Alone

Icthalur's hand was brought to a sudden halt. Try as he might, he was unable to close bring his claws into contact with Ilyo's heart.

Leaning down, he withdrew his arm from Ilyo's chest and peered inside the hole he had created. After a few seconds of looking at the heart closely, Icthalur noticed that it seemed to be surrounded by a black barrier of some sort. He looked up at Ilyo's face, thinking that maybe the jewel had regained control, but the dog demon was unconscious. Icthalur figured that he had knocked himself out to avoid the pain of having his chest and heart ripped open. Then, struck by a sudden unpleasant thought, Icthalur turned back to the jewel.

"The fucking jewel put up a barrier around itself!" Icthalur said this incredulously. Kagome came to stand beside him. Looking down, she immediately saw that he was right. There was indeed a black barrier surrounding Ilyo's heart. For a second, she was happy, knowing that there was no way that they could kill Ilyo now.

Then, she felt selfish. Regardless of her personal feelings for Ilyo, she knew that he had to die. If someone with his power, turned evil, was set loose upon the world, it would be like Hell on earth. Everybody will suffer if I don't do this, she thought. With one final sad look at her boyfriend's face, she resolved herself to do what she had to do.

Reaching out, Kagome placed her own hand where Icthalur's had been. Calling upon all of the spiritual powers she possessed, Kagome attempted to purify the barrier.

Icthalur looked at her in surprise before speaking. "If you do this, he will die," he cautioned. "Are you prepared to deal with that?" Icthalur asked the question quietly, and he quickly realized that her position conveyed just how prepared she was. The fact that she was standing there, already attempting to destroy the barrier was answer enough.

At first, nothing happened. Then, slowly, the black barrier was overwhelmed by the pinkish light that was flowing from Kagome's hand. The barrier glowed pink, then shattered. Icthalur looked at his friend sadly, knowing that the time had come for the jewel had been removed. Icthalur stepped forward, ready to finish what he had started, but a peculiar sight caused him to halt.

Kagome, after destroying the barrier, had remained standing over Ilyo. She started saying her quiet goodbye to Ilyo, so that Icthalur wouldn't hear. Then, suddenly, Ilyo's eyelids shot open, revealing the black eyes. His hand shot straight for Kagome's throat and he growled softly. Icthalur moved towards them, but Ilyo raised his other hand, and with a bright flash, a burst of energy sent Icthalur flying backwards back into the destroyed wall.

"Goodbye, Kagome." Ilyo growled this into her face cruelly as he started to constrict her throat.

Unnoticed by Ilyo however, Kagome's hand had remained over his heart. As he slowly began choking the life out of her, her spiritual powers once again began flowing. This time, with no barrier, the energy flowed, unfiltered, directly into Ilyo's heart.

At first, there was nothing. Ilyo continued to choke Kagome but suddenly, his grip loosened. He threw Kagome to the floor and gripped his head in his hands. When he looked up, Kagome noticed that Ilyo's eyes were starting to lighten in colour. Before long, they had returned to the original golden colour.

Cautiously, Kagome got to her feet and moved to stand beside Ilyo. "Are you okay?"

Looking up, Ilyo surprised Kagome with a huge grin. He stood up, his large form towering over her. Reaching down, he lifted Kagome up to his eye level and laughed loudly. "Okay? Okay? I'm better than okay, much better. I haven't felt this good in a long time. It must be the jewel."

With no further words, Ilyo crushed his lips to Kagome's in a passionate kiss. Kagome reacted favourably and began to kiss back. However, they were rudely interrupted when a large steel pipe was suddenly smashed into Ilyo's back.

The pipe shattered instantly upon making contact with Ilyo's back. Setting Kagome down, Ilyo turned to face a grinning Icthalur. The dragon demon shrugged. "Just testing your strength." Ilyo eyed him angrily for a minute, then the two burst out laughing. Kagome just looked on with amusement.

Finally, after ten minutes of nothing but the two friends laugh uproariously, Ilyo's mind turned to other things. Looking around, he located his t-shirt and jacket. He slipped them both on then turned back to Icthalur."You're lucky my jacket wasn't damaged or I would have had to take yours."

Icthalur nodded, grinning, although Ilyo seemed pretty serious.

Then, Ilyo turned to Kagome. "Well, I guess we'd better get back to the castle. We'll probably meet up with both Sesshomarus. They are very close to here." Looking out the shattered window, Kagome saw that Ilyo was right. She could see two large dogs coming towards them, through the air.

Suddenly, Kagome collapsed without warning. Icthalur looked at her in concern, but Ilyo, who was closer, looked at her unconscious form and smiled. "She is worn out from using her spiritual powers. I doubt that she has ever called forth that much power in so short a time." Bending down, Ilyo reached out and gently lifted her to his chest. Then, both he and Icthalur jumped out of the window and floated off to meet past and present day Sesshomaru.

As they flew through the air, back towards the castle, Ilyo and Icthalur filled both Sesshomarus in on what had taken place. By the time the tale was finished, the group had landed back at the castle. As Ilyo took Kagome to her bed to rest, the other three went into a small room and sat down on some comfortable chairs, waiting for Ilyo to return.

Once the eldest dog demon returned, present day Sesshomaru had a question for him. "Since the jewel is trapped in your body, how is my past self going to return to the past?"

Ilyo turned to him. "I think that I am now able to create a portal. Unfortunately, I don't know for sure."

Everybody looked at him with curiosity in their eyes for a minute. Icthalur broke the silence. "What do you mean? If Inuyasha was able to create a portal, surely you should be able to."

Ilyo shrugged slightly before answering. "I think we may have been mistaken in assuming that Inuyasha would be able to travel back to the past, and he just let us believe that was capable of it. Now that I have the jewel, I find that all it does is enhance my own traits. It makes me more powerful, but does not grant any new abilities. For example, I was already very fast. Now, I can move so fast, it is like I'm teleporting." Ilyo shook his head, angry over the fact that he was unable to do the one thing he wanted to be able to do.

Then, past Sesshomaru spoke up. "How am I to return to my time then?"

Ilyo pondered the question for a moment before responding. "Well, from what I understand about the well, since it existed in both eras, it could be filled with the energy that is required for time travel. As far as I know, if there was another object, like the well, that existed in both times, it could be used for a temporary portal, a one way ticket to the past."

Everybody got quiet then, trying to think of something that could be used. Past Sesshomaru was the first one to think of something.

"What about the large tree in near Kagome's home?" he suggested. "It is the same tree that Inuyasha was sealed to."

Ilyo thought about it for a minute before nodding. "Yes, that might work, but I will have to put a lot of energy into it." Ilyo stopped and looked around thoughtfully for a minute. Then he smiled. "Yes, I can do it. When do you want to go, Sesshomaru?"

Sesshomaru didn't hesitate for a second. "Right now." The short answer was not unexpected.

Standing up, Ilyo nodded. "I will go get Kagome, then we will return to her home, and I can create the portal for you." With that, Ilyo turned and exited the room, making his way to Kagome's room, and leaving the other three sitting there.

As soon as he left, Icthalur spoke up. "Sesshomaru, you realize that as soon as your past self returns to the Feudal Era, you will cease to exist. The past has been changed now that Inuyasha has died."

Present day Sesshomaru nodded and then brought up another interesting fact. "You guys do realize that when Ilyo creates the portal, the amount of energy he puts into it will undoubtedly destroy the tree, in at least one of the eras, right?"

Icthalur nodded sadly. "Yes, I know that. But I don't think he has realized it yet. I'm not going to tell him though. He has to choose to either stay in this era or return to the past. His choice can't be swayed by anything. If he knew that there was no way back, he would undoubtedly choose to remain here, and I don't think that is a good idea. Everybody should live their life and he lost four hundred years of his. He should not miss another five hundred." Icthalur finished this speech and found both Sesshomarus nodded in agreement. Then, all three rose and went to wait for Ilyo and Kagome in the main hallway.

Meanwhile, Ilyo had made it to Kagome's room. He knocked on the door, but there was no reply, so he opened it quietly. Kagome was sleeping, but she was tossing and turning, as if she was having a bad dream. Ilyo was about to wake her, but then she started speaking. He halted and listened to her silently.

"No, don't go. You can't leave me now. We've gone through so much together." From the content of her words, Ilyo surmised she was dreaming about him. At that moment, Kagome suddenly sat up. Her eyes turned to Ilyo and he noticed that they were full of tears. Before he could do or say anything, she had leapt of the bed and into his arms, sobbing wildly.

"I dreamed that we were standing around a tree," she cried, "and Sesshomaru left, then the other Sesshomaru left, then Icthalur left, and then you left. And I was all alone." She started to really cry after that.

Ilyo looked at her nervously, unsure of exactly how to deal with the extremely upset girl in his arms."Don't worry," he whispered reassuringly, "I won't leave you. I'll stay with you forever."

That seemed to calm Kagome, because her crying seemed to fade away and she looked up at him happily. Ilyo smiled at her then set her down on her feet. "Come on, we have to go. Sesshomaru is in quite a hurry to return to his time." Kagome nodded and followed Ilyo as he walked back towards the main hallway.

When Ilyo and Kagome got to the hallway, they saw Icthalur and both Sesshomarus waiting for them. At Ilyo's gesture, they all left the castle and flew off towards Kagome's home. It didn't take long before they landed directly in front of the tree.

Sesshomaru looked impatiently at Ilyo. "Get on with it." he prompted.

Ilyo nodded and stepped to the tree. He placed both hands on the bark and concentrated. Everyone could feel the energy being forced into the tree. A second later, it began to glow a brilliant blue. Ilyo turned his head and motioned for Sesshomaru to come to him.

Sesshomaru walked to Ilyo. "Place your hands on the tree and continue to walk forwards," the elder dog demon instructed.

Sesshomaru nodded his understanding and did as he was told. Silently, he walked into the tree and disappeared. Kagome was startled out of watching when a hand grabbed her arm. She turned and saw present day Sesshomaru. She was shocked to see that he appeared to be fading away.

"Goodbye Kagome," he said quietly. "I wish you luck in your future." With that, both Sesshomarus were gone.

Kagome was about to question Icthalur about where present day Sesshomaru had gone, but a shout drew her attention. She turned to see both Icthalur and Ilyo being drawn into the tree.

She was about to rush forward, but before she could, Ilyo's voice halted her. "It wasn't supposed to do this. But don't worry, I will find you again one day. Goodbye Kagome. I love you." With that, Ilyo and Icthalur were gone, sucked into the tree, back to the Feudal Era. Kagome stood in shocked silence for a minute, then fell to the ground and sobbed bitterly.

Meanwhile, in the Feudal Era, Ilyo and Icthalur emerged from the tree. Sesshomaru was not there. Ilyo turned back to the tree and attempted to put more energy into it, to make a new portal. But the tree wouldn't accept it. Ilyo kept trying, but it wouldn't work.

As Icthalur watched, Ilyo tried again and again to reopen the portal, but to no avail. Finally, he slumped to the ground, knowing that there was no way back.