Title: Shot Through the Heart

Author: landofthekwt

Rating: PG-13

Prompt: Sacred Arrow (The Wilted Rose Week #34)

Word Count: 741

Genre: Death in the Afternoon

Warning: Character Deaths

Summary: Kikyou changes the course of history with her shot

" Again, Again. Again." screamed Tsubaki. The snotty little shrine girl would not escape her wrath. She would suffer for taking her master's favor from her. By the time she got through with Kikyou she would wish she had never been born.

" You must pull the sacred power from deep within yourself. That is how you arm the arrows. You must be convinced of the righteousness of your cause. Any doubt or lack of faith in your mission will cause the arrows to misfire."

"You must believe that you are the servant of the kami. They will be satisfied with nothing less than the destruction of their enemies. The purification that you crave will be achieved only when the youkai are ash."

"Purity is not about being truth, justice or goodness. Even a kuromiko can draw on the sacred power. It is about doing the will of the kami. If you fail, it is because you are weak. You do not have the faith and fortitude necessary to be a true miko"

"Is that you Kikyou?. Are you weak? Are you willing to sacrifice your life, your life and your hopes to carry out the will of the kami? Show me what you are made of. Show me that you are willing to give up everything in your life so that you can carry out their will by destroying their enemies."

"There is no place for weak sisters who want love, home and family. Those are the ordinary women who birth the babies and live in squalid conditions dependent on their husbands for their livelihood"

"Are you willing to give up all that? Do you feel the burn inside of you that a true miko feels when she is drawing on her purifying powers? Feel the anger. Feel the rage. Feel your enemy shiver in terror? Is that you Kikyou or shall we find another to serve the kami?"

Tsubaki smirked with satisfaction. She could feel the rage building inside of Kikyou. It was burning away all desire for the things which other women craved. She knew she had succeeded.

This one was one of the best. Soon not even she or her master would be to stand against this one. The kami had chosen well. The target exploded in a shower of pink light.

Kikyou knew she was dying, but she had one last duty. The hanyou must die for his actions. The kami would be appeased by . She must kill him before he died or he would escape with the jewel. How could she stand before the kami if she failed in her task as guardian of the Jewel?

She could feel the rage building inside of her. Despite her injuries her powers were unaffected.

As soon as the hanyou came in range she would fire. In her condition she would have only one shot. She had no doubt. Her arrow always hit the mark, purifying all evil in its wake.

The hanyou was flying before her, but failed to see her. Normally she was a silent killer. The circumstances required to scream before she fired. " As she screamed " Die Inuyasha": she faltered. The purification power within the arrow was altered by her mental state.

She did not want to kill Inuyasha. He was her lover. The man who would have been her husband and the father of her children. She could not bear to see him again in this world or the next. Only one path suggested itself in that split second of doubt.

She must seal him. The arrow would suspend him between life and death. They would never meet again in this world or the next. She knew that she must take the Jewel to the netherworld beyond the reach of evil persons. .

The arrow flew true into his heart. He had only a moment of surprise that she could do this to him before he succumbed to the power of the arrow. She had an eternity of sorrow and regrets. to live with before she could die as he hung just beyond her reach.

She had served the kami to the end. Through her actions she ensured that the Jewel was placed beyond the reach of evil, that her lover was where he needed to be when she returned and that the love which they had was truly eternal triumphing over time and death itself.