Disclaimer: I do not own Inuyasha or any of its characters they are the property of Rumiko Takahashi. This story was written for the purposes of entertainment and I by no means will profit from the story other than the satisfaction of exercising my imagination and writing abilities.


Chapter 16: Tears, Comfort, Guilt & Understanding

Rin couldn't stop her crying no matter how badly she wanted to, just like she couldn't stop the angry words from coming out of her mouth. They had come from some place deep within her and she didn't understand why. Inuyasha had made her relive the horror of the wolves for a moment, all the yelling, the people dying it was happening all over again and Sesshomaru-sama was no where around.

She missed Sesshomaru-sama. Rin knew he wouldn't be happy with her tears, and he wouldn't like that she had yelled. Sesshomaru-sama liked things to be quiet. Everyone listened to him and there were no angry voices, there was no crying, there was nothing that reminded her of the wolves. She cried harder as her heart wondered when he was going to come back for her. She missed him. The thought only served to bring forth the tears from that terrible hole from deep within her.

Shippo watched with mounting anxiety as his friend sobbed uncontrollably next to him. He didn't know what to do. Alone in her momentary defiance she stood there hands fisted at her side, her breath coming in convulsive gasps, trails of tears leaving dirty streaks on her face. He had to say something to get her to calm down the question was what could he say.

"Rin, don't cry. Inuyasha always says things he doesn't really mean." Shippo said as he stood in front of his friend. He wanted to put his arms around her, but he didn't know if she'd let him. His little heart breaking with wanting to make her tears go away but not really knowing how.

He remembered when he had cried like this, he was so mad at Inuyasha then too. Shippo was angry with Inuyasha now. The little kitsune wondered why Inuyasha always had to be so mean. Shippo wondered if Inuyahsa even cared about how he made people feel. Shippo had learned long ago that Inuyasha would often say things that he really didn't mean, but the tender hearted little kitsune knew that didn't make it right for the hanyou to do it. He wished he were bigger, he wished he was strong enough to make Inuyasha listen. He wished he could be like Miroku and stand up to Inuyasha like the monk just had. Miroku had stopped Inuyasha when they all thought that he would kill Jaken. Shippo remembered praying that Kagome would come home early and 'Sit' Inuyasha just in time. But there wasn't a need for that prayer because Miroku proved himself just as effective as Kagome.

Shippo looked to Miroku for guidance then, just as he had done so many times before. The monk was always so smart and knew what to do. Miroku and Kagome always made things better, and Kagome wasn't here right now. So Shippo turned to the next best person...Miroku.

Violet eyes met hopeful turquoise ones. Miroku knew Shippo wanted his help with Rin. He doubted he would be much use after what had just happened with Inuyasha. Violet eyes looked at the old woman beside him, she too was hesitant. The young girl had surprised them all when it became evident the ever trusting girl was afraid of Kaede. The monk quickly surmised that the old woman's comfort might somehow make the girl feel worse than she already was. His eyes sought out Jaken then, the imp had backed away from them. Miroku was annoyed that the demon would do that now of all times.

He hesitated a moment, and looked around in search of an answer. Violet met turquoise then and the pleading childlike worship in the young kitsune's eyes urged Miroku to act. The monk did the only thing he could think of; he knelt down in front of the crying girl and engulfed her in a fatherly hug.

Miroku felt his heart constrict when her arms wound around his neck and she hung onto him as her childish tears continued unabated. He closed his eyes to keep hold of his own emotions. But the yearnings of his heart, his most precious dream was brought to mind as he held the distraught child to him. To be a father, to have his own children to hug to him, to comfort, to love, to watch grow up, that is what he wanted more than anything. Children of his very own; and he hoped that when this was over one day he would see that dream come true.

The feel of her arms around his neck, the hot tears that dampened the robes he wore, the shuddering of her small body against his had made it so easy to imagine that this young girl was his. His eyes tightened as if the very act of tightening them would make it so. If only it were true, if only she were his. But yet she wasn't and he marveled at the fact that he was able to give her the comfort and support of a father. Once her arms had tightened around his neck everything else just fell into place. He wondered if his own children would be like her. His mind pondered the endless possibilities that would never be if he failed. The children he would never have, the joy of fatherhood and family that would never be his. The future he would never have.

A sniffle from the little girl and the tightening of the arms around his neck brought the young girl back into the foremost of his mind. He whispered long forgotten wordless sounds of comfort to the young girl. As her cries began to subside he realized that if they failed it would not just be he who would not have a future. It would not just be the people in their little group that would feel the effects of that loss. Countless others would feel the effects of their failure. Nameless, faceless people in far off villages they had yet to meet would not have a future. The young girl he held in his arms wouldn't have one as well.

The girl's cries soon subsided and eventually ceased altogether. How easy it had been to comfort her. It really hadn't taken much effort at all. He had let his instincts guide him. Too bad the answers to Inuyasha's peace of mind were not so easy to solve as Rin's. She was still so trusting; still so innocent and naïve. Inuyasha had lost the ability to trust sometime long before he had met any of them. Miroku sincerely wished he had a simple answer to put an end to his friend's pain. Kagome would have one.

The young girl had been quiet for a few moments; Miroku thought she had cried herself to sleep. As he began to wonder at how best to disentangle himself from her without waking her up she pulled away from him. Rin wiped her eyes and nose along her arm smearing dirt all over her small face. She looked up at him with expectant trusting large round eyes. He smiled down at her with fatherly affection his heart swelling from all that it had learned just from holding the young girl.

"Miroku-sama why is Inuyasha so mean? Why does he hate everyone?" The little girl's question was simple, but the answer to it was not so easily given.

"He doesn't mean it. It's just when he's angry he doesn't think about what he says even if it hurts other people's feelings" ." Shippo said importantly from where he stood beside Miroku. Round turquoise eyes looked expectantly into violet ones. "Right Miroku"

Miroku looked to Kaede for help. Where was he to start? Calming her down had been an easy enough task, but the key to understanding Inuyasha at this moment escaped him. How could he answer her question, when he didn't have the answers to the questions he was asking himself?

Kaede looked down at the monk. She had been astonished to say the least to see Miroku embrace the little girl. Such natural parental instincts were unusual to see in a man, even a holy man such as Miroku. Words would not have helped the child in the state she was in and Kaede knew she would have done no different if the young girl had not been so wary of her. Kaede could not explain it, but the child almost seemed to fear her. The young girl seemed to have recognized her, and had shrunk away in fear the other day when they were introduced. The old woman could only wonder at what had happened to the young girl to make her act that way. Kaede scooped Shippo up from his place beside the monk.

"Aye Tis very true he doesn't think before he speaks, and he often says things that are hurtful." Kaede said as she eased herself into a sitting position putting Shippo on her lap as she continued, "But ye must understand that this anger comes from an even bigger sadness from deep inside. Inuyasha is very proud, and he was raised by demons who believe that to show emotion is to show weakness. He is also half human so he feels the need to let these emotions go, but his pride it won't let him. So instead he becomes very angry. Ye must understand that Inuyasha has been hurt many times and maybe this is the reason he acts the way he does, he wants to hurt others before they hurt him." Kaede explained patiently as she looked into Rin's expectant eyes.

Miroku looked at Kaede giving her his silent thanks. She had understood his predicament. A nod of her head was the only acknowledgement he received as he drew the young girl onto his lap.

Rin looked up at Miroku again, her eyes wide and she smiled at him slightly. Miroku-sama, as he would now be to her, had held her when she was sad. No one had done that since her mother had died. Not even Sesshomaru-sama. She looked from him to the old woman with one eye. Miroku-sama seemed to trust her. Feeling safe from harm in the sanctuary of Miroku's presence Rin gathered her courage to speak to the terrifying old woman. He would protect her like Sesshomaru-sama did. He had made Inuyasha go away, he had saved Jaken.

"Rin won't hurt Inuyasha." Rin sniffed her voice full of sorrow. "Sesshomaru-sama won't hurt Inuyasha. Kagome won't hurt him either and he made her cry too." Rin said quietly as she remembered hearing Kagome cry while she was with Sango.

"Inuyasha loves Kagome though." Shippo said in the hanyou's defense. "I told you before he just gets grumpy when she's not here. Inuyasha just doesn't want us to know how he really feels about us."

"But why is he so mean if he likes us? Sesshomaru-sama never says he likes Rin or Jaken, but he is never mean to us so we know Sesshomaru-sama loves us. Rin does not understand. "

Kaede smiled affectionately at the young girl, she had to find a way to explain this better. Deciding the only way Rin would understand was if she told her the whole truth. But how would she react to the story about Sesshomaru and Inuyasha. She looked at the dirty tear streaked face of the little girl and thought better of saying anything of the history between the two brothers. Truthfully they still did not know the whole truth about what had happened, and she did not want to upset the child again. Instead she decided to tell the young girl what had happened between Kikyo and Inuyasha instead. She at least knew the whole of that story and could answer any questions with certainty.

They sat in the clearing, Miroku, Shippo and Rin listening in attentive silence to Kaede tell the story of Kikyo and Inuyasha. As Kaede told them the tale of all that had happened between her sister and Inuyasha the two young ones began to feel sorry for both of them. No longer were they upset at Inuyasha for choosing Kikyo. Instead they felt sorry for both Inuyasha and Kikyo and the love that they had lost. Rin even cried when she found out they both had died because Naraku had tricked them.

"Lady Kaede," Shippo piped up as Miroku soothed Rin's tears away once more. "I was wondering, how did Onigumo... eh...Naraku...how did he know Kikyo asked Inuyasha to use the jewel to become human?"

Miroku's interest was captured by this question as well. How did Naraku know? It occurred to him then that not one of them had thought to ask. He doubted Kaede would know. He was ready to chalk it up to another whim of chance when he caught the old woman's eye. There was a sad solemnity that had settled about her that wasn't there when she had told the tale. Suddenly he was all attentive silence waiting impatiently for her answer.

Kaede regarded them all for a moment before she spoke. No one has yet thought to ask the question whose answer weighed heavy in her heart enshrouded with newly discovered guilt. Never did she guess that one of the children would think to ask that particular question. Now she would have to answer it honestly. Finally she would give voice to the secret that had plagued the secret regions of her heart and had gnawed at her very soul since they had discovered Naraku's true identity. Courage, she had lacked the courage to speak the truth before, but now it was here, given to her by the question so innocently asked and she would tell them. They would know the truth, it was she who was to blame; it was her fault Onigumo had called the demons. It was she who had given him the first knowledge of what her sister had planned to do with the jewel.

Three pairs of expectant eyes regarded her as she took in a deep breath before answering. She tried to keep her voice from breaking as she finally confessed her deed aloud, "It was I who told that foul thief Onigumo about my sister's plans with Inuyasha."

Stunned silence was her reward for her honest answer. Three pairs of eyes looked at her in confusion, surely they had heard wrong. Kaede would never do anything to hurt her sister or Inuyasha. They knew how much she cared about both of them.

"Hai, tis true. I see you look at me, ye don't understand. So listen, I will tell ye what I have not spoken of since we found out the truth of Onigumo and Naraku. Twas true that I helped Sister Kikyo take care of Onigumo as he lay in the cave. The man was evil even then as a mere human. As young as I was I could sense it, often he would say vile things to me...as I said I was young then, and I did not understand what my sister understood all too well, Onigumo was scared and hurt. He may have been vile, but he was still human and still had a heart and spirit to scar and confuse. I understand now why my sister took him in and how she could have treated him as kindly as she had, but now tis too late is it not? He was alone and scared, the people that he had trusted had left him when he was hurt, he was angry at them, but they weren't there for him to be angry at so instead he was angry at my sister and I."

Kaede took another deep breath before continuing, "When I spoke to my sister about the things he would say she had told me to take pity him, to offer him solace because he would never walk out of that cave again. Sadly for us all, I did not understand what she was trying to tell me, I wish I had, then perhaps I might have held my tongue."

She paused to look into the disbelieving eyes of the monk. The young girl in his lap still did not understand nor did the kitsune who sat in her lap. Now she would tell them what she had said, they would know what she had done to set this path in motion.

"You see I was angry at my sister for taking pity on the vile creature. Ye see I stopped considering him a human for no human could say such things surely he must have been a demon. I had convinced myself of that. I thought her love for Inuyasha had made her blind to what lay in the cave. The foolish arrogance of impetuous youth can be my only excuse, for I know not why I thought that about my sister. I had gone to tend Onigumo alone, he could not have physically harmed me, but yet he baited me and without my sister there to silence me with her example I gave in to the darker emotions that stirred within my heart at his vile words. It was with smug satisfaction in my soul that I told him he could imagine the jewel all he liked because soon the imagination would soon be the only place that the Shikon no Tama existed. It was with triumphant pride in my sisters abilities that I told him that my sister had found the way to destroy it forever. The look in his eyes when he heard what I had to say, the anger that shook his voice as he bade me tell him, they were my rewards. I left him there to think of what little I had said, left him to dwell in that dark cave and wonder at what power my sister possessed to finally rid the world of the existence of such an object. The next day was when we saw the flames from the cave I thought him dead. In my heart I held a secret joy that he had died wanting to know what I would not tell him. How he found out about their love I can only guess and surmise. So ye see, it was I who first gave him cause to consider what my sister was about. I had thought myself so clever back then, and now this is my penance and many will pay for my impetuousness."

"Lady Kaede, it's not your fault." Shippo said as he hugged the old woman. "You were only sticking up for your sister. I would have done the same thing. Tell her it wasn't her fault Miroku."

Violet eyes met a single ebony one then. He saw the pain, guilt and self loathing in its depths. "She knows it is not her fault. No one is culpable for the actions of another. She is not to blame for the hatred in his heart, no more than she is to blame for the fate her sister and Inuyasha met."

The monk spoke to Shippo, but Kaede knew he meant those words for her solace, and she thanked him from the bottom of her heart for not sharing in the condemnation she was so sure she deserved. Despite herself she gave him a smile of thanks.

The two children were relieved to see that smile. Kaede was not sad. That made both of them happy, including Rin, who sometime during the course of the story had decided that anyone who could tell such a lovely sad story could not be bad person after all. Rin got up from Miroku's lap and offered Kaede the same kindness Miroku offered her only an hour ago, she hugged the old lady tightly about the neck for a moment before quietly releasing her.

"Lady Kaede will be okay." And with that the little girl took off to where Jaken stood glowering at them in the distance. Shippo followed her lead giving Kaede a hug and ran off after his friend.

Miroku and Kaede faced each other in silence the sounds of the children's laughter the only sound between them. One not knowing what else to say, the other wishing she could take back the confession she had finally made. Instead she got up and motioned for him to follow her. They walked along in tense silence as she led him to the sacred tree her sister had pinned Inuyasha too those many years ago.

Her voice finally broke the endless silence that had stretched between them, "I used to come here over the years to look at him. He looked so peaceful. The first time I came to see him after Kikyo's death I thought him just asleep. But there was no breath to him, no heartbeat, nothing at all. At first I came to curse him, to tell him how much I hated him for what he had done to my sister."

She held up her hands up before her and looked at them for a moment. Miroku wondered what she saw on them as the look on her face turned to remembered agony, "I held my sister in my arms as she breathed her last. Her blood stained her clothing, and pooled about her, I remember crying as I tried to wash the blood from my hands, it seemed like it would never wash off, but it only took moments. But these past two years I know her blood is on my hands the stain of which I can never remove."

Miroku made to say something then, but she stopped the words with a pleading look asking him silently to be silent. She wanted to talk and she needed someone to listen. Out of respect for her he would honor her unspoken wishes. He waited in silence as she seemed lost in a memory.

When she finally spoke her voice was detached emotionless as if reciting some story long ago committed to memory, its narrative easily spoken, devoid of emotion, but Miroku nonetheless sensed the heartache within her.

"Inuyasha had torn through the village in a rage, people were running everywhere. No one knew what had happened. It was common knowledge in the village that Inuyasha had been rendered harmless under Kikyo's guidance. But I knew better, I knew my sister loved Inuyasha very deeply, and I knew Inuyasha loved my sister just as deeply. She had confided in me her plan to make Inuyasha human. I thought her the cleverest miko in the world. Long ago I had already welcomed Inuyasha into my heart as a brother."

"I loved my sister more than I had ever loved anyone else my whole life. I hated the jewel because it made my sister's life so sad and empty. Inuyasha came and suddenly my sister was alive once more, as she had been before the jewel was placed in her protection. I couldn't understand why Inuyasha would do that to her."

"I didn't want to believe he had, but her blood was everywhere, and my sister herself told me it was him." Kaede fell silent again at that pronouncement.

A remembered feeling of stunned disbelief, a distant echo of what she had felt as her sister's words last words echoed within her mind. The old woman could still hear the last breaths of her sister as if it had just happened.

"In..nu...ya..sha....he's...k...killed...me....no....hope.....Ka...ed...e....pr....prom....promise ....b...burn my...bo...dy....jew...el....burn...it....wi...th....me." her sister had gasped out those final words. How many nights did she fall asleep remembering the feel of her sister dying in her arms? The sounds of her strangled breathing as fought to make sure the jewel was safe from evil hands. She and the villagers had done as her sister had asked.

Kaede stood thoughtfully as she gazed at the tree. She closed her eyes, in her mind she could still see the image of Inuyasha pinned to the tree, he had been caught mid-leap by Kikyo's arrow. Instantly he had been sealed away for what they thought would be forever. Now in her memory she could still recall how peaceful he had looked while he slept. A direct contrast to what he had been that final afternoon of his life.

Inuyasha had blasted through the village into the shrine and taken the jewel. Kaede did not understand why it was there in the first place, she was certain her sister was supposed to have given it to him to become human. Then her sister had appeared injured from slashes to her back. Her arrows pinned Inuyasha to the tree, for what should have been forever. Then her sister collapsed and she had told her Inuyasha was the one who gave her the fatal injuries and with her final breath Kikyo bade her to burn the jewel with her body.

As the silence began to stretch between them Miroku could only guess where her thoughts had taken her. Again he felt useless and powerless because he could not stop her pain as well. But then again how could he help anyone when he had not been able to help himself. He had no answers. He had nothing but his desire to see Naraku meet his end. Only then would they all be free from these shadows that plagued their hearts, only then would the children whose laughter carried on the wind to his ears, only then would they have a future.

She spoke then, interrupting his thoughts bringing them back from the familiar path they had begun to wander yet again.

"After I became a miko I learned to pity him his fate and eventually I forgave him what he did to my sister. I learned to distrust demons once again from the final lesson my sister had taught me with her death. I understood then that I should never desire the company of anyone. If ever I became lonely or started to feel melancholy I would come to this tree and look upon the angelic face of my sister's love...her betrayer...her murderer. I pitied him his fate because my sister had offered him so much more, but the very nature of the demon in him had refused what she had offered. I thought how very foolish he was, he could have been so happy, but now he was nothing...as was she."

"I consoled myself that my sister would live on through the legacy she left behind in the hearts of the villagers. She was the most powerful miko to ever protect the village, but as I look at these young children, who have only heard the stories of my sister I am saddened because they will never fully appreciate the woman that she was, the miko that she was, and eventually my sister will become a forgotten name, known only by a very few, like the miko inside the jewel Midoriko she will fade into legend and soon be forgotten altogether."

"After Kikyo was revived and I heard Inuyasha's tale that was when I remembered Onigumo...it had taken the revival of the demon by the young girl and the resurrection of my sister by a foul demon witch to make me understand there was more to the story. It was subtle at first a small thought that niggled in the back of my mind, but that day I took you to the cave, it was more than that, it was a fear, and then when we finished with Naraku it was blindingly clear that it was I who had helped create Naraku. My childish defense of my sisters honor, my arrogance in powers that were not my own helped loosen my tongue just enough to give him the desire to live, to be free of the cave in which he was imprisoned."

"I'm not foolish enough to believe that I made him evil, that it was because of me he called the demons. No I am merely upset because I gave him the inspiration to do things that I never imagined he would do. I know I was a child, but if I did as my sister asked." She turned to look at him then and she smiled slightly, and he knew she was at peace again.

Miroku spoke then, "But we can't change that now. We can't take back what has been said, nor can we prevent the feelings of regret that encroach upon us, but we can learn from our failures and move forward and not let them consume us to the point of indecision. None of us have all the answers, but we do what we felt was right at the time. Sometimes we err, but then again even the gods are fallible are they not? We will find the solutions together."

Kaede took his hand in hers and gave it a gentle squeeze. "Thank ye Miroku for listening to the ramblings of an old woman." Her countenance changed from a distraught vulnerable old woman back into that of the woman he had come to know these past years as she added, "Ye would best do well to heed those words of yours as well. Inuyasha's troubles are deep and mere words from you or I will not solve them. I fear even Kagome and the sway she has over him will not be enough. But as you said none of us have all the answers. We will find the solutions together. And if we err, we keep trying, Will we not?"

"I believe you are right." The monk said gratefully. He wondered if she had taken him down this particular path on purpose, to illustrate her point.

"Hai, I am. Don't you think that ye should be getting off to help your friends see if that rumor was true. I know you would rather be with Inuyasha and Sango than sitting here in the forest listening to some old woman and her incessant musings."

"You're wrong there, it was my pleasure. I am honored that you trust me enough to confide such feelings in me." Miroku said as he bowed to her in respect. "However, you are right I should be off with the two of them, not here worrying about how I failed this afternoon. There will be other opportunities to help Inuyasha understand." With those parting words, Miroku left Kaede standing alone in the forest.

"Oh sister, can ye forgive me the impetuous thoughtless words of my youth? I pray that we can yet undo all that has been done. I pray that you may one day find the peace that should now be yours." Kaede whispered into the stillness of the forest after she had watched Miroku walk away. Her words carried off onto the breeze unheard by any but her.

Kikyo wandered along the countryside. The pull in her chest that had tugged at her had subsided a little over two days ago. She reasoned that Inuyasha must be at peace wherever he was, and she would have to linger here in this plane a while longer. The dead miko did not mind the delay because as she had told Inuyasha before "the dead long to be alive once more." But she knew she wasn't truly alive. Nothing she did brought her pleasure. Nothing eased the burden of the hatred and need for vengeance that she carried in every part of her being. She knew that she had held emotions other than these that she harbored within herself. But they were kept from her, entrusted to someone else, that strange girl who traveled with Inuyasha.

The feeling of bitter despair deepened at the thought. She damned the demon witch Urusue for calling her back and restoring her. Jealousy welled within her as she thought of the girl who had called back most of the soul that had too briefly been hers. Kagome had summoned back Kikyo's softer emotions when the girl had done so, leaving Kikyo with the ones that festered and consumed her now. She cursed Inuyasha for his inability to leave the girl behind, for his betraying her. Most of all she blamed Onigumo, Naraku or whatever he chose to call himself for making this all happen.

Sometimes she would try to forget. As long as she did not see or feel Inuyasha she could try to forget the feelings that were part of her very being. Her sense of duty, but a hollow imitation to what it once had been, but yet it was the only reprieve she had to shelter the remainder of her soul from the malevolent emotions that permeated her very being. Helping villagers made her forge. But now she just went through the motions. There was no longer any feeling of accomplishment, satisfaction or any other emotion that she had once derived from assisting others. Her sense of duty still existed, etched into the very marrow of her being. It was nothing but remnant of what it had been, a bitter reminder that once she too felt a full spectrum of emotions rather than the ones that consumed her now. Those emotions, they were there, still a part of her soul. And like her soul those softer emotions that once flowed through her now belonged to someone else.

A shiver ran down her spine then, erasing the thoughts from her mind as a presence made itself known. Bitter hatred stirring within her told her who it was. There was only one with an aura such as this, a vile mixture of human and demons, a beast whose thoughts were as corrupt as the minds that inhabited his body. "Naraku," she whispered as the overwhelming sense of gathering evil grew. The demon's strength had grown since she had last encountered him. The bastard must have succeeded in collecting and corrupting more shards.

"Naraku," she whispered again as she sensed his being now behind her.

"Ah, Kikyo," his familiar silky voice enunciated the syllables of her name as a lover would. The name meant to sound like a caress could only make her feel the bile rise in her throat as the sound of his voice was nothing but a bitter reminder of all that had happened, who she once was and would no longer be.

She turned to face him then. Her eyes shimmering with the bitter emotions that held her captive, but right now before him she reveled in the strength of them. He deserved none of the softer emotions she had once bestowed upon him when he was a mere human.

"Kikyo, you don't look happy to see me. I guess that little episode with the soul catcher has made you rethink the power you hold over me." Naraku said his voice falsely apologetic.

Kikyo was unmoved by his tones. She was used to his taunts and tactics and did not care for his games. "No, it has only proven to me that you still are an assuming presumptuous fool who thinks way too highly of yourself, hanyou."

However much he didn't like to be reminded of his current status Naraku didn't rise to the bait. Instead he ignored the barb and continued on in his same silky tones of seduction, stepping forward as he did spoke, extending an arm and running a finger along her jawbone in a slight caress. "It is you who assume too much. I realized that I do not want you dead...well removed from this plane. Your being here reminds Inuyasha too much, and I can feel his pain, his rememberence. I find great enjoyment in his pain, as I do in the others that he travels with. They think they can beat me. We shall see about that. They are alive because I allow them to be so."

"They are alive because they refuse to die. They are unwilling to leave this plane." She was unmoved by the finger that caressed her cheek. Instead she looked back at him, her eyes now devoid of all her emotions. Once more her eyes became empty ebony mirrors as she regarded the hanyou before her.

He dropped his hand then. His weak human heart reacting to her allusion of Inuyasha, he resented the fact that the miko knew him well enough to aim her words as accurately as she did her arrows. However, the demons in him would not let her see, so he dropped his hand and began circling her as he spoke. Slow deliberate steps brought him around her as he shot verbal arrows of his own. Fatal arrows meant to pierce her heart and fan the bitter flames of hatred that raged within every fiber of her being.

"Ah, speaking from your heart Kikyo. I see you are feeling Inuyasha's desertion far more than you're willing to acknowledge. But not to worry, I allow them to keep that fragment of the jewel, because my victory will be that much sweeter you see. They are beginning to trust each other, even love each other to a certain extent, just think what a betrayal of that trust will do to the jewel shard they possess. In the end they will turn on each other, and I will not have to do anything. So stay in this plane Kikyo, you will be the wedge between Inuyasha and the girl, it will be because of you yet again that I will sully the jewel, and this time you won't be able to sacrifice your life to keep it from me."

With that Naraku turned and left. Kikyo watched him disappear over a rise in the woods. He would not win, because he had not counted on the fact that she held a grudge against him as well. No, there was no wedge to drive between Inuyasha and the girl, because there could be no feelings between them when she possessed his heart. And when this was over and Naraku was defeated she would possess her soul and she and Inuyasha would spend an eternity in hell together.


Revised, edited, reposted 10/12/04

Author's Notes: Currently I am in the process of revising, editing and reposting this fic. If you find any errors (ie. spelling, word misuse, plot gaps, etc.) please let me know either by email (which can be found in my bio) or by leaving a review. All comments and help are greatly appreciated. Special thanks to thebigW for pointing many of these out to me.