Chapter 26: Blood Blossom

ALL RIGHTS TO ROSIE B ON FANFICTION.NET Rosie B [https://www.fanfiction.net/u/38149/RosieB]

-------------------------------------------------------------------

Chapter 26: Blood Blossom

A/N: WOW! There has been a small explosion of fan art for this story! I love it and all of you who do such beautiful work! My readers are the best! Here are the links to all the gorgeous art (remember to take out all the spaces first because FFN doesn't allow linking):

"The Once and Future Taiyoukai" by Youkai Yume – art/ The-Once-and-Future-Taiyoukai-78792060

"Kagome" by bottledart101 – art/ Kagome-for-RosieB-s-ff-78954926

"Taiyoukai Love" by BornATiger-chan – art/ Taiyoukai-Love-79140970

"Owarinai Yume" by SesshyLovesMySinging – art/ Owarinai-Yume-SessKag-79499205

"Black and Silver" by Livewire07 – art/ Black-and-Silver-79597376

It's all so fabulous, isn't it? This story is practically a collaborative work with all this brilliant art!

If anyone has done something else on deviantART (or anywhere else!) for my stories I want to know! I have an account on dA now where you can find all these pictures favorited and where you can message me, although email, IM or reviews work just as well. I'm ReplicantAngel on the site (because someone else is already RosieB) and here's the link: http/

Kisses to all you artists out there!

As an additional but unrelated note before beginning this chapter, I was surprised to find that several people thought that chapter 25 was the final chapter. I scratched my head at that one. There was hardly finality to it. (When I said "the end" in the author's note, I was referring to the end of the chapter, not the end of the story.) Hmm. Well, I just wanted to assure everyone that I'm not into ambiguous endings. Believe me, when something is done, you'll know it! Okay? Fabulous. Cheers!

The Once and Future Taiyoukai

Chapter 26: Blood Blossom

The hanyou stepped into the field and surveyed the damage. Trees were flattened like blades of grass underfoot and blood dripped audibly from the few that still stood. Bodies of demons were strewn everywhere, split in half and showing their innards to the winter sun. The snow that had fallen earlier that morning was slush now, mixed with hot blood and colored pinkish brown.

It would all be acceptable – he would in fact revel in such destruction – if not for the fact that the scene only reminded him of his failure. For across the clearing, surrounded by the few survivors of his army, Inuyasha and his friends were safely ensconced in a dome of pink light.

But Kikyo would soon weaken, Naraku mused. Her barrier couldn't stand forever and once it fell, they would be defenseless. They were all injured in one form or fashion, after all. It should be easy once the purifying barrier was broken.

And yet, Inuyasha and his companions had a demonstrated talent for escaping such seemingly inescapable traps. The monk in particular – Naraku had lost count of how many times he had taken his poisonous insects into the Wind Tunnel and yet the houshi lived and would probably live again, if given the chance. At the moment, the hanyou could smell the traces of fever the saimyoushou had inflicted upon the monk.

The taijiya too, frequently escaped his grasp now that he thought upon it. She had once, after all, been his own minion – he knew how quickly the demon slayer's loyalties could change.

And nothing compared to the number of times Inuyasha had defeated his carefully laid plans or the numerous occasions Kikyo had simply ignored his seductions.

So no, he would not consider this anything but a failure until they were all dead.

Kagura cleared her throat as she opened and closed her fan with one hand. "So we're just going to wait?" she drawled. "Couldn't we have done that from someplace else?" There was an edge of nervousness to her voice that no one but the holder of her heart could have detected. She had almost lost her life in the last encounter with Inuyasha – her gleeful malevolence had taken a beating in that fight. She was becoming tiresome these days without that flare of sarcastic hatred – even when she was plotting against him, she had been generally amusing, but not any longer. Naraku wondered when he should rid himself of her presence.

"It is unlikely that events will repeat themselves," Kanna said softly.

"This is something I wish to witness in person," he said, ignoring the pale girl's words.

"And if Sesshoumaru arrives?"

Naraku glanced at the wind witch and she gave him a stony stare in return that told him all that he needed to know. Perhaps he had been mistaken and it was her passion for the taiyoukai that had undone her joyfully destructive attitude. She had tangled with the dog demon far more often than he had ordered her to do so. "You can deal with him," he said.

Kagura's lip moved as if in protest, but she checked herself under his watchful gaze. "My point was that he is supposed to be dead. What if your little pet failed and Sesshoumaru shows up with his priestess?"

"You can deal withboth of them," Naraku said with a smirk. "Take Kohaku if you wish."

Kagura glanced at the slender young man standing nearby. They had once been allies – he had been the natural choice in her personal war against Naraku, given his own suffering under the hanyou's control. But after more than two years of failed attempts and several harsh punishments from Naraku, the boy had begun to avoid contact with her. They lived and breathed in close proximity, but the wind witch couldn't remember the last time they had exchanged actual words, other than the passing on of orders.

She had trusted him once, but now she was not so sure. His quiet seriousness was not something with which Kagura was comfortable any longer.

"Fine, but the kid better not get in my way," the wind witch sneered.

"Kohaku will let you work as you wish," Naraku replied. "He's only there to keep an eye on you." He smirked and began to move across the clearing.

Kagura shot a wide-eyed look towards the teenaged boy, but he did not look back and only followed Naraku.

The hanyou waved aside the few survivors of the battle and turned to the occupants of the dome. He was disappointed to see that Inuyasha was barely conscious and Kikyo was deep in meditation. Perhaps this would be a success, but it would not be a very satisfying one. Naraku was not beneath killing someone in his sleep, but it did lack the ability to gloat effectively.

He sighed inwardly. The only one looking at him clearly was that demon slayer, as she cradled the ailing monk.

"Naraku!" the taijiya snapped. "You're not going to win this, no matter what you think!"

The hanyou let his cool smugness reassert itself and he smirked. "Every single fighter you have except for yourself is either unable to stand or unconscious," he said, glancing at the still body of the wolf. He would let Kagura deal with him too, later – no sense in not finishing the fight as it had started four years ago. "Who are you relying upon? The child? A fire-cat?"

"Kagome will be here soon," Sango said. "And the others won't be down for as long as you think."

Naraku wasn't surprised at this reaction – he had heard it many times before. This was an old tradition between him and Inuyasha's gang. He turned away and glanced at the hulking, mute youkai nearby. "Wait until the barrier falls and then kill them all," he said.

"What?" Kagura asked. "No special treatment for Inuyasha or Kikyo?"

"I don't think the true challenge lies with either of them," Naraku said slowly, turning his eyes to the sky.

The wind witch glanced upwards. Above them, the unmistakable silhouette of a two-headed dragon was descending. "I guess you overestimated that pet of yours," she commented.

"I suppose so," Naraku replied with a quirk of his lips. "Still, if you and Kohaku die as well, I have other resources. So I won't concern myself too much."

The forest surrounding them was suddenly aglow with the red eyes of dozens of demons – more of Naraku's unending supply of mindless minions. Kagura closed her fan and tapped it against the side of her neck. "We'll all die if this is all that you have," she commented.

"All over for the hanyou if Naraku decides to fight," Kanna murmured.

Naraku smirked. "That's the sort of prediction that I prefer," he said.

"No doubt," Kagura murmured, watching Sesshoumaru and Kagome slide off the dragon's back some distance away.

The hanyou ignored the weakening wind witch – if all went well, he would be rid of two problems this day. "Let us greet our tardy guests," he suggested, moving forward.

The little miko – the one had so often snatched Inuyasha from the jaws of death – glared at him as he approached and leaned up to the taiyoukai, her lips moving against his ear. Naraku watched with interest. Sesshoumaru was staring straight at him, but the hanyou could see that something was wrong. The quickness and intensity were gone, as if he had suffered a severe blow to the head and had come away dazed.

"Lord Sesshoumaru, can it be that you've been injured? Aside from your existing handicap, of course," he said, nodding at the empty sleeve.

The taiyoukai growled low and loud, so that even the ground rumbled beneath their feet. "Whatever may seem to be a physical failing, I assure you that my determination to have you dead at my feet far outweighs it."

It was the way that his eyes did not move that struck the hanyou. He might be able to fool less observant youkai, but Naraku had lived this long and had thrived on deception only because he was the most observant of all his foes. Save Sesshoumaru. But that was all different now, he crowed inwardly. He couldn't observe anything at all. "The dog is blind!" he announced.

A ripple of excitement went through his army. Even Kohaku and Kanna raised their heads in curiosity. Kagura simply opened her fan and pursed her lips, appearing resigned to her fate and still wholly unconvinced that it would be a pleasant one.

The miko and the taiyoukai did not react to the taunts of the army, nor did Naraku expect them to. But as soon as Kagura stepped forward to take the demon lord head on, he disappeared along with the miko.

"There!" called Kohaku, pointing behind them.

Naraku hadn't even seen the demon lord move and yet he was now flying over the apex of Kikyo's dome and dropping Kagome to safety beneath its surface. The taiyoukai turned mid-air, landed on the other side and faced the hanyou. "I have little patience for your posturing and games," he said, emphasizing his point by releasing his poison whip and slicing a nearby youkai into three neat pieces.

"Very well. Kagura?"

The wind witch shot a furious look at the hanyou, but twirled her open fan anyway. "Fine," she seethed. "Dance of blades!"

Sesshoumaru didn't even bother to draw Tokijin – his aura was enough to rebuff the pathetic attack. "I did not come to fight a minion," he said slowly.

"Dance of the dragon!" she cried with more force and even those within Kikyo's protective light had to crouch close to the ground against the winds. Bloodied snow sprayed upwards as the tornadoes traveled across the ground.

But the taiyoukai did not move, withstanding the force of Kagura's attack with Tokijin held upright in his claws. When the assault was over, he turned his head slightly to where he sensed Kikyo's purification powers pulsating. He could sense it weakening rapidly. "Kagome, how is my useless brother and the rest of your friends?" he asked with all the concern of someone inquiring about the weather.

"Inuyasha and Koga are both waking up," she replied in the same unhurried manner. "Miroku is still feverish, but at least he's talking sense now. Sango has a sprained ankle and the rest are fine."

Sesshoumaru nodded and easily spun Tokijin in his hand. Naraku was beginning to get annnoyed. The youkai that had survived the fight with Inuyasha were already slinking away and he sensed a distinct lack of enthusiasm from the reserves he had called. Kagura's fan was closed and she looked at him expectantly. "A dog is most dangerous when wounded," she said simply.

Naraku frowned – Sesshoumaru was not just dangerous, but motivated. The way that the taiyoukai moved spoke of a new strength that was not the same lackadaisical power that Sesshoumaru usually exuded. He normally terrified onlookers, but this was defeat without a fight! What could have changed since the last time he had spied upon the taiyoukai?

The hanyou's eyes moved away from the dog demon and immediately fell upon the girl. He sneered at her as he realized everything. Like father, like son, apparently. "Watch them," he ordered and turned away, walking to the center of the clearing. When he looked back, Sesshoumaru had not moved. The young miko appeared anxious, leaning towards the taiyoukai within the confines of Kikyo's protection.

His theory was confirmed. His customary smirk crept across his lips as he called out to the taiyoukai. "If you do not wish to fight a minion, then you will fight me instead. As you requested."

The dog demon did not hesitate. Naraku did not watch him but the miko – Sesshoumaru could hide anything but the girl was easily read. He expected exactly what he had seen so much of from the miko – concern, faith and all those other emotions that Naraku so detested.

Instead, he got pain. It was barely there, but the way she paled and the sudden shiver that took her body was unmistakable.

He glanced back at the taiyoukai and saw the strength draining from him, replaced by the deliberate movement Naraku was accustomed to.

And although he had warned himself against such a feeling, Naraku's chest filled with the pleasure of inevitable victory.

8888888888888888888888888888888

Inside the dome of pink, purifying light, Kagome stood up. The pain was terrible, but more worrisome was the expression that Naraku wore. "He knows," she whispered to herself, her heartbeat accelerating.

She moved towards the perimeter but a strong hand held her back. Inuyasha was leaning heavily on a sheathed Tetsusaiga and she could see where his fire rat had torn away – what she had previously assumed was the red of the cloth Kagome now saw was his own blood running down his torso. His skin had been ripped clean away. "Inuyasha! You shouldn't be standing," she cried, taking his arm and trying to guide him back down to the ground.

He pushed her away. "I've been through worse," he said and she trembled as the white of his ribs appeared and disappeared with his breath. "You'll look worse than me if you go after that bastard though." It wasn't clear if he was talking about his brother or Naraku.

"He's in pain without me," she whispered. "I have to be with him. He's blind, Inuyasha."

The hanyou gave her a steady look. "He'll be fine," he replied, just as there was a grind of metal against metal. Kagome turned to see Naraku and Sesshoumaru locked in a deadly embrace, their swords twisting together.

"Inuyasha..."

Now he trembling too and turning pale. "In a few moments, this barrier will go down. I can barely stand and look at the rest of us. You're the only one in decent shape that isn't a kid or a fire-cat."

To punctuate his argument, Kikyo let out a soft cry behind him and the barrier shuddered. The youkai around them immediately pressed in towards them and Sesshoumaru was obscured from her view – there would be no reaching him now.

If she died, so would Sesshoumaru. Kagome's little mouth set itself into a line and she dove around the hanyou and took up Kikyo's bow and arrows. The elder miko would need time to restore her powers after such a drain and the younger miko was the only other decent archer – powers or not.

Slinging the quiver over her shoulder, she surveyed the others. "Kirara, get Miroku and Shippo out of here. Don't worry, Inuyasha," she said, stopping a protest before it began. "I know better than to ask you to leave. But Miroku has had it. Sango, can you fight? Koga?"

"As long as I don't put too much pressure on my foot," Sango said, gesturing to her tightly bound ankle.

Koga, still slightly dazed from a hard knock on the skull, nodded dazedly. "Wherever you lead, Kagome," he said, grinning sloppily.

The young miko nodded and looked down at her hip where Tenseiga once again rested. Sesshoumaru had insisted and now she put her trust into it. "Let me know if you feel the need for that little trick again," she murmured to the blade.

She drew an arrow and nocked it. Choosing the largest youkai, she aimed directly for its heart, moving as it moved and waited.

The barrier died with a sigh, the pink light dropping down and disappearing like a sheet of water slipping off of glass. It wasn't gone before Kagome released her arrow and found her target. The beast roared and stumbled but did not fall.

"She doesn't have her powers, you fools!" screamed Kagura over the sudden rush of noise. "Kill them already!"

Kagome fired another before the words were out of the wind witch's mouth and the arrow buried itself deeply into the youkai's large blood-red eye. It cried out again and tumbled backwards, flailing until the ground stopped it with a sickening crack.

Tetsusaiga was drawn beside her and the miko turned to see Inuyasha standing defensively over the prone body of Kikyo, who was breathing shallowly. Kagome turned the other way where Sango was pushing Miroku's body onto Kirara's back. "Kikyo too!" she called.

She fired a couple ill-aimed arrows as Inuyasha and Sango struggled to drag the undead priestess onto the fire-cat. Kagome cursed as another arrow sailed at least three feet wide of her target. At least it was keeping them back. On the other side of the rescue party, she heard Koga's punches and kicks landing on an unfortunate enemy and the groan of its defeat.

Her body recoiled as she felt a blow hit her own side and she gasped. Nothing was close enough to hurt her though. It was Sesshoumaru's injury and his pain. Kagome shook it – and the companion feeling of guilt that she was not at his side – off and turned to see Kirara lifting her passengers to safety. Inuyasha and Sango turned to the enemies that surrounded them.

Now each of them faced a cardinal direction – Koga to the north, Sango to the east, Inuyasha to the south and Kagome to the west and to Sesshoumaru. She felt another ghostly glancing blow to her temple and the urgency within her rose to a fever pitch.

With a demonic yell, she loosed another arrow, planting it directly into the forehead of the closest youkai. She did not look to see it fall, but turned to another, drawing Tenseiga.

"Are you crazy, wench?" cried Inuyasha, his Wind Scar leaving devastation before him, only for it to be filled with living demons once again. Naraku's reinforcements had regained their heart. "That thing's useless!"

But Inuyasha was wrong. Tenseiga was humming in her hand and its sheath was made from the same wood as Tetsusaiga's. Kagome slung the bow over her shoulder as the youkai pressed in on her and separated the blade from its scabbard. A monstrous bear demon charged her, its claws extended.

"Kagome!"

She saw it sweeping its paw towards her with surprising clarity. The blade that was not meant to draw blade was driven in between the sensitive pads of its claws. The bear yowled and tried to pull away, but Kagome came with it, holding onto one razor-sharp claw and driving Tenseiga into the fleshy underside again and again.

When it started to carry her too far afield, Kagome leapt off and brought a powerful blow to the bear's gut with the dull blade. It curled in on itself, holding its injured paw close to its chest and closing its eyes tightly.

That was the fatal mistake – although it shut its eyes for just a moment, the bear's large black eyes opened in time to see a short tanto blade screaming towards the center of its iris.

Kagome frowned as blood and the clear gel from the inner eye – the vitreous humor, she recalled, in a rare recollection of biology class – spilled out over her arm. But she did not pause in shoving the blade deeper, until she heard a crunch of bone and felt the softness of brain.

The bear youkai slumped forward and she turned to face the next youkai when Sango yelled something that sounded suspiciously like a warning.

And then she was flying through the air, hooked upon the claws of the demon that she had shot previously – the shaft and fletching still protruded from between its eyes. It shouldn't be alive, she thought dully, and yet it had its talons buried so deeply into her shoulder and side that she knew they had gone straight through.

She was tossed some fifty feet before she skidded along the hard crust of the snow, leaving a trail of bright red blood behind her. "Kagome!" yelled Inuyasha, but he was grappling with two large blue-skinned youkai and he could not come to her side. She couldn't see the other two.

Kagome had been thrown clear of the center knot of fighting, but a few of the quicker witted youkai realized wounded prey was nearby and turned to face her. Dimly, she heard Sesshoumaru calling her name, his voice pained. He was very aware of what was happening.

Sango burst through the line with Inuyasha in tow. "Kagome!" she screamed. "Get up!"

Kagura was flying overhead, yelling for the taijiya and hanyou to be blocked and for the miko to be slaughtered. It took Kagome a moment to realize that it was her death that the wind witch called for.

She rolled to her side and pressed her good hand into the dirty snow, lifting herself up off the ground. Blood didn't drip but poured down her shoulder and breast as she got to her feet. Vertigo took hold and she stumbled, her face turning down to see the streak of blood that she had left with her fall.

So much blood. Everywhere. And it was hers, she realized, her mind moving through a fog of incomprehension.

The pressure on her heart softened and she turned instinctively. Sesshoumaru! He had broken away from his long-awaited fight with Naraku to come to her aid. He cut through the youkai with increasing ease – despite the mortal wound they both felt reverberating through their bodies, their hearts warmed as he drew closer and it gave them both strength.

"Kagome. A barrier," he said simply, coming near.

She nodded and sank down onto her knees, bringing him with her. As soon as they touched, the second barrier of the morning appeared. It shimmered listlessly as it enclosed them both. It was weak and would not last long, but the taiyoukai ignored this for the moment.

"You are injured," Sesshoumaru said, drawing away from their exhausted embrace. "Severely," he added, feeling unstemmed flow of blood over his fingers. He removed his inner kimono, leaving him bare-chested, and ripped the already filthy cloth into strips. Kagome watched, feeling as if his hands were moving in slow motion as the makeshift bandages were tied around her.

She had three wounds, two of which had caught her directly in the shoulder and above the breast. The third was a nasty graze on her ribs. Sesshoumaru growled as he worked swiftly, ignoring the corresponding pain in his own shoulder. He would find the demon with Kagome's blood on its claws and kill him in the slowest, most painful way possible.

"Am I dying?"

He moved his sightless eyes to her face. "No. Do not be ridiculous."

She smiled softly and sagged back onto her feet. "I was moving like a demon out there," she murmured. "You'd be impressed."

"You moved like a demon against the cobra. I was already impressed," he said. He had felt the thrill of her movements in his soul, despite the beating he had been receiving from Naraku. Without his sight, the taiyoukai had to admit he was nearly evenly matched with the detestable hanyou. With his concern for Kagome at the periphery of his senses, his abilities were impaired beyond that.

Now she was dying. His keen ears could hear the gurgle of a punctured lung. He had lied to her, but he couldn't imagine that the truth would help matters. Kagome would only worry about him, after all, and how he would die alongside of her.

She should be dead already, he realized, tying the last of the strips of cloth. That fall alone should have broken her back. He had felt the jarring impact as if he had suffered it himself.

But he wouldn't have broken his back. His youkai bones were stronger. And his healing abilities were unsurpassable. His fingers splayed across the bandages and he did not feel blood seeping through – they were dry. Clots should not have formed so quickly.

Not in a human.

"Kagome," he said, "you were moving like a demon. Like this Sesshoumaru would move."

"Mmm?"

"This insufferable bond is good for something," he continued. "It allows my abilities to pass to you." He paused and frowned, thinking of the pain and the drain on his strength when he was parted from his semi-mate. "As long as I am close to you. Kagome, how long can you keep this barrier standing?"

Brown eyes fluttered open. "Hmm? I dunno. A few minutes?"

"No," he demanded, shaking her slightly. "Longer. You will hold it longer than that. You will need several before you are strong enough to take yourself off this battlefield."

She gave him a glazed look. "Not far from you."

"Far from me," he affirmed. "So that you may heal in peace while I destroy Naraku."

"Well, that's very optimistic for you, Sesshoumaru," drawled the very hanyou. He circled the tiny dome of pink light and examined its two occupants. "The miko has killed two of my best soldiers. Do you think that I will let her leave?"

"Let her leave and you will have me," he replied. "But I assure you that you will lose the satisfaction of killing me if you harm her further."

Naraku frowned. "I'm afraid I don't do exchanges. Especially when killing one problematic demon will kill a problematic miko as well. I might as well keep you both and watch you both die."

Sesshoumaru face contorted, but did not manage to utter a word before experiencing another assault. Kagome drew in a sharp breath and the barrier flickered. The taiyoukai reached out with his senses, but could not detect anything that had not been there before. "Kagome, what is happening?"

The miko opened her eyes and flinched at the harsh light. She thought it was the sunlight, but quickly saw that the source was far too close. "Kanna's mirror!" she breathed, blinking as the silver disc reflected pink light back into her eyes. "It's absorbing the barrier's power!"

"No. Concentrate, Kagome!"

But the barrier shattered like glass and Kagome was immediately pulled away. Sesshoumaru sprang to his feet, Tokijin appearing his hand once again. Naraku beckoned to his strongest companions. "Keep them apart!" he ordered. "Kagura, pin the miko to the ground using stakes if you have to, but keep her alive. For now."

Kagome screamed as Naraku charged the taiyoukai, driving him back again. Her wounds tore open again as she was thrown to the ground and the ache in her heart returned vengefully. Her powers had receded once again and her one good arm was not enough to fend off the cluster of youkai trapping her against the cold, hard earth. She cried out Sesshoumaru's name as she struggled, but the demonic auras were pressing down on her so hard that she felt suffocated and lost her breath.

"Inuyasha!" she finally yelled.

"Kagome!" came the response, sounding farther off than expected.

Twisting her head, Kagome could see Sesshoumaru battling not just Naraku, but a good portion of his remaining troops. The poison whip coiled and snapped, but new demons seemed to be born in their dead comrades' places. The taiyoukai was losing ground against all of them together, especially when Naraku's own barrier kept him safe. It was one against certain defeat.

Kagome battled against the claws that trapped her, but they held fast and Inuyasha's yells were still far off.

Then suddenly, the youkai scattered. Kagura yelled after them half-heartedly, then took the feather from her hair, grabbed Kanna and flew up into the sky. As she disappeared into the clouds, Kagome felt a wave of crackling energy wash over her and she struggled to sit up.

Kikyo was walking out from the shadows of the trees, her dark eyes fixed upon her reincarnation.

Her stomach flipped with nausea as she stood up. "Kikyo?"

"If you want to live, you need to return to Sesshoumaru's side," said the undead woman, eyeing the bloodstains that were blossoming on Kagome's bandages. She noted the continued confusion on the younger miko's face. "I will assist the others," she added, pointedly ignoring the question Kagome wished to ask.

Kagome bit her lip and nodded, turning to find Sesshoumaru and resolving to study the matter of Kikyo saving her at another time. He was across the field with scores of demons between them. Kagome took a steadying breath and picked up Tenseiga – the only thing that had come along with her for her harrowing journey through the air. She tried to keep in mind that it was Sesshoumaru that Naraku wanted to kill personally and hoped that his minions knew that.

She moved as quickly as she could through the corpses but it was difficult moving with such a grievous injury. Sesshoumaru's short presence had temporarily relieved the pain and the dizzying blood loss, but beads of red liquid were forming on the outside of her bandages and trickling down her front now. It wouldn't be long until the wound was fatal again.

And so Kagura was the least welcome sight at that moment.

The wind witch floated down to the ground some distance away and opened her fan. She was alone now, having dropped Kanna off at some safe distance. Kagome wrapped her hands around Tenseiga. "I thought you left."

"If I did that, Naraku would kill me," Kagura replied.

"Doesn't matter. We're going to win this. If you leave, I won't tell anyone you've lived."

The sorceress's eyes widened minutely. "Forgive me if I don't find you very assuring," she replied at last, glancing at the red bandages as Kikyo had done moments before. "Sesshoumaru is losing as we speak."

"He won't, once I get to him," Kagome asserted.

Kagura flipped her fan casually and the corpses at the miko's feet began to stir. "I won't be the one that kills you," she said softly.

The young priestess didn't have the strength for a fight, even if it was not to the death, but she couldn't do anything less – she lifted Tenseiga as the dead bodies of demons drew up and hovered above the ground.

They rose and formed a wall around her, thick and impenetrable. But Kagome tried. She ignored the way her heartbeat pulsated in her eyes, weakening and becoming irregular. She slashed and hacked at the corpses. Pieces of flesh fell away but the wall would simply reform, tighter and closer in.

Kagura stood nearby, just on the other side of the wall of bodies. She didn't orchestrate an attack – not one dead limb fell upon Kagome in a violent way. It was simply a barrier. After awhile, when Kagome had made some progress, the flesh that had fallen to the ground reattached itself to the bodies. But that was all the wind witch did.

And yet, her body ached and she was losing blood. Her vision blurred and the pain was so sharp and so clear that Kagome wasn't sure any longer if it was her own pain or that of Sesshoumaru. If only she could see, she thought.

The miko tucked Tenseiga into her torn, battered obi and frowned at the wall of quiet, mindless corpses that did not raise a phantom finger to her. It was a disgusting task that she had to do, but it was the only way. She had to escape and she was sure, from the detached expression on Kagura's face, that the sorceress would hesitate to react. But Kagome would have to act quickly, because eventually, the wind witch would be driven by her own need to live and pin her down once more.

She reached out and took hold of the dead flesh, her own skin crawling immediately. Corpses were something a miko in this time must get accustomed to, but this was animated flesh. It was like touching Kikyo and that was something that even Inuyasha rarely did. If it felt like this, Kagome could not blame him.

She found a foothold in a crease of a body and lifted her weight up. The wall was easily fifteen feet high and Kagome had to force her eyes to remain open as she grabbed again – the jet black hair of a very humanoid pink-skinned youkai. It was difficult climbing because of the softness of the flesh and the way it vibrated with false life. She almost fell several times because of her own weakening limbs, weaker than the dead ones she held onto.

Kagome achieved the top of the barrier, her hands reaching over the edge. Her eyes found Sesshoumaru as soon as she was able – he was fighting alongside Inuyasha now. Neither of them looked very healthy though. They kept giving ground, unable to break Naraku's barrier. Kagome wondered for just a moment why Inuyasha didn't use the Red Tetsusaiga to break it.

Then she saw Kohaku being dangled in front of Naraku, unconscious and vulnerable. In the distance, she heard Sango calling for her brother.

Was it her pause, listening to her best friend cry for her sibling that condemned her? She wasn't certain, but Sesshoumaru sensed her escape in that moment and made the foolish, tired mistake of turning his head towards her.

Naraku saw it and turned as well. His blood red eyes found her immediately. "Kagura!" he yelled.

And then the wall of corpses fell, tumbling beneath her and then over her. Hands, dead and bloated with the damp snow, grabbed at her. Tails wrapped around her and pulled her deeply into the mass. Claws pricked her and drew fresh, living blood. She cried out in alarm and disgust.

She could still see him though – Sesshoumaru was falling to his knees and although nothing had touched him, blood burst from his chest. Three wounds, identical in shape, size and location to her own. Kagome watched and knew that the same blood that flowed from him was now flowing from her. Bodies crushed her. Her wounds were opening wider and no longer clotting in the slightest.

And although she was dying, only one thought crossed her mind – that he was going to perish because she had been selfish and stubborn and had refused to give him up, when that was the only thing he had ever asked from her. She had wanted a chance to force him to fall in love with her all over again and it wasn't fair to either of them. He had the feelings of a young demon again, welling up within his older, wiser heart. And she had missed him terribly and demanded that the present Sesshoumaru be like the old.

For all that, he would die. If not for her, he would be the strong taiyoukai that she had always seen. He would have won this day.

The bodies were falling into her line of sight now, blocking her vision. Her last image would be of Naraku's army bearing down on Sesshoumaru as he knelt, helpless, in the middle of a snowy field.

She cried, thick tears spilling out immediately as if she had been holding onto them all of her life for this precise moment, just to show everyone what true sadness meant.

And then she whispered, as the last body fell to block her sight and as the first youkai was about to sink its fangs into Sesshoumaru's body,

"I revoke you, Sesshoumaru."

The bodies continued to press down on her. For one more moment, the sounds of battle grated upon her ears.

And then, she felt and heard nothing. She was in dense blackness. Her spine had been crushed, she thought. That was why she didn't feel anything. Death was approaching, and Kagome could only hope that she had spoken in time and that the terrible pallbearers of the underworld would only take one soul and not two.

She took comfort in the image that suddenly filled the black space – the image of Sesshoumaru rising, tossing aside his attackers and having Naraku step back with genuine fear.

And as she imagined it, it became sharper and more realistic than any dream she had ever had. Pink light surrounded her and the bodies fell away, crumbling beneath her feet. She had strong feet again, firmly planted on the ground. And the strong feet were only one part of a strong, healthy body that stood straight and tall and suffered no pain anymore. Her hair – long and returned to its former glory – swept over her shoulder and curled in the wind.

Kagome heard her name cried out, over and over in surprise and joy. She realized that the voices were clear and crisp and familiar – the voices of her friends. And the icy wind at her back was real, as was the snow underneath her feet that crunched as she moved. And the look on the faces of Naraku's army as they turned and looked at the living miko drove it home completely. Her mind rejoined her body and she smiled, spreading out her glowing hands.

She was alive and her powers had returned, healing her completely.

"Inuyasha!" Sesshoumaru's cry shook her from her pleased reverie. He was standing and healthy too – the image in her mind's eye had been real too. The blood from his wounds was dripping away from pristine skin. And he looked angrily at Naraku, who was so struck by the shift in fortune that Kohaku dropped to the ground, released from his hold.

"Inuyasha!" the taiyoukai growled again. The hanyou snapped his head away from staring at Kagome and Tetsusaiga glowed red-hot in his hands. As soon as Sango retrieved her brother – done as quick as lightening – he raised the sword against the awestruck hanyou.

The barrier shattered. Naraku came back to himself too and raised his sword. But he was going to flee – Kagome could see that.

A bow was pressed into her hands and she drew the arrow. "Both of you!" she shouted needlessly, for they saw her and sensed her and knew what to do.

The arrow erupted into a comet of pink light. It was met by the golden ragged stripes of the Wind Scar and the curved red gleam of Tokijin.

Even if Naraku had tried to flee in that instant, he could not have escaped the magnitude of power thrown at him by the combined attacks of the two brothers and the young miko. The tail of the arrow's light curled around, capturing the youkai aggressors inside a sphere as Tetsusaiga and Tokijin's attacks rattled around, the proverbial rhinos in the youkai china shop. The vicious hanyou and the army at his back were obliterated. The light caught Naraku's shards as they fell to the ground – the only proof that an army had stood there at all.

There was a pause and nobody said a word. Then, Inuyasha sheathed Tetsusaiga and walked over to where the shards lay in the snow, not touching them. "He's dead," he said, turning slowly to the others, and although he didn't smile, his eyes were wide and happy.

Koga let out a yell and then they were all talking at once. Sango was alternately hugging Kohaku and Miroku – Kagome wondered vaguely when he had rejoined the fight – while Inuyasha chattered to Kikyo. Shippo, Rin and Jaken burst from the woods a few moments later, whooping and making Jaken grouse. Another yell erupted from the monk's throat after he and Sango together ripped away his prayer beads to find a perfect, whole hand.

But the initial bliss wore down faster than it should have as they all turned towards the only two silent parties.

Kagome lifted her eyes and found herself staring into two perfect golden orbs. She stumbled towards him, her lack of grace telling them all that it was still her, despite the light that still seemed to radiate from her. Even in her tattered kimono, she glowed. She was at last a true miko.

She dropped the bow somewhere along the way before he caught her. And although he could see again – now she would never tire of looking at his bright, seeing eyes – he closed them and buried his nose in her hair. It took her a moment, but she pulled away from his embrace, her hands running up the stripes on his wrists and along his two perfect arms.

"Two. Two," she repeated, touching his twin hands, palms, forearms and shoulders. She looked back up into his eyes and smiled the brilliant smile that had done him in three hundred years previous. "Two!"

His two hands came up to her face, brushing along the planes of her cheeks. He almost smiled himself.

But then, at once, both of their expressions fell. They backed away from each other and stood several feet apart, stiff and formal.

"I'm sorry," she whispered. "I had to. You were going to die if I didn't do it."

Sesshoumaru didn't say a word. His brow furrowed only slightly as he looked down with his bright new eyes to his fresh new hand. There was no cry of joy as there had been for Miroku. She knew without asking that he was thinking that it would be better if he had never regained his arm or his sight at all, if only she hadn't revoked him. She knew, because she felt the same about her own life. They would have died, but they would have died constant and unwavering to one another.

"I was afraid," she said. Afraid of giving up her life, even if it meant their bond would last eternally. Afraid that he wouldn't succeed unless she ended it. But that part was added silently and for his benefit alone.

Long moments stretched out. "Come, Rin," he said at last. He turned and began to walk away, with a confused girl, Jaken and Ah-Un in tow. The pain was no longer physical as they separated.

"We could..."

He looked at her over her shoulder and she fell silent again. No, they couldn't. That had been their one chance – a situation that was forced upon them. He would not choose to bind himself to her. Not again. It was different this time. This time they were both aware of the consequences and thinking clearly. No, he wouldn't allow it to happen again.

Inuyasha tried to step forward, tried to call out to his brother with some rude epithet, but Kikyo silenced him with a touch. Kagome watched until Sesshoumaru disappeared into the tress and then simply scooped up Naraku's shards – now the Shikon no Tama only missed three pieces. She would deal with them later.

"Where's Kagura?" Koga said, to break the silence, but also because he truly wanted to know. Naraku had been the judge but she had been the executioner and the wolf would not forgive her.

But Kagome shook her head. "She left," she said with certainty. The wind witch wouldn't have allowed herself to die in that explosion of purifying power. "With Kanna. We won't see her again. Don't go looking, Koga."

He hesitated, but nodded and silence reigned again for some time.

"What do we do now?" Shippo murmured.

"We protect the Jewel," said Kikyo. It was the first time any of them had heard her speak softly, gently. "And we go home."

"There's still stuff to do. Demons to kill, people to help," added Inuyasha, giving Kagome a careful glance out of the corner of his eye. "At least, that's what I'm going to do."

Kagome looked at the hanyou and gave him a weak smile. They had won. Yes, it was time to go home. "May we join you?" she asked.

888888888888888888888888888888888888888

A/N: Okay. Very long chapter, and WAY packed with action. But I really like how this one turned out. It's not what I originally planned – I think it's better. I know you're all pretty close to killing me, but this chapter is NOT the end! Haha. Stay tuned. And please review!

And remember to go and look at all the wonderful artwork readers did for this story!