Disclaimer: I own nothing. I don't even own the computer I typed this on, that's how broke I am right now!

...The Wish...

"So...what do we do with it?"

That was the big question. Miroku watched Inuyasha as he stared at the ruined Well. For the hundreth time in the past hour he poked at the spot on his hand where nothingness should be, and found solid flesh there instead. In spite of himself, he smiled. It was a strange thing, to think all your life that you would die young, and then find out that you wouldn't. Sango had been overjoyed, but the joy abruptly vanished when they realized the dillema that had been left with them.

Inuyasha still held the nearly completed Shikon Jewel in his hands as he stared at what remained of the Bone-Eater's Well...which no longer worked. He felt a sort of numbness inside of him as he absently fingered the Beads around his neck. He had a wish, he knew, but the last shard was needed, and he wasn't going to just take it. It was Kohaku's decision now.

When Sesshomaru and entourage left the battle scene--without even a snide remark to Inuyasha about how he couldn't possibly defeat Naraku on his own--Kohaku had stayed behind. Kaede and Shippo had also rejoined the party. Kohaku said he wanted to give up his Shikon shard. In penance for everything he'd done, he said. Sango remained silent the entire time the others argued about it. Shippo was just crying.

"Even if ye wished for the Well to open up again," said Kaede, "it wouldn't work. The wood of that Well is imbued with magical properties set down from before Midoriko's time. It's older than the Shikon no Tama, so a wish from the Jewel won't affect it."

My father's blood is very strong in me, thought the hanyou. I might make it there by myself if I wait...

"We could just wish for Lady Kagome to return here," suggested Miroku.

"We don't even know if that's what she wants," argued Kaede, "She has a family and a life in her time."

While I have nothing left here, he thought, not without her.

"Will you guys stop talking as if it's been decided that we'll even complete the Jewel?!" Sango finally cried. "Are you guys willing to sacrifice my brother for something we're not even sure will work?"

"It has been decided," Kohaku said hotly, "I decided to sacrifice myself, and I don't particularly care if it works or not!" Then his face softened. "Ane-ue, I know it hurts, but like it or not, I don't belong here any more than Lady Kikyo did." Inuyasha flinched at the sound of Kikyo's name, but Kohaku went on. "She died fighting for what was right, and so will I. It's my time to go, Sango, long past my time."

Sango shed silent tears as she hugged her brother, the last member of her broken family, goodbye. When they finally broke, she fell sobbing against Miroku, who held her close to remind her of his promise of a new family for her.

Kohaku walked over to Inuyasha and turned, exposing the back of his neck where the final shard of the Shikon no Tama was implanted. He heard clothes rustle and steeled himself for the worst as the hanyou stood and turned to face him. But instead of plucking out the shard and ending Kohaku's life, Inuyasha did what none of them expected: he put the rest of the Jewel into Kohaku.

ooOooOooOoo

Kohaku felt a strange tingling feeling as the fragments of the Jewel merged within his body. And inside the Jewel itself, he could hear voices. And he recognized one of them...

Lady Kikyo? he asked faintly.

Yes, it's me, Kohaku, she answered him. I'm here with the great demon Midoriko fought for seven days and seven nights.

Kohaku was puzzled, to say the least. But I thought Midoriko was the priestess inside the Jewel...

She was, and is, Kikyo answered crypticlly. Do you not see, child? I am Midoriko, and always was. Who was the greatest priestess of her time, who was lusted after by a dispicable brigand, who then fought the evil hanyou created by his foul desires and lost her life? It was always me, though at the time I did not know it. Kikyo's voice seemed to sigh. And no matter what I do, the Shikon no Tama is always inevitable drawn back to my reincarnated soul.

Kohaku didn't know what to say. He could hear, as a sort of background noise, a low growling, like a predator waiting to strike.

But you know exactly what you're supposed to do now, she said quietly, don't you Kohaku?

He did know, but he didn't know that this was how he would die. He'd always just assumed that the shard would be taken from him, and that would be it. His role in his own death would be passive--simply volunteering to be killed, not actively deciding to end his life himself. It was an entirely different thing, and he wasn't sure if he could do it! And that growling was really distracting...

Make the wish, Kohaku, Kikyo pleaded with him. Free the priestess and slay the demon!

But he wanted so much to live!

Make the wish...

He wanted to grow up and live with Sango and Miroku and play with Kirara and get to know Rin a little better. Rin had been his light in the darkness, and reminded him that there was such a thing as a heart.

Free the priestess... Her voice was getting faint.

What did he owe them anyway! He had risked his life numerous times to help them out, and they just wanted him to die! All they cared about was the Shikon Jewel, and that stupid wish, and Kagome. His own sister cared more about Kagome than her own flesh and blood! Sure, Kikyo had died doing good for the world, but surely there were other ways he could help people than simply dying! After all, he was raised to slay demons, so that's what he would do with his long, long life: slay demons.

Slay the demon... He could barely hear her, that growling in the background was so loud.

In a flash, he remembered the village where he and Sango had grown up, and the cave where father had taught them the story of the Jewel's history. "If the completed Shikon Jewel ever comes back to us," he always said, "our only remaining duty is to make a selfless wish: a wish that will purify the Jewel, and free the priestess still battling the demon inside."

And suddenly, the growling wasn't in the background anymore. He was there, at the final confrontation between Midoriko and the dragon-headed monster...or was it Kikyo and Naraku he saw battling before him? Their appearances kept shifting, as if they couldn't quite decide which one to be. And then Midoriko (or Kikyo) turned and looked at him, really looked at him...and smiled. And in that moment of distraction, the demon-of-demons lifted a tentacle and ran her through the heart, and time froze.

The Shikon no Tama popped out of their combined bodies and fell into Kohaku's hands.

And then he was back at where he started. Kneeling on the ground before the people who had given him so much...Inuyasha, who'd always believed he could be saved...Miroku, who protected his sister from all the horrible things he'd done...Sango, oh gods how he'd miss her, the only member of his family he hadn't brutally murdered. But she forgave him for that. She forgave him for everything...

You know what to do, Kohaku.

He did know what to do.

"I wish..." he began in a voice choked with tears, "I wish that my sister and her friends would be reunited with Lady Kagome."

ooOooOooOoo

Contrary to popular belief, there is a limit to what the Shikon no Tama can do with a wish. An evil wish always has much more power, because of all the evil and malice behind the thoughts and minds of those casting the wish, giving it strength and purpose. A selfless wish has no purpose, no intent but that the wisher gives it, and then it's up the Jewel's own limited power to grant it.

This is what happened...

Kohaku's body disintegrated into dust, leaving the glowing Shikon no Tama floating in midair before the companions. It offered them a choice.

To the humans it said in an impassive voice, Would you like to live to see your friend again? You would outlive your childrem, your grandchildren, and five more generations of grandchildren, but you would die when you saw her. Will you accept Kohaku's dying wish?

Kaede shook her head. "Kohaku was a brave boy to make such a selfless wish, but I cannot accept. I've lived my lifespan, and have no desire to live any longer than I have to in this tortured world."

Miroku simply said, "I will do what my Lady Sango wishes. Kohaku was her brother, and I will stay by her side."

Sango was crying again by now. "Kohaku," she said, "I love you, but I can't do it. I'm human, and I want to live a human lifespan. And I don't want Kagome to see us die. She's suffered enough."

Shippo piped up. "I want to see Kagome again," he said through fresh tears, "No matter how long I have to live!"

The light of the Jewel "turned" to him, though how they could tell which side was the front, no one knew. You are youkai, it said in a surprisingly gentle voice, so you will live to see her again if you are careful. You need nothing from me. Then it "turned" to Inuyasha. You, on the other hand, are hanyou. You might live, but you would be an old man by the time you saw your love again. Is that what you want?

He thought for a moment. "I don't know," he said in a voice he fought to keep from wavering.

"Inuyasha," said a voice they all recognized. "Kikyo?" the hanyou whispered as she appeared, ethereal, out of the Jewel's swirling depths. "Inuyasha," she said with a small, sad smile, "I know what you want, and I will grant your wish, because it is also mine. I wish for you to be happy with your life and your love, and for that love to give you what I could not. Be happy, Inuyasha, and farewell. Until we meet again."

Both she and the Shikon no Tama vanished as if they were never there.

All there was left to do was wait.

I'll find you somewhere
I'll keep on trying until my dying day
I just need to know whatever has happened
The truth will free my soul

ooOooOooOoo

Boy, that Kohaku bit just poured out of me, I didn't even plan it! But, you know, I figured the only way to have a selfless wish and bring Inuyasha and Kagome back together was to have someone else make the wish, thereby making it selfless because it's for them, not the wisher. Aren't I smart. -grins- Do you think it'll take away from the Inu/Kag parts though...? REVIEW!!!

As for Kikyo, I think that was how she always felt, as soon as the initial rebirth-without-a-soul rage was gone. She knew his place was with Kagome, but being with only a fragmented soul, she was unable to figure it out for herself. I also like the Kikyo-as-Midoriko bit. The similarities were just too convincing!