Hey all! Look! It didn't take another month to update. :) Aren't you proud of me? AND… I should have the next chapter ready for next week. We're nearing the end of the story… probably four to five chapters left.

Well, last week was my Spring Break and I went to Washington (state) to visit my sister. I really miss her!!!! :( It sucks being to far away from my sis. ::sigh:: Oh well… hopefully she'll fly in and visit this summer. (And to all of you sisters who are rolling their eyes at this sentiment… we used to be the same. But believe me when I say absence makes the heart grow fonder.)

ANYWAYS! Review replies!

chelsea c: Err… premature reply, eh? Oh well! And no more growling! I'm going as fast as I can. ;) And… I will not be abandoning this story! Nope nope! It's almost done anyways.

SilverWingPhoenix: yupyup!

Simply a Lady: Hope you didn't have those nightmares! And I'm trying to stay away from cliffhanger endings… but there's *kinda* one in this one. :)

Ah yes… Beautiful… I think I recall reading that. :) Pretty good!

Henio: Thanx! I'm trying. ;)

SaIlOr-EaRtH-001: Thank you! I hope you enjoy this one. :)

pamela: I know! I'm so sorry, but lately I've been reading Inuyasha fan fictions… and that obviously is reflected in my writing. Err… I'm trying to put some in, I swear! But Inuyasha and Kagome are so much fun! (So much angst involved in their storyline… a lotta fun to play with! :) )

solar-roselover: Thank you! Writing more… writing more!

CaraBear: ::sniff sniff:: What did the coughevilcough cliffhanger ever do to you? :) Sorry about the 2 week interval! Hopefully I'll be able to keep up a little better now.

iskabod: Thanks, I kinda like my Silver Crystal/Shikon Jewel connection too. :) I'm trying to keep my updates at less than two weeks apart, but I'm a uni student with a heavy load so I try the best I can.

KhmerGirl: Thank you!

amanda: Yeah, it's always fun to be mentioned, isn't it? I love it when I'm mentioned, so I try to do it for everyone who is kind enough to review me.

I can't tell you how *MUCH* your patience and understanding is appreciated! It makes me feel 100% better. But I'll really try not to make you wait too long for the next chapter! ;)

amanda (dreamcrystalmagic@yahoo.com): (Sorry about added in the e-mail, but as you can see, there's another amanda above you. :) ). Anyways… I type up and post chapters as soon as I can after I've finished writing them, so I'm really trying here.

I love watching Inuyasha episodes too… as well as the Sailor Moon episodes when they were aired. Too bad they took those off…

dragonfly-rising: Thank you! Hope this was quick enough for ya! ;)

Okie dokie! Onto the story… err, for information that may or may not be useless… the last half of this was written during a rather LONG layover in an airport, so hopefully that doesn't affect the quality of my writing or anything. (I was tired at the time.)

And one more thing… I SUCK at writing action, so you won't really be seeing any descriptions around here…

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It took only a matter of moments before the entire population of the camp was emptied and rushing towards the hot springs. When they arrived all they saw was Inuyasha sniffing the air and a towel laying on a rock. And that was the problem - no Kagome.

Kouga sniffed the air too and a growl immediately escaped his throat. "Kagura!"

Inuyasha turned to Kouga upon hearing him. "Can you tell where it goes? I can't - I don't … All I can smell is Kagome's fear," he growled out. Serena noticed that his fists were clenched so hard that blood was beginning to drip down his hands.

Serena turned to Darien. "Transform. Once they have the scent, we've got to go." Darien nodded and was soon Tuxedo Mask. "I - uh, I'm going to put out the fire so that we don't burn the woods down," Serena said before running off. She did make sure that the fire was out - and that their stuff was hidden - but she really went back to camp to transform.

"Moon Prism Power!" she called out, and was once again glad that no male eyes could see her scantily-clad transformation. Once she was Sailor Moon, she raced back to her friends.

When she got back Inuyasha and Kouga were gone. Sango and Miroku were astride Kirara and Tuxedo Mask was waiting for her. She immediately leapt into Tuxedo Mask's arms, and he ran off after Kirara, who had begun following Inuyasha and Kouga the moment Sailor Moon had appeared.

~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-

When she awoke, all Kagome knew was that her head hurt and she was cold. She forced her eyes open, but shut them again in confusion. What she had seen before her seemed to be dark gray shapes rushing past her eyes. With a groan she pushed herself up so that she was sitting.

"If you feel like you're going to fall, lay back down," a voice said monotonously. It was familiar and Kagome opened her eyes to find out who it was.

"Ka - Kagura?" she gasped. It was then that she realized she was flying through the air on Kagura's feather. "What --?" Then Kagome remembered bending down to pick up her towel and feeling a blinding pain explode in her head before passing out.

Kagura looked over her shoulder just enough so that Kagome could see her profile.

"Your half demon was stupid to follow my scent trail."

Kagome stared at her dumbfounded for a moment. "But… we thought you were running scared and had just accidentally left a trail," she finally said.

"I had been." Kagura then faced forward again, and Kagome now had to strain to catch her words before the wind blew them away. "When I returned, Naraku was… angry with me. But then he decided to use it to his advantage. I had to double back and refresh my trail, but stay far enough ahead of you so that my scent was not too new. When an opportunity to kidnap you showed itself, I was to take it. And I did."

Kagome stared at the wind demon's back for a while, trying to sort through this - questions running through her head. She finally decided on the best one to ask first.

"But why? Why me?"

"Naraku needs you," Kagura replied without hesitation, surprising Kagome who had not expected an answer. She decided to press further.

"Why does he need me?"

Kagura did not answer for a long while, but eventually she said, "I do not know for sure, but I suspect it has to do with the jewel. He has been trying to join the shards together, but cannot do it. I think he wants you to fuse the shards into one."

Kagome sat stunned for a moment, half because Kagura was being honest with her - she had a feeling deep down that the woman was truly being honest - and half because of what had been said.

"But - but doesn't he know that I'll purify the jewel if I touch it?" Kagome bluffed. She still had not been able to figure out just exactly how to purify the jewel.

"I am sure that is why he has thousands of demons at his castle. Some must be to kill you once the jewel shards are combined." She said this without an ounce of emotion.

"But I'm a priestess!"

Kagura snorted. "Not a very good one."

Kagome huffed and refused to defend herself to Kagura. After several minutes of silence she had to ask another question.

"Why are you telling me all of this?"

Kagura shrugged, but added a couple of minutes later, "I wish to be free from Naraku. Can you beat him by yourself?"

Kagome gaped at her for a moment. "Uh… uh… by myself? Why not my friends too?"

"They will die, Naraku is making sure of that."

"They won't die!" Kagome said strongly. "We are more and stronger than when you last fought us," she confessed. Kagura said nothing, so Kagome pried further. "Tell me all you know about Naraku's plans, even what you suspect. Anything could help."

Kagura glanced over her shoulder and nodded.

"Naraku has all but Kouga's shards and your shards ready for you to fuse. As I said, I think you'll be killed once you get the shards fused. There are about one hundred demons waiting for Kouga's arrival, whose sole job is to get the shards from his legs. Inuyasha will be allowed farther because Naraku wants to kill him himself. The demon exterminator will be lured away by Kohaku and the monk will follow her. Several hundred demons are waiting to kill them, along with plenty of poison bees just for the monk."

Kagome took a moment to absorb this all in, fighting down the worry that was beginning to well up for her friends.

"Is their anything else I need to know?"

"Naraku plans to flaunt your dead body in front of Inuyasha in hopes that it'll make him so enraged he'll be without reason - and therefore easier to kill."

"Well, that won't work since I'm not going to die," Kagome said defiantly.

If Kagome could have seen Kagura's face she would have seen a faint smile grace her lips.

Kagome fell silent, no longer able to fight down the worry. She had faith in her friends and knew they would not die, especially with Darien and Serena there to help, but she could not help but to worry.

"We are approaching the castle," Kagura said, interrupting her thoughts.

Kagome looked ahead and could make out the dark clouds of malevolent energy that surrounded an even darker castle. Not even the torches that burned throughout the castle and its grounds seemed to be able to penetrate the clouds. She shivered from the evil that exuded from it.

Kagura partly turned around to look at Kagome. "My… apologies," she said in a completely unapologetic tone.

Before Kagome could ask what for, blackness washed over her once more.

~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-

The night was a windy one. Sailor Moon tucked her face into Tuxedo Mask's neck to protect her eyes from the stinging gusts of wind. She could tell that the wind was slowing him down, because when she ventured a glance at the dark horizon, she could barely make out the flickering flames of Kirara's paws and tails. Tuxedo Mask may be superhuman, but even he could not keep up with the demons when the wind worked against him.

When he lost sight of Kirara's flames, Tuxedo Mask knew that the castle was very near. Not only because Kirara had landed, but also because the feeling of an evil aura was slowly growing. He felt Sailor Moon shudder and tighten her grasp around his neck.

"Are you alright?" he yelled over the wind. He felt her nod her head into his neck. Then she leaned up a bit so her mouth was by his ear so that she would not have to yell.

"Do you feel that aura?" He nodded. "It's horrible. We're up against someone as evil as Beryl here." He did not respond, but he agreed wholeheartedly.

When they finally came upon the castle and Tuxedo Mask was able to let Sailor Moon stand on her own two feet, she took in what was going on around her.

The only one in sight was Kouga, so she assumed everyone else had gone on ahead, until she saw Sango's boomerang flipping through the air off to her left. Kouga was the biggest worry though, because he was fighting what looked like a hundred demons on his own. It appeared that he had been for a least a few minutes for the number of dead around him outnumbered the ones attacking him.

Sailor Moon was about to tell Tuxedo Mask to help Kouga while she went to help Sango and Miroku, but as she turned to him, a movement caught her eye. Kouga, in the middle of a hundred demons, went down. Without a second thought, Sailor Moon reached for her tiara.

"Moon Tiara Magic!" she shouted as she tossed her weapon. She felt satisfied to see the glowing disk decimate a large group of demons. Even as her tiara moved to return to her, a dozen more went down under a barrage of deadly roses. Those demons left alive fled without a backwards glance.

"Kouga!" Sailor Moon shouted worriedly as she ran to his side. She knelt down by him and unsuccessfully tried to get him to remain lying down. "You shouldn't move!" she scolded, but was relieved to see that he was alive.

"I'm fine!" he said forcibly. "But those assholes got my shards!"

Sailor Moon glanced down at his legs. Sure enough, blood soaked through his torn fur leg wraps.

"Can you walk?" she asked, helping him stand up.

Kouga did a few experimental jumps, and though there was a twinge of pain, it was nothing that he could not handle.

"I'm good."

"Good," Sailor Moon said, once more relieved. They needed all the fighters they could get. She turned to Tuxedo Mask, who had been behind her the whole time. "You and Kouga go in and try to find Kagome. I'll go help Sango and Miroku."

Tuxedo Mask looked like he wanted to argue, but gave up with a sigh. With a quick kiss and a "Be careful" he and a significantly slower-than-normal Kouga ran deeper into the castle grounds.

Sailor Moon watched them leave and whispered a quick prayer. "Please, whoever is listening, let everyone get out of here alive and safe." She ran off towards the swarm of demons to her left, unaware that one hand rested on her brooch.

When she arrived at the outskirts of the battle she had to pick her way through the remains of hundreds of demons with barely contained disgust. But she kept her mind on the fact that Sango and Miroku needed her help and she plodded ever on.

Once she arrived to the edge of the swarm of demons, Sailor Moon had to find Sango and Miroku in the mess. She kept a hand to her tiara, ready to throw it once she knew her friends were out of the way of its reach. Yet she could not see them and was about to give up and plunge in when something tickled at the back of her mind. A voice - saying something important, something that could help immensely at this point.

"Trust… trust my instincts," Sailor Moon muttered to herself, remembering Sailor Pluto's advice. "Trust my instincts, huh? Well, here goes then. Moon Tiara Magic!" With a grimace she watched the magic disk spin through the horde of demons, splattering blood left and right. Before her eyes the demons' lifeless bodies fell from the sky to reveal Sango, Miroku and Kirara in the epicenter of the battle. But not only them. Also a young boy dressed in a uniform similar to Sango's, yet with bluish trim.

"Kohaku," Sailor Moon whispered once she had figured out who the mysterious boy was. Then she let out a gasp. She had known that Kohaku was under the power of Naraku, but to see Sango's brother attacking his sister with the ferocity of hate that she felt towards Beryl was still a shock. The tears streaming down Sango's face just about broke Sailor Moon's heart, and she could tell that Miroku was feeling the same way.

Sailor Moon began to make her way towards her friends, making sure that Kohaku's back was towards her at all times. Most of the demons left her alone, sensing that she was too powerful for them to mess with. Those that were dumb enough to try were picked off by Miroku's prayer papers, who had noticed her presence long before she killed her first batch of demons. Sango, on the other hand, was oblivious to all but Kohaku and his ever moving weapon.

As she moved closer to Sango and Miroku, she began to feel something nagging at the back of her mind again. She was not sure of what it was, but tried to concentrate on it. As she watched Kohaku's sickle bite down into Sango's arm before being pulled away again, it finally hit her.

"Moon Tiara Magic!"

With a mixture of relief and dismay, Sango watched the disk slice though Kohaku's body. With a cry of horror she tried to run to his side, only to be held back by Miroku.

"Let me go! Let me go!" she screamed, trying to wiggle her way from his firm yet gentle grasp.

"Shhh," Miroku whispered soothingly into her ear. "It's okay. Just look at him. Look at him."

Sango finally processed what she was seeing. Instead of her brother's body lying on the ground, it was the body of a chameleon demon still dressed in Kohaku's uniform. She stared at it in shock, her body heaving with her gasped breathing.

"It's, it's not him," she said, still in disbelief.

"I'll explain in a second!" Sailor Moon called over to the couple. "But first, can we kill the rest of these guys?"

Miroku and Sango finally realized that the horde of demons - although significantly smaller than when they had first encountered them - was still there. Miroku let go of Sango and began fighting off demons with his staff since the poison bees were still hovering nearby. Sango picked up her fallen boomerang and tossed it at a thick group of demons. Sailor Moon continued keeping her tiara flying through the air. With all three of them working together, with Kirara's help of course, they were soon standing in a field of demon corpses.

Sailor Moon made her way to Sango's side and drew her into a hug.

"I'm sorry I didn't have time to warm you about that, but that thing wasn't Kohaku," she said, the remorse evident in her voice.

"I know," Sango said, gladly accepting the hug. "I didn't at first, but I know now. How did you know?"

Sailor Moon let go of Sango as she explained, and Miroku took Sango into his arms.

"Ever since I regained my crystal, I've been able to sense the jewel shards. Not as well as Kagome, but it's there. I didn't realize it at first, but I remembered you saying that Kohaku had a shard, and that thing didn't. At first I thought that maybe he had just lost the shard, but then I realized that there is no way Kohaku would fight you if he was no longer under Naraku's influence, since you've told me that you think he fights against the control sometimes."

"I'm glad it wasn't him," Sango said, nodding. "But why use a look-alike?"

"Because Kohaku doesn't have a shard any longer," Miroku said, slowly figuring out what was going on. Sango tensed up at hearing this. If Kohaku did not have his shard, that could only mean that he was… that he was dead. But she did not have the time to let that sink in for Sailor Moon had figured something out too.

"Oh no!" Sailor Moon shouted.

"What?" Sango asked distractedly.

"Naraku just got Kouga's shards, and he must have Kagome's too!"

At this news, Sango's mind snapped from delving into sorrow to being all business. "He has the whole jewel!" she exclaimed. She tore herself from Miroku's arms and leapt onto Kirara's back. "We've got to get to Naraku before he uses it!"

Miroku joined Sango on Kirara, and Sailor Moon gratefully accepted the offer of a ride too. Kirara shot towards the center of the castle, where a boiling cloud of evil was developing.

Sailor Moon knew more than them though. She knew that Kagome was the only one who could meld the shards together. She also knew that unless Kagome was able to figure out how to purify the jewel, they were all heading towards their deaths.