Koniika

by Monkeechickk

When Kikyo died she left behind a precious gift... It took Kaede over 30 years to ready the young part Demon, but Miroku has plans for the 17 year old daughter of Inuyasha and Kikyo.... Read and review please.(Co-authered by: Kazen ne tsuki)

1. Prologue

Disclaimer: I do not own Inuyasha or any of the characters in that fine
Anime, but I do wish I could take dog-boy home with me... sigh. Ah
well... such is life.

A/N: Prologue written by Kanzen ne Tsuki. I have take 'a few' liberties
with the initial episode where Kagome comes out of the well and finds
Inuyasha 'impaled' to the God Tree... so no flames or gripes. I know
it's not exactly the same. It's not supposed to be. I have also taken
'a few' liberties with the part of the story where Kikyo 'kills' Inu and
then goes to face Naraku. So no flames about that either. You have all
been duly informed. The concept MonkeyChick and I came up with required
a few things to be changed... and I added a few twists of my own.
Anyway, this is meant to be read and enjoyed... not critiqued because it
doesn't follow the storyline exactly. So... get to reading. I think
this is going to be a great story. We are planning for a
Romantic/Comedy, but the stuff that happens before the 'romantic/comedy'
wasn't exactly funny... so bear with. Lets get through the 'Kikyo
killed Inuyasha' stuff, and then we can move on to the really good
stuff. Hope you like.
God Bless to all.
Kanzen ne Tsuki


Koniika


Prologue


Pain exploded in blinding white shards inside of his chest as his
heart was pierced by the enchanted tip of the arrow that had been loosed
from the Miko's bow. He felt his body being hurtled backward in
blinding speed, although the world itself seemed to be moving in slow
motion around him. Brilliant golden, blue, and red starbursts blossomed
before his eyes as his head struck the heavy trunk of the God Tree, and
then came the startling jolt of motion being stopped without warning as
the arrow impaled his helpless body to the aged wood.

'What... I...' His mind was in a state of confusion and pain as he
struggled to make sense of what had just happened to him, but the life
was being drained from him by the arrow, and he could feel the seal of
the Miko being wrapped around his soul binding him to infinity.

Struggling valiantly against the ominous pull of the seal, the
silver-haired hanyou fought to remain conscious as the fading sight from
his golden eyes searched frantically for the source of his demise.
Incredulity crossed his shocked, pain filled features as his gaze at
last discerned the face of his beloved where she stood some 30 feet
away. Her bow was hanging limply in her hand where it had dropped
following her shooting the arrow at him, and her lovely features were
filled with grief and betrayal as she stared at him through tear filled eyes.

"Kik-yo..." His voice was barely a whisper as it fell upon the
breeze that fluffed through his silky silver locks. "Why...?"

"Why, Inuyasha?" She choked out in a tight voice as she slowly
approached him. "Why did you do it? Why did you steal the jewel? I
would have gladly given it to you if you had asked... I would have
shared it with you... I would have shared your wish, but you had to
taint it with your lies and betrayal." Kikyo stopped several feet from
the dying hanyou and bent over to retrieve something from the thick
grass. As she stood up, he could just make out the hazy glow of the
Shikon ne Tama in the palm of her hand. "You had to steal it like the
filthy hanyou you are. I should have known I could never trust you, not
as you are... not like this." Her eyes rose and accused him maliciously
as she hung the jewel around her neck. Lifting her bow, she notched a
second arrow into place and glared into his pale pleading face. "You
betrayed me... you betrayed us. I can never forgive you for that.
Never."

Try as he might, Inuyasha could not make even the smallest of
sounds. Condemnation was in her eyes, and he knew he was being damned
for a crime he had not committed. Something was very wrong. He had
taken the Shikon no Tama, that was true, but he had taken it because he
had been told she was planning to destroy it and never give it to him.
Becoming human for her was his greatest wish because it was the only way
she would really ever love him, and that was what he wanted the most.
Her love.

The second arrow slammed into his shoulder sending a white hot
inferno of pain surging through him as it further impaled him to the
tree, and then, as the tears of his own broken heart began to slip down
his face, Inuyasha closed his eyes and passed away beneath the seal of
the Miko's arrows.


As it was, Naraku had betrayed both of the Lover's, and when Kikyo
went to confront the evil magician, they fought in the forest and he
killed her, leaving her body to rot deep for naught to find but the
carrion. However, that was not to be the end of her fate, for her young
sister and a few of the villagers had set out in search of the
distraught Miko when she did not return from her meeting with Naraku.
When she found the dead Miko lying among the dead leaves and branches
beneath a large tree, Kaede discovered that, by some miracle, the body
was still warm and limp.

With the help of several men from the village, Kaede recovered her
beloved sister's remains and brought them back to the small hut the two
of them had shared. Once inside, she had began to take care in
preparing Kikyo for a proper burial ceremony so that her soul would not
be left to wander the wastelands looking for its way into the next world. It was
during these preparations and ritual cleansings of the body that Kaede
made a startling discovery.

The reason Kikyo's body was still warm was because it was pregnant.
She was pregnant with another being that obviously had Miko powers
because it was struggling to keep the body that was supposed to be
nourishing it alive.

Swiftly the younger Miko had cut open her dead sister's belly and
retrieved the tiny partially formed fetus, and then, just as swiftly she
was speaking magical words and spells over the small scrap of flesh that
still had life in it. As the powerful words filled the room with
healing magick, the fetus became cocooned it inside of a protective
shell where it would be safe and could continue to grow until it was old
enough to be born. It was a secret Kaede would have to keep from the
rest of the villagers because she was not at all certain what any one of
them would do if they knew what she had done. But this was her sister's
child. Her sister's and that hanyou she had loved so much. The
villagers might look upon it as an abomination and try to kill it, and
she could not let that happen. This tiny flicker of life was all that
was left of Kikyo, and she would harbor it for as long as she had to
until a day came when the child could protect itself.

So, Kikyo was buried and revered as one of the great Miko's of her
time. Her passing was mourned, and her gifts of healing were sorely
missed by all who had benefited from them in the past. Kaede was young
and did not have the experience or the full knowledge, but she stepped
into her sister's place and tried to perform her Miko duties at the
shrine as well as she could.

Years passed and the impaled image of the inu-hanyou hanging from
the God Tree beside the shrine's well became common place for the
villagers. No longer was the silver-haired man-beast looked upon with
either disgust or pity. He was simply not looked upon at all. He just
hung there and became a convenient perch for crows and sparrows, as well
as the occasional eagle and hawk.

He became a fixture, and no one cared if he stayed up there for the
rest of eternity. Soon, there was hardly a soul who could remember what
circumstances had occurred that brought him to that end. It didn't
matter. It wasn't their concern. He was just a filthy hanyou after
all.
#######################


"I'm sick of fetching water and gathering these stupid weeds,
Auntie Kay." The golden-eyed girl with silver streaked, black hair
humphed at the heavy-set old woman as she plopped down on a big rock and
tossed her basket on the ground at her feet. "I want to do something
else for a change. Why can't I go looking for wild blueberries and hazel
nuts? Why can't I go help Sango fight demons or go swimming or..."

"Koniika-Chan!" Kaede cut the young girl off a little more sharply
than she wanted to, but if you didn't stop her before she got going, she
could rattle on endlessly for what seemed like hours and nary take a
single breath in between. "We aren't gathering weeds." She chided a
little more gently chuckling when the girl rolled her eyes and sighed.
"We are gathering 'herbs' for my medicine cupboard. We can go looking
for berries and nuts another day."

"But..."

"We don't need them right now. There are plenty of both in the
storage pit, and you know that. You just don't want to do any work
today." There was a hint of playful scolding in the old woman's voice.
"And going off demon hunting with Sango is completely out of the
question. You aren't old enough."

"Old enough?" Koniika spluttered in teen outrage as she jumped to
her feet. "I'm 14 years old this spring, Auntie Kay. Sango was younger
than that when she started fighting demons, so how can you say I'm not
old enough?"

"Because you were not raised by a Demon-hunter. You have been
raised by a Miko." Kaede raised up front her bent position and winced
as several of her vertebras crackled and popped in protest. "You barely
know how to use your bow as it is, and you never practice. You would be
more of a burden to Sango than a help. So until you become more focused
and serious about your training, you do not go hunting with anyone...
except me."

"Awwwwwww, rats! That is so unfair." Koniika kicked at a stone
that was poking up out of the grass and sent it tumbling away as the
fuel of her agitation broke it free. "I want to do something exciting,
Auntie Kay. THIS is not exciting." Kaede chuckled to herself as she
cast a knowing look over her shoulder at the frustrated teenage.

'You are so much like him,' She thought with a pang in her heart.
'Stubborn, impetuous, hungry for life, and impatient... oh my, but you
are impatient. So was he.' Unbidden her single old eye strayed off to
the west of them toward the shrine and she found herself thinking about
What secrets still lay out there. 'Excitement she wants, hmmm?' Kaede
pursed her lips and once more turned to consider the girl who was still
grousing around about being stuck with the most boring life in the
world, and she started stewing on a thought she had never allowed
herself to even touch before. 'Is it time? Would she understand? 'I wonder...'

"Gather up your basket, Niika-chan. We're going somewhere, you and
I."

"Huh... what... where? Where are we going, Auntie-Kay? Will I
like it? Have I been there before? How far away is it? Will it take
very long to get there? Why are we going? What's there? Will we be
there the rest of the day? What..."

"Koniika!"

"Gomen nasi, Auntie." Koniika grabbed her basket and bounded after
the ample figure of her Aunt, who had already disappeared into the
trees. "Wait up, I'm coming!"

"Hurry yourself. The Gods wait for no one... neither do I." A
smile played at the corners of her mouth as she trudged through the
brush and undergrowth. It really was a joy having the child in her
life, and she thanked Kami-sama daily that she had been able to save her
from Kikyo's dead body.

Growing the fetus had proved to be quite a test of her Miko's
powers, and it had been an uphill battle keeping it alive and nourished
inside of its psuedo-womb of magick until it was old enough to be
'born'. That process had ended up taking years instead of months.
Thirty-six years to be exact, and then it had been one of the most
intricate and powerful spells she had ever preformed to 'birth' the
babe. The Gods had been with her the night she brought a screaming,
catter-wauling Koniika into the world of the living. The little hanyou
pup had been healthy and perfectly formed with ten fingers and ten toes.
She would have passed for completely human if not for her overly large
golden eyes and small black puppy ears on top of her head.

Kaede had had to wait for a few years to pass before she could see
what other hanyou traits the girl would develop, and was pleased to find
they were few. Though her fingernails were a little overly long, they
did not turn into claws, and, although she had fangs, they were smaller
as well. Her hair grew in thick and silky and was a strange black and
silver mixture of both of her parents, but its fullness all but hid the
satiny pearls of her delicate ears. However, her heightened sense of
smell had been inherited fully intact, as was her forced monthly
transformation into a full human when the moon waxed new. The first few
years had been trying, to say the least, as Kaede had struggled to
provide as much love and reassurance to the little hanyou as she could
during those vulnerable times. Eventually Koniika got used to the
transformations, although she still felt naked and weak without her
sense of smell when it disappeared, and it was at those times that Kaede
wished Inuyasha were still alive so he could help the little girl through this
difficult transition of her life. But that was not to be, so the old
Miko did the best she could, and the two of them grew very close.

It had been easy to tell the villagers that she'd found the babe
abandoned in the forest. No one ever questioned her otherwise, and the
fact that the infant was only partially hanyou did not seem to bother
anyone. So, the subject was never brought up, and everyone watched as
Koniika grew up into a beautiful girl. One that many of the young men
were starting to show a romantic interest in. It seemed the days of
being the 'hated hanyou' were not what they used to be.

"How long will it take us to get there?" The breathless voice of
the girl brought the old woman's mind back to the present as she came
jogging up next to her. "Is it very far? Where are we going, I mean,
is it going to take a long time to get there?" Her golden eyes filled
with mischief and anticipation as Koniika bounced and jumped over rocks
and fallen branches while making a general nuisance of herself. Kaede
chuckled and shook her head. 'Impatient.'

"I'm talking you to the shrine, little jack-rabbit."

"The Shrine?" The squeal of surprise and delight made the old
woman flinch, and then she was being smothered in a huge hug as the teen
attacked her in unbridled excitement. "We've never been to The Shrine
before. You said we couldn't go there... that it was full of sad
memories and old ghosts... are we really going there? Really and
truly?"

"Hai. Really and truly." She hugged the gushing teenager as she
bounced away and then bounced back. "But you must remember everything I
told you, Niika-chan. The Shrine is full of old memories and most of
them are either sad or bad, and the ghosts that live there are
unsettled. We must be respectful. Always remember that, young one. Respect the
dead and those who suffer, for one day we may need their help or we may
be among them."

"I will remember." A shade subdued, Koniika let herself think
about what her Aunt had said, and as she did, she remembered some of the
old ghost stories she had heard when she was a little girl. One story
in particular stood out in her mind, and as they walked through the dim
forest, Koniika turned her questioning eyes upon the stout figure of her
companion. "Is there really a man's soul hanging from the God Tree out
there, Auntie Kay?"

"Where did you hear that?" Kaede's head turned sharply and her eye
flashed stunned anger and apprehension for a moment. "Who told you that
story?"

"I... I don't remember, Auntie." Koniika warily shied away in
confusion from her Aunts sudden emotional surge. That was not like her
at all. "It was just a story the kids used to tell when I was little...
it was supposed to be a scary story, but I wasn't ever really scared by
it."

"You weren't? Why not?" The old Miko's eye turned stern as she
surveyed the young girls worried face. "Why wouldn't you be afraid
after hearing a tale about a man's soul hanging in a tree? I should
think it would be very frightening for a little girl."

"I don't know." Koniika shrugged and looked down at her feet as
they walked onward through the trees. "I just wasn't. Some of the
other kids used to have nightmares about him, but I never did." She
chanced a quick look at the old woman and found her staring forward with
an impassive look on her face. "But I did have dreams about him
sometimes... they just weren't bad dreams."

"What kind of dreams did you have, Koniika-chan? What did you
dream when you saw 'the man in the tree'?"

"Well," Her delicate hand came up and wiped a few stray strands of
hair out of her face, and then she started to chew on her fingernail as
she thought. "I would dream that I could see him hanging up there, you
know, by those arrows that are supposed to be holding him to the tree...
and then this really pretty woman with long black hair and strange
clothes crawls out of the well and walks over to the tree. She stands
there and looks at him for a long time, and then she reaches up and
pulls the arrows out."

"She pulls the arrows out? Is that what you said? She pulls the
arrows OUT?" Kaede's voice turned astonished and her hand rose to cover
her mouth.

"Hai. Why? Does that mean something?" Koniika stared at Kaede's
face and saw that it had gone pasty gray. "Auntie, are you all right?"

"Hai. Go one. What else did you see? Tell me the rest." Kaede
stopped walking and turned to face the concerned young girl. "I want to
know what else you saw."

"But are you sure you're all right?" Koniika's concern was growing
by the minute, and her large amber eyes were round with worry as she
searched the old woman's face.

"Hai. Hai. Go on. Onegai, Koniika-chan. Tell me the rest of
your dream."

"Well, after she pulls out the arrows, he falls to the ground and
lays there for a few minutes, and then he gets up..."

"He's alive??" Shock and disbelief filled Kaede's voice as she
reached out and grabbed both of Koniika's shoulders. "Are you certain?
He was alive?"

"Hai. He had to fight a centipede youkai that came out of the well
after the woman and attacked her." Koniika grasped onto Kaede's upper
arms trying to steady them both as the old woman teetered on her feet.
"Auntie Kay, what's wrong?"

"He... he fought a...a..."

"A centipede youkai... killed it with his bare hands." Koniika was
staring into her Aunts pale pasty face with growing alarm as the old
woman became more and more upset. "Just jumped on its back and slashed
it to pieces with his bare hands."

"Oh my God..." Kaede collapsed onto her knees and covered her face
with her hands.

"Auntie Kay!?" Koniika was kneeling in front of her in a heartbeat
fanning her with her hands. "What's wrong? What did I say? What did I
do? Auntie Kay!?"

"It's all right, Niika-chan. It's all right. I'm all right."
Kaede reached out to comfort the frightened girl as best she could
considering the state of her own heart and mind. 'It's time she knew.
It's time.' "Niika-chan, I have something to tell you, and it is going
to be very hard for you to hear, youngling. Very hard, but you have to
know."

"What do you mean, Auntie? Why is it going to be hard? What are
you going to tell me?" Koniika's voice was filled with trepidation, and
Kaede could see the wary shift of fear beginning to show in her eyes.
"What's happening? What does my dream mean? Who is the man pinned to
the God Tree?"

"It is time I told you who you really are, and where you really
came from, Isshi-chan."

"Wh-what?" Koniika sat stunned, staring at the only stability she
had ever known in her life and suddenly feeling as if the world were
spinning so fast she was going to fall off. "Where I came from? You
found me in the woods when I was a pup... didn't you?"

"No. I didn't." Kaede heaved a heavy sigh and searched for the
words to help her explain the unexplainable. "You are not a foundling
as I told you, you were... you are the blood child of my older sister who
has been dead these fifty years."

"Fif... fifty years?" Koniika stuttered in disbelief as her mind
tried to reject the thought that her birth mother had been dead longer
than she had been alive. "That is impossible. I'm only fourteen."

"I know... it is very complicated, Niika-chan, but you must believe
me. It is true." Reaching out, Kaede grasped one of her nieces cold
hands within her warmer one. "I cut you from her dead body with my own
hands, and then I kept you alive within a womb made of magick until
you were developed enough to be born."

"A womb of magick?" Wide golden eyes stared without really seeing.
"How... how long?"

"Over thirty years... it was not a natural place for a fetus to
grow, and it was difficult to maintain and keep you nourished so it took
so much longer, but I never gave up until the day I finally birthed you
into this world." Tears glistened in the old woman's eye as she gazed at
the beautiful girl she had grown to love so dearly. "I never gave up."

"You... you grew me, and then... then you 'birthed' me... with
magick?"

"It was the only way; otherwise, you would have died with both of
your parents, and I would have been left with nothing." Kaede's head
bowed in humility and love. "I didn't want to lose you too, so I saved
you the only way I could."

"Oh Auntie Kay." Koniika's arms reached out and wrapped around the
old woman and pulled her tightly into her strong embrace. "Thank-you.
Thank-you for loving me enough to 'grow' me for all those years." She
kissed the wrinkled cheek and tasted salty tears. "I love you too."
And then something dawned on her. Something Kaede had said just a moment
ago.

"You said both of my parents died, Auntie." Koniika's voice sounded
small and uncertain as she pressed her face into the old Miko's neck.
"Is that true?"

"Hai... it is true. They both died that same day." Kaede pulled
back and looked Koniika directly in the face. "Your Mother was my
sister, Kikyo. She was a powerful and gifted Miko, but she was
uncertain in her life and dissatisfied with place she had been given.
She wanted more... she wanted a normal life. She wanted to be a wife
and a mother... and one day, she fell in love with a handsome, gallant
inu-hanyou named Inuyasha, who loved her more than anyone could say. He
loved her so much, he stole the Shikon no Tama so he could wish to
become a full human. You see," Kaede pulled the girl back into her arms
and held her close. "That was the only way Kikyo would allow them to be
together. She wouldn't become his wife as long as he was a hanyou, and
so he took the jewel. But, they were both betrayed. Naraku set a trap
for Inuyasha forcing him to steal the jewel by making him believe that
Kikyo was going to use it against him, and Kikyo believed he had
betrayed their love and meant to destroy the jewel altogether, and so
when Inuyasha took the Shikon no Tama from the shrine, Kikyo was there
waiting for him. Inuyasha died at your Mother's hands. However, she
soon discovered that she had killed him needlessly, and so she went in
search of Naraku to exact her vengeance upon him. But Naraku destroyed
her. I found her in the woods shortly after, and managed to salvage you
from her body."

"Auntie Kay?" Koniika's voice was barely above a whisper.

"Nani?"

"It's my Father who's pinned to the tree by those arrows, isn't
it?" Koniika burrowed closer to the warmth beneath her cheek. "Inuyasha
was my Father, wasn't he?"

"Hai, Niika-chan. It is Inuyasha who was your Father, and it is
his body and soul that are sealed to the God Tree by Kikyo's Miko's
arrows. I think perhaps that is why you are having dreams about him.
You inherited some of your Mother's Miko powers, but you are also
connected to your Father through your hanyou blood. But I do not understand this
dream you have had. I do not understand how Inuyasha can be alive."

"I clearly saw a woman releasing him, Auntie Kay, can't he be
released?" Pulling away, Koniika looked deeply into her Aunts face
searching for an answer to question that really had no answer.

"He can be released, Niika-chan, but only by the hand that put him
there. He can only be released by Kikyo... and she is dead." Kaede's
face was bewildered as she gazed at the young hanyou girl. "I do not
understand. Who is this woman you have seen? How is it that she was
able to release him? And why did she crawl out of the well? So many
questions, youngling, and no answers. I am not even sure if there are
any answers to find."

"Then let's go to the shrine and see what we shall see." Koniika
said in a firm and decisive voice as she stood up and pulled the old
woman up with her. "Perhaps that is why we are going there today.
Perhaps we are meant to see my Father being released, and if that is
what is meant to happen there today, then it will... so, lets not be
late. Come on... like you said, God waits for no one, and neither do
we."
#######################


Dreams. A thousand-thousand dreams, and each one almost the same.
Hazy figures in the shifting fog moving in and out of his perspective as
time slipped away and became nothing more than the eternal fight to draw
one breath of air. Faces of those he knew; those who would seek his
life, those who would reject him for what he was, those who had loved
him. 'Kikyo...'

Always the thoughts of her brought excruciating pain to him as his
heart and mind rejected the images that floated to the surface of his
memory soup.

'The jewel... the arrows... the pain... betrayed...
nooooooooooooooo... onegai, Kami- sama, no, it's not true. I'm not
dead, I'm not dead, I'm not de... Kikyo! Stop! Don't! Nooo!'

Faces of old women and children swam before him, but always there
were two faces that seemed to stay the closest. They were special to
him, although he knew not why. All he understood was they were somehow
a part of his soul, and when they drifted past him in the fog, he would
desperately try to reach out and pull them back to him.

The girl, a beautiful ebon haired hanyou pup, would stay the
longest with him. She had started coming when she was just a tiny thing
barely even a bundle of flesh, but as time moved onward, she had
changed. She had grown into an infant, then a child, and now a young
girl. Her large golden youkai eyes haunted his dreams, even as her
laughter seemed to forever float upon the breeze that swirled around his
mind. She was precious to him, precious to his thoughts and the sanctity
of his soul, and precious to his heart. He did not know who she was,
but he knew she was connected to him somehow and her presence brought
him a measure of comfort.

'Koniika.' He knew her name, though he was not sure how he knew
it. It had just come to him one day as he had gazed lovingly upon her
gentle beauty. 'Koniika. Who are you, my Koishii? Where do you come
from, and where to you go when you leave me? Why can't I follow you
there? I miss you when you're gone. Koniika? Where are you? Do you
hear me when I talk to you? Can you see me the way I can see you? Are
you there? Koniika? Are you there?'
###############

She was lying in the bottom of the well. She could smell the musty
odor of damp earth all around her, but she couldn't figure out how she
had gotten down here.

'What the heck...' She sat up and rubbed her head feeling the egg
sized lump that was forming on the back of her skull. Wincing at the
tenderness, she gently massaged the bruised flesh, and then looked up to
see what was happening.

Above her she could easily make out the opening of the well and saw
daylight and sky peaking through. "Daylight? How...?" Confusion
filled her mind as she tried to figure out how daylight and blue sky
could be showing above the well when the well was located in the shed.
"What's going on here?" The sound of her own voice echoing around her
was a little disturbing, and she felt goosebumps popping out along her
arms and the back of her neck. 'I gotta get out of here and find out
what the heck is going on.' She thought with a decisive shake of her
head, and then proceeded to start looking for a way out.

The frayed end of a rope bumped into the back of her tender head,
and she flinched at the tingle of pain that fingered across her scalp at
the unexpected contact. But looking at the rope, she could see that it
appeared to be tied to the cross-bar at the opening of the well, and
when she tugged on it, it seemed to be fairly sturdy. So, taking a deep
breath to calm her nerves, she gripped the rope in both hands and
started to pull herself up the stone-covered wall.

It was slow going because she didn't have that much upper body
strength, but by sheer will and determination, she gritted her teeth and
kept going until she pulled herself over the edge of the well.
Breathing heavily from the unusual exertion, she flopped down in the
grass and closed her eyes for a moment trying to calm her body and catch
her breath.

"Let's not... do... that again... for a while." She huffed as she
wiped sweat off her brow with the sleeve of her white uniform shirt.
The green skirt she wore was flapping slightly in the breeze which
helped to cool her body off somewhat, but she kept her other hand
pressing it against her leg lest it blow upward and expose her lower
body. An ironic giggle bubbled out of her throat as the thought
occurred to her. 'Who do I think is going to see me anyway? I don't
even know where the heck I am. For all I know, I could be on another
planet or in the middle of the dark ages somewhere, and there aren't any
people around for miles. So, why am I so worried that somebody is going
to see my underwear? Sheesh! Kagome, you are so goofy sometimes.' She
giggled again and then sat up crossing her legs Indian style, stuffing
her skirt between her thighs.

Her laughter abruptly ceased as she started to look around the area
she was setting in. She almost recognized it. There was a small mud
and stone building in front of her, and the markings on the wall beside
the door unmistakably named it as the Shrine to Kami-sama, but it was
not the Shrine she remembered. Standing up, Kagome walked apprehensively
over to the smaller building and tentatively reached out and touched the
kanji symbols.

"I... I don't understand." She whispered in a very worried and
confused voice. "How can this be?" And then she turned around only to
gasp and cover her mouth in horrified astonishment. There beside the
well stood the God Tree, just like it was supposed to be. Only it was
smaller and younger, and this God Tree had something else very different
about it.

There was a man with long silver-white hair, wearing a brilliant
red hauri and hakima hanging from it. Unsteady feet carried her closer
to the unexpected spectacle, and when she reached the well, Kagome
looked up and found her eyes filling with tears. Two arrows protruded
from the man's chest. One from his right shoulder area, and the other from his
heart. He hung limp like a ragdoll, his arms and legs dangling in the
air moving gently with the force of the breeze that blew past them. His
face was beautiful, flawless, and perfect, and when she reached up to
touch his hand, it was faintly warm beneath her skin.

"Oh my God... you're alive!" She exclaimed in an alarmed whisper.
"How can you be alive with two arrows in your chest? I... how?" Her
eyes were even with his chest, and so she watched carefully for any
movement, but was equally stunned when she saw none. "You're warm but
you don't breath? What the hell is going on here?" Impulsively Kagome
reached out and grabbed the arrow in his shoulder and tried to pull it
out.

A strange feeling of vibrating energy rumbled through her, and for
a moment she thought she saw herself shooting this arrow and pinning
this man to the tree. 'Insane.' She shook her head and reinforcing her
grip on the shaft, pulled harder. The arrow came free all at once and
Kagome almost fell to the ground, but managed to right herself at the
last moment as she stumbled back several feet. 'Wow... that was weird.'
Looking down at the arrow, she expected to see it covered with blood and
tissue, but was further bewildered to find it clean with the obsidian
tip reflecting the sunlight brightly. Large blue-gray eyes narrowed in
suspicious confusion, and putting the arrow down, she marched back over
to the man and yanked the second arrow out of his heart. It was just as
clean as the first, and there was no blood on the man's clothing.

She watched as he fell to the ground in a red heap of arms, legs,
and billowing white hair. This was certainly turning into a very strange
day for her. More than strange actually. It was becoming down right
extraordinary, but Kagome didn't have long to ponder upon that
particular realization because at that moment, all of her internal warning
signals began to scream. 'LOOK BEHIND YOU! RUN! RUN! RUN!'.

Watching one's life pass before one's eyes is a humbling
experience, especially when it doesn't take very long to watch it.
Kagome's life flashed before her in a split instant, and then she was
dodging to the left like lightening and running for the safety of the
Shrine. When she hazarded a look over her shoulder, she realized she
wasn't going to make it.

The huge slathering jaws of the most enormous centipede she had
ever seen were bearing down upon her from some fifty feet in the air,
and the menacing sounds of growling and snapping fangs was getting
closer with every frightened breath she took. 'It's going to eat me!'
Instinctively she veered off sharply to her right and then back behind the beast
frantically looking for somewhere to hide. Almost too swiftly, the
over-sized insect was right back on top of her. The smell of its putrid
breath was all over her, and as she cut off to the left, panic seized
her. She screamed.

The terrified sound split the serene quiet of the woods surrounding
the Shrine, but it seemed to be the catalyst that was needed to push
everything forward so Fate could achieve what it had planned for over
400 years.

A horrible growling roar filled the air and Kagome screamed again
as she jerked once more to the left. Her eyes grew round and her voice
dropped silent when she beheld the silver haired man she had just freed
from the God Tree leaping into the air and landing in the middle of the
giant centipedes back. The great claws she had not noticed on his hands
were suddenly slashing and tearing into the beasts flesh, and it began
bucking and thrashing trying to throw the man off as it screamed in pain
and terror. But he seemed to be all but glued to its body, and he
continued to roar and slash until, with one final bloody cry, the
centipede slumped to the ground defeated, and quite dead.

The silver haired man jumped off and walked around to the front of
the beast where he growled and took a slashing swipe at its' head. When
he came back, he was holding one of the long fangs in his bloody hand.

"Are you all right?" His voice was a low tenor as he spoke, and
Kagome realized he was speaking clear Japanese to her, although his
accent was a little odd sounding. "Hey, you... wench. I asked you if
you were all right?"

"Ummm... yes. I'm fine... what... what just happened?" Her face
was a mask of confusion as she stared into the largest eyes she had ever
seen. Their golden color held her transfixed on his face and she was
unaware of the look of astonishment that covered hers.

"Looks to me like I just saved your ass." His brows furrowed as he
watched her looking at him. "What's your problem?" His voice turned
harsh and there was the hint of a growl behind his waspish question.
"Haven't you ever seen a hanyou before?"

"A... A hanyou? What's a hanyou?" Looking at her with sneering
incredulity, the man snorted and shook his head. That's when she
noticed them. "You have... ears." She exclaimed before she could stop
herself. "You have dog ears."

"Well duh." The look he gave her was scathing. "I'm a inu-hanyou,
you stupid wench. What else would I have?" Suddenly Kagome realized
just how rude he was being to her when she was nothing more than
surprised, and a wave of anger washed over her.

"Listen you... you... you hanyou, or whatever you are." She spat
as she shoved a finger into his stunned face. "I don't know what things
are like here where you live, but where I come from, you treat strangers
with a little more respect and courtesy than this. I wasn't trying to
insult you or anything else you might be thinking. I was surprised, I
have never seen a person like you before, and... and it's strange. I'm
sorry if I hurt your feelings. If I did, it was unintentional. And by
the way," She maneuvered herself so that she was up in his shocked face.
"Don't call me a wench!"

Glowering down at her, he turned and shuffled away a few feet.
"You're welcome." He muttered.

"What?"

"You're welcome." He threw over his shoulder as he stuffed the
centipede fang into his sleeve.

"For what?" She walked over to him and looked at his scowling
face. "What are you 'you're welcoming' me for?"

"For saving your stupid life, wench. That's what. Or didn't you
notice that I kept that fucking bug from eating you alive back there?"

Kagome blushed in embarrassment. In her outrage over his rudeness,
she had completely forgotten to thank him for saving her from that less
than desirable demise. "I... I'm sorry. I should have said 'Thank-
you'. I really do appreciate it... I mean, I'd be dead if you hadn't
helped me out." Standing on tip-toe, she gave him a brief kiss on the
cheek. "Thank-you."

He froze where he stood and didn't move so much as an eyelash.
'Did she just kiss my cheek?'

"And by the way... you're welcome too."

"Huh...? What? What for?" He stared at her like she'd grown two
heads.

"For unpinning you from the God Tree, stupid." She laughed, a lite
and lilting sound as his mouth dropped open in stunned surprise.
"What's the matter? Did you forget that's where you used to be?"

"I... I guess I did." Confusion colored his fine features as he
turned and looked at the tree. "I remember..." The quiet shift of his
voice caught her attention, and as he walked away toward the tree, she
followed him. "I remember taking the jewel... and running."

"Running? Where were you running, and what jewel are you talking
about?"

"I... I was running back to the village so I could make my wish...
so I could... so I could be human, but... but I..." He stuttered to a
halt and looked down at his feet. One of the arrows lay beside him and
he bent down to pick it up. "She shot me... I remember, she shot me."

"Who? Who shot you? What is going on? Who are you anyway, and
where is this place?" Kagome felt a disturbance in the air around them,
and the prickles on her skin got worse. Something very strange was
happening, something that she could not control, and for some reason,
she felt like her mind was turning itself inside out. She was seeing
things. things like her shooting those arrows, making love with a
handsome silver haired hanyou, fighting a frightening dark man who split
her heart in half with a burst of black light, floating in a boat on the
river with...

"Kikyo... Kikyo shot me and sealed me to that tree." As his hand
formed a fist, the shaft of the arrow snapped in half. "She said I..."

"... betrayed her." Kagome shook her head and placed her hands
over her temples as a thousand images flashed through her mind all at
once. "You stole the Shikon no Tama... you betrayed her... she loved
you, and you betrayed her... Inuyasha."

Inuyasha stared at the ebon haired girl standing beside him and
felt the prickling of spiritual awareness flutter across his skin. "How
do you know that?" He hissed between clenched teeth. "How do you know
my name? Who the fuck are you, and where did you come from?"

"I... I fell into the well in the shed..." She slumped to the
ground and sat on her folded legs. "I woke up with a bump on my head,
and when I climbed out... I was here, in this place. I don't even know
where 'here' is."

"This is Japan, wench. Where do you think this is?"

"But it's not the Japan I know. It's not the place I come from. I
don't understand any of this..." Silently she began to cry. "I don't
know how I got here, and I don't know how I know your name... but I feel
things inside of me like I already know you, and I can see things in my
head that look like memories. I can see me shooting you with the
arrows... I can hear me talking to you, and telling you you betrayed
me... I can feel the anger and the hatred and the... the pain." Watery
blue eyes lifted and looked up at his sharp features asking him to try
and understand. "I loved you... she.... she loved you, but you weren't
what she wanted... you weren't... you weren't..."

"I wasn't human." Inuyasha dropped to the ground beside the
distraught girl who was suddenly looking at him with eyes that looked
all to familiar. "I was a filthy hanyou... and even though she'd let me
love her, she wouldn't let me marry her because I wasn't human." The
pain in his heart was there, openly exposed for her eyes to see, and Kagome
reached out her hand and touched his face. "I wasn't good enough for
her."

"She was wrong, Inuyasha. She should have trusted you, and she
knew that... after."

"After?" His golden eyes looked at the girl with childlike doubt
as he inched closer to her. "After what?"

"After she killed you... she knew it was wrong. She knew it was a
mistake, but it was too late. She went after the one who was
responsible, and he killed her... she paid for taking your life
unjustly. She paid with her own life. You died together that day."

"Kikyo..." The name was a choked whisper as the hanyou turned away
and stared off into the blue blankness of the sky. "Why didn't you
trust me? Why couldn't you believe in me? Why?"

"Because... you were a hanyou."

"Fuck that. It was always because I was a hanyou. Everything was
because I was a hanyou." He snarled and Kagome got her first look at
his very real canine fangs. "If she had let me have the jewel so I
could make my wish... I would have been human and we could have been
together... we could have gotten married... we could have had children
instead of the pups she was so afraid of. But, she didn't trust me...
because I was a hanyou."

"I'm sorry, Inuyasha." Kagome put her hand out and gently laid it
on the tense muscles of his back. "I'm so sorry."

"Feh!" He snapped. "What do you know about it, wench?"

"I think I know everything, you rude, foul mouthed hanyou... I
think I'm HER all over again, but not exactly the same because I'm me
too, and I don't feel the same as she did." She felt him shiver beneath
her touch, but he did not pull away. "I think Kikyo has been
reincarnated in me... but I'm no Miko... I'm just a sixteen year old
school girl that got caught in a time warp or something. That's all I
know."

"But you are wrong, Jou-chan." Kagome and Inuyasha both spun
around at the sound of another voice invading their small space of the
world, and both wore the same expression of shock and confusion as they
looked at the one eyed old woman who was accompanied by a very pretty
black-haired young girl. "You are a powerful Miko. If you were not,
you would have never come back through the well from your time into
ours, and you would not have had the strength to pull the arrows out and
free Inuyasha from the God Tree you pinned him to 50 years ago."

"Wha... 50 years?" Kagome shook her head in complete puzzlement.
"But I have never been here before, I don't even know where 'here' is...
Where am I?"

"Back in Feudal Japan, Jou-chan. Back in the days of demons,
wizards, and spirit magick." Kaede knelt down on the grass in front of
Kagome and gently reached out and took her hand. "You have been reborn
with the soul of my dear sister, Kikyo, who lies dead in the ground
these fifty years."

"Your sister... fifty...Who the hell are you, old woman?" Inuyasha
growled menacingly at the old Miko who wore a patch over one eye, and
when she turned to look at him, something deep inside of his soul
stirred and he felt a familiar brush of energy touch his soul. "K-
Kaede...?" He whispered as he looked at the hefty body, the gray hair,
the pudgy wrinkled face... the one eye. "Is that you in there?"

"Hai. Inuyasha. It is I. Kaede. Though I am much changed from
the girl you remember."

"Hai. That you are." He stared at her through astonished golden
orbs and then turned and looked upon Kagome again. "It's true then.
I've been sealed to the God Tree for fifty years, and Kikyo is dead?"

"Hai. I am sorry." Kaede watched as the hanyou bowed his head and
clenched his jaw. "It was just as the Jou-chan said. She went to get
vengeance upon Naraku for his part in causing her to unjustly kill you,
and, as a result, she was killed as well."

"You said 'I' killed him?" Kagome drew Kaede's attention back to
her. "Do you really believe I am Kikyo reborn?"

"Of course, Jou-chan. If you were not, you would not have been
about to pull the arrows from his body. You would not have even been
able to touch them."

"If that is true, then why didn't Kikyou remove them herself when
she discovered that she'd struck Inuyasha unjustly?"

"Because, her heart was dark and filled with hate and grief. Only
a Miko with the light of life and purity can remove a sealing arrow."
Kaede's gaze shifted to the girl kneeling next to her, and though the
dark head was bent in respect, the hands were clutching each other
ferociously. "Perhaps you were meant to come back to us at this moment
in time, Jou-chan. There is much that needs to be done, and I am
getting old without a proper healer to replace me. Kikyo was a powerful
healer, and with her soul, so shall you be as well."

"I don't understand." Kagome sighed and rubbed her aching
forehead. "I'm not a Miko."

"Perhaps not now, but you will be." Kaede patted the delicate hand
she held and then turned her gaze back to the speechless hanyou. "And
you, my silver haired friend. There is much for you to do as well, and
it is about time you stood up and did it."

"What are you talking about, old woman? I've been dead for fifty
years. What could I possibly have to do that needs doing?"

"Inuyasha..." Kaede slowly turned to the silent girl kneeling next
to her, and taking one of her taut cold hands within hers, gently
reached out and pulled one of the hanyou's over and placed them
together. "I want to introduce you to your daughter... Koniika."

The moment flesh touched flesh he knew. When she raised her face,
and looked at him with those incredible golden eyes, he knew. The face,
the silver streaked black mane, the smile, the delicate black pearl tips
of her ears, her scent; he knew. He remembered.

"Koniika..." Her name was the prayer of lost soul as he reached
out and pulled her into his arms. Her scent assailed his senses, and he
inhaled of her deeply catching the faintest nuance of himself within the
odor that was her. "Koniika... sweet, Koniika." Inuyasha shuddered as
he felt the heat of his blood rise in recognition of her connection to
him, and he burrowed deeply inside of her thick hair until his nose was
pressed against the thundering pulse in her throat.

"Otousan... papa... you know me?" Koniika wrapped her arms around
the body of the fierce looking stranger who really wasn't a stranger at
all. His scent, his warmth, his touch; everything about him screamed to
her that he was her Father, and as the tears of her joy flowed down her
face, she let her heart sing.

The circle that had been broken by distrust, hatred, and betrayal
had been mended at last, and Fate smiled down upon the reunited family
in pleased satisfaction. There was much yet to be done, and many
hardships to face, but through perseverance they should be able to
conquer whatever life tossed their way.

Unless of course, it happened to be the combination of a Father and
daughter who were only three years apart in age, a reincarnated Mother
who was trying to get ready for high school exams 450 years in the
future, while studying to be a Miko 450 years in the past , and an over
sexed monk-would be suitor who had never heard about the possessiveness
that Inu-hanyou's felt over their pups.

It was 3 years and Naraku's demise later that all of these things
would be put to the test, and the world would at last discover just how
short was an Inu-youkai's temper after all, and just how fast could a
Monk run in those robes anyway. And was friendship thicker than blood,
or would Monk be on the dinner menu? And was the voice of reason ever
heard above the din of roaring threats and curses, or did the world sway
in favor of the irrational, outraged, blood seeking, head hunting hanyou
Father's?

Hmmmm... Good questions. It appeared the world was about to find
out. The hard way.

#############################

That's it for me for now, kiddies. I hope you liked it. I know it was
sort of angsty and stuff for what is supposed to be a romantic comedy...
But there were issues that had to be cleared up... you know, issues.
Anywhoo... now Koniika is 17, and Inuyasha 20, and Kagome is 19. Enter
Miroko, the pervert.
Let the groping begin................................ Tsuki-san