Hope and Choice

by XxSayuyaxX

The universe is all about balance. Good and Evil. The Eternal Struggle. It is said that the Shikon no Tama needs a pure wish to be destroyed and that requires a good, pure person. So when Naraku is defeated and the Jewel gone, that leaves a lot of extra purity in the world... and there must be balance. (Rated for language)

7. Chapter 7 - Glaring Jewelry

She was sick to her stomach by the time the images faded from her mind and she had the distinct impression of falling to her knees. She thought she would black out from the pain in her heart and soul. Despite the years spent traipsing through the Sengoku Jidai, she had never seen an expression like that on anyone's face. At least no one that was still alive by the time she got there.

She was shaking; she wasn't even really aware of her physical body at the moment, at least as physical as it got on this plane, but she was so repulsed and upset that even her very essence was shaking. She couldn't stop trembling no matter how hard she tried. The image of Shippo screaming in excruciating pain was stuck in her mind's eye; the same few moments replying over and over. Tears gathered in her eyes even as she fought them back.

She could not be weak right now, that's what the Jewel wanted. She stopped and thought about that statement. That's right, it wasn't real. Shippo was fine, her body was still in a suspended animation, Midoriko was waiting for her and the only thing that was threatening anyone right now was her own weakness. How could she possibly win this fight if she let the Jewel get to her that easily? But still... nothing she had ever seen before sickened her like that.

She gave herself a mental head shake. If she wanted to protect Shippo, she had to destroy the Jewel and if she wanted to do that, she had to win this mental tug-of-war. Midoriko warned her the Jewel would fight back. This was how it was going to do it and now she was pissed. No one threatened the boy she secretly thought of as her son like that and that included thrice damned jewels!

Her resolve restored, she yanked the Jewel toward her. There was no trying anymore; as far as Kagome was concerned, there was only one ending to this battle- the Jewel destroyed and gone. No longer was losing even an option in her mind. In fact, there weren't any other thoughts in her mind at all. Her entire being was made up of one purpose: win.

Suddenly, there was a snap sensation and she knew she had won. She knew the Jewel was now on this plane with her and it was time to make her wish. She opened her eyes and looked down to find the Jewel resting in her palms. Despite the fact that it had no eyes or any other features to make it possible, she got the distinct impression that it was glaring at her.