A/N-I know, two chapters in such a short time! Well, I figured since the two kind of go together, I had better get them both up. I know things have yet to pick up with the major storyline, but don't worry...things shall get a little more interesting soon.

Ch2.Dreams (cont.)

Inuyasha whimpered slightly in his sleep. It was the normal dream all over again, but this time, something was strangely different about it. It always started the same, with the fateful day fifty years ago when Kikyo had turned on him because of the evil Naraku.

---Inuyasha's Dream---

Inuyasha was in the forest, waiting for Kikyo to appear. He had the jewel and was waiting for her so he could make his wish and they could be togther again. Just then, a few arrows hit the tree nearby, and he could only think of one thing...run. Which he did, only to hear the one scream he always dreaded.

"Inuyasha!" He heard her scream at him and heard the thrumming of a bow string. The pain was terrible; the arrow had pierced his chest and pinned him to the Goshinboku tree, which he would stay pinned to for fifty years.

Inuyasha whimpered from the pain and the fact that he had dropped the jewel. He then looked at Kikyo as his limbs started to go limp and his vision to go black. "Ki..Kikyo...How could...I thought..." Inuyasha's form slumped on the tree and he watched as his body caved in to the effects of the sleeping spell. The scene always haunted him, especially knowing that Kikyo had died just moments after.

He had thought that she had meant to betray him, but in reality, she thought that he had betrayed her and had only done what she thought was right. She had pinned him because he had supposedly betrayed her. But it had all been Naraku.

He watched as fifty years seemed to go by and Kagome emerged from the well. She ran to him, as if him being pinned to the tree were the most horrible thing she had ever witnessed. Soon, she was at his side; her hands around the arrow took on a faint glow of pink as she destroyed the spell and arrow that went along with it. Inuyashastared at her in amazementfor a few seconds before he pulled her into a tight hug."Thank you Kagome..."

"Inuyasha..." He leaned back slightly to look at her face and see if she was going to sit him a couple of times; but, instead of anger, he saw shock and a blush play across her face. He started to lean down to kiss her, as he usually did in his dream, but she disappeared within his arms in a burst of blue light. He stood there for a moment, his arms still held in the air as if he were still hugging her.

Everything went black around him, he was in a void of nothingness. He looked around a little bit, and decided that he couldn't risk moving around too much. "Kagome!" Grr...where is that girl? How could she just disappear like that? He looked around at the blackness that surrounded. And where the hell am I?

In the time it took for him to blink and open his eyes again, he was standing on dirt, the soft coolness familiar to his bare feet. What he saw around him amazed and scared him. There were flames all around him, and buildings were broken down and people were screaming. The confusion of this place reminded him of Kikyo. "What the hell!"

"Inuyasha..."

Inuyasha turned to where someone had called his name. It was none other then Kikyo in her white and red priestess clothing. "Kikyo...what is this place?"

"Inuyasha..."

He looked at her for a moment. His eyes widened as he saw the white shirt begin to turn crimson with the stain of blood before his eyes. Her right arm hung limply and her left hand grabbed at her shoulder, seeminlgly trying to stop the bleeding and the pain. What surprised Inuyasha even more was the look in her eyes. It wasn't that of the cold and lifeless Kikyo he had come to know, there was life within the depths of her brown eyes. She's alive...and she's hurt... "Kikyo!"

He started running towards her, his legs going as fast as they could. But no matter how fast his legs seemed to go, he got no closer to his old love. Why can't I move? I have to get to her! She can't die again!

"Inuyasha...choose..."

"What?" Inuyasha looked around him for a minute before glancing back at Kikyo. "What do you mean, choose?"

The burning building around him and Kikyo disappeared, fading back to the blackness. The only thing that stayed was Kikyo. She stood there, seemingly dying again, when a light shone down on her. She held up her bloodied arm and pointed at something behind him.

Inuyasha turned his head and ,just on cue, Kagome came floating down till she was standing witha light shining down on her as well. She was smiling at him and her eyes shone with nothing but love for him. He had once longed for such a look from Kikyo, but he realized he had never been looked at like that by the dead priestess.

"I have to choose between you two..." Both nodded at him, telling him it was the time to choose. "I...I don't know if I can."

He looked at Kikyo. She simply stood there, looking at him with pained eyes. Blood slowly dripped onto the ground from her fingers. "Inuyasha...you promised you would be with me...doesn't that mean anything to you?"

A wave of guilt flowed through Inuyasha. He had promised Kikyo he would go with her, but how could he do so when he promised to protect Kagome? Kagome... He looked back over to Kagome who was still smiling at him. Her green skirt moved with what seemed like a slight breeze and her hair danced behind her. "Inuyasha...do what makes you happy." Her eyes looked sad for a moment, but then turned bright once again. "As long as it makes you happy, it doesn't matter who you choose."

She's so understanding about everything. All Kikyo wants is her revenge for something she knows I didn't do. The two are so different...the only things they really have in common are the soul and appearance. What am I to do... He kept looking back and forth between the two. "I CAN'T CHOOSE!" He let out a pained scream.

In a burst of purple light, a woman appeared in front of him. She wore a green fighting kimono with a light chest plate of armor. Hersilky, blackhair billowed out behind her as she stepped out of the light and made her way towards him. "Inuyasha...you are the one who protects Kagome right?"

Inuyasha could only nod his head. I've seen her somewhere before...why does she look familiar...where have I seen her? "Who are you?"

"My name is Midoriko." She gave a slight bow. Inuyasha merely stared at her. "I have come to tell you that Kagome will be leaving. You must not search for her, no matter how much you want to. It is something Kagome needs to do in order to defeat Naraku."

Inuyasha could only stare now. His body went limp and he fell to a sitting position on the ground. Midoriko moved to stand in front of him and sat down herself so that she could gaze upon him more easily. "She's leaving...?"

"Yes. She'll be gone for quite some time Inuyasha. She will return though, don't worry about that, and she will return unharmed." A flood of relief flowed through his eyes and his mind. Thank goodness she won't be hurt...

"Why can't I search for her?"

"You will understand in a while. Now, here's what is going to happen." She paused for a minute, wondering how best to put it. "Naraku is going to attack and Kagome is going to face it alone. She will disappear for a while, and you must not look for her. You must continue on your journey without her help. Naraku will likely think her dead and will think that you are weak because she is gone. So, he will likely be attacking you more often. You must fight him Inuyasha, but do not try and kill him. That is Kagome's job."

Inuyasha took all these details in. "I have to protect Kagome from Naraku...I don't care what you say...I can't let her take the attack on her own." There was defiance in his eyes that dared anyone to argue. Midoriko merely sighed as she stood up.

"I was affraid you would be like this. That is why I have placed your body under a spell. You shall not wake up until twenty hours have passed, in which time, Kagome will be gone and so will Naraku's demons. You do not have a choice in this matter Inuyasha." A bright purple light appeared and Inuyasha stood up angrily.

"What do you mean I can't wake up! Damn it...Kagome..." I can't be there to help her...I'm going to fail her... He wished there was something breakable close by, but he was met with blackness surrounding him once again, and Midoriko was nowhere to be seen.

"So...I'm stuck here while everyone is gone, Kagome is angry with me and is about to be attacked, and I have to search for the shards without Kagome's help...WELL ISN'T THIS JUST GREAT!" Her sat down indian style and cradled his sword with his arms crossed in front of his chest. "Stupid Midoriko...stupid spell..."

-----

Kagome turned in her sleep as she heard something from above her in the tree branches. Her dream wasn't the most usual one she had. With a sudden gasp, her body lurched forward, her lungs gasping for air. She shook her head a little. It was only a dream...only a dream...It meant nothing..right?

She picked up her bow and arrows, which were lying right beside her against the tree. She looked around her; she could sense a demon in the tree above her. She knew it was Inuyasha, she knew him too well not to recognize it was him she felt nearby. How dare he follow me...the jerk. I still won't forgive him for what he did... She sighed... Who am I kidding...of course I'll forgive him. But that doesn't mean I have to let him know that. She smiled at that last thought.

Kagome let herself relax against the tree trunk again and thought about her dream. It had started out as a normal dream, it was the final battle with Naraku and everyone was there. Inuyasha had drawn his Tetsusaiga and was already fighting the hordes of demons attacking the group. Sango and Miroku, as well as Kilala, all fought side by side.

The demons were emense in number, it was like an endless supply. Every time one was killed, five or so took its place. Plus they were all hideous and scary looking and they were attacking her friends, which made killing them even better in Kagome's opinion. She had killed a good number of demons with her purification arrows, but still more surrounded her.

She held onto Shippo, who was sitting on her shoulder trying to distract some of the demons with his fox trickery. It was working on some of the more dense demons, but most knew better and went on to fight uneffected.

Kagome noticed that above her, Kagura was also fighting, but she seemed to be helping the group since most of her attacks seemed to miss the group and hit Naraku's demons instead. So, Kagura turned against Naraku and is helping us...we could use the help. Kagome let another arrow fly and about twenty or thirty demons disappeared. Kagome caught a brief flash of silver, white, and a red glowing sword. That must be Sesshomaru..his help will come in handy as well.

She looked around to see if she could see anyone anymore. She noticed that she was completely surrounded by demons and Shippo had left her shoulder sometime during the battle. What was strange was that none were attacking her, none were even within fifteen feet of her. She looked around and noticed that something was above her. Her eyes slowly and dreadingly looked up, only to find herself staring at the human form of Naraku, the real Naraku. He had already taken the full jewel and it was now inside his body, but it had yet to become a true part of him. There was little time left to destroy him.

Naraku chuckled. "Ah, Kagome, just the person I was looking for."

Kagome glared at him and took an arrow and aimed it at Naraku, drawing the bowstring back so that she may release it at any time. "You will die Naraku."

"And leave you without your mate? I don't think so." He stared down at her with lust-filled eyes.

"What! NEVER you evil, dispicable..." She never got to finish for Naraku had her in his arms before she could ever do anything about it. He had used the power of the jewel to enhance his speed, which worked in getting Kagome close to him.

"You are the most powerful woman Kagome, and you will be mine. Considering I have the jewel now, you have no choice." He held her more tightly, almost cracking a few of her ribs.

"You...disgusting...JERK!" She screamed at him, holding her hands to his chest. The shocked look on his face never got old to Kagome. For he didn't realize she had a connection to the jewel, one that went deeper then it just being found in her body.

The pink glow shone from her hands had enveloped both of them in a ball of pink energy. Inuyasha used one last wind scar attack on the remaining demons, and realized that none were taking its place. Kagura finished with the demons around her, turned to help out Miroku and Sango, who were still having a bit of a problem with the remaining demons surrounding them.

Kagome opened her eyes and closed them quickly. The light surrounding them was blindingly bright. She barely opened her eyes so that the light would not be so bad and shielded her eyes with one arm. She noticed that the light was particularly bright in one central area. She reached her hand to it, but an extreme pain shot through her arm. She screamed with the pain and she knew why she felt it.

The jewel was inside someone of pure evil, and she couldn't take the whole jewel, which was now almost evil in itself, and purify it with her touch without feeling some major pain. JUST GREAT!

With a little hesitation, she reached out slowly. Even just barely touching the light sent shocks of pain coursing through her body, causing her arm to come back to her chest in a protective gesture. She then glared at the bright light in front of her and she could see Naraku's body begin to piece itself back together, ever so slowly since the purification was eating it away at the same time.

Kagome let out a low growl. Where did that come from? It actually sounded like a growl...like Inuyasha and Sesshomaru...I must be loosing it. I have to get to that light before it's too late to do so. With a loud scream, she lunged her arm at the light and her hand seemed to close around something solid. Tears welled up in her eyes from the extreme pain her entire body was now feeling. The light abruptly faded from around her and she fell, what seemed so slowly, to the ground.

She held the jewel in her hands. As she looked at it, she noticed that it was almost a pure black. She concentrated on the jewel and it slowly gained its bright, pink color and it started to shimmer. Time seemed to stand still for a moment. To give the jewel to Inuyasha, or not to give the jewel to Inuyasha... Kagome was sitting with her legs out to the side, her arm holding her up and the other holding the jewel protectively against her chest.

Usually the dream ended there, but no, this one just had to go on. And what happened wasn't to Kagome's liking. Inuyasha walked over to her very quickly and kneeled down beside her. "Are you alright Kagome?"

Kagome nodded her head. "I'm just fine Inuyasha, really." Everyone walked over to her then, and gathered around to see if she was really all right. They had heard her scream, and though her body still hurt, she wasn't about to admit it. That's when she tried to stand up. She had actually gotten to a straight standing position, but her legs simply wouldn't hold her weight for very long, and she began to fall.

She closed her eyes tightly, waiting for yet another impact with the dirt. When it never came, she opened her eyes only to find an arm wrapped around her lower back and her head resting on someone's chest. I like it here... She closed her eyes for a few seconds. It's not like she could fight it anyway, she was too weak to do anything save fall to the ground.

She found herself being picked up off the ground bridal style. It was then that she caught a view of her rescuer. Sesshomaru! Why did he help me? She looked into his golden eyes and blushed at the intensity of the returned gaze. Her head turned towards Inuyasha when she heard his growling.

"What the hell do you think you're doing!" Inuyasha ran and stood in front of Sesshomaru. His eyes started to tint with red as he stood there, sword ready to fight, his breathing coming in small pants. He wasn't ready to fight anything larger then a rabbit.

She knew if she didn't do something soon, Inuyasha would transform into his full demon state, and that wasn't going to turn out nicely for any of them. Kagome grew tired of everything, tired of waiting for Inuyasha, tired of him insulting her, tired of his threats and arguing. "Enough!"

Both Sesshomaru and Inuyasha stared at her, wondering what her statement meant. "Inuyasha, sit." Inuyasha plummeted to the ground. Apparently he didn't have enough strength to even get up for he remained where he had fallen. Sesshomaru started to walk off with her in his arms and she looked up him curiously. "Uh...what are you doing Sesshomaru?"

His intense gaze looked at her, and her breath caught in her throat when she realized he was leaning down close to her. That would have been enough to shock her, but no, she had started to lean up to meet his lips with her own.

It was then that her dream had become reality as everything faded and she opened her eyes to the clearing around the god tree. She sighed and replayed that last part in her dream. I have no idea where that came from, but that's never going to happen. I love Inuyasha, I could never love that heartless demon. Besides, it was only a dream, it meant nothing...nothing at all.

Kagome felt an odd shiver go down her back. Usually that meant that a demon was close by, but usually that was a small tug that she felt. She felt a small tug from within her body and knew that whatever demon was out there, it had a shard. She looked up into the tree at Inuyasha and glared. For once, I'll do this on my own. I'll prove I'm not the weak human he calls me so often.

With her mind made up, Kagome slowly stood up and made her way quietly from the tree. She was slow in her movements so she didn't wake Inuyasha up, for if she did, he would just fight for her and call her weak afterwards. When she made it to the surrounding trees, she gave a small sigh and walked on towards the west, where the pull was coming from.

She kept her bow at the ready, her arrow notched and pointed at the ground. She knew she had to be careful since she had never faced a demon alone and without any help what-so-ever nearby. She had hoped she would make it quietly through the woods, but that wasn't to be. "Ooof" She looked down to see what her foot had tripped on. It was a root. "Ow..."

She stood up and dusted herself off. She had walked quite a ways, even Inuyasha wouldn't be able to get to her in time if she were to get into trouble. Man, I'm getting tired just trying to get to the demon...not good. She kept walking, she wasn't going to give up that easily. She looked around the forest she was in and smiled. The sunlight filtered through the bare branches and the chill air kept everything nice and cool as she walked.

Kagome noticed that the shard was still miles away, and she would not be able to walk the distance right then. Maybe I should just rest a while and go after it in a bit...it's already mid-day. Sango, Miroku, and Shippo should be coming back by now. I'll just rest my legs for a few hours. Besides, the shard is coming towards me, it should be a few hours before it gets here though, so I'll just wait it out.

With that, she sat down and leaned on the trunk of a small tree and waited for the demon to come to her. She knew Inuyasha wouldn't come after her for a while, when he did sleep, he slept for quite a long time. She watched as the woods seemed to sleep around her as well, waiting for spring to come and wake them up. Only a few hours and I'll finally be able to prove myself.