Chapter 6 In the End

A lot of time had passed and Inuyasha and I had grown close. He was still a hard-headed, nasty person but that's to be expected. My stomach had these occasional sharp pains that would cause me to bend over in discomfort but they disappeared within minutes. I found myself silently praying over some beads that I recognized as the 'beads of subjugation.'

Kikyo must've wanted to give these to Inuyasha to control him around her and the villagers, considering the fact that he was spending a majority of his time around them and he still wanted the sacred jewel.

"Are those the beads of subjugation?" Kaede asked groggily as she yawned. I must've woken her up from her sleep. I nodded. "For Inuyasha?"

"Yes, I need to make sure he's not going to attack me for the jewel." Before I knew it I was smiling at nothing in particular. "Now what's a good trigger word?" Sit. "Beloved. Yes that's perfect." Beloved? She thought of beloved and I came up with sit? What a world of a difference.

I met up with Inuyasha with the beads tucked safely away in my sleeve. He gave me a small lip taint left behind by his mother. The moment he gave it to me I felt a warm flutter in my stomach and I knew I couldn't give him the beads. It didn't feel appropriate anymore.

That night I applied it to my lips and found myself smiling at my own reflection. I looked like an ordinary woman my age. However, I wasn't and I knew that. I never questioned my duties as a priestess but lately…

Is this what love is? Yes.

While picking flowers with Kaede, a few days after, I heard the screaming of villagers. I looked up and saw demons swarming the skies. Terror flooded through my system as I realized that I didn't sense them.

"I didn't sense them?" I ran with Kaede towards the village and noticed Inuyasha had a head start at striking down demons.

"Inuyasha!" I called and he whipped his head around to look at me before he turned back and continued with his own attacks.

"Took you long enough, Kagome!" I aimed my arrow and released, striking the closest demon.

"Forgive me." The demons weren't all purified. That's right, Kikyo's spiritual powers weakened when she fell in love with Inuyasha. Tsubaki mentioned that love would weaken her. My body forced me to lose focus in search for Inuyasha when I heard Kaede's alarmed voice.

"Watch out sister Kagome!"

Her arrow didn't have the desired effect that would destroy the demon since she was so young so it started going after her. My heart raced and my fingers went numb as I fired my arrow at the demon hovering over her. The sound of her high-pitched scream made my blood run cold; I knew the outcome of my doing. Kaede held her eye, which was oozing blood, with a trembling hand.

"I'm o-okay." Guilt struck me wholly and dread filled my body. As I took a step in her direction to take her and treat her wounds, the evil heavy aura of demons came closer. Pivoting on my heel, I fired my arrows non-stop, killing any demon in my way, until they were all dead. Kaede whimpered in pain, causing my bottom lip to tremble while tears brimmed my eyes and I released another arrow.

I left Kaede sleeping soundly to visit Inuyasha and explain how guilty I felt of the results of my doing. He soothed me by trying to convince me that it wasn't my fault—that it was an accident but even his words couldn't quash the gripping feeling I felt of regret. It was like a stifling emotion that gnawed at the inside of my belly whenever I gazed at her. The loss of her eye would always serve as a constant reminder of my failure. I silently cursed the jewel for hurting anyone who it crossed paths with.

"Don't you ever get tired of fighting?" I voiced again not by free will.

"I don't know what you mean." He answered sitting beside me.

"I mean wouldn't you want to live a normal human life? The jewel can grant you that. It is true that it can be used for evil but it can also be used for good."

He sat in wonder, staring off into the sky. "What would happen to you?"

"The jewel would cease to exist." I whispered to the wind. "Without its existence I wouldn't have a duty to protect it from the hands of evil—I'd be an ordinary woman." This longing I feel in my chest…

"I'll do…it." I turned my head to him and saw him blushing slightly.

"You will?"

"Yes."

"I'll see you here tomorrow at dawn." He nodded and we walked back to the canoe we used to arrive here with. Upon stepping off I ended up in Inuyasha's arms and just like in real life I blushed. He hugged me and I felt like crying. He wasn't hugging me, he was hugging Kikyo.

"Kagome, I will become human—I'm not just saying that. I will do it, so we can live a normal human life and you can become my wife." My eyes widened at his confession. I knew of his desire to be by her side all his life but I never heard him say that before and it struck me down like bricks. I felt sick but my body willed me to move and I found myself kissing him before making our way back to the village.

I lied in bed pensive. Tomorrow's the day that Kikyo dies—that I die. Tomorrow I'll experience the betrayal and pain that she felt that day. I-I wish I didn't have to go through this. All too soon I fell asleep and awoke the sun already starting to rise. I grabbed the jewel and ran to the spot.

"Oh I'm so very late!" When I arrived no one was there as expected. I took out the lip stain to apply on my lips when I noticed, too late, the presence behind me. A sharp pain came from my shoulder and I saw the man that was supposed to be Inuyasha standing before me. I didn't even hear him. I knew the rest of the story and how this would end so when he left, I struggled to drag myself back to the village, bow and arrow in hand. When my eyes caught Inuyasha's fleeting figure, I felt a knot form in my stomach.

"Inuyasha!" I yelled and he turned around towards me, his eyes holding hurt and fury in them. I'm sorry… I let go and the arrow struck him, causing him to let go of the jewel he possessed in his hand. I staggered over to the jewel, dropping to my knees as I clutched it to my chest, pain searing through my shoulder. A tear fell from my eye at the realization of what I had just done while everyone gathered around me.

"Lady Kagome!"

"All for this…" My voice stung with betrayal but my mind knew better. No, it wasn't Inuyasha. It was Naraku.

"We have to clean those wounds." Kaede hurried anxiously but I knew it was too late. It all ended here for Kikyo and it would end here for me too. There was no changing the past.

"Listen to me Kaede, take the jewel and burn it with my body. I shall take it to the other world so that it will never fall in the hands of evil again." My shoulder stung painfully and my eyes started losing focus. Before I knew it, the world seemed to go black and I felt my life leaving my body.

I heard Inuyasha's voice speak my name and suddenly I opened my eyes, seeing myself in front of him. When I looked up, Uresui was standing beside me with a satisfied look on her face while Inuyasha's held disbelief.

"I am your mother." She extended her arms towards me so that she could envelop me. I realized I was still playing out Kikyo's life. With a simple touch, I killed Uresui and tried to kill Inuyasha next, though luckily in a futile attempt. I was dropped over the cliff and fell to my demise.

When I awoke I was in the middle of a forest, leaning against a tree, and in front of me was the well that I used to travel between the worlds.