Notes and Q&A:

No real notes today, just a heartfelt thank you to my reviewers. I've been going through a situation not unlike Kagome's with an "ex" of mine and getting such kind responses really lifts my spirits.

tsunami-chan -- You asked how many chapters the story will contain -- I have a total of nine on my computer, plus an NC-17 epilogue that is not vital to the story (therefore will not be posted on fan fiction.net, I'll have to provide the location later). The total may change as I go through the editing process as there are a few parts I'd like to expand upon.

On with the story!

Releasing Your Heart: The Search Continues

by arisu-the-pink

Several days had passed since Kagome jumped down the Bone Eater's Well. Sango, Miroku, and Shippou gathered their things in a stifling silence, while Inuyasha spoke to Kikyou a distance away.

"I don't want you to come," Inuyasha was saying to the miko. "If something should happen to you so soon after getting you back --"

"Fate will deal her hand whether I go with you or not," Kikyou interrupted calmly. "Without the girl, you cannot detect the Shikon-no-Tama. I can."

Her logic was infallible, of course. Inuyasha grumbled. "Fine, but stay out of the way and make sure you take your bow. If you do something stupid..." his voice trailed off at the annoyed look on Kikyou's face. Of course, she never did anything stupid. Kikyou was the most level-headed of the six now. He turned toward his companions.

"Miroku, Sango, Shippou! Are you packed?"

The houshi and demon exterminator nodded, and Shippou climbed onto Kirara with their packs. "If Kagome comes back," he started, but was hushed by a look from Sango.

"Not in front of Inuyasha," she reminded him. In a softer voice, praying that the hanyou's sensitive ears wouldn't hear, she added, "if she returns, Kaede will be sure to keep her company until we return. Now calm down."

Finally ready, all six of the group started toward the western horizon, each considering the battles they knew were up ahead.

* * * *

The serpent seemed to spit blood, and it splattered like hot ash on their faces. Miroku guarded himself with his staff, Sango standing only meters away with hiraikotsu ready for launch. On the other side of thedemon, Inuyasha slashed yet a second wound into the beast, distracting it from the humans.

"Feh! Are you afraid to strike youkai, beast?" He shouted as it turned its head rapidly in his direction, fangs gleaming.

Inuyasha jumped quickly out of striking distance, glancing off of tree branches. He was tiring, but had to lead the serpent away from his friends. In an opportune moment, he jumped beneath a tangle of bushes, gaining firm footing.

"Inuyasha!" Kikyou's voice called to him from a distance, her bow leveled for use. "It's in the tail!"

The tail was within reach. Inuyasha smirked, his eyes narrowing. This will be easy, he gloated. "Sankon Te--"

"INUYASHA!"

The serpent lunged at his voice, cutting off the attack before it began. Inuyasha felt the searing heat on his right arm before he saw the blood gush forth. "Damn you!" He growled, holding up Tessaiga with his other arm, blocking a second lunge.

Suddenly, the demon hissed. The hanyou was no longer in focus as it felt its tail pinned to the ground. A white light emanated from the arrow plunged within the youkai's scales and swept slowly up it's body. The forest was in a wash of blinding light until moments later an explosion of reptile pieces announced the danger was over.

Kikyou slid down from her position on a precipice and walked toward the aura she felt. Finding the shard among a pile of leaves and blood, she lifted it into her palm. The purple tainted glass turned white at the contact. "Are you injured?" she asked the hanyou who hobbled in her direction.

"Only my arm. We'll take care of it later." Inuyasha glanced about the trees, seeking the others. "Everyone else okay?"

"We're fine," Miroku answered. "The shard?"

"I have it," Kikyou answered as she placed it into the glass container her sister had given her. "We should return to the village now and tend to Inuyasha's wounds." Without a further word, she led the way out of the damp woods, the rest following behind in silence.

* * * *

"OUCH you--" Inuyasha bit back the rest of his invective, knowing Kikyou wouldn't respond well to being called 'wench'. She was wiping his wound carefully, but still it stung as though she were rubbing it with tree bark.

Kaede was starting a stew in the next room while the others hunted for rabbit. It would be a late dinner -- the sun had already fallen below the horizon. In the firelight from the hearth, Kikyou was now wrapping clean linen around Inuyasha's right arm, carefully tucking the knot up from the bottom to keep it bound. "Finished. I'm going to check on Aimi, she has given birth today."

Kikyou was stopped by a hand on her arm, weak but insistent. "Wait, Kikyou," Inuyasha gazed up at her, "this is the first time we've been alone since you came back to me. The others will return soon." He didn't know exactly what it was he wanted from her. Perhaps her body, or a kiss, or maybe -- maybe even just her presence. For a little while. He didn't want to be left alone.

Kikyou sighed, and leaned forward, brushing a chaste kiss on the hanyou's forehead. "I have duties to perform, Inuyasha. We will be together for the rest of our lives, is that not enough?"

He released her wrist and sat back, closing his eyes to hide his disappointment. "Yes, of course. Go and take care of the baby." At least, he told himself, I know that she will be a good mother. The idea warmed him even as he pushed the giddiness away with a grunt.

She left him silently, taking the bowl of mashed herbs from his poultice with her. Inuyasha lay back on the firm wood of the hut, and stared at its ceiling. Somehow, something wasn't quite right. Kikyou should have been overjoyed to be with him, shouldn't she? After all, it was all either of them had wanted, to be together for all eternity. Even in her resurrected form, before Sesshoumaru restored her, she made him promise to join her in the afterlife after avenging her. So why was there this dark cloud hovering over them?

We're still adjusting, Inuyasha reasoned to himself. When the Shikon-no-Tama is restored, all that will be left is us and we can begin our lives together. She will be a normal woman raising our children, and I'll be a normal man, hunting for our dinner and building our home in this village. We will be happy at last, our souls at peace.

He sat back up again and rose to his feet. Yeah, we'll be just fine. The scent from Kaede's stewpot called to him, and Inuyasha heeded its voice.

* * * *

"Only one so far, can you believe it?" Miroku slung the rabbit over his shoulder and walked over to where Sango was peering through a bush. Her rear end was swaying, tantalizing, before him and he couldn't resist just a small little --

SMACK!

The monk rubbed his head where the taijiya had slapped him. Ah, but it was worth it.

Sango glared at him. "See? Even the forest animals are afraid of your wandering hands, houshi-sama. That's why we can't find enough for our dinner." She sighed. Normally their banter would lend its fire to her spirit but the events of the last couple of days still bore down on her soul. "Do you think. is Kagome going to be ok?"

Miroku closed his eyes in contemplation. "She did what had to be done, Sango. Kagome is with family and friends in her own world. We can only hope that her heart will heal with time." Opening his eyes, he offered his companion a warm smile. "She is stronger than she appears, the pain will not last forever."

Nodding, Sango turned away from her hiding spot and tucked her drawn katana back into its scabbard. "Shippou," she called out to the wandering kitsune, "we're heading back to the village, come on."

The young fox scampered up to the couple and they walked together, silent again. Sango looked up at the night sky as the stars started appearing one by one. She is a strong young woman, Sango noted wistfully. I envy her iron will and pure heart. Even though Miroku has never given me anything other than friendship, I can feel the clenching of my heart when he looks at the village maidens. Were I in Kagome's place, I would fall apart.

"Kikyou sure is quiet, isn't she?" Shippou interrupted the contemplative silence the three had enjoyed, hopping up to Miroku's shoulder. "After we got the Shikon shard today, she didn't say anything the whole way back."

"None of us did," Sango noted quietly. "I actually miss the snide comments and the 'sits'. At least I felt--" she didn't know how to put her feelings into words.

"Alive." Miroku finished her thought for her. "Yes, I have been feeling the same way. Kikyou-sama may be flesh-and-blood, but her spirit is cold. Perhaps it comes from being alone for so long. She has forgotten how to enjoy the company of others."

"Well it's creepy," Shippou deadpanned. "I feel like I'm visiting a graveyard when I'm around her."

They'd approached the edge of the village when Sango stopped suddenly and turned to face the kitsune. "Shippou, I want to remind you again: do not speak of Kagome in front of Inuyasha. He hasn't mentioned her name since that day and I don't want anymore weirdness. Soon enough we will defeat Naraku and then this will all be over. Understood?"

Shippou nodded, placing a hand over his heart gravely. "I promise."