She was unaware of jut how much time had lapsed. Her body had become numb. Her mind was useless, plagued by incoherent thoughts and memories. 'This isn't fair...' She looked to the pale face in her lap. The color had long since drained and the blood from his wounds had gone dry, leaving nothing but a still corpse that still held her love. Her heart.

"Kagome?"

She looked tiredly to the fox and her approaching companions. Her eyes were red and streaks of dried tears scarred her cheeks. She had cried so persistently that her eyes had lost all ability to produce moisture.

I'm so tired of being here

"Kagome, it'll be morning soon. We should lay him to rest before the villagers return." Sango kneeled beside her mourning friend, laying a soothing hand on her back.

"She's right, Kagome." The monk stood patiently behind, using all his power to hold back tears of his own.

"No..." Her strained voice could only manage a shaking whisper. "He would want...to be taken home."

"But how will we move him?"

"I could call Kirara." Sango offered, standing from Kagome's side.

Suppressed by all my childish fears

"Kagome..." Kouga moved from behind the group, crouching to take Kagome's hand. "I know that this is hard for you...but,"

"Let me guess, he died for our sakes. If not for him, we'd be dead. Well, I'm sorry if I don't feel like rejoicing in my spared life!" She jerked away, pulling the hanyou closer.

"No, of course not. Kagome, he died with honor. The people from this village will hold him as a hero and he will live on as a legend. That is how he would've wanted it."

And if you have to leave, I wish that you would just leave

Her face softened as she looked down at InuYasha. 'Kouga's right. This is how you would've wanted to...'

"What about the jewel? Couldn't you use it to resurrect him?" Sango retrieved the small orb, handing it to Kagome.

'This is the cause of it all.' Her hand shook as she squeezed the jewel, snapping the dried blood from its surface. 'The reason I came here. The reason I met him. The reason I...lost him. The reason for all our pain. All our sadness.'

Cause your presence still lingers here and it won't leave me alone

"I won't do it!"

The jewel sailed carelessly, halting in mid air before shooting back to its releaser.

"Kagome!"

The jewel burst into a radiant light, swallowing both hanyou and human.

"Kagome!"

She pulled herself from her tight embrace around the hanyou, keeping him resting on her lap.

"Where am I?"

"So, you are the young miko. Kagome, is it not?"

These wounds won't seem to heal

She gently laid InuYasha down, standing to search for the voice's source. "Who...who's there?"

The silhouette of a woman approached from the white background, striding softly into view.

"Do you truly not know?"

Kagome leaned to squint, drawing her hand to cover her mouth.

"You...you're Midoriko."

The woman smiled and nodded, taking another step toward the girl.

This pain is just too real

"Do you know why I have summoned you here, Kagome?"

Kagome simply shook her head, kneeling above InuYasha's body.

"The war within the jewel is over."

"But...but what does that have to do with me?"

Midoriko's smile never faltered as she stopped a few feet from Kagome. "It is from your protection and InuYasha's sacrifice that enabled me to overthrow the evil."

There's just too much that time cannot erase

"Kagome, you and InuYasha, along with the rest of your comrades, have sacrificed a great deal to protect this jewel. As long as the jewel exists, it's power will be desired for dark purposes. Do you not wonder why InuYasha never fulfilled his desire to become a true demon?"

"Because of Kikyo." She lowered her head, laying a hand on the hanyou's shoulder. "He wanted to use it for her."

When you cried, I'd wipe away all of your tears

"I feel that he did not tell you the whole truth." Midoriko positioned her hands in front of her, their surroundings fading into a beautiful meadow.

"Huh? The well?" Kagome eagerly watched the scene unfold in front of her. InuYasha strode from the forest, lowering himself to his knees beside the well.

"Three years..." He sighed and looked at the jewel dangling from around his neck. He looked so sad. So alone.

When you screamed, I'd fight away all of your fears

"InuYasha..." Kagome spoke his name, her voice colliding with that of another. Kikyo. InuYasha lifted himself to sit on the edge of the well, his hand still clasped around the jewel.

"Kikyo, to what do I owe this visit?"

"Such cold words. Tell me, where is your shadow? That girl?"

His head lowered. "She's been gone for a while now...to her time."

And I held your hand through all of these years

"Could that mean that our time has come? Are you ready to finally journey with me?"

InuYasha's face took on one of panic and confusion before settling into certainty. "I...I can't. I have something here to..."

Kikyo cocked her head, her eyes narrowing into slits. "Her."

"If I went with you and Kagome returned, she..."

Kagome felt her heart skip at the vision. 'He stayed for my sake?'

"She has stolen your heart away from me!"

"Kikyo, don't misunderstand! Kagome...she...she fought by my side. She cried for me. She allowed her heart to break...for me. I can't..."

But you still have all of me

"So, you will remain here for a memory?"

InuYasha pushed himself from the well, sliding the jewel from over his head. "Kikyo, I want to see you at rest, not living like this anymore."

"You want me dead?"

"It's not like that!"

You used to captivate me by your resonating light

"Then how is it, InuYasha!"

"I...I..."

"I want to hear you say it, InuYasha!"

Kagome flinched as the image vanished. Midoriko approached closer, her eyes glimmering.

"Do you understand now?"

Now I'm bound by the life you left behind

"He didn't go because he felt sorry for me."

Midoriko shook her head with a smile. "So intelligent, yet so blind."

"Huh?"

Your face, it haunts my once pleasant dreams

"Kagome, tell me, why didn't you use the Shikon No Tama to give him life again?"

The young miko crawled back to the hanyou's side, drawing him into her arms. "The jewel has brought nothing but pain and sorrow...I refuse to use such a despicable pawn to bring him back." Her heart ached with her own words, Midoriko startling her with a sudden laugh.

"The jewel has conjured more than you think, girl."

Your voice, it chased away all the sanity in me

"I don't understand." Her thumb stroked the cold palm of his hand as her face distorted in

confusion.

"Your friends and yourself are the key to the jewels very power. Each of you have contributed to the souls that help the jewel to even exist. The monk is wisdom. The slayer and fox are courage. InuYasha is friendship and yourself...love."

These wounds won't seem to heal

"Your selflessness is what brought me to your aid. You had the jewel in your grasp and yet...you passed up the chance at happiness."

This pain is just too real

"Kagome!"

"What is it doing to her!" Sango attempted once more to break the barrier around the pair, but to no avail.

"Kagome!"

There's just too much that time cannot erase

"Kagome, you've been so brave. So passionate about protecting your friends. InuYasha, as well. So much, that he gave his life for them."

When you cried, I'd wipe away all of your tears

"He gave his life for you."

"Don't you think I know that! That doesn't explain to me why I'm here!" The confusion swirling in her mind began to gain control, only making her angry.

When you screamed, I'd fight away all of your fears

"You're only taking me around in circles!" Kagome was no longer able to hold back her tears of frustration.

And I held your hand through all of these years, but you still have...all of me

"Then I will show you, child." Midoriko approached slowly, Kagome instinctively pulling InuYasha closer.

I've tried so hard to tell myself that you're gone

"Show me? Show me what?"

Midoriko outstretched a hand, placing a finger on Kagome's forehead.

And though you're still with me...

"Kagome..." Her eyes lit up, shooting a light down her arm that connected with Kagome, "Hear his thoughts! See his memories! Feel...what he felt!"

I've been alone all along

Kagome jerked in a breath as her mind was flooded with voices and images, all colliding together. Some she knew. Some she did not.

'And I'm saying you gotta be her...'

'Wait! Don't leave me!'

'So, you'll stay with me?'

'You're not her...'

'Th...there are...so...many things...'

'Until I met you, I never trusted a living soul...'

'Things I regret...'

'Go home! See if I care!'

'Kagome, I can't see you anymore...'

Her eyes fluttered, her subconscious overflowing with confusion, worry, anger, jealousy, and sorrow. But there was something else. Could it be...?

'Why won't you come back?'

'I miss you, Kagome.'

'I want to hear you say it, InuYasha!'

'I love her!'

Her eyes snapped open, the image still invading her vision.

'I love Kagome!'

When you cried, I'd wipe away all of your tears

"He loved...me?"

When you screamed, I'd fight away all of your fears

"Yes, he did. Now, what of your wish?"

And I held your hand through all of these years

"My wish?"

"You've earned it. Tell your deepest desire and the Shikon No Tama shall make it possible and then vanish from this world."

Kagome looked to Midoriko as the jewel was offered to her. Locking her eyes onto InuYasha, she accepted.

But you still have...

'He...he loved me. All this time...' Clasping the jewel between her own small hand and that of the hanyou, she lowered her forehead to his.

All of me

"I wish..."

The song use in this chapter is 'My Immortal' By Evanescence.