What the Heart Wants by Lynn

Prologue

Hey there, okay so I apologize ahead of time if this sucks. I’m just trying it out and hopefully things will just get better as I go along.
 
Disclaimer: I don’t own anything. Sad but true.

Prologue

It had been three years. Four Months. One week. And six days since Kagome had been pulled into the well. She knew. She was counting.

So much of her life had changed within that time that sometimes she felt like a completely different person. Long gone was the awkward, untrained, lovesick girl that had begun a journey to save the Sengoku Jidai. And in her place was a powerful and clever young woman . . .who was still sort of awkward . . . And who was still on a journey to save the Sengoku Jidai.
Things hadn’t been going so great in that department in the past year or so.  Fighting off an evil hanyou who gets off on murder and mayhem wouldn’t be so hard. . .If they could just find him. For a very long time now, every time the Inutachi would get a lead on Naraku the trail would either go cold or they would get into some battle that would force them to retreat. Inuyasha always complained and whined about the group having to stop and heal. She knew that he had a point. But on the other hand Inuyasha was usually the one who needed the healing.

When she graduated high school six months ago she knew that the University would have to wait. After talking it out her best friend, Sango, and the wise but formerly lecherous monk Miroku (formerly lecherous because now Sango was the sole victim of his *cursed* hand). They decided that the best thing for the group to do was to take some time off from wandering around Japan blindly looking for Naraku to allow Kagome a few months to train under Kaede. In the nearly three years that she had been fighting, Kagome had only been able to manage the sacred arrows, and a weak barrior. The battles were getting harder, and Kagome was becoming too much of a vulnerability. She could only defeat weaker demons, and only from afar. Inuyasha had thrown such a fit when she told him the plan that she was sure he was going to have an aneurism. It was the only time she had ever seen him get so angry that he put down his bowl of Ramen to yell at her. After a few meetings with the ground and some placating words from Miroku, Inuyasha settled on glaring in her direction before muttering some colorful words under his breath and skulking into the woods.

What followed was a crash course in Miko training from Kaede. Fitting years and years of training into six months was grueling. More times than she could count Kagome went to bed bruised, battered, and exhausted. Then there was the clothes issue. Kaede had insisted that Kagome take to wearing the traditional garb of the Miko in lieu of her short skirts and old school uniforms. That was something Kagome did NOT want. People around the village already looked upon her like she was Kikyo, not to mention Inuyasha. Long gone was the romantic puppy love she had for her knight in shining fire-rat haori, but that did not mean she wanted him staring at her and thinking of his dead lover. She probably wouldn’t have budged on the issue at all if Kaede hadn’t hinted that people could see her . . .assets when she went into battle, and that if she wanted people to take her seriously as a Miko, then those people shouldn’t know that her panties had little pink hearts on them. Mortified, Kagome agreed to a compromise. Jeans. Nice long jeans that didn’t show off the fact that there had been a sale at Victoria’s Secret two weeks ago. . .

All in all, training was a success. Kagome was pushed beyond her limits and tapped into a power she never knew herself to possess. Her sacred arrows were more powerful than ever before, her barrier was strong and could last for hours on end, she could meditate, she was able to channel her powers through other weapons including her hands, she could heal, she knew all of the herbs, the only thing that was lacking were her skills with a sword. She decided it would be best to keep one on her and use it in close combat. Sango and Miroku mostly helped her in weapons training. Sango and her would spar, and every time she could feel herself getting a little bit better. Miroku assisted her in meditations. It turned out that the monk’s wisdom was a result of a great meditation regimen. Even Shippo taught her the different ways she could spot illusions. Inuyasha, however, was of no help. Every time she would ask him to practice with her he would always brush her off. No doubt, still sulking over not being able to look for Naraku. It really hurt her that her closest friend in the world was so mad at her when she was only trying to help! He got himself hurt so much protecting her that she just didn’t want to see him put himself in harm’s way anymore. She needed to be able to take care of herself.

These six months were some of the best the InuTachi had ever known. Despite Inuyasha’s mood swings, everybody was happy. It was like a taste of how life would be once Naraku was defeated. Miroku and Sango had grown so close that it made Kagome’s heart swell with happiness just to see the way they looked at each other. The days were filled with hard work, joy, and the closeness of friends. And despite himself, Inuyasha could see that Kagome’s training was for the good of everyone. Though he would never admit it.

Finally the day came when Kagome awoke to her final lesson. In the predawn hours of what promised to be a warm spring day, Kagome woke up as usual in Kaede’s hut. Immediately she noticed that the elderly miko was nowhere in sight. Closing her eyes, it was a simple task to flare out her senses and feel Kaede’s familiar presence just a little ways away at the village’s shrine. Getting out of her sleeping bag she changed out of her pajamas into a pair of jeans and a white t-shirt, pulled her hair into a messy bun, and left the hut that all of the girls (and Shippo) shared, to go join her mentor at the shrine.

Walking up the few steps of the small temple like structure located on the outskirts of the village of Edo, Kagome caught a glimpse of Kaede standing by an old grave. Coming up silently beside the priestess to see what entranced her so, yet already having a pretty good idea of what it was, she studied the blank stone marker of the grave and was startled out of her own thoughts when Kaede spoke to her softly, “Child, the time has come for ye to have your final lesson.” Kagome nodded. She knew that her time training was coming to an end. “I know Kaede-sensei.” She whispered. It was then that Kaede turned to Kagome so that she could look her straight in the eyes. “Many people thought of my sister as a great miko. But she had one major flaw. She could never grasp this final lesson. It is simple yet many of our kind find it difficult at times. You will not be among them. ” Kagome held her breathe in anticipation. “Ye have to follow your heart. Think with your head. Act with your heart.” If a sweat drop could form on Kagome’s head it would have. “No offense Kaede, but that is sort of a let down. No big Miko secret? No special power?” The elder miko sighed in exasperation. “If ye would let this old woman finish then ye would know about which I speak.” “Okay, okay, Sorry Kaede-sensei. Please continue.” Kagome smiled apologetically. “Alright as I was saying, act with the heart. A miko’s heart knows more than the head. The kamis speak through it. My sister did not listen when her heart told her she belonged with Inuyasha, a hanyou, Instead she defied them and tried to change the very thing he is just so he fit into her mind’s idea of what he should be. As a result Naraku was born into this world from the bandit Onigumo. There are always repercussions when a Miko deviates from the path the Kamis have laid before her. My dear Kagome, there is more power within you than anyone I have ever known. Kikyo included. If you disobey your heart, I’m afraid the consequences would be dire. ” Kagome scrunched up her face and took a moment to think about everything she had just heard. “So your telling me that if my heart tells me to do something then I should do it?”  Kaede chuckled “Yes, child. And what is your heart telling you now that you have completed your training And this old one has no more to teach you?” They both smiled widely at each other and Kagome said what they were both thinking. “We celebrate.”