Okay, okay…Yes, I know. It's been months since my late update, and I apologize for the long wait, but things have just been down right shitty for lack of a better term. My computer crashed, I lost all my files, it took forever to get fixed and THEN TO TOP IT ALL OFF, MY FUCKIN' INTERNET CONNECTION (I.E. MY PHONE) GOT TURNED OFF DUE TO A "BILLING ERROR!!!!!!!!!!" AAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!!!!!!!! ………Hmmm, okay, that's better. It feels really good to get all that frustration off my chest. So without further adieu, on with the story!!

Oh yes, before I forget….while my computer was down, I decided to try out my windows movie maker program and I made an Inuyasha music video. I've posted it on

For those of you who don't know about this site, you will need an account to log on (signing up is free). Once you're logged on, simply go to search and input my member name (karisutaru) into the member field and hit search. Next, click the link to my video "I'm With You" that says "local" download and enjoy!!!

Author's note: I do not own any of the characters in this story and it was written just for fun.

RATED R for language and future adult situations. Reader discretion is advised.
Please send reviews to . Thanks! Enjoy!

Chapter 13: Kagome's Heart

Kagome looked around, yet she could find no trace of her companion in the immediate vicinity. For a brief moment, she thought Sesshoumaru might have left her behind, but she quickly pushed that idea aside, knowing full well that Inuyasha would have a fit resulting in an all out dual to the death in which case, Kagome found comfort in knowing Inuyasha would bring her back, even if he had to pry Tenseiga from Sesshoumaru's cold dead fingers. But rather than revel in that pleasing notion, Kagome set to the task of locating her companion, and her ride home.

Kagome descended the Taiyoukai's remains and went to search out clues to Sesshoumaru's whereabouts. Fortunately she did not have to look very far, for the Lord of the Western Lands had already descended and seemed to be looking for something. As she walked towards him she noticed a wondering expression on his face that reminded her of Inuyasha. Though Sesshoumaru was colder and sterner than his younger sibling, their behavior was sometimes similar enough that anyone could tell they were related (if the similarity in appearance wasn't a large enough clue). Kagome stopped a safe distance away from him, so that she could see what he was doing, but not bother him about it. If Sesshoumaru noticed her presence he made no acknowledgement of it and continued to scour the area for the object of his desire.

Kagome stood there patiently waiting, wondering what he could possibly be looking for here. She wanted to ask him, but she remembered her better judgment and kept quite not wanting to incur Sesshoumaru's wrath once again. Instead, she began to survey her surroundings in the hopes of uncovering clues to what he was looking for. Her eyes first brought her to the hole atop the Inuyoukai's shoulder. She recalled that was where the fight between Inuyasha and Sesshoumaru transitioned from inside the stomach to the ground outside. The image of their battle was still so vivid in her mind. She stood just behind Inuyasha as he strode towards his older brother after declaring that he'd protect her…if she would stop that infernal crying. A small smile began to form on her face at remembering that. She remembered watching as Inuyasha and Sesshoumaru leapt towards each other just as the Tetsuaiga transformed from the rusty sword to the awe inspiring fang that Inuyasha welds to this day. For a moment, she wondered if Sesshoumaru would still want to claim it if he knew that it now contained pieces of Inuyasha's fang, but she quickly pushed that question to the back of her mind for debate on another day. When she turned her thoughts back to the fight, she stopped for a moment as realization hit her square in the face. His arm….Sesshoumaru was looking for his arm. She again recalled the fight between them and watched in her mind's eye as Inuyasha leapt from the ground towards Sesshoumaru in his canine form, Tetsuaiga drawn, as he sliced his way up the left arm, finally cutting it off right under the shoulder.

'This is where he lost his arm…' Kagome thought to herself. 'He's looking for his arm….I wonder if it would still be here after all this time?'

She was quickly and unexpectedly snatched away from her day dream when she noticed Sesshoumaru looking coldly in her direction. As she turned and made eye contact with him, her mind screamed for her to look away before he became irritated and decided to act aggressively on his feelings. But rather than listen to what her mind was telling her, Kagome returned the cold stare trying to feign indifference towards Sesshoumaru's sudden interest in what she was doing. She then calmly turned back to her original position facing the Taiyoukai's remains where the little "sibling dispute" took place. She new better than to completely turn her back to him, that would be severely pushing her luck as she knew Sesshoumaru would not hesitate to "discipline" her for seemly showing any disrespect towards him. But she believed she got her point across because out of the corner of her eye she noticed Sesshoumaru was no longer looking in her direction and was continuing his search for his missing arm. Letting out a silent sigh of relief Kagome looked towards the gateway they had entered.

'I wonder how everyone is doing.'

Suddenly, everything went black…….

The blast of energy from Inuyasha's sword swallowed Hakudoshi and Kagura like the giant tidal waves of a tsunami. As the smoke cleared, the two interlopers stood unharmed glaring back at their adversaries with very satisfied expressions. Hakudoshi's smirk was arguably the more irritating of the two since it was his barrier that kept them safe.

"Muda da Inuyasha…" he said with a grin. "Why even try? Keep it up, and I won't let you watch me kill Kagome after I get the shard."

That was the absolute wrong thing to say to an already pissed Inuyasha. After hearing the threat on Kagome's life, he was now positively livid with rage and his companions knew it. Even they were fighting back their emotions trying to hold on to there sanity.

"KISAMAAAAA!!!!!"

Inuyasha clenched the hilt of his sword tighter as the blade gathered more power and turned from white to red. Although he knew in the back of his mind that attacking again would probably be a waste of time, he had to do something to keep them occupied while he figured out how to get to Kagome and get her out of here before that little ass wipe had the chance to harm her.

"I won't let you lay a FUCKIN' finger on Kagome ASSHOLE!!!" Inuyasha screamed as he positioned himself for another attack. Kagura used this moment to send an attack towards him.

"RYUUJA NO MAI!!!"

Multiple whirlwinds of youki flew towards Inuyasha who simply stood unwavering, ready to face the attack head on. If you looked carefully enough, you could have seen a small smirk creep on his face as he made ready to unleash his most powerful attack. In a most dramatic display of power Inuyasha gathered all the strength he could ran towards the attack.

"Baka da na…." Kagura began. Hakudoshi however, wasn't as quick to judge and he stood firm waiting for Inuyasha's next move.

"BAKURUHA!!!!" Inuyasha screamed as he brought down the Tetsuaiga sending a massive blast of energy towards the attack.

The power released from Tetsusaiga was even more than Inuyasha himself had imagined. His companions stood behind him in awe as Kagura's attack was engulfed and thrown back towards her.

"Nani!?!" she said in surprise as she looked down towards Hakudoshi who seemed to have a serious expression on his face. It seems neither of them expected Inuyasha to unleash this much power and both were quite taken back as the combined power of Kagura and Inuyasha's youki bombarded the barrier.

"Daijoobu ka?" she asked Hakudoshi, who merely disregarded her comment and focused his energies on repelling Inuyasha's attack. Before the attack subsided, Inuyasha unleashed yet another Kaze no Kizu from the red Tetsuaiga, hoping it would be enough power to pierce the barrier. He then turned towards Sango and Miroku, who immediately caught on to his plans and positioned themselves to attack Kagura and Hakudoshi.

"Houshi-sama…" Sango began as she reached out a hand towards Miroku. Acknowledging her request, Miroku threw his staff to her and made ready to open his kazanaa. Sango attached the staff to Hiraikotsu and heaved the weapon towards the storm of energy encircling Kagura and Hakudoshi. That and the combination of Inuyasha's two attacks was somehow enough to put enough strain on the barrier that Hakusdoshi almost faltered. It seemed that one more attack would be enough to break it. Miroku took this as his cue and opened his kazanaa. Though it did not create a lot of force, it was just enough to cause the barrier to break and send Hakudoshi and Kagura ducking for cover on either side of the cave.

The air was tense as Inuyasha looked for any signs of Kagura and Hakudoshi.

"Yattâ ka?"

Kagome was unaware of her surroundings. Everything around her was black. She felt as if she were in a void of nothingness, similar to the feeling she had during her dream.

"Hoka no yume ka? No, this can't be a dream. I wasn't asleep. Where am I?"

She continued to survey her surroundings, fear gripping the back of her mind like a chain holding her back, preventing her from stepping into the unknown. Pushing that aside, she slowly took a step forward, ready for whatever surprises lay in store for her.

Nothing happened. She took another step.

Nothing.

She continued to walk in what she thought was a forward direction until she felt a vaguely familiar presence near her. Stopping, she looked around again. Nothing. What in the world what going on? Just as she was about to fall to her knees in frustration, the Shikon fragment she held in her hand began to glow. Opening her hand, she stood in awe as the fragment flew from her hand and hovered just in front of her face. Then, without warning, a voice spoke from the fragment.

"You finally came."

"What!?!" Kagome said, taken back. Okay, now things have officially gone outer limits. The shard spoke again.

"You finally came. I've been waiting for you."

"What do you mean you've been waiting for me?"

"An immensely evil being has collected nearly all the shards. I traveled here on the back of a dead soul to keep that being from completely corrupting the Shikon no Tama."

"An evil being, Naraku?"

"I called you here because that being was close to coming here and you were the only one who could keep that from happening."

"Who are you?"

"I am all that remains of Midoriko's untainted soul. I need your help Kagome. Will you help me?"

Surprise was not the word she was looking for. Unbelievable was a step in the right direction, but Kagome had no words to describe what she felt at that moment. To be in the presence of the one who created the Shikon no Tama was utterly mind boggling. So many questions ran through her mind. Why was the Shikon no Tama inside her body? Why is the Shikon no Tama such a threat? How can it be used for good? What would become of her and Inuyasha once everything was over? She didn't know where to begin. But one thing was for sure, they needed to retrieve the corrupt pieces from Naraku and set things right. Only after that could these questions be considered. This new found knowledge ignited a new determination in Kagome and she did not hesitate to answer.

"What do you need me to do?"

"Let me become one with you. Only together will we have a chance of eliminating this threat."

"Become one with me? You mean like before when the Shikon no Tama was in my body?"

"No, what I am asking of you is not the same thing. Your body was not strong enough then, so the jewel was simply inside your body, and as such was easily removed. When we become one, the shard can not be removed as their will be no shard to remove. We will be one in the same."

"You mean I will become the final piece of the jewel?"

"In a sense, yes. The evil being will not be able to complete the Shikon no Tama unless he corrupts your heart and gets you to merge with the jewel. I have watched you over time Kagome and your heart is pure and your soul is strong. He will not be able to do this."

"……………."

"You may have noticed certain changes in yourself. That was me testing your powers and you are ready. Right now, you cannot control them and they act on reflex, usually when you are emotional. But soon, you will be able to control them. As you get stronger you will be able to use more of my power. The love you have for your friends and family and Inuyasha give you so much strength, more strength than you could ever imagine."

A small blush crept onto Kagome's face at the mention of her feelings for Inuyasha, but she quickly pushed that aside as she considered what was said.

"But, there is a risk."

Of course there's a risk. She knew it sounded too good to be true.

"What is it?"

"As you may as well know, there is also demon energy present in this shard. I can safely say that because the evil being has corrupted most of the Shikon no Tama, the majority of the demon energy is concentrated there. Though there is a minimal amount, the risk of being overwhelmed by it is great. I wouldn't ask this if I didn't think you could handle it."

"What would happen if I'm overwhelmed by the demon energy?"

"If your body survived the pain, you would basically become a demon. Your body would be possessed by the demon energy and your soul would be lost."

That was not quite what she was expecting. Kagome swallowed the lump in her throat as she absorbed this new little tidbit of information. What to do? Was she willing to take the risk in order to keep Naraku from getting the last shard? (a/n Do you even have to ask?)

"Okay, I'm ready. I will help you." Kagome instinctively said; whatever the cost, whatever the risk, if this brought them closer to defeating Naraku once and for all, she would do it. If this would give her the power to protect her friends, she would do it. For Inuyasha, she would do it.

Without a moment's hesitation, the shard began to emit massive amounts of spiritual energy. Kagome closed her eyes, and patiently waited for the ritual to conclude. The Shikon fragment flew around Kagome in circles gathering energy before finally flying towards her, penetrating her chest to finally rest in her heart. At first, nothing else happened and Kagome thought that everything was over. But before she knew it, she felt a terrible pain in her chest as the fragment began the task of bonding itself to her. As the pain began to exponentially increase in intensity, she brought her hands and knees to her chest—floating in mid-air in the fetal position just as a child floats inside the womb. Small tears escaped the cracks of here closed eyes as she tried to concentrate on over-coming the pain that was ravishing her body. Soon, images of her mother and brother and grandfather flooded her mind. She had to survive. She had to return home to them. Images of her traveling companions came next; Sango, Miroku, Shippou and Inuyasha. She had to survive for them as well. They needed her as much as she needed them. Finally images of everyone else connected to the Shikon jewel appeared in a whirlwind before her; people she knew and people she didn't. Sesshoumaru, Rin, Jaken, Kouga, Kohaku and yes, even Kikyou all appeared. Everyone she met on her journey, all the victims caught in the crossfire over the battle for the Shikon shards, both human and youkai alike, appeared. For all those who died, for all those who couldn't protect themselves, for all those who needed her protection now, she had to survive for them. As the images gathered in front of Kagome like a collage of pictures, Kagome found strength in knowing that what she was doing now would benefit all of them.

The more she focused on the images, the less she seemed to recall the pain she was in until the sensation was nothing but a distant memory. As the pain finally subsided, she became more aware of herself and her surroundings. She felt spiritually stronger and her aura resonated with the new found power she had come to posses.

"It is complete." That same voice spoke from within. "Now the only thing that stands between the evil being…Naraku…and the complete corruption of the Shikon no Tama is you."

"I understand." Kagome responded. 'In order to protect my friends, I will not fail.' She continued to herself. The ritual complete, Kagome extended her legs and silently landed on the ground below, her arms still clenching her heart. When she opened her eyes, she was back on familiar ground standing in front of the Inuyoukai remains of Inuyasha and Sesshoumaru's father. After reacquainting herself with her surroundings, she noticed that Sesshoumaru was looking in her direction with an almost curious look on his face. She figured he had witnessed her little "transformation".

"Did you find what you were looking for Sesshoumaru?" Kagome boldly asked. She even surprised herself with her question. Sesshoumaru simply regarding her for a moment with his famous stern, unemotional gaze and then turned and walked back in the direction of the gateway. Without a word, Kagome followed behind him towards the exit. As they walked in silence, Kagome notice a slight change in Sesshoumaru's demeanor. Letting her curiosity get the better of her, Kagome quickened her pace until she was only a few paces behind the Demon Lord, so she could get a better look at him. If Sesshoumaru sensed her closeness in proximity, he made no physical acknowledgement and simply continued on his way towards the gateway. After a few moments of analyzing Sesshoumaru from top to bottom, Kagome concluding that there was nothing different about his physical appearance, well nothing that she could see anyway. Just when she was about to vocalize her curiosity to him, she suddenly stopped, as if sensing danger. She noticed that they were now closer to the gateway and closing her eyes, she stretched out her senses hoping to find the cause of this little "disturbance in the force" (a/n: Sorry, but I couldn't help myself).

And then she saw it, the battle that was going on between Inuyasha and Hakudoushi. Hakudoshi was standing between Inuyasha and the entrance to the cave. She felt the anger and desperation that Inuyasha felt as he was trying to prevent Hakudoshi and Kagura from obtaining the final shard. Her friends were in danger, trying to protect her. She could feel the muscles in her face form a scowl and Sesshoumaru stopped and looked behind him and regarded her with an almost fearful look in his eyes. Once again there was an immense spiritual aura emanating from her form. He sensed intense emotion and followed her gaze to she what would cause such a change. He saw her looking ahead at the gateway, but he could not see what was getting her so upset. He returned his gaze to her and noticed that her eyes glowing again. Then it all came together. Something was happening on the other side of the gateway, something that only she could see. If you had been there, you would have noticed a slight change in his demeanor as he hastened his approach to the gateway. If you looked closely enough, you might have seen fear and desperation show on his normally stoic face. Nearing his destination, Sesshoumaru drew Tenseiga from its sheath ready to use its power to once again pass through the gateway, but he suddenly felt immense spiritual power behind him.

"Sesshoumaru," Kagome called behind him, "please move out of the way." And without another word, she shot one of her arrows towards the gateway and with an awe inspiring look on his face, Sesshoumaru watched as the arrow passed by him and through the gateway to the living world.

A/N: Translations of Japanese used in this chapter:

Muda da – futile

Kisama – You used affectionately among close male friends or as a term of abuse among men in general. It's basically a more derogatory word than teme except it can be used both positively and negatively. Which way do you think Inuyasha was using the term?

Ryuuja no Mai – Dance of the Dragon Snakes, Kagura's most powerful attack. She sends whirlwinds of youki toward her opponent.

Baka da na – Idiot, dummy, Are you crazy?

Nani? – What is this, what's going on?

Daijoobu ka? – Are we safe?

Yattâ ka? – Did we do it?

Hoka no yume ka? – Is this another dream?

I apologize if this chapter was a little long, but I didn't see any point in splitting stuff up into two chapters. I hope you enjoyed it. Chapter 14 should be completed soon. Just a few minor revisions and it will be ready to post. I'll see you then! Ja minna-san!!