Author's Note: I apologize for the delay. I had finals and then I started working once summer hit. I want to say thanks for your patience and thank-you to the wonderful people who added me to their favorites/alerts list.

Promise Required

"A promise made is a debt unpaid."
- Robert Service

Sure, Kagome sounded confident telling Kaede that she had to talk to Kikyo not fifteen minutes before, but by now, the reality of her actions had started to seep into her head.

She was about to face the former guardian of the sacred jewel, the person she shared a soul with, the woman who ruled Inuyasha's heart and the one who held Inuyasha's life in her hands. 'Oh how do I get myself into these messes?' Kagome moaned. 'What am I going to do?' she wondered, 'What will I say to her?'

Considering that most of the time they saw one another ended unpleasantly (Kagome briefly recalled Kikyo stealing her jewel shards, trying to kill her, kissing Inuyasha in front of her, trying to drag Inuyasha to hell…) In any case, Kagome felt apprehensive about the upcoming encounter. Even so, she knew she had to do something… anything.

'I have to help Inuyasha since he refuses to help himself,' she thought determinedly. The difficult part was that she couldn't figure out what to say to the former protector of the Sacred Jewel before she got there. She highly doubted that Kikyo would free Inuyasha from his promise just because she asked nicely and said please with a cherry on top.

Kagome mentally shook her head to clear the image as she continued to move forward through the forest at a slightly slow, but steady pace. Her energy levels were low since she depleted all of her miko powers a week before during the battle with Naraku and then during the purification process of cleansing the evil aura from the jewel. Defeating Naraku was a joyous accomplishment, but the battle itself served as a bitter memory.

They hadn't had time to plan, no strategy was involved, no recruitment of allies beforehand. In fact, the group hadn't even expected to encounter the dark hanyou; they merely stumbled unto his castle while investigating a peculiar story of a powerful old monk sensing massive dark energy in the area before it disappeared completely. Call it dumb luck or Divine Providence, but as the group scouted out the area, Kagome accidentally stumbled through Naraku's barrier. Realizing what had happened, Inuyasha barked at Kagome to get out of the way before releasing his Diamond Barrage on the barrier.

Inuyasha managed to break through after a few times of yelling and swinging the sword but by the time he finally did, Hakudoshi was already waiting for him. Naraku upon learning of the group's arrival sent the infant away with Kanna before joining Hakudoshi. Apparently, with his heart nestled safe within the infant, he felt the group posed little threat to his life.

But what he didn't anticipate was the surprising but fortuitous arrival of Kikyo. Kikyo too had heard the rumors of a dark aura appearing and disappearing and came to investigate. Shooting a sacred arrow that eliminated all but Naraku's left side and head, Kikyo joined the fight from her place on a nearby hill. Sensing that he had underestimated his opponents, Naraku removed the shard from Kohaku's back to strengthen the powers given to him by his portion of the sacred jewel.

Kagome would forever be haunted by the anguished scream that Sango unleashed as she watched her beloved younger brother fall to the ground weak and helpless. With a warrior's cry, she summoned Kirara and immediately charged blindly at Naraku. Miroku tried to stop her but Sango remained undeterred. Using her Hiraikotsu as a shield, Sango fended off Kagura's Dance of Blades and even the first of the tentacles Naraku shot out at her. When the second wave of mutant limbs flew at her, she sliced them off and continued to move forward. But what Sango failed to notice was that one of the tentacles she sliced apart from his body shoot back up from the ground where it fell.

Kagome tried to scream out a warning but it came too late. The tentacle ripped its way through Sango's back and out her stomach before rejoining its place in Naraku's body. Soon after, another tentacle sideswiped Kirara causing them both to fall.

Miroku raced forward to catch Sango since Inuyasha remained occupied with fending off Hakudoshi's attacks. Kagome had never seen Miroku looked so uncomposed, clearly worried and afraid, as he held the weakened Sango in his arms. Fighting back her fear, Kagome notched an arrow aiming at Naraku as he laughed cruelly at the injured slayer. Seeing Kagome's intent, Kikyo also prepared an arrow of her own: aimed instead at the infant held in Kanna's arms more than a hundred yards from the battle. Firing simultaneously the two mikos destroyed both bodies. As the bodies of Naraku and the infant became purified, a pink light suddenly ripped a hole in the rest of the incarnations.

Without Kikyo, they would have lost.

After Hakudoshi's body dissipated, Inuyasha rejoined the group. He worriedly glanced at Kagome who was knelt upon the ground, weary from using so much of her powers. Kagome just shook her head to tell him that she was okay. He made a move to join her but then he spotted Kikyo headed their way. After a quick, guilty glance at Kagome, Inuyasha changed direction to head towards Kikyo.

The sight of him of leaving for her made Kagome dropped her head to hide her teary eyes behind her bangs. It was always about Kikyo and no matter how hard she tried she couldn't change that. And the knowledge she was helpless to change anything only made it hurt more.

Before Inuyasha could reach Kikyo, Sango let out a loud cry of pain. Inuyasha and Kagome rushed over to check on the injured warrior. Even with Miroku trying to stop the bleeding, her stomach seemed to ooze out blood. Upon seeing the severity of Sango's injury and the damaged Kirara received, Inuyasha agreed to race them back to Kaede's village for treatment leaving the two mikos and monk to purify the jewel before other demons sensed its great power.

Just before he left, Kagome overheard Kikyo informing Inuyasha that she would wait in the forest outside of Kaede's village for one week in order to give him time to tie up 'loose ends'. Kagome stiffened; the moment she had waited for had come. Without even glancing at Kagome, Inuyasha nodded. He then picked up Sango and Kirara and took off. Kagome silently watched his departure feeling helpless and alone. To Kagome, the joy of their victory over Naraku suddenly felt oppressive, bitter, and overpriced.

Kagome stopped in the forest to wipe away the tears from her eyes. The memory of Inuyasha's lack of concern for her after the final battle hurt even if a week had passed. 'And yet here I am, desperately trying to fight for someone who obviously couldn't care less about me,' Kagome thought bitterly. She sighed morosely and looked up at the sky. The sun already hung low in the sky and would probably disappear behind the horizon in another hour of two. 'There's no way I'll be navigate this forest in the dark, I need to find Kikyo before then,' she thought to herself as she began moving again.

In addition, Kagome needed to find Kikyo before the others returned. They had left Kaede's village two days ago in order to accompany Sango to the demon slayer's village as she visited the gravesite of Kohaku's body. Miroku, after bringing Kagome back, had gathered Kohaku's body to bury in the demon slayer's village. The group then waited a few days in order for Sango to partially recover before making the journey. Kaede wished Sango would wait longer but she was determined to make the trip as soon as possible.

Kagome wanted to go with them and offer some moral support to the one she looked at as a sister but the others overruled her saying the journey would be too long and difficult for her tired and energy-depleted body.

Kagome smiled wryly at the irony. Barely two days had passed since being declared unfit for travel and here she was gallivanting around the forest on her own. Inuyasha would have a fit if he knew what she was doing. For one thing, he probably would resent the idea of her butting into his business and for another she was wandering around the woods at night. Even with Naraku gone and the jewel purified, the forest still had some dangerous demons that could harm wandering travelers, which reminded her…

'Shoot, I forgot to grab my arrows too.'

Yep, Inuyasha would no doubt bite her head off if he found out she went into the forest without a weapon to defend herself. Then again, since he hadn't been able to look her in the eyes the few times she did see him, Kagome wasn't sure how bad a tongue-lashing from him could be. After all, even a fight with Inuyasha sounded better than the silent treatment and disappearing act she endured from him during the past week.

But even if Inuyasha was unable to yell at her, Kagome doubted that the others would be too pleased. Sango would probably give her a sisterly scolding; Miroku would try to diffuse the situation but lecture her later in private and Shippou would either cry about how worried he was before doing a 180 and jumping in to defend her from the others.

To be honest she was still a little surprised that the little guy left her side to go with the others. The first day or two after the battle Shippou barely left her side while she was resting except to run errands for Kaede; he became her fifth limb: eager and willing to do anything to help restore her back to health.

Most likely, his worry stemmed from the fact he first saw Sango carried back injured and unconscious and then Kagome carried back to the village unconscious as well. And while Shippou knew that the others left him in the village for his own protection but it didn't make him worry any less about their safety. 'Now if only Inuyasha was a little more like that lately…'

Within the four days after the battle, he seemed to display the opposite personality. The others claimed he would be by her side throughout the night holding her hand and trying to soothe her nightmares but whenever Kagome awoke, she never saw an inch of her silver-haired companion.

'It's like he is already trying to distance himself from me.'

Suddenly, Kagome felt a faint, but familiar, pull coming from up ahead. 'Kikyo.' It was Kikyo's part of her soul reaching out to her own. Kagome was on the right track.

She knew that Kikyo would relatively easy to find in the forest. Being a miko, who had a natural talent with spiritual powers aided Kagome since once she was within a close distance, she was able to pick up on Kikyo's aura more exactly. The only problem was that Kagome could only estimate distance in four categories: close, medium, far, and out of range. And since Kikyo had been in the 'close' category for the last few minutes, Kagome could run into her at any moment and she had been too busy reflecting on painful memories to think about what to say to her.

"Girl, why do you seek me out?"

'Too late now,' Kagome thought finally noticing the ethereal soul collectors in the air, 'well, no time like the present.'

Kagome looked to her right to stare at the former protector of the sacred jewel as well as Inuyasha's first love. Kagome cleared her throat. "I needed to speak with you."

This piqued Kikyo's interest though she kept her outward expression neutral. Although the girl had stumbled across her a few times, she never deliberately sought her own out. "What about?"

Kikyo noticed Kagome's hesitation and interpreted the reason for it. She smiled, an upward turn of cold and cruel lips. "About Inuyasha."

Kagome's eyes flashed at Kikyo's nonchalance. "Yes, about Inuyasha," she replied consciously trying, but failing, to withhold the anger from her voice.

"Then speak up girl. What do you wish to discus about the half-demon?"

Kagome winced at Kikyo's words. Although she believed that deep down (way deep down) Kikyo was a good person, her apathy towards Inuyasha and herself at times made her wonder. 'But I have to try, for Inuyasha's sake, I must try.'

Tilting her chin upward, she ignored the fear gnawing at her stomach, looked Kikyo in the eye, and proceeded directly to her purpose in the woods. "I have never asked you for anything until now. But I feel I have to speak up on this issue. Please Kikyo, release him from this detestable oath."

"Why should I?"

Kagome gaped at her indifference. "Because he deserves to live! His guilt over your death shouldn't be grounds for his own."

For a moment Kikyo's impassive mask fell, leaving Kagome shocked to witness Kikyo's fury as her brown eyes narrowed into slits and pale lips contorted into an even crueler sneer. But then, it was gone and impassiveness replaced it once again.

"What you fail to realize girl, is that even if I wanted to release him, which I do not, I was not the one responsible for his decisions. He chose his actions. Inuyasha chose to make that promise and Inuyasha is the one choosing to keep it. And you cannot change that. You cannot change his choices."

"But if you just talked to him..." she pleaded.

"As I said, Inuyasha has made his decision. He will set things right by joining me in hell."

Kagome lowered her head, tears raced down her cheeks and dropping soundlessly to the dirt.

"After all, a promise is a promise," Kikyo continued in Kagome's silence.

For some strange reason that Kikyo could not fathom, her words caused the younger girl to let out a muted laugh equally full of bitterness and despair. "Have I amused you in some way?" Kikyo asked calmly, subtly inquiring about the girl's unorthodox behavior.

Kagome let out a small snort, twisting the corner of her lips upward resulting in a look closer to a grimace than a smile and replied, "Inuyasha said the same thing to me not too long ago… perhaps you two do deserve one another after all."

Kikyo's love for Inuyasha had died fifty years prior and the Kikyo made of clay and graveyard soil resented the insinuation. "This is about keeping a promise, nothing more."

"Even though it leads to death," Kagome reiterated.

"All promises are meant to be kept."

Then, as if the night had not been strange enough, Kagome gave Kikyo an intense look, one that had she still a soul in her body, Kagome would be seeing it.

"All promises?" Kagome asked with a hint of some unidentifiable emotion fueling the power behind the question. It made Kikyo feel… uneasy.

Instead of revealing her unease, she scoffed. "You're wasting my time, girl. If you wish to ask fooli-"

"Answer it, Kikyo," the voice snapped.

"Yes," she replied calmly, "all promises."

Kagome nodded. "I see," she said quietly to herself. Then she looked back at Kikyo. When Kagome resumed speaking, she adopted an authoritative tone, cold and crisp, one that reminded Kikyo of herself when speaking. "In that case, it seems we have more to discus…"

AN: I'm going to be out-of-state for awhile but if I get enough reviews I think I can manage to write the next chapter during my trip. Hint Hint And to encourage reviews, I decided to include a rough excerpt from the next chapter… Enjoy!

Excerpt:

"K-kagome." Inuyasha's eyes widened at the sight of the miko from the future emerging from the trees. "What are you doing here?" he asked as she stepped forward.

Kagome smiled, not her typically bright, carefree that stretched from ear to ear but instead it was more of a sad, wistful upward turn of her lips. The bottom lip of her pitiful smile trembled as she gingerly placed one hand on Kikyo's forearm and another on Inuyasha's.

"I'm keeping my promise, just as you are keeping yours."

"What?"

"I promised I would be by your side forever. I meant it."

Eyes narrowed in realization then widened in shock and fear. He gripped her arm tightly.

"You can't do this. You'll die Kagome."

Kagome sighed and looked away. "It's like you said, Inuyasha. A promise is a promise."