So…I think that's it.  Read and…enjoy!

Breaking The Habit

"I don't know how I got this way / I know it's not alright / So I'm breaking the habit / I'm breaking the habit tonight"

-Breaking the Habit, Linkin Park

Prologue

"Death is coming for you, little one."  Her voice was calm, serene, as if she were announcing nothing more but that it was raining outside.  The only real animation in the sitting figure was in the eyes.

Kagome met those faded blue eyes and fought off a shiver that had nothing to do with the temperature inside the hut.  "Wh-" she stopped, cleared her throat and blinked.  "What?"

This wasn't what she had expected.  She knew they said the old woman was a witch, but she expected her to be more the healer, nature woman type of witch, not the I-can-see-your-future-death-is-coming-for-you kind of witch. 

"Hunh," Inuyasha exclaimed, nonplussed.  "That's nothing new, witch."

Mirouku's face was serious…too serious for Sango's liking.

"I have seen it in my mind's eye, demon," the old woman warned, keeping her features calm.

"And so what?" Inuyasha challenged.  "We face death every day, and every day we beat it back."  He stood and placed his hands defiantly on his hips.  "If that's the best you've got, then you don't have much."

The woman looked at him and Inuyasha had to fight to not squirm.  It was as if she were looking at his soul, listening not to what Inuyasha said, but what he left unsaid.  Just when he thought he couldn't hold still any longer, the woman looked back at Kagome. 

"It will not be such as you have faced before."  She looked at Inuyasha and shook her head.  "This will not be facing the likes of your brother, mindless demons or even the cunning of Nuraku…"

"How…" Inuyasha started.

"The death that will come for the lady is not in search of jewel fragments, nor is he in search of vengeance."

"Then what is he in search of?" Kagome spoke quietly.

"Pain," the old woman replied simply.  "Your soul is different from others…it is pure and yet earthly, your aura is a mix of white and green…" she paused as she looked at the monk.  "You know this." 

Mirouku nodded slowly, avoiding the stares of his other companions.  He had seen Lady Kagome's aura and recognized its uniqueness from the moment he met her, but he had not been able to tell with the certainty what this woman had seen in mere moments.  "I do," he spoke.  "But it was beyond my understanding what it might mean."

The old woman moved, shrugging slowly as if even the slight action pained her.  "Only the Lady will be able to tell that when the time comes," she answered.  "But the Death that stalks you now is attracted to that aura, called to it and helpless to resist his need to possess it…and destroy it."  She looked down at Kagome's shadow on the floor of her hut and seemed to read something there.  "Death will wear a mask, my lady."

"Where will this occur?" Mirouku spoke into the silence.  "When?"

The woman turned her head back to the table and focused her eyes on the flame.  It seemed to spring to life and danced about even though there was no wind.  "I see water-a struggle-a soul trapped beyond time and death seeking light…" the candle went out without so much as a sound.  It seemed to snap her out of her vision and her eyes focused again on the group around her.  "You cannot avoid this simply be avoiding a place," she told Kagome.  "He will come after you no matter where…" she glanced at Inuyasha .  "…or when."