A.N. I do not own Inuyasha or Yu Yu Hakusho.

"She'll never really be yours, you know. She was mine first." Hiei's tone was challenging, his body tensed and ready to fight. He was tired of this. Tired of watching another man with his mate. He needed to fight, to gain back what was his.

"Well she's mine now. What aren't you getting about this?" Yusuke narrowed his eyes at the other man. "Now get off my property."

Tension rippled through the hybrid. "No. Makai, you and I. Now." His eyes were almost black as rage built inside him.

"Your funeral." Yusuke's eyes shined gold for a second before turning red.

x~x~x

Yuuko smiled a little, stroking Sakura's hair and braiding it as the girl flipped idly through the photo album. "This was such an amazing gift idea." She held up a page that had a picture of her mom leaning against a tree where her father was sitting above in the branches.

"Indeed." She looked over the pictures. "They look happy."

"Naraku... They could have been together." Sakura clenched her fist.

Absorbing the spike in her aura, Yuuko nodded. It was hard for her to fathom the two together, yet the result was in front of her. "I'm sure things will work out for the best." She wasn't great at being reassuring...

The violet eyed girl smiled and hugged her. "Thanks for saying that, even if you don't mean it." She smiled warmly and then tensed as she felt a spike in youki, headed for the Makai... "Otou-san!" She shot up, ready to follow.

Downstairs, Kagome and Shippou similarly tensed and ran outside.

x~x~x

Yusuke grunted, taking a heavy hit to his side. He was serious. Smirking, he fired off a spirit gun, growling when Hiei simply dodged it. Eyes widening, he threw himself to the side when the other male nearly took his head off.

Hiei continued to go after him, not giving him a moment to recover. He had to kill him.

"STOP!" And suddenly, the two males were forcefully separated by a barrier. Kagome marched out, fury in her eyes. "What am I to you two? A scrap of meat? Something to possess? I am a person! God, Yusuke, I choose you! You didn't have to do this. And Hiei, I love you! I do. You're the father of our child. I'll always love you for that. But my heart, my soul belongs to Yusuke."

Shippou looked between the two, his lips thinning as his sister and Yuuko came to stand beside him. "This shouldn't have been stopped."

"Otou-san, why?" Sakura stepped in close to her father, looking up at him. "You could have been killed." Her eyes watered. "Then I wouldn't have ever been close to you, or even had a father..." She appeared so crestfallen in that moment.

A deep rift formed in his chest. "Sakura..." He reached for her, gathering her into his arms. Regret filled him. He was selfish. He could have left her fatherless after just meeting her. She was his only child.

Yusuke glared at Kagome as she approached. "You shouldn't have interfered! I was defending my claim!" He looked at her, searching.

"I choose you, Yusuke. There's nothing to defend. I'm yours. Don't you see?" She cupped his face in her hands, meeting his eyes.

"This shouldn't have been stopped," Shippou repeated, angry. "A challenge is-"

Yuuko touched his arm. "Don't. Can't you see? No matter what happened, this wouldn't have worked. If Uremeshi won, Sakura would be fatherless. If Hiei won, Higurashi-dono would not have forgiven him. This is the way. You just have to let your mother find her own happiness."

Swallowing, the kitsune looked away. It... It just didn't feel right.

x~x~x

From the back of the room, Hiei watched his mate, his love, marry another man.

"In the end, the hanyou got what he wanted," a cool voice stated from beside him.

Crimson eyes flickered to the taiyoukai. "What does that damnable Inuyasha have to do with this?" He was in a foul enough mood as it was without thoughts of that hanyou to add to the mix.

"Have you ever wondered, Hybrid, about why she gives herself so wholly to that imbecile?" At the silence, the inu glanced at him momentarily. "The end of the quest..."

Inuyasha felt tears rolling down his cheeks as Kikyou's clay form turned to broken pieces. "No, no... Not yet! Not yet..."

"Inu... Yasha..."

Kagome's warm hand fell onto the inu hanyou's shoulder comfortingly. "Miko Kikyou, former guardian of the shikon no tama, rise."

Kikyou's clay body became nothing but red dust as a pale outline took shape along with three other soul fragments. "Kagome-chan..."

Normally alert triangular ears drooped as the hanyou stared at his love's soul fragment.

"You can't be reincarnated... None of them can. But I could combine all the fragments to make a new spirit. Would you like that Kikyou?"

Surprise flashed in the phantom's features. "Please... A fresh start. New life... Please."

Tears glittered in the living miko's eyes as well. "Alright. I will do this for you. Inuyasha? Do you want to go with her?"

Shock lit his amber orbs at the question. "Hai... Even if she won't be Kikyou or her reincarnation. A chance to be together like we were supposed to be."

She nodded and closed her eyes as the fragments were pulled together to form a new being and the hanyou fell dead. "Good luck," she whispered as they disappeared from the land of the living.

Sesshomaru eyed the hybrid. "This Sesshomaru thought often of that. Upon seeing her with the spirit detective, the Prince of Reikai was questioned at length. The miko is not a reincarnation of Kikyou. She is the part of Kikyou that remained with the Shikon and the fragments of lost souls merged into one. It is why her soul is so large. It is also why she so loves the buffoon. He is the reincarnation of Inuyasha, the one that soul was promised to. She could not be yours anymore than she could rip her soul into shreds. It was created for him." There was disdain in his voice.

Pain shot through him, white hot. "Why...? Why did she have me?"

"An answer this Sesshomaru does not know." He brushed him off as the ceremony came to an end.

Kagome smiled and walked out on Yusuke's arm, the picture of happiness.

"Daddy?" Sakura hugged his leg, looking up at him. "I love you."

No... It was not a mistake, their time together. No matter who her soul was promised to. Yusuke was not Inuyasha and she was not Kikyou. One day. One day he would have her again. He would stay beside her. It would only be a matter of time.

A.N. Now that wasn't the ending you expected, I'm sure! And... It isn't. For those of you who have stuck with me on this winding road and still want more, stay tuned for the sequel, "Resolutions of the Heart".