Author’s note: Once again, thank you to turtlequeen2 for all of your help with this chapter, with any luck we should be updating more often now. Please forgive the lateness of this chapter and please remember to leave a review.

Even by daybreak, the atmosphere in Naraku's castle was still enshrouded in shadows and darkness. Miasma spread through every part of the grounds, weaving around like wisps of smoke.

As soon as a certain evil hanyou could figure out that the sun was up, he rose to his feet from where he sat and pushed back the door to his study. Wanting to know what his "guest" was up to, he made his way to Lynnette's room.

Lynnette looked like she hadn't slept too much, but she petted the anxiously buzzing saimyoushou with a finger before running a brush though her hair. "Shush, I’m fine buzzing one." The redhead murmured to it.

Deciding to humor the young woman, instead of pushing the door open, Naraku called out, "Lynnette," expecting some type of reaction from her.

The response was the sound of the brush being dropped followed by a not-quite-muffled curse. "Just a moment." She called, quickly finishing with her hair and rolling to the door. Sliding it open, she looked at Naraku. "Good morning."

The dark man smirked, obviously amused with the reaction he evoked from her. "I hope the accommodations fit your needs," he remarked, referring to the lavish room he made for her.

Not taking her eyes off him, Lynnette held out her hand for the brush that Naraku's insect was bringing her. "Thank you." She rewarded the insect with a brief smile. Setting the brush in her lap, she rolled back a few paces so he could enter. "It is very comfortable, thank you for asking."

Naraku flashed a brief annoyed expression at the saimyoushou who seemed to be over-enthusiastically buzzing when Lynette thanked him. Focusing his attention back on the woman, he kept his smirk in place. "I'm glad that you find yourself comfortable in this place," he murmured. It wasn't as if he was planning to let her out any time soon.

"Thank you." She repeated, wisely keeping the rest of her thoughts from her tongue. Looking up at the insect she sighed, "All right, go ahead, and just don't leave me any nasty surprises up there okay?"

Buzzing in amusement, the saimyoushou landed on her head and appeared to fall asleep. The hell insect looked like a strange but interesting hair ornament against her flame red hair.

Naraku raised his eyebrow at his insect, never seeing any of his saimyoushou taking to humans before.

Lynnette just sighed "Never seen red hair before I guess, he wouldn't leave it alone until I let him perch there." She explained.

"Red hair isn't uncommon on youkai, but it's a rarity on humans..." the hanyou commented. “Then again... you're not from these lands, are you?"

"No I'm not. Where I was born, no two people looked alike." She agreed. "I've seen hair the shade of the golden sun, brown like the rich earth, and raven wing black, to every color in between."

The older man nodded his head, playing civil with the woman for the moment. "...So I imagine that you're from the West?" he questioned, only hearing little of places outside of Japan.

"Yes. I was."

"I see..." Naraku murmured, oddly finding himself interested in her history.

Lynnette frowned slightly. "Was there something in particular you wanted?"

The hanyou felt his smirk return at her question. "I'm here to confirm something..." he trailed off.

"And what would that would be?" Lynnette inquired

Without warning, the man moved forward swiftly, grasping Lynnette's arm with a firm grip.

Lynnette's eyes blazed in anger and she hit his side with the side of her free hand. Her power felt like fire against him. "You have ten seconds to let go of me." The redhead said through clenched teeth.

Naraku inwardly cringed, feeling the woman's powers flare against his touch. His hand released her arm, not wanting to piece himself back together again anytime in the near future. He frowned slightly, confirming what he had assumed before kidnapping her.

Taking a deep breath, she relaxed, shaking her arm slightly. "I held back this time, next time I won't." Her slender fingers flared with silver energy as she tested them, staring at them until the power faded.

The evil hanyou stood still, his crimson eyes examining her as if she were a new specimen discovered by a zoologist. He tried to make sense of her odd powers, knowing they were quite as purifying as a miko's abilities nor were they corrupted like a youkai's youki. It almost seemed as if her energy was a different breed of miko altogether.

Lynnette was frowning as she shook her hand out. "Is that all you wanted?" She asked coldly.

Naraku's amusement returned as he backed away from her. "Yes," he answered. "You're free to wander around this castle if you wish." The man then finally turned his back on her and left the room with a wicked sneer on his face. Now, he had a better idea of what to do with the woman.

A few minutes later, when she was sure that Naraku was gone Lynnette left her room to find out if there was a way out of this place.

Once the dark hanyou went back into his study and sat down, he began to plot out what he planned for his guest. It was obvious that her powers rejected him. However, the power that she held was something he wanted to harness. An ability that was unlike that of a miko or a youkai was something much to be desired in this world and if it was able to be made even stronger, it was likely that his enemies could be rid of once and for all.

He sat in silence, thinking over all of the things he could do to possibly get use of her abilities. It was obvious that he couldn't get her to ally with him anytime soon. Not to mention, trying to getting her to trust him would take too much time he didn't have to waste. Threatening to kill her if she didn't cooperate with him didn't seem like a viable option either since the woman already appeared to be dying as it was, and, of course, absorbing a human into his body was definitely out of the question.

Naraku's down turned mouth of frustration turned upwards into an evil smirk when a plan ran across his mind. If he couldn't personally get the powers from her, he could certainly ensure that someone else would be able to do so.

Pleased with his idea, he began to plot away, trying to figure out the best way to set his plan in motion.

Lynnette returned to her room in disgust. Her hunch had been correct, there was no way out for someone who wasn't able to stand on her own two feet. True, she could get outside, but there was really nowhere to go. That evil miasma was everywhere, you weren't even free from it outside, it killed everything it touched. "Not how I want to die..." The redhead muttered.

After managing to get some food down, Lynnette went back outside. She found herself in the dying garden and had to bite her lower lip in dismay. "A lot like me isn't it, still looking mostly healthy, but dying inside unseen. Neither of us deserved this living death, but we couldn't control it could we?" She said softly to the dying plants.

Finally having a plan together, Naraku strode out of the room he was in and made his way down to the secret basement chamber. The dark room was often the perfect grounds for casting away unwanted parts of his body or recouping after a large battle. Reaching for a large yellow clay pot in the corner, he set it down in the middle of the floor before removing his layered haori, revealing a pale, lightly muscled chest. The bane of his existence, the spider scar of Onigumo, was still etched into his back. He smirked as he allowed parts of his body to disassemble itself and place themselves into the pot.

A thought crossed the man's mind as he continued this process. 'Soon, Lynnette... Your powers will be mine...'

Meanwhile, ever since Lynnette was captured, Kagome had been pushing herself to the absolute limits. She rarely ate unless food was shoved into her hands and didn't sleep until she'd dropped from sheer exhaustion. The gang had never seen this kind of furious despair in their friend before, the happy laughing Kagome was gone completely.

Her friends were growing more concerned over the girl with each passing day. It seemed that when Kagome was upset, the entire group was brought down with her. Kagome was known as the optimistic one out of the bunch. If she wasn't smiling, the rest of her friends soon found themselves gloomy without her there to cheer them up.

One inu-hanyou in particular was very worried about Kagome. He had always wished for his group to have the ability to travel with little rest and breaks for food since he thought it wasted much of his time when they were looking for Shikon shards or Naraku. However, once they were truly doing it, he discovered how stupid and insensitive he was for wishing such thoughts. Ever since Lynnette was gone, the spark and happiness that was holding the group together had ripped into shreds.

Studying the signpost and trying to decide which way to go. Her once sparkling lively brown eyes were dull and as lifeless as her voice as she spoke for the first time that day. "Well? Which way?"

"Kagome..." Inuyasha murmured in a soft voice, his gold eyes flashing with concern as he looked over at the woman. Stifling the urge to let out a sigh, he forced himself to grow a hard countenance. "...Naraku was heading South so we have to go this way," he announced to the rest of the group, pointing in the left side of the divided path.

For an answer, the young miko nodded in wordless thanks and started walking. Though it was a beautiful day, she didn't seem to notice or care, not even seeing all the blooming flowers made her smile.

The kitsune now finding a new familiar perch on Miroku's shoulder, heaved a small sigh. "...Kagome is going to end up getting sick if she keeps this up!" Shippou murmured under his breath.

Miroku shook his head, hearing the child's words. "I believe that even if she was sick, she'd keep forcing herself to travel until she knew that Lynnette-sama was safe. I don't think anything will be able to stop her by this point..."

"What will happen if Lynnette dies before we can get to her?" Shipphou asked softly. "Kagome will..." He gulped in terror at the thought.

The monk's expression grew stern. "...If Kagome-sama is this broken-hearted now, I do not think I want to imagine her in an even worse state," he answered back.

The hanyou's sensitive hearing picked up part of the conversation while he walked. He couldn't help but widen his eyes at the thought. The young man knew Kagome well enough to know that she'd surely blame herself for Lynnette's death since she advocated to bringing her to the Feudal Era in the first place. If Kagome was already this distraught, he knew that the grief would possibly cause her to lose her mind or kill herself, assuming that her miko powers didn't kill the rest of them first!

Sango walked beside the monk, holding Kirara and heaving her own sigh. She hated seeing her best friend so upset and knew that the bond Kagome had with Lynnette was stronger than all of the ties she had with their group. Even with Inuyasha being injured, the girl hadn't forgone proper nourishment in such a fashion! It was still hard to get over, considering that everyone in the group thought they had known mostly everything there was to be known about the miko.

Kirara whinnied softly, butting her head against Sango in a bid for comfort. Although she couldn't talk, it was clear that the cat-youkai was worried sick as well.

When they finally stopped for the night, Kagome mechanically tended to her abused feet without so much as a complaint. The soles of her feet looked raw and about ready to bleed.

Inuyasha was prepared to speak to the young woman when he tensed up in his seated position beside the fire. He bolted up in a second as a familiar scent entered his nose. 'Kikyou!' he mentally gasped, the two slivering shinidaimachuu coming out of the dense forest and swimming around their campsite to be another confirmation of his thoughts.

Within a few moments, the undead miko walked out of the darkness, stopping in front of the group. Her cold brown eyes flickered over their surprised glances, but stopped once she caught the equally matched cold expression on her reincarnation's face. She knew that what she had heard was true the instant she saw Kagome. "...Inuyasha," she beckoned, not looking like she cared about anyone else in the area but him and her reincarnation.

The hanyou's expression softened as if due to a subtle, silent command from her voice. "...What are you here for?" he asked, crossing over the camp to get closer to his old lover.

For her part, Kagome ignored them both, focusing her exhaustion-dulled mind solely on the task of tending to her feet as best she could.

Instead of directly answer Inuyasha's question, Kikyou remarked, "I was visited by one of Naraku's incarnations earlier today. I was informed that he had captured one of the members of your group."

"Yeah... he did," Inuyasha murmured, his head bowing slightly and his mood growing more solemn.

The undead miko flashed her eyes over towards Kagome, thinking to herself as she did so. "...What does Naraku want with this person?" she questioned. "Naraku does not capture a person on a mere whim."

Miroku stepped forward, his thoughts being sparked by Kikyou's words. "So you also believe that Naraku wanted something out of Lynnette-sama?" he asked the miko.

"'Lynnette'?" Kikyou echoed, the foreign name sounding odd on her tongue. "I figured that it was a woman from what the wind sorceress told me. According to her, Naraku is quite taken by this 'Lynnette' woman."

Kiara meowed loudly and stalked over to Kikyou, the sound was part fury, part worry.

Inuyasha frowned at this news. "...I thought the only woman Naraku even remotely cared about was you," he remarked, looking at his ex-lover.

Kikyou was also a bit at odds with the new development as well. As she rolled the foreign name around in her mind, she came up with a sudden conclusion. "...Is this girl from Kagome's world?" she questioned.

Sango nodded, keeping an eye on Kagome, but nonetheless joining into the conversation. "Lynnette-sama is Kagome-chan's best friend from her time. It was Lynnette-sama's final request to come here and Kagome-chan honored it."

The undead miko took in the words, now getting a good idea of the situation. She couldn't help the small, cold smirk that formed on her lips. "The moment the Bone-Eater's Well allowed her through was the moment that her destiny in this world was chosen for her..." she spoke aloud.

Kikyou's eyes narrowed, inwardly shocked at Inuyasha's words. There was no reason for the jewel shards to glow brighter than usual unless...! Looking over at the younger miko, she demanded, "Does this Lynnette have any special priestess abilities?"

Kagome's eyes flickered. "Not that I know of Kikyou, at least, Lynnette’s not a priestess in the way a normal Japanese priestess is trained." It was the longest speech Kagome had made all day.

The older miko nodded her head, now knowing exactly why Naraku had taken the woman. "She still has abilities latent in her that Naraku had obviously discovered on his own," she murmured aloud. "If he's gone out of his way to capture her, this woman's abilities are significant enough to be considered a threat." Her expression grew hardened. "This woman's powers are most likely either the secret to destroying Naraku or the cause of our destruction if he is able to utilize her abilities."

An audible gasp was sent through the group at Kikyou's analysis. It made much more sense now and also shed more light onto how much danger Lynnette was in.

From where she was sitting, Kagome shot to her feet as if she’d been stung, then gasped in pain as fiery bolts shot up her bare feet. “No…” It wasn’t clear if she was denying what Kikyou had said, or if in response to some internal thought of her own.

Kikyou cast an expression of curiosity towards Kagome, raising one elegant eyebrow. " 'No'?" she echoed, wondering what the younger miko meant. "Are you denying my words?"

"Why didn't she tell me? She never kept anything from me before." A tear slid down her face, almost as if no one else was present. Everyone could have fallen off the face of the earth and the young miko would have never noticed at all.

The undead miko's eyes narrowed, inspecting her reincarnation with a gaze of scrutiny. 'This woman... just who exactly is she?' she asked herself, referring to Lynnette. 'I can sense a deep bond between her and Kagome... an even deeper bond than the one that ties her to Inuyasha...'

Without saying another word, Kagome sat back down long enough to clean her feet off before shoving them into her shoes. "I'm going for a walk." She stated calmly, even though Kikyou could tell she was exhausted. As she walked away, the energy around the younger miko darkened with sorrow and pain.

Kikyou looked after the miko, easily sensing the woman's darkening aura. "Inuyasha!" she suddenly snapped, noticing how the hanyou looked after Kagome with a forlorn countenance.

The young man immediately glanced back at Kikyou, giving her his full attention.

The miko gave him a small frown, her face appearing stern. "You need to keep a closer eye on Kagome," she instructed him. "If her mood does not improve, it will be very susceptible to corruption."

Inuyasha's eyes widened slightly. "...A-are you serious?" he gasped, now more worried about Kagome than ever before.

"Do you see any need for me to lie to you?" Kikyou replied coldly. After she saw him shaking his head, she added, "Since she has half of my original soul, I know hers better than most. Whoever this 'Lynnette' is, she bears a very deep attachment to her and seems willing to give up everything in order to have her safe again." She didn't honestly know if she cared if something should happen to Kagome or not in the future, but didn't think it would help if Naraku found out and took advantage of the situation. "The longer it takes to find this girl, the more at risk Kagome will become."

"Corruption?" Sango asked. "From Kagome?" She sounded upset and a little angry. "No matter how bad things are, we are her friends too! She wouldn't hurt us!"

Kikyou shook her head. "...I wouldn't imagine that she would on her own," she remarked. "However, if one like Naraku took advantage of her bond to this Lynnette woman, Kagome would be willing to do anything to get her back."

"...before Lynnette-sama passes away..." Miroku said thoughtfully. "I see where you are coming from Kikyou-sama..."

The miko managed a slow nod. Thinking to herself, she glanced at the group. "Why was this woman brought to this world?" she questioned.

Miroku coughed slightly. "Kagome seems to have brought Lynnette-sama here to die." He said quietly. "From watching them, I think Kagome was all Lynnette-sama had..."

"...'To die'?" Kikyou echoed, raising her eyebrow again. "So this woman has a type of illness or injury?"

"An illness that has no cure in their time." The monk confirmed. "They didn't seem to be looking for a cure here... but Kagome-sama was very forceful about bring her here so that Lynnette-sama wouldn't be alone, she threatened to stay in her own time unless Lynnette-sama came too."

The undead woman fell silent for a few moments, pondering over Miroku's words. "I see..." she trailed off, feeling troubled by Kagome's bond. She knew that at a moment's notice, if Lynnette were to be found dead or simply requested her reincarnation to help, the young girl would abandon her responsibilities in this world without hesitation. She knew that she was powerful enough in her own right, but she also knew that she would need a replacement if Naraku succeeded to kill her in the coming weeks.

"...Kikyou-sama... do you know something about Naraku's location that we don't?" Sango asked. "I don't think Kagome-chan can take much more of this… The last time we were in battle, her arrows exploded on contact..."

Kikyou shook her head. "Unfortunately, all I know of the situation is that Lynnette is being treated like some type of bride," she remarked. "Naraku has apparently set aside a separate, elegant chamber for her."

Miroku frowned. "That sounds both good and very bad..."

Shippou made a face. "A bride... like he's planning to actually..." He shot a nervous glance at the forest. "Kagome's not going to like that..."

"At least we know that Naraku isn't planning to kill her if he has that type of interest in her..." Inuyasha murmured, his face scrunching up in what seemed to be disgust.

"There are worse things than death Inuyasha!" Sango snapped and Kirara puffed up hissing in rage.

The hanyou nearly jumped at Sango's tone. "Keh!" he snorted, trying to defend himself. "I know that! It's not like that means we're gonna slow down our search for her any time soon!"

Kikyou paid little attention to the pack's squabbling, pondering to herself how she would take action against Naraku. Perhaps she could find Lynnette on her own and see just what all of the fuss was about? She knew well enough that Naraku couldn't kill her without discarding his human heart so it wasn't as if she would be in that much danger.

When Kagome came limping back into camp, she ignored everyone and went directly to her sleeping roll. Taking off her shoes, Kikyou could see the bottom of the other woman's socks were stained with blood.

The undead miko knew that she certainly didn't want to deal with a tainted Kagome. Seeing Kagome's condition sickened her. Despite not caring about the girl's life when she was first brought back from the dead, she inwardly knew that Kagome was needed in the future course of events.

As if to underscore this, the young miko turned her back to everyone, and quickly fell asleep despite the noise she was clutching something in her hand. Even from that distance, the aura of whatever Kagome was holding was very different from both Kagome's and Kikyou's.

The older woman turned her back on the others, seeming to make up her mind. "...I shall take my leave, Inuyasha," she remarked before walking forward.

Kikyou's name fell from Inuyasha's lips, but the hanyou didn't dare stop her. He knew that with Kagome's condition, the younger woman required more watching over.

The miko didn't bother to look back at her reincarnation, but found herself troubled by the strange aura coming from Kagome. The sooner this problem was resolved, the better off everyone would be.

Several days later, Lynnette breathed though the pain in her legs as she knelt on the ground in front of some of the flowers in her garden. Her dirty hands were scratched up and bleeding slightly, but the girl was still smiling. "You are looking better today." She said softly to the flowers, touching one of them to bolster its strength with her own.

While Lynnette was busy with distracting herself, Naraku walked to the front of his castle when he felt a familiar disturbance outside of his barrier. Once he was outside and saw the figure standing on the other side of the transparent shield, he smirked. "...Well, well, well," he murmured. "Kikyou decided to pay me another visit of her own will..." Wanting to know what the "foolish" miko was up to, he opened the barrier to let her inside before closing it back up.

Kikyou's gaze hardened with her wall of ice around herself as she glared hatefully at her enemy. "Naraku, I know of who you hold captive here," she snapped, getting straight to the point.

Naraku let out a chuckle. "Of course," he replied in a tone full of amusement. "It wasn't as if I kept it a secret. Kagura went out to tell you, isn't that correct?"

"What are your intentions for that woman?" she demanded sharply. The grip on her bow tightened as she spoke.

Knowing how intelligent the undead woman was, he laughed again. "I believe you already know the answer to that, Kikyou," he responded.

Kikyou's eyes narrowed, already annoyed with the smug tone he used with her. "Where is she?" she asked.

Naraku sneered, growing curious as to what Kikyou was driving towards. "Do you wish to see her?" he pressed. "...Why the sudden interest in this woman?"

The miko's cold eyes sparked with a moment's irritation before she forced herself to calm down. "It is none of your concern," she answered.

Amused, the evil hanyou kept his smirk in place. "I would expect such an answer from you," he murmured.

Knowing that Naraku would continue to banter with her even more, Kikyou pulled out an arrow from her quiver and knocked it into place on her bow string, pulling back on it and aiming for the man's heart. "Take me to Lynnette," she ordered.

Naraku's smirk died, his lips turning into a small frown. He knew that the miko was not there to mess around and wasn't looking forward to piecing himself back together if she shot at him. "If you wish to see her so badly, I'll lead you to her," he finally said, turning around and beginning to walk around the side of the castle, leading Kikyou to the dying courtyard.

The redhead didn't look up from her work. Around the garden, the miasma was much thinner as the flowers fed on the silver power Lynnette was offering to drive it away. Wrinkling her nose, she frowned. "Don't you dare come in here Naraku; I don't want that stinky miasma in here after all my hard work cleaning it up!"

Naraku let out a small laugh, deciding to stay a good distance from Lynnette in order to humor her. "You have a visitor here to see you," he remarked, moving aside to allow Kikyou to step forward.

Lynnette looked up surprise- and hope- in her blue eyes, but that hope died when she saw a stranger standing there. "If you'll step between those two large bushes ma'am, you'll be able to enter without the miasma following you." The frail girl said politely, ignoring the dirt.

The hanyou decided to leave a saimyoushou behind to watch over their conversation before turning to leave.

Kikyou gave the girl a short nod before following her instructions and entering the garden. "You are the one called Lynnette, correct?" she questioned.

"Yes I am, and you are Kikyou?"

The miko gave a small nod. As if to prove her identity, she reached outside of the garden for a dying blue flower suffocating from miasma and touched the stem, instantly purifying the air around it and leaving it glowing bright.

Lynnette eyed the flower. "You almost gave it too much." She commented. "I just give them sparks, a little at a time."

Kikyou's cold facial expression softened slightly in the woman's presence. "So what type of human are you?" she asked, taking note that Lynnette seemed to know much about nature.

Lynnette sighed sadly. "I don't really know. I just made my own place in the world."

"I see..." the miko murmured, thinking to herself. “You already know of Naraku's interest in your abilities, I assume?"

"Yes." Her tone hardened. "But I'll die soon, so I don't think it matters... I just wish..."

The older woman raised her eyebrow. "Wish for what?"

"I wish Kagome was here... I miss her..."

Kikyou frowned at the mention of her reincarnation. "I've met with her and Inuyasha's group a few days ago. They were searching for you fervently, it seems."

The redhead's power blazed bright silver around her body, and her braid whipped around her face she moved so fast. "Is Kame all right? Is she hurt?" She demanded.

Kikyou easily figured out that the nickname was meant for the younger miko. The woman shook her head. "...Kagome seems to be willing to search for you until her death," she remarked. "Her feet looked very worn from excessive traveling and she looked as if she had barely eaten or slept for days."

Lynnette looked sad. "Darn it Inuyasha, I trusted you." She muttered, slamming a fist into the ground that caused the garden briefly glow with silver energy before she swayed and braced herself. "Oops, I lost it again..." She looked dizzy.

The miko's otherwise cold face flashed a rare moment of concern for the other woman. "...From what I could tell, it seemed like her friends were unable to convince her to do anything other than what she was doing. Her powers are going out of control..." Kikyou heaved a sigh. "If this continues, it will become easier for her to become tainted."

Lynnette looked faintly green and she swallowed. "I'd write a letter... I've already written a few, but I don't know how I'd get them to her without Naraku peeping."

"...If you wish to deliver a message, I will give it to her," Kikyou offered, doing it more for Kagome's sake and the sake for everyone else's future.

"Thank you..." She closed her eyes, but opened them when her pet saimyoushou buzzed in worry. "I'm okay; I just need a second..." Lynnette managed a smile.

The miko blinked, looking at the saimyoushou who seemed to be buzzing happily when the other woman smiled. "You've befriended an insect of Naraku's?" she asked, her voice expressing shock.

Shaking her head slightly to clear it, she tapped her head lightly with a dirt-covered hand and the saimyoushou took its’ accustomed place in her hair. Once settled, it began busily cleaning every last speck of dirt out of its mistress's hair. "He- at least, I think it's a he- likes my hair. From what I gathered. Naraku originally meant for him to be my watchbug, but the little guy chose to be my friend instead."

Kikyou still appeared perplexed by this information, but decided to put it out of her mind. There were much more important matters to attend to at the moment.

Recovered from her dizzy spell, Lynnette sat back on her knees, frowning. "Did you leave your friends outside ma'am?" she asked.

The undead miko nodded her head. "My shinidaimachuu wouldn't be able to survive in this level of miasma," she explained.

"That's very sad; I think they would have liked it in my garden..."

The miko found herself giving the younger girl a rare half-smile. "They probably would have," she remarked.

"Are they as beautiful as I've heard?" She asked.

"Who told you that they were beautiful?" Kikyou questioned with curiosity flavoring her voice.

"Kame did, she told me everything about the feudal era." Lynnette replied. "She made it sound so beautiful..."

The older miko found herself surprised by such a response. "I didn't know she thought they were beautiful..." she murmured. “Actually, I didn't think she liked them much at all considering what I had once made them do to her."

Lynnette smiled. "Kame told me many stories to provide a distraction for the pain..."

Kikyou nodded her head, her expression growing more serious. "I've heard that you've been living with an ongoing illness..." she admitted.

Lynnette nodded. "It comes and goes. This time is the final time though, the goddess willing, my pain will finally end soon... I'm very tired of fighting."

The older woman felt a measure of sadness towards the woman but didn't show it on her face. "It must be hard for you..." she murmured softly, remembering how during her times as a village miko, she always tended to the sick and dying and hated how they suffered.

"There isn't much of me left that is a woman now... but my heart still remains." For the first time, she faced Kikyou, knowing she looked more like a boy than a girl.

The miko looked over the young woman, now seeing the full extent of the damage that the cancer had caused her. Lynnette's small, thin frame was stripped of breasts and her skin was pale. Kikyou found herself frowning slightly, never seeing a disease that stripped a person of body parts.

"Each time the... illness struck, the only way to make sure it was gone was to remove the infected area. My breasts and my womanhood, but this time it wasn't caught in time, the illness spread too far nothing worked." Lynnette sighed. "I'm not afraid to die... I chose to come here for Kame's sake."

"Was it that Kagome wouldn't leave her world unless you came?" Kikyou guessed, thinking over Lynnette's explanation for the disease.

"That… and... I wanted to ease the shock of my passing. Give her some good memories so the pain wouldn't be so bad." The redhead frowned. "Though, I had an alterior motive. I wanted to meet the people she talked about, make sure they would care for her when I was gone. She's not very good at being left on her own, it might sound stupid but... I wanted to provide something for her."

The older woman nodded her head, seeing how much she had used to depend on Inuyasha. "...I've noticed something about her," Kikyou remarked. "I've always thought that Kagome had a strong bond to Inuyasha. A bond that was more solid than the one I had with him..." She then looked straight into Lynnette's eyes before adding, "But it seems like the bond she has with you is much more stronger than any bond she's ever had here."

Biting her lower lip she nodded. "To her, I'm part teacher, part best friend, and part sister... we've known each other for many years."

"I see..." Kikyou murmured in thought.

"I love her very much... I don't want to hurt her anymore because of my pain." The words were simple, but the feeling behind them held a truth so deep it hurt in it's intensity.

The miko felt the power behind the words and nodded her head. The two remained in silence for a few moments more before Kikyou stifled a small sigh. "...I cannot stay here for much longer," she remarked. "If you wish for me to deliver a message, I must get it soon."

With a nod, Lynnette dragged herself to her waiting wheelchair and struggled to get to her feet. She whimpered softly in pain and her body trembled with the strain.

Kikyou walked over to the woman and offered Lynnette her hand. "I can help you if you would like," she offered, feeling the need to do so.

"Please... I don't think I'm strong enough right now..." She panted. "I didn't think I used up that much of my strength, which shows what I get for loosing my temper."

The miko was surprised at the level of fragility the younger woman was under. While thinking to herself, Kikyou grabbed onto Lynnette's wrist and carefully lifted the girl up enough so that she could sit in her wheelchair.

Lynnette was so thin that Kikyou could actually feel her heart beating against her. Slowly turning around, Lynnette took a seat, catching her breath. "Thank you very much ma'am. Would you like to come inside, or would you rather wait out here?"

"I'll wait here," Kikyou murmured, not feeling up to going into Naraku's castle.

"Very well." Ignoring her jerking legs, Lynnette rolled away. "You'll be safe in my garden Kikyou."

The miko nodded her head with slight gratitude. She knew that she could easily purify the air around her, but it was easier if someone had already done the work for her.

When the redhead returned, it was with a thick packet of letters in her lap. "Thank you again."

Kikyou took the letters and placed them into her outer layer of haori. She gave the woman a slight bow. "If something comes up, I'll try my best to get you the information," she remarked.

"I hope we'll meet again Kikyou." Lynnette sounded sad that her guest was leaving, although she didn't say so, the redhead must have been very lonely. Raising her hand to the level of her hair, she let the hell insect hop onto her wrist. "Please escort Kikyou to the barrier buzzing one."

The miko nodded her head. "Likewise, Lynnette," she replied before she allowed the saimyoushou to lead her to where an opening in the barrier was left for her.

Once the task it was given was complete, the saimyoushou buzzed uncertainly when Kikyou passed through as though waiting for instructions, or maybe just a thank you.

"I'm not accustomed to thanking the likes of you," Kikyou admitted, looking at the saimyoushou. "However, if you are willing to defend that woman, I won't have the need to destroy you."

Now it sounded amused, the insect made a kind of bow before returning to its mistress.

The miko turned around after the barrier closed behind her. Once she was a fair distance from the miasma-filled area, she mentally called upon her shinidaimachuu to begin following her once more. As she continued to walk, she thought back to Lynnette. 'That woman... she doesn't have much longer to live as long as she stays there...'