Disclaimer: Ahh… I've finally gotten to the end of the preamble. Yes, I said preamble. XD This story thus far has only been a precursor to the real story. Well, no, it's really more than that, because its vital to the story itself, and it's a large chunk of the story... but its still just been a prologue of sorts. XD Nope, I don't own.

His Past, Her Present, Their Future

Chapter 15 - Enigma

Several weeks of monotony passed. It was now midsummer, and the hunt for the Shikon Shards was winding down. Several shards had been in hiding, making the search draw out longer than any of them anticipated, and left the trio of travelers weary. Kagome ran the back of her hand across her forehead for the thousandth time, it seemed, and gave thanks to modern scrunchies and their ability to keep hair out of the face and off the neck.

It had been a week since the last shard had been found, and the jewel was dangerously close to complete. But somewhere out there was three or four more small slivers of the Jewel of Four Souls, and they had been searching all across the land with little success. Though the heat did not affect the two youkai as much as it did Kagome, they were still feeling the effects of long weeks on the road with few successes to raise morale.

"Umm… Sesshou?" Kagome said tiredly, the midday sun beating down on their heads.

A raised eyebrow was her only response.

"Can we stop in on the Demon Exterminator's village? It's nearby here, and I would like to say hello… and maybe goodbye to my friends."

Sesshoumaru nodded and changed course, taking them off the beaten dirt road and into the blissfully shaded forest. Kagome's spirits lifted a bit at the thought of seeing her friends, which in turn brightened her companions' moods as well.

Sesshoumaru watched her from the corner of his eye as she walked along, slightly lighter than she had been in weeks. Their relationship, though more strained after their argument a few weeks prior, seemed somehow more comfortable as well. There had been several nights that she had unabashedly sat beside him and leaned her head onto his shoulder, just to sit in silence and watch the stars or the fire.

He had refrained from doing anything she might not find welcome; he was unwilling to push the tentative bond they had to break. He was entirely willing to sit it out until her future came, if need be. He would not let a couple minor centuries get in their way.

Night fell and they were still a bit away from the former Demon Exterminator's village, so they decided to make camp and arrive in the morning. The fire was made, and Kagome passed out bowls of her not-yet-diminished Ramen supply to her traveling companions. She sighed happily at her full stomach and laid back on the ground, content for the first time in weeks. Sesshoumaru sat beside her when suddenly, a thought struck her, one she had been contemplating for weeks. Who could use it better than him? There was no one she trusted more.

"Sesshou?" she said, getting his attention. When it was just the three of them, she had taken to calling him the shortened version of his name almost constantly, much to his annoyance. He no longer bothered correcting her though.

"Hn?"

"I want to give you something, with my trust that you will use it properly."

His eyebrows disappeared under his bangs. "What would that be?"

She dug through her yellow pack, which was now much smaller than in the beginning of their journey, and pulled out a small book. She had bought it originally to give to InuYasha, but when he decided to go with Kikyou she had kept it instead. She handed it to him with a small smile, and when he looked at the cover his eyes widened.

"You would give me this?"

"Yes. I trust you to understand the complications if you were to try and change anything, and there are many dangerous things to come. I don't want anything to happen to you, if you plan to try and survive, or to Shippou, or Kagura, or anyone else who I know will be near to you in the future."

He ran his clawed fingertips gently over the cover. 'Quick Synopsis of Japanese History' it read. Kagome had found it accidentally, and since it was not in Romanji she had purchased it on a whim. The writing was modernized, but she thought the gist was still understandable. She smiled at Sessomaru. "I want to ensure you come back to me. I especially want to make sure you are far away in the mid twentieth century… but you'll read about that later."

He looked at her and smiled, a genuine if not small smile that made her heart skid to a stop and then bang unbelievably hard against her ribcage. She smiled back and he nodded, tucking it into his armor. "I am glad I have your trust. I would not wish to change things from what has happened, in case something were to change and make you never have come here. That would be very regrettable."

She smiled and leaned over against him, snuggling close to his pelt and sighing. He wrapped his arm around her and they stared into the fire together for a long time. Kagura watched with a smile; perhaps they weren't so hopeless after all.

"Kagome!" A noticeably pregnant Sango called joyously, jogging out to embrace her friend. Her husband walked behind with a wide smile on his handsome face.

"Oh, I missed you guys so much! The village looks great!"

"Yes, we have several new residents, even. We are truly blessed. Lady Kagome, it is good to see you once again," Miroku said with a bow, heeding the warning glares from all directions and staying an arm's length away.

"Come, lets go inside," Sango said with a grin.

"This Sesshoumaru will wait out in the forest with Kagura, Kagome. Call if you require me."

Kagome nodded her agreement and followed her friends into the Exterminator's village with an expression of true happiness.

When they were settled in the large headmaster's hut, Miroku turned an inquiring gaze on Kagome. "He said Kagura?"

"Oh yes," Kagome said. "She's been helping for a couple of months now. It's nice to have someone to talk to along the way. Sesshou's great and all, but he's not much for small talk."

"Sesshou, hmm?" Miroku intoned with a lecherous twinkle in his wide blue eyes.

"Perv," Sango chided. "Get your mind out of the lecher pits."

"I think his mind is a lecher pit…" Kagome mused, earning a giggle from Sango.

"Perhaps it is…"

Miroku placed a hand over his heart in feigned hurt. "You wound me, my darling Sango!"

"Shut it, monk."

Kagome giggled and bit her lip. "I miss you both so much…"

"You should come to stay with us once you've completed the Shikon Jewel, Kagome! You know you would be welcome."

Kagome flinched, the small movement not missed by the monk. "Mm, perhaps I will…" she lied.

"Lady Kagome?" Miroku gave her a serious frown. "Is there something you are not telling us?"

Kagome cringed and looked down a the floor. "I'd rather not talk about it right now, please?"

Sango smiled. "How much of the Shikon have you completed?"

Kagome pulled the mostly completed jewel from her blouse and their eyes widened. "Amazing!" they said in shock.

"All those years we had to search over and over again, and here you are only four months after you began with almost the entire jewel!"

Kagome nodded with a false smile. "I know, without Naraku to compete with, and with Sesshoumaru and Kagura helping, it's gone by very quickly."

"Well, your search is over. In Midoriko's cave there are three shards, which we have taken from a few demons over the months. Without being able to purify them, we put them there to keep them from harm until you came to us," Sango said with a grin.

Kagome's eyes went enormous and her breathing hitched painfully. "No!" she cried shaking her head in disbelief.

"What's wrong, Kagome?" Sango leapt to her feet to go to her frantic friend.

"I believe, Kagome, it is time you tell us about the wish you made on the jewel after Naraku's defeat," Miroku said softly, already having feared something similar.

Kagome sobbed uncontrollably, clutching the front of Sango's kimono and shaking. Miroku approached and rubbed her quivering back, not even feeling the impulse to travel downward. Sango exchanged a fearful look with her husband, who shook his head sadly as they tried to calm their friend.

It took half an hour and a large cup of tea, but eventually Kagome was able to speak. She told them slowly, with her breathing escalating to hyperventilation at times, how she would be leaving. By the end, Sango was sobbing with her, the two women clinging to one another for all they were worth, and Miroku looking on with barely suppressed sorrow. Their friend, who had sacrificed so much already, had sacrificed herself for them yet again.

"Kagome, why not just stay? Forget Midoriko! Oh gods, I can't believe I just said that… but do it! Leave the remaining shards in her cave and stay here with us! Don't leave me, Kagome!" Sango babbled through blurry eyes, shaking her friend slightly.

The miko smiled through her tears. "It is my duty, and I gave my word. I would not have been able to live without you guys, without knowing you could have a real chance at a life free from Naraku's control. It was my choice to make, and now I have to see it through. But I'll miss you guys so much." She broke off, wiping her overflowing tears. "I'm so glad I met you both. I will forever remember you as the most wonderful people I ever met. I had a rather… enlightening experience at a human village last month, and I feel so lucky to have met two as good as the both of you. You're..." her throat closed up and and she bit her lip. "You're the best family I could have ever hoped for."

Miroku approached and took Kagome's hands in his, so reminiscent of the old days, but now with eyes that were not sparkling with mirth. He looked at her for a long time. "We will never forget you either, Kagome, my friend," he said. "We will make sure your story is told through the generations, so that even in your own time our descendants will know who you are."

Kagome smiled forlornly and nodded, embracing the monk tightly. Sango wrapped her arms around them both as they all caught their breath.

"Kagome, maybe… one last bath?" said Sango with a weak smile.

"I would love that."

"You know, I would love that as well!" Miroku chimed.

"Pervert!" Sango yelled, the crack of hand-on-cheek resounding throughout the village.

"Some things never change," Kagome said in amusement, looking down at Miroku's foolish grin.

"Yeah, and I'm afraid they never will."

With mutual giggles, the two trudged out the village's hot spring, disrobing and lowering into the water. Kagome smiled at her off-balance friend, whose stomach made it more difficult for her to lower into the pleasant water. With a helping hand, she maneuvered in, smiling.

"Thank you, Kagome. I'm only five months along and already it's so cumbersome!"

"Maybe it's twins!" Kagome chimed with a grin.

"Ah! Don't curse me like that! Twin children of Miroku?"

The two broke into laughter as they massaged the shampoo into their hair. They met one another's eyes and smiled. It was better to focus on the good times and enjoy every moment, was it not? There would be time for grief after, for both of them. For now, they could just spent their last evening together, for though she wasn't sure of her youkai friends, it was a surety she would never see either Sango nor Miroku again. 'Unless the well re-opens…' her mind whispered, but she was afraid to hope for that.

She had a quiet dinner with her friends, and they said their goodbyes in the somber moonlight, memorizing one anothers' faces. They had several 'Polaroids' as Kagome called them of the three of them, and Kagome had her own share of pictures as well. Since she could never risk having them developed, she had struck on the idea of the instant snapshots early in their journey, and had two large albums full of pictures from their adventures.

With a final hug and kiss to both her friends, and a few more silent tears, she began to leave the village with a heavy heart. When she exited the gate, she called for Sesshoumaru softly, knowing he would hear.

"Kagome?" he asked when he came to her, seeing her grief-stricken face.

She tried to force a smile and couldn't, instead collapsing into his embrace. He stroked her hair and face. This was no normal sadness, this was an encasing grief. He knew her friends were alive, he could feel their auras, so he was at a loss as to what could be so wrong.

"Kagome," he said softly, stroking the tears from her cheeks, only for them to replaced by several more. "You must tell this Sesshoumaru what is wrong."

Her breathing was ragged and harsh as she tried to calm herself. She shook in the circle of his arm, her tears not ebbing. She finally met his eyes with her own and her lower lip trembled violently, "Se-Sesshou….th-the last sh-shards…they're h-here!" she forced out through violent spasms.

Instantly he knew, and his gaze grew troubled, looking down into the broken miko in his arms. He leaned down to her, softly running his lips over her cheeks and eyes, devouring her tears, all the while growling low in his chest in hopes of comforting her.

She sighed and relaxed in his hold, her skin tingling where his mouth grazed over her. She turned up her face to his and caught his lips gently with her own, a movement he returned with fire. With an unmatchable ardor their bodies entwined, needy and yearning. Kagome's back was hard against a nearby tree in moments, her hands tangled insilver hair and her legs around his waist. His only arm was around her, holding her to him as if by doing to she would be anchored to him.

They pressed into one another as hard as they could, as if trying to melt into one being as their passion burned around them, in quiet moans of desperation. Hands roamed over scorching skin, fingers alternating between fluttering caresses and clawing need. When they finally broke apart, disheveled and out of breath, they stared into one anothers' eyes.

"I should… go get the shards."

"Yes," he murmured quietly into her hair, lifting her with one arm around her bottom. He carried her this way to the cave's mouth, where he set her down reluctantly. She sucked in a heaving breathe and entered the cave.

The journey back to the well was in silence. In the cave she had met Midoriko once more, and Kagome was still trying to understand Midoriko's parting words to her. She had seemed to be purposely cryptic and spoken in rhyme, and Kagome didn't understand any of it. She clung to the mute Sesshoumaru like a lifeline as she tried to sort her thoughts.

Kagura watched the newfound closeness between them, and was saddened that they would find it only on the eve of her departure. They had until dawn to reach the well before she was thrown out of their... time. The wind sorceress mourned the loss of her only friend, but had every intention of surviving to her time to see her again.

As they touched down in the clearing that housed the Bone Eater's well, Kagura said a final farewell before leaving the two alone. The moments before daylight were spent in silence as they looked into one another.

"I will find you."

"Of course."

"I will take care of your pup like my own."

She smiled and ran her fingers over his cheek. "Thank you. I don't know what's about to happen, though, and it scares me. Midoriko was so…secretive about what she was telling me…"

Sesshoumaru did not look surprised. "Just be honest with them," he whispered.

"Huh?"

As the purples of dawn touched the horizon, the blue of the well's magick increased, reaching up to take her. She leapt into Sesshoumaru's arms and kissed him hard as it began wrapping around her ankles and snaking its shining magicks up her legs.

"Just be honest, and know I will see you again in the future. Remember that."

"Wait, Sesshou, what do you mean 'be honest'? Honest with who?"

"You will know. Just remember my words. You will see me soon, my love."

That was the last thing she heard as her consciousness faded away and she was enveloped in the blinding blue light.

When she awoke from unconsciousness, her body aching, it took her several long moments of concentration before she was able to focus on her surroundings. She was in the grass, under… Goshinboku? She looked at the tree which seemed too reminiscent of the god tree she knew so well, but it was different somehow.

Kagome moaned and tried to sit up, only to meet with a very frightening obstacle: her hands were bound. She struggled against her restraints and tried to roll over, only to be met with a pair of menacing yellow eyes. Her captor sneered at her with defiance, his dark blue skin covered in boils. He reminded her of Jaken, but taller and, well, blue. She glared venomously. "What the hell are you?"

Surprise was evident. "Ahh, miko, you have awoken. And you're a spitfire, at that! You should fetch a high price!"

"Where am I? How did I get here? Where in the hell is Sesshoumaru?"

"You're in Nippon, moron; I don't know how you got here, and I have no idea who you speak of."

Kagome paled visibly. Every youkai in Japan knew who Sesshoumaru was by name at the very least. He was a living legend! She began struggling anew, looking up to the strange Goshinboku for strength. It was then that she realized what was wrong with it. The diamond of rotted bark, from InuYasha's fifty year prison sentence there, was gone. Her mind repeated Midoriko's stupid, confusing poem again and again in her mind until it all finally dawned on her and she blackness consumed her.

The blue imp was having trouble transporting his newest acquisition; he had to get her to Heian-kyō for the slave auctions. A miko of this power would fetch one hell of a price if anyone was willing to risk it. He labored while dragging his cart forward. The spontaneous spikes in the energy of her aura were making it difficult to keep moving for the gangly youkai, so he decided on a break under a large cedar tree along the rarely-used path.

He never saw the blow which struck him down; he never got a chance to scream or even see his attacker. Said attacker moved to the crude wooden slab the youkai had been dragging, cutting the bindings of the woman who laid, unconscious, across it with a deft claw. Her aura was uncomfortable, but not entirely unpleasant. But there was a reason for her rescue. He wanted answers.

"Miko," he commanded, tapping her cheeks gently to rouse her. "Miko, awaken."

She moaned and opened her eyes a crack, trying to focus. As her vision finally cleared, the exclamation died in her throat in the eyes of her savior. Golden eyes, wide and expressive like InuYasha's but with the crisp color of Sesshoumaru. His words only compounded what she already knew.

"You, miko, tell me now: who are you, and why do you smell like my son?"