Hello all! I love all the reviews, you make meesa happy! keep'em rolling! Here's the next chapter for all of you guys! Oh! And again, I am SO unbelievably sorry for the long wait! BTW: Epona can understand Link in this story, okay? Don't like it? tough turtles! Here's the chapter! finally!

(((Dareka-Someone)))

Descending...

Kagome opened her eyes a peek to vision her unfortunate fate. The spiked rocks and torrential waves were becoming nearer and nearer as she fell. She straightened her body against the fighting winds and soared, feeling the rush of anxiousness course through her body.

'Momma, Souta, Grandpa... Ayumi, Yuka, Eri, Hojou... I'll never see them again.' the tears came again, flowing behind her, following the gusts. The stones and crashing sounds of the ocean became closer to sight and hearing.

Kagome squinted to block out the gusting, unmerciful, encircling winds. She could smell the scent of the sea, now. It surprised her to know that she loved the feeling of falling. Descending to the unrelenting, hard ground was a thrill to her. Like a roller coaster, except you don't go back up. Kagome knew of her fate, that was for sure. Rocky stones and cold, splashing sea water would clash against flesh and bone. Yes, she knew of her unfortunate circumstance, knew of this disturbing fate that was her choice.. her shadowed future...

Yet...

'Why am I not afraid..?' she wondered as darkness soon took over her..

Kagome...

Kagome...

Listen... Kagome...

A young, but wise voice echoed through her soul. She was calm, collected, and an aura about her was seemingly powerful.

Nayru... Din... Farore... Kagome... a new goddess is born... beauty, life, love, nature... unknown powers are created... and you, Kagome, live on as the Goddess of Eternity...

'Wh-who's there? What do you mean?' she feebly thought.

Nayru... Din... Farore... Kagome... Goddess of Eternity.. you will understand in time... child of Dawn... you live on..

The voice was faded and broken, like a static television, and it made no sense.

'Wh-where am I?' she thought, hardly believing she was alive. She couldn't be, that fall could have crushed a demon more powerful than Naraku. She was dead... and this.. this was the afterlife. That was her conclusion... but.. why did she feel so alive.

'Inuyasha...' her eyes stung, like they had been open, for hours, but her vision was fogged. She felt, instantly, the slide of hot, thick, tears down her face. She didn't care... who would see her? That was the thing... she was alone... in a foreign place... alienated from the rest of the world.

'I am alone... lost in a dark world.. where no one can hear me scream.. no one can soothe my soul... nobody can warm my heart.. alone...'

Since she was a child... the dark was never a consoling place. Especially when she was alone. Sometimes, she would cry until rest finally found a place in her body. The darkness was a demon.. waiting patiently and silently in the shadows until an unfortunate soul wandered aimlessly through its depths, then, springing forth and clutching them, thrashing and wailing, and swallowing them whole..

Or at least, that was Grandpa's telling. Kagome was never to fond of hearing his so called philosophical visions and stories, and she never quite believed them.. but now, in this circumstance, she could. But it didn't make sense... if she was in the shadows... how could she be breathing? Much less, sitting here thinking about how confusing this was... nothing made much sense lately..

Inuyasha's sudden betrayal... this lonesome world she resided in that was so clouded with darkness... the fact that Grandpa's stories were beginning to make some sort of sense.. Why she always felt that she was alone. Even when she was among her friends, she always felt abandoned, or left out. She had always wanted to tell them of her adventures within the Sengoku Jidai, and her travels with the arrogant hanyou that she had learn to love and respect. But mostly, the only thing that her friends enjoyed talking about, amongst themselves, was boys and late, unfinished homework, and they always attempted to persuade Kagome to date Hojou, supposedly, the hottest guy in her school. But she had a hard time believing that. She liked Hojou.. but never liked him enough to date him... but now she wished she had the chance to learn to like him like she had Inuyasha.. it was so unfair to him, and now, she was alone again.

'Help... Someone, I can't stand it anymore...' she screamed in the confines of her heart and mind.. Kagome prayed with her whole being that someone would come and rescue her from this dark hell... Someone that would hold her, kiss her, and love her unconditionally.. Someone that would tell her that everything that happened was a dream.. a fancied figment of her imagination... Someone that would take it all away, to inspire her to begin anew... start over. She wanted that 'someone'...no.. she needed that someone.. no matter who it was.. she didn't care right now.

'Someone.. anybody.. help...' she thought weakly, as unconsciousness took over her.

Someone...

Link...

Hero of Time, Savior of Ages, stealer of many hearts throughout Hyrule, returned to Hyrule Fields from Lon Lon Ranch, after a quick greeting to Malon, his long time friend, and a purchase of the famous and delicious, Lon Lon Milk.

He rode lazily about the fields, riding atop his Clydesdale, Epona. After having some small form of excitement, by soaring over high fences and over small hills, he came to a slow stop and scratched his head, looking around, this was becoming most annoying. With a sigh, he drug his foot from the stirrup and hopped over to slide softly to the golden, autumn grass. He took the chance to rub the velvety nose of Epona and speak to her softly.

"Epona..." he took his hand away and ruffled her corn silk, white mane, "I'm bored..." he said calmly, looking at his horse's reaction flickered through her charcoal eyes. She simply turned from him and began to graze on the crunchy grasses below her hooves.

Link ceased his stroking and crossed his arms in front of him, impatiently, "Oh yeah! You're a ton of help!" he pouted childishly.

'I'm seventeen, I'm not supposed to be so bored.' he lazily fell to the ground and slumped over, sitting with his heels touching, holding his toes.

"Well.." he called from the grass, "when you're done being a pig, can you help me think of something to do?" he laughed, playfully.

Epona glared at him, and clopped over silently, reared back, and collided her muscled head against Link's skull, planting his face into the ground and earning a surprised string of colorful curses and grumbles. Link's head snapped up to her and shot her a scowl, as he hopped up, and brushed the many loose grass particles from his tunic, mumbling something about 'impertinent, moody horses.' He gripped the saddle and flipped his legs over his horse and rested his elbow on Epona's head, earning an annoyed grunt from her, and from there he placed his chin in the folds of his hand, and tapping his finger on his lip in thought.

"Hmm... what to do, what to do..." He mumbled, trying to think of something, anything that appealed to his mind. The flow of crystal waters and the sparkling, shining sun popped into his mind.

"Aha!" he pointed skyward in realization, "Epona, does the lake sound alright to you?" he patted her head and ruffled her mane. She simply turned away and grunted.

Link smiled, "Good enough answer for me!" he gripped the reins and began to turn ...

'Someone.. anybody.. help...' a languid voice whispered.

He halted in his actions immediately and snapped his head around to the sound, disturbing the green hat upon his head. A woman? He skimmed the entire field nervously. But, like a magnet, his head was drawn to the path to the lake.

"Come on, Epona, to the lake, Hyaa!" he suddenly was extremely eager to arrive there, and as quickly as possible. He dragged the reins to the right, and slapped them, perhaps a little rougher than he wanted to.. but there was something inside of his mind that was calling out to him to follow his instincts. Saving damsels in distress was one of them..

He began to slap them more frequently, urging Epona to run faster, as he stood, slightly bent over, going with the flow of the rampant rocking and jumping of the sprinting Clydesdale. Was it actually just his imagination? Well, whatever this feeling was, he was bound determined to change it. Besides, he was going there anyway, right? If he went there just to be certain, it would ease his conscience considerably. Though, how did this so called voice telepathically reach him? He quickly cut around boulders and soared over fences, to reach his desired destination, and with a sharp tug on the reins, he raced through the entrance, flying high over the two fences that barred his path.

Once they touched the edge of the grassy fields, he flew from the saddle and rapidly began racing around the premises searching for the source of the weak voice. Breathing heavily, he searched throughout the crops and around the shore, and through the thick vegetation on the other side. Nothing..

"Huh.." he grunted, "maybe it was my imagination..." he sighed, "I've been around Zelda too long." he chuckled softly, blocking the view of the golden, midday sun, and squinting.

He took one step towards the lake shore, and sighed in ecstasy of the shining beauty, it was almost like a mirror, reflecting the days as they flowed like the streams across the mudded bank. Getting lost in this feeling, he almost didn't notice the wondrously sweet aura that filled his senses, wrapping around his legs and constricting his torso. He snapped his eyes open and lunged up and expertly drew his sword, preparing for this... beast... whatever form.. he nervously bounced around on his toes and looked about. But

this aura flowed over the premises and blew comfortably away with the soft whisper of the wind.

"Odd..." he glared around suspiciously, as he crossed his eyebrows and returned his sword to the sheath. As he did so, he also turned his gaze up to the building that was his new lake house. The old man, that had lived there previously, had so generously given his own house up for an exciting place in the Gerudo Valley. A long journey for one so elderly.. but it was a great opportunity for him and for Link. This house had given him more room than his tree house in Kokiri Forest. As it was, the tree had not given him much room when he was a child. Imagine him now, living as a teenager that was three times the size of everybody in the Forest... the tree house could only accommodate about two people, and that was if the other person was about the same height as two Kokiri. So with this house, he had more room, and a beautiful symphony of light to wake to in the mornings, and a lullaby of colors to drift to sleep in the evening.

"Maybe I should go swimming now.. the cool waters will calm me down." he assured himself. He flipped his tunic over his toned body, folded it neatly and placed it on the soft, green grass. Relieving himself of the green hat that sat atop his blond head most of the day, and his boots, he walked over to his lake house and stared up the ladder, and then began ascending the wooden cross strips. As he went up, he thought of all of the different uses for the hut that was so opposite of that of the old man's. For example, the balcony atop the house was once used for a variety of strange plants and animals that he kept for observation. Link now used this for a very suitable diving platform.

He placed both feet on the wooden foundation and peered slowly over the edge, nervously. He shook his head, "Okay, I've done this more times than I can count and I'm nervous?" He took this as a sign that he needed to get out more and tucked his head to chest, and dove gracefully over the edge. He lost all sense of the previous feeling once he felt the whip of the wind against his hair and the flow of it across his body. He shuddered slightly, though, once the cool blue depths smashed unexpectedly. He allowed the weight of his body float him to the crest of the water as he stared around, finally swallowing a deep breath and dipping into the coolness of the crystal water. He swam down until his feet rested on the sandy bottom. He pushed himself down and sat cross-legged on the lake bed, closing his azure eyes, in a kind of meditation that Zelda taught him a long time ago...

((Flashback))

"Good goddess!" Zelda sighed in relief.

"Link, what's wrong?" she asked, walking in, and clicking the door shut, from another one of her long, dull conferences.

He sat with his elbow propped up on his knee and his chin rested in his hand. Link threw a half-hearted shrug at her and pulled his hat over his eyes, leaning back against the wall.

"I don't know, guess I'm a little tense from today." he yawned loudly and stretched.

Zelda looked at him and smiled. If she knew anything about Link, it was that he got tense easy from over exertion and boredom I guess you could say. She walked to the reclining form of Link and bent to his level, putting her hand on his shoulder. Link pulled the brim of his hat from one eye and peered to her.

"I can help you.." she smiled softly to him, stood up, and stepped back. Link remained on the tile floor, staring up at her questionably and cocking an eyebrow.

"It's called Mizu... and what you do is, sit on the very bottom of Lake Hylia and relax everything.. mind, body, and spirit. Just sit there. It helps, I promise!" she smiled brightly.

Link laughed, "How am I supposed to relax at the bottom of the lake, when the first thing I think about is drowning?" he pulled the hat from both eyes and hopped up, but still leaning lazily against the stone, and crossing his arms.

Zelda giggled, "You see! That's the thing! You must relax! You are way too worried about everything, Link." she pointed out.

Link shook his head, "Okay I'll try this... Mizu... but I don't think I'll be trying it any time soon." he waved to her and headed out of the door, hearing the faint giggles and the click of the door.

((End Flashback))

But he tried it everyday, and sure enough, it had helped him not be so stiff about everything that went on. He had gotten better with words and actions and wasn't snapping as much. Which was a plus for him. Ever since the defeat of Ganondorf.. he had always been so edgy and angry with everyone..

He sat there, deep under the surface of the water until his lungs screamed for air and he kicked off the sandy bottom and began the swim to the top, rowing quickly, feeling for the crest of the water. His hand finally swiped at air and he gave one final thrust, allowing the clean air to fill his lungs, as he exhaled slowly. Of all the times he had done Mizu, every time it had always amazed him how much better he felt. He breathed cleanly several times, before he dipped fully under the water again and rinsed his hair of the dirty feeling, and ran a hand over his body, then pushing to the tip of the water.

"Whew!" he exclaimed as water flew up his nostrils. He sneezed multiple times before he made the journey back to the shore to dress himself. He reached the shore and flipped on his back to dry somewhat, and also simply enjoying the feeling of the warm, comforting sun against his body. He soon grew tiresome of this and stood up, shaking his hair and working down his body, ridding himself of the pearly beads of water that stuck to his skin and glittered like diamonds as they were sent several directions. He unfolded his garb and began to slide it down his torso.. when he heard the faintest sob... so feeble and soft, you wouldn't even notice that it existed. He leaned into the sound and concentrated, as he extended his hearing.

It was a woman... could it be the woman that spoke to him in the field? He followed the cries as best as he could throughout the area, peeking around corners and looking in deep grasses. He felt like he was playing a game that all of the Kokiri had played with him.. Hot and Cold? He felt crazy and cold hearted thinking about a game when someone, a woman even, was somewhere suffering.. and he couldn't find her. Although, he didn't have the mind to look slightly around the corner of his own home when he had first arrived... He slowly peered past the building and noticed that the cries had become clearer. He tip toed to the sound and looked around the corner... and there she was... the most fair woman in Hyrule that he had ever seen, though her clothes were questionable... but when his eyes swept over her body.. his heart stopped.

"Oh gods..." He whimpered almost breathlessly in sympathy for her... the woman's circumstance was enough to make his whole body quake in pain. Her beautiful grey-brown eyes were glazed over in a trance, and hot, thick tears were trailing their way down her porcelain face. Cuts made their way throughout her neckline, through her clothes, and deep purple-blue bruises littered her cheeks, and long, slender arms. Gashes cut deep into her legs and cheeks as well, making him wince with pity, as he made his way hurriedly to her side, leaning her up to him with an arm, supporting her frail body and putting her mouth to his ear. He sighed in relief when he felt the soft flutter of hot breath against the side of his face.

"Oh thank the heavens.." he praised, plucking her from the cold ground, and whistling a sharp tune to summon Epona to him, and with difficulty gathered his shield and sword from the grasses. Epona bent down to the ground, noticing that Link was not able to hang on to the woman, his shield and sword, and get on the saddle at the same time without dropping something.. Link nodded his thankfulness and boarded the horse, loading his sword and shield on the back, and cradling the young maiden in his arms gently moving her legs to straddle the saddle, with her head facing and leaning into him.

With the woman completely settled, Epona turned her head to Link, "Epona go to Kokiri Forest and ride fast, but gentle, I don't know if she can hold out much longer here.." Epona whinnied and began galloping steadfastly, but gently, just as Link wished.

Link looked softly at the woman in his arms and skimmed a thumb over her thick tears that continued to fall silently down her cheeks, and wiped every single one of them from her pale face. Her eyes were so deep and full of emotion... they were so beautiful. He trailed a finger down her cheeks and brushed a black tendril of hair from her forehead. Link took a moment to admire her slender form before his passenger wailed in agony and began thrashing, and arching her back. Link's heart leaped from his chest at the sudden shrill cry.

"Oh! Jeez!" he held her tenderly, rubbing her back and calming her with soft, comforting words. When she finally fell back into her soft breathing again, he made the assumption that she would be just fine. But just in case, he smacked the reins, "Epona! Quickly! To Kokiri Forest!" He held her safe from the rocking of the running horse. Epona reached the outskirts of the tunnel and hopped from the saddle and carried the woman safely in his arms, then stole a thankful rub on Epona's velvet nose and waved, sprinting across the bridge and attempting to keep it comfortable for the mistress as well, running to his tree house.

"Hey Link! Found yourself a woman did ya?" An incommoding voice echoed throughout the Forest, followed by several snickers and cackles.

Link turned his head slightly to bark over his shoulder, "Shut it Mido! She's hurt!"

"Yeah, sure whatever ladies man!" He roared with laughter.

Link rolled his eyes and swept up the ladder and softly stretched her body over his only bed and brushed her loose tendrils from her face and sighed.

"You'll be okay..." He scratched his head and looked out the doorway of his house, "Hm... I have an idea..."

(((End Chapter)))

YAY! New chapter! Sorry for da wait! The next chapter is going to be pretty long..so get ready for that.. and review review review!

Ja Ne!

Kagome-Inuyasha09