Everyone was dead, everyone except for the red-clothed figure in the very center. Inuyasha fell to his knees, emotions overcoming him. Naraku had killed them, all of them. Miroku, Sango, Shippou, Kikyou and...Kagome. With the last name, Inuyasha broke into tears, not afraid to cry, for now, no one was around to see. He quelled his tears long enough to pick up the Shikon no Tama that had come to rest before him, and wiped the shameless tears from his eyes.
After looking around once more at the bloodied, mutilated bodies of his friends, he spotted Kagome and got up, limping to her, Shikon no Tama in one hand, Tetsusaiga in the other. He needed the support for his right leg dragged uselessly behind him.
He made it to her shattered body, and fell to the ground, his face clenching in pain as he adjusted his right leg to sit upon his knees. Tetsusaiga fell beside him, and he replaced it with Kagome, bringing her into his lap, brushing her blood-soaked hair out of her pale face. She had fought so hard, even when she fell. He could barely remember the last words she whispered to him. What were they? He wracked his brain to remember. Then the words hit him like a brick wall. "I love you Inuyasha...fight...you can win..." Then her words faltered and she didn't speak again.
Another tear rolled from his eyes, and his grip on the Shikon no Tama tightened. "Kagome!" he shouted "Why didn't you stop when I called you!" he dropped his head, tears falling, and he whispered "Why didn't you go to safety...you'd still be here..."
He remembered his friends taking the hit for him and falling, letting him fulfill all of their destinies and destroy Naraku. They had all sacrificed their lives to stop Naraku from using the complete Shikon no Tama for selfish purposes.
He looked down at the cursed jewel, narrowing his eyes. It still reeked of evil, the poisoned jewel echoing the evil that Naraku had bestowed upon it. He hated Naraku, his soul could rot in Hell for all Inuyasha cared. In fact, he didn't care anymore, who could when their friends were gone, what was the purpose in going on?
After many crunches, he let go of Kagome's cold hand, realizing his angered grip had been breaking and crushing her hand, the bones now broken and deformed.
"Kagome, I am so sorry...I couldn't save you...maybe if you were me, you could've done a better job of saving yourself and our friends...I'm a failure at being a hanyou..., let alone your guardian...but maybe if I was in your shoes, I could do a better job and you would still be alive." his head dropped even more, the tears flowing freely "I wish that you could be me...that none of this had happened...that everything was different..."
He was suddenly surrounded by light as the world stopped. The Shikon no Tama in his hand began to glow, engulfing Inuyasha in a warm light. A figure walked forward toward him, and then came into view.
"Wait..." said Inuyasha 'I remember you! You're the Miko from the cave near Sango's village!"
The Miko nodded "Yes, Inuyasha, I am." she replied.
Inuyasha glared at her, everything else disappearing "Why are you here?" he asked, staring.
"Inuyasha, the wish you just made was pure, selfless. What you asked is something I never expected anyone, least of all a Hanyou, to make" she said, continuing "You wished for something that would change the past, not the future, and the things you wanted to change were the very people you know. Inuyasha, I ask you in all seriousness...are you willing to go into the past and live a new life, one you are not used to, one where you remember all of this from this life, but all of your friends don't? If you say yes, you will take the very life that your friend Kagome lived, and she will take yours. Your other friends will live the lives they lived, but you will see true changes, things you won't recognize in your friends...Are you sure you want this?" she asked, her long-winded request over.
He stared at her, thinking, unable to make up his mind. On the one hand, Kagome and the others would be alive again, but on the other, they wouldn't be the same. They might even become his enemies. His head dropped yet again, and he replied "As long as they are all happy, then I want that for them..."
The Miko nodded, "It shall be." She raised her arms, and the light grew brighter "Your wish has purified the jewel...good luck, Inuyasha, your pure heart is what shall grant the wish, not the jewel." She said before disappearing in a flash of light. Inu shut his eyes, the light too bright. Soon though, he opened them, only to be greeted by blue walls and black furniture...
TO BE CONTINUED...