An Unlikely Pair

Thirteen

Kagome made her way through the trees back toward the hut. Waru had let her go, on the promise she would return Kit to her at any cost. When she arrived at the hut, she nearly froze in the doorway. Kit was watching over Kanna and Shippo wasn't anywhere to be seen. Kirara was sleeping on the mat Sango used for a bed.

Kagome couldn't sense any dark auras around, except for Kanna, so she went inside and sat adjacent to where Kanna and Kit were. She poked the firewood in the small fire pit they had made to use for cooking and for heat with a small stick. The pot above the wood had some water in it, but there was no fire lit to start boiling it.

One of the logs fell when Kagome poked it with the stick, making Kirara look up from her nap and Kit jump. Kirara yawned, seeing it was only Kagome, and went back to sleep. Kit pushed herself back until she sat against the wall.

Shippo walked in a moment later, carrying a bucket of water. Kagome reached out and caught it before he fell, tripping over a loose floorboard. He hopped right up and proceeded to pour the water from the bucket into the pot.

Kagome looked out the door. She thought she saw someone walking around. She got up and went to investigate. Stepping outside, she saw someone wearing familiar attire. This "someone" walked slowly across the open field, almost like they were under a spell or in a daze.

It's... It's Kikyo, Kagome thought.

Kikyo looked to be following some kind of invisible trail. Almost like she was a puppet. Kagome began to follow her, making sure to keep a safe distance.

~~

Kit looked up and toward the door. Kanna's eyes flew open. Shippo didn't notice them get up and leave. They started off walking then sped up to catch up to Kikyo and Kagome.

From the trees, an arrow-like beam pierced the air and barely missed Kit. She leapt backward and landed, crouched, on her feet. Kanna stopped and looked toward her. Kit blinked several times before looking at where the source of the beam came from. Her eyes widened when she saw who it was. She sprinted forward, dodging all attempts of attacking her with ease.

Kagome turned around when Kit got closer. The young demon flew past her, Kanna trailing behind. The demon of the void slowed and fell to her knees next to Kagome. It was apparent Naraku didn't have full control over her again as of yet, but she also wasn't aware she was alive. At this point in time, Kanna could be easily influenced to either the good or evil side. It was important to get her on the good side if they wanted to have the slimmest chance of destroying Naraku again.

Breathing heavily, Kanna looked up at Kagome whom picked up the demon girl and ran away from Naraku's attacks. Kagome knew what she had to do. She made it into the cover of the forest and didn't stop until she was sure Naraku couldn't find them. Kagome slipped into the cover of a hollow tree and set Kanna down again.

The little demon girl looked at her feet. "Who.... am.... I?" she asked.

Kagome pulled tall grass to cover the hole they had hidden in. She turned to face Kanna. "Do you not remember?" she asked.

Kanna shook her head slowly.

I can't lie to her, Kagome thought. I can't play with her memories too much or I may end up destroying her again.

"Your name is Kanna," Kagome started.

"Kan... na?"

"Mhmm." Kagome nodded, although the demon girl wasn't looking up. "You used to have a mirror that could deflect any attack. But you don't have it now."

"My... mirror?" Kanna looked at Kagome. "Was I... good?"

Kagome hesitated before nodding.

"And... Naraku is enemy?"

Kagome nodded again. "He's the worst of any demons I've encountered."

Kanna nodded her head once before looking down again. "We... need to kill him," she said slowly. "Again."

With the way she was speaking so quietly, you almost couldn't tell she had once been on Naraku's side. She was almost like an innocent child coming to face the horrors of the earth for the first time.

"We need to make sure he never comes back," Kagome agreed. Or get his hands on you again, she added in thought only. She looked through the slits in the grass to see if Naraku was coming. She heard something, almost like someone was fighting. It took her a second to realize it was Sango. "Stay here for a moment," she told Kanna before leaving the hiding place and sprinting as fast as she could to Sango's aid.

Kirara was gripping onto the white cloak of Naraku with her teeth. He was dodging every swing of Sango's sword with ease. But something troubled Kagome: why hadn't Naraku fled Kirara's grasp if she only had a hold of his white cloak?

Kagome took an arrow and aimed her bow right at Naraku. She fired it and it tore through the cloak, narrowly missing hitting Naraku's body. The cloak tore from his body, not blowing away from Kirara. With the cloak gone, Kagome could see that Kirara also had a hold of his kimono. He was focused on Sango.

Kagome aimed another arrow. She fired it and Naraku didn't see it until the last possible second. It struck him, at a diagonal angle, in the middle of his chest, the point toward his heart. Sango stopped swinging her sword.

The arrow started glowing until Naraku couldn't bee seen through the glow. Kagome shielded her eyes from the light. It turned into an explosion. When everything died down, Naraku was no where to be found. His kimono was ripped to shreds, pieces of it lying around everywhere.

Kagome made her way slowly down to where Sango and Kirara were. Sango was looking around. "That was too easy," she said to Kagome. "You couldn't have killed him with one arrow, even with your level of spiritual powers."

Kagome turned around suddenly and saw Kanna standing around where she had been when she shot the arrow. The demon girl held something in her hands. She slowly came down to Kagome.

"What's that?" Sango asked.

Kanna held it up a little. She was holding what looked like a small black ball. She was quiet for a moment as the two women examined it. Her words sent chills down their spines.

"His heart..."