Last chapter, everyone! I hope you've enjoyed it! Thank you so much for all your reviews!

Review responses: (You guys were oh so fun to torture with that cliffie. -)

Lost Darkness: Wow. I'm really evil aren't I? : P

Dragon Man 180: This is the last chapter, sadly. Thanks for all your reviews, though!

Lavadude: I highly doubt that I'm going to have a sequel, but maybe. I'm just not sure of a plot yet. But don't give up hope! I may come up with one yet! Thanx for your reviews!

Gilbertfan: GAH! What's happening to you! You need to update! Thnx!

Dragon's kitty: WAAAAAAAAAH!!!!!! I HAVEN'T SEE YOU IN FOREVER!!!!!! ::sniff:: It's so sad... Rocky is boring...

ladyhawk89: EMOTIONALLY CONSTIPATED??!?!?!?! HAHAHAHAA!!!!! That's one I've never heard before! Lol. Sry about that. Thanks for the review!!!

Luna the Sheikah: I know... Please don't kill me... Update soon!!!!!

Dark-wolf-soulX: Lol... That's fine, I don't mind. GAH! This is the last chapter!!! That makes me sad... Oh well! Thanks for the review!

Thanks to DarkAngelMiko, ChibiYugiYasha, Suki1, InuLvr4eva, Rurouni Kaoru Kenshin's Love, Peanut Gallery- Alaska's Own, Haunt, Koinu-Chan, LilBlue-Hedggie, animekraze, IceSugarHigh, wolf enchantress 340, bluecleo14, DerrangedBlonde, Rykokitty, high-school-girl, Fluffy's-Maiden44, AmayaSaria, badgurl136, Rain-chan: Darkened dream, Azmidiske, Queeny, Sorairo Ryuu, Saffire Kiss, Marfbag, Nicole Miklos, redsilhorses, Rika Chan604, Rekouri Sentusu, and Kagma for your wonderful reviews!

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Chapter 14: Back in Time

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Inuyasha stared in horror, rooted to the ground by fear and indecision, as his mother was beaten by the men from the village.

"Where is he, you wench?!"

"Tell us!"

Through the men's shouts, he could hear his mother's whimpers of pain. Finally, one of the men decided that he had had enough and raised his sword for the killing blow. Inuyasha saw this and began running towards his mother as fast as he could. He was only halfway there when the man brought his sword down, slashing across his mother's chest and killing her.

"Mother, no!! MOTHER!!!" Inuyasha screamed.

All the men turned and looked at him as he came barreling towards his mother's dead body. He reached her body and flung himself at her screaming at her to wake up.

The man who killed Tsuki smiled. "Heh. There you are you little whelp."

Inuyasha didn't respond, but kept hugging his mother and willing her to wake up, the tears now streaming down his face. The man kicked Inuyasha in the ribs, laughing as he went flying into the wall. The men surrounded him and began kicking and jeering at him.

"How does it feel half-breed?"

"You like that?"

"Stupid whelp!"

Inuyasha continued to stare at his mother's lifeless body. As he looked at her closed eyes, he knew that she would never open them again. Inuyasha closed his eyes and felt the grief, pain, and anger well up inside him, melting together into blind fury. His eyes snapped open and he leaped at one of the men. He landed on top of him and began punching the living daylights out of him. The rest of the men grabbed him and pulled him off of their companion. Inuyasha struggled against their grip, screaming and yelling at them. He eventually managed to get one of his hands free and, in his rage, brought his claws down on the man unlucky enough to be in front of him. Surprised, the men that were holding him dropped him. Inuyasha stared in shock as the man in front of him fell to the ground dead. Within an instant, his reasoning took over and he jumped to his feet and began running away as fast as he could. Behind him, the men shouted and a few of them began to give chase. Terrified, Inuyasha ran out of the house and into the forest. Even as he heard the shouts behind die away, he kept running.

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Kagome stared wide-eyed at the scene in front of her. Several men from the village were mercilessly beating Tsuki, demanding to know where Inuyasha was, and she, through it all, remained silent aside from the occasional whimper of pain. Tearing her eyes away from the horrible scene, she glanced down at Inuyasha, who was also staring at his mother with a mix of shock, fear, and horror on his face. Suddenly, his eyes widened and he started running full-speed towards his mother. Kagome looked up in time to see a man bring his sword down across Tsuki's chest and she gasped as tears stung her eyes. She heard Sango's, Miroku's, and Shippo's accompanying sounds of shock vaguely from beside her, but the most prominent sound was Inuyasha's grief-stricken scream.

"Mother, no!! MOTHER!!!"

He reached Tsuki's now-dead body and hugged it tightly, begging her to wake up. Kagome choked back a sob as tears blurred her vision. Suddenly, the man that killed Tsuki sneered and kicked Inuyasha, sending him flying into the wall. The rest of them surrounded him and began kicking him. Inuyasha continued to stare at his mother's body.

"No!!" Kagome shouted and began running towards him, but Sango and Miroku grabbed her arms and held her back. "What are you doing?! Let me go!"

"Kagome, there's nothing we can do to help! Even if we could, we don't know what could happen! It could be dangerous!" Sango said.

"But they're gonna kill him! Inuyasha!!"

Kagome watched as Inuyasha closed his eyes and began shaking. When he opened them again, they were filled with a rage Kagome had never seen in him before. He leapt at the nearest man and began punching him with all his might. The other men grabbed him and pulled him off, but he just began struggling against them, too.

"Please, Sango, we have to help him!" she begged.

Sango looked at Miroku and they both reluctantly agreed. With a shout, Miroku brought his staff down on the arms of the men that held Inuyasha. Luck must have been on their side, because the staff connected, even if just barely, enough to cause the men to let go of one of Inuyasha's hands. Inuyasha swung his free arm and brought his claws down on the man in front of him. Surprised and frightened, the other men dropped him. Landing on the ground, Inuyasha stared in shock at the dead man in front of him. His shock lasted for only a second before he picked himself up and started running away.

"Get him!" one of the men shouted and a few of them began chasing after him. The remaining grabbed some of the torches lining the walls and hurried outside.

Sango, Miroku, Kagome, and Shippo jumped onto Kirara's back and took off in the direction Inuyasha had gone. Before they disappeared into the forest, however, Kagome glanced back to see the men throwing the torches at the house, setting it, along with Tsuki's body, on fire. She closed her eyes against the tears and turned her attention back to the task ahead.

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The group followed Inuyasha until his bruised and battered body simply collapsed under him. Kirara gently landed a small distance from him and her passengers got off. Kagome thought her heart would break as Inuyasha curled up into a little ball and began crying his heart out. Kagome, too, started crying. She couldn't imagine loosing her mother, let alone watch her die, especially not so brutally. Sango had tears rolling down her face as well, probably remembering watching her father die. Miroku wasn't crying, but had a look of deep sympathy for Inuyasha.

At least an hour later, Inuyasha's tears finally seemed to run out. He rubbed his eyes with his kimono sleeve and looked forlornly down at the ground.

"Inuyasha! Inuyasha!"

Everyone looked up as a rather familiar voice reached their ears. Seconds later, a small flea demon came bouncing up to Inuyasha, landing on his knee.

"My lord Inuyasha! At last I have found you! What has happened to you?"

"Leave me alone, Myouga," Inuyasha said, not even casting a glance at the flea.

"My lord...?" Myouga asked worriedly.

"I said leave me alone!" Inuyasha shouted, now glaring at Myouga. "Just go away!" Fresh tears were now sliding down Inuyasha's cheeks.

"Yes, my lord..." Myouga said, reluctantly hopping away.

Inuyasha buried his face in his kimono sleeves once more, not even trying to stop the tears. Kagome couldn't stand it anymore. She stood up from the place she had been sitting and began walking towards Inuyasha.

"Inuyasha..."

Inuyasha looked up, startled, as a female voice reached his ears. Through his tears, he saw the figure of a young woman. He hurriedly wiped the tears away. When he looked back up, he gasped as he saw his guardian angel walking towards him, though this time, she was not the ghostly figure he had seen before; she was solid as a rock this time. He slowly inched backwards, unsure of what do to. Kagome smiled warmly at him.

"Inuyasha, please don't cry," she said softly as she kneeled down in front of him. Inuyasha stared back at her with wide eyes. "Inuyasha, no matter how bad things seem, there's always someone who cares about you, whether you know it or not. You're not alone..." Kagome didn't know what made her say the words just sort of... came.

Inuyasha stared at her, not moving, and for a second, Kagome wondered if her words had gotten through. Then slowly, he smiled at her, a sad, yet grateful smile.

Suddenly, Kagome felt a tug at her soul, some invisible force that seemed to pull her out of reality. In the back of her mind, she somehow knew that the time demon's spell was wearing off. That invisible force pulled her along, hurling her forward in time, though, unlike last time, where it had just happened, time seemed to fast forward itself. She was both there and not there at the same time. She watched, fascinated, as she saw Inuyasha grow up, beginning to fend for himself. She watched as he wandered aimlessly through parts of Japan, slowly growing older and more mature. She watched as he learned about the Shikon no Tama for the first time and set off with determination to find it. She watched as he arrived at the village of Edo, as he met Kikyo and slowly but surely fell for her. And she saw, with her very own eyes, the alleged betrayal between Kikyo and Inuyasha. The rest of it became an indiscernible blur until suddenly, the world went black.

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Kagome blinked. It was dark. She realized she was lying down. It looked like she was on the floor of a hut. She could feel the cushion of her sleeping bag beneath her. The soft breathing of other people reached her ears. Suddenly, she remembered everything and sat up, looking around. She was in Kaede's hut, in her sleeping bag. Her companions were sleeping soundly on the floor of the hut as well. It was nighttime and everything was bathed in darkness, the only light came from the moon outside. Kagome's brows furrowed in confusion.

'Was it all just a dream?'

She stood up, careful not to disturb Shippo, who had been sleeping next to her, as always.

'But it all seemed so real...'

She noticed that Inuyasha wasn't in the hut and figured he was outside. Kagome doubted she was going to get back to sleep anytime soon; there were too much going through her head at the moment, so she decided to go join Inuyasha outside.

She quietly stepped outside and looked around, searching for Inuyasha in the faint light of the moon. Soon enough, she spotted him sitting in the grass next to the small stream that ran through the village, looking at the moon. Smiling, she walked towards him. As she approached, he didn't say anything, but his ear twitched in her direction to acknowledge her presence. She sat down next to him, looking up at the moon as well.

"What are you doing out here?" he asked, breaking the silence.

"I couldn't sleep," she replied. "What about you?"

"Me neither."

Kagome looked at him. He continued looking at the moon, but Kagome noticed the distant look in his eyes.

"What are you thinking about?" she inquired.

"Just... things."

"What kind of things?"

"It's nothing..."

"No, tell me," she encouraged him. "Please?"

He shook his head.

"Is it... about Kikyo? Is that why you won't tell me?"

"No... It's not about her. I was... just thinking... about when I was younger." He smiled a little. "Do you know I actually had a pet fire-cat when I was little? She looked exactly like Kirara."

Kagome's eyes widened.

Inuyasha noticed this and chuckled a little. "Kinda funny, huh? I even had a friend named Shippo. He was a kitsune, too. Maybe it was his dad or something. Feh. It's really kind of weird when you think about it."

Kagome stared at him disbelievingly.

Inuyasha looked back up at the sky. "But... the thing I remember the most of all... is a girl. I thought she was my guardian angel. She told me that no matter what, there would always be someone who cares about me and that I was never alone. And she..." he looked back at Kagome. "She looked exactly like you. I guess maybe she was a vision or something," he said, smiling at her.

Kagome smiled back, placing her hand in his and leaning her head on his shoulder.

'I guess it was real, after all.'

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Well, that was the last chapter. Thank you all so much for your wonderful reviews and for stickin' with me throughout the story!

I've thought it over while writing this chap and I've decided that I'm going to make a sequel. Again, it will be centered around Inuyasha's past, but in a different way. I'm going to finish my other fic and maybe one more before I work on the sequel though. Anyway, I hope to see you all again!

As a last word of thanks, I'd like to list everyone who reviewed.

Lost Darkness, Koinu-Chan, EI, Oracle of the Stars, dragon's kitty, KawaiiChica, Rekouri Sentusu, Chibi Yugi Yasha, inuchanluver, Stephanie, kikkyss4e, Duana, Empress Inuyasha, Rurouni Kaoru Kenshin's Love, Rika Chan604, Fluffys-maiden44, Tsu-chan, Inuyasha Mistress, Yamazaki Mukosho, arline, dark-wolf-soulX, crazcat416, Silver, dragonfly-rising, D-Chan3, Pepper, inuyashafreak337, badgurl136, gilbertfan, Akita Inu, Shiari, Squeakers, X-with-stars, LilBlue-Hedggie, Jaden Blythe, lilsmarchic03, Devil, AmayaSaria, NeoTokyo-sailor, seagirl, kittykathy, Dragon Man 180, demented-squirrel, MoroTheWolfGod, Junepi, Luna the sheikah, roshyn77, Katy, moondragon-1001, RaTheSunGod, Silver Nitte iz, Kitala, Kidakkia, Poke'master rulz, ShadowedFaith, Kyo Yumi, Kaze-Mizu, tip2toe, hyperdude, lilpip, Shippogrl, MoonlightWriter-00, IceSugarHigh, Greg Selm-Orr, Notgonnatell, punkkagome, fallingkag, Satsukiorhiei, dragon winx, Youroma, Gea, Julian Katra, Suki1, fallingkag, Kill-all-flamers210, TiA aRiEl, halfdemongurl, miroku lover, Peanut Gallery- Alaska's Own, Corporate Lullabies, Dragon Tears Wing, bluecleo, high-school-girl, snowecat, Kitsune Kinu, puffin, wolf enchantress 340, Sanci, Innyhakky, DarkAngelMiko, Questionable, Gotta-Love-the Ears, inuyashas-chicky-13, Angelbrite, animekraze, Rykokitty, Me, Duana, jojodacrow, Sorceress-Fox125, rin136, Chibi InuyashaZero, Haunt, InuLvr4eva, Lavadude, DerrangedBlonde, ladyhawk89, Rain-chan: Darkened dream, Azmidiske, Queeney, Sorairo Ryuu, Saffire Kiss, Marfbag, Nicole Miklos, redsilhorses, Kagma, and inu-hakan.

Thank you!!!!!