Hello, Welcome to the new (and hopefully improved) version of Forbidden Roses. If you were a reader of the original Forbidden Roses, welcome back and thanks for sticking with me. I hope you enjoy it.

~Disclaimer: I will only write this one time it stands for the entire story. I do not own Inuyasha nor YuYuHakusho. I have no claims on them, and only own the original characters I add to this story.~

~Forbidden Roses~

~A New War Has Begun ~

She stood there, staring into the dark abyss of the well. No longer did it bring forth that comforting blue glow. No longer was it a bridge to her friends in the past.

She missed them.

A tear fell into the well's dark depths.

Did they remember her? She didn't even know.

They had defeated Naraku, they had completed the Jewel. They'd rejoiced, they'd made their wish. She'd made their wish.

There was no flash of pure light…

Midoriko did not appear and give them thanks…

There was no peaceful voice that said "It shall be done"…

The jewel didn't so much as sparkle…

One moment she'd been surrounded by her friends, the next…

She was standing in front of the well in the present.

She'd tried to return to the past. She'd leapt into that well hundreds of times. She'd dug until her fingers bled. Nothing.

She could handle the pain from her shins, her knees, her feet. She could handle the pain from her bleeding hands. But she couldn't handle the pain in her heart.

She didn't realize how hard it would be, leaving them behind.

Her friends… her family.

"Not again," she whispered brokenly. "Not again!" She whimpered. She fell to her knees.

Shippo… her darling little Kit.

Sango… her dearest friend.

Miroku… her spiritual mentor.

Inuyasha… her first love turned brother.

Rin… her sweet niece.

Sesshoumaru… her Nii-sama… the man who took her in as his own.

"Nii-sama." She sobbed.

"You called?"

She spun around. "…Nii-sama?"

"This one does not recall teaching you to be so weak, Kagome."

Kagome rushed forward, launching herself into his arms. "Sesshoumaru!" she sobbed.

He gently pushed her back, raising her hands for inspection. "What have you done to yourself?"

She flushed.

He observed her for a moment before sighing. "Come."

"Um Sesshoumaru…"

"Later. We will tend to your injuries first."

Kagome nodded reluctantly and followed him out of the well house.

~F~R~

"Where would you like me to start?" Sesshoumaru asked as he tended to her hands.

"Well," Kagome mused, "I suppose I'd like to know where we are first."

"This is the residence I utilize when I am in the area."

"Oh, so you have a home somewhere else in Japan?"

"I own many residences in Japan, as well as other places."

"Wow, that must cost alot."

"When you have lived as long as this one, money is never a problem."

Kagome nodded. "It's a nice place."

"Next question."

"What happened to the Higurashi family?"

"I bought the Higurashi shrine decades ago and allowed the Higurashi family to live there. I've been keeping track of them, of your adventures through the well. I knew this last time was the time, so I came to ensure you made it back through the well, explained who I was to the Higurashi family, and had them moved to a safe location."

"Why?"

"Kagome, your wish has saved many, brought many back, but those who were involved in the final battle remember what happened. Naraku remembers what happened."

Kagome paled. "…He's alive?"

"Yes… an unfortunate side effect from your wish."

"So my wish made things worse?"

"No. You wished that all the harm caused by the Shikon Jewel would be undone. Naraku's creation was not because of the Shikon Jewel, but because of his weakened human soul's desire for power. You have saved thousands of his victims. Without the power of the jewel his evil did not spread as far as it had before your wish."

Kagome relaxed a bit.

"However, as I said, Naraku remembers. He's out for revenge, and he's waited 500 years. He fell off the grid."

Kagome giggled.

"This is hardly an amusing circumstance you are in, Imouto." Sesshoumaru gave her a stern look.

She shook her head. "It's not that, it's just… I've never imagined I'd hear you Lord of the Western Lands use such a phrase as off the grid." She giggled again. "I never thought I'd see the day that Sesshoumaru-sama was using my generations lingo."

Sesshoumaru sighed. "Did you expect this one to stay the same as he was 500 years in the past?"

"Well, you are still using the phrase 'this one'. Is it really such an out of the box theory?"

Sesshoumaru glared at her, eliciting another set of giggles before he continued. "As I was saying, Naraku's whereabouts are unknown. I've had someone watching over you and your family from afar as soon as I found them. They've watched over you since you've arrived. They made sure that no outsiders interfered and what was supposed to happen happened. There were a few attempts, but nothing they couldn't handle. After you left for the last time I was able to bring the Higurashi's away. The shrine is kept up by my staff, and the Higurashi's are living comfortably."

Kagome hugged him. "Thank you."

"You do not need to thank me, you are of my blood now, I take care of my own."

"What about the others? What happened to them?"

"Where would you like me to start?"

"What happened to my little Shippo?"

"My nephew is doing quite well. He was raised by his father and when the time came he found me. He and Rin mated-"

"Oh so the blood ceremony worked on her as well?"

Sesshoumaru nodded. "Her being an orphan had nothing to do with the Jewel, so I found her in the village and brought her home. She did quite well during the blood ceremony, had a little difficulty, but she survived."

"Good." Kagome smiled. "Are they..? I mean… did they…"

"They are alive and well. They have had some hard times, but they have persevered."

"Hard times?"

"They had a son, a silver Kitsune."

"But Shippo is a red Kitsune."

Sesshoumaru nodded. "It appears that his father's mother was in fact a silver kitsune."

"I see."

"Their son, Youko, disappeared one day, he became a well renowned thief known as Youko Kurama. After taking on more than he could chew one day, he was killed."

Kagome frowned. "That's horrible!"

Sesshoumaru nodded. "Rin was devastated, nearly died herself if it wasn't for Shippo. They recovered slowly, but they are better now. We've heard rumors though, that Youko's soul has latched on to that of a human, perhaps they will see him again after all."

"I hope so." She bit her lip. "What happened to Sango and Miroku?"

"Without the Shikon Jewel, Sango's village was never destroyed. With her memories, she was able to prepare the demon slaying village for Naraku's onslaught when he tried to exact his revenge. She shared the knowledge she gained with her people and the village created treaties with demons more acceptable towards humans. The demon slayer village even accepted demons and hanyou into their walls and gave them safe haven. Without the interference of the Shikon Jewel Naraku never cursed Miroku's family. Miroku was raised by his father, instead of the monks. When he was old enough he traveled to Sango's village and proposed to her the day they met. They lived a long happy life, and had many children. Their bloodline thrives strongly today in both Japan and America."

A few tears ran down her face. "I miss them."

"And they missed you. Over there," he gestured to a wall. "are their thanks to you."

Kagome looked to the wall with wide eyes. There was Sango's beloved Hiraikotsu mounted on the wall. She got up to take a closer look. There was an engraving on it.

To our beloved sister,

We miss you always.

We'll await you in the afterlife.

Thank you,

Sango and Miroku.

Take care of Kirara.

There was also a set of prayer beads. They looked exactly like the kind that had been used to seal Miroku's wind tunnel.

"The prayer beads are enchanted, as is Hiraikotsu. With a simple chant Hiraikotsu will shrink and can be placed on the prayer beads. As long as you wear the prayer beads, you can will any charm on them to regain its size in seconds. If you look closer, you'll see you already have quite the collection."

Kagome looked at the beads and gasped. There was a tiny Tetsuaiga.

"What happened to Inuyasha?" She whispered.

"Without Naraku's attack on the village for the jewel, the human miko, Kikyo never sealed him to the tree. Without the event that neither could come back from, they had nothing to stop them from pursuing their relationship and eventually married. They had three children and lived happily until Kikyou died of old age. It was a hundred and fifty more years until Inuyasha died of old age as well. He wanted you to know, he was happy. He left you Tetsuaiga as thanks. His bloodline has thrived to today, I've made sure of it."

Kagome remained silent. She finally nodded and moved on to the next charm.

"A feather?" she looked at him, "Is this… Kaguras?!"

Sesshoumaru nodded. "When Naraku created Kagura, she too remembered what had happened before your wish. She was unwilling to go through the hell of being Naraku's pawn again, thus she infused some of her youki into her infamous feather and asked me to give it to you. A final act of rebellion before Naraku crushed her heart."

Kagome winced. "I feel sorry for her, despite the things she did." She touched the feather charm. "This is the feather she used to ride right? That'll be handy." She moved to the next charm. "I don't recognize this one." It was a pair of sai, they were crisscrossed.

"Those, are a gift from the wolf prince."

"Oh! How is Kouga?!"

"Without Kagura's interference, Kouga's tribe was never massacred. With his memories he changed a few things, they no longer fed on humans."

"That's good."

"He and Ayame mated, joined their tribes together, and now their tribe flourishes in the Makai."

"The Makai?"

"Yes, another side effect of your wish that I will get to later. Kouga had those sai made for you to show his gratitude. He had them blessed by a priest so that they could channel your miko powers. You also hold a high position in his tribe, as a result you will always be a sister to his wolves."

Kagome smiled. "I'm glad it worked out for them."

"Hn,"

"What, you don't like them?"

"They can be a nuisance."

Kagome laughed. "Yes, I suppose they can." She looked away. "I can hardly believe it. The Jewel really is gone."

"Yes, the jewel is gone… but…"

"But?"

"Power like that does not simply disappear, even if it is what caused its own destruction."

"What are you saying?"

"It is this one's belief that the power that created the Shikon Jewel will be reborn, if it has not been so already."

"So, this could all happen again?" Kagome paled. "So my wish was for nothing?"

"No, Kagome. It was not all for nothing. I believe the power will return, and due to your intimate history with it, I believe it will return somewhere around you. If we can get to it first, we can stop history from repeating itself. We must keep evil from it, that is all."

"I suppose a new war has begun then. Here I was hoping to go on a little vacation." She joked. "Alright, where do we start?"

~End of Chapter~

~AN~

Alright! It's already different from what I first wrote, but I like it and I hope you do too.