Purity

            Inuyasha woke to the sound of much weeping in the village.  The village women had finished cleaning and dressing Kagome's body, and were grieving over it.  Loudly.  He debated bringing up the fact that she was coming back, some how or another, but decided against it.  No one was believing him on that front.  He decided that he could go see the body, though.

            When he arrived he got the perfect confirmation, for him, that Kagome would be coming back to him.  She didn't smell dead.  Well… she smells dead, but not two days dead.  She might have died moments ago… I don't know what magic is keeping her close, but I am glad for it.

            The village women had dressed her in the clothing of a priestess, similar to those Kikyou had worn, but different colors.  Deep blue pants, rather than red, with the white blouse.  White cloths had been wrapped around her neck, like bandages, hiding the vicious wound from view.  Her face was serene, and she looked quite beautiful in the outfit.  Sending the weeping women away, he sat beside her, feeling more at ease than he had in a long time, considering things.

            They said that they couldn't use the jewel, but then they'd had some idea about it.  Something they weren't sharing with him.  He had seen the sadness in Kikyou's eyes when she saw him holding Kagome.  It occurred to him, for the first time, how much pain he must have caused Kagome.  He could only imagine how he would feel, were she ever to embrace another man.

            Something was right, but not quite right, about Kikyou.  She was finally back to the priestess he had fallen in love with, so many years ago, but something had changed about her.  He couldn't put his finger on it, but there was some feeling of… desperation… around her.  She is teetering on the edge… if ghosts can go mad, I think she's nearly there.  I wonder if Kagome has realized it?  I should tell her… not to trust Kikyou quite so completely.

            Miroku came by at that point, limping and trying to hide it.  It had been a deep, wrenching wound to his leg that caused that limp, and Inuyasha would have bet money that it would stay with the houshi for the rest of his life.  Miroku sat beside his friend, but didn't say anything.  Inuyasha knew that something had happened, involving Sango, but he didn't know what.  The pair sat in comfortable silence for some time, gazing at the girl they had lost.

            "She really is coming back, Miroku.  I know it."  Inuyasha broke the silence, his quiet voice firm.

            Miroku was silent for a long time, but eventually said, "I think you truly believe that, Inuyasha."

            The hanyou didn't feel like rehashing the whole argument yet again, so he changed the subject.  "How is Sango?"  Blunt, but as tactful as Inuyasha would ever get.

            "As well as she can be… she has lost her family, her home, and her best friend.  I can only hope… hope that I can bring some joy to her life from now on."  Miroku's words were serious, but there was joy there too.

            "So the two of you have…?"  Inuyasha let the question hang in the air, unspoken.  For some reason, it felt perfectly right to discuss this before Kagome's body.  As if she were still with them, slumbering.

            "We have reached an… understanding, yes."

            "Feh."  Inuyasha let the corners of his mouth quirk in tiny smile.  "Can a hentai houshi like you keep his eyes and hands on just one woman?  A warrior like Sango deserves better."

            "Indeed, she does deserve better.  I will be better, for her.  For Sango… I will be the best."  Miroku knew that his friend was joking, but he was very serious.  He knew that he would never, in a million lives, find a woman better than Sango.  She was… perfection.  Sango was strength, and beauty, and sweetness, and all that was good.  The thought of ever being with anyone else was just absurd.

            Inuyasha looked sideways at the monk, a little surprised by his response, but understanding it completely.  "I know how you feel…" His gaze returned to Kagome's silent body.  Sadness flooded him.  He knew that she would be returning, somehow, but something deep inside him was panicking.  He knew he couldn't relax until she truly was back.  His breath caught in his chest, at the mere notion that she might not.

            "How do you know?"  Miroku had noticed the hanyou's sudden pained expression.  "That she's coming back, I mean."

            "She comes to me when I sleep.  She's with Kikyou, which is a little… odd.  They said that they couldn't use the jewel, but that they would find a way.  And…" he wasn't sure how exactly to explain this, "she doesn't smell… dead.  Not truly dead.  Not as dead as everyone seems to think she is."

            Miroku could only raise an eyebrow at his friend, the question in his eyes remaining unspoken.  Inuyasha understood what the monk was thinking, but he didn't know how to explain what his nose was telling him.

            "Dead… no.  Mostly dead.  That's the best I can say it.  Mostly dead."  He shrugged and stood up.  He had to do something before he went crazy.  He didn't trust Kikyou's newfound helpfulness.  The panic inside him was getting stronger.  Something wasn't right.  Indeed, something was going very very wrong.  Miroku was looking at him oddly, so he just said, "Something's not right.  Come on."

            Despite the fact that his injuries were still keeping him from moving his fastest, Inuyasha still made it to the temple much faster than the limping monk.  The jewel was glowing brightly on its pedestal, flaring irregularly.  There were forces moving around the room, unseen but not unfelt.  Scents were drifting around, Kagome and Kikyou, another woman he didn't recognize, demons, and lots of blood.  Something was happening, something big, and dangerous, something he didn't fully understand.

            "Kagome!!"  Inuyasha shouted against the violent silence in the temple.  He tried to move to the jewel, but a force was holding him back.  "Kagome!!  What's happening?"  He pushed toward the jewel, but couldn't reach it.  The force pressed against his chest, Kagome's scent flooded over him.  Was it her?  Was Kagome holding him back?  What was going on?

            Kagome did her best to reestablish the shield around the jewel, locking Kikyou out.  But she had little control over her miko powers, and Kikyou easily pushed past her feeble attempts. 

            "Stop, please Kikyou, you must stop!  You'll be lost forever!  We both will!"  Kagome pleaded with the miko, to no avail.

            "It is our duty, Kagome!  We must purify the Shikon no Tama!  It is our destiny!!"  Kikyou's voice was mad, obsessed and insane.  She began to laugh, shrieking wildly, pulling the forces of the jewel around herself.  Kagome was forced to retreat, to avoid being pulled in along with Kikyou.

            Just great!  First she tries pulling Inuyasha into hell with her, now she's trying to pull me into oblivion!!  Kagome couldn't believe how stupid she had been.  She should never have trusted Kikyou; she should have known that the dead woman was psychotic.  Kikyou would never accept anyone being with Inuyasha, she ought to have known that by now!  Kagome hovered as close to the swirling vortex as she dared, afraid to move closer and afraid to leave.

            "Kikyou!"  She screamed, still trying to get through to her past incarnation.  It was unlikely that Kikyou could even hear her, much less so that she would listen.  But Kagome had to try.  She had to find a way to make Kikyou listen.  Make her release this obsession with the jewel and Inuyasha. 

            But Inuyasha must have sensed her struggle and the wild flaring of the Shikon No Tama, because he ran into the temple.  Kagome moved instantly to his side, pulling him away.  As a halfling himself he would be susceptible to the vortex, and be drawn into the raging battle within.  Who knows what the battle would do to him then, pitting his demon half against his human half, it could very well tear him apart.  Kagome had to keep him away, keep him safe.

She pushed against him, trying to scream at him over the raging forces swirling out of the jewel.  He stopped, and sniffed the air, his ears twitching wildly.  Kagome wondered if he could feel her, or hear her.  He was calling her name, pushing against her.  He thinks I'm in danger.  Well, that's true, but I've got to get Inuyasha out of here!

Kagome closed her eyes, willing him to hear her.  Inuyasha, you have to leave now.  Leave the temple!  We have to go!  She glanced back, at Kikyou.  She could barely see the miko, as a smudgy blur in the brilliant lights emanating from the jewel.  They did have to evacuate the premises.  Both of them, immediately. 

Her hands went to her hanyou's face, and she tried to convey to him the urgency of their situation.  We've got to get out!  Now!!  Inuyasha looked around him, confused.  But he took a step back, towards the door.  Kagome, encouraged, pushed harder, willing him outside.  He took another step back.

"Kagome?"  He called, his eyes worried.

I'm right here.  We have to get out.  Come on, Inuyasha!  Move!  She didn't know if Inuyasha could hear her, but he seemed to be getting some kind of message from her, because he turned and moved swiftly to the door.  There he paused, and turned back, clearly afraid for her.

"Kagome?  Kagome!"  He called, panic crackling in his voice.  I'm here.  I'm here.  I'm with you!  Now out!!  She pushed with all her might, shoving him out the door with a force that clearly surprised him.  Only then did Kagome look back again.  Light was bursting out of the temple.  A violent war of colors, twilight blue, lavender, silver, sickly greens and yellows, red, black and gold, striking in patterns that resembled crashing waves or bolts of lightning.  It took her breath away to see it all happening on such a grand scale.

Suddenly, with a sound like a long sigh, the colors dissipated.  They seemed to be snatched up by the wind, and carried in every direction.  As the last wisps of light drifted away, the silence left behind them rang in Kagome's ears.  She looked at the temple, which seemed mostly intact after the otherworldly battle that had raged within it only moments before.  Kagome dreaded entering it again, fearing what she might find there.  What had Kikyou done?

But she knew she had to go in.  She had to find out.  Looking at Inuyasha's confused, worried face, Kagome knew she had no choice.  She brushed his cheek gently with an ethereal kiss, before venturing back into the shrine.  Kagome felt weary, exhausted and drained from the effects of the jewel, she imagined.  She paused at the door, before slipping through it, sensing ahead of her.  The jewel wouldn't be there.  She knew it before she even looked at the pedestal where it had rested.  She couldn't sense it.  It was gone, consumed by its own power.  The great and powerful Shikon No Tama was gone, never to be used for good or ill again.  There was a little pile of ashes, but Kagome could tell they held no residual powers.  Her last hope of ever returning to her body, to Inuyasha, to home… gone.

Kikyou had won.  The Shikon No Tama was purified.