Owari Nai Yume; Unending Dreams
Disclaimer: InuYasha and all its characters belong to Rumiko Takahashi. Wahhhhhh!T-T
I'd talk, but I'm sure you don't care about what I have to say, so... here's
Chapter 16(The last one)
Midoriko nodded and smiled at Kagome, a warm, almost motherly smile. Kagome looked at the ancient priestess with surprise and reverence, unsure what to say or do. The woman before her was the creator of the Shikon no Tama, the one she had seen frozen in time in the cave at the demon slayers' village, the one whose soul resided in the jewel itself. Midoriko inspected her carefully, as one would a friend one had not seen in many years.
"Kagome, you are so much younger than I expected. I am sorry for thrusting this on you at such an age, but there was no choice."
"For thrusting what on me?"
Midoriko paused. "This quest, this life, this burden. If I had not though, more would have suffered. Perhaps I even waited too long, but I can do nothing about that now, can I?"
"What do you mean?"
Midoriko sighed and looked at the stream nearby. "You know the tale of how I created the shikon no tama, but the tale dose not end there, nor does it indeed begin there, but our time is short and there is much to tell. It was well over two hundred years ago when I began my training as a priestess. I was much younger than you, but I had much potential. I was your age when I married, as it was still permitted then. I loved my husband and I bore him three sons, Kishi, Soren, and Eien. By the time I was Kikyo's age, I had done much and my fame had travelled as far as the continent."
"Wait, so even though you had children, you still had your powers?"
"Yes, it is a pure spirit that gives a priestess her power, not a pure body, but that is beside the point. As time went on, the demons that feared me decided to join forces and take me down for good, thinking I could not withstand them all."
"That's the part Sango told me," Kagome interrupted. "They surrounded you and for seven days and seven nights you battled until one of them took you in its jaws. Weakened by the days of fighting, you could not purify him so you sealed his soul in your body, pushing out your own soul in the process, thus creating the shikon no tama."
"Yes, but the demon was still not defeated. We fought one growing stronger depending on the heart of who held it. But, even though my soul was in the jewel, a part of it was able to be reincarnated into a priestess. Her purifying powers gained her fame and, when the demon slayer village that protected the jewel heard of her, they entrusted the jewel into her care."
"You mean Kikyo-"
"Yes, she was my reincarnation. For a time, in her possession, the jewel prospered. Her heart was pure and her powers kept demons from stealing it. Then, Onigumo came. Even though the jewel was never in his presence, I could feel the evil in him whenever Kikyo returned from caring for him. On the day Onigumo became Naraku, I knew the moment his hand closed around the jewel his intent. I knew it was not InuYasha in a moment. The times he had managed to hold it, I felt a surprisingly pure heart, though it was heavy with sorrow and pain."
Kagome nodded, smiling to herself. "I always knew he had a good heart, even if he'd never admit it."
Midoriko smiled and nodded. "I watched helpless as they betrayed each other, as Kikyo sealed him to a tree, realizing before her death that the jewel had noone to care for it, and so she asked it to be burned with her body. For five hundred years I waited until the time was right, until one of my decedents capable of destroying Naraku was conceived, for I knew if I let him be, he would cause more pain and death. I waited until you and then I embedded myself in you, waiting until I found a way to bring you back to this time so you could destroy him."
"And so, on my fifteenth birthday, you forced me down the well, knowing Naraku couldn't stand unopposed for much longer."
"Yes, but-"
"But there's more than merely defeating Naraku," Kagome finished. "You want the jewel destroyed for good so you can finally rest."
Midoriko smiled gently. "You are wise beyond your years, Kagome."
Kagome was silent for a moment, understanding that her entire purpose in being born was to destroy the Shikon no Tama for good. A tough fact to accept so suddenly, but she had had her suspicions over her time there. There was no way she could escape her fate, not at this point in time. They would kill Naraku and she would destroy the jewel so that Midoriko could rest and her soul could rest when it was finally her time to die, but, she couldn't help brooding over some things.
"How would I destroy it?"
Midoriko smiled. "A wish, something pure. Kikyo attempted, but Naraku interfered, and it was almost better that he did. The wish to be made on it would not have been pure, but selfish. Be sure to wish for something that would in no way be selfish."
"But, how? Any wish could be selfish and then, it would have been a failure!"
Midoriko smiled and turned to look at the slowly intensifying sunlight. "Our time is up. Be patient, when the time comes, you will know what to wish for."
The world around her was fading, the field had disappeared and the bridge was all that remained. Midoriko was no more than an ethereal form, translucent as the world faded to white. Kagome shielded her eyes from the light as it blinded her before shooting. The first thing she noticed was it was chilly and that it was dark. The wood on the ceiling was blurred and she needed to blink a few times before it came into focus. Her ears took a moment longer to respond, finally giving her the sound of rain outside. She turned her head to the side and for the first time in what felt like forever, she was able to look at InuYasha without any other voice coming into her head to tell her what he had done to Kikyo or anything else about her. For the first time in months, she was alone and herself in her own body.