A/N: Whoo~! Third installment, OHYEAH! I really like this story... I'm not sure why. And I know I keep staying that it's a series of connected oneshots, but I would like to point out that it's awfully hard to make them seem final! If you know what I mean... I guess it's all in the way you look at it- things from the last chapter carry over, but otherwise, it's a new story? Because it's a new place? I guess that makes the chapters interconnected oneshots then!! :O

Anyways, a BIG SHOUTOUT to one of the reviewers for the last chapter, KibaSin (OHMIGOSH I LOVE THAT YOU READ MY STUFF) for guessing that the artist for this chapter; 'Learn to Fly', was the Foo Fighters! If you're interested in getting a shout out (Because really, how cool is a shout out? LOL) then the next chapter-slash-the-next-song is 'Upside Down'. Guess the artist, get a mention! YAY!

So some more questions about Kagome are answered in this chapter... you will come to realize that information on how Kagome came to be comes in bits, with every chapter and encounter that she has. Also, with this chapter, I think everyone will start to get the idea of what I'm doing that makes this story different from all my others... but I don't want to say too much... haha. There's also some more insight to the reason Kagome's been sent to a new place, and just what the well has to do with it all.

If you have any questions, make sure to ask me! I don't mind... and have fun guessing what will happen (aka where Kagome will be) in the next chapter! And if you don't understand that now, by the end of the chapter you most certainly will.

Disclaimer: I do not own InuYasha, YuYu Hakusho, or the songs I mention in this story. I just enjoy reading the series, and listening to the music.

Summary: Just when Kagome thinks there is nothing left to forever, time finally decides to give a little back. A series of interconnected OneShots K/?

Carpe Diem

By ancient-relic

-o-

I'm looking to the sky to save me

Looking for a sign of life

Looking for something to help me burn out bright

I'm looking for complications

Looking cause I'm tired of lying

Make my way back home

When I learn to fly (high)

Learn To Fly- Foo Fighters

-o-

Chapter II

She woke up to birds chirping merrily, trilling in delight to each other. Gripping her head as she shifted into an upright position, Kagome carefully surveyed her surroundings. She had fled Sasuke and his advances, falling into the well after it had called her back again in her distress. Her last memories were of a soft, demanding pressure; warm and encompassing. Sasuke had held her tightly, and Kagome realized that she hadn't felt the comfort of an embrace for 11 years. Even though he was on some other end of the well, Sasuke still managed to bring up memories and feelings Kagome thought she had left behind long ago. Now, as she hoisted herself up and out of the well, Kagome looked around to see trees and foliage in every direction.

"Am I back in the feudal era?" she wondered.

Hauling herself over the worn wooden lip of the well, she glanced around, curious as to which direction she should head. She wasn't on her shrine, she wasn't in the feudal era (for the trees were not the same, and much too close to the well for it to be the clearing she knew very well) and she wasn't in the forest outside Sasuke's ninja village.

"Hey!" a voice startled the quiet of the morning.

Kagome spun around, searching for the cause of the sound. Deciding it would be best not to stand around waiting, she hopped into the nearest tree which was gnarled and old and was generally the best for both climbing and hiding.

"I know you're there, I can sense your reiki," the voice shouted again.

Reiki? She wondered. Maybe… Kagome completely suppressed her power signature, blending it with the aura of the tree she was sitting in just as a strangely dressed boy dashed into the clearing.

"A well?" he was puzzled. Leaning precariously over the edge, he searched for the presence he had come chasing after, but could see nothing but the vines that descended down the walls into the darkness of the dry well. Rising, he looked around the clearing, scanning for her, and crossed his arms, resting back against the well.

"Listen," his voice was loud, but at least he wasn't yelling anymore. "I know you're here. You've got the most powerful aura I've ever felt; even the old lady was shocked. So how about you just come out?"

A memory pierced Kagome's heart- of InuYasha sitting on a small fence beside the small patch of land that Kaede tended to in her later years, nagging her about something or another. Robotically, she allowed herself to drop from the high branches of the tree, startling the boy. He had quickly adopted an awestruck expression, mouth open and eyes wide.

"You…!" he quickly found his voice. "You look like you just walked out of my history textbook! What weird clothes!!" he pointed and laughed. Kagome painfully realized that her emotions seemed to be locked away again, not even feeling anger at the boy's teasing. Was it the memories? In remembering, had she subconsciously closed herself off again just when she was beginning to feel things again?

"Ahem," a voice rippled authoritatively through the clearing, and the boy snapped guiltily to attention.

"Miko-sama," an old lady with greying pink hair approached them. "Please forgive me disciple. He's an idiot." She punctuated her words with a slam of her fist to his head.

"Please join me for tea," she invited. Kagome blinked, hesitating only for a moment.

"Sure,"

Kagome sipped gingerly at her green tea, watching as the old lady- who had been introduced as Genkai- chastised the young boy who had sought her out- his name was Yusuke. She couldn't help but chuckle at their antics, and was reminded of InuYasha and Shippo. The feeling of pain seemed lessened by the pleasant atmosphere, and Kagome's mind didn't linger as Genkai turned to address her.

"Ah, forgive my lowly disciple." She spoke, bowing and pulling Yusuke with her. "He has yet to garner a respect for those above him."

"I doubt he will," Kagome grinned. "In all of his shortcomings he will find strength. He will flourish where people expect him to fail."

"How d'you figure?" Yusuke huffed, pulling away from Genkai's reach and crossing his arms.

"I've seen if first hand," Kagome replied, smiling serenely to herself before sipping at her tea.

"Miko-sama," Genkai began.

"Kagome," said priestess corrected.

"Kagome-sama," the corners of her eyes wrinkled as she smiled. "How did you come across my shrine? You may very well be one of the last true miko in existence." Kagome stilled at Genkai's words, lowering her tea to the table.

"Before I answer your questions, I must ask my own." Kagome said lowly.

"Of course," Genkai quickly agreed, a concerned look that only a wizened being could achieve.

"Where am I?" It seemed like a logical place to start.

"My shrine is north of Tokyo," the older woman mused. "Not far out, but higher up."

"What… time?" Kagome was unsure of how to phrase the question to get the answer she wanted.

"Time?" Yusuke grumbled. "Did you whack your head and lose your memory, or something?"

"Yusuke!" Genkai frowned. The questions were peculiar, yes, but even so…

"Ah," Kagome sighed. "Let me clarify."

Slowly, Kagome began to share a shortened, edited version of the past fifteen years of her life. She told of how she was pulled down a dry well on her property by a demon, the discovery of the Jewel inside her and then the shattering of the gem, the companions she had gained, the search for the evil Naraku and then finally, of her present circumstances.

"So you are the priestess of legend," Genkai concluded, refilling Kagome's mug.

A disgruntled snore filled the silence between the women- Yusuke, bored, had fallen asleep.

"The well seems to be connected to both me and the time-stream, allowing me to travel through time. After the completion of the Shikon and its return to my body, both the well and time became useless to me." Kagome mused aloud. "I don't understand why it's recently become active."

"Who knows," Genkai mused. "If you are immortal, perhaps the well has simply given you something to do."

"A task?"

"At your destination on the other side of the well. You described the sensation of the well 'coming to life'. Maybe it won't let you through until you've completed its desire. Can you feel the tug now?"

"No…"Kagome felt for the aura of the well, but her mind's eye remained dark.

"Give it time," Genkai's face softened in an almost motherly fashion. "In the meantime, you are welcome here. If my calculations are correct and you haven't aged for eleven years, then you are in the same time you would have been in ad you returned to your side of the well after the completion of the jewel. It has returned you to your rightful timeline."

Kagome shook her head. "I don't have anywhere to belong. If I stayed here eventually people would notice that I didn't age."

"Perhaps," Genkai wondered at the size of Kagome's burdens. She realized that she couldn't even begin to imagine it.

"Yusuke!" she shouted, turning to the sleeping boy. "Wake up!"

"What'chu want?" he mumbled sleepily, looking around for the source of distress.

"Kagome is going to stay here for a while. Go prepare her somewhere to stay! And make it snappy!"

Yusuke grumbled, cracking his neck and shoulders before clambering to his feet.

"Come on," Kagome, watching Yusuke and Genkai with a reminiscent smile, got up to follow.

--

Kagome opened her eyes to a concerned pair of eyes peering down at her. They shone a honeyed brown in the sunlight that streamed in through the window to the right of her futon.

"Yusuke?" Kagome sat up from the bed, cracking her neck. She was stiff- a good sign that she could use some exercise and training.

"Me 'n the old lady were getting worried, you know. You slept for three straight days," Yusuke commented offhandedly, backing up to give her some space to rise.

"Really?" Kagome commented sheepishly. "I guess it's been a while. I haven't done that for almost seven years."

"Done what? Slept in?" Yusuke was both puzzled and abhorred at the thought. "You've kept track?"

Kagome then remembered Yusuke had fallen asleep for her explanation to Genaki.

"I'm immortal," she said bluntly. "I don't need sleep, but sometimes I just like to."

Yusuke did a slack-jawed expression of a fish out of water.

"If I'm particularly stressed, mentally or physically, I sleep much more heavily. I usually can pull myself out of my unconscious or 'sleeping' state. I've become quite the light sleeper," Kagome finished with a giggle.

"You're immortal?"

It seemed Yusuke was still having trouble moving past that fact.

"Uh, yes…"

"You don't need sleep…? So you've just gone through a mental breakdown?"

"Yes… and no."

"What about food?"

"I can eat and drink if I want to," she shrugged, climbing to her feet. "It is just converted into energy for my body, though it leaves no waste behind. I typically get my energy from the sun."

"Cool!"

Kagome navigated her way towards Genkai's fluttering aura which was outside in a large space.

"Kagome! I see you're awake," she greeted.

"Yes, sorry to worry you," Kagome gave a small bow. "I was wondering if I could borrow a bow and some arrows, so I could practice my skills. If it isn't too much trouble, of course."

"Certainly, just follow me," she continued through the shrine to a small training ground with a shed. "Select whatever you please, and feel free to keep it," she said, opening the door.

Stepping inside, Kagome admired the collection of weapons that Genkai had amassed before selecting a lightly armoured mahogany longbow, and a matching quiver of white fletched mahogany arrows.

"You have an eye for quality," Genkai commented as Kagome exited the shed. "Come, and we'll take you to where I have some targets set up."

Kagome followed as Yusuke and Genkai quietly led her along a forested path. Kagome could feel the purity of the forest thrumming through her veins, and felt a sense of peace settle deep within her. She had been traveling through forests for so long it was nice to be amongst trees. The purity, she imagined, came from the fact that Genkai's aura kept the area carefully regulated and cared for- pure.

The three emerged from the trees into a clearing of tall grass, but it had been cut away so that there was a large space where the grass was short, and so arrows would be found easily. Three targets were set up across the clearing, maybe fifteen or twenty yards apart, and easily over a hundred yards back.

"Would you like me to bring one closer?" Genkai asked, looking to Kagome.

"No, this is fine," Kagome smiled, pulling an arrow out of the quiver with practiced ease. Notching it to the bowstring , Kagome turned to her hosts. "Please feel free to remain and watch, though I must confess I am a little rusty. It's been a while since I've used a bow and arrow."

Genkai and Yusuke moved off to the side, giving Kagome a wide berth as her right leg slid back into an archer's stance. Straightening her left arm, Kagome pulled back the arrow, and focused on the center target. From where she was standing, the path was angled, as she had not moved since she entered the clearing. There was likely some kind of crosswind that would affect her shot, and she hoped she wouldn't have to go searching into the underbrush to find it if it flew astray.

Without a second thought, she let the arrow fly and it whistled through the air before landing with a loud thock in the far left target bullseye.

"Wow!" Yusuke was impressed.

"I was aiming for the center bullseye," Kagome admitted. "The crosswind pushed my arrow to the left. But I know how strong the wind is now, and can counter it."

Moving so she was in the middle of the three targets, Kagome repeated the process of stringing her arrow and taking up her stance.

"Middle target, bullseye," she said, so that Genkai and Yusuke could hear. Letting the arrow fly, it appeared moments later with a signature sound in the middle target, bullseye.

"Increadible," Genkai commented. "Such accuracy!"

"For a long time, arrows was all I had to rely on to use my purification powers," Kagome said. "And accuracy was essential when the demons attacked."

"Demons…?!" Yusuke was rather sorry he had napped yesterday, for it seemed he had missed an interesting story.

"Indeed," Genkai said. "But that story will not be retold now. Perhaps later,"

Kagome smiled. "Middle target," she notched her arrow. "Bullseye."

This time, accompanying the twang of the bow and the thock of the arrow was a crack. Glancing across the clearing, Kagome noted that she had successfully split her second arrow with her third.

"Yusuke," she said. "Pick any ring, any spot, any target. I'll hit it,"

"Uh, okay…" he said, glancing at the targets and picking a spot. "Far right target, yellow ring, 5 o'clock."

Kagome glanced at the target, then back to Yusuke, and let a cheshire grin slide across her face. Drawing back her arrow, she corrected her angle for the wind, and let the arrow fly. Moments later, it landed with a satisfying thud in the yellow ring. Impressed, Yusuke let out a low whistle.

"Far left target, blue ring, ten o'clock," he said.

Another whistle, accompanied by Genkai's clapping, sounded after the arrow landed. "Doesn't look rusty to me," Yusuke grinned.

"Well, my accuracy I've had for a long time. It's ingrained, if you will. Let's see about my speed, shall we?"

"What about your powers?" he commented, curious. "Didn't you say you used your powers and your arrows to purify demons? But how?"

"I'll show you, but just this once," Kagome said, turning back to the targets.

"They're just bales of hay," Genkai commented suddenly. "I've got more,"

"Great," Kagome smiled. She could feel the familiar strings of adrenaline beginning to pump through her veins as she summoned her powers from their rest. Smoothly notching an arrow, Kagome aimed, and took a deep breath. After a moment, she released her powers into the arrow, and it seemed to swell with a pink energy that made her audience take a step back. Letting out the breath she was holding, she watched her arrow shine merrily before releasing the arrow and quickly drawing two more and shooting them at the other two targets.

As they were all in the air, they glowed in unison, flashing blue, before sequentially hitting their designated targets and promptly exploded them in a flutter of straw. Yusuke let out of breath he hadn't realized he was holding, and turned from the missing targets to Kagome.

"That was like, less than 5 seconds!!" Yusuke was amazed. Kagome focused her powers and her aura, and condensed them before masking them again.

"It was a little closer to seven," she commented. "And that was slow, for me."

Genkai studied Kagome carefully. "You are even more powerful that the stories say," she said. "You condense your aura and power into each arrow like that regularly?"

"Yes," Kagome nodded. "At first, I did it without realizing what I was doing- if I had just purified the arrow, you would not have seen the manifestation of my power. Because I add my aura, it gives the arrow an aura of its own. When I fire, the aura acts as a purifying buffer and will pass through a certain number of demons before it will reach one too powerful for the arrow to purify completely. That way, one arrow isn't wasted on one enemy, especially if it isn't a kill shot."

"I don't understand," Yusuke was puzzled. "You can supercharge your arrows on different levels?"

"Basically. Depending on how strong my arrow is and the demons are, the arrow can go through more than one of them and purify them completely before it runs out of power. Just passing through the wake of my arrow is enough to defeat lesser demons."

"So you're immortal and invincible?" Yusuke was clearly impressed.

"Purification powers don't kill everything," Kagome commented, swinging her bow over her shoulder as she walked over to them. "Primarily, purification cleanses its opposite. You called it reiki, did you not? Demons posess youki- it is the source of their very being. It is spiritually opposite to reiki, and therefore certain levels of reiki can destroy a demon and its youki."

"So you couldn't kill a human?"

"Not with my miko ki," Kagome commented. "But my accuracy with the bow and arrow is more than enough to end a human life,"

"Morbid," Genkai commented.

"It is," Kagome said, feeling strangely indifferent. "In my immortality I have lost track of trivialities of life and death. But those were the times that I was raised in… to fight was to survive. If you couldn't, then you would die."

"Maybe that is what the jewel and the well wants for you, Kagome." Genkai said, as she turned to walk away. "Maybe you need to remember that things like life and death aren't just trivialities."

Kagome watched the woman walk away, and felt rather strangely at the woman's words. She felt like she had somehow disappointed the woman, and it left an uneasy feeling in her stomach. With a slight frown, she followed after the disappearing woman, Yusuke trailing behind her, asking questions that she didn't hear.

--

Counting the risings of the sun, Kagome realized that she had been here at Genkai's shine for almost a week. As she sat and absorbed the welcome sunlight, her mind drifted backwards through her brief stay. Genkai had made herself sparse for a long time after their conversation in the clearing, and so Kagome had spent her time with Yusuke, teaching him about meditating, the holy power of her miko ki and the reiki inside him, and how to properly use the bow and arrow.

Yusuke was a quick study, and seemed almost power hungry in his eagerness to learn. At first Kagome had worried about the pace with which he proceeded, but quickly came to realize that Yusuke's heart was in the right place. While he didn't disclose why he was training under Genkai, Kagome was almost one hundred percent certain that it was for a good reason.

As she sat and mused about her time spent, Kagome got to thinking about the well, and Genkai's guess about the reason for it coming alive. Was it really to teach her how to be alive again? Her tasks… perhaps they were as much for others' benefit as they were for her own.

A familiar tingling at the back of her senses caught her attention, and Kagome recognized it immediately as the well flaring to life in a pulse of power. Hopping down from the roof, Kagome disappeared into the house, searching for one of its two occupants. Emerging into the courtyard, Kagome found Yusuke lying in the same sunlight she had been a moment ago.

"Yusuke," her voice was quiet in the still of the morning. He hopped up to look at her with a smile of greeting, popping his shoulders and cracking his stiff neck.

"So what're we learning today, huh?" he was almost bouncing on the balls of his feet. Suddenly, he seemed to remember something. Popping inside, he returned a moment later with the armoured bow she had been using, and a refilled quiver of arrows.

"I made these for you," he rubbed the back of his neck with a sheepish grin, and a dash of pink across his nose. "I was thinking we could do some more work on my archery…?"

"Yusuke," Kagome smiled softly, sadly. "I'm sure Genkai has other plans for you. I came to find you to tell you that I have to go now."

"Go…? Go where?" Yusuke frowned.

"I don't know," Kagome replied. "Wherever fate deems fit. But my time here has drawn to a close."

Yusuke looked away, a myriad of emotions passing across his face. The bow and arrows hung loosely in his arms. A moment later, he turned back to her, a determined look in his eye. He then thrust the weapons out at her.

"Take these with you," he said. "You never know. And besides, you'll get more use out of them anyways. The old lady's no good with arrows."

Kagome looked down at her gift, and felt both sadness and happiness. Turning to Yusuke, she smiled at the younger boy. "Don't forget what you've learned, Yusuke."

"I won't," he said gruffly, crossing his arms. Kagome stepped forwards, patting his dark hair in a gesture of affection, before pressing a kiss to the crown of his head.

"Good. Tell Genkai I had to go… and tell her I say sorry, and thank you." Kagome stepped back, and looked carefully into Yusuke's eyes. "She will know what I mean."

He looked sad, confused, and curious as to the meaning of her words, but after a moment of staring back, the fire returned to his eyes, and he nodded. "Okay."

Kagome turned and began a brisk pace into the forest and to where she could sense the well. Behind her, she could feel Yusuke standing, watching her back as she disappeared. Mildly, she wondered if she'd ever see Yusuke again, and she decided she'd like it if she could some day see how he would grow.

Someday… she mused.

As soon as she passed into the dark of the tree line, Kagome broke out into a flat run, effortlessly passing around trees. The pureness of the forest comforted her in silence as she ran, and Kagome realized that a part of her time- even though it was limitless- would remain here with Yusuke. Glad for the companionship, she realized that the memories of this place wouldn't fade- and neither would the memories of the past she longed to forget.

"I must face them." She spoke to herself as she slowed in front of the dry well. "Wherever they may take me, I will face them."

And with her quiver and bow slung over her shoulders; nothing more than her kimono and Sasuke's yukata for protection, Kagome jumped over the side and gave herself to the power of the well, of the jewel, and of her new-found destiny.

To Be Continued…