In the bitter chill of the night, the Tensaiga stood as a silent sentry over the grave of Sesshoumaru. It had been there when its master had died; it had tried to grant his final request, but had only partially succeeded. Now it pulsated with energy, and an eerie white light spilled from it while clouds swirled over head. Its master had returned and the Tensaiga still had a task to complete.

****

"Damnit Kagome," a frantic Inuyasha yelled as he prowled in front of her "now you've finally done it. He's coming and I don't know if I can stop him."

"For the last time Inuyasha, I've chosen to be with Sess. He's not going to leave me because his past."

"Oh, you think not? Wake up then and see for yourself."

Kagome's eyes shot open and she instantly felt the emptiness of the room. Sess was gone.

*****

In a mountain cave isolated from the world, Kikyou stirred from her meditation. She opened her deathless eyes and glared down at the form in front of her. "You promised yourself to me, Inuyasha, I will not allow you forget me and I certainly am not willing to share you. My reincarnation made a terrible mistake when she returned to within my reach."

Kikyou rose grabbing her bow and arrows while she summoned her soul catchers, a moment later she had exited the mountain cave and was nothing but a dark silhouette against the moon's glowing face.

****

Almost as though she were unconsciously mirroring Kikyou, Kagome grabbed her own bow and arrows, flinging the quiver over her shoulder and rushing out into the darkness. Pausing to get her bearings, she immediately took note of the spinning vortex of clouds over head. Locating the epicenter, she saw that it hung near the edge of the forest which seemed to be glowing white. Without further thought, she raced toward it like a shot in the dark.

***

A frown crossed Kikyou's usually impassive face. Something odd was going on, she could feel something cutting through the veil that separated the living from the dead. Whatever it was caused a rare feeling of apprehension in her. She did not like it at all.

****

When Kagome found Sess, she could only stare at him in bewildered horror. Standing in front of what must have been Sesshoumaru's grave, he held the Tensaiga in front of him in a double handed grip. Shining like a star, the Tensaiga bathed Sess and the forest in an intense white light. Although he was not facing her, she knew instantly that he was locked in some kind of trance and was unaware of his surroundings. Kagome hesitantly stepped closer to the light, her mind registered a heat pressing into her back form her quiver. It seemed that as she stepped to within arm's reach of Sess, the heat grew stronger and demanded her attention. Although it wasn't burning her, she instinctively felt that it was something important. Slipping her quiver off her shoulder, she saw that the insides of her quiver were actually being illuminated somehow. Reaching in, her hand almost immediately found the source of the heat. Even as she pulled her hand out she knew what it was and regretted her actions. But her body was no longer fully under her control and her hand acted on its own just like with the phone that dark night. Emerging from the confines of her quiver, Inuyasha's beads glowed a pinkish white, just as they did when she activated the subduing spell. As she stared at the beads of her dead lover, the light they gave off grew steadily brighter and brighter until she and Sess disappeared within the light...

When Kagome's sense of the world return, she felt as though she had been slammed through a wall. He entire body registered an aching soreness with her. Opening her eyes, she found herself lying on the ground staring up into the arching branches of gargantuan trees. She had no doubt that she was...somewhere else; where that somewhere else was she didn't have a clue. Her last memory involved running through the night and into the forest but she now found herself sitting in some jungle with the gentle rays of the sun raining down on her. All around her, she could see the green of tropical jungle plants and little else. Trying to attune herself to her environment, she listened closely and then realized she could make out the sound of running water somewhere nearby.

Raising herself up from the ground, Kagome assessed her situation. Soooo...let's see we're lost in some jungle somewhere and have no supplies. Great. Well at least I can put all that experience from the feudal era to practical use. If there is rushing water nearby, tracing it down river should eventually lead to civilization. Assuming I'm not eaten or something.

Picking up a nearby stick for self-defense, she carefully headed toward the sound of the waters. To her surprise and gratification she did not have to walk far before emerging on the side of a river bank. It was then that something odd clicked in her mind, her surroundings were dead quiet. Absolute silence roared at her. There weren't any of the sounds of a jungle, no signs of animal life at all. Normally the sounds of at least birds could be heard as they marked off their territory. But no, the only thing making a sound was the rushing water beside her. Looking around, she became profoundly worried. She wasn't a biologist but for the jungle to be empty was...disturbing. In the distance she could make out a hump arching over the waters and was somewhat relieved. Ah ha! A bridge! If one of those is around then other people can't be too far away.

****

Very rarely did Kikyou feel anything such as mirth. After all she was dead, there was little to be happy about. But tonight was different. Kikyou, standing in-between life and death, had the ability to see into both worlds. Right now she watched Kagome as she ran toward the bridge and contempt and a feeling of superiority filled the long dead woman. The stupid girl was on the border between life and death and was obviously clueless as to the nature of her situation. I believe I shall enlighten her. It would be an amusing diversion for me an a painful distraction for her.

Kagome was still some distance away from the bridge when she heard a hateful voice from behind her. "Still foolishly running about and meddling in affairs beyond you I see."

Kagome turned around to see Kikyou calmly standing behind her. "I see your still a pain in the ass."

"Such language, it is no surprise then that Inuyasha chose me."

Kagome was stung deeply by that but refused to surrender so easily "For someone who is literally as valuable as the dirt she stands on, your sense of self worth is overblown."

Although Kikyou's expression didn't alter in the slightest, somehow the lines of her face became as sharp as crystal. "Since your ignorance is so apparent, I will provide you with a measure of enlightenment. You are no doubt wondering where you are; this is border between the world of the living and the land of the dead. On the other side of the river," Kikyou pointed across the rapids to a jungle that seemed shrouded in darkness "is where the dead reside. This river separates the two realms and in extraordinary circumstances a spirit can cross the river and reenter into life. If a spirit is very strong willed it can be reborn with a new body, if it is not as strong willed it will most likely return as a shade to haunt the living."

"How and why are you here then?" Kagome asked.

"My nature is unique, I straddle both worlds so both worlds are open to me."

Kagome did not fail to notice that she had not answered the second part of her question. "So then, why are you here talking to me?"

For the first time in a long while, Kikyou smiled. Kagome felt a line of ice form on her spine. "Do you remember, Kagome, when I told you there did not need to be two of us in this reality? I know you have returned from that future era of yours and I will pay you a visit shortly."

****

If, before meeting Kagome, someone had told Sess the truth about himself he would have scoffed and said that such a thing was absurd. But now facing his other self, his other half, he knew differently. At the moment, Sess was looking into burning yellow eyes, ones that could have been his own if not for the fact they were filled with arrogance and disgust. It was in the darkness of some nameless jungle beyond life that he stood off against his past to realize his future.

"So you are the part of me that wished to die." Sesshoumaru said coldly

"So you are the part of me that couldn't live." Sess returned evenly.

If it had been anyone else that spoke those words Sesshoumaru would have ripped them to pieces. However, Sesshoumaru couldn't really harm Sess, in the end it would only harm himself. This confrontation amounted to a test of wills to determine the nature of their return. "You pitiful human, I ruled over the entire Western Lands for more years than everyone in your pathetic family has lived combined. I've seen more and accomplished more than you ever will. Do not dare to suggest that I knew nothing of life."

Sess showed not a hint of fear when he spoke, much to Sesshoumaru's annoyance. Sess understood perfectly now the relationship between them. "When during all those years did you feel happy? You didn't did you? Now I understand why there are two of us. You are the part of the soul that was afraid of exposing yourself to anyone. After seeing your family shattered, you locked away your inmost self; determined that no one would ever hurt you like your father did your mother. But I was that inmost self, the part seeking the freedom to live and escape our solitude. Which explains Rin-"

Sesshoumaru cut him off sharply. "I desire no one and I need no one."

"But that is not the case is it? Since the day our parents died we had been secretly craving more than just empty survival. Jaken gave us fear and respect but that wasn't enough, that's the hidden truth behind Rin's resurrection. She gave her love and smiles so readily, we just couldn't bear to part with her. You justified it as just a test of the Tensaiga but you really wanted a companion more than a servant."

Sesshoumaru stared daggers at Sess. To be lectured by this weaker version of himself as though he were no more than a boy infuriated him. Stepping closer and seizing a handful of Sess's shirt he lifted upwards. "Your foolishness knows no ends. When we were alive, no one doubted our power and all gave us their fear and respect. Without those, the empire left us by our father would have collapsed."

Sess calmly looked down at Sesshoumaru, still showing no signs of fear which only served to further aggravate Sesshoumaru. His other half was being obstinate and more drastic steps to might be needed. Sess could only think of one way to force the truth on Sesshoumaru but he didn't want to resort to that quite yet. "But isn't it true that having all those things only made more acute the heart ache you felt. The more you had, the more alone you felt. Rin helped to alleviate that pain but you really wanted someone like Kagome."

Sesshoumaru's eyes were turning red as his barely contained fury made itself more apparent. "Are you deaf? I told you before I need NO ONE!"

"If that were true I wouldn't be here." Sess lifted his hand up to Sesshoumaru's and slit open his left palm with Sesshoumaru's right thumb talon.

Sesshoumaru looked at his other self in confusion. "What are you doing?"

Sess held up his bloody palm "I understand now that our blood can create a powerful connection, a bond, that I can use to show you the truth about yourself."

Sess gripped Sesshoumaru's hand in his bloody one.

It begins gently at first, a series of sparks puncturing the perpetual darkness shrouding Sesshoumaru's closeted heart. He hears the laughter of Sess, Kagome and all their friends and family...and those sparks become roaring flames. Sesshoumaru feels himself come alive in the fires of passion and hope, purified in the blaze of intimacy, strengthened in the crucible of camaraderie...but only for a moment...the glimmer of potential flashes by in an instant..like the ghostly touch of a long departed friend within him.

It is something he remembers, something he felt long ago, in world seen through young eyes, when happiness sounded in his voice, when laughter escaped his lips, when he shared their joys, their hopes, their dreams...when his heart was not caged in ice. Now, looking into the mirror of his own soul and into the reflection of his own existence, what does Sesshoumaru see? A life made empty by his refusal to live it and his decision to instead endure it.

Sesshoumaru was on his knees hunched over the ground, his one arm clutching the earth in front of him. I am nothing. Less than nothing, just an empty shell of life

Sess knelt down beside him knowing his unspoken thoughts. "It doesn't have to be that way. You can live and have another chance. Just take my hand and be made whole again. Kagome is waiting for us."

Sesshoumaru had made some poor choices in his life. Turning his heart to ice, he had tried to shut everyone out, to be invulnerable in isolation. How he regretted it, wasting so much of his life without love or laughter. But he can make new decisions. Tentatively, without lifting his eyes from the ground, he took Sess's hand.

Memories wash over them both, fusing the two incomplete halves of their soul together. So much pain and remorse but also hope that life can be better. That love, that Kagome, was worth everything.

When it was all over, only one thing could be said: "Its good to be alive."

****

Miroku and Sango stared in silence at each other while listening to the sounds of the night. Beyond the sounds of wood creeking and their own breathing, a low whistling sound could be heard. If others were awake they might have ignored the sound, thinking it was only the breeze blowing, but Sango and Miroku knew better. They had heard that eerie sound too often before; it was the sound of Kikyou's soul gatherers and they were coming closer. It would be too much of a coincidence to believe that Kikyou was just dropping by for a visit and that Kagome just happened to be here. They both knew that the dead priestess had tried to kill Kagome before and suspected that was her reason for appearing now.

"Kohaku, Kirara, get up! We've got trouble!" Sango called out. A moment later she heard her brother opening the door to her and Miroku's room.

"Wha-"

She cut him off before he could finish. "No time for questions, get your weapons."

Neither Miroku nor Sango bothered to get fully dressed, they knew time was of the essence. Instead they focused on their weapons. In a moment, the disheveled but extremely dangerous group was outside. Miroku took one look at the glowing forest and the vortex of clouds over it and pointed. "I think we have a pretty good guess where Kikyou's going."

Sango set off toward the light, her weapons clanging in the night as she ran. "Less talk, more running."

Miroku and a very baffled Kohaku ran off after her as Kirara transformed and followed.

****

Jaken had been patiently watching the Tensaiga all night. He had only the vaguest idea what was going on as he watched silently the events unfold. He knew that the Tensaiga had called to the one called Sess and he had witnessed the light envelope both him and Kagome when she arrived. He was unsure what part the prayer beads played but was convinced it was important. All he was sure about was that whatever was happening within that blinding light should be allowed to go on undisturbed and that he would stand sentry against any intrusions. And so he had stood guard, only now their was a whistling in the wind. He couldn't say why exactly, but Jaken felt that the eerie whistling was just a prelude to something far worse.

"Come on, Come on!"

Jaken recognized that voice it belonged to Sango, as a professional exterminator, she unnerved him deeply. If she was out here it was a good bet the monk and her brother were here also.

As they came into view, Jaken could see by the light being cast that they were armed to the teeth and expecting trouble. Leaving his hiding place Jaken addressed the group in his nasal voice "Here now, what is this all about?"

Sango turned to see the toad creature emerging from the edge of the forest.

He's been here a while.

"I'm guessing that you know more than we do. All we know for certain is that Kikyou is coming and chances are she's going to try to kill Kagome. She wouldn't happen to be somewhere in that light would she?"

Jaken debated how much information to give for a moment before answering her. "Yes, she and...the other both came to this grave. I think the Tensaiga was calling to Sess and then she arrived. She withdrew from her quiver glowing prayer beads. After that the light grew stronger until," Jaken motioned to the grave sight "this."

"Great," Sango muttered.

****

At the bridge that connected the world of the living to the world of the dead, a familiar figure dressed in a red haori and with silver hair spilling past his shoulders waited.

"I knew you'd come here eventually," Inuyasha spat as he flexed his claws. Standing at the entrance to bridge, he looked into his brother's golden eyes. "I won't let you return."

"I have no interest in fighting you, Inuyasha, I only want to return to Kagome."

In a burst of red, Inuyasha leapt forward, claws to the attack. "DON'T YOU DARE SAY HER NAME! JUST STAY THE HELL AWAY FROM HER!"

Inuyasha's claws failed to hit their mark as his brother slid past him in a whisper of movement. "Is your wish to keep her alone forever? Do you want her to have the kind of relationship you have with Kikyou? Are you going to carve a place of emptiness in her heart and fill it your pain?"

"SHUT THE FUCK UP!" Inuyasha roared launched himself once again but still couldn't make contact. To say that he was enraged would be an understatement of epic proportions. "YOU DON'T KNOW ANYTHING! YOU THINK I WANTED TO DIE? I WANTED TO BE WITH KAGOME FOREVER! I NEVER WANTED TO LEAVE HER! BUT I COULDN'T FORGET SOMEONE WHO HAD DIED FOR ME! I HAD PROMISED TO PROTECT HER BUT WHEN IT MATTERED MOST I COULDN'T! WHAT WAS I SUPPOSED TO DO? FORGET ABOUT HER?

Inuyasha had stopped his attacks momentarily while guarding the entrance to the bridge. He glared at his brother, hating him with every fiber of his being. It wasn't fair that the stuck up ass should get Kagome, not when he'd wanted her for so long. "You don't deserve her, you haven't suffered like I have."

****

Kikyou's soul gatherers gently lowered her to the ground and then started circling over head as she took in the scene before her. The companions that her reincarnation traveled with arrayed in front of her, obviously ready for battle. In addition, Sesshoumaru's retainer seemed to be allied with them.

She briefly gave her attention to Kagome on the spirit border. "Looks like your friends are going to try and stop me from killing your physical body. That is unfortunate for them."

"I swear Kikyou-"

"I really can't spare any attention to you right now. Good bye."

"Lady Kikyou," the houshi, Miroku was his name Kikyou recalled, spoke up. "What business do you have here?"

"I am looking for my reincarnation. Even in death, Inuyasha is still consorting with her. Once I sever her strings to life, Inuyasha will be able to give himself over to me completely in his grief and love me in despair for all eternity."

With a pitiless expression she took in the entire group, "Leave now or I'll send you to join your ancestors."

Sango was the first to articulate the defender's thoughts. "Just try it."

Kikyou smiled wickedly. "If you insist."

A moment later and hell broke loose. To everyone's surprise, even his own, Jaken was the first to enter into the fray. He let loose with the staff of heads and fire lit the night red and orange as Kikyou disappeared behind a wall of flame. For a moment, he hoped that perhaps he had managed to defeat the priestess from hell, but it was a foolish hope. An arrow shot forth from the wall of flame and with incredible precision struck the mouth of the fire breathing head and stopped the spewing inferno instantly.

Kikyou, to the shock of everyone, emerged serenely from the flame with another arrow already nocked. It was as though the fire was perfectly natural to her. Pinning Jaken with an icy stare she said "Your fire trick will not work on me, my body was created in a kiln."

Jaken hurriedly scampered off the battlefield and into the forest.

Kohaku and Sango were the next to attack, doing so in unison trying to take advantage of Kikyou's arrogant taunting. Lashing out with his weapon, Kohauku aimed for the bow trying to destroy it as Sango unhitched her Hiraikotsu and sent it slicing through the air. Behind them Miroku started placing protective sutras around the area containing Kagome and Sess, hoping to create a fall back position. Despite the indisputable ferocity of the Hunters' attack, Kikyou refused to fall. With incredible speed, she dodged Sango's attack while expertly catching Kohaku's chain blade in her hand. Kohaku tried to pull the weapon back to him, but Kikyou sent a line of pink lightning down the weapon's length. Kohaku didn't even have time to scream as the energy coursed through him, burning away all awareness of the world. A moment later, Kohaku hit the dirt and did not move again.

Without even a pause in the action, Kirara leapt from the fires in back of Kikyou, extending her claws and hoping to take the priestess by surprise. But the flickering fire light betrayed her and the shadow she cast warned Kikyou to the threat. In the twinkling of an eye, the fearsome firecat was caught up in the same kind of energy that had lain Kohaku low. Mewling, pitifully she dropped to the ground like a wounded kitten.

Sango fought the urge to give into her rage as her Hiraikotsu returned to her. Letting her emotions control her would only play into Kikyou's hands and she had to be assess the situation with a clear mind. Despite the quickly mounting casualties, Kikyou didn't seem to be in any rush, probably felt that no one opposing her was a true threat and wanted to take her time. Just as a feline will take its time and play with a mouse before killing it.

Picking up the motionless Kirara, now shrunk to the size of a kitten, Kikyou threw it to the side and then looked at Kohaku curiously. "I could have sworn he was already dead."

Sango could see that Kikyou was about to get a big surprise, but she need to buy some more time and make sure the dead woman's attention was on her. "Since you mention, yes he was dead." Just a few more seconds "We managed to revive him though."

Even as the word "though" left Sango's lips, twin hammers of white lightning pummeled Kikyou into the ground. Jaken had returned to battle and brought reinforcements with him. Ah-Un could be seen over head, his scaly form lit up by the barrages of lightning he viciously slammed into the ground. Sango knew an opportunity when she saw one and wasn't going to waste this one. Unfurling her Hiraikotsu, she sent it spinning out, aiming at the barely discernable form of Kikyou within the lightning strikes.

Sango would never know if she hit her mark. In the next moment a colossal fuscia geyser of energy rocked the land and shot upwards toward the sky, almost like a blade aimed at God. When the God-killing blade finally retracted back toward earth, only Kikyou and Miroku were left standing.

There had been many times in his life when Miroku had faced death. But somehow they all paled when compared to the situation he found himself in now. Kikyou stalked toward him, gravel crunching under foot. Her eyes glowed white hot, and waves of energy surrounded her like a deadly aura.

"You should have studied harder," Kikyou whispered harshly as she stepped up to the protective barrier he had erected. "Then perhaps you would have been able to make a respectable defense."

Almost lovingly, she ran her hand, along the barrier Miroku had created. In the next moment, the barrier had shattered as easily as a child's sand castle under a shovel. Before he could react, Kikyou brought up the first two fingers of her right hand and touched Miroku's forehead. Her power pulsed out and threw him into the forest like a rag doll.

Kikyou surveyed her work. "All too easy." Pausing for a moment, she caressed the energy that was engulfing her reincarnation. She could sense that Kagome was next to someone and there was some sort of conflict happening that involved that one.

"The conflict is of no importance to me, Kagome. Only your death matters."

****

While grappling with his brother, Inuyasha heard Kikyou's words and stopped his attacks. His eyes filled with turmoil as his brother spoke the words he most feared.

"Do you hear that Inuyasha? Because of your selfishness Kagome is going to die. Unless you let me pass right now."

Inuyasha's heart was tearing almost audibly. He was supposed to be there for her, he was supposed to comfort her, he was supposed to protect her. He loved Kagome and wanted to be with her, but that could never be. He could never reach her, the distance between them was a great as the gulf between the living and the dead. Literally.

****

Kikyou took aim while savoring the final moment of her reincarnation's death. "Goodbye, Kagome, my reincarnation."

"YOU LEAVE HER ALONE!"

Kikyou barely had time to register an orange blur, before it knocked into her throwing off her aim. A moment later, a little girl appeared in her vision, running toward her and swinging a tree branch clumsily. Grabbing the writhing creature that knocked into her, she flung it at the little girl and was rewarded with a harsh thwacking sound. The girl stumbled back, knocking her head against a rock outcropping and was stunned but the other, it was a kitsune Kikyou realized, darted forward to the attack once more. "I WON'T LET YOU KILL KAGOME!"

Catching the fox child in her hand, Kikyou held him up to her sneering face "You think you can stop me? Think again."

"YEAH? TRY THIS!" Shippou brought out one of his containment scrolls, the type he had used on Inuyasha in the past, and placed it on Kikyou and then jumped back. As he expected, she froze immediately and was immobile. But what he did not expect was the sutra to start glowing pink. A moment later the sutra burned away to nothing.

"At another time, little one," Kikyou said icily "I would have found that amusing. But I am not currently in the mood for entertainment." Kikyou gestured and spirit gatherers constricted tightly around the kitsune and the still aching little girl.

****

Inuyasha was still in front of the bridge blocking the way to Kagome but not attacking. His golden eyes stared into his brother's eyes. Eyes that Inuyasha imagined were like his own when he was alive and trying to save Kagome. Eyes with strength and determination that Kagome trusted in. Could he do the same?

"Stop fighting me and get out of the way Inuyasha, only I can protect her."

****

Kikyou was taking up her bow and arrows again when she heard gravel being crunched under foot. She didn't really need to turn around to know who it was.

"Hello Kaeda, did I wake you from your sleep?"

"Aye, 'tis hard to miss a pillar of light shooting up at the sky. Those two reckless children were out the door before I could stop them." Kaeda was silent for a moment.

"Kikyou," Kaede said in a sad voice. "Why do you continue to trouble the living? Can you not let go of your pain and hatred? Haven't you been carrying it around long enough?"

Kikyou turned to glare at her younger sister. "No, I cannot. Inuyasha's heart was supposed to be mine and mine alone. Along as she is alive he will never be able to give himself over to me completely."

"Is that why you took the body? It was you wasn't it? Did you want to deny him even a proper burial to add to his torment?"

A sudden gust of wind caused Kikyou's hair to billow out from behind her. "I took his body so that I could preserve it perfectly. I've placed numerous wards upon it so that time cannot touch it. He is now a timeless memory of death, frozen forever in the pain of his last moments. Just as I am. Now stay where you are and do not get in my way sister."

Kaeda took aim with her own bow and arrows "I cannot. I will not."

****

Protect her. That's what I wanted to do. Kikyou's face, so sad and holding him responsible for her death, surfaced Inuaysha's mind. Her vengeful eyes blamed him for failing to protect her. Then Kagome's face, with its smiling radiance appeared in his mind's eye. He couldn't bear to have her eyes turn like Kikyou's, so full of malice and despair. If he wanted to protect Kagome he really only had one choice.

"Then go, please tell her I still love her and I always will. And never fail to protect her."

****

Kikyou felt a pang of remorse when she had finished with her sister. But Kaede should have known better than to raise arms against her elder sister. Elder sister? What bitter irony.

Kikyou turned once more to where her reincarnation was while silently cursing all these interruptions. Abruptly the blinding light that had been flooding the area ceased. To Kikyou's immense surprise the former Lord of the Western Lands stood in the darkness, glaring at her with golden eyes and holding what she assumed was the Tensaiga in a preparatory stance.

Taking measure of the situation, she asked "Aren't you dead?"

"Aren't you?"

"I don't have the patience for games right now," Kikyou said menacingly while nocking an arrow. "Get out the way or I'll send you send you back to the grave."

"I doubt that."

"Let's find out"

During her life Kikyou had been of legendary power and skill. The number of youkai she had killed were beyond counting. Yet she had never really utilized her full power, none of those she had faced had been worth it. Now however, every ounce of her strength was being tested against the inu youkai. She raised a pink ovoid barrier around herself while firing arrow after blazing arrow at her opponent. Her searing arrows carved great wounds in the forest as they consistently missed their target and instead ripped trees apart into flaming splinters showering the night with a rain of fire. The youkai's lightning speed was too great for Kikyou's arrows but in return her shield repelled his decimating attacks one after the other. The ground around her groaned in agony as it virtually exploded from the ferocity of his strikes. Neither one could harm the other as they raged against each other doing their utmost to destroy one another.

Something struck and rang out against Kikyou's barrier causing it to collapsed in on itself. Horrified, she turned to see Kagome with an empty bow in hand. She did it...

Before another thought could form in her disbelieving mind, the Tensaiga was planted firmly in her chest and driven back pinning her to a tree.

Staring into golden orbs, Kikyou knew her second life was over. "I know that you aren't really alive. You have trapped the souls of others inside you and use their power as your own. The Tensaiga is capable of liberating those souls and even releasing whatever part of Kagome is still inside of you. Goodbye Kikyou."

A moment later, Kikyou's face contorted painfully as cracks of light started forming in it. In fact, beneath her clothing light started to pour forth as the souls imprisoned within her began to claw their way free. The Tensaiga thrummed deeply in the night air and Kikyou's face actually fell inward causing ardent light to pour out along with her souls.

Kagome watched in horrified amazement at the sight in front of her. Streams of souls were erupting from Kikyou and flying heavenward. All except one. One shimmering orb was actually trying to force its way back in; trying in vain to cling to that broken body of clay. Looking at the soul, Kagome could somehow feel its profound anguish. That must be the part of me that Kikyou kept and its still trying to live. On impulse Kagome reached up and stretched her hand toward it. The glowing orb froze for a moment, seeming to hesitate in indecision. Then it floated toward her and reaching her outstretched hand, was absorbed into it. A moment later a feeling like coming home washed over her.

Kagome turned to the person holding the Tensaiga.

"Sess?"

He faced her, and in the remaining fire light she saw him clearly. A blue crescent moon rested on his brow and magenta stripes graced his cheeks. "Yes and no. I suppose it depends on how you look at it."

In a flash he stood before her, boring into her eyes with his amber ones. "But no matter what, I am still the one who promised you his whole heart." He wrapped his arms around Kagome. "No matter what I will never leave your side."

Kagome felt all her tension leave her as she leaned into his chest. "So what is your name?"

She felt his breath on her ear. "You can call me Sess."

She smiled "Well Sess, do you think you can use the Tensaiga to heal everyone?"