A/N: You know, I find it quite ironic that when I finally decide to do a fanfic about Kikyou, the manga goes into this big Kikyou angst-fest. I think she's dying soon though…They wouldn't angst and go over the whole Kagome/Inuyasha/Kikyou love triangle EVERY CHAPTER if she wasn't gonna die soon.
Take Kagura, for example. A year and a half ago when they killed her off, the preceding chapters reminded us for about a month of her whole sad predicament with Naraku, and then boom! She's dead.
Of course, I'll be sad once Kikyou's dead since though she was kinda psycho in the beginning, I really like her now. But once she's dead, Inuyasha will be free of his promise to protect her so he can go and start loving Kagome…
Chapter 15: A Moment in Time
Kagome had a small smile to herself as she ventured through the forest, thinking happy thoughts. She had hoped that she would run into Inuyasha soon; it was hard to spend a day without talking to him.
And of course, he was always eager to respond, since she was probably the only person that talked to him willingly like this. Unlike before where he wanted nothing to do with her, he was always wanting to talk with her now, and even sometimes showed a rare smile.
He's actually starting to warm up to me. she thought with a grin. He's almost becoming the Inuyasha that I know now.
Of course, that he didn't know who she really was. But it didn't really matter anymore. This was a different side of Inuyasha, completely different than any side of him she had seen before. He wasn't the serious Inuyasha who was ready to drop everything and hunt down Naraku at the first hint of him. He was an Inuyasha that was only content being around with her.
But, though it was nice having Inuyasha practically chasing after her, Kagome couldn't help but miss the Inuyasha she knew. Though he was always chasing after Kikyou whenever there was a sign of her, because of Naraku, he was even more concerned about her. Perhaps it was Naraku to thank for her and Inuyasha getting so close…
But it is also Naraku to blame for all our suffering… she reminded herself, the small smile that had been blossoming on Kikyou's face now retreating.
Without Naraku, so many things would not have happened, Miroku-sama wouldn't be cursed, Sango-chan wouldn't have lost her family, Inuyasha would have never been sealed to Goshinboku…though, I would have never met him then.
Kikyou's eyes turned tragic once more as Kagome stopped walking and looked down, remembering, Inuyasha would have turned human, and lived out his days happy with Kikyou…never knowing me.
Her eyes widened slightly as she wondered, Since I am Kikyou now…would he willingly do that if I asked him?
If…I couldn't find a way to go back…then could I live here, as Kikyou, happy with him?
But once more, Kagome thrust that thought from her mind. No, that's wrong. It's lying. I'd be taking advantage of him, the situation…and no matter what I feel for him, using Kikyou to have Inuyasha is wrong.
Even though she told herself that, and asserted over and over again that she had to do the right thing, her heart couldn't help but possibly consider it as the right thing. She had searched for a year and found no way to return to fifty years in the future…would it be so wrong then to let Inuyasha live the life he was supposed to have?
If she couldn't go back, then would it really be all right?
Whatever thoughts she had about the matter she was currently debating were silenced as she heard Kaede call, "Kikyou onee-sama!"
Turning, she saw her sister waving to her, holding a bow and arrow in her hands. Kagome smiled, and walked up to the girl. "Kaede, what are you doing here?"
Grinning, Kaede replied proudly, "I'm practicing archery, onee-sama!"
"Oh, you are?" she asked. "May I see?"
Suddenly, the girl seemed to shrink away slightly. "I don't know, onee-sama…I'm not very good."
Kagome couldn't help but give a small laugh at that. "Don't worry Kaede, when I first started, I wasn't very good either…in fact, I was probably the worst archer you'd ever seen!" That statement caused her to remember the first time she had ever used a bow, and how she had been about twenty feet off from hitting the crow youkai that had stolen the Shikon no Tama…
Kaede gasped, her eyes widening. "Really, onee-sama?"
"Really. Now, come, show me what you have learned." she asked, and Kaede turned and faced a tree, which Kagome recognized it instantly. They were in front of Goshinboku, looking quite different as it was missing the light colored spot where Inuyasha had been for fifty years.
Kaede turned to the tree, dropping her quiver of arrows as she grabbed one, notching it and aiming for Goshinboku. The girl seemed to be in great concentration as she let go and fired, the arrow sending off pink glitters as it hit its target.
She was thoroughly surprised and a bright smile lit up the girl's face as she realized she had done it. Kagome remembered the last time she had seen her shoot, and noticed how well she was at aiming now. Walking forward, Kagome told her, "You've improved a great deal."
Kaede smiled up at her sister. "Yes!"
Kagome know what else to teach her; Kaede knew how to shoot a regular arrow, and a purity arrow, but there was one more way a miko could use power in an arrow to defeat youkai. Older Kaede had shown it to her when she had asked about it, but Kagome was a bit unsure…the idea made her uneasy.
Nevertheless, she couldn't meddle with time. Kaede knew it in the future, so she obviously had to learn it somewhere in the past. "Last is the sealing arrow." Kagome told her, keeping a smile on her face while inside she didn't like it.
"Sealing arrow?" Kaede asked innocently while Kagome took the bow and an arrow in her own hands. She drew an arrow, aiming for the same spot on a tree, while closing her eyes. She drew the spiritual power from within her, ignoring the fact that she didn't quite have the well of power she had months before while she felt the arrow becoming infused with her aura.
Her eyes snapped open as she released, the arrow flying through the air with a screech and thudding into the tree. Unlike with a purity arrow, there was no blast of pink power. This arrow looked like a normal one, except it held great power.
Her hands still remained in the position of when she had released the arrow as Kagome spoke, "This is the sealing arrow. Use it on youkai you cannot defeat." she had used almost the exact words that Kaede had said to her when she had explained them, not having a through knowledge enough to conduct her own explanation.
"So what happens to the youkai?" Kaede asked, curiously.
Kagome didn't even need to remember what she had learned before replying at once, "It's an eternal sleep."
She lowered her hands and turned back to Kaede, continuing, "In order to wake it up, the person retrieving the arrow simply has to have the desire to remove it." That statement brought upon memories of herself stuck to Goshinboku because of the Mukade Jourou had wanted to gain the Shikon no Tama. Time was running out…and her only hope for herself and the village lay in a particularly foul mouthed boy with dog ears sealed to a tree by an arrow…
The tree…Now it was the very same tree that sent her back here, fifty years in the past, in another woman's body, living her life. Kagome glanced back at Goshinboku, "However, Kaede, be careful with this tree."
"Huh? Goshinboku?"
"Like I said, it is a time tree. It has the power to transcend time." And don't I know it, Kagome mentally added.
Kaede looked up at the ancient tree in wonder. "A time tree…" she repeated.
Once again, thinking of the one she loved, Kagome explained, "If a youkai is sealed to this tree, the flesh will not decompose—" she stopped, suddenly getting a sense of uneasiness in her heart. Something was not right…
Turning, she looked up at the sky, and gasped when she saw what appeared to be hundreds of youkai heading for the village. "What is that?" Kaede gasped, frightened.
Kagome didn't know either, and she had a bad feeling. "What's going on?" But the question wasn't about the youkai. The jyaki from them must be huge! Why can I only feel it slightly now? I should have felt something this vast before!
Not wanting to waste any time, Kagome turned to the girl and yelled, "Kaede! We have to run back to the village! Hurry!" and they both shot for the village through the forest, seeing the sky turn purple with the jyaki while alarm bells clanged. As Kagome ran, she felt deep guilt within her. I should have sensed the jyaki before! They're all here after the Shikon no Tama! Now what will happen to the village?
But as they both scrambled out of the forest and down to the village, Kagome felt very relieved when she saw Inuyasha fighting on their side. He must have been watching the village for her, like he usually did, and had seen the youkai heading for them. With his claws raised, he roared, "Sankon Tessou!" and in an instant, two youkai were split in half.
Though it was a time of crisis, Kagome couldn't help but think to herself, I keep forgetting that he doesn't have his sword… "Inuyasha!" she called, as she ran towards him past some fires that had sprouted up.
Rather than give her a formal greeting, he yelled, "You're late, Kikyou!" and jumped off in a blur of silver and scarlet to continue fighting while the villagers fell behind her.
Kagome let that one go, after all, it was his style. "Sorry!" she yelled back, notching an arrow in the bow she now held, and aiming for the torrent of youkai that was coming for them, fangs exposed.
She had expected for them all to have been felled by the pink purity energy of the arrow she had fired. She was wrong. It had disintegrated one, perhaps two at the most. Quite a difference from when she had first been Kikyou and nothing had stood in her way. Her heart fell at the sickening realization, My miko powers have decreased!
Behind her, Kagome heard an arrow being released, she turned to see Kaede wielding a bow as well, and firing off an arrow that only gave a sparkle of purity energy. It hit the youkai in the fatal spot, but the lack of energy did not totally destroy its body. The youkai fell, dead, to the ground with a crunch as it landed on top of a villager's hut.
Kagome heard the sounds of Inuyasha yelling, and then heard him yell, "Hijin Kessou!" hearing the shrieks of the youkai as they were hit with the sharp blades from his blood.
Blades from his blood? She suddenly felt scared for him. He could only do that attack when he bled… Inuyasha! she turned, to see he was fine, but had only gotten the blood of the youkai on his hands. That eased her heart just a bit.
But in that one second that she had turned to glance at the one she had loved, life for one changed completely.
Kaede screamed, "Onee-sama!" and sent off an arrow over Kagome's head, looking frightened. Kagome turned to see that a giant youkai was right behind her, its claws extended, ready to strike. The arrow missed…but now it focused its attentions on Kaede instead of her.
Kagome only heard Kaede's scream as it advanced and she could do nothing to stop it. "Kaede!" she yelled, notching an arrow and infusing it with her purity powers as fast as she could.
Without thinking, she released the pink-glowing arrow, that one instant in which she had decided to let it loose turning the hinge on fate.
It hit the youkai, as Kagome had expected…but the youkai did not disintegrate, it only burst into many parts. And one of its claws burst from its body…heading for Kaede.
The girl fell away, screaming in pain, and Kagome first thought that her arrow had actually hit her. No! she ran up to her, seeing Kaede huddled on the ground, calling, "Forgive me, Kaede!"
The girl turned, and what Kagome saw made her heart pang in realization. Kaede was clutching a hand over her right eye, which was bleeding heavily. Her eye…she had never known Kaede the old woman to be without her eyepatch…
A tear escaped Kaede's other eye while she spoke, obviously in pain "I'm…okay…"
Though Kagome wanted to argue, she could not ignore the other youkai gathering around them now that Kikyou had stopped fighting. Reluctantly, she turned away and continuing firing arrows, but she did glance back at Kaede feeling a pang of guilt once or twice.
After what had seemed like an eternity, the sky finally began to clear of its purple, jyaki infused hue, and turned back to its normal blue color as the last of the youkai were finished off.
But as the fight was completed, Kagome could not help but think, One second in time because of me lost Kaede's eye…what else can a moment in time do?
A/N: Poor Kaede! I always felt so bad for her at this part of the episode! I know they had to explain how Kaede lost her eye but still…She's just a little kid. :'(
Oh, and considering that we are almost at the end of the story, I should probably say this in about every chapter leading up til the end, Mwa ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha.
