What's stronger than hate?

A/n- thank you all for being so patient with me! I've been really busy and on top of that Bob died… hears sobs huh?

Lawyers- crying uncontrollably

Me- umm… you guys okay?

Lawyers- we miss BOB!

Me- starts to cry me TOO! Here. hands box of tissues

box of tissues says 'I don't own yyh or inu.'

Lawyers- start crying even more. And use tissue.

Me- well, enjoy everyone!

Sakura woke up with a start. 'What! Where am I?' she asked herself, looking for any sign of recognition. Then she saw Keiko.

'That's right,' she thought, 'I came here where we would be safe until we get our strength back.' She pushed herself up off the slightly wet grass to look at the rising sun. 'I must have fallen asleep…' She sighed heavily. Already it felt like a long day was ahead.

'When Keiko recovers we should move on. Poor kid.' Sakura sighed heavily and turned to her other self. 'She's never going to be able to return to her family. It might have been better I had never come. No.,' She assured herself, 'More and more monsters would have come after her until she returned to jewel-' She gasped. 'The jewel!'

Sakura ran over to her sleeping companion and looked for that precious gem that had cost her so much. To her relief, she found it, glowing in all its brilliance. For the first time in a long while Sakura actually looked at it. It wasn't big, it was actually fairly small; and although Sakura had dedicated her entire life to serving such a simple looking item, she knew the absolute truth. It was probably worth more than she was. The power it contained must always be protected, least it be found in the hands of someone truly evil. Only now Sakura had reason to doubt her sole mission. That powerful jewel had cost her everything. It had cost Keiko everything. It destroyed their lives and Sakura knew that they weren't the first, and they wouldn't be the last either if the jewel was still in existence. It was an evil thing and should be hurt like it hurt her! … No, that wasn't compeletly true either. Yes, it had taken away from her all that she held dear; but without the jewel, she wouldn't have had anything to lose in the first place. The jewel was the reason that she had met Inuyasha. It was the reason she met Keiko and was alive today. So how could something so good, be so bad? Suddenly everything that Sakura had ever believed in was challenged. Her morals bad and good; white and black were mixed forming an eerie grey that would forever be in her mind. She was suddenly very cold. The type of cold that makes you think that you will never be warm again and pushes you away from the rest of the surrounding world.

'I don't belong here anymore. I'm just a shell of a girl that once was.' She looked at Keiko's form that was now slightly stirring. 'I'll train Keiko and leave. Although, I don't want her to have to go through what I went through… Perhaps… Yes! I know exactly what to do. I may not be able to save myself anymore; but at least I can save her.'

"Sakura? Are you alright?" Sakura jumped with a start.

"Keiko! You shouldn't be up! You need your rest."

"You didn't answer my question."

"Oh? Oh! Yes, I'm fine; I was just thinking. More importantly, how are you?"

"My head still hurts a little bit, but other than that I'm fine."

"Good, you're making a speedy recovery." Sakura went over and put the jewel in Keiko's hands. "If you're up to it, would you mind watching this for a while so I can go get us some food?"

Keiko stared at her hands. "Do you think I'm ready?"

"No. Not really, but sooner or later you'll have to take care of it by yourself and I won't be so far away if you need me. You're body will know what to do if something threatening happens to come along." Sakura continued to walk away from their small hid out until Keiko yelled after her.

"Sakura!" Keiko started to run to catch up to her.

"Yes?"

"Umm, have a safe trip." Keiko said averting her eyes. Sakura gave her a quizzical look but then smiled and gave a small 'thank you' and 'I will.'.

Keiko walked back to the camp site somberly. 'I was going to ask Sakura what happened to the others. That would have been awkward…' Keiko sighed. 'Whatever had happened to Inuyasha and her along with the others that were with them is none of my business. Although, I would like to know what had happened to Yusuke… But that would have been opening old wounds for her and Sakura has been so good to me, it would be wrong to bring up her bloody past.' Keiko fell over on the ground exasperated. "Being me has just gotten more complicated." She worded out loud as she closed her eyes for moment.

Keiko heaved herself to sit up. 'What am I supposed to do while Sakura is gone?' She wondered. She looked down to examine the jewel, only; she found her self, covered in dark red blood.

"W-what's going on?" She wondered, she tried to stand up but felt extremely dizzy and only fell over. Keiko could hear Sakura's words echoing through her mind 'I won't be far away if you need me…' Keiko crawled to try and find Sakura; she would have yelled, but the fear of someone hearing here was good since they were so elevated. So she crawled. What seemed like hours was only a few minutes until Keiko collapsed. Keiko let out small gasp of pain and looked over her shoulder to see the Jewel rolling over to the edge of the cliff.

Mortified, Keiko scrambled to get it before it fell off, she was too late.

"NO!" Keiko screamed as she reached over the edge, hoping to grab it before it fell farther down. Reaching her arm further and further down, she strained to keep her own body from falling over. Giving one last effort to find the jewel, she extended to her arms fullest length. Then, she heard something crumbling underneath her. She gasped, her eyes widening with horror. Her mind filled with one thought, landslide! Keiko let out a loud scream as she felt the land underneath her let go.

Her body was free falling through the air, her mind couldn't concentrate on anything beside the feeling of adrenaline rushing threw her body and to Keiko's dismay, she was still bleeding which only made her feel nauseas and light headed. Keiko let her mind go, 'Is this it? Is this… the end?'

A/N- There you go people! Sorry for the long update! R&R!