Oh! I'm so sorry! I kinda left ya all hanging with that last chapter, didn't I? Well, I managed to get this chapter out before the weekend started, right? So no reason to hurt me… right? Hee hee…
I want you to know that I sacrificed my naptime to finish writing the chapter I needed to write. And no, I'm not joking. I seriously take naps. What Uni student doesn't? :)
KhmerGirl: Hmm, because it's fun to torture you? Hee hee… no, not really, just because I like doing cliffhangers every once in a while.
X5-452Star: I'm glad you like my crossover. To tell you the truth, I don't read them that often either. I got tired of them not going the way I wanted them to. So finally, I decided to just make my own! You should try it, it's fun to have creative freedom! :)
Henio: Much thanks! Sorry it took so long to update though. And again, this isn't all that long. ::sigh:: I can't seem to get my chapters past 8 written pages. (err, I write small) But I'm trying for ya!
Kairinu: Sorry, but cliffhangers are fun! (Although, I hate them when I'm reading a story... how contradictory… hmm, oh well! ;) ) And I'll keep looking forward to your reviews!!
Jabba1: As I've said above, cliffhangers are fun (to write)! And besides, they keep the readers wanting more! ;) Err… looking ahead to what I've written… this chapter ends in a cliffhanger too… but the next one doesn't!
little-moonlight: Thank you! Glad you like it!
Prophetess Of Hearts: Oh! Don't worry, I won't abandon this story. I won't let myself do that!
Transcendant Pig: Thank ye! ;)
dizzy4: Oh! ::wipes away a tear:: I'm so happy! My first threat! Hee hee… errr… just no basements, please! I don't like basements…
All right, I'm going to explain before someone with a sharp eye comments about the remark I made to Jabba1. The "looking ahead to what I've written" remark. Yes, I've written past Chapter Nine. Actually, I just finished Chapter Eleven. WAIT! Before you start throwing things at me, let me explain!
I tend to abandon stories ::coughEternalLightcough:: and I don't want that happening with this story. It seems to help if I force myself to write a chapter before I post a chapter. Now, I don't want you to think that I'm holding chapters hostage for reviews because I do NOT do that! I promise I will *never* do that. I would post even if no one reviewed. I write mainly for myself, and I post my stories just in case someone else is interested in reading them. Besides, by writing ahead, it gives me time to reflect on what I've written and then improve on it when I type it up.
Okay, explanation finished, you can throw that now. ::ducks:: Hey! I was just kidding! Hmph… Fine... I'll just get to what you're really here to read…
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Serena threw on her clothes and dashed to the camp, arriving only moments later. The scene that greeted her almost made her wish she had not come at all.
Her eyes were first drawn to the familiar looking stranger at one end of the camp. The woman was wearing red pants and a white top, a typical priestess outfit. "Kikyo," Serena whispered to herself, for it had to be her. Kikyo looked like a slightly older version of Kagome, just without the warmth and kindness that Kagome exuded. Although Kikyo's face was towards Serena, her body was turned to her right, as was her bow and arrow.
Serena tore her gaze from Kikyo and looked to see where the bow was pointing. Kagome stood in the line of fire, but was obviously not the intended target, for Inuyasha - it had to be him despite the black hair and eyes - already had one arrow protruding from him. He was pinned to a tree behind him through his left shoulder. He was alive, although in obvious pain.
Serena looked around for the rest of her friends. She could see Shippou's tail poking out from his hiding place behind Kagome's leg. To her right she saw Miroku slumped against a tree. She could not tell if the monk was unconscious or… but she finally saw him take a shuddery breath. Sango was kneeling next to him, unshed tears bright in her eyes. Kirara was by Sango's side, an unmistakably sad look on her face.
Then she saw the sight that chilled her heart to its core. Darien was lying on the ground, an arrow sticking out of his body right where his heart was. The already paling pallor of his skin confirmed her suspicions.
"W-why?" she managed to choke out. "Why did you kill him?"
"He got in the way," Kikyo answered, her voice emotionless, flat. Kikyo then turned her attention back to her targets. Serena saw her tighten her grip on the bow and steady the arrow. She saw her pull back on the bowstring, and saw, as if in slow motion, the release of the arrow.
"No!" Serena yelled. Before she was even aware of what she was doing, she was in front of Kagome, straight in the line of the arrow's path. Before anyone had a chance to call out, to scream, to cry, there was a flash of brilliant white light. When the light cleared Serena still stood, yet she seemed to exert an internal glow.
"No more." The voice was Serena's, and yet it was not. This voice held aged wisdom and deep sorrow. "I will not see another friend die. You will not steal another innocent soul. You will not be forgiven for killing my love!"
Kagome now held a trembling Shippou and tried to support Inuyasha to keep him standing. Sango and Kirara turned from their watch over Miroku. All eyes were on Serena in shock.
Serena slowly closed her eyes. As they closed the glow intensified, and seven rainbow colored jewels appeared from nowhere. One-by-one they were absorbed into Serena. Once her eyes were fully closed the glow became concentrated over her heart. Serena brought her hands up and held them in front of the glow. Her hands seemed to be pulling the glow from her chest, until she held between her hands a glowing crystal of silver.
Serena's eyes began to open again, but as they did a change overcame her. Her hair lengthened, her clothes melded together as her skirt stretched and lightened. Once her eyes were fully open she was dressed in a flowing white gown and had a tiara perched on her head. She held herself differently - regally almost - and her eyes now held all the knowledge and sorrow of one thrice her age.
"You killed my love, and that is unforgivable." Her voice was hard, yet grief obviously flowed beneath it. "I will be merciful on your soul however, because it does not belong to you nor did it choose to corrupt itself. Be at peace, Kikyo." With that, a flash of light burst from the crystal and launched itself straight inside of Kikyo. She made no sound as her body crumbled to dust, until all that was left was a black soul. But the light stayed and purified the soul until it was glowing almost as brilliantly as the silver crystal. Serenity watched as the soul flew to Kagome and entered her. Kagome turned her stare to the spot where the soul had entered, her face a mask of shock.
Serenity moved over to where Inuyasha was still pinned to the tree, an unreadable expression on his face. "I only hope that you will be able to forgive me," she said. She tapped the arrow once, and it dissolved allowing Inuyasha to finally sink to the ground. Kagome kept her grasp on his arm, and helped him to slide down the tree. Serenity did not wait for an answer, instead she moved over to where Miroku lay on the ground.
She kneeled beside him and saw that death attacked him in two places. One was an old death that was born weak but grew stronger as time progressed. The other was young and aggressive. One was entwined in his hand and the other swirled around his neck. Serenity knew that she could not do much for his hand, but she could for his neck. So she held the jewel over his heart, closed her eyes and prayed. Only moments later Miroku began to stir and slowly regain consciousness. Yet even after he opened his eyes Serenity remained in her position. Confusion was evident in his eyes, but Sango captured his attention with her finger placed over his lips, signaling him to not talk. Miroku closed his eyes and enjoyed the healing warmth that spread through his body. When it stopped, he felt disappointed, but opened his eyes again anyway. Serenity smiled down at him, tiredness beginning to float in her eyes. She got up and left without a word.
She moved now to Darien's side. Tears welled up, but refused to fall as she forcibly fought them back. She knelt by him and raised the crystal to the same position it had held over Miroku. Again she closed her eyes in prayer. This time the crystal began to glow, its brightness and intensity growing with every minute that passed, until after five minutes everybody watching had to shut their eyes. When the brightness in front of their closed lids faded, they reopened their eyes to an astonishing sight.
The woman who was not-quite-Serena was helping a now living Darien up. But the man was also not-quite-Darien, for he had a regal suit of armor and a sword at his side. The onlookers looked on in shock as the two who were obviously royalty appeared to freeze in place, their eyes both an eerie blank blue. They were oblivious to everyone and everything around them. Everyone else took the opportunity to talk.
"What in Buddha's name is going on?" Miroku asked, the only one not to see Serena's transformation.
"I'm not sure. It all happened so fast." Kagome said. Then she turned to Inuyasha. "Take off your shirt, I want to bandage that wound."
It took him a moment to respond.
"Hmm? Oh, yeah?" He shrugged out of his haori and slid his shirt to his waist.
Kagome winced when she saw the gapping wound in his shoulder, yet he seemed not to notice. She refrained from sighing, because she knew what, or rather who was on his mind. She could not really blame him though, after all he had just watched the love of his life crumble away to dust. She had to force herself not to rub the spot where her soul had returned to her. She did not want to bring anymore reminders to Inuyasha, but the spot was starting to burn - an icy burn.
Kagome finished tying off the bandage and turned back to Serena and Darien, but they were still immobile. So she turned to Miroku.
"Hey, Miroku, why did Serena spend so much time over you?" she asked, leaning against the tree next to Inuyasha. Shippou was once again huddled in her arms.
Miroku shrugged. "All I remember is standing up when Kikyo entered the camp. It's all fuzzy from there."
"She blasted you into the tree," Inuyasha said. He was paying attention to everything going on around him, but his eyes and voice still had an emotionless quality to them.
"You were…" Shippou trailed off. Kagome looked down at him and smiled, encouraging him to continue on. "You were dying." Everyone's gaze fell on Shippou.
"Are you sure?" Kagome asked.
"He smelled like death, until Serena did... whatever she did."
Miroku nodded slightly. "I thought as much."
"You knew you were dying?" Sango asked him, emotions running rampant through her eyes.
He shrugged. "I felt... at peace with myself for the first time in a long time, but I did not fight when Serena called me back. I'm not ready to go quite yet." He looked right into Sango's eyes as he said this, and they gazed at each other for a long moment before Sango looked away with a blush.
Kagome saw this and grinned a little. "About time," she whispered, but no one seemed to hear her. Shippou was looking at Serena and Darien intently, so she joined the on looking. Her movements drew the rest of them to witness the scene too.
Serena and Darien were still locked in their blank gaze, but Serena now had tears streaming down her cheeks. Even Darien was shedding a few tears. As suddenly as it all started, it ended. Their eyes snapped back to seeing reality, but they never broke the lock on their gaze. In a flurry of tears Serena threw herself into Darien's arms, who readily accepted her. Within moments they were deep into a kiss.
Kagome, Inuyasha, Miroku and Sango looked on with blushes brushing their cheeks, but could not seem to tear their eyes from the sight. Kagome had the frame of mind at least to cover Shippou's eyes.
Even though they were all watching, none of them were sure when the clothes of royalty melted back into the clothes of a school girl and a college student. They did know though that the kiss was not broken until long after it happened.
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Serena broke the kiss off once the burning need to breathe deeply hit her. Thoughts, emotions, memories were flowing through her, and she knew by looking into his eyes that Darien was going through the same thing. One overwhelming feeling was upon her though; she was tired. Very tired.
"You tired," Darien whispered. She smiled and nodded. Without a word to anyone else, he set picked her up only to lay her down on her blanket. He then laid down next to her. Within moments they were both asleep.
"Well, we're obviously not going to get anything out of them tonight," Miroku said, and the yawned. "We should get some sleep. It's only a few hours until sunrise." With that he laid down where he was, too tired to move. Sango went to her blanket, which was not far from where Miroku was.
Kagome took Shippou off of her lap and stoop up. She looked down at Inuyasha. The same blank expression was on his face, and had been there ever since she had regained the lost portion of her soul. She absently rubbed the burning spot on her chest. "Wake me up if you need me." She waited for a moment, but he did not respond. With a sigh she moved to her sleep bag and cuddled into the warmth. She felt an icy chill shudder down her spine and so was glad when Shippou crawled in to add to the warmth.
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Serena woke up with a groan. Her head hurt and her body ached. She touched the brooch on her chest and was slightly surprised to find that the crystal was there.
"So it wasn't a dream," she whispered to herself. She sat up and looked around. Darien was at her side, sleeping peacefully. Miroku and Sango were sleeping side-by-side with Kirara next to Sango. Kagome was huddled deep inside her sleeping bag, and Serena assumed Shippou was there too.
Then she turned to Inuyasha. He was awake and looking at her. She looked right back at him. She could see the sorrow in his eyes, pain, confusion but to her relief there was no anger. Still, she felt the need to apologize.
"I-I'm so sorry. I wasn't completely in control of my actions - but, but I could've stopped myself. I could've, but Darien was - Darien was dead, and I didn't want to. I'm sorry!" Tears were coursing down her cheeks and she forced herself not to sob. Inuyasha did not say anything, but he hesitantly nodded. Serena knew it would be awhile before she was completely forgiven, but she could not blame him for any hidden anger towards her.
She was about to lie back down, but at that moment the sun crested the horizon and Inuyasha's demon blood came roaring back. Serena watched in amazement as the black as night hair flowed into a shining silver. Dog ears seemed to grow out of the top of his head, and his eyes changed to gold within a blink. He stretched and then rubbed his shoulder where the wound was already healing up. He did an experimental sniff in the air and Serena watched as he stiffened up, an almost panicked look on his face.
"Kagome!" he called out. With that yell, the rest of the group began to awaken, all except for Kagome, who remained huddled in her sleeping bag.
Inuyasha was at her side in one jump, pulling down the top of the bag. Serena gasped at the sight that was revealed.
Kagome was curled up in a fetal position, hands clutching her chest. Her skin was pale - almost white - and when Serena moved to her side and shook her shoulder, her skin was painfully cold to the touch. The only sign of hope was the shallow breaths that she took once in a great while.
"Come on Kagome, wake up!" Inuyasha pleaded, gently shaking her shoulders. "What's wrong with you?" He fought the desperation from his voice. Seeing Kikyo die and then now watching Kagome fade away was too much for even him.
"I think I know what's wrong," Serena said. A thought - no, a memory - had come to her mind. She knew of this happening before, but it had been another life, and it was her mother who had fixed it. Now though it was up to her, the last survivor of the Moon Kingdom, excluding Luna.
"What? What is it?" Inuyasha urged.
"She - she doesn't want to accept the missing part of her soul."
"What?! What's that supposed to mean?"
"She's fighting that portion of her soul - not letting it rejoin."
"Why would she do that?" Inuyasha looked down at Kagome and winced at the pain he saw on her face.
"I don't know, but I mean to find out." She thought for a moment, then nodded to herself. "Inuyasha, could you, would you mind holding her? She needs warmth and a familiar essence."
Without hesitation Inuyasha scooped Kagome up. He sat leaning against a tree and cradled her in his lap. Serena moved so that she was kneeling in front of him and Kagome. With a mere thought from her mind the silver crystal floated out of her brooch and to her hand. It was then that Darien realized her intentions.
"Serena, don't!" He jumped up and ran to her side. She looked up at him with a smile.
"Don't worry Darien, it's not more than I can handle. I'm not really going to use the crystal's power, I'm just going to use it to help focus my thoughts."
He did not look too convinced, but relented. "Just be careful." He planted a kiss on her forehead and sat down.
Inuyasha looked on as this happened, holding Kagome closer to him, trying to warm her icy skin. He hoped Serena would not get hurt doing whatever she was going to do, but there was no way he was going to stop her. Not if this was Kagome's only chance to survive.
Serena settled into her kneel more comfortably and held the crystal in front of her in a prayer like state. She knew she had to use it to focus her thoughts so that she could communicate with Kagome. Rei had once, after persistent begging, tried to teach her how to use the sacred fire, but she could not seem to focus in on the flames. Serena now knew though that fire was Rei's element, and only hers. For Serena, her element was purity, and the crystal was the epitome of her purity.
She closed her eyes and began to chant the words that Rei had taught her. At first nothing happened, but then, within an instant, she was snapped from her own reality and pulled into another's - Kagome's.
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Okay, so not much of a cliffhanger, but it is one.
I normally won't do author's notes at the end of a chapter because, well, I just don't like to. But I had something that I wanted to say that I didn't want to say at the beginning. (It would have spoiled the "surprise" in the chapter of Kikyo showing up.)
What I wanted to say is that, I do not hate Kikyo! Her motives will be revealed in a later chapter, along with some of what I believe is going on in the story. (I just *love* writing these "talkie" chapters! Actually, I don't, but sometimes they are necessary.) The whole killing Darien thing was just a plot device... she really didn't want to kill him. Again, that will be gone over in a later chapter.
Okay, enough of this "later chapter" stuff! I just want to repeat... I am not a Kikyo hater. I just don't like Kikyo and Inuyasha together as a couple. I'm a Inuyasha/Kagome person through and through!