A/N:

Thank you to all these reviewers:

Celeste Criss, Kayla, Elfgurl96, SesshomaruLover4eva, dragfire58, missymoo11, toolazy, sesshykaggy, HieiLuvr, and ChaoticEnergy

I hope you review again ;)

Heart of the Broken One

Chapter 2: Transition

White. It was all white. Her eyes were not even open yet but it was all white. Blank and clean and fresh and new. An empty slate. A new beginning.

And suddenly she knew she was leaving.

A sudden weight on her stomach forced her eyes open quickly –eyes darting around, noticing a vague dent in the spherical cavern- as she jumped to her feet, tiny silver dagger -usually hidden in her boot- in hand. Youko fell to the floor with an earth jilting crash. Yami snickered behind his paw as the kitsune attempted to stand up and fell to the ground again, large eyes hazy.

"Kagome-sama!" Youko whined.

Kagome blinked down at his tiny frame and shook her head, muttering something about crazed kits and lack of etiquette.

"I'm terribly sorry Youko. You should know better than to jump on a seemingly unconscious person."

Youko hung his head. "Sorry, Kagome-sama." He whispered, looking up at her with wide eyes.

Kagome's heart softened. "It's ok."

Yami snickered again.

"Kagome. I've been expecting you."

Kagome whirled around at the sudden interruption, dagger flashing, stopping the quick movement once she noticed the lady in front of her.

Tall and strong, she wore miko garb and a sword at her side. Her face was round and her hair was dark and shiny, a widows peak on her forehead.

"Lady Midoriko."

Kagome whispered the name reverently and tried to dip into a bow, but a slender hand on her arm stopped her. She looked up into the warm eyes of the legendary priestess.

"We are equals, Kagome. There shall be no bowing."

Understanding the honor of the statement, Kagome had to restrain herself from attempting to bow again and straightened, black braid swinging behind her.

"Midoriko-san. Where am I? What happened?"

Midoriko smiled at the young girl, though her eyes seemed troubled. "You are standing in the Shikon Jewel." Kagome's eyes widened and she looked around the room again, the little fractured edge of the room suddenly holding much more significance.

"Oh, Kami."

Her voice was horrified, muffled by the slender hands she had placed over her face. She shook her head fiercely, shuddering.

"No, no, no! I thought it was complete! I know it was complete! It had to be! We got the shard from Nara-oh. Oh."

She looked up at Midoriko, face drawn and pinched.

"It was fake?"

Midoriko nodded hesitantly and watched, as Kagome seemed to break down, small frame shaking with silent, unseen tears. She had already cried herself out; only dry hiccups remained.

"But why? How?"

The questions went unanswered and a long silence stretched over the little white cavern as Kagome composed herself.

"Kagome."

The girl looked up at Midoriko, face questioning.

"You are bound to Shikon now. It has accepted you. You are its protector. Wherever, whenever, whatever it desires, wants to go, needs to go, you must go with it."

Kagome's eyes were widening now, face drawing into itself as she realized the horror of these words. "No." She whispered fervently, but Midoriko's eyes were unsympathetic, steely. "You must Kagome, you must."

Kagome's eyes were narrowing now, her mind racing.

"And if I don't want to?"

Her voice was defiant, face hard.

"You don't have a choice."

"Yes, I do. I always have a choice."

"Not in this situation Kagome. This time, the decision has been made for you. You must follow the Shikon to the ends of the Earth."

"No. I refuse to."

"You must."

"I have duties here, responsibilities. The Western Lands. Kaede."

"Kouga can handle everything."

"He can. But will he?"

"He must."

Kagome's eyes were slits, the cobalt color flashing.

"You can't do this to me." The statement was a light hiss and Midoriko barely heard the words. The older priestess smiled sadly.

"I must."

When Kagome's shoulders slumped in defeat, Midoriko continued.

"Where I am sending you, youkai are not well known and even less liked. In fact, demons of any kind are hated. There are many Hidden Villages in the new dimension and they specialize in…ninjas. I want you to wander around, become familiar with the territory. Attempt to find Naraku. Find Konoha, the Village Hidden in the Leaves and you will find help there if things are not going according to plan."

Kagome made a face. She had no desire to cause the deaths of any more people. She made a silent vow to herself to keep everyone in that dimension out of danger to the best of her ability. Of course, that meant no friends of any kind.

Midoriko continued, oblivious to the thoughts running through the younger priestess's head.

"You will have Yami."

Youko gave an indignant squeak and Midoriko smiled gently in his direction.

"And Youko, of course. You must keep yourself hidden. It is imperative no one but the Kages know of your powers. Try to limit the information you give them as well. We do not need anyone becoming suspicious. Unfortunately, I cannot give you any help. You only have control over water and as you know, on the new moon, that power is useless, just as Inu Yasha weakens."

The miko's face scrunched in disgust as she mentioned Inu Yasha, and Kagome remembered the one thing she disliked about Midoriko – her intense hatred for youkai of any kind, no matter age, size of the amount of good will in them.

"Try to limit yourself; do not use the Element in front of anyone. If you must, claim it is a jutsu. As for the skills Sesshomaru taught you…simple tricks, nothing too extravagant. You must rely on your own abilities. Also…"

Midoriko's face became wary; as though she was not sure how Kagome would react to the next piece of information.

"I'm reverting you back to the age of eight."

Kagome glared at the older miko, but without any real malice and recited her line, already having resigned herself to the life that was approaching.

"You're what? No. I refuse to."

"You must."

Kagome shuddered. She was really starting to hate the word 'must'.

"I can't believe I have to go through puberty again. As though it wasn't bad enough the first time." Kagome's grumbling was her way of showing she accepted the terms, even if she was not happy with them.

Kagome looked hesitant as she held out her hand towards Midoriko, who laughed and pulled the younger girl into a hug.

"I'll see you soon, Kagome-chan."

"Same, Midoriko-san."

"Good luck."

With those last words, a flash of light encased Kagome's small frame and she vanished from sight. Midoriko sighed and sat down on the white ground. The worst was yet to come and she sincerely hoped the younger priestess would survive.

"Oh Kagome…please be careful. The world will be lost without you."

fin

A/N.

I know it's short. Sorry. But I really have to finish my 10 page essay on 'Great Expectations'and I was dying from writer's block, so this helped me along.

New chapter will be out hopefully in 2 weeks.

Hopefully I will be able to update every week.

Unfortunately, I have a habit of updating only when the plot bunnies have trashed my outline and I feel like I'm going to self-destruct unless I update right away. So, please do not get too upset with me.

Reviews make me smile ;)

-Ilira