Inuyasha had been running for almost two days now. Although he had decided to be careful since Kagome wasn't with him, he always took a little rest when he stopped. He knew that he might be straining himself but this didn't matter now. He had to go to her and once and for all deal with his feelings. He didn't know if she was going to understand him but he had to try.
He wasn't running through the forest anymore, it was far behind him now. He reached a wide green field, which had probably been a battlefield a long time ago. Ahead of him he could see someone sitting on the grass. Strange pink lights were surrounding the person. Although he couldn't recognize him, even with his demon vision, Inuyasha knew who it was.
"Finally... Kikyou..." he sniffed the air one last time and ran again.
The Miko knew that he was coming. Her soul snatchers weren't only good to take dead people's souls. He was a few meters away from her now, just standing there. But she didn't give any sign to have noticed him and continued to sit on the grass with the soul snatchers flying around her.
Inuyasha watched her back and although he knew what he wanted to tell her, he didn't know how to say it. He cursed the mess he had personally created and just remained still. Then she moved – she stood up and turned toward him. Startled, he made a step back and started at her.
"Inuyasha..." Kikyou said and looked at him. After he didn't give any indication to want to tell her why he was there, she decided to give him a little help. "I know what happened to you... and your friends."
"Y-You do?" the hanyou finally found a little courage to speak, after seeing that there was no need to explain everything from the very beginning.
"Yes." she said and raised one hand to touch a flying by soul snatcher. "And I also think I know why you are here." she added.
"No, you don't." Inuyasha said, his voice a little too quiet for his usual self. "It's..."
"About that girl, Kagome, isn't it?" the Miko interrupted him and he looked at her in surprise.
"I-I..." he stammered and his look lowered to the ground.
'I am pathetic.' the hanyou thought and fisted his hands. His claws dug in his palms, drawing blood, but he didn't care. 'How am I gonna tell Kagome if I can't...' his thoughts were cut short as he heard Kikyou sigh. He looked at her and saw her come closer.
"Inuyasha," she said and placed her right hand on his left cheek. "I was afraid that this was going to happen... You love her, don't you?"
All color drained form Inuyasha's face, he swallowed hard and slowly nodded. Then Kikyou sighed again and looked down. She removed her hand from his cheek and turned her back on him. The poor hanyou was at a total loss of words and right now that was good, otherwise he would have panicked. He felt bad, really bad for the Miko but he also felt helpless – he loved Kagome and that was a fact, nothing could change it.
"It was just a matter of time for you to understand that." Kikyou said without turning to face him. "I could already see it coming."
Inuyasha sighed in defeat. There was nothing to hide now, there was nothing to be embarrassed or shy about anymore. After all he had done the hardest thing – he had admitted to himself that he loved Kagome, not the undead Miko.
"Kikyou," he started calmly, "I made a promise to myself some time ago...that after I kill Naraku, I will put your soul to rest and join you in death."
"You want to take your words back?" the Miko asked, turning to face him.
"No." Inuyasha shook his head. "I want to know if you will still want to be with me when you die, knowing that I don't love you."
"What if I do?" she asked and looked straight in his eyes. "Will you leave Kagome for me?"
"Yes." he answered firmly.
"Why?" Kikyou asked, not moving her hard look away from his eyes.
"Because I owe you my life." he said just as firmly as before. "You said it too..."
"Here is the problem, Inuyasha." she interrupted him and sighed when he gave her a confused look. "I am only an obligation for you now. And because you are a good person you are going to ruin your life for me."
"That's not true!" the hanyou almost shouted at her. "You are not an obligation... You are..." he cut himself short when he realized what he was about to say and suddenly he felt that he could not look her in the eyes anymore.
"A former love." Kikyou finished for him.
Uncomfortable silence fell between them. Neither of them spoke and if someone watched them he could think that they were talking telepathically. Inuyasha's eyes were still lowered to the ground – saying that Kikyou was a former love insulted even him. He couldn't believe that she had said it just like that – as if their love didn't mean anything.
"Now, Inuyasha, tell me the truth." the Miko's words took him out of his thoughts and he snapped his head up only to look at her confused. "Why are you going to... No..." she paused for a moment to reconsider her question and then spoke again. "Why are you willing to leave Kagome, since you love her?"
Inuyasha was left in shock. This was exactly the question he didn't want to answer to. "B-Because..." he stammered and Kikyou's cold and merciless eyes weren't helping him much to regain his composure.
"This is the only thing I don't understand about you." she said, deciding to help him gather his courage to speak. "You have Kagome, who more than obviously loves you with no questions asked, and you still keep coming back to me. Why?"
"Because I can't shake the feeling, that she is the wrong one!" Inuyasha burst out, making a step toward Kikyou and surprising her with his words. "I can't stop thinking that by loving her I'm hurting you. Because it's the same soul – your soul, but just a different face..."
Suddenly a loud slap was heard and the hanyou was cut short. His head tilted to the side by the hit and his left cheek immediately reddened – Kikyou had slapped him. He held his right hand on his cheek and stared at the Miko in disbelief. She was glaring at him, her eyes narrowed and stormy, and her breathing heavy with anger. She stepped closer to him and took a deep calming breath, readying herself to unleash her wrath.
"How dare you talk like that?" she asked him with low and dangerous voice. Although she was sure that he didn't really mean these words and she knew exactly why he was talking like that, she had to make him understand. "It was you who made me see that she wasn't just a mere copy of myself but a completely different person... And now you are talking such stupid things?"
Inuyasha was taken completely aback by her words – she was absolutely right. Why the hell did he say something like that? Suddenly he felt extremely stupid and guilty, he felt like the lowest and dirtiest creature on earth. 'I'm a hanyou for God's sake.' he thought miserably. 'What could be worse than that?'
"I'm sorry..." he mumbled and looked to the ground, missing to see Kikyou's smile.
"Now, Inuyasha, I'm asking you again." she said and this time he was ready to answer any question. "Do you love Kagome?"
"Yes." he answered firmly.
"Then she is the right one." Kikyou said and for the first time since she was brought back to life he saw her soft and warm smile again.
"Thank you." he smiled too but then suddenly he felt sharp and stabbing pain in his chest, and doubled over.
"I completely forgot about that..." the Miko said worriedly and helped Inuyasha sit on the ground.
"You know about it too?" the hanyou asked through gritted teeth and pressed his hands to his chest.
"Yes." she nodded and made him move his hands away. She opened his haori and shirt and saw a small scar. "It is beginning to take form." she said and when Inuyasha looked down he saw that it looked like a spider.
"Can...you remove the...shouki crystal?" he asked between painful breaths.
"No." Kikyou shook her head. "But I can destroy Naraku's control over you."
"Do it..." Inuyasha hissed and she helped him stand up. He wobbled a little but managed to hold on his feet, while Kikyou moved a few meters away from him and took her bow and an arrow.
"This arrow will drain a lot of your energy. Most likely you will loose your demon powers for a while and turn human. When you go back to the village, you will have to stay as close to Kagome as possible. Her purifying powers will prevent Naraku from renewing his control over you." the Miko explained and prepared to shoot. "Are you ready?"
"Yes." Inuyasha nodded and she fired the arrow.
While flying toward him the arrow surrounded with blue glow and Kikyou collapsed on her knees on the ground. It hit him in the chest, right where the scar was. The moment the arrow pierced through his flesh the same blue glow surrounded him too. He tried to cry out in pain but no sound came out of his mouth. The arrow entered his body and disappeared, then he fell on the ground face down.
Kikyou slowly crawled to him and rolled him over on his back. He groaned in pain as she examined the wound. The spider-scar was gone, now there was a bluish spot. The Miko sighed in relief and sat back. Inuyasha tried desperately to open his eyes and ask her if everything was alright but he felt too weak.
"Don't try to move." he heard her voice and complied.
"Am I human already?" he asked weakly and hearing how changed his voice was answered his question.
"Yes." Kikyou said and started to stand up. "My soul snatchers will take you as closer to the village as possible. They can't go too far away from me and I'm too weak to come with you."
Inuyasha only nodded and about ten soul snatchers wrapped around him. They lifted him in the air and flew away. Kikyou watched him until he was out of her eyesight and sighed. She sat again on the ground and the rest of the snake-like demons gathered around her. 'We will be together, Inuyasha...' she said and a rare smile formed on her lips. 'We will have our time...'
Sometime during the flight Inuyasha fell asleep and when he woke up he was lying next to a hot spring on a small clearing. Big old trees were surrounding the clearing and were making it a very nice and safe place to rest. 'Just for a while...' the hanyou thought sleepily. 'I'll start moving in the morning...'
TBC