They made their way through the forest, meeting the edge of the forest by nightfall. When they made camp, Merry and Pippin were still delighted and were singing and dancing away. When their merry celebration came to a close, it got very quiet. They all huddled around the fire. On Kagome's right sat Aragorn, then came Legolas, Gimli, Gandalf, the four hobbits, then ended with Boromir on Kagome's left.

"So where exactly are we going?" It didn't occur to Kagome until just now that where they were going might not be very pleasant.

Gandalf placed his staff on his lap and sighed, and began to explain. "We're headed to a mountain in Mordor called Mount Doom. We have to throw the Ring into the fires to stop Sauron from taking over the world again. So now we're on the way to Moria to cut through the Mines on the way to Mordor."

Kagome nodded, and fell silent. Their quest reminded her of their own. This made her sure she wanted to help them. She couldn't complete her quest, and she wouldn't let theirs fail like hers had. Especially since, like hers, it had that tiny detail of possibly destroying the world if it failed.

"If you don't mind me asking, what was that thing you killed yesterday," asked Aragorn.

"Well, if you're to understand it, I should start from the beginning." She took a deep breath.

"I live in modern Japan. In Japan's legends, there are stories of a jewel. The Shikon no Tama, or the Jewel of Four Souls. It is said that there was once a miko, a priestess, who guarded the jewel. Her name was Kikyou. She fell in love with a hanyou. That's a half demon, half human. This one was half dog demon, half human. She loved him, but they were turned against each other by an evil demon called Naraku. He made Kikyou shoot the hanyou with a sacred arrow, and she pinned him to a tree and he fell into a sleep. She died, and the jewel was burned with her body. I'm her reincarnation. Three years ago, I did not know of this. I didn't know I was her reincarnation, and that the Shikon Jewel was inside me. I fell into the well then, and because of the jewel I was transported 500 years into the past. In that time, it was 50 years since the miko had died. I remember running through the forest, and I found the hanyou, and pulled his arrow out. He woke from his sleep. His name was InuYasha."

She went on to tell them of how the jewel shattered, InuYasha's necklace, and a bit about mikos. She recounted some of her experiences, and told them of Sango, Miroku (laughing as she talked about his perverseness), Shippo, Koga, Kikyou's return, and more about Naraku and the pain he caused. Then she skipped forward a bit and told them of yesterday.

"The demon I killed yesterday was Naraku. He had the jewel, and was coming for the two shards that I had. We met him by the well, and InuYasha fought him and kept him away from us. Sango fought demons, while Miroku kept them from me so I could shoot them with arrows and keep them away from us. Naraku sent a tentacle at me. It was filled with miasma. InuYasha cut it off, but the miasma filled his lungs and…he…" She stopped, and couldn't say the words, but she didn't need to finish. They knew.

"Anyway, I didn't believe it. I tried to wake him up, but he wouldn't. And…and I don't know what came over me, but I tackled Naraku down the well and I ended up here. I attacked him again, but I found that I had no arrows left. Then I heard something behind me and…." She stopped as Legolas's quiver caught her eye. "That was you, wasn't it?" Legolas smiled and nodded slightly.

"Well, I killed him. I rammed a sacred arrow into his jugular." she smiled. "He deserved it. For all the pain he caused everyone." Kagome paused and sighed. She sat for a moment and looked at Legolas. "Thank you. For your arrows, I mean. I don't know what would have happened if you hadn't done that." The elf nodded again and turned a light shade of pink.

"Kagome, you've been through more than I thought you had been. More than anyone here, I can tell you that." Aragorn's comment made her blush. "I'm sorry for your loss, but I'm almost glad that you ended up here, or else we never would have met." She nodded, eyes watering. "And thank you for joining us. I can tell you that those two are most delighted that you are coming with us." He pointed to Merry and Pippin, who had fallen asleep on top of each other out of exhaustion.

Kagome smiled. "I'm glad to have come here too." They were silent for a moment, before Gandalf announced that he was going to turn in for the night. Frodo and Sam followed suit, and Boromir and Kagome climbed into bed as well. That left Aragorn and Legolas to think about things.

"You saw her destroy that monster. Her arrows will come in handy," Aragorn predicted.

Legolas nodded. "I'm sure. But what happens if, after we're done with all of this, she still can't find a way back?"

"I don't know. We'll have to see what happens to us, first." Aragorn stood up. "I'll take first watch."

"Good night, then." Legolas turned in, and quickly fell asleep.

-==-

InuYasha was getting frustrated. Kaede wasn't giving him a straight answer. It was really a simple yes or no question. Then she just had to tell him how. How to bring Kagome back.

"Is there or is there not?!" The hanyou was screaming at her now. She kept phrasing her words in awkward ways, that he obviously wasn't understanding.

"Yes InuYasha, there is. Haven't you been listening? But it's going to be intensely complicated and difficult, especially for you."

"Well? What is it?"

Kaede sighed. He wouldn't stop pestering her and she knew once she told him he would regret ever wanting to know. "InuYasha, to bring her back, you need to do a lot. It's a very complicated process, and involves intense traveling and, as usual, some killing and fighting. But it's going to be difficult, especially for you."

"Okay, okay. So it's going to be hard. I wasn't expecting it to be easy. So how do I do it?"

"Kagome needs two things to be able to come back. She needs the completed jewel. Three of the shards she has with her, but two of them are still here. You must get the shards from Koga and bring them to her. To do that, you must find out where she is first. Depending on where she is will determine how you get there. And I'm sure Miss Sango and Miroku will like to go with you."

"Okay. And what was the second thing?"

" InuYasha…" Kaede wasn't sure if he'd be ready for this. He'd have to make one heck of a choice.

"What is it?"

"You're not going to like this." She told him. She didn't want to hurt him more than he was already.

"What else does she need!"

"The other half of her soul, InuYasha."