She watched as the pastel tones of sunrise did little to comfort her heart as the cold grass at her back continually reminded her of the past few months.

She sat up, and dazedly looked out at the now blue horizon, another flashback enveloping her vision.

oO0Oo+oO0Oo

"Inu... Yasha...?"

"InuYasha?"

"InuYasha!!"

Not even a cricket replied to her as she continued on her rampant search for the hanyou. She haphazardly fought the tree branches and brush that clawed at her naked face, arms and legs. She stopped suddenly at a small clearing. A black void lie but feet from where she stood. A chill ascended her spine and she backed up into a tree. 'He... he didn't... He couldn't.'

"Y-you promised!" her tear-stricken voice sliced through the silent forest as the sun began it's ascent from the eastern horizon. She fell to her knees in strangled sobs, not noticing the void in front of her had all but closed in upon itself. All that remained was an imperfect circle of ash-colored dirt.

After almost an hour she had found the ability to subdue her tears, though she still lay hunched on the ground. Just as she was about to sit up, she felt something similar to a reverberation echo out of her body. The young miko sat up and leaned her back to the tree, gazing up at the blue sky of morning. A thought struck her mind and she was about to shrug it off disgustedly until she felt a strange sense of peace overtake her. 'But I don't feel sad any more. It was almost as if I had forced myself to cry.' She violently shook her head and glared at the void, "No."

It was impossible, how could she not have loved him. After the two years of waiting. After defeating Naraku and using the completed Shikon no Tama to fix everthing that had gone wrong and to tie up the loose ends. After his promise of never leaving her. And yet, she felt no loving sorrow, no loving regret, no anger toward the hanyou who had left her for the fake shell of the older miko; she only felt saddened that her friend couldn't pull his mind away from Kikyo and at least find a girl that was of this earth. She realized it was his choice to follow the witch to his demise, for she no longer loved him. She almost laughed at her realization. Almost cried out in joy for having the bond broken, for setting her spirit free from a life of always waiting and always wishing.

She stood up just as she heard two voices calling her name intermittently.

oO0Oo+oO0Oo

"Oh gods..." the demonslayer stood momentarilly in shock glancing from the little miko to the ashen ground, trying to piece together the girl's resolution. The monk was kneeling infront of the young priestess giving her a look close to understanding.

"So, you've finally realized." It wasn't a question and the miko thought she knew what he was referring to. Kagome nodded slowly and gave a faint smile. The taijiya looked even more shocked, "But you did love him didn't you?" Kagome nodded again. "I did," she emphasized the second word and smiled at her friends.

"We've saved Japan and probably even the world of Naraku's terror. So... Now what do we do?" The young priestess asked, honestly clueless of what their next step should be. Without InuYasha the group seemed to lose it's motivation and reasons for continuing. "I don't know." Miroku shook his head and gave a meaningful glance at Sango. "I no longer have the threat of the Kazaana, Kohaku is back to normal, and the jewel is no longer of this world. I guess that makes us ordinary people again. A priestess, a demonslayer, and a monk; not to mention Shippo and Kirara."

They all three stood, not wanting to give voice to their idea.

"I... I guess that means we split up?" Sango whispered, glancing at her two best friends.

Kagome blinked back the well-known tingling sensation that erupted in her eyes, but failed as a single tear streaked down her cheek. She looked away, then looked back to her friends who had been sending one another silent glances. The miko then forced a smile, "We will all keep in touch, I just know it. I will keep on leaving home to come back here even though I have no real need to," she left out the nagging thought of what if she couldn't come back. "I could never leave you guys forever. You are like my second family. But that doesn't mean that you two have to split up, ya know?"

An immediate blush struck across the taijiya's face, causing the monk to give a gentle smirk. Sango suddenly flared up, at the monk's displeasure, and knocked him over the head with her Hiraikotsu. She bowed to Kagome, a faint smile played on her lips, "I suppose someone will have to keep this lecherous monk in line. We'll hold off on the goodbyes until we get to Kaede's village. I'll have to get Kirara... And... I was thinking Shippo too. I know it would be nearly impossible handling him on your own, especially if you'd have to leave him by his self when you went to visit your home... Is that okay?"

Kagome's heart lurched at this, but she understood. This time she wouldn't allow any tears to come. "Of course. Leaving three friends would be so much harder than leaving one." Though, she left out the fact that leaving his mother figure would most likely be worse than leaving those three. He'll be okay, she will still visit them.

oO0Oo+oO0Oo

She shook her head, willing her mind to stop tormenting her like this. Standing, the young miko stretched her arms until she heard a faint 'pop', then turned back to the forested pathway she had recently been traveling on. The canopy of the trees provided shade from the midday sun.

After a while of walking she heard the gurgle of a stream not too far off from the pathway. She noticed it was downhill much more than the path, but continued on without hesitation.

When Kagome finally found the goose of her chase the dryness in her throat from the walking had become much more profound than it had before. She gave a short sigh and bent to the stream bringing her cupped hands under the water and back to her mouth.

After a few times of doing this, she felt a new presence. Startled, she looked up only to see a young girl in an orange and red checkered kimono on the opposite side the the stream picking various wild flowers. Kagome smiled, happy to finally see a familiar face. She let the water trickle through her fingers, but she continued to crouch hoping not to startle the girl. Where there was Rin there was usually Sesshoumaru, but...

Kagome immediately stood up and brought the bow to her hands. She knocked an arrow and aimed above the little girl, without hesitation she let it fly. The miko then placed another before even allowing herself to see if she hit her mark. She heard the little girl give a small cry as a youkai fell to the ground just inches behind her oblivious form. Rin gave a fearful glance behind her before her wide eyes came back to meet Kagome's. The brown irises suddenly lit up and she darted across the stream to halt a foot infront of the priestess. She bowed low, smiling, then emitted a 'thank you'. Kagome grinned, then noticed her bare feet were still emerged in the cool water, though the small girl seemed to not even notice. The priestess glanced around to find her yellow bag still propped on a nearby rock, "Rin, are you hungry?" The girl loosened her grip on the flowers she had picked and handed them to Kagome; nodding, she walked out of the stream to sit on a sun-warmed rock nearby.

With another smile, the young miko walked to her bag and started pulling out a few snacks she had packed, then put the flowers in one of the outside pockets so their heads could poke out. She walked over to the girl and placed three plastic bags on the ground. One was potato chips, another cookies, and the last was of pretzels. She held back a chuckle as Rin gave her a strange face, and Kagome opened a random bag. She swiped a pretzel out and handed it to Rin, then got one for herself and took a bite. The girl followed suit, and soon had a half smile on her face. "Rin doesn't know what this is," her adorable third-person way of speaking hadn't fully vanished it seemed.

"It's called a pretzel. Here, you want another?" Kagome offered her the transparent ziplock bag. With a small cooing sound, Rin grabbed the bag and picked out a particularly salty pretzel, stuffing it in her mouth. She made a face, and it looked like she was going to spit it out, but she swallowed and passed the bag back over. "It's too... Rin doesn't like it anymore."

After going through the same thing with potato chips, Kagome almost knocked herself over the head. Obviously... children always like cookies, especially chocolate chip!

"Oooh, I know!" she opened the last bag and gave a cookie to Rin, though this time the girl hesitated. "Will this one be bad too?"

Kagome shook her head 'no', "I should have let you try this one first. I know you'll like it."

oO0Oo+oO0Oo

"So, where is Lord Sesshoumaru?" she asked the young girl who had been slowly munching on cookies, the miko used the honorific since Rin always did.

The ten-year old girl hesitated for a moment, then started slowly, "Rin doesn't know. The last time Rin saw Sesshoumaru-sama was when we were crossing a scary bridge. Rin--I guess it broke, I don't remember. I just hope Sesshoumaru-sama is okay!" The girl suddenly broke down and allowed a few tears to escape her eyes. Kagome could understand fully; the demon was practically a father to her and he was the only family she had besides the imp, Jaken, and Ah-Un.

The youthful priestess immediately took action, only glad that she hadn't wasted too much time before asking about the demon. She put the bags back in her pack and wrestled her arms through the straps. She put her arm through the gap between the bow and its strings and looked at Rin, "Are you ready?" The girl nodded in return, though it was obvious that she was clueless as to what they were doing. "I'm taking you to a close friend of mine. So I can find your Lord. Then I will come back to take you to him." The plan sounded good spoken aloud, but in her mind she pointed out all the obvious flaws. What if she can't find him? What if he's already dead? Maybe he's watching them right now, just waiting for his chance to kill her and take back Rin...

She subconsciously thought of this while she watched as Rin nodded in dismay and followed behind Kagome as they headed toward Kaede's village. I'm just glad how close we are to the village.

"So, ye want me to watch over this young girl? Well, I believe the village would be overjoyed to watch over her, she'll have fun with all the other child--

"No, Kaede. I have a feeling she'd rather just stay here with you." She threw a glance at Rin, the girl stood eying a few medicinal pots though not daring to touch anything, and lowered her voice. "I think something happened to her a few years back. She's not very trustworthy towards many besides Sesshoumaru."

Kaede's eyes doubled in size, "She's in the demon lord's care? Quite odd indeed. He's of cold heart, most directly toward those of human blood. And yet... Aye, I will leave it at that. I see that ye have need to find said Sesshoumaru. But, may this old woman ask, why?"

Kagome mentally froze, 'why?'. She hadn't even questioned herself. There was a possibility that she needed something to take up the hole that her completed mission had left in her heart. More than likely, though, it was the desire to help Rin, the girl who so much resembled Kagome in her younger years. Yes, she couldn't leave Rin all alone, and she remembered tell from someone about him being important to these lands, more so than just a child's father-figure and her late friend's half-brother; wasn't he the very lord of some nearby area? Of the entire West?

"Kagome?" the old woman's voice woke her from her reverie.

"Oh sorry, I kinda' phazed out." The woman seemed to have forgotten her old question as another came to mind.

"Are ye still okay with what happened to Inuyasha?"

"I only wish sometimes that, as a friend, he were still here. But I understand, and I'm not going to have any remorse over something that I had no control over. I guess I better leave now. The quicker I leave, the quicker I get back." She waved and stepped through the doorway before the woman could remember the first question that was yet left unanswered.

A/N: Sorry, another AN, but I just have to ask you to bear with me, for this is my first story to put on ASS . net! If something on here is messed up then I am extremely sorry, just let me know and I will try to fix it!