Disclaimer: Sari15 does not own Inuyasha. She is only an admirer.

Miroku: (Looking at a particular part of Sango's anatomy.) I am an admirer too.

Sango: Touch me and I will find a good reason to remove that wind tunnel of yours.

Sango…are you threatening violence to a monk?

Sango: Do you BLAME me?

But REMOVING his hand….it seems a little extreme.

Sango: If it will get the job done.

Point taken….not like he really WANTS the kanzaa or anything.

Miroku: I would prefer to keep my hand though.

Then I suggest keeping it to yourself (or at least ONLY on Sango)

Sango: Hey! What is that supposed to mean?

Chapter 3

Kagome slowly walked onto the grounds of the shrine, her feet dragging behind her. How had she never known that their search for the shards had become a legend? Did her mother know all that she had done on the other side of the well before Kagome even did it? Why did no one tell her this? It would have given her an opportunity to say goodbye to her friends.

She would never see Rin dancing around the expressionless Sesshomaru, a situation that never ceased to amaze her. She would thankfully never be kidnapped by Kouga again, or hear him call her, "his woman". Never watch Inuyasha get jealous of Kouga's affection toward her.

She would never learn to strengthen her miko abilities with Kaede. There would be no more searching for herbs to help her friends heal after a battle. No longer would Kaede's hut be her other "home".

Never again would Shippo curl up next to her at night to stay warm. She had no one to love as she would a son. Never again would she spoil the young kitsune fox. Shippo could never hug her again.

Never again would she sit and have a heart to heart with Miroku. He had been such a good listener. Never again would she have to slap him for his wondering hands. She could never tease him about his "cons" to get them a decent meal or place to sleep.

She would never bathe with Sango in the hot springs again. Never have anyone to talk girl talk with, the way they did. No one else could ever understand her feelings about Inuyasha. She would miss her sister greatly. Never again would she see Sango attack Miroku over the head with Hiraikotsu for his wondering hands.

Her walk had led her to the Sacred Tree. She could almost make him out on the branch he always sat on, how lonely it made her feel. She had first met him here; he thought she had been Kikyo at first. A lot changed after that first day. Too many painful memories. A new moon would never mean the same thing as it did before she met him. She could never ride on his back again, feeling the wind in her hair as her body held on to his. If only she had removed his beads, she would have kept them to remind her of him. He had no use of them in hell with Kikyo. Did he follow her? Did he even realize I left? The scalding tears rolled down her face before she realized she was crying. Unable to outrun the memories, she ran inside.

Her mother met her at the door, and held her why she cried. Soon all of the pain turned to anger, directed toward her mother. "You knew! I never even had a chance to say goodbye and you KNEW I wouldn't!"

"Kagome, it would have been too risky to you."

"They were my friends, my FAMILY. I loved them all dearly and I never even got to say goodbye." Furious she began to storm away from her mother.

"I know, sweetheart. I am sorry. Do you think all this was easy for me? What mother lets their child do what I let you do? I knew if I told you any of this before hand it could have changed history, including losing you. You might never have made it back here. The only way I let you go was I knew Inuyasha would protect you with his life. I trusted him from the very beginning."

"How could you?" Kagome whispered, too angry to lift her voice. "You should have given me a choice."

"The choice was made for you long before I came to this earth Kagome. Read the books I gave you. Your friends have waited nearly 500 years to say goodbye. Generation after generation protected these for you. Protected YOU."

Kagome had heard enough. She ran upstairs to her room, flopping on her bed in tears. Nothing seemed fair, her mother had known she would be returning safely at the end of the quest and didn't even give her an opportunity to say goodbye.

Your friends have waited nearly 500 years to say goodbye.

Maybe what was contained in the legend was not exactly what she thought it was. If Miroku wrote it, she knew it would not focus on Kikyo and Inuyasha much. It was her goodbye. She walked over and picked up the books her mother had given her the first night she came back. She opened the one she began reading the other night, sure enough, it had been recorded by Miroku. She began the story of Kikyo and Inuyasha by skimming it. She knew the heartbreaking story by heart now anyway. She wanted to get to the part where she showed up.

The hanyou had been sealed to the tree for fifty years, when our Kagome appeared. She couldn't help but smile…our Kagome. Her mere presence had been enough to awaken the hanyou Inuyasha in the Inuyasha forest. Upon seeing her, he became angered thinking her to be Kikyo, the love who had betrayed him. Yet still sealed to the tree, he could only irritate her with his words. Although Kagome was the miko Kikyo reincarnated, she had become so much more.

"Dang that Miroku has a way with words." She muttered, impressed with his storytelling ability. This book is a wonderful gift that she would treasure, but she needed to know what happened after the final battle ended. She flipped to the end of the book and found what she had been looking for.

As their arrows splintered Naraku into a thousand lesser youki, I used my cursed Kanzaa for the last time. The jewel was finally complete and our quest over. Naraku, our sworn enemy had finally been defeated and we could return to our lives.

That was it.

Nothing about how Kuhaku had been revived by Tenseiga. He ignored the fact that Inuyasha held Kikyo as she died. Most certainly nothing about their dear friend Kagome vanishing into thin air with the completed jewel.

MIROKU YOU ASS! YOU DAMNED LECHER! You left out most of the story. She threw a very Inuyasha-ish tantrum, throwing the book onto her desk next to the second one.

Oh…yes, the second book. How could she have forgotten there were two?

Sango: Poor Kagome, trapped in her time without Inuyasha and us.

Miroku: You still have me, beautiful Sango.

Sango: Houshi-sama! (blushing)

Watch that hand monk! You get on her good side and then you go and do that YET again.

Sango: HENTAI! (slap)

Miroku: It was worth the pain.