Author's note: I don't own Inuyasha, though I wish I did...

Chapter 3: It's a Small World After All

Kikyo strode down the path to her old village. It was ageless. The grass hummed with crickets in the warm night. She knew every crook of the path beneath her feet. She recognized the trees, the air, the life. However, she did not let sentimentality over take her. Had anyone been spying on her, he or she would have believed her to be void of emotion. In fact Kikyo's visage resonated boredom. Her sandals scuffed gently at the ground and her gait was focused.

"Picturesque," she thought as she emerged from the forest on top of a hill overlooking her old village. The night's sky blanketed the earth with its speckled black velvet appearance. The rice patties were dark, except for the beacon like full moon that rested calmly on the stagnant water. The roof tops glistened serenely in the starlight and the breeze whispered in the night, trying not to awaken the sleepy town.

As she approached the town, Kikyo stopped at a fork in the path. It lead up some stairs and through a red wooden archway to one of the many shrines. She blinked slowly as she paused to look up at it. She ascended the stairs and lingered before the small outdoor shrine. It was simple and delicate. Some dew-wet blue flowers rested peacefully on the earth before it. A crooked smile grazed her face. This was her grave site. Kikyo's eyes wandered from the memorial to the foreboding forest nearby. There was an emptiness about it that chilled her insides.

She walked into the dense trees, gingerly stepped over a precarious mass of rocks, and descended upon a form lying hidden beneath an old tree. She stooped down to her knees and scooped the person out of the darkness. The woman's face was wrinkled, haggard, and pale. Her body was limp in Kikyo's arms. She had often held her younger sister like this in her sleep in times past, but this old frame revealed nothing of her sister's childhood. Kikyo rested a hand on her sister's brow. It was tense. She was struggling, in pain.

"Kaede" Kikyo called to her sister. The old woman didn't wake. Kikyo frowned. The demon must have done this. Though she didn't understand why he didn't just finish her off while he was at it. Kikyo had no doubt he would have treated her as such. Still, priestesses were rigorously trained in self control and even the most powerful of demons should not be able to deprive them of bodily control. Kikyo's timeless form lifted the fragile body of her aged sister and paced down to the village. She silently entered the hut she knew as Kaede's, and laid her out on her sleeping mat. Kikyo sat on her heels and pulled the necklace out of her pocket. She put it between her thumbs, wove her fingers together, closed her eyes, and bowed her head. The necklace shimmered in her hands and Kikyo looked up. She placed the necklace under Kaede's palms on her chest. Kikyo stood and exited quietly.

Outside, the breeze played with Kikyo's hair as she looked coldly into the night, concern etched into her countenance. It wouldn't last much longer, sunrise would come sooner than she'd hoped. She paced over to a nearby stream and collected some water, then returned to Kaede.

The old woman's face was relaxed and she looked peaceful. Kikyo dabbed her head with a wet cloth and watched Kaede's tired eyelids lift. Kaede's eyes glistened and her brow furrowed in confusion. She blinked.

"K..Kikyo?"

"Rest," her older sibling commanded.

"Kikyo," Kaede voice was weak, "the demon came after ye too, did it not?" Kikyo gazed into her younger sibling's eyes; they were pleading.

"Do not trouble yourself with such matters now." Kikyo's voice was soothing.

"Is it vanquished?" Kaede pressed on.

"It will not bother you again." Kikyo's expression was unreadable.

Kaede opened her hands and discovered the necklace on her chest. Her lips parted. She remembered having to watch, as a mere bystander, while the horrible demon had lifted her by the arm like a rag doll and extracted it from her neck. Then he had plunged his fist with the trinket into her chest and then everything went dark. She touched her neck and top of her torso. It was free of blood, but dirtied with earth and pebbles. Her hand then brushed against something rough and she quickly withdrew her hand when a spike of pain was driven through the center of her chest. She cringed. Her eyes watered.

"Sleep, Kaede." Kikyo's voice silenced the burst of pain. Kaede glanced up at Kikyo. She was stoic as always. Kaede felt like she was fifty years younger and observing her older sibling care for her when she was sick. She looked exactly the same. She could even discern the same caring devotion that enveloped her sister from her youth. She had been protective of Kaede. She still was...

Kaede felt her bones warm at the epiphany. She stole one last glance at the past she still secretly longed for and gave into the exhaustive aches of her body.

Kikyo observed the old woman sleep. She was finally letting her body rest. It had been hours since she rescued her from beyond Kikyo's grave site. She had not spent time with her little sister in ages. However, the cloud of despondency that shadowed Kikyo had obscured her vision. She no longer seemed to really care about her younger sister. Still, she wasn't about to let that crude demon spit on her memories, even if that was all Kikyo saw in her new existence: memories. What else was left for her?

Kikyo glanced over her shoulder. Daybreak was near. Eager rays of sunlight gripped the horizon and the night's sky was slowly melting into shades of azure. The roosters would be soon to announce the beginning of day.

A muffled cough drew Kikyo's attention back to the relic lying on the sleeping mat. Kaede was stirring. Kikyo knew she had to leave soon. The approach of two pure sacred jewel shards meant another memory stirring affair would haunt her, should she linger any longer. She stood and walked to the exit.

Kaede's eyes blinked open. She was in her hut. It was still dark out. She groggily swayed her head to look at a figure standing in the doorway. A woman... a priestess. Her sister's silhouette was so reminiscent. "Sister... please wait..."

"Take care, Kaede" Kikyo let her eyes rest one more time on Kaede's sleep ridden form and then swiftly departed out of the hut.