"How much longer till the potion is ready?" Miroku laid sprawled on the ground near Sango who sat leaning over the pot Kaede stirred.
"Just a few more days. I suppose you and Shippou have given up this wager then?" Sango asked, lifting an eyebrow.
"Not by a long shot!" Miroku denied. "All this attention is just making me a little tired." Miroku said sulkily.
"Ye two are never going to grow up are ye?" Kaede asked dryly.
Miroku cleared his throat. "I am simply trying to teach Shippou the lesson of respecting his elders."
"Oh are you. I didn't see much respect for Kaede earlier." Sango replied.
"Yes well..."
Sango sighed and stood. "I'm going to go check on those flowers now Lady Kaede."
Kaede nodded. "Thank you Sango. And you..." She looked at Miroku and held out the spoon. "Stirr. My old bones are tired. And the weather is not agreeing with me." She rose and went inside the hut.
Miroku blinked. "Weather?"
And it started to rain...
Shippou on the other hand was curled up on the floor of a small kitchen. A plump woman stood above him and she humphed then poked him with the handle of a broom. Shippou jumped and yelped. She scowled at him.
"The floor is dirty!" She said.
"But...but I swept the floor!" Shippou protested.
"Not well enough. You monks are never helpful to anyone but yourselved."
"Is Lord Miroku tired sister?" A younger girl appeared in the doorway and smiled. "Perhaps we should send him home then and go visit lady Kaede. Jitsana was talking about an adorable little fox she found!"
Miroku! Can't let him win. "Oh no! I was just getting ready for more work!" Shippou protested.
The younger girl smiled. "Oh that's good. As long as you aren't tired. The clothes need to be brought in as well. They're going to get soaked."
"Soaked." Shippou looked outside. It was raining....
Another dream. Kikyou appeared, standing beneath the molting branches of a Sakura tree, head tilted up towards the branches. Inuyasha watched her nervously a moment then blinked in surprise as a laugh came from the tree and Kagome jumped down to land beside Kikyou and smiled at her. Kikyou answered the nod with a respectful nod then they both turned to look at Inuyasha.
Kagome smiled warmly. "What are we going to do with him?" Kagome asked.
Kikyou's expression remained unreadable as always. "It is for him to decide. Our fates are in his hands."
"And not our own?" Kagome answered.
"We gave him out fate with our hearts. They are joined as one." Kikyou replied and though the both watched Inuyasha steadily they spoke only with each other.
"Sisters then Kikyou?" Kagome offered.
Kikyou nodded. "Sisters. Siblings. Family. You and I are heart and soul same but spirit and mind different." She finally spoke to Inuyasha. "Whose spirit and mind do you wish for Inuyasha."
"Kikyou." Inuyasha said pleadingly meant only as the beginning to a question but Kagome smiled and nodded and stepped back.
"Chosen." Kagome smiled to Kikyou then held out the shards of the sacred jewel they had collected. Kikyou took them and shattered the bottle Kagome carried them in. A blinding light filled the area and when it faded Kagome was gone.
"No! Kagome!"
"Hush Inuyasha!" Kikyou said. "You have chosen." The ground around them rocked and split and flames licked the edges. "Come."
And Inuyasha took a step forward and froze. He wanted the laughter. He wanted friends. He wanted the love. He wanted the feeling he got when he was smiled at. Wanted the humor. He wanted Life!
Life.
"Come back Inuyasha!" An unfamiliar voice broke through the area. "Wake up!" The voice was stern and commanding yet seductive. "Return! She can stand no more! Come back!"
And Inuyasha was jerked from the dream painfully and slammed back into his body. Pain hit him all at once and he felt something around his neck shatter with a crystalline sound then break and tiny shards nipped at his neck and chin and he looked down to see the collar broken on the ground.
"Good. You are awake." Inuyasha looked up into a pair of silver eyes. The woman smiled. "Inuyasha. We have so very much to discuss."