A/N: Oh, well! Here's the last chapter of this story! I hope you all like it...and for petey's sake please let me know what you think, all righty? I wanted to be evil and wait forever to put it up because I haven't really gotten any reviews, but I get to move into my house on Tuesday, and I won't have a computer for several days, so I decided to post it up.... Details about the sequel will be posted in an author note at the end of the chapter. Please enjoy!

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Manipulation

Chapter Ten

"Kagome...." Inuyasha growled. "What did that mean? What are you talking about?"

Kagome smiled at him, and held up the jewel shard. "This is what I mean, Inuyasha." She sighed, and taking the small jewel shard between her index finger and thumb, she held it up to her heart. Inuyasha gasped as the shard disappeared. "This way, I will still be able to see my family, and the rest of the jewel can go in my time without risk of any other demons trying to get it...." she explained, "and, if anyone were to somehow get into my time and get ahold of the jewel, they still wouldn't have the whole thing, because the only way to get it would be... "

"To kill you." Inuyasha nodded unhappily.

Kagome nodded. "Exactly..."

"Kagome, you are officially the craziest of all of us..." Miroku smiled, and stared at his hand. "Or maybe I am...wishing I had that cursed hole back in my hand isn't exactly normal, is it...?"

Sango sighed. "I still don't understand why it went away in the first place if Naraku didn't die...or why it didn't immediately come back. Naraku has been inside Kohaku's body at least since the fight...and we have no way of judging how long before that he could have taken up residence there. The whole fight was nothing but a sham. One of his most elaborate demon puppets yet, I'd say..."

"Then what happened to Kagura and Kanna?" Inuyasha asked, and everyone blinked in surprise.

"When Naraku killed Kagura, she was revived by Sesshoumaru. Killing her freed her in Naraku's sick little mind...and I don't think he counted on Sesshoumaru bringing her back after he'd done it..." Kagome thought out loud.

"So you're saying that Kagura is perfectly normal...but you have no clue about Kanna?" Inuyasha finished for her.

Kagome nodded. She frowned. "Come on, Inuyasha. We've wasted too much time worrying about how everything happened. We need to get the jewel out of your time as quickly as possible." She walked towards the well, turned, and motioned for Inuyasha to follow. He nodded to the others, permitted Kagome to climb onto his back, and jumped into the well.

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"Kagome, it's so nice to see you home...and in one piece!" Kagome's mother glared at Inuyasha, and painfully, he remembered that the last time they had made the journey through the well, Kagome was bleeding and unconscious. It had been a while since that time. "Why are you home? Just a visit? Do you need supplies?" her mother asked of both of them.

Kagome made an effort to smile at her mother. "Mom, get gramps and Souta. I need to talk to you guys, and it's really important...."

"What is it?" asked her mother with worry.

Kagome frowned. "Get gramps and Souta first..." she instructed. "This is something you all need to hear..."

Her mother smiled, nodded, and rushed up the stairs. Less than five minutes later, Kagome's small family had gathered in the living room, and she and Inuyasha joined them.

Kagome cleared her throat. "I need all of you to listen, because this is very important, okay?" she asked, and they all nodded. She took a deep breath. "We finished gathering the jewel shards..."

"Does that mean you're home to stay? Cool! Is Inuyasha going to live with us?" Souta looked very excited.

Kagome's face fell. She smiled at her little brother. "We finished gathering the jewel shards, Souta, but the problem is we didn't get rid of the bad guy like we thought we had." she whispered, and Inuyasha nodded. "We can't risk having the jewel in Inuyasha's time with that guy still roaming around. It's way too dangerous, so...."

Her grandfather was studying her very closely. "What is it, Kagome?" he asked.

"I'm going to leave the jewel in this time period with you guys." Kagome said quickly, and her mother gasped. Kagome placed the jewel in her grandfather's hands. "This is it, gramps. Hide it away, okay? Don't mention to anyone that you have it...."

"But there's a piece missing..." he realized.

Kagome nodded. "Yes, there is." she agreed. "The missing piece is my own little failsafe...in case anyone besides myself and Inuyasha is ever able to come through the well and get the jewel..."

"Well, where is it?" he asked curiously, and Kagome pointed to her heart. He gasped. "It's inside your...."

Kagome smiled. "Yes, gramps, it is." She frowned. "You see, no one besides myself and Inuyasha should be able to come through the well to this time period...and in order for me to be able to go back and forth, I have to have ar least one shard of the jewel...and I do. You guys have the rest of it. See, this way, I will still be able to go between time periods for a little while, and no one will be able to get the jewel. And...even if someone could come through and get the piece you have...they'd have to go through me to get the rest..."

"You'll still be able to go between time periods for a little while?" her mother repeated. "What do you mean by that?"

"I was able to purify all the jewel shards." Kagome explained, "but in order to get rid of the jewel so that no one could ever use it...it has to be used..."

"That doesn't make sense..." her grandfather groaned.

Inuyasha frowned. "It's very ironic, but when you really think about it, it makes a ton of sense...."

Kagome's family turned to Inuyasha. "And where do you come in with this whole thing?" her mother demanded of him.

Inuyasha sighed, and took a deep breath. "I'm going to protect your daughter no matter what it means...and..." Inuyasha stumbled.

"Well, thank you for that, Inuyasha..." her mother smiled, and he nodded, glad that he didn't have to talk anymore. Kagome's mother turned to her. "So, when will you be returning home?" she asked.

Kagome blushed and glanced at Inuyasha. "Once I've used the jewel...I won't be able to travel back and forth as I've been doing." she explained. "...and until we've made sure that Narau won't be coming back, I won't be coming back. It's too dangerous for you guys...especially if people realize how the well works..."

Kagome's mother nodded. "So you'll be coming home when all this is over?" she asked.

Kagome blushed again, and stared at Inuyasha. She could only smile at her mother. She hadn't had a lot of time to think about everything since the jewel had been completed, and she wasn't really sure what she wanted to do. On one hand, her family was in her time. Kaede was right about that. But on the other hand, she wasn't very happy about the idea of leaving Inuyasha behind...although she'd probably never tell him that...

"Kagome?" Inuyasha was calling her name.

Kagome shook her head. "Wha? Oh, sorry..."

"We have to go...." Inuyasha frowned. "We don't want Naraku to realize what we're doing...or where we're at, for that matter..."

"Yes." Kagome agreed, and hugged each of her family members.

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"Is everything set up?" asked Miroku as Inuyasha jumped out of the well with Kagome.

He nodded. "We need to find Naraku, and we need to get far, far away from this well..." he advised everyone. "Kagome?"

She glanced at him. "Huh?"

"Are you all right?" he asked. "What's wrong?"

"Nothing's wrong, Inuyasha..." she flashed a smile.

"Something's wrong," he smirked. "You haven't said a word in more than five minutes..."

"It's nothing...I just...I'm not sure that I will go back to my time, is all...."

Kaede suppressed the gasp in her throat, and studied Kagome with interest. Why would she decide something like that? What is it that she isn't saying? Could it be that Kagome, like Kikyou has fallen for Inuyasha? Or is it something more than that?

"Come on!" Inuyasha growled.

Kagome and the others followed Inuyasha into Kaede's village. Naraku's scent had long since disappeared, and it was there that they set up camp for the night. The next morning, they left the old priestess Kaede behind at her village, and began to go in the opposite direction of the well and the village. Inuyasha was not following a scent. In fact, he had not been able to find any other scent besides those of his friends. Everyone knew that Naraku was now using Kohaku's body, and there was only so far he could run....

"Where would he go that he wouldn't think we would go?" Inuyasha asked the others.

Everyone was silent a moment. Sango was the first to speak. "What about my old village?" she suggested.

"That would be where Kohaku would go...but maybe Naraku would head there as well?" Miroku agreed.

"And maybe that's where he wants us to go...." growled Inuyasha. "And I'd hate to disappoint him..."

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A/N: All right, I know y'all want to strangle me for the whole cliffy thing, but as I said, there will be a sequel. It will start right where I left off with this one, and I felt that here was the proper place to end this one. (smiles) Anyway, about the next story.

Title: Trapped

Summary:

The jewel shards are found, and Inuyasha and the gang head for Sango's village in hopes of finding Naraku there....but when something happens in Kagome's time, Kagome finds herself in danger once again, and Inuyasha is running out of time to come up with a plan...will he be able to save her? Will Sango be of any use against a demon parading around in her brother's body? Will Miroku's wind tunnel return?....

Pairings: Why did I put this here? All right....Kagome/Inuyasha, Miroku/Sango, and Kagura/Sesshoumaru....