Somewhere
Inu-yasha watched as Joey and Kagome ran out of the burning palace together. 'She's happy. That's all that matters,' he thought. And then, the horrid building came crashing down around him.
"Goodbye Kagome," he said before the flames took him.
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"Look!" Shippo cried, pointing to the hill. Before them was a blur of red. Their hearts rose and sank at the same time. Then, the red fabric lifted, revealing Kagome and Joey. Kagome crumbled to the gorund. Then turned around on her face and knees.
"INU-YASHA!!!!" Kagome screamed as she watched Naraku's palace crumble under the flames, and the ash being carried by the wind as it blew the smoke high up, past the trees into the sky. She wept until her sobs were silent, hugging the red cloak close to her. How many times had he held her in this cloak? How many times had she patched it up after a battle? She couldn't believe he was gone. He was gone.
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"No." little Yugi said. He watched with the others as the flames consumed the palace. He had let a friend die. Inu-yasha was gone. He had never let any of his friends down like this, ever. This was wrong! This was all wrong!
"NO!!!" he cried out, his Millennium Puzzle glowing. A bright brilliant light began to fill the forest, extinguishing the flames, engulfing all around. Summoning up all his powers as Pharaoh, Yugi stretched forth with his feelings, and called out for the only ones who could help them now.
"You called for us, oh Pharaoh?" said Shadi, stepping forward.
"We heard you," Ishizu said approaching. "We are here."
"We need your help," Yugi told them. "Is there anyway we can bring Inu-yasha back?"
"That, sadly is beyond the power of the Millennium Puzzle. But not for the Key and it's holder." said Shadi.
"Me?" said Joey, appearing before them. "What can I do?"
"As the Millennium Key, it holds the power to unlock the souls of men," Ishizu said, "But as the Millennium Staff, the Great Key of Time, it has the ability to turn back the sands of time."
"But I can't! I don't know how." Joey said.
"You do," said a voice behind them, "Because I know how." From the light stepped a man in flowing robes, and long blond hair plaited down his back, gold cuffs on his arms. He looked exactly like Joey, except his voice was much older than the boy's was.
"You! Are you?" Joey asked.
"Yes," the man said. "I am the voice you have recently been hearing in the corners of your mind. I am the presence you have felt overtake you. I am the spirit of the Millennium Key. I am your former self from the past. I was the Pharaoh's faithful servant. I was destroyed in the ancient battle, and vowed to serve my master always."
"So. You know how to use this Key?" Joey asked the spirit. "You know how to turn back time?"
"Yes. But there is a price. If you do turn back time, then the memories of this time line will be erased from all minds except yours. "
"So," Joey said, "It'll be like Kagome and me never met? She won't remember me or all we did? "
"The choice is yours," Joey's ancient Egyptian counterpart said.
Joey looked at heartbroken Kagome, who with the others was frozen in time, and realized what he had to do to get Inu-yasha back. To make sure that none of this terrible ordeal never happened. He didn't want to at first, but he knew that if Kagome was to ever smile again, he would have to make this sacrifice. He knew their love could never be.
He knelt in front of her, laid is hands on her shoulders, and said, "I don't know if you can hear me, Kagome. But I want you to know I'll never forget you. And I'm sorry." He kissed her forehead, and then he stood and held the Millennium Staff high above his head.
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Almost immediately, the clouds in the sky began to revert. The Sun rose and set along it's arch across the sky. Time was turning backwards. Returning to the point and time of Naraku's battle with Kagura. Only this time, As the Wind Sorceress made her escape, Joey uplifted the key, and quieted her storm. In the present, There was no storm. And Domino was standing when morning came.
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Two months later, Joey stood at the steps of The Sunset Shrine in Tokyo. He started walking up those steps, memories that never happened, yet did, ran through his mind. He had successfully turned time back, and erased all the bad that had happened in the original timeline, but he had also erased the good. But he could never erase the memories. Of Tokyo, of the Feudal Era. Of Kagome.
When he got to the top of the long stairway, he looked around the Shrine grounds. How peaceful they seemed. Like a fairy tale. Then he heard Kagome's Grandfather come to the storefront.
"Ah, a customer," the old man said, chuckling. "How may I help you today, young man? Looking for a charm? A prayer scroll? Perhaps a Shikon No-Tama key-chain?"
"No thanks, just sight seein." Joey answered. He walked around. First to the Sacred Tree. He put his hand on the trunk, the rough bark prickling his palm. Then, to the well house. He was tempted to see if it was even there. To know if any of it was real.
"Hello?" asked a familiar voice. Joey turned, and there she was. She was just as beautiful as he remembered. Though, he knew she didn't remember him. He smiled, and said. "Hi. Just reading the little sign here. Pretty freaky, huh?"
"Yeah. But, no one's allowed in there," she told him. "It's pretty old, kinda unstable."
"Ok. I guess I'll go." he said, leaving.
"Why did you do it?" she asked.
"Huh?"
"Why did you erase it all?" she asked him again, turning towards him. Her eyes looked sad, but not as sad as the last time he'd seen her.
"I wanted you to be happy. Even- even if it wasn't with me." he replied.
"Joey," she said timidly. "Do you- do you think that if we had met, somewhere, under different circumstances, in a different time, we could have been together?"
He didn't say anything for a few minutes. Then, he looked back at her, smiled, and said, "No question." And then, he went to the steps.
When he was walking back down the stairs, he saw Yugi/Yami waiting for him.
"Did you say what you needed to, old friend?"
"I said goodbye, man." he replied, looking down at the ground.
"That was a noble thing you did for her," Yugi/Yami said.
"Yeah. Hey!" Joey said, turning to his best friend. "Wait a minute? How do you remember?"
"Well, I am Pharaoh, after all," he replied. Then, they both turned around. Joey extended his hand, and said, "The dream's over. You can wake up now."
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Kagome bolted up from her bed. She looked out the window, to see the sun rising. Was it all a dream? After all that, was it just a dream? As she got up, she looked at her calendar. Today was the day the kids from Domino were supposed to come to their school. Today was the assembly. But, no, that had happened already. But, no, it didn't! She was so confused! She couldn't tell the dream from reality! It had all been so real. As she got ready for school, she thought that maybe the stress from going back in time and having to deal with these new students had all made her dream that dream. But the people she'd met. Yugi, Tea, Tristan, Mai, Serenity. And Joey. Was he nothing more than a figment of her imagination?
"I just need to wake up," Kagome said out loud. "Some healthy reality will do me some good."
She went down stairs, had breakfast, as usual, and then left for school. But before she got to the stairs, she heard, "Going to school, huh?" then, she turned, and found Inu-yasha there, by the Tree, wearing a sweater and blue jeans, a crumpled red baseball cap on his head.
"What are you dressed up for?" she asked him.
"I thought I'd walk you to school today," he replied. "What about our fight?" she asked.
"Yeah, well, I'm willing ot forgive you for that," he said.
"How very big of you," she said sarcastically. "Ok, but try not to scare my friends," she joked, heading to the street corner with him.
"Can I help it if those girls jump at their own shadows?" he asked, giving a fanged grin.
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Kagome walked into the auditorium and sat down next to her friends. She looked around at all the Domino kids. Even the uniforms were the same, but she didn't see their faces. 'Stop it, Kagome!' She told herself. 'They were just a dream. Just let it go.' But, another part of her objected, 'It wasn't a dream. Couldn't have been a dream. Right?' Then, Yuka pulled her sleeve. "Kagome, look! It's that kid! That guy from Domino who's, like, the king of the gaming world!"
"You mean the one who won that tournament last year?" Ayumi asked.
"Yup, and he's got a cute blond friend with him."
Kagome shot up and looked. They were here! In the same seats, too! But, this time, Joey wasn't looking at her. He was talking and laughing with Yugi and the others.
Was it a dream? A prophecy? A coincidence? Or had Joey really turned back time for her?
"'Even the smallest change.'" Yugi/Yami's voice whispered in her mind.
'Well, Kagome thought as she got up from her seat. Here goes nothing. She walked over to where Joey sat, and tapped his shoulder. He looked up at her, confused at first, but then he blushed. Kagome smiled, and said cheerfully, "Hi, Joey."
"Uh, " Joey's familiar voice asked, "Have we met?"
She looked into his handsome face, and giggled. "We have now," she replied.
The End? ;-)