Inuyasha woke up before the sun came up. He looked at his sleeping mate and smiled. He leaned down and kissed her on the side of her head. Kagome opened her eyes and she looked up at him.

"Why are you up so early?" she asked, rubbing her eyes. "I wanted to get you up so we can practice your shooting." Kagome sat up, rubbing her eyes. She nodded. "How are your ribs feeling this morning?" she asked.

Inuyasha nodded. "They still hurt a bit, but I think they are pretty much healed." Kagome nodded. Kagome cooked them breakfast and they ate together, happily. They headed to the woods to practice.

Inuyasha pointed to a tree. "See that tree? Go ahead and hit it." Kagome nodded. She mounted her arrow and pointed it at the tree. She drew back, released, and missed. She sighed in frustration. She tried to shoot again.

Inuyasha practiced his swing, trying to work his shoulder. Kagome closed her eyes and she tried to focus. She took a deep breath and she opened her eyes, shooting at the tree again. She missed again.

"UGH!" yelled Kagome in frustration. She sat on the ground and she put the bow down, sighing. "What's the matter?" he asked, walking over to her. Kagome turned to look at him. "I can't aim! I can't even hit something as big as a damn tree." she yelled in annoyance.

She put her head on her folded arms. Inuyasha sighed deeply. "Kagome, you can't give up. I wonder if something is blocking you." Kagome looked at him. "What do you mean?" Inuyasha sat next to her.

"Maybe there is something in your subconscious that is blocking you. Like some part of you doesn't want to fight?" Kagome sighed and she looked down. "Maybe. The last time I used my bow and arrow it was to help you."

She sighed. "But that wasn't even me." She bowed her head. "You mean the one that hit Naraku?" Kagome nodded. "That wasn't my power. That was Kikyo." Inuyasha looked at her in shock.

"Kikyo?" he asked. Kagome nodded. "I begged Kikyo to help me to save you because I couldn't do anything. I guess she answered my prayer. And then I was able to destroy Naraku." Inuyasha put his hand on her shoulder.

"Kikyo may have helped you, but the destruction of Naraku was your power." Kagome looked at him. "You did that, Kagome. You destroyed Naraku. You saved me. You." Kagome looked back at the ground.

"I just want to be useful. I want to be reliable. I want to be a good fighting companion for you. And right now I can't do that. You should have someone like Kikyo helping you. Kikyo never second-guessed herself and she was always reliable. And I'm not Kikyo."

"You're right." Kagome turned to look at him. "You're not Kikyo. You're Kagome. And that's all you need to be."

Kagome sighed. "If I didn't think that I could trust you to have my back, I wouldn't bring you with me. You are reliable. You are just in a rut right now."

"And the Kagome I know wouldn't quit. No matter how frustrating it is." Kagome looked at him and nodded. "Now stop comparing yourself to Kikyo and pick yourself up and do it." Kagome nodded and she stood up.

She took a deep breath and focused and looked at the tree. She breathed out slowly and she released. She hit the tree in the middle of the trunk. Kagome smiled and mounted another, aiming it at the tree. She hit it again.

When she emptied her quiver she looked at the tree trunk. It had every single arrow in the same area of the trunk. Kagome smiled and jumped up. She turned and looked at Inuyasha. She hugged him tightly.

"I knew you could do it, Kagome." Kagome smiled and she looked at her bow and frowned. "Are you okay?" he asked. She looked at her open hand. "My powers never returned. Even after the jewel and Naraku was destroyed."

Inuyasha looked at her hand. "That doesn't make sense. I thought they would have returned." Kagome nodded. "Maybe they're sealed permanently." Inuyasha took her hand. "Why don't we have Miroku and Sango over and we can talk about it."

Kagome nodded. They walked through the village and stopped outside of Sango and Miroku's house. Sango came out and she looked at her friends and smiled. "Inuyasha, Kagome. Everything okay?" she asked.

Kagome nodded. "I was wondering if you and Miroku could join us for dinner." Sango nodded. "Rin is in there playing with the children. I can ask her to watch them for a bit." Kagome nodded. She and Inuyasha returned to the house and Kagome started to make dinner.

Kagome stayed quiet as she cooked. Inuyasha looked at her with worry. He walked over to her and hugged her from behind. He rested his chin on her shoulder. "We will figure this out, Kagome." Kagome said nothing.

"This is just a minor setback. We can work with this." Kagome separated from him. "I'm just frustrated. I just feel so useless. My powers were of use to you. And now I am just normal. I'm a normal 18-year-old with no powers."

Inuyasha sighed. "You are letting this get the best of you. You got your aim and accuracy up today. Take the victory and we will work on your powers another day. You are trying so hard to be useful and you have been back in this era for just a week. You are trying to be perfect and you haven't even been back that long. Take your time."

Kagome sighed and nodded. She hugged him and she got back to cooking. 'You don't get it Inuyasha. You think that I'm just being stubborn but there's more.' Kagome sat at the table and waited for the food to cook.

Kagome rested her chin on her hand. 'For some reason, I keep seeing Naraku. And it's so real. It's like he's haunting me from beyond that world. I didn't start seeing him until I returned here. I'm wondering if it's because I came back here and I subconsciously think that he's still a threat.'

Kagome sighed and looked outside, trying to let the sunset calm her rising anxiety.

CHAPTER REDONE MARCH 2024