. He would go where she went if he could . . . and if he couldn't, he would wait until he could be with her again. Five hundred years was a long time . . . but if at the end he was with her, he would deal with it as best he could.

"Let's just hope the gods aren't that cruel," he grumbled.



*------------*------------*-----------*------------*



Kagome awoke slowly, her consciousness returning in stages. She was first aware of a soft breeze running over her skin, bringing with it the smells of clean earth and sky . . . so different from her time. Next came the soft murmur of Sango and Miroku talking nearby, and the busy sounds of the village in the background. Finally came the new tingling sensation in the back of her mind . . . her miko powers buzzing softly with the presence of power. She opened her eyes slowly, taking in the familiar walls of Kaede's hut.

She stretched her senses as Kikyo had taught her, trying to locate InuYasha and Shippo by the feel of their youki. Shippo was practically on top of her, sleeping curled nearby. InuYasha, on the other hand . . . he felt a good distance away. However, there was another, stronger youki nearby . . . one that felt oddly familiar and yet strange at the same time . . .

"Sesshoumaru!" she whispered, the feel of his youki clicking in her mind. "What's he doing here . . .oh gods, I have to find InuYasha . . ." She struggled to her feet and staggered to the door.

Sango and Miroku leaped up in surprise at her sudden appearance, Miroku moving swiftly to catch her as she stumbled and nearly fell.

"InuYasha . . . his brother . . . where is he?" she gasped, trying to regain control of her limbs.

"Kagome, slow down. What about Sesshoumaru?"

"He's nearby . . . I can sense him . . . where's InuYasha!?"

"He disappeared into the woods a few hours ago . . ." Sango said, staring at her.

"We have to find him, quickly," Kagome said. Shrugging off Miroku's support, she took off towards where she thought she could feel him. Miroku and Sango scrambled to gather up their weapons and followed her as best they could.

To be Continued



AN- MUAHAHA! Another cliffy! Yes, I know I'm evil, and yes, I know some of you have rotting fruit or vegetables that you would just love to throw at me . . . but I have Seph and his Masamune to protect me, so don't try it : ) As much as I would love to see his sword in action . . . or maybe it's just the body weilding the sword . . . ahem. Anyway . . . . .

Oh, for those of you who are Final Fantasy 7 fans . . . or just a fan of my beloved Sephiroth . . . I have a FF7 fic that I am currently working on, and will be posting in a couple of months. You might wanna check it out : ) Of course, I'm going to finish this one first . . . too many fics on the line would really tangle my poor little head up.