KAGOME'S POV

All around me there was devastation, houses were on fire and people were dying on the ground screaming for help just feet away from me. This village was mine, I was supposed to protect it's people from harms way but Instead I watched as they suffered. I kept inuyasha from stopping Hojo, all for my own selfish reasons, and I could feel his disappointment all around me as if it was suffocating me. Kaede began to crawl towards me, and I quickly ran to her aid noticing she appeared more injured than I originally thought. "Kagome." She croaked. Kaede had blood matted in her hair, dripping down her face and soaking her kimono red. I could feel my palms sweating and my guilt only worsening. "Please help them Kagome, please protect this village for Ye are the only one left to do it." Kaede held onto my hands as tears fell from her old eyes and her breathing became shallow.

"Kaede don't say such things, I can heal you!" I now felt my own self beginning to crumble, I couldn't protect these people with her, so how could I do it without her? I still had so much to learn, and no one else to teach me.

"Kagome, you are more capable than I could ever be. The credit you give yourself is not enough. Ye must not forget that your spiritual power is greater than mine, greater than anyone's." Kaede paused giving me a thoughtful look. "Since kikyo has gone on to the other world, all of your power is now yours again and ye no longer share it with her clay body you must realize that. This village is yours, it has been for both of your life times. The one where you were my sister, and then the one where you were brought back to me in your next life so that we could be the friends we never got to be the first time." I buried my head into her chest sobbing uncontrollably. "Kaede no, not like this please stay! I'm so sorry!" Kaede's grip on my hands loosened. "I am not going to make it kagome, I'm old and I'm tired, it's my time." Kaede now smiled looking passed me, causing me to turn my head to see inuyasha behind me. He ignored my stare, and knelt beside me. Kaede took her other hand and grabbed his, now holding onto both of us.

"Inuyasha, ye take that look of sadness off your face now. I will be okay, it is you I'm worried about. You two can not fight one another, your survival has always been dependent on working together, please never forget that." Kaede closed her eyes for the last time, and I let go of her hands placing them on her stomach, she was no longer breathing. "Inuyasha." I cried.

"Don't kagome, not right now. Leave her here, we have to help them." Inuyasha let go of her and stood up walking away without so much as making eye contact with me, and as much as I wanted to break down and stop him I knew he was right, and the villagers needed us. I left Kaede there like Inuyasha said, and I made my way towards the center of the village. I began pulling children from the rubble right away, and aiding those who were injured. I began to use my spiritual power to heal some of their wounds, something I had only attempted but a few times in the past. When I had tried it before it was so hard for me, and sometimes it didn't even work but this time I did it with ease. Kaede must have spoke the truth that with kikyo gone, my spiritual power was now all mine again. "Kagome!" Songo and Miroku began running towards me as I was healing a child, now without their children. "Kagome what happened." Songo stopped in her tracks falling to her knees and putting her head in her hands as Miroku patted her back comforting her. I didn't know how to answer her, or what I could say to comfort her. Her home was now gone, the place where she raised her children and it was all my fault. Inuyasha appeared before us looking even angrier than when I saw him before. "Kagome stopped me from taking Hojo on, letting more death and destruction happen. That is the truth." Inuyasha's voice was angry, but it had a deep sadness behind it as well. He kept his eyes on the ground, refusing to look at any of us. Sango lifted her head, "What is he talking about kagome?" Sango stared at me with tears in her eyes, gripping on to Miroku for support. The child I was healing was now back to normal so I took my hands away from him so that he could leave, I didn't want him to hear anymore of this conversation. As he stood up to to leave and run back to his parents he stopped, and knelt back down wrapping his arms around me. "Miss thank you for saving my life I won't ever forget you not ever! I will tell all my friends that the great priestess Kagome is our savior, no one will talk badly about you!" He quickly stood back up and ran away to his parents. My heart was beating so fast and my tears soaked my kimono, I didn't deserve his praise.

I was beginning to feel weak, but I knew I had to keep going no matter what. Inuyasha was already blaming me, I had to show them that I didn't mean for any of this to happen. "Sango its a long story, but the sacred jewel is back and all that matters is that we are all in danger from now on until we can get it back into my hands." Inuyasha finally looked up, a smirk on his face. "Sango it's not such a long story like she says ya know, it's just one she doesn't wanna tell. The guy who brought it back into our lives is our dear friend Hojo, who by the way has sold his soul to demons. Kagome's been living with him in her village on the other side of the well. Details aren't important on how he got there, but she obviously fell in love with him because when I tried to pull my sword out and end this hell she stopped me." Inuyasha chuckled dryly, and my heart dropped. I had never seen him so cold, not towards me. "Inuyasha! I didn't want any of this, I was trying to stop you so we could understand what was going on, I needed answers from him. I came back here to live with you, why would I have wanted to have our home destroyed!" Sango stared at me coldly, obviously confused on how to react, and what was really going on. Miroku seemed oblivious to us as he glanced around, his face became pale with realization. "Lady kagome, I sense a loss of spiritual power." Miroku whispered. "Since you sit before me, that leaves me to one conclusion." I sighed, nodding my head. "Yes Miroku, Kaede is gone." Miroku and Sango both winced in pain, I knew this must have been very painful for them seeing as they lived here in this village for the last three years with her. Kaede had even birthed their children. Miroku let go of Sango brining them both to their feet. "Inuyasha, kagome, it's not important how this happened what's important is we do what we can to fix what's been broken." Inuyasha and I nodded and the four of us began to repair and help who we could. Child, after child I healed for hours as inuyasha sat beside me. I never spoke a word to him, angry at his words towards me. Finally I could no longer stay quiet, why was he sitting beside me if he loathed me so? "You don't have to sit here, go on it's obvious you can't stand the site of me." I spat. Inuyasha kept his arms crossed and his eyes on my hands as I tried to purify a young girls wounds. "Kagome, it's not like that. I'm sorry." Did he just apologize? "I just, I can't understand how you could do that. Why did you do that?" I was struggling to heal the girl before me, and I was feeling weaker than I'd ever felt but I had to respond to Inuyasha and make him understand even if it took the rest of my energy to speak. "I just needed to know what his purpose was in all of this Inuyasha, the demon you saw before you was not the man I had been living with. He was good and pure, I never sensed any evil energy from him the entire time I was with him so to see this good man that I had known acting that way was confusing for me. I was just confused, please don't blame me inuyasha. I loved Kaede too, it's not my fault. Hojo had hundreds of demons here there was no way we could have stopped this destruction by simply striking him down." Inuyasha frowned. "Do you love him Kagome?" Before I could answer him my hands began to shake, and no words would come out of my mouth no matter how hard I tried to speak. I quickly fell forward almost landing on the child causing her to scream out, but inuyasha caught me before I could. "Kagome!" I looked up at Inuyasha, giving him a small smile. "I'm so weak Inuyasha, all my energy is gone, I'm sorry I tried." I whispered. Inuyasha pulled me to his chest as I lost consciousness "Kagome!"