Long Years Past
Chapter 3
An Encounter of the Spiritual Kind

Sunlight spilled over the hilltop and awakened the sleeping haynou. Inu Yasha lazily opened his eyes and looked around, trying to get a sense of where he was. He glanced at the sky and saw huge white clouds so thick that no blue was apparent. It looked like a beautiful day, but his powerful nose could smell rain in the air. He predicted a downpour.

Inu Yasha returned to analyzing his surroundings, when his eyes came to rest on Kagome, who was still nestled safely in his arms. Then, realization of what had happened last night hit him.

'Oh man, what am I gonna do?' his mind screamed. 'As if our relationship needed to be any more complicated!'

He growled in frustration. It was impossible to think about anything with Kagome still in his arms, yet he couldn't run off and abandon her. He needed more time to think before facing her.

Then, to his horror, he heard the voices of Sango and Miroku searching for them. It dawned on him that they had been missing for most of the night. No wonder his friends were worried. As their voices drew closer, he started to panic.

"Kagome!" he tried to gently nudge her awake.

The last thing he wanted was to be found like this, by anyone. When being gentle failed, he grabbed her shoulders and tried to shake her awake.

"Kagome, wake up now!" Sango and Miroku were only seconds away from discovering them.

He jumped to his feet as they appeared over the hill, knocking Kagome to the ground. She opened her eyes and groaned from having the wind knocked out of her. The ground was spinning. Kagome vaguely remembered the haynou shaking her, which would give her this disoriented feeling. She was about to "sit" Inu Yasha, when she caught sight of her friends.

"Hey guys, what happened to you?" the exterminator questioned. "We woke up, and you were gone."

"Yeah...well..." Inu Yasha stammered.

The miko struggled to her feet, grabbing onto Inu Yasha to keep from falling down again. She was so dizzy.

"Hi guys..."she stammered, trying to clear her head.

'Think fast!'

"We, uh, we couldn't sleep, so, uh, I was teaching Inu Yasha about astronomy and stuff." Kagome said, hoping the haynou would catch on.

"Astronawhat-"

Inu Yasha uttered a growl, vowing to get back at her for stomping on his foot.

"We just wanted to make sure you were alright." Miroku said, giving them a quizzical look. "You are alright, right?"

"Yeah! Never better!" Kagome answered cheerfully, desperately trying to ignore what the situation must look like.

She was so not it the mood to answer questions (and still half asleep!)

"Ok, let's go." Inu Yasha said, already beginning to sound like his old pissy self.

Kagome noticed his uneasiness.

Sango and Miroku turned and headed back to camp, while Inu Yasha lingered behind with Kagome.

"We'll talk later." he whispered.

The miko nodded. They both needed time to sort things out.


The troupe returned to the makeshift camp, and helped Kagome gather their things and put them in her pack. She had brought more food and supplies than she usually did, and they had yet to make a dent in it. The miko hoisted the pack up, groaning inwardly about having to carry the extra weight. She had taken a few steps forward, when it was unexpectedly lifted from her shoulders. She turned around to see Inu Yasha grab the bulging yellow sack and swing it over his shoulder.

"Inu Yasha, you don't-"

"Save it wench." he replied. "You can hardly carry this thing."

"Thanks, Inu Yasha." Kagome grinned, noting the effort he was making to be nice.

"Feh!"

The haynou couldn't help but smile to himself as he turned to walk away.


Kagome walked in silence by Sango, who was deep in thought. Inu Yasha walked ahead with Miroku, while Shippo skipped along, humming to himself. The group hadn't really spoken to each other since defeating Naraku. They had become closer friends than anyone was willing to acknowledge. Killing Naraku marked the end of their journey, and finally admitting that would mean possibly going their separate ways.

Miroku broke the silence when he could stand it no longer.

"You know, for people who have just defeated Naraku, we don't seem very happy."

Only Sango acknowledged his statement and nodded miserably. There was so much conflict within her; joy and sadness, anger and happiness; she only hoped the others wouldn't notice her dispirited look.

"Sango, what's wrong?" the monk's eyes were on her, and she could see he was genuinely concerned.

Everyone stopped and turned to face Sango, who was looking very downcast. She bowed her head trying her best to hold in her emotions.

"The Jewel is whole." she said through gritted teeth.

"Isn't that a good thing?" Inu Yasha answered, looking confused.

"That means Kohaku is...dead." she whispered, still not looking up.

The pain of realization was plain on everyone's face. No one said anything.

Sango glanced up, trying to contain her composure. Being raised as a demon slayer had taught her to be strong. But now, faced with the realization that she would never see her brother again, her heart broke. He was all she had been living for, and now that hope was gone.

The wind whipped ebony hair from her face, and a stray tear was visible.

"Oh, Sango..." Kagome said as she ran to her friend's side.

The exterminator collapsed crying into Kagome's arms. They both fell to the ground, Kagome doing her best to comfort Sango.

Inu Yasha could just watch. He had never felt the pain of loosing someone close, save for his parents. Even then, he was too young to really understand. He still felt bad for her, though. It was hard to watch her in pain, yet know in the end, there was really nothing you could do to help.

Sango's sobs had subsided, but Kagome still held her. Kirara nuzzled her affectionately. Miroku walked over and laid a hand on her shoulder.

"Sango," the monk said, resolution in his voice. "I will help you find your brother and give him a proper burial, if it's the last thing I do."

She looked up at him, tears still shining in her eyes. "You'd really do that for me?"

"Yeah." he said.

The monk surprised himself with how much he really meant it. He had always cared for Sango, but now more than ever.

The exterminator jumped up and threw her arms around Miroku, who was shocked. It was all he could do to keep himself from blushing, as he smiled and hugged her back.

Kagome rose to her feet taking Sango by the arm, and started to walk off, happily chatting as she went. Shippo, who had gone off somewhere, was back to his jovial skipping.

Miroku and Inu Yasha followed them. After awhile, Inu Yasha turned to the monk.

"Are you sure that's not just another ploy to get Sango into bed?" he said in a disgusted voice.

"It isn't, and regret that you think so little of me." he retorted.

"Miroku, if it wasn't you, I wouldn't even be having this conversation!"

"Ok, so maybe I've given you reason to doubt my integrity."

"That's an understatement!" the haynou snorted.

"Well, I really do care for Sango, and I just want her to be happy." Miroku replied defensively.

"Whatever you say."


"Kaede!" Shippo ran to meet the elderly priestess.

"Shippo!" Kaede said, joy in her voice. "I am glad to see ye all alive and well."

"Kaede!" Kagome threw her arms around the old woman. "We did it! We finally killed Naraku!"

"I never thought I'd live to see this day. The day my dear sister was avenged." Kaede said, a wistful look in her eyes.

The mention of Kikyo made Kagome's blood run cold. She felt Inu Yasha stiffen. She certainly wasn't the topic of the day for either one of them.

"Yeah, well," she stammered, "I'm glad he's gone too."

She desperately wanted a change in subject.

"Ok, well, who's hungry?" Miroku said, sensing the tension in the air.

The answer was unanimous, so everyone proceeded into Kaede's hut to cook dinner. Inu Yasha put Kagome's bag on the floor and sat down in a corner. Kagome began fishing around in her bag, and produced several packages of Ramen.

The haynou's mouth began to water at the sight of the delicious noodles. He hadn't eaten much at breakfast, and was now starving

Kaede began cooking the noodles in a pot Kagome had brought over from her time. It just made cooking in the feudal era so much easier. Kaede didn't know what she would do without it.

The group sat around a fire, eating Ramen and relishing Kaede with the tale of how they finally vanquished Naraku. When the conversation began to drift off, Kagome slipped out of the hut to watch the sunset.

She strolled off toward the bone eater's well. Sitting on the lip, she basked in the brilliant sunset. The brilliant sky was painted with iridescent yellow, orange, and pink. But clouds soon covered the sky as the sun dipped lower into the horizon. The wind began to pick up, sending stray leaves hurtling into the air. Kagome, realizing it was getting late, began to head back.

"50 years..."

She stopped at the edge of the woods, thinking she had heard a voice.

"...fate cannot be undone.."

'There it is again. Inu Yasha?' Kagome wondered. In the end, curiosity got the better of her, and she strayed into the words searching for the source of the voice.


"Miroku, I hardly think that's what your dad meant by-"Sango stopped mid sentence and looked at Inu Yasha, who was fidgeting nervously.

"Inu Yasha, what's got you so tense?" she questioned.

"Kagome's been gone for awhile." he replied.

"So? I'm sure she's fine." Miroku said.

"I bet she just went on a walk or something." Shippo said, before going back to finish his food.

"Yeah, whatever." he allowed himself to agree with Shippo, just this once.

Still, he couldn't shake the feeling that something was wrong.


Kagome followed the voice, which seemed to be coming from the sacred tree.

"It wasn't supposed to be this way..."

Snippets of conversation made their way through the trees to the miko's ears.

She stopped just short of the sacred tree, when she caught sight of whoever was talking. A woman clad in red hakama pants and a white blouse.

Kagome gasped. The disconnected souls surrounding her confirmed her identity.

"Kikyo..."

"I know you're there, Kagome." the priestess said, noting Kagome's name with disgust.

Kagome stepped out into the clearing. Coming face to face with Kikyo after last night's incident was not on her to-do list.

Kikyo smirked, sensing her reincarnation's fear. "There's no need to be afraid." she lied. "I come only for the Sacred Jewel."

The miko's hand flew to her neck, where Jewel of Four Souls rested.

"Who do you think you are?" Kagome yelled, her good mood quickly evaporating.

'Who are you to come in and demand the Jewel, when we were the ones who worked so hard to put it back together?'

"You actually think I'm just going to hand it over? Kikyo, you're dead, it's not yours anymore." her voice soften at that last statement.

Kikyo, however, was growing impatient.

"If you won't give it to me freely, then I will take it from you." she said coldly. "I doubt you want to get your precious Inu Yasha involved in this. You know when he sees me, he'll forget all about you."

Kagome was torn. She would hate to watch another soap opera episode between them, but she couldn't hand over the Jewel.

She stared defiantly at the Shinto priestess.

"Very well then. You leave me no choice."

Kikyo reached for her bow, pulled an arrow from the quiver, and knocked it into place...