A/N: Yep! Still alive! Busy as all freaking hell, but alive. I have promised to never abandon this story and I WILL finish it. It might take awhile, given I work two jobs (an average of 55-60 hrs a week) and attend school as well, but I thank you all for hanging in there with me through it all. You guys are fucking awesome.

This chapter has not yet been reviewed by a beta.

Genre: Romance/Angst/Drama- and what story is complete without a bit of action in there somewhere?

Rating: M

Disclaimer: Yep! I totally own two awesome animes and work two jobs just to pass the time!

There was a long stifling silence. It seemed to last for eons, no one moving, no one breathing, all eyes on the frozen avatar. It was an eerie stillness that none dared to break.

It was only the quiet puff of air as it escaped the man's nose that dared to break the silence. The flair of his nostrils was the only hint of expression.

Then, with a quiet -if not curt- 'excuse me', he spun on his heel to leave. Still, no one dared to speak and it was only when the crown of his red hair was about to vanish beneath the top of the shrine steps that his departure really sunk in. Once it had, the hybrid was in the detective's face, demanding details and answers, of which he had neither.

Meanwhile, Inuyasha and Kouga had called a truce long enough to join in on the interrogation, Shippo not far behind; the combined effort –a haphazard mess of shouting was probably a more accurate description- wasn't especially productive either way. In the background, a more demure pair of a fox god and a demon slayer discussed how to approach the matter.

The priestess was not among their numbers.

As for the detective, the man could only scowl as he took the brunt of being the messenger. Being barked at by a handful of testy demons, not that he was really one to talk, was not exactly the reaction that he'd been expecting. The entire situation left him feeling rather helpless and Yusuke wasn't keen on the sensation. Really, from what Koenma had told him, which wasn't much, Reikai hadn't even known about the abduction until the spider had informed them himself. It troubled him and something about it made his chest tighten. His gaze flitted to the well house and the demons in front of him were forgotten for a moment.

That this creature, powerful and slippery enough to escape Reikai's notice, was the same thing that Kagome had faced, that Kuwabara had faced, was downright unnerving. When the hybrid hissed at him for yet another piece of information he wasn't privy to, the detective snapped.

"Damn it, Hiei, I don't know. Reikai doesn't know."

Arms crossed, Shippo mumbled, "Because they ever know about the shit they get involved in?"

Resolving that the best course of action was to perhaps not tear out the detective's throat, the conversation quieted. The silence returned. Just as quickly, it was broken all over again.

"Hey guys…" Kuwabara frowned. "Where's Kagome?"

There was a moment of unspoken panic, and then the calm baritone of the fox god halted the potential chaos. "Calm yourselves, she is near."

Frowning, one half demon scented the air, more to ease his own nerves than to find any untruths in the god's declaration. He bristled.

If there was one thing Inuyasha had never been able to stand, it was to see Kagome cry. Even when they'd only just met, when they weren't on what one would call the best of terms, her tears had bothered him. It was the sight of her tears that spurred his oath to protect her. In the end, it might have been his foolishness to cause most of them, but he'd be damned if he let anyone else make the girl cry.

So, when Kagome slowly crested the top of the steps, gaze on the ground and a lingering scent of salt hovering over her, he growled.

The girl had sprinted after the avatar, the man having turned and left with a curt turn of phrase and a stoic expression more befitting to an aristocratic demon like his brother. Taking a step towards the priestess, Inuyasha hesitated when he saw the haunted look in her eyes.

He hadn't seen that look in awhile. It made his skin crawl to see that dark broken expression in her gaze again.

"Kagome…"

"Don't…I'm okay." Displaying her palm as if to halt the conversation where it stood, Inuyasha bristled and hesitated to push it for a moment. Yet, that kind of patience and decorum had never been a part of his nature.

"Damn it wench, don't lie to me! I know better than that!"

"Do you, really?" Her tone curt and a little more than dry, Kagome turned to narrow her eyes at her long time friend. He wasn't wrong, not entirely. He had been with her from the beginning of their journey, to the end, and plowed his way right into the sequel. While he was uncouth and generally insensitive, he'd never been completely ignorant on the emotions of those around them. Perhaps he'd been blind to the reasoning for them, but not the emotions themselves. He'd always been able to read her unnervingly well.

"Ka-"

"I need to think. I'm going to meditate a bit."

There was a lingering silence behind her, but Kagome did not turn to see it as she vanished into the well house. At the least, they knew better than to bother her.

"You are here again. Why?"

Lifting her gaze, Kagome found that of her incarnation and sobered under the curious stare of the older priestess. The last time she had seen the woman was when she had been pulled into the Kazana and she couldn't help but to wonder just where the void truly resided within their planes of reality.

There was so much more to the void that the Kazana led to, but that frontier was one to be explored on another day.

There were more pressing and immediate matters at hand and she already felt so lost.

She and Kikyo had never really seen eye to eye, there had been far too many obstacles placed between them to form any real connection beyond the soul that they shared. The unspoken competition between them had been the closest that they'd had.

Of course, there was the burden of the Shikon.

That was something that they had shared as well. Thinking on it, Kagome realized that they had shared more than they realized. Both of them were to bear the weight of the jewel, to sacrifice their lives to protect the pretty little bauble, and both of them had been cursed to solitude for such a duty.

They both bore the title of the lonely priestess. They were the same in that aspect.

"People are being hurt! Even now, when we have the jewel and there is an entire realm that is supposed to defend from things like Naraku, people are still being getting dragged into this!"

Exhaling shakily, Kagome looked down into the darkness. There was a stretch of silence, as Kikyo waited ever patiently for her to finish, before she looked to the older woman again.

"I don't know what to do…"

Tears burned her eyes and Kikyo said nothing, the silence allowing for a break in her resolve as a few salty drops slid down her cheeks. Then, the older priestess spoke and Kagome stood at attention.

"I think you do."

Eyes wide, Kagome felt her very being jolt, as if she'd forgotten to breathe. There was a sudden weight in her hands and she looked down to the image of the Shikon as it rested in the palm of her hands.

It was the jewel. It was always the jewel. It always came down to the jewel.

Yet, she suddenly understood. Wrapping her fingers into a fist, the image of the jewel vanished as she clutched it. Little wisps of light drifted off into the void and she followed them until she could see them no longer. Staring into the darkness, her gaze lingered for a moment before she turned to look at her incarnation.

"I…understand."

It was time. Midoriko had made her sacrifice for the jewel. Kikyo had made her sacrifice for the jewel. The slayers had made their sacrifice for the jewel.

It was her turn.

However many hours later Kagome opened her eyes to the darkness of the night and a familiar soreness in her back. It had become habit, to find that peace by the well. The Goshinboku's essence lingered there, a gentle touch of energy that coated the aged wood just enough to be a whisper against her own.

The Goshinboku was dear to her, but the well held an entirely different place in her heart.

Standing, Kagome peered into the depths of the well. When she brushed her fingertips over the rim she smiled a grim understanding as the energy hummed within, rising up as if to pull her in all over again.

She felt enlightened, a certain weight lifted off of her shoulders to be replaced with a new one entirely. It would end as it began.

Peering outside, she found it to be the dead of night and a quick glance at her watch informed her that dawn was only a few hours away. She had to move quickly. Thankfully, she didn't have far to go. Tiptoeing into the house, she smiled wryly as she made it to her room without being caught.

After all, there was no thief to catch her this time.

Her fingertips brushed the front door, her pistol at her side and bow and quiver on her back. The door creaked open quietly and the chill of the night air brushed against her skin.

"Hello, Kagome."

Tensing at the sound, the priestess paused and hesitated to look behind her. Of all people, she hadn't wanted it to be him. It hurt too much to look back at him, knowing what was to happen, what duty she was to fulfill. There was no escape, however, so she could only lick her suddenly dry lips and hope that he would eventually forgive her.

"Shippo…"

"And where ever would you be going at this hour looking so armed and dangerous, hm?"

He tapped his foot impatiently at her, his head cocked to the side in mock curiosity. He knew her well enough to figure out what she was thinking to do. She'd already snuck off into the demon world once and it was no real surprise that she would try to do so again. It was the reason he had kept an eye on her since she'd gone into the well house. He knew that was where she went to think. He'd noticed a long time ago, even if no one else had.

When Kagome got herself into such deep thinking, trouble only ever followed. They'd learned that lesson many times over. It was up to him to keep her out of that trouble.

Kurama was gone, fled at the news of his abducted mother, not that he blamed the man, and Hiei was patrolling the area that surrounded the shrine. Inari, the damnable fox god, had slipped off to the spirit world to speak with 'an old friend' as he'd said.

With the others distracted and, while somehow not expecting this stunt, scattered about the shrine grounds, the little priestess had nearly snuck out on them. With all that castle creeping they'd done when she'd been in the feudal era, he wasn't surprised. They'd developed that skill together, after all.

"You know where I'm going."

Her voice almost startled him, the resolution of her tone was so frighteningly set. Narrowing his eyes at her, he solidified his stance as if it would stop her. The breath was forced from his lungs when instead, he found himself slumped against the wall uncertain how he'd gotten there save for the remnants of the holy energy that tingled his skin. It didn't hurt, but he couldn't move. So caught off guard, she'd broken his defenses before he'd even realized he'd needed them.

Of all things that he had expected of her, it hadn't been that.

Gritting his teeth, he could only stare at her as she turned to flee the house, a plea of forgiveness left behind to taunt him. His fingers twitched as he fought against the oppressive energy. It wasn't fading fast enough, no matter how much he pulled at his youki to push against it. Distantly, he heard the telltale cry of 'osuwari' and then the startled shout of the wolf prince before there was a dull thud against the front door where the man had likely been flung.

"What the hell's going on…?"

He almost felt bad for the kid as a sleepy eyed Souta stumbled down the stairs, curious to see what the noise was.

For all that she had done on her journey, ever since she'd fallen down the well, fighting them was the hardest. Dealing with unrequited emotion, having her soul torn from her body and split into pieces, and having her mind and body so invaded and stripped bare came up short in comparison.

She still didn't stop. There were no hesitations, nor could she afford them. The second the scuffle had begun, the second her power flared to life when she subdued her kit, everyone was aware of it. As they all rushed out she felt her heart sink. She had hoped to avoid this sort of confrontation.

It hurt enough to raise her hand to her kit. To see her brother rush from the house looking so wide eyed and terrified she had to swallow a lump in her throat at the guilt. She had already dragged him too far into their world.

When there was a sudden pulse of energy, the mark of the kami on her back pulsing with life, she knew she was out of time. Slamming the door to the well house open, she felt his appearance as she hastily vaulted over the rim, the motion so nostalgic that she could have cried.

The bright blue lights rose up to meet her, but as she fell through the portal she could feel the magic swirl around her differently. The well was a portal, created of raw magical energy honed so unintentionally into a rift and it baffled her that no one had ever realized it before.

No one had ever really questioned the portal. They'd always just accepted that it was because of the Goshinboku, the innate magic of the tree of ages that stood immune to the hands of time. Yet, so was she. When Kaguya had stopped the passing of time from within the looking glass, she and the things that held her essence so closely had remained untouched.

That bond she felt to the well only made that much more sense.

So it was without fear that she stared into the magic as the blue faded slowly through the spectrum, touching shades of purple before finally fading to red. Then, the magic was gone, replaced by the red skies of the demon realm and she was alone. The jewel around her neck, removed from the warded box that had been tucked safely away in the shrine, hummed against her skin.

Well, she supposed she was not so completely alone.

"Oh, but they are so easy to maneuver! I fear this game is not quite over …" Peering outward, the purity of the guardian blocked sight of the outside world. A challenge, though amusing, like this one was truly infuriating.

Priestesses were nothing but trouble but oh so much fun to play with. Their anguish, brought on by that of their own kind, was so completely delicious that it was almost worth the imprisonment.

That spider, his wickedness, and the way he coveted the little women with naught the power to do anything about it was laughable. Humans were such funny little creatures and the kami, their hands so tied in the affairs of mortals, were so delightfully powerless. It was the reason that Reikai had to manipulate and force mortal creatures, be they demon or human, to be their hands and interfere for them. The foolish little prince probably didn't even know it from that throne atop his spirit world, hidden behind his detectives.

The old laws meant to protect the mortal world would be its undoing and there was nothing they could do about it.

Things were happening as they should, as were planned, and it had been almost disappointingly easy. It had been simplicity in its truest form and everything that had been set in motion from the time the jewel had been entrusted to the first guardian was about to come to a head.

No mortal was selfless enough to end the game, to break the struggle and destroy the cycle. They never had been.

Certainly, they'd all been righteous and self-sacrificing enough to reset the game, but never to end it. Selflessness was different and no mortal was without some sense of selfishness. Darkness lingered within them all, no matter their blood and they simply did not understand how futile their struggles were.

The brighter the light grew, the higher the shadows did rise.

A/N: We're coming up to the end now; it's really the final stretch of the story here and I do hope that those of you who have stuck around and put up with my long hiatus are not disappointed.

Today's Dedication: Give a big thank you to artemisgirl – author of the very entertaining 'Heiress' – for drawing me back into fanfiction enough that I've found that want to write again.

Today's Rant: None. This time, I'm going to ask you guys (since those of you who read them seem amused by them) to leave a topic in your reviews that you'd like to see me rant about. Whatever seems the most entertaining or gets the most suggestions, I'll put up at the end of the next chapter.

~CherryBlossomLove