Upon an ancient slope

"Kagome, we're so happy you're home…"

"Yes, we missed you very much, Kagome."

"May I go to my room now?"

There was a holy shrine

"Well, she responds to us, and I think the guards being around have calmed her down, so…"

"Has she been near the well recently?"

"No, she refuses to go near it. Her time here has really helped the problem."

With many stone steps to scale

"Kagome, you look so sad…"
"This, Souta, is what happens when all one has left is a single thread of life."

"But you used to be so…"

"What? Happy? There is no room in this world for such things."

And behind this shrine

"Kagome, you know you're not supposed to even look at the well house. Mom was trying to send the guards home."

"I know, I heard her talking on the phone. But I like them. Tell her to let them stay just a little longer."

There was a well house

"Mom, nothing can ever be the same. When you look at me you no longer see me…"

"Kagome, that's not true."

"I'll tell you what you see, though: you see a girl who was locked up in a nut house for three years, and I know...sometimes you wish I was back there."

And deep within

"Kagome, don't say stuff like that. I've never thought of you like that."

"Then why are there guards constantly watching me like I'm a criminal?"

"Honey they are just safety precautions so we can make sure that you won't try to hurt yourself again."

Was the fabled bone eater's well

"It's not me you're worried about. You're worried that the daughter you stood in front of the microwave with while you were pregnant is going to hurt one of the normal people."

"Kagome…"

"Don't worry about it though. I think I would be better with the crazies than with the sane people…"

"Kagome, where are you going?"

"Away from you and this lie you helped to create!"

She was staring at it again

"Inu Yasha, if you can just touch the tainted jewel you'll be sucked inside of it…"

"And what am I supposed to do when I'm in, Houshi?"

"Find Kagome and get her to go down the well with you. If you two don't go together, neither of you will be able to escape."

"Alright then, Miroku, watch out for Shippo. And Shippo, watch out for Miroku and make sure Sango doesn't kill him."

"Okay, Inu Yasha; just bring Kagome back."

Looking at it with a longing

"I know I shouldn't be here, and if I get caught then I'll never ever be able to come back. But... I'm just drawn here. Maybe I'll just continue to sit here."

"Oi, wench, I thought we agreed you wouldn't use that word in daily speech. Even in the jewel she can sit me."

"Oh my god, Inu Yasha…"

She had been cured

"Listen to me, Kagome. Naraku created this world; it isn't real…"

"No, I'm losing it again. You aren't real. They told me so…"

"Kagome… what are you talking about?"

"Don't touch me just stay away!"

She knew it all along

"So, Ms. Higurashi, how have you been doing?"

"Just great…"

"Having any problems with that active imagination of yours?"

"No, sir, not at all."

"Are you sure?"

"Yes, I'm sure."

That he wasn't real

"Yuka, I think I'm losing it again…"

"Kagome calm down. What's wrong?"

"I'm seeing things…"

"Seeing what?"

"Inu Yasha…"

He just couldn't be alive and breathing

"He told me that this isn't real, that I'm stuck in a jewel and I need to wake up."

"Did you tell your doctor about this?"

"No, he'd send me back to the asylum… But it seems so real like right now…"

"Where is he, Kagome?"

"Sitting in the tree over there…"

"I don't see anything."

It wasn't possible

"You have to go away, or they'll put me back in that place."

"Kagome, what is wrong with you? I already told you. Naraku has your mind trapped inside the sacred jewel!"

"But that's irrational because there is no such thing as the Shikon no Tama, it's a myth. And youkai never existed... so that makes you completely fictional, and no well is going to make me travel between eras…"

She had been freed from her prison

"Kagome, I'm sorry…"

"Don't you dare start that again…"

"See! Now you're acting completely insane!"

"I must be if I'm so lonely that I have to dream you up."

The prison with the padded walls

"She's been talking to herself doctor. I just don't know what's wrong anymore."

"I think that Kagome is imagining things again."

"So what do you suggest?"

"More time in the hospital."

But she fears again

"Mama, what are they doing here again?"

"Kagome, I know you've been hallucinating again. The doctor thinks…"

"You're sending me back to the loony bin."

"Kagome it isn't a 'loony bin.' It's a hospital."

For her sanity's sake

"Kagome, don't cry… I'm only doing what's best for you…"

"I knew in the end you would do this. You can never trust someone who thinks you're truly insane."

Because everywhere she turns

"Kagome, why are they putting you in that truck? Do you want me to come with you?"

"No, it's your fault I'm here anyway!"

She sees a flash of silver

"Kagome… Talk to me please…"

"No, you aren't real. And because you aren't real and because my brain seems to think you're real, I'm going to spend the rest of my days in this asylum."

Out the corner of her eye she sees blurred red

"Kagome… wake up. Do your arms hurt?"

"Of course they hurt; I'm in a straight jacket. I shouldn't have told the doctor he was a sick bastard…"

No, he's not real

"Let me help you out of it…"

"I'm sorry, but you see that's not possible. If you were real maybe, then you could help, but…"

"If I can get it off will you leave with me?"

She knows he's not real

"I don't know. If I get caught…"

"If you think I'm not real then why not say yes. If you're so sure you might as well agree."

She firmly believes he's not real

"Kagome, you have to make a choice. Those guys from earlier are coming down the hallway."

"Umm… Alright... if you can get it off, then I'll go with you."

That's what they all told her

"Iron Reaver, Soul Stealer!"

"But... that's impossible…"

"Hey I just heard something from that Higurashi girl's cell…"

"Come on, we have to go…"

That's what she was taught

"Inu Yasha, you came, after all this time you really came…"

"Kagome, don't tear up on me, there will be plenty of time later after we escape this place."

That he can't exist

"The guards are coming…"

"Why does this place have bars Kagome? You never answered. Who are they trying to keep out?"

"No, Inu Yasha, they were trying to keep me in…"

They told her to know it

"But why?"

"When I first got here, they told me you weren't real... that you were just a figment of my imagination. When I refused to believe it I tried to jump down the well but ended up breaking my leg."

They told her to believe it

"They sent me to the asylum so I would forget about you. And after three years it worked. They let me out, but when you got here…"

"They made you go back."

"Yeah."

Just because they told her to

"I'm really sorry, Kagome, that it took me so long."

"It's alright. I forgive you. We just have to get out of here before they get out the tranquillizer guns."

"What are those?"

"You don't want to know."

So she did

"Where are we going?"

"The well house, it's too dangerous to stay in here any longer."

"What do you mean 'in here'?"

But it was always

"I told you we are in the jewel. Naraku trapped you inside, but now he can't use it until your spirit completely breaks and you kill yourself…"

"I thought about it…"

"I know you did, and no one in this fake world would have stopped you. He needed you to break into pieces, that way the jewel would be the most tainted."

In the back of her mind

"Kagome, you have to jump! Those guys in the coats are coming!"

"I can't!"

"But I'll be there with you, Kagome…"

"I don't know if right now that is enough!"

So maybe that's why

"Kagome, do you trust me?"

"Always and with my life, Inu-"

"Then close your eyes and jump."

"Alright..."

She's jumped into the well again

The jewel pulsated quickly as two figures were placed gently on the floor. Their fingers were laced tightly as the fighting around them ceased.

"She's free…" Naraku muttered as Kagome continued to glow, her aura surrounding her in pure fury. Sango smirked slightly as she moved the battered forms of Miroku and Shippo to the side.

"It's almost over…" Sango said with a sigh as she fell against the wall unconscious.

"You tricked me…" Kagome said in anger as her clothing morphed into the priestess robes of Midoriko and the mark of the saved branded itself in her brow.

"Now, Kagome-sama…" Naraku said with his cool tongue as he quickly planned something.

"Don't you speak my name, you filth. You made me believe I was crazy. That I had nothing else left!" Kagome screamed. "Now I'll send you to the deepest pits of hell!" Kagome said as the Shikon no Tama flew into her hands.

And this time

"You stupid bitch! You think you can stop me? Miko, or no, I will not allowed a mere human to defeat me," Naraku said as he transformed and attacked Kagome with several of his tentacles. "You will help me taint the Shikon no Tama, and your blood will bathe it in my glory!"

No one can stop her from believing

A flash of light, and parts of Naraku fell to the ground. Inu Yasha bared his fangs to the abomination that was Naraku as he took stance in front of Kagome with Tetsusaiga in hand. "Don't you ever come near Kagome, you load of shit. I won't let you hurt her again," he growled out.

Naraku smirked at the hanyou. "Half-breed, you have interfered long enough. That wench will die, and you will see her suffer!" Suddenly, Naraku attacked from behind, and Inu Yasha couldn't move fast enough.

No one can keep her from knowing the truth

"Wh-what's this!"

"Ka-Kagome?"

"Don't you dare lay a disgusting finger on him, you trash. I have suffered for far too long because of you. I WILL NOT allow you to harm anyone else." Kagome's grip on the tentacle tightened, and the piece of flesh was purified.

Naraku clenched his fists in anger. "DIE, WENCH!"

"No, it is time for you to die," she spoke as she walked towards the youkai, a powerful barrier surrounding her and purifying his attacks, her eyes radiating the angry miko energy she possessed. She reached for him and held his throat. "Die, Naraku..." spoke Kagome and the voices of those who perished because of him.

Because this time

"I-Inu Yasha..."

"Kagome...Kagome!"

"It...It won't stop hurting." Kagome held her head. "Why won't the pain go away? Why can't I feel...your embrace?"

"No...No, I won't let you go...You can't..." The drops fell onto her pale cheeks.

The jewel glowed and surrounded them both.

He laced his fingers within hers and did the only thing he could do...

He is real

He pulled back and embraced her one more time. "I love you, Kagome! I always have...You can't leave me...not now...not ever! Please..." Inu Yasha shook his head repeatedly as more drops soaked into the shoulder of her kimono shirt.

Gentle hands tried to soothe the hanyou. "Inu Yasha..."

"Ka...go...Kagome!"

"I won't leave. I'll always be here...to love you. Midoriko allowed it, her final wish."

The jewel had finally returned to its protector.

And everyone knows it

"Kagome...She's alive..."

"Eeeewwww...did they just KISS?"

"You'll understand when you're older. Now, come my Sango, come so that we may enjoy in this bliss as well."

"Just DIE."

Does she believe it?

"I do."

"You may now kiss the bride."

Fin.

Star: Okay that's the end of the story and I'd like to thank my co-author/beta reader Blueangel326 who went over the story and completed the ending because I was… Coughs (Crowd: You were what Star?) Sleepy… Please don't hurt me. You all know I'm a lazy bum anyway… Anyway here are a few words from Blueangel326…

BA326: What happens is Midoriko grants Kagome another life because Kagome delved deep into her soul to unleash the power to defeat Naraku. The jewel merged with Kagome's remaining soul and gave her new life so that she could continue on with Inu Yasha in the real world. Inu Yasha's kiss sealed the deal. And so now...everyone's happy, excluding the ex-monk who has bones protruding from his ass for screwing around with Sango too much...but...that's a good thing...right? They get married at that last part...of course.

Star: Okay that was an excerpt from my email. All I did to the end of the story was change the spelling of a few words (Because BA326 apparently didn't use spell check) and that's it. Now once again I'm going to take a nap. Bye Bye now!