* quietly sneaks in *
Uhhh... hi?
* dives in order to avoid flying tomatoes and other various items *
I'm sooooorry!!! So sorry, my apologies, I know I promised by October, but I just couldn't seem to revise my old chapters for nothing! And than school was taking soooo much time outta my home life, I mean I was lucky if I had three hours to myself!!!
* big puppy dog eyes *
Forgive me? Puh-leeeeeeeeeez???
Thanks to those who reviewed!!!
Mattielover~ yep, everyone's gone... n don't forget Kohaku, hez still around, though not playin a big role * shrug * er, well, some people will be comin back in this chappie... hehe, if that helps?
SailorInu1~ ack, yeah, writers block waaaaaas gone... til I posted that chappie, then bam! I was stuck once again, so herez the update! Do enjoy!!!
VioletRose4~ I'm so glad u like it! Yep, sessie got killed... I was tryin to get the point across of how powerful this 'demon' was... did that do the trick? Hope u like!!!
Jammies2000~ yep, had to leave it there, sorry... whoz the person in the cloak? Now, if I told you that it would ruin this chapter, geeeeez!!! Go on, get reading!!!
Shadow Wraith~ Damn it! You know what, you better stop guessing my story plots!!! * growls * but somethin happens in here u didn't guess (haha!!) n I'm pretty sure your gonna come chase me down for it... * runs for life * btw, enjoy!
Glory230~ herez the update, hope itz good enough! Hehe, ;)
KittiesK~ Yep, actionz startin back up... but happy? Er... um, honestly can't answer that one yet, sorry! Hope ya like!
Pua lahi lahi~ Kagome comin back? Why would she do that? Hehe, get down there and read the story to find out! Hope you enjoy...
Kokoro~ * raises eyebrow* only platonically? * weeps* j/k j/k, but I sure hope u enjoy this chappie!
SailorKagome~ Enjoy the story!!!
Tiger of the Wind1~ happy ending? * hides * er, um... maybe? Hehe, the cloaked figure? Like I can tell you that... homework galore here too, but hey, thatz what the fireplace is for right? ;) Enjoy!
Jess~ glad u like, hope u like the chappie!!!
Naka-san~ Hi there! What does this story mean? Er, not too sure, itz kinda a story where Inuyasha suffers for taken Kagome for granted... make sense? N sorry for the story bein so long, have lots of info. to share with my readers!!! Do enjoy!
Lady Mayhem~ yes, another cliffe, my deepest apologies, but I luv em... yes, and a sad story it is, but two people, 'supposedly dead' will come back!!! Hopefully ur not too mad about one of them... enjoy!!!
Koneko-chan star~ I know, school sux eh? Well, enjoy this chappie! Hehe...
PeachesDani~ Posted! So u better getting reading, wut great team work we have here eh? Enjoy!
Mustard Yellow Sunshine~ Er, love the name... hehe, so original!!! Hmmm, is Kagome gonna be brought back to life? Truthfully no, I mean, how can you bring someone back to life if they're already... er, oops, hehe, get reading this story!!! I almost gave it away, c'mon scroll down n ENJOY!!!
Nakamura-san~ *blinks * u posted twice!!! Lol, freaked me out, sorry I haven't e-mailed but I've been so busy I haven't really had time to sleep... n dooooon't worry, Kagome ain't comin back with the Shikon Jewel, itz lame... so enjoy!!!
The EVIL chibi~ updated, do enjoy! N glad ya like the story! Hehe, n nope, no way I would abadon this story, like it too much!!!
Chibimara~ hehe, hope you enjoy it!
Jammies2000~ yeeeeees, so sorry bout not updating sooner, n thanks for carin bout my grandmother! She's doin great, on an oxygen tank cause they removed part of her lung, but she looks clear of cancer * jumps in joy * N thanks for that one review, it got me movin! Hope you like the chappie!!!
Sumeragi Kousei~ Grandmothers okay! Thanks so much for carin! N herez the update, hope you enjoy!!!
I love your story~ *eyes mist * ah, golly gee wiz... * sniff sniff * thanks so much!!! Hope you like this chappie!!
Wow!!! So many reviews, thanks guyz!!! N by the way, I owe the 'continuation' of this story to my best friend, Missy, cause yesterday she commented, "Ali, I think your readers are pissed at you cause you're not continuing your story..."
Ah, yeah, my best friend kicked some sense into me, so I sat down at ten last night and wrote two chapters worth, edited one, n now I'm stuck on the finale, cause I don't want it to be bad!!! But I shall figure it out!
Er, now you guyz... enjoy the chapter!!!
Disclaimer: Don't own Inuyasha, duuuuuuuuuuuh...
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The Return
"Give me your jewel shards."
Those five simple words turned Inuyasha's blood cold, his breath frozen in his chest.
With wide eyes, he studied the cloaked figure that stood across the clearing beneath the tree in which he had just occupied, a slim hand peeking out from beneath the dirty brown material, palm upward.
His thoughts drifted back to the rumors that had been floating around...
Could this figure be the demon?
Damning his human senses, he quickly flexed his hands, attempting to reign in the panic that was coursing through his veins.
With a growl, sounding wimpy as hell to his human ears, he gathered his thoughts, peering through the darkness in futile effort to identify the figure, and shouted, "Who the hell are you? If anyone is giving up Shikon Jewel shards, it'll be you giving yours to me!"
Trying to gain control of the situation and his jumpy nerves, he slid his hands up the sleeves of his katana and lifted his chin a few notches, glaring at the figure.
A surge of unease rushed through him when he noticed it hadn't worked, the mysterious demon below calmly replying, "Your piece of the Shikon Jewel shard is all I need to finish what I have strode to do for so long..."
What the hell?
This couldn't possibly be the demon the rumors spoke of...
Could it?
There was something eerily familiar about the figure, yet Inuyasha couldn't put his finger on it.
As he stood there lost in his thoughts, a gust of wind brushed past him, swiping his long black hair around his body and continuing onward to the cloaked figure, outlining the slim body that hid beneath the dirty brown material.
Both stood there in silence, the figure with a palm extended and Inuyasha arrogantly glaring, but his eyes flickered with nervousness and unease, their deep purple depths narrowed intently while he studied the cause of his alarm.
The wind died down suddenly, leaving both of them to stand there as if frozen in time, not a thing stirring in the forest about them, casting an almost tranquil sense upon the scene...
Until a whizzing sound broke the silence, coming from just over Inuyasha's shoulder, and he just barely caught sight of an arrow, its thin form speeding past him to slam full force into the cloaked figure without mercy.
A cry pierced the air and within the blink of an eye, the slim body was flung backwards nearly twenty feet to be pinned painfully to a tree as the arrow pierced through cloth and skin to imbed itself deeply into wood.
Watching the scene before him with wide eyes and bated breath, Inuyasha vaguely noted the arrow was surrounded by a light blue haze, barely visible to his naked eye, but his attention was wretched away from that miscellaneous fact when the hood of the cloak fell from the figure's head due to the force of impact.
Long black hair escaped from its confinement, floating lightly in the wind to cover the face of the figure, the painful scream floating off with the wind.
'Kik-Kikyo?' Inuyasha asked himself silently, a chill running up his spin as he started to slowly walk forward towards the girl, almost against his will it seemed.
The figure pinned to the tree glanced down at the arrow that had completely pierced through her, noting that blood was already soaking through the brown cloak that surrounded the arrow, turning the cloth to a dull black.
A slight twinge of pain flashed in her mind, though she didn't acknowledge it, so it simply seemed to fade away when she brought her eyes up to gaze at the young boy in front of her, the painful throbbing that had hit her when she looked upon him starting up once again.
Less than ten feet from the figure now, Inuyasha abruptly stopped when she lifted her face to gaze at him, gasping in shock when he realized the cloaked figure's features were the exact one's that had haunted him for over six years...
"Kagome..." The whisper escaped his dry lips, drifting through the clearing with an eerie clarity, and he stretched a hand toward her, unable to believe that this was real...
It had to be a dream, how could she be alive?
Somewhere in the back of his mind, he noted the pain that filled her beautiful brown eyes...
But something was different...
Something was wrong.
Blinking, his hand dropped as the realization dawned upon him...
Her eyes, they didn't shine with the inner light she always seemed to posses...
The happiness, the joy.
The life.
Lost in his own thoughts, the young hanyou now human didn't notice the look of confusion that crossed her pale features, nor the narrowing of her eyes when he whispered that word, and her brow puckered the slightest when she silently questioned, 'Kagome? Is... is that my name?'
The throbbing in her head intensified while she continued to think about it, so she quickly stopped, sucking in a deep breath to clear her foggy senses and attempt to gather her scattered wits, but her concentration was broken when a voice announced, "I see you have finally found the bitch for me Inuyasha..."
Both Inuyasha and the pinned figure turned their heads to watch as a lone figure, wrapped in a light blue aura, seemingly floated into the clearing, several ghostly white demons following her like dogs following their masters.
'She looks familiar somehow...'
The idle thought floated across Kagome's hazy mind as she studied the woman with narrowed eyes, an instant dislike building...
Or perhaps the existing dislike doubling?
Shaking her head slightly, the pinned figure fought to think through the pounding in her head, only managing to make it even worse.
"Kik-Kikyo?!? What... you... you knew Kagome was alive?!? How..." Inuyasha stumbled with his words, shocked by not only the appearance of one person he thought to be dead, but two people...
But that wasn't right, Kikyo already was dead, wasn't she?
So it really was only one person he thought was dead...
His thoughts were churning faster than he could withstand, his gaze shifting from Kikyo to the pinned Kagome as he tried to soak it all in...
Smiling coldly, Kikyo slowly stopped a few feet from both her reincarnation and Inuyasha, forming a triangle between the three of them, but the confused hanyou-human didn't notice, instead mouthing soundlessly as he worked on understanding what was happening.
His deep purple eyes wide on his pale face, confusion evident in their dark depths, he stared at the equally confused cloaked miko, finally succeeding in getting his voice to cooperate as he whispered, "Ka-Kagome? What... you? Where have you been these last six years? It... you... me! Why? Why didn't you come back to us?!? Couldn't... can't be... Why didn't you come back... to me?"
Fighting the throbbing in her head, Kagome glanced from the intruding woman to the confused boy, wondering how the hell both of them knew her, what the hell the boy was talking about, and so much more...
The thoughts swirled in her head, increasing their dramatic tempo like a unknown dance as the throbbing increased, and she fought the onslaught, pushing the thoughts to the back of her mind as she squeezed her eyes shut.
Resting her chin upon her chest, a command rose above the turmoil inside of her, rushing through her veins like a burst of adrenaline...
The one thing that had led her through these many years...
The only thing she remembered...
'Complete the Shikon Jewel...'
Raising her lowered head, her gaze trained on the shining point of light that came from the young boy, indicating jewel shards, and her one thought was to get the jewel shards, power welling up inside of her...
Her concentration was abruptly broken when laughter invaded her thoughts, a chilling laughter that sent goose bumps along her skin and chills up her spine, and with clenched teeth the pinned miko swung her gaze to the intruding woman once again.
Pulled from his thoughts also, Inuyasha glared at the dead miko, his irritation with her rising as he clenched his hands, feeling his dull human nails dig into his tender skin, but Kikyo relished the turmoil she was causing among the two before her, daintily covering her mouth with a hand.
The laugher slowly died down, though her dull brown eyes still sparked with wicked amusement, and she turned her attention to Inuyasha, whispering, "She hasn't a clue to anything Inuyasha... the bitch has no memory at all."
Hearing these words, the hanyou-human blinked, leaving Kikyo to happily continue her laughing once again, neither taking notice to the figure pinned to the tree.
An indescribable anger filled Kagome at the woman's words, dark blue flames springing to life and swirling about her body, casting shadows throughout the clearing.
Powerful wind whipped about her body, blowing outward and gaining both Inuyasha's and Kikyo's attention while she reached a hand upward to grasp the arrow, her fingers gripping the rough wood for a split second before she tightened her grip.
It turned to dust in a bout of blue flames, blowing away in the wind as she stepped from the tree, the dark blue flames dying down until she was merely outlined by their flame.
The other two figures in the clearing stared at the cloaked girl in mute shock, though Kikyo recovered quickly, a sneer quickly covering her beautiful features and her eyes glinting with suppressed anger as she announced, "Yes, I predicted as much with you Kagome..."
The flames roared to life once again around the Kagome, the blue flames rising above her head without ceremony as anger filled her entire being.
"Kagome..." The whisper went unheard, slipping from the thoroughly confused hanyou-human's lips, and he quickly closed his jaw when he realized it was gaping, staring at the cloaked girl, unable to believe how much power was surrounding her, roaring louder and louder each minute with its intensity.
"I... I do not know of what you speak... neither of you..." Kagome whispered, watching both of the figures that stood before her through narrow eyes, the blue flames swirling furiously around her body as her cloak and hair whipped dangerously in the wind that tore past her.
A sense of excitement filled Kikyo while she gazed at the raw power before her, her dead eyes reflecting the dark blue flames in the depths as the gusting wind lashed at her, her clothes and hair whipping about her body.
While she reveled in this show of power, Inuyasha was struggling to stand, the gusts of wind threatening to topple him in the weak human body he occupied, his long black hair streaming in the wind as he once again cursed his damn luck.
"Yes, that power..." The dead miko whispered, stepping towards Kagome with wide eyes, continuing, "I knew your power was great, but I didn't understand its depth... because of that, Naraku died. But now... now I know exactly what I must do to gain this extraordinary power! Now I know..."
The flames around Kagome diminished the slightest, confusion evident in her stiff figure as she considered these words, and the winds stopped abruptly, catching Inuyasha by surprise, causing him to stumble forward and fall to his knees.
"Now I have your attention, don't Kagome? Yes, your power... great as it is now, this is only part of it..." Laughing with a wicked smile, Kikyo strolled over to where Kagome stood, the flames that surrounded the cloaked girl dying furthermore.
Confused brown eyes met wide purple eyes, both sharing a similar thought for a brief second before the brown eyes quickly tore from the other's gaze, the pounding in her head so strong she thought it would explode, but her attention was captured by the woman who now stood in front of her.
Taking a small step back, Kagome gazed at Kikyo, the blue flames that surrounded her dissipating until she was merely wrapped in a fine blue mist, and the dead miko laughed, waving her hands while whispering, "Unbelievable power wasted on you, girl..."
The ghostly white demons floated towards the two mikos, wrapping tightly around Kagome while she stood there, eyes locked with Kikyo, and the dead miko flashed her a wicked smile, continuing, "These last six years I have searched for you... I knew you had succeeded in destroying Naraku, but you couldn't pass on... the Shikon Jewel shards were gone, no where in the devastation you left behind, and I knew you had taken them with you..."
At Inuyasha's blank look that Kikyo saw from the corner of her eye, her cruel smile broadened, and she tilted her head the slightest to include him in the conversation, glancing at him as she questioned, "Didn't you know Inuyasha? Your dear Kagome is immortal, no thanks to my love Naraku... yes, we couldn't have her passing on while we tortured her could we? No, we had to break her spirit first... she couldn't die until we broke her spirit."
Anger filled Inuyasha, a vision of Kagome before she destroyed Naraku coming to mind, her bruised and battered body, the look in her eyes...
A shudder passed through his body even at the mere image, but Kikyo wasn't going to let him go off in his own little world yet...
"Weeks after beatings and torture, using all things imaginable, your precious little jewel shard detector still protected her power, unconscious though she was, Naraku couldn't manage to get it no matter what. It seemed like her body would give out before her spirit... so, Naraku of course prevented that, infusing her power with the demons of immortality."
Standing motionless within the grasp of the ghostly white demons, Kagome listened to the tale that the dead miko before her was spinning with a passive face, though inside her thoughts were spinning like mad, the pounding in her head increasing with every word.
Turning her gaze back to the unresponsive and bound miko before her, Kikyo laughed softly, stepping closer as she whispered, "Yes, when my arrow pierce your delicate skin, it should have undoubtedly killed you. The wounds you retained from the many other demons you fought should have been your death... yet here you stand. Immortal you are, Kagome, but not for long..."
A sense of dread filled Inuyasha, urging him to move, to shout, to do anything! But his body remained motionless as he peered through the darkness to watch the scene unfold before him, his gaze locked on Kagome's pale features, her head bent forward and eyes closed.
Arrogantly standing before the cloaked miko, Kikyo laughed, and in a cold, skin tingling voice finished, "Ah, Kagome... there is only one thing that is keeping you here in the land of the living..."
"A promise..." The cloaked figure whispered, raising her head and opening her closed eyes to gaze at Inuyasha, her eyes glazed and empty, but Kikyo took no notice, too close to victory to sense the danger that was closing in on her as she continued with something close to glee, "And what must you do?"
Everything that Inuyasha had heard this night crashed in with a tightening of his chest, a sinking feeling in the pit of his stomach telling him he didn't want to know the answer to that question...
He could see it in her brown eyes, but when he slowly got to his feet to move towards her, she broke their connection once again.
The cloaked miko turned her eyes to Kikyo, her face emotionless, and as soon as brown eyes met brown eyes, blue flames once again exploded from Kagome, knocking the dead miko backwards with a shriek and destroying the white demons that held her captive.
Watching with wide eyes, Inuyasha didn't move a muscle as the blue flames blasted past him and twirled about, but as Kagome started walking towards him, her face pale and eyes dark, he felt a hand squeeze his heart as she whispered, "I... I must complete the Shikon Jewel... that is all that matters..."
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Uh oh! This can't be good at all! -_-' hehe, am I right that u guyz wanna kill me now cause I brought Kikyo back? Ahhhh...
Newayz, I wanna make my summary better, cause I'll admit it, I ain't very good. so u guyz decide which one u like best for me okie dokie?
1. When Kagome is kidnapped and tortured in order to gain what she posseses, by none other than the wicked lovers, Naraku and Kikyo, Inuyasha realizes the Shikon Jewel isn't the most important thing in his life, but has he noticed too late? (I/K, M/S, N/K)
2.Unknown to her, Kagome posseses something that every demon wants... and it's not the Shikon Jewel shard, but when she's kidnapped in order to get it, Inuyasha wonders how he ever lived without her... (I/K, M/S, N/K)
3.Inuyasha has gone through life, excepting what happens without thought, so intent upon getting the Shikon Jewel that he regrets to notice the thing in life that really makes it worth living. Inuyasha/Kagome
Okay, well, the first one is my favorite, but maybe it gives too much away? N the third one is the one I gotz right now, juuust incase some of u guyz like it... though I don't! So, plz vote n decide which one shall be the summary!
So there was the chapter, hope you enjoyed it! I should be able to post the next chapter soon, just gotta touch it up a bit, and I'll be working on the final chapter also, though I gotta admit itz a toughy!!!
Hugz N Kissez, Ali
P.S. Do review!!!!
Uhhh... hi?
* dives in order to avoid flying tomatoes and other various items *
I'm sooooorry!!! So sorry, my apologies, I know I promised by October, but I just couldn't seem to revise my old chapters for nothing! And than school was taking soooo much time outta my home life, I mean I was lucky if I had three hours to myself!!!
* big puppy dog eyes *
Forgive me? Puh-leeeeeeeeeez???
Thanks to those who reviewed!!!
Mattielover~ yep, everyone's gone... n don't forget Kohaku, hez still around, though not playin a big role * shrug * er, well, some people will be comin back in this chappie... hehe, if that helps?
SailorInu1~ ack, yeah, writers block waaaaaas gone... til I posted that chappie, then bam! I was stuck once again, so herez the update! Do enjoy!!!
VioletRose4~ I'm so glad u like it! Yep, sessie got killed... I was tryin to get the point across of how powerful this 'demon' was... did that do the trick? Hope u like!!!
Jammies2000~ yep, had to leave it there, sorry... whoz the person in the cloak? Now, if I told you that it would ruin this chapter, geeeeez!!! Go on, get reading!!!
Shadow Wraith~ Damn it! You know what, you better stop guessing my story plots!!! * growls * but somethin happens in here u didn't guess (haha!!) n I'm pretty sure your gonna come chase me down for it... * runs for life * btw, enjoy!
Glory230~ herez the update, hope itz good enough! Hehe, ;)
KittiesK~ Yep, actionz startin back up... but happy? Er... um, honestly can't answer that one yet, sorry! Hope ya like!
Pua lahi lahi~ Kagome comin back? Why would she do that? Hehe, get down there and read the story to find out! Hope you enjoy...
Kokoro~ * raises eyebrow* only platonically? * weeps* j/k j/k, but I sure hope u enjoy this chappie!
SailorKagome~ Enjoy the story!!!
Tiger of the Wind1~ happy ending? * hides * er, um... maybe? Hehe, the cloaked figure? Like I can tell you that... homework galore here too, but hey, thatz what the fireplace is for right? ;) Enjoy!
Jess~ glad u like, hope u like the chappie!!!
Naka-san~ Hi there! What does this story mean? Er, not too sure, itz kinda a story where Inuyasha suffers for taken Kagome for granted... make sense? N sorry for the story bein so long, have lots of info. to share with my readers!!! Do enjoy!
Lady Mayhem~ yes, another cliffe, my deepest apologies, but I luv em... yes, and a sad story it is, but two people, 'supposedly dead' will come back!!! Hopefully ur not too mad about one of them... enjoy!!!
Koneko-chan star~ I know, school sux eh? Well, enjoy this chappie! Hehe...
PeachesDani~ Posted! So u better getting reading, wut great team work we have here eh? Enjoy!
Mustard Yellow Sunshine~ Er, love the name... hehe, so original!!! Hmmm, is Kagome gonna be brought back to life? Truthfully no, I mean, how can you bring someone back to life if they're already... er, oops, hehe, get reading this story!!! I almost gave it away, c'mon scroll down n ENJOY!!!
Nakamura-san~ *blinks * u posted twice!!! Lol, freaked me out, sorry I haven't e-mailed but I've been so busy I haven't really had time to sleep... n dooooon't worry, Kagome ain't comin back with the Shikon Jewel, itz lame... so enjoy!!!
The EVIL chibi~ updated, do enjoy! N glad ya like the story! Hehe, n nope, no way I would abadon this story, like it too much!!!
Chibimara~ hehe, hope you enjoy it!
Jammies2000~ yeeeeees, so sorry bout not updating sooner, n thanks for carin bout my grandmother! She's doin great, on an oxygen tank cause they removed part of her lung, but she looks clear of cancer * jumps in joy * N thanks for that one review, it got me movin! Hope you like the chappie!!!
Sumeragi Kousei~ Grandmothers okay! Thanks so much for carin! N herez the update, hope you enjoy!!!
I love your story~ *eyes mist * ah, golly gee wiz... * sniff sniff * thanks so much!!! Hope you like this chappie!!
Wow!!! So many reviews, thanks guyz!!! N by the way, I owe the 'continuation' of this story to my best friend, Missy, cause yesterday she commented, "Ali, I think your readers are pissed at you cause you're not continuing your story..."
Ah, yeah, my best friend kicked some sense into me, so I sat down at ten last night and wrote two chapters worth, edited one, n now I'm stuck on the finale, cause I don't want it to be bad!!! But I shall figure it out!
Er, now you guyz... enjoy the chapter!!!
Disclaimer: Don't own Inuyasha, duuuuuuuuuuuh...
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The Return
"Give me your jewel shards."
Those five simple words turned Inuyasha's blood cold, his breath frozen in his chest.
With wide eyes, he studied the cloaked figure that stood across the clearing beneath the tree in which he had just occupied, a slim hand peeking out from beneath the dirty brown material, palm upward.
His thoughts drifted back to the rumors that had been floating around...
Could this figure be the demon?
Damning his human senses, he quickly flexed his hands, attempting to reign in the panic that was coursing through his veins.
With a growl, sounding wimpy as hell to his human ears, he gathered his thoughts, peering through the darkness in futile effort to identify the figure, and shouted, "Who the hell are you? If anyone is giving up Shikon Jewel shards, it'll be you giving yours to me!"
Trying to gain control of the situation and his jumpy nerves, he slid his hands up the sleeves of his katana and lifted his chin a few notches, glaring at the figure.
A surge of unease rushed through him when he noticed it hadn't worked, the mysterious demon below calmly replying, "Your piece of the Shikon Jewel shard is all I need to finish what I have strode to do for so long..."
What the hell?
This couldn't possibly be the demon the rumors spoke of...
Could it?
There was something eerily familiar about the figure, yet Inuyasha couldn't put his finger on it.
As he stood there lost in his thoughts, a gust of wind brushed past him, swiping his long black hair around his body and continuing onward to the cloaked figure, outlining the slim body that hid beneath the dirty brown material.
Both stood there in silence, the figure with a palm extended and Inuyasha arrogantly glaring, but his eyes flickered with nervousness and unease, their deep purple depths narrowed intently while he studied the cause of his alarm.
The wind died down suddenly, leaving both of them to stand there as if frozen in time, not a thing stirring in the forest about them, casting an almost tranquil sense upon the scene...
Until a whizzing sound broke the silence, coming from just over Inuyasha's shoulder, and he just barely caught sight of an arrow, its thin form speeding past him to slam full force into the cloaked figure without mercy.
A cry pierced the air and within the blink of an eye, the slim body was flung backwards nearly twenty feet to be pinned painfully to a tree as the arrow pierced through cloth and skin to imbed itself deeply into wood.
Watching the scene before him with wide eyes and bated breath, Inuyasha vaguely noted the arrow was surrounded by a light blue haze, barely visible to his naked eye, but his attention was wretched away from that miscellaneous fact when the hood of the cloak fell from the figure's head due to the force of impact.
Long black hair escaped from its confinement, floating lightly in the wind to cover the face of the figure, the painful scream floating off with the wind.
'Kik-Kikyo?' Inuyasha asked himself silently, a chill running up his spin as he started to slowly walk forward towards the girl, almost against his will it seemed.
The figure pinned to the tree glanced down at the arrow that had completely pierced through her, noting that blood was already soaking through the brown cloak that surrounded the arrow, turning the cloth to a dull black.
A slight twinge of pain flashed in her mind, though she didn't acknowledge it, so it simply seemed to fade away when she brought her eyes up to gaze at the young boy in front of her, the painful throbbing that had hit her when she looked upon him starting up once again.
Less than ten feet from the figure now, Inuyasha abruptly stopped when she lifted her face to gaze at him, gasping in shock when he realized the cloaked figure's features were the exact one's that had haunted him for over six years...
"Kagome..." The whisper escaped his dry lips, drifting through the clearing with an eerie clarity, and he stretched a hand toward her, unable to believe that this was real...
It had to be a dream, how could she be alive?
Somewhere in the back of his mind, he noted the pain that filled her beautiful brown eyes...
But something was different...
Something was wrong.
Blinking, his hand dropped as the realization dawned upon him...
Her eyes, they didn't shine with the inner light she always seemed to posses...
The happiness, the joy.
The life.
Lost in his own thoughts, the young hanyou now human didn't notice the look of confusion that crossed her pale features, nor the narrowing of her eyes when he whispered that word, and her brow puckered the slightest when she silently questioned, 'Kagome? Is... is that my name?'
The throbbing in her head intensified while she continued to think about it, so she quickly stopped, sucking in a deep breath to clear her foggy senses and attempt to gather her scattered wits, but her concentration was broken when a voice announced, "I see you have finally found the bitch for me Inuyasha..."
Both Inuyasha and the pinned figure turned their heads to watch as a lone figure, wrapped in a light blue aura, seemingly floated into the clearing, several ghostly white demons following her like dogs following their masters.
'She looks familiar somehow...'
The idle thought floated across Kagome's hazy mind as she studied the woman with narrowed eyes, an instant dislike building...
Or perhaps the existing dislike doubling?
Shaking her head slightly, the pinned figure fought to think through the pounding in her head, only managing to make it even worse.
"Kik-Kikyo?!? What... you... you knew Kagome was alive?!? How..." Inuyasha stumbled with his words, shocked by not only the appearance of one person he thought to be dead, but two people...
But that wasn't right, Kikyo already was dead, wasn't she?
So it really was only one person he thought was dead...
His thoughts were churning faster than he could withstand, his gaze shifting from Kikyo to the pinned Kagome as he tried to soak it all in...
Smiling coldly, Kikyo slowly stopped a few feet from both her reincarnation and Inuyasha, forming a triangle between the three of them, but the confused hanyou-human didn't notice, instead mouthing soundlessly as he worked on understanding what was happening.
His deep purple eyes wide on his pale face, confusion evident in their dark depths, he stared at the equally confused cloaked miko, finally succeeding in getting his voice to cooperate as he whispered, "Ka-Kagome? What... you? Where have you been these last six years? It... you... me! Why? Why didn't you come back to us?!? Couldn't... can't be... Why didn't you come back... to me?"
Fighting the throbbing in her head, Kagome glanced from the intruding woman to the confused boy, wondering how the hell both of them knew her, what the hell the boy was talking about, and so much more...
The thoughts swirled in her head, increasing their dramatic tempo like a unknown dance as the throbbing increased, and she fought the onslaught, pushing the thoughts to the back of her mind as she squeezed her eyes shut.
Resting her chin upon her chest, a command rose above the turmoil inside of her, rushing through her veins like a burst of adrenaline...
The one thing that had led her through these many years...
The only thing she remembered...
'Complete the Shikon Jewel...'
Raising her lowered head, her gaze trained on the shining point of light that came from the young boy, indicating jewel shards, and her one thought was to get the jewel shards, power welling up inside of her...
Her concentration was abruptly broken when laughter invaded her thoughts, a chilling laughter that sent goose bumps along her skin and chills up her spine, and with clenched teeth the pinned miko swung her gaze to the intruding woman once again.
Pulled from his thoughts also, Inuyasha glared at the dead miko, his irritation with her rising as he clenched his hands, feeling his dull human nails dig into his tender skin, but Kikyo relished the turmoil she was causing among the two before her, daintily covering her mouth with a hand.
The laugher slowly died down, though her dull brown eyes still sparked with wicked amusement, and she turned her attention to Inuyasha, whispering, "She hasn't a clue to anything Inuyasha... the bitch has no memory at all."
Hearing these words, the hanyou-human blinked, leaving Kikyo to happily continue her laughing once again, neither taking notice to the figure pinned to the tree.
An indescribable anger filled Kagome at the woman's words, dark blue flames springing to life and swirling about her body, casting shadows throughout the clearing.
Powerful wind whipped about her body, blowing outward and gaining both Inuyasha's and Kikyo's attention while she reached a hand upward to grasp the arrow, her fingers gripping the rough wood for a split second before she tightened her grip.
It turned to dust in a bout of blue flames, blowing away in the wind as she stepped from the tree, the dark blue flames dying down until she was merely outlined by their flame.
The other two figures in the clearing stared at the cloaked girl in mute shock, though Kikyo recovered quickly, a sneer quickly covering her beautiful features and her eyes glinting with suppressed anger as she announced, "Yes, I predicted as much with you Kagome..."
The flames roared to life once again around the Kagome, the blue flames rising above her head without ceremony as anger filled her entire being.
"Kagome..." The whisper went unheard, slipping from the thoroughly confused hanyou-human's lips, and he quickly closed his jaw when he realized it was gaping, staring at the cloaked girl, unable to believe how much power was surrounding her, roaring louder and louder each minute with its intensity.
"I... I do not know of what you speak... neither of you..." Kagome whispered, watching both of the figures that stood before her through narrow eyes, the blue flames swirling furiously around her body as her cloak and hair whipped dangerously in the wind that tore past her.
A sense of excitement filled Kikyo while she gazed at the raw power before her, her dead eyes reflecting the dark blue flames in the depths as the gusting wind lashed at her, her clothes and hair whipping about her body.
While she reveled in this show of power, Inuyasha was struggling to stand, the gusts of wind threatening to topple him in the weak human body he occupied, his long black hair streaming in the wind as he once again cursed his damn luck.
"Yes, that power..." The dead miko whispered, stepping towards Kagome with wide eyes, continuing, "I knew your power was great, but I didn't understand its depth... because of that, Naraku died. But now... now I know exactly what I must do to gain this extraordinary power! Now I know..."
The flames around Kagome diminished the slightest, confusion evident in her stiff figure as she considered these words, and the winds stopped abruptly, catching Inuyasha by surprise, causing him to stumble forward and fall to his knees.
"Now I have your attention, don't Kagome? Yes, your power... great as it is now, this is only part of it..." Laughing with a wicked smile, Kikyo strolled over to where Kagome stood, the flames that surrounded the cloaked girl dying furthermore.
Confused brown eyes met wide purple eyes, both sharing a similar thought for a brief second before the brown eyes quickly tore from the other's gaze, the pounding in her head so strong she thought it would explode, but her attention was captured by the woman who now stood in front of her.
Taking a small step back, Kagome gazed at Kikyo, the blue flames that surrounded her dissipating until she was merely wrapped in a fine blue mist, and the dead miko laughed, waving her hands while whispering, "Unbelievable power wasted on you, girl..."
The ghostly white demons floated towards the two mikos, wrapping tightly around Kagome while she stood there, eyes locked with Kikyo, and the dead miko flashed her a wicked smile, continuing, "These last six years I have searched for you... I knew you had succeeded in destroying Naraku, but you couldn't pass on... the Shikon Jewel shards were gone, no where in the devastation you left behind, and I knew you had taken them with you..."
At Inuyasha's blank look that Kikyo saw from the corner of her eye, her cruel smile broadened, and she tilted her head the slightest to include him in the conversation, glancing at him as she questioned, "Didn't you know Inuyasha? Your dear Kagome is immortal, no thanks to my love Naraku... yes, we couldn't have her passing on while we tortured her could we? No, we had to break her spirit first... she couldn't die until we broke her spirit."
Anger filled Inuyasha, a vision of Kagome before she destroyed Naraku coming to mind, her bruised and battered body, the look in her eyes...
A shudder passed through his body even at the mere image, but Kikyo wasn't going to let him go off in his own little world yet...
"Weeks after beatings and torture, using all things imaginable, your precious little jewel shard detector still protected her power, unconscious though she was, Naraku couldn't manage to get it no matter what. It seemed like her body would give out before her spirit... so, Naraku of course prevented that, infusing her power with the demons of immortality."
Standing motionless within the grasp of the ghostly white demons, Kagome listened to the tale that the dead miko before her was spinning with a passive face, though inside her thoughts were spinning like mad, the pounding in her head increasing with every word.
Turning her gaze back to the unresponsive and bound miko before her, Kikyo laughed softly, stepping closer as she whispered, "Yes, when my arrow pierce your delicate skin, it should have undoubtedly killed you. The wounds you retained from the many other demons you fought should have been your death... yet here you stand. Immortal you are, Kagome, but not for long..."
A sense of dread filled Inuyasha, urging him to move, to shout, to do anything! But his body remained motionless as he peered through the darkness to watch the scene unfold before him, his gaze locked on Kagome's pale features, her head bent forward and eyes closed.
Arrogantly standing before the cloaked miko, Kikyo laughed, and in a cold, skin tingling voice finished, "Ah, Kagome... there is only one thing that is keeping you here in the land of the living..."
"A promise..." The cloaked figure whispered, raising her head and opening her closed eyes to gaze at Inuyasha, her eyes glazed and empty, but Kikyo took no notice, too close to victory to sense the danger that was closing in on her as she continued with something close to glee, "And what must you do?"
Everything that Inuyasha had heard this night crashed in with a tightening of his chest, a sinking feeling in the pit of his stomach telling him he didn't want to know the answer to that question...
He could see it in her brown eyes, but when he slowly got to his feet to move towards her, she broke their connection once again.
The cloaked miko turned her eyes to Kikyo, her face emotionless, and as soon as brown eyes met brown eyes, blue flames once again exploded from Kagome, knocking the dead miko backwards with a shriek and destroying the white demons that held her captive.
Watching with wide eyes, Inuyasha didn't move a muscle as the blue flames blasted past him and twirled about, but as Kagome started walking towards him, her face pale and eyes dark, he felt a hand squeeze his heart as she whispered, "I... I must complete the Shikon Jewel... that is all that matters..."
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Uh oh! This can't be good at all! -_-' hehe, am I right that u guyz wanna kill me now cause I brought Kikyo back? Ahhhh...
Newayz, I wanna make my summary better, cause I'll admit it, I ain't very good. so u guyz decide which one u like best for me okie dokie?
1. When Kagome is kidnapped and tortured in order to gain what she posseses, by none other than the wicked lovers, Naraku and Kikyo, Inuyasha realizes the Shikon Jewel isn't the most important thing in his life, but has he noticed too late? (I/K, M/S, N/K)
2.Unknown to her, Kagome posseses something that every demon wants... and it's not the Shikon Jewel shard, but when she's kidnapped in order to get it, Inuyasha wonders how he ever lived without her... (I/K, M/S, N/K)
3.Inuyasha has gone through life, excepting what happens without thought, so intent upon getting the Shikon Jewel that he regrets to notice the thing in life that really makes it worth living. Inuyasha/Kagome
Okay, well, the first one is my favorite, but maybe it gives too much away? N the third one is the one I gotz right now, juuust incase some of u guyz like it... though I don't! So, plz vote n decide which one shall be the summary!
So there was the chapter, hope you enjoyed it! I should be able to post the next chapter soon, just gotta touch it up a bit, and I'll be working on the final chapter also, though I gotta admit itz a toughy!!!
Hugz N Kissez, Ali
P.S. Do review!!!!
