She finally came back. Oh God, she had so longed to see them, her friends again. She had so missed them! She had hoped they would have been with her, as she gained knowledge. Something that was hard to come by, yet now she had it.

Sango hugged her friends tightly. " Are you okay?" she asked, " I so missed you!"

" Is that really you Sango?" Kagome asked, dazed, " It is! Oh how I missed you! Missed you all!"

" Oh Kagome!" Sango cried, " We were so worried! Really we were!"

" Its not surprising," Kagome replied.

" Can you tell us what happened," Sango asked, " Please?"

Kagome thought for a moment. There was no reason she couldn't, and they could know. So she nodded. " Follow me to the Goshibinki Tree. This is no place to tell a story."

The three nodded, and followed the miko outside.

As they passed the God Tree, Kagome quickly bowed her head to the Tree where Kikyo had pinned Inuyasha with her Sacred Arrow, five hundred years ago. She took a seat on the white bench with Sango and Kurama on either side of her, and Hiei leaning on the end by Sango.

" Listen well," Kagome said in a clear voice, " For I shall only tell this once."

FLASHBACK

Giving her friends a reassuring smile, she vanished to the other side.

Her room was not as she had expected it to be. It was not ransacked like the rest of the house. But it was not the same either. Unlike her door, there was no evil aura around. Her bed was the same. Her desk was the same. Her window was the same. So was her closet. But her dresser, no, that was another story.

Her photo's were missing. All of them.

Her grandfathers, her mothers, her brothers. Sango's, Inuyasha's, Miroku's, Shippo's. Kaede's too. Same with Rin and Sesshomaru. Yusuke's, Kuwabara's, and Keiko's was missing too, as was Kurama's and Hiei's. So was Ayumi's, Eri's, and Yuri's. They were all gone. Not one was left.

Kagome let a tear drop on the empty spot where her photo's had previously been. But only one fell. At that moment, she saw herself dressed in her miko clothes. And someone's arms wrapped around her.

" It will be okay," said a familiar voice.

The arms let go of Kagome, who spun around, coming face to face with the person.

She had long dark hair, brown eyes, creamy, milky white skin. She too wore miko clothes, and smiled. It was the very person Kagome was so unlike. So different from, yet the same. Kikyo.

" Kikyo," Kagome said.

Kikyo nodded and smiled. " Yes," she said, " It is I, Kikyo, your Ancestor."

" What are you doing here?" Kagome asked.

" To help you," Kikyo said, " To tell you some things you should know. About me. About yourself. Please, sit down."

Kagome nodded, and took a seat on her bed, facing the floating Spirit.

" Now," Kikyo began, " Let me tell you of my past."

Kagome had never heard much of Kikyo's past from before she had met Inuyasha.

" Kaede and I were orphaned when we very small," Kikyo began, " I, being the elder sister, and twelve years old at the time, had to take care of young Kaede. We were from another village, which had been attacked by demons. We were the only survivors. So we left, and came to the another village who's Priestess had died recently. They needed a replacement for her, but there was no one else in the village to take her place. So, since I would have been a Priestess in my own village, took on the role. For years, everything was fine. I had few worries."

" That ended the night the Sacred Shikon no Tama came into my hands. It was brought to me because my mystical powers for purification were well known. I was made the Protector of the Jewel, as you now are. I cut off my emotions, and allowed no one to grow close to me in order to protect the Jewel, and the village. No one else should have to die because I was a weak Priestess. That changed when I met Inuyasha, and well, you know the rest. So part of why I acted the way I was, was not because of Kanzuka's control. It was because of my sad past."

Kagome felt sorry for Kikyo. " What does that have to do with me though?"

" You are my reincarnation," Kikyo said, " That means my blood flows in your veins because it has been past down through all of my reincarnations, though they know it not. Your whole family has my blood. At least, your mother's side of the family does, as well as your brother since he was born from your mother. However, only women can be Priestesses, so therefore you were the one who would have the Jewel in your body. You were the Destined Priestess. That is why you freed Inuyasha from my prison."

" But none of my other family members look at all like you, yet I could almost pass for your twin," Kagome said, " Does that mean anything?"

Kikyo nodded. " Yes. It is very important. It means that you were surely the Destined Priestess because you looked so much like me. Because of my untimely death, I could not be the Destined Priestess, which meant that the reincarnation who looks so much like me would be the Destined Priestess. That means you."

Kagome nodded.

" So that is about us. Now, to talk about the Jewel itself. It was created so long ago, and Midoriko was its first holder, as you know. Once she was sealed inside it however, it was passed to the Demon Slayers, who are, in a way, descended from her. Because of their skills, they could easily protect it. But, it was tainted, so they gave it to me to purify. That did not work for I tainted it more unintentionally. But the funny thing about the Jewel is that, you can use it for good or evil."

" Now you might say yes, you can always use something like that for both good or evil. True. But, even those who have used it for evil have suffered," Kikyo said, " Not just those who want to use it for good. Naraku used it for evil, but he died because of it. Sango wants to help protect it, but she lost her brother in doing so. Miroku wanted to recreate it so you could destroy Naraku's chances of getting it, and making him more powerful. He did not want to die by his Wind Tunnel. Inuyasha and I lost each other over it. You have seen these pains and sacrifices, but have not experienced them yourself. You are so pure, that it has not hurt you."

" Your determination to keep it away from the Spirit Detectives on that one night so long ago so you could continue to protect it proved another thing. You were defiantly destined to be its True Protector. By doing so, you did not taint it, and you gained friends who play a role in all of this as well."

Kagome had to agree with what Kikyo was saying.

" So now, your first true enemy has revealed himself," Kikyo informed her, " Kanzuka. Of course, he would have been like Naraku to you. But he is not. Ever since you met the Spirit Detectives and made friends with Kurama again, you were bonded in a special way that continues to grow stronger. Since Kurama is related by blood to Kanzuka, and is his brother, he is like a link from Kanzuka to you. He may try to use Kurama against you since you know him so well and spend so much time with him. Kanzuka is much slyer then Naraku was or ever could have been. He has many tricks to getting you, and whatever else he wants. So you need to wield your own power in the best way to defeat him."

" So you're saying I must not spend so much time with my friends?" Kagome asked. " Because Kanzuka will want to use them against me?"

" No. Spend as much time as you want with them. Learn to find ways to always tell that it is them and not an impostor. Remember, no one can pose as someone else and get it completely right. There is always a flaw, slight though it may be. If I had known that before Naraku attacked me, I would not have had to pin Inuyasha to the tree, and we would not be talking right now. Your whole life would be completely different. But yes, Kanzuka will want to use them against you, or use an impostor."

Kagome nodded. She understood now.

" But you see," Kikyo said, " You are not the only one who has an Ancestor. Sango's ancestor is Midoriko herself. She slayed Demons with a companion neko youkai as Sango does now. Miroku was the Buddhist Priest that the people for ages had been calling for. Inuyasha was well, the son of a Great Demon who knew his half breed son would help accomplish great things. Same with Sesshomaru. Your Kurama has a Demon Kitsune side as well, and together they are one, in a way. He was expected to enter the world at some time. Even that fire demon was created for a purpose. That was to help protect Midoriko's descendant Sango. Keiko is reincarnated from Koharu, and Yusuke was sent to help protect her. Yukina, the fire demons little sister, is reincarnated from the sweet little Rin who follows Sesshomaru around all the time. So you all will play a part in defeating Kanzuka because you all have strange roots."

" That all makes sense," Kagome said, " But why are you here?"

Kikyo smiled again. " When I entered the Afterlife after you freed me from Kanzuka's control, I was given the option to stay there for all of eternity, or watch over and guide my reincarnation. I knew I had much knowledge that could prove useful to you, so I chose this. I am here to help you. I will always be around your home, around and near you, forever watching, forever helping. I am in your debt since you freed me. And I must apologize for all I did while under his control."

Kagome nodded again. " Arigatou Kikyo. Now, another question. Who ransacked my house?"

" Kanzuka," she replied without hesitation. " He knew I was here, but you see, as a Spirit I am powerless to stop anyone. I can communicate with the Living, but I cannot protect them with my magic or their belongings. I can only guide and help. So all I could do was watch."

" Why did he take my photo's though?" Kagome asked, " There must be a reason. Is it anything to do with him taking over or making impostors of my friends?"

" Yes. Those photo's have been with you in your room for so long, they know all about you. So, he will draw something like a ghost and they will tell him everything. Then, he will use that ghost against you, and you won't know the difference. At least, that's what he hopes. So you must be ready. He will use them all against you, trust me."

Kagome nodded. " So that is why. And he trashed my house as a warning."

" Correct."

" So that's it?" Kagome said, " That is hard to believe, but I do believe it."

" I am glad. Kagome, I will always be near, so if you need me, just say 'Kikyo, please come to my aide!' and I will appear before you. Only certain people will be able to see me though."

" Thank you Kikyo," Kagome said, " Thank you for everything."

Kikyo smiled. " My pleasure. Remember, you are more then just a normal Priestess. There is something about you that no other Priestess as ever had. You will find that out eventually, for it is not my place to tell you. Farewell Kagome."

With that Kikyo vanished into silver sparkles, leaving Kagome to wonder about what she had last said. Shrugging, she stood up and walked to her door, from which the black aura had disappeared. She wanted to tell her friends.

END OF FLASHBACK

" That is my story," Kagome finished up, " I hope you understood it."

And that is the end of my chapter. Okay, it is now 11:10 at night, I am very tired, so I am going to bed. I hope you enjoyed it. Note, I made a lot of this up, so if it doesn't fit exactly with the original storylines of the two anime's, that is why.

Disclaimer: I do not own IY or YYH.

Reviewer Responses

sunstar kitsune: I guess you know now

Baka KitsuneBri: Okay, here's a long chappie.

Red Skyies: I know cliffie's suck, and I' so sorry I kinda made another one ;;; Okay here's my lil update.

KitsuneMIKO: How was this? I tried to make it so that no one would know what would happen. Did it work?