This is a dark themed three part fic.

It is rated M for the overall theme.

Disclaimer: I claim to own nothing. Do with that information what you will.

Pass It Around

'I wish more than anything to wake from this dream, this dream that boarders the line of a nightmare. I wish to mend the hearts broken in this useless conflict, those hearts that always seemed to cry for something more. I wish to live again in my world and the time in which I was bred. But most of all I wish that I had the girl who continued to cross time in its stead by my side.'

'But I wonder now, what did you ever do with the jewel?'

His eyes adjusted quickly to the darkness of the room. It was a small shrine that had been abandoned for several centuries, and in it laid the most powerful relic of a forgotten time, the Shikon no Tama. He couldn't exactly remember when he had placed it there, but he knew it was around the time that Miroku asked Sango to marry him. He had left it in their care so many centuries ago to go and check on Kagome. He had never returned.

The couple had stood at the edge of Kaede's village and hoped for his safe return. The runt had actually hugged him and wished him good luck on his journey. The demonic cat nuzzled his foot in a playful manner before he leapt into the portal that attached the times. That was the last time he had seen them. How he missed them dearly.

The old shrine was wet, dark, and smelly inside, time having taken its toll on it. Hidden as well as the slayers' village, the temple had remained undiscovered for many centuries. He was quite possibly the first to walk into it in quite a long time. His fingers traced the walls that were filled with paintings that spoke softly of the secrets of a lost time. His eyes lingered on a crude depiction of his own story, starting with him pinned to the tree, and ending with him disappearing into the well.

That's when it called out to him. It was a soft, sweet sound that could only be described as a peek into an angelic symphony. The jewel called out to him, pulling him into the heart of the shrine. It whispered sweet nothings in his silver ears wondering who had wandered into its range after so many years of a peaceful slumber.

A wish for anything in the world, but in the end it's all just a dream…

The jewel cried out joyfully at him asking to be held, dreaming of being wished upon, to be purified and escape such a dull and destructive existence. "Shh… I will… I will…" he sighed out softly.

His fingers encircled the pink orb, and it pulsed gently in his hands. His mind suddenly became a blank haven as he was pulled into the jewel. It was calming and pure. A small piece of him desired to stay there for a little piece of eternity, but he had a mission, a reason for seeking out such ancient magic.

There was a thin mist that slowly began to overtake him. And a young woman slowly appeared. She wore ancient body armor, and the mark of the saved was branded upon her brow. Her eyes were tired yet patient as she walked before him.

This woman was Midoriko, marked with ancient scars and bearing the last wound she received in battle, a gaping hole in place of her heart. She stood before him in all her regal glory. "What is thy desire, second son of the Inu no Taisho? For it is true that we are quite well acquainted, yes? And there is no time for games and idle conversation."

Yes, such a lovely dream…

"These things that I once desired… From a human body and then to that of a demon's, they mean nothing to me anymore…" Inuyasha spoke, his low voice bouncing off of unseen walls, echoing into the distance.

"One doesn't often change their deepest desires, their darkest and sometimes even purest thoughts are held from view. This is why people do unreasonable and sometimes completely unexpected things…" Midoriko said as a slight wind blew and tossed her midnight colored hair to the side.

"I understand this, but I need to know for myself… I need to know my deepest desire. It has changed so that I no longer understand it."

The creator of the Shikon no Tama let out a light laugh. "You have grown so much since you first held me in your grasp young one. You wish to achieve your deepest desire even though you are unsure of what it is?" Midoriko asked.

"Yes."

"If it is pure I will finally be able to rest and you will be able to continue life… If it is impure I will continue my existence in this jewel and your life will be damned for an eternity as many have been before you. So is the cost of such great power, the power to wish for anything in the world. Do you still wish for this?" Midoriko warned.

Inuyasha sighed before running a clawed hand through his hair. His golden eyes locked onto Midoriko's blacked ones. "The Shikon no Tama touched by so many… I was told once to look back at the past, that no one whose life was touched by the jewel ended favorably. Only destruction and panic lay in the path it left behind, a path that was very easy to follow."

"Then what is your answer?"

"Yes, I wish for my deepest desire to be filled, the one that owns my mind and heart. The desire that is so deep that even I don't fully understand it…" Inuyasha replied sure that his heart and his wish were pure after living such a humbling life along side Kagome.

"So it shall be done…" Midoriko called out as she fell back into the darkness. She vanished as a light revealed itself in her place.

Inuyasha tried to cover his eyes from the light as he became engulfed by it. 'What's happening? Is this what I truly desired?' he asked himself as his mind blanked, all coherent thoughts erasing themselves. He too fell back, the light hitting him, blinding him, searing his heart. "Kagome…" he whispered.

A voice tugged at him one final time before he lost consciousness.

"I'm finally at peace, forever shall I dream… Thank you Inuyasha…"

'Is this how it will end?'

"Inuyasha?"

'Wha- That voice…'

"Inuyasha… Wake up…"

Golden eyes opened droopily to an open sky and a pair of playful grey-blue eyes. "You sleep too much nowadays, Inuyasha. Perhaps you are getting old."

"Kagome…" Inuyasha said in a slightly dazed voice as she shifted in her old green school uniform so he could sit up off of the ground. She sat on the back of her legs as smiled brightly at him.

"Yeah? What's wrong?" Kagome asked.

Inuyasha's wrapped his arms protectively around her as he buried his head into her neck. "I… I missed you, I missed you so much. Please don't leave me again like that…" He said softly as Kagome's cheeks flushed.

"Um… Inuyasha, I wasn't gone that long… Only four hours." The young woman replied stunned by her companion's odd behavior.

"It seemed more like a little piece of eternity…" He replied while lovingly nuzzling her neck. He knew this moment, and he would do it right this time. He would not let her go.

Kagome allowed him to pull her into his lap and hold her tightly against him. They stayed like this for a very long time, neither wanting to ruin the sweetness of the moment. "What did you dream about, Inuyasha?" Kagome asked suddenly as the sun began to set.

"A wish…" he replied.

"A wish, really?" Kagome asked.

"Yes, for anything in the world…" Inuyasha replied his fingers caressing her cheek.

"Really, what did you wish for?" Kagome asked almost in a daze.

"That's easy," he said as he pulled her to face him. "You." He gently pressed his lips against hers, a motion he had been longing for so long. He had yearned for her as he had watched her fade slowly away, away and out of his reach, and it had hurt him deeply on the inside. But he wouldn't allow her to fade away into the dark abyss this time, never again.

"So open, so wild, so free, so wonderful…" Kagome muttered as their lips parted. Inuyasha's eyes widened at her choice of words. "I love it here…"

"Then stay here with me forever," Inuyasha stated as if it was the most obvious thing in the world.

"But forever is such a long time away, Inuyasha," Kagome whispered.

"Only if I don't have you…"

Kagome paused and concentrated solely on their two heartbeats. They were so close together it was hard to tell them apart. Kagome sighed, "I thought you would have known by now that I want to stay here with you. The question is… will you let me?"

"I wouldn't have it any other way, Kagome…"

"You mean it?" She asked as her eyes lit up. He nodded.

"That's great then!" Kagome said jumping to her feet with a huge smile adorning her face. "We should celebrate with 99 bottles of WHISKEY! And two bottles of vanilla extract just in case…" Then she took off.

"NO! There is no way I'm ever letting you near that much alcohol again!" Inuyasha yelled after Kagome who was racing to the village to tell the others of her decision to stay there.

"You must be mistaken, Inuyasha. I have never been near that much alcohol in my life, and it's a good time to start!" Kagome called back to him, relaxing when she found he was surprisingly closer than she had calculated. Within a few seconds after the words left her lips he scooped her up into his arms.

"Promise me Kagome, no alcohol." Inuyasha said his face far more serious than she had ever seen it.

To which Kagome responded by blowing a raspberry at him, but when he did not let up and she realized he was serious she nodded carefully. "I promise…"

That's when they came, the words that had seen a forgotten half century, words that couldn't be made in the lapping of the times but seemed to be perfect for this one moment, these three words that bonded them together, forever.

"I love you, Kagome…" He whispered to her, his face near touching hers.

"I love you, too, Inuyasha…" She murmured as their lips touched in a passionate kiss, both holding onto each other, never wanting to leave the other.