Disclaimer:  Contrary to popular belief, I did not go out and buy the rights to InuYasha sometime between this chapter and the last.  Sucks to be me!

A/N:  Oookay, I probably should have mentioned it in the prologue, but nothing should be too horribly confusing yet so nobody minds if I just say it now, right?  Right.  I know that anime-Kagome has brown eyes, and manga-Kagome's eyes are completely indistinguishable in color [maybe gray or something?], but for my purposes, Kagome's eyes will be blue, and Kikyou's will be brown.  And of course, Kagome's hair is kinda wavy and Kikyou's is straight.  Just a little reminder, but all of you devoted InuYasha otaku people should know that!  ^_~  Just a warning, I do switch POVs sometimes without actually being in anyone's POV...  It's weird, but you'll get it.  It'll usually be indicated by a  ~*~  mark.

       Sesshoumaru walked over to where Inuyasha crouched in silent strides, his hand coming up to rest on the hilt of his sword.  He thought with disdain that his even his pathetic half-breed brother should have been able to smell him by now.  Too bad.  In a few seconds it wouldn't matter.  The other humans in his pack took no notice of him either as he approached.  He stepped directly behind Inuyasha and raised his sword.

Oasis

Chapter I

Two Halves of Two Wholes

       Kikyou walked steadily towards the sounds of the battle, her blood-red robes rustling slightly as they dragged along the undergrowth of the forest.  Her bow and arrows hung from her back, and the Shinidamachuu floated around her in translucent, iridescent waves.  Long, straight black hair moved with the breeze her strides created, held back with a single white ribbon.

       Inuyasha...

       Inuyasha was close by, she could feel it.  Just a little closer...

       I love him...  yet I also love my hatred.  And still, that foolish little girl did not understand.  Inuyasha's life, Inuyasha's heart... belonged to her.  And nothing would stop her from claiming them.  Someday...  The darkening shroud around what remained of her soul writhed, holding tighter to its catch.

       The undead miko reached the edge of the clearing, but did not dare to move any closer.  Raising one slender, pale hand, she halted her soul-stealers in a silent command to proceed no further.  Before her eyes, the battle raged on.  The rogue kitsune had divided itself into many illusions, and...

      Kikyou's eyes widened.

       "Impossible...!  Inuyasha attacked the wrong--"  Her thoughts were interrupted by a shrill, feminine scream.  She watched as Inuyasha realized, too late, his mistake.  Her reincarnation fell backwards onto the ground, blood issuing from her wound.  The hanyou looked fearful for a moment, then enraged.  He began attacking the kitsune, the illusions, even his own comrades before they managed to stumble out of his range, unharmed.  He didn't even seem to distinguish what he was raising his sword against, leaving him in a blind fury.

       Inuyasha didn't stop his rampage until everything was dead, silent.  Still she watched.  That monk exchanged words with Inuyasha that she could not decipher, until they began to shout.

       "Don't you dare touch her, bouzu!  And don't try that condescending crap on me, you know shit about how I feel."

       "Damn it, Inuyasha!  I know what you're thinking, but it's NOT YOUR FAULT!  You cannot blame yourself for Ka--"

       "I can do whatever the hell I want!  You don't understand, it WAS my fault!  It was my fault that I couldn't even tell the youkai from the damn illusion!  It was my fault that I couldn't even protect her!  Don't you get it?!  She's dead because of ME."

       By this time, the little youkai had started crying in piercing, hysterical sobs.

       "So," she whispered quietly to herself.  "The girl is dead."  Her eyes were trained on Inuyasha's still form.  It would be too risky to try to retrieve the rest of her soul from her reincarnation now while the monk and exterminator were watching and Inuyasha mere yards away from the fallen body.  Her eyes narrowed marginally when he pulled her body into his embrace.

       One of the soul-stealers floated past her like a silent wraith, but its message was undeniably clear.  Off to her side, the undead miko registered the presence of the demon lord of the Western lands.  Her pale hand tightened around the smooth wood of her bow, the white fabric of her kimono sliding softly down to bunch at the graceful bend of her arm as she readied herself.  Kikyou's right hand was a mere inches away from the quiver of arrows strapped to her back, eyes locked on the white-clad figure, preparing herself in case of an attack.

       But if the demon even noticed her, he gave no sign of recognition.  He simply strode right past where she stood noiselessly and glided into the clearing.

       One clawed hand slipped his sword from the sheath in one lightning, fluid motion, and he raised the sword above Inuyasha's head.

~*~

       Before Sesshoumaru could bring the sword down in one clean arc, Inuyasha finally sensed his presence.  His head whipped around, his silver hair trailing behind in a flashing sweep.

       Clouded gold eyes widened.

       "What the hell do you think you're doing?!"  Inuyasha's arm shot to its position between his half-brother and the dead girl in his arms, shielding her body protectively.  The move was out of instinct; this new development did nothing to lessen his suspicion at Sesshoumaru's motives.

       Tenseiga remained suspended in midair.

       "Your wench cannot die yet.  So I am reviving her.  You would rather she stay dead, hanyou?" the inu-youkai sneered.  Inuyasha's mouth shut with an audible click.  Miroku and Sango merely stood there, eyes wide and jaws slack.

       "Why is Sesshoumaru doing this?  He hates Inuyasha!  What could his reasons be for helping him?" the demon exterminator whispered sharply to her companion.  The demon in question moved his blank stare to focus on her.  Sango matched his glare.

       "Because this Sesshoumaru knows that the girl's time to die should not have come.  Since my half-breed brother was careless, I must clean up after his mess."  Inuyasha ground his teeth at the knowledge that his accusation had hit right on the mark.  His carelessness.  Always.  Sesshoumaru turned his gaze back to where Inuyasha still crouched, bangs hiding his eyes.  "So what will it be?"  The question was almost not one; he had made his demand so flatly.

       Grudgingly, Inuyasha laid her cold body onto the damp ground, all the while keeping close watch at his brother's movements.  Without turning his back to the full demon even once, he stalked out of his brother's way.

       Focusing his eyes on the servants of the dead already surrounding her, he swung the Tenseiga.  For a moment, nothing happened.  No one said a word.  No one breathed.  No one moved.

       Then all hell broke loose.

~*~

       Kikyou's normally impassive face slipped into slight frustration.  No matter how much she strained, she could not hear what that demon was saying to Inuyasha, only his own outburst.  The sword gleamed, unmoving, in the afternoon light, and the air was thick with tension, moisture, and the smell of blood.

       Why was the demon lord not executing his attack?  And more importantly, why did Inuyasha continue to sit there, motionless, with that girl clutched in his arms while his enemy's sword was mere inches away from his face?  Kikyou's pale lips turned downwards into an almost imperceptible frown, which deepened when she saw that Inuyasha had carefully laid the body of her reincarnation onto the ground before his half-brother.

       What was he doing?

       Before she could contemplate further the meaning behind Inuyasha's actions, the demon swung his sword straight at her reincarnation.  She watched as bright blades of light sliced, almost in slow motion, through the girl's body.  For one second, one brief moment, she felt nothing.  And then there was only enough time for one gasp, one sharp intake of breath, before a searing pain unlike any she'd ever known tore at her body from the inside out.

~*~

       Five pairs of eyes snapped towards the edge of the clearing as another feminine scream pierced the air, laced with agony and an unfathomable sadness.  Kikyou stumbled into the open area; the pale skin of her hand was almost white now as it clutched her body where her heart should have been.  Before Inuyasha could even move towards her, a surge of power erupted from Kagome's body, sending everyone—even Sesshoumaru—slamming into the nearby trees and bushes.  The force of the explosion of energy quickly sent the two humans and baby kitsune into unconsciousness.  For once, Sesshoumaru's face was contorted with his bewildered emotions.  That alone should have hinted at the magnitude of what was happening.

       Inuyasha could only stare.

       A dark blur burst forth from Kikyou's clay body before shedding its black sheath like a second skin, leaving only a streak of burning, hot white light that shot into the center of the clearing where Kagome laid, violent winds whipping around her.  Instead of quieting, another flare of immense pressure rocketed outwards from her body, making Inuyasha feel as if the air was being squeezed out of his very lungs.

       As he watched on, immobile, Kikyou's fragile body shattered into thousands of pieces just like the jewel she once protected.

       Finally, the winds died down and the dust began to settle around them.  But as hard as he squinted, even his unnaturally sharp eyesight could not see the girl in the middle of the clearing.

       The last thing he saw was the form of his older brother picking up the Tenseiga and slipping out of the area.

       Darkness consumed him.

~*~

       The first thing he saw when he opened his burnished gold eyes was blue.

       Blue?

       Slowly, he closed his eyes and then opened them again, as if it might clear his vision of the unexplained color.  Strangely enough, the stubborn hue just wouldn't disappear, no matter how many times his heavy-lidded eyes blinked lethargically.

       "Are you okay?"  The blue color's disembodied voice sounded concerned.  Could colors talk?  He blinked again, the question sounding stupid even in his own head.  Finally, something clicked; he sat up suddenly, nearly smacking right into the girl leaning over him.

       "Are you okay?" she repeated.  Inuyasha's head whipped towards the sound of her voice and his eyes widened.  Kagome was kneeling there, right in front of him, looking as if she hadn't even been scratched, let alone dead with a huge, bloody gash in her side.  Hang on...  Had her hair always been that long?  Or straight?  He smacked himself mentally.  Who cared?!  She was alive.  That was what mattered.

       He reached out, wrapping his arms around her and pulling her small body into his embrace.  "She's warm again," he thought to himself with immeasurable relief.  He inhaled deeply, and...

       Inuyasha held the girl at arms length away from his body.  She blinked innocently up at him.

       "Kagome...?  Why do you... smell different?" he questioned tentatively.  She smiled disarmingly.

       "Because I'm not Kagome."  He pulled away from her, shocked.  The sentence echoed in his mind.  Now that he thought about it, she didn't even sound exactly like Kagome had, either.  The image of Kikyou's body shattering into the wind suddenly flashed in his mind.

       "Ki-Kikyou?" Inuyasha stuttered.  The girl simply shook her head, looking slightly apologetic now.  He took a closer look at her.  Blue eyes, like Kagome's, but long, straight hair.  Clothed in one of those strange kimono from Kagome's time.  "Who...  are you, then?" he managed to choke out.  (A/N:  No, I did not accidentally forget an 's' on the end of 'kimono.')

       "I... don't really know.  I remember having a name, or... two names.  The ones you said, I think.  And I remember being dead.  Then there was a lot of pain, and now I'm alive again.  I don't know how," she finished in a voice that seemed too calm for what she'd just been dragged through.

       Right then, it was as if Kikyou was speaking to him.  Kikyou, with her detached, objective view on everything. 

       The girl's face suddenly looked lost.  "I'm not really sure..."  She abruptly smiled again.  "But that's okay!  Everyone is alright, and that's what counts."  He stared at her startled by the obvious display of... well, Kagome-ism.  Kagome-ness?  Kagome-ocity.  Whatever.  In the corner of his eye, he could see Sango and Miroku begin to stir as they regained consciousness and sighed.  This would be a long night.

~*~

       Kaede stared disbelievingly at the four teens who had just walked into her hut and related what had to be the most ridiculous story she'd ever heard.  And she'd heard a lot of them, alright.  Life as a miko does that to you.

       Once again, a strange girl sat in her hut bearing such a similarity to her dead sister that it was startling, and once again, it was not she.  But this time, it was Kikyou in a way, and it was also Kagome sitting before her next to Inuyasha.  The old woman smiled inwardly to herself.  No, she didn't think that she'd ever seen the poor boy looking so conflicted before.

       She focused her attention once more to the girl sitting in front of her.  Kaede wasn't sure what to call her, and seeing as she had yet to speak, she'd just have to take it into her own hands.

       "So, child.  Have you a name?"

       "No, sister, I don't."

       The elderly miko was taken completely by surprise.  Sister?  She shook herself from her confusion.  Yes, she mused, it was just Kikyou showing through.

       "Her personality seems to have stabilized, Kaede-sama.  Earlier, she was constantly switching back and forth from Kikyou-sama to Kagome-sama, but now she's more like a complete mix of the two," Miroku supplied.  Inuyasha's face looked even more sullen than before, his ears drooping until they were almost hidden under his unruly mane of hair.

       "I see.  Well, from what all you have told me, I think I understand now what seems to have happened.  She is both Kagome and Kikyou-oneesama, yet she is neither.  When Sesshoumaru tried to revive Kagome, the part of their soul that was still with onee-sama was ripped forcefully from her and placed into Kagome.  Unfortunately, their personalities and physical appearances were... combined, in a way.  Hence, she is both, but not completely either one.  Perhaps she is what Kikyou-oneesama might have become had she not been chained to her destiny as a miko.  Or maybe what Kagome might have become if the soul had never been split.  We will never know for sure."  Kaede truly looked her age now, the tiredness showing through her softly wrinkled face.  Inuyasha averted his gaze to the floor.

       "Well," Sango began, "what should we call her?"  She looked around the room at everyone.  "I don't know about you, but I don't think I'd be comfortable calling her either Kikyou or Kagome."  Her gaze slid to Inuyasha in particular as she said this.

       "You're right," agreed the monk amiably.  "We need to give her her own name!  How about...  Something like Kik-gome!"  He was met by five blank stares.  Shippou continued to snooze unaware, cradled in the girl's lap.  "Or... Kago-kyou?"

       Kaede smiled as she watched the young monk receive two sharp slaps over the head for his trouble, though Inuyasha's seemed half-hearted.

       "Would you like a name, child?" she asked the girl as she sat there watching the three's antics and cradling the baby kitsune with a smile on her face.

       "Yes, please, though..."  She trailed off, uncertainly.  "...Neither of those, if it can be avoided," she finished with a sheepish smile.  Kaede chuckled.

       "Oh no, dear, I would never be so cruel."  Kaede gave her a knowing smile.  "Why don't you choose your own name and then tell us when you've found one you like?"

       "Aa.  Thank you."

       Inuyasha's ear twitched in their direction.  Turning his attention away from Miroku and Sango for the moment, he stalked up to the two miko.

       "Before we start assigning names, dates, and favorite colors," he snapped at them, "maybe we should figure out a way to... to..."  He gestured wildly with his hands.  "...Turn her back or something!" he ended lamely, unable to express what he really meant.

       "I remember hearing something about this sort of situation when I was but a child.  A legend of some sort...  But I can no longer recall the exact story, only that there were supposedly five herbs..."  Kaede trailed off, lost in her thoughts.

       Inuyasha was about to open his mouth and tell her that she had to remember when his eyes caught on K...  that girl.  She was looking slightly flustered and guilty for some reason.

       "What?" he questioned her.  Her eyes locked with his and she just looked at him for what seemed like an eternity.  Finally, she opened her mouth to speak.

       "I've... heard of this legend too.  I don't remember all of it but..."  She stopped abruptly, her eyes darting nervously to the hanyou.  She stared at him, without blinking, for what seemed like a small eternity.  He flinched under her gaze.  "...I do remember," she finally continued, "that even if it was originally one soul, the two personalities can't both emerge just like that."

       Inuyasha narrowed his eyes at her.  "What are you saying...?"

       Once again, she looked him straight in the eye, only him.  "You have to choose.  One girl or the other."  She broke away and addressed the rest of the room.  "You have to choose."

       Inuyasha's eyes grew impossibly wide, their golden hue paling drastically into a dull yellow.  Her words, her voice, echoed in his head.

       "You have to choose."

~*~

----tsudzuku----

A/N:  Wow, that just took me forever to write...  Sorry about the long wait guys!  I know all of my faithful readers (which would be 1) are just itching to read more...  Actually, my one faithful reader doesn't much care...  XD  Oh well!  I absolutely adore this chapter and making poor Inu squirm.  ^_^  Just me being sadistic and all.  Anywho...  See you next time!