A/N: Thanks for the response on this story so far:D Please keep the reviews coming! I love to hear what you guys think! Here's the shocking conclusion!

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What the Future Holds

ChapterFifteen

Kagome dropped to her knees, sticking her sword into the ground and quickly erected the barrier as Miroku's wind tunnel unveiled itself. A small blue barrier appeared around Sesshoumaru, and suddenly, it was as if he was completely unaffected by the pulling power of the black hole in Miroku's palm. The unnamed demon who currently had Rin in his clutches looked very surprised at this new development. He tried to resist the strong pull, but was beginning to slip.

Rin began to scream. She could feel it. It mere seconds, they would be no more.

"Kagome!" Miroku yelled.

She nodded. As Rin and the unnamed demon went flying, the barrier around Sesshoumaru disappeared, and a new one appeared around Rin. The demon was shocked by the barrier, and let Rin loose. He continued to be pulled towards the wind tunnel, and Sesshoumaru ran forward and grabbed Rin as he was finally sucked in. Miroku closed his wind tunnel, a look of pure relief on his face.

"Is everyone all right?" he asked.

Sesshoumaru growled. "You could have gotten us killed!"

"It worked, didn't it, son?" smirked Inutaisho.

Sango nodded. "Yes...it did work...but something about this seems to wrong. The fact that we were even able to come back to this place is wrong. And we are...well, we are dressed as we used to be...back when we lived here. What do you think it all means?" she whispered.

Kagome, exhausted, leaned up against a nearby tree. "Sango is right. That was way too easy. Something is very wrong here..."

"What could it be?" asked Hikari.

The group was silent a moment. Everyone seemed to be rolling this question over and over in their heads...yet no one seemed to be able to come up with a proper answer as to why they were there, or explain what had happened to them.

Finally, Kagome sighed deeply. "Well, if we can't come up with the answers, then I bet I know someone who might know them. Let's go..." she stood and began to walk towards the clearing in the forest.

"Hold on a minute..." whined Inuyasha. "Where are we going?"

"To visit Kaede. If the well is open, and we are indeed back in the feudal era, that may mean she is alive as well...and she always had the answers that we could not get ourselves. I am going to trust that to be true this time as well..."

"But Kagome..." Inuyasha frowned. "What if she isn't there?

"We won't know until we try, and we have to try, Inuyasha. I'm confused, and before we go anywhere, I want answers. I don't understand how we could somehow revert to our old selves, yet I've still seen two different Sesshoumarus since we got here. Do you even remember the last time Taka, Toku, Shippo, or Sumire wore their clothing like that? Why would it suddenly change when we came through, but nothing changed for Sesshoumaru?"

Inuyasha blinked. "But, Kagome...by that time Kaede was already dead, remember?"

"Well, let us hope that she is not, because I want to get to the bottom of this."

Sesshoumaru nodded. "I have to agree, but I also promised Yuka that I would bring Rin back safely, so I must insist that we make this visit short and try to get back to where we rightfully belong as quickly as possible.

--

"Kaede!" Kagome called as they reached the old woman's village. Everything seemed normal about it. It was the way they all remembered it. There was the people working in the field, the old women busy with their crafts, and several children running around and playing games with one another. Kagome smiled as she surveyed the area. "Kaede!" She yelled a second time as the group came upon the hut that had belonged to her back in the feudal times.

"Kagome?" the old woman's voice responded. "But I thought ye just left for...?"

"No, Kaede...we are from the future. I think. I don't know what has happened..." Kagome frowned.

"What do ye mean, child?" asked Kaede.

Kagome sighed, and began to explain. She talked about everything. She explained how they were their future selves, that the well had been sealed, that Naraku and the jewel had came back, that the well had reopened, and everything leading up to their arriving in her village. The old woman did not say a word the entire time. Instead, she nodded, listening intently, but never interrupting. When Kagome was done telling her everything, she sighed deeply.

"Yes, that does seem like it would be far too easy for as much trouble as that demon put ye through..." she agreed. "Have ye tried to go back through the well yet?" she asked.

The group shook their heads.

"We wanted to come to you first..." Inuyasha nodded.

The old woman smiled. "I do not know what to tell ye...I'm sorry. I don't understand what is going on. Kagome, why don't ye head back toward the well, and if it doesn't work, we will try to figure something out from there..."

Kagome nodded decisively. "I'll be back soon," she nodded to Inuyasha and her children.

"I don't want you going into that forest alone, Kagome..." Inuyasha said sternly.

She blinked. "Inuyasha...honestly..." she sighed, shaking her head. She turned and left quickly. Taking the hint that she could handle herself, Inuyasha did not follow. She was surprised. Usually, even when she didn't desire his company he would follow her. She smiled. He was protective. She knew he couldn't help that...but she was pretty sure she could handle the trip to the well all by herself.

Kagome arrived at the well, stared for a moment, and jumped inside. Nothing happened. There was no flash of bright purple light...no falling through time...nothing. It appeared that they were going to be stuck here, unless Kaede had a better plan. Growling in frustration, she jumped from the well. How was she supposed to explain this to all of them? How was she going to explain this to Sesshoumaru? She shivered at the image that popped into her mind. Thoughts raced through her head a hundred at a time. She turned around, coming face to face with the sacred tree.

This was the place where she had first met Inuyasha. He had been pinned to the tree by Kikyou, and she had freed him. She had saved him...and then he had saved her...over and over and over...and now, they were back here again...and stuck. The well had failed her...but then again, she was back here, back to the place where everything had started...

She sighed. Being here did bring back some good memories, if nothing else. It was so peaceful and undisturbed in this place...she missed that kind of silence. Sighing again, she walked over to the tree, studying it closer. The point of Kikyou's arrow could still be felt inside the hole in the tree.

Kagome gasped. Kikyou...the scent of grave dirt and bones...

Gasping, she wheeled around, coming face to face with the dead priestess. Smiling, Kikyou got to within an inch of Kagome's face. "This is why you should have never come back here, Kagome. Now, you can share the same fate Inuyasha had...except this time, there will be no one to save you..."

Kagome's eyes grew wide. She gasped as the sword pierced her stomach, pinning her to the sacred tree...

--

Kagome awoke in a cold sweat. All around her it was dark...it must have been some time before dawn. She gasped. Had she died? Allowing her eyes time to adjust, she looked around carefully...and nearly screamed in surprise.

"What is it, Kagome?" Inuyasha grumbled in his sleep. "Did you have a nightmare? You're going to wake the baby..." he whispered, hugging his pillow and turning over on his side.

" Nightmare? Wake the baby?" she repeated. She shook him awake. "Inuyasha! What happened? Where are we?"

Inuyasha blinked. "Did you really hit your head that hard in that last demon fight? If you keep carrying on, you're going to wake up Kaname, and I don't want to be the one to have to stay up with Kaname all night while she's cranky. She'll cry all night, and none of us will get any sleep..."

Kagome gasped. Kaname was alive? That had to mean...

...did she dream everything?

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A/N: Bwa ha ha...evil lil ending, eh? And you guys fell for it. :D When I originally wrote 'What the Future Holds', I started with this chapter and worked backwards. :D Evil, aren't I? Well, I certainly wasn't going to thrust them that far in time that quickly without having some sort of freakish twist at the end...

LoL. Hope you liked it. Please review and let me know what you think...:D