Disclaimer: I stand by what I said in the first chapter.

A/N: Ok, I just reread this, and I forgot to mention that the forest they were at the edge of was Inu-yasha's Forest, but following the path that they were following, they wouldn't make it to the village before nightfall, it wouldn't be wise to travel through the forest at night, so they camped.

Anywhoo, on with the story!

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Chapter 2

Inu-yasha stood there, bathed in the moonlight; it gleamed off his silver white hair, and shone upon his red firerat's fur. And there, standing close to him, so close to him… was Kikyo. Her hair was loose, swaying gently in the breeze. They were both unaware of Kagome's presence, too lost in each other's eyes…

'So that was why he was so out of it earlier… She was nearby… of course…'

Kikyo spoke. "Inu-yasha… you won't come to hell with me, will you?"

Inu-yasha looked away a little bit. "Not yet. I have to get Kagome back where she belongs…" he said, but his eyes betrayed him with a look of uncertainty.

Kikyo looked perplexed by this. "The Inu-yasha I knew never cared about anyone else; never had any friends... It was always about you, and then it was about you and me!" she reached up to brush his cheek with feather light fingers. "Where did you go?" she asked as she rested her hand along the side of his face. She looked deeper in to his eyes.

"It's not that simple, is it? She's more than a friend now… You can't just throw her through the well, can you?" she asked, looking hurt. Inu-yasha opened his mouth to speak, then closed it and turned his gaze away. Kikyo shook her head in hurt disbelief.

"But…but…Inu-yasha- Do you want me or her?" she said as she took a step back.

"Kikyo, I… I don't know… I know that our souls were meant to be… but …but that's why I'm confused! I know it was your soul to begin with, but… I avenged you, Kikyo! Why can't you rest in peace, and let Kagome keep her soul?"

"You do want her! How could you? How dare you! She doesn't belong here! This isn't her world! How are you going to keep her here? I'll be here! I do belong here! We can use the Shikon no Tama to make us both human, and live with the love that was meant to be! Send her back to the future, & the soul can exist in both places!"

"Well, that might work, but… I- I still don't know…"

"No…" It was a whisper on the wind, that only Inu-yasha's keen ears detected. He turned around and saw Kagome standing there. Kikyo followed his gaze. "No…" It came louder now, with a voice that was broken, soft, barely louder than her whisper had been. Inu-yasha and Kikyo both turned towards Kagome, who shook her head slightly, her tears starting to fall, glistening in the moonlight, rolling down her face to drip to the ground below.

Inu-yasha gasped slightly. "Kagome…?"

Her tears ran freely down her face now, falling into the grass below. "No!" She was louder now. "You can't…I don't love you because my soul tells me to! I…It's not just the soul…" she trailed off, unable to find words to express her love, or her pain… he loved her for her soul…. Kikyo's soul…

Inu-yasha took a step towards her, reaching out his hand a little, wanting to ease her pain… the pain that he had caused…

"Kagome… I … I…."

Kagome took a step back, as though afraid his hand would tear her heart and soul to piece…into even more pieces… Suddenly, she turned and fled the scene. No one could see it, but even as she ran, she was leaving fragments of her heart there, in the moonlit clearing, where Inu-yasha had broken her heart.

Inu-yasha turned to Kikyo, his eyes sending her a message: 'Follow if you want…I need to talk to her… and you…' Then he followed Kagome. Kikyo followed, but called to him.

"Inu-yasha! Wait! Let her go! Then we can live together in piece… I can seal up the well! We could…"

Inu-yasha stopped running, turned, and came back a little ways. His eyes were full of guilt, yet there was understanding. He knew what he was doing. "I…I couldn't do that…" Kikyo understood now that now. The look in his eyes had told her so. It had told her something else, too: he loved them both; he had chosen her, now, but he couldn't let Kagome go without explaining it to her…he couldn't let her leave with her pain…if he could help it…

"I understand…"

Inu-yasha then continued after Kagome. She was headed for the well. He needed to keep her in his time until she understood; if he tried to tell her in her time, he knew that what needed to be said never would be.

Inu-yasha was surprised that she wasn't at the well; nor had she gone through it. He followed her scent to the Goshinboku tree, where he found her sitting at the great tree's roots. She was beautiful as she sat there, looking at the almost full moon that was right over head, bathing the entire area with a white glow that seemed to reflect off of Kagome more than anything else. Her face was white with moonshine and the full Shikon no Tama hung around her neck, glowing with a faint light of it's own. The whole picture before him was gorgeous. Kagome had a distant look on her face, like to that of someone who has seen great pain and sorrow, and knew that more was coming, yet knew what they had to do.

There were marks across her face from where the tears had streamed, but were now dry, and a small cut on her cheek where she must have hit a branch. Carefully he approached her. She didn't seem to know that he was there, and he didn't want to scare her.

"Ka…Kagome?" he said in a soft voice.

"Hai, Inu-yasha?" her tone scarred his heart: it was full of quiet pain, of agony of the soul, and as much bravery through that pain as she could muster. But there was something else… it wasn't quite understanding, but it wasn't angry…

"Are you…? I didn't… Kagome, I…" Inu-yasha stumbled through his words

"I'm ok, Inu-yasha. I understand, now. It was my soul that you loved… protected… cared for…"

"Kagome, I'm sorry…"

"It's ok Inu-yasha. You were supposed to be with Kikyo… I don't know what part the jewel was supposed to play, but Naraku stopped it." She brought here gaze away from the moon now, and looked at Inu-yasha as Kikyo came up behind him. The jewel's glow brightened a little as it was mentioned. Kagome looked to Kikyo, then back to Inu-yasha as she reached behind he and undid the necklace that held the Shikon no Tama, and then held the powerful object in the palm of her hand, gazing at it with her eyes slightly out of focus.

"Naraku came between two souls that have been united since time began…he interfered with the ways of Fate, Destiny, and Love…" Kagome looked back up at Inu-yasha and Kikyo, who was a few feet behind Inu-yasha. "But now… Fate will find itself…Destiny will right itself…And Love will have its way…"

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Can you believe it? I left you with another cliffhanger! (Or, as Hayley would say, a hang over ^.~) So, whadda ya think? I was so happy to get such good reviews for the first chapter! Not to mention I got my first threats! * gets a huge, starry-eyed smile * I can't believe you guys wanted me to continue! Anyways, pleeeeez review! I wanna know what you think, even if you think it's evil! Tell me sooooooo!!!!!!!

}>));> <;((<{

Hey, does anyone know a good type-face for a cat? Cuz all I got is kissy fish! And besides, I'm not Fish-chan, I'm Koneko-chan! (koneko= kitten) Help me out, please!