Disclaimer: I do not own Inuyasha and woe to those who think I do.

Kagome remained kneeling on the cave floor, Inuyasha standing several yards from her and deeper in the oppressive gloom. What little light there was in the cave seemed to both cling to and radiate from the silver-haired hanyou and the dangerous sword he held a casual ease.

Slowly the darkness of the cave around them seemed to lessen until if Kagome strained her eyes, she could make out the dim outline of a figure wrapped in white baboon skin. Inuyasha remained still. Although he doubted Naraku would make the first move since time was on his side, he still wanted to be cautious. He would not allow Kagome to be trapped here.

Kagome had said Naraku could not or would not leave the cave and he instinctually trusted her miko senses. Perhaps then if he could be forced toward the mouth of the cave he would be weaker or in some way restricted.

Cautiously he stepped to the side, making to circle his enemy.

Naraku laughed once. "Do you think this is an ordinary fight?" he asked with a slightly amused lilt to his voice. "Your single-mindedness astounds me even now. I have powers here over you, which your hanyou mind could not possibly comprehend."

You're being baited, part of him said, but another growled aloud and he charged forward before thinking about what he was doing. Suddenly he felt as though he were being forcefully torn from the cave and thrown down in some other place. His head contacted with something and he closed his eyes as every thing went black.

~*~*~*~

When he opened his eyes, Inuyasha found that he was lying on his back staring up at a vast blue sky, a bed of grass beneath him. Feeling disoriented, he sat up quickly and a lock of black hair fell across his face. He stared at it, unable to comprehend what was happening. I'm human? he thought vaguely.

"Inuyasha."

At the sound of her voice, he whipped his head around. Kikyo stood with her casually regal composure a few yards away from him. Inuyasha stared in surprise.

"Kikyo." It was her. Not the empty her he had last seen, but the real, living, breathing, flesh and blood woman he had known and loved fifty years ago. "What…" he paused unsure of what he felt and what was happening to him.

"The power of the Shikon no Tama has made you human," she said watching him carefully. "Now we can live the life we both wish for."

He stood and for a moment all he could think of was the need to hold her, to know that she was real. They stood in an embrace, not moving. This is right, he thought with sigh. This is the way things were supposed to be. His mind suddenly ground to a halt. He pushed her away.

Kikyo looked up at him with hurt and confusion in her eyes. "What is it?

"This is the way things were supposed to be." His voice cracked and sounded strange in his own ears. Kikyo looked at him strangely, as if he were talking nonsense. "Not the way things are," he explained angrily. "The way they were supposed to turn out. But this isn't real. You killed me. And you died thinking I killed you. That woman is gone forever."

The priestess frowned softly. "You must have had nightmares as the Jewel changed you. But that is over now and we are together." She stepped forward to embrace him again but he stepped back.

"No," he said resolutely.

"You don't want me." She said it suddenly and her face hardened. Inuyasha felt like that look tore his heart to pieces. He did not want to hurt her. True, he had accepted her as dead, but he had hurt her so much already; it killed him to do more.

"No," he repeated. "This isn't real."

"You damned hanyou!" she yelled in a decidedly unKikyo fashion.

"No," he covered his ears. The bright day now became dark as Kikyo's tear streamed face watched him mournfully. She continued to yell, her voice becoming a continuous screech. "NO!" he yelled but his voice was lost in her wail.

With a grunt, Inuyasha slammed his eyes shut, whispering, "No, no, no…." over and over again although he could not hear himself.

"…bow…you…now." He could barely hear the voice but he immediately recognized it.

"Kagome…" he whispered. A bow. She needs a bow and arrows. With his eyes shut he could picture them perfectly. If only she had them. A bow and a quiver of arrows.

Suddenly the shrieking stopped and Inuyasha was once again in the cave. He whipped his head around to see Kagome standing where she had been before holding a bow as if she had just shot off an arrow.

He shook his head to clear away his sluggish mind and with a growl turned back to Naraku.

A/N: Short, yes, late, yes, bad, I don't want to venture a guess. This is what I shall officially declare my bad-attempt-at-angst chapter. Sorry. I wanted to draw out this fight some more and this is what I came up with. Good, bad, let me know because it will definitely affect what happens in the next chapter. So far I'm thinking of two different courses for the fic.