A/N: Hi! Please review and let me know what you think!

Becca: Hey, Yuka isn't supposed to die…Rin is…I wasn't sure if I made that very clear…anyway, as always, thanks for your review!

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My Only Hope
Chapter Thirty-Four

"Inuyasha, I feel sick. I can't handle all this. I can't believe it. My grandfather? There's no way. I just can't…I can't fathom why he would do something like this. I thought he accepted…I mean, he did…the twins…they're alone upstairs…" Kagome took deep breaths, although nothing could manage to calm her fraying nerves.

"I'll go get them, Lady Kagome." Mine bowed to her. "You stay here with Lord Inuyasha…"

"Calm down, sweetie. Maybe this is a mistake? We'll figure it out…" Inuyasha whispered.

Kagome gasped, letting her sobs come in small fits. She clung tightly to Inuyasha's haori. "Inuyasha…" she cried. "Why? I should have never gone into the well! Kaede's dead, Hojo's dead, and now my grandfather wants my family dead!"

"Don't say things like that! You know better than that! If you hadn't come through that well, we would never have met, and then where would we be? I'd still be stuck to the sacred tree, and you would be…"

Kagome gulped and nodded. "You're right. I need to calm down…" she took a deep breath.

"What the hell is going on down here?" demanded Sesshoumaru, pounding down the stairs. "I smell salt. Why is Kagome crying, Inuyasha?" he asked.

"She's all right, Sesshoumaru…" Yuka whispered, following him down the stairs.

"Where is he?" Kagome whispered, unintentionally ignoring everyone else in the room. "Gramps! Where the hell are you?"

"Lady Kagome, I would bet that he has already gone through the well and back to the feudal era…" she suggested. "I would follow him, if I were you, before something bad happens…"

"Something bad has already happened!" Kagome barked at Mine. "How can you say this isn't bad?"

"It is, Lady Kagome." Mine bowed, "I just do not wish anything worse to happen to you or your family."

Inuyasha nodded. "Thank you, Mine."

"Why…do you keep bowing to Inuyasha and I?" asked Kagome.

"For reasons which you won't understand for hundreds of years, Lady Kagome." She answered. "You all had better get going. You must trust me when I say that rewriting the future would definitely not be a good thing…" she nodded.

Kagome gulped, and nodded slowly. "All right," she took Toku from Inuyasha and turned around. "Let's get going, everyone."

"Kagome, will you be…"

"I'm fine, Inuyasha." She snapped.

"You're sure you…"

"Yes. I'm sure. I have to find my grandfather before he does something really, really bad. We can't let him do something like that…and our parents don't realize what he's up to…"

Inuyasha nodded in agreement. "Come here, Shippo. You won't be able to get through the well on your own."

"All right, daddy." Shippo smiled, hopping onto his father's shoulders.

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"We haven't found a thing all week. Can you believe it? Inuyasha and Kagome are going to be back soon, and we don't have anything new to tell them. This is so terrible. I don't know what would happen if something happened to them and their pups…" Miroku sighed.

Sango took a deep breath. "I understand, Miroku, but there is nothing we can do about it. We've searched everywhere."

"We'll just have to keep an eye on them when they get back." Jin nodded decisively. "Until we know what's really going on around here."

"Well, I'm sure they're fine and they'll be back soon," Akira mused.

"Yes, but they're in the modern era. Safety is the exact reason I sent you there in the first place, remember?" Jin reminded her.

She nodded. "Yeah. There isn't much that could have happened while they were there. That's good to know."

"It is, but you have to remember that we sent Sesshoumaru with them. I'm hoping there was no trouble while they were there." Inutaisho frowned. "Although I'm not sure how much that would affect us here…"

"You don't want to know." It was Sesshoumaru. He, along with Kagome, Inuyasha, Yuka, and the pups. Shippo jumped from the safety of Inuyasha's shoulder, and into Akira's awaiting arms.

"What happened?" demanded Jin.

"Kagome was shot with a gun…" Sesshoumaru explained, looking in confusion at his father, who shrugged. "We learned that there are demons in the future because of the incident…" he trailed off.

"Where is gramps?" Kagome growled, staring at her mother. "He's brought back Kikyou to kill Inuyasha and the twins…" Kagome paused. "She'll do it plainly out of spite for me. She hates me, and she hates the very idea of Inuyasha and I together…not to mention, she still had half of my soul the last time that she died…" Kagome shivered at the thought. "She'd kill all of us without any guilt whatsoever…" her voice lowered.

"Kagome?" Inuyasha whispered.

"Where is my bow?" she asked him.

"Kagome! That man is your grandfather!" Souta gasped. "You wouldn't! You couldn't!"

"Souta…he wants my family dead. I don't want to hurt him, but I am not going to stand by and let him or Kikyou hurt Inuyasha or my pups. It won't happen."

"Kagome…" Inuyasha frowned.

"Don't even try it, Inuyasha. I want you to take Shippo, Taka, and Toku, and leave this place now. I don't want you guys to be here later. Do you understand?" she asked, seriousness dripping from her voice.

Inuyasha gasped. "Kagome, if you think for one second that I plan on just leaving you here to deal with this yourself, you have thought wrong!" he protested.

"Inuyasha…I'm sorry…" Kagome kissed him lightly and took a step back.

A second later Sesshoumaru's fist met with Inuyasha's jaw, and he crashed to the ground, unconscious. He picked up the twins, and Shippo hopped onto his shoulder. "I'll take them somewhere safe for you, Kagome." Sesshoumaru promised.

"I'll come along." Yuka nodded. "I won't be of much help here, anyway." She added, and Sesshoumaru nodded.

"Go ahead." Kagome waved. "Be careful."

"We will." Yuka smiled, following Sesshoumaru back into the forest.

"Kagome! What do you think you are doing?" Souta demanded.

"What do you think?" Kagome smirked. "I am making sure that what I saw doesn't have a snowball's chance in hell of coming true!" she yelled at him.

Souta's lower lip popped out. "But it's gramps!"

"He wants me dead, Souta! He wants me, and Inuyasha, and your niece and nephew dead! If he really loved us, he wouldn't want to do such a thing! There's no way in hell I am going to let any of it happen! I love my family, and I have to protect them, and myself…" she paused. "I'm sorry…"

Rin nodded. "It will be all right, Lady Kagome."

"I'll take everyone inside." Sango whispered, tapping Kohaku on his shoulder. "That includes you, little brother."

"But I want to help Lady Kagome!" Kohaku protested.

"This is her fight. We will intervene when and if the time comes."

Kohaku nodded in agreement. "All right."

"I'm going to go find Lord Sesshoumaru!" Rin smiled, skipping off towards the forest. "I will return with him!"

"All right!" Akira nodded her approval.

"I wish I knew what the hell was going through his mind…" Kagome whispered to herself.

"Funny you should speak of hell…" came an all too familiar voice…one Kagome had not heard in over a year.

"Kikyou…" Kagome raised her bow. "Leave."

"Now, why would I do that?" she smirked. "After all, I have heard some interesting news from that grandfather of yours. I thought that I should come and see for myself. Interesting that you already knew of my arrival, though. I figured such a thing would happen. I was hoping for it. I knew you wouldn't want Inuyasha or those brats around when I showed up."

"What…what do you mean?" Kagome stammered.

"You're so predictable, Kagome. Always thinking of others before yourself. I imagine I was that way once…although, looking back now, I understand what a liability that was…"

"Liability?" Kagome whispered, her hold on her bow weakening for a second. "What are you talking about?"

Kikyou laughed. "You're here alone. You allowed your mate to be taken away. You have no one to protect you but yourself…"

Kagome glanced toward her hut. Kikyou smirked. "You think they can help you?" Kikyou closed her eyes, and a strong purple barrier surrounded the two of them. "Let's see them try."

"Why are you…? What are you doing, Kikyou? I won't give you the chance to hurt me or my family!"

"Your family? If I kill you, Inuyasha dies as well, correct? So there is no problem there, as far as I can see…as for you, you hold the other half of my soul. I think it is about time that I got it back…" she laughed.

"Kagome!" Jin screamed, running at the barrier and being thrown back into the hut wall.

Kagome's eyes widened. "You knew…" she gasped. "You knew I could see this coming! You wanted Inuyasha gone! You wanted him gone, because it left me here…alone…"

"You aren't as stupid as you look." Kikyou snarled.

"And my grandfather helped you…" Kagome's eyes shot towards the ground, and her arrow dropped from her hand as everything about her current situation hit her like a ton of well-placed bricks.

"Of course he did, you stupid child!" Kikyou snapped. "Honestly! He may have tolerated Inuyasha in his home, he may have been civil and polite, but the truth is, most humans fear that which they do not understand…and your grandfather is no exception to the rule. But then…when you turned out to be just like Inuyasha, that only added icing to the cake. The old man never imagined that you would mate Inuyasha, or that those abominable children would come along! He could have such an atrocity staining his perfect human son's name…it was all too much for him to take. So…he'd heard your stories…and he enlisted my help in solving his little problem…" Kikyou explained.

Kagome blinked. Her mouth was hanging open in shock, although she couldn't exactly think of anything to say back. Her bow now lay forgotten on the ground, and tears of sadness and anger clouded her vision.

"Are you giving up that easily, you wench?" Kikyou smirked.

"Kagome! Pick up your bow! Draw your sword! Do something!" Jin pleaded.

"Kagome!" Akira screamed. "Please!"

"This should be easy, then…" Kikyou laughed. "Although I haven't decided yet if I wish your death to be a quick one, or if I want you to die slowly…" she placed her finger to her chin in thought. "Inuyasha will fell all your pain, you know…" She paused. "Yes…I think a slow death will make things most interesting…"

Kagome blinked out of her stupor, and drew her sword. "Just try." She challenged.

"Your sword can not do anything to me, stupid girl. I am already dead." Kikyou smirked.

"Yeah, and I bet no matter how many times you die, it still hurts each time." Kagome retorted. "So how I kill you doesn't really mater does it?"

Kikyou blinked in surprise. "You do have a mouth on you, don't you?" she smiled. "You sound a bit like Inuyasha."

"Don't. You aren't allowed to compare me or him to anyone, got it?" Kagome warned.

"Touchy, aren't we?"

Kagome nodded. "Yes, I am. You shouldn't have came back." Kagome replied.

"No! Leave me alone! Lord Sesshoumaru!"

Kagome blinked. That was Rin she heard. The little girl could not have been more than a quarter mile away, and she was in danger. The scent of her blood was faint, but it was still there. Sesshoumaru was too far off to have heard her by now….

Kagome ran, and ended up doing nothing but smacking into a barrier and being thrown backwards, almost straight at Kikyou.

"I don't have time for this!" Kagome growled.

"You don't have a choice." Kikyou smirked.

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A/N: Anyone notice that they changed the layout on the user pages? Grr...Sorry…couldn't resist. Please review and let me know what you think! I will update soon! Last day of school!