They were walking down a dark corridor. The only light was from a crack in the bottom of a closed door at the end of the long hallway. There weren't any other doors; only the one that InuYasha and Kagome were walking towards. Kagome was having a hard time walking through the darkness in fear of tripping over something. She also had no idea what was in that hallway with her besides her companion to her right. She also had no idea what was on the other side of that door. InuYasha had no problem seeing where he was going. With his enhanced eye sight he had an advantage. However, like Kagome, he too had no clue as to what was waiting at the end of the corridor just beyond the doorway.

They walked side by side; Kagome either clinging to him or sliding against the wall. He would have found that amusing had the circumstances been different. For a fleeting moment Kagome thought the door moved further away with each step they took towards it, but she quickly dismissed that thought knowing it was illogical and absurd. They had both been completely silent aside from the soft tapping of their feet on the wood flooring. They were closing in on the door and they were both starting to get nervous. Kagome reached out and grabbed InuYasha's hand. He really enjoyed the warmth in her touch, though he'd never admit to it. He held her hand in his as they reached the door.

Both InuYasha and Kagome took a deep breath and pushed the door open. What they saw beyond the door confused them. There was nothing there. It was an empty room -- if you could call it a 'room'. It was round, the floor was metal and cage-like. The walls were also metal and there was a single door -- more like a gate -- that was slightly ajar. Kagome and InuYasha stepped into the strange area and as soon as they cleared the door, it slammed shut behind them. Kagome jumped at the loud noise and dropped InuYasha's hand, running to the door. She struggled with the knob, but it wouldn't budge.

"InuYasha! It won't open!" She cried, turning to stare at him. She gasped and her hand came up to her mouth. InuYasha looked at her strange, wondering what her problem was.

"What?" InuYasha asked.

"InuYasha..." She whispered, stepping towards her. "InuYasha...your human..."

Human? He wondered, incredulous. But it's not the new moon. There's no way I can be human right now.

"InuYasha, we have to get out of here. You can't defend yourself." She said, worry saturating her words.

InuYasha looked around the room again and something finally occurred to him.

"Kagome?" He asked, confused now. She looked at him, curious, though the worry still clouded her eyes. "Where are we anyways?"

He was beginning to feel a sense of foreboding. He didn't remember how they got here -- wherever here was. Kagome seemed to realize the same thing for she too got a strange look on her face. "I...I don't know." She looked straight into his eyes. "I don't remember anything!" She cried. "Why don't I remember?!"

InuYasha stepped up to Kagome and grabbed her, pulling her into his arms. "It'll be okay Kagome. I don't remember either. We just need to figure out how to get outta her."

InuYasha walked towards the gate with Kagome under his arm. It seemed that there was another dark corridor behind the gate and they were both wary of having to go into another dark hallway in which they had no idea where it led. InuYasha was trying to ignore the fact that he couldn't wield Tetsusaiga in order to protect Kagome if it came to that. He could still fight, but in all reality he was virtually helpless to protect himself or Kagome in his human form. Him being in his human form at all confused him completely and wholly. It wasn't the new moon. He shouldn't be in his human form.

This was his greatest fear. Before he met Kagome he was only afraid of becoming human. But after all the time he had spent with her, now his biggest fear was being human and not being able to protect Kagome as he promised he would. That frightened InuYasha to no end. He didn't know how he'd survive knowing he couldn't keep Kagome from harm and him being weak was the result of her being hurt or worse. He just couldn't bare to think such things.

His thoughts were pushed to the back of his mind as they reached the gate, because as soon as he was about to step foot in the next corridor, there was a loud noise behind them; the sound of metal crashing against metal forcefully. InuYasha and Kagome both turned quickly to face the noise. Standing in the door that had previously been locked from the outside -- the door they'd just entered from -- stood a giant man, with what looked like a worn and dirty old potato sack over his head and tied with a rope around his neck. He was carrying a giant blade in his hand that dragged on the ground behind him.

He was breathing heavily as he stepped completely into the room, slamming the door shut behind him. For a moment he only stood there, staring from Kagome to InuYasha and back to Kagome. He took a heavy step towards the two and they took a quick step back. It was like cat and mouse for a few unbearable moments until the beast became enraged and swung his giant sword at them, only barely missing them by mere inches from where they stood across the room.

Kagome's heart stopped beating only to go into overdrive when the beast slowly raised his gigantic blade, pointing it at her, then slowly moving it to point at InuYasha. InuYasha was vulnerable right now; there was no way he could fight this night and live through it. She was more afraid in that moment then she'd ever been before. She was terrified of losing InuYasha. It had become her worst fear. Losing InuYasha would be like losing herself completely, and she would never be able to live through the day InuYasha left this world -- along with her -- behind. She would not let him die!

As the monster began to make it's way towards them, Kagome began to look around frantically. She concluded they could make a run for the door they came through and risk it being locked, or they could somehow attempt to get around the giant man and his blade and to the gate that was now behind him. She didn't like either choice, but she had to protect InuYasha. She decided that option number one would be too risky. They'd get the once chance and if the door was licked, then they'd both be dead after that. If they attempted option two, it would be risky as well, getting past the beast, and getting to the gate, but it was their best bet, seeing as how the gate is opened. The challenge was getting around the blade.

Kagome was scared beyond belief, but her first priority wasn't being afraid, it was protecting InuYasha. Her eyes darted around the room once more, then she studied the stance and pace the monster acquired.

This could be easy. She thought.

As the blade was raised into the air above InuYasha, Kagome grabbed his arm and pulled him towards the other side of the room. Metal clashed with metal again as the monsters blade slammed into the floor. He roared loudly at his failure and raised his blade once more. InuYasha was being pushed towards the gate. He vaguely wondered what Kagome was doing but realized she probably felt obligated to protect him while he was so vulnerable. He was thankful for her in so many ways but most of all because she cared so deeply about him that she was willing to put her life at risk in order to save him first.

I should be the once pushing her towards the gate. InuYasha thought...only a moment to late.

Kagome cried out in pain as the blade came down on her back. The monster's blade proved to be dull, thankfully only causing minor damage from what InuYasha could see, but he was worried nonetheless. He pulled Kagome to her feet and she somehow managed to shove him with all of her might through the open gate, pulling it shut and closing InuYasha on the other side.

InuYasha got to his feet, surprised at the force she'd used to get him into the hallway. He turned back towards the gate, ready to take Kagome's hand and make a run for it, but nearly had a heart attack when he saw Kagome on the other side of the gate, staring defiantly into the eyes of the monster, who was now standing directly in front of of her.

"Kagome! What are you doing?! Get in here!" InuYasha screamed, running to the closed gate top open it and drag Kagome inside with him. To his extreme horror, this door was locked from the inside. Only Kagome could open it.

What is this twisted place?! InuYasha screamed to himself.

His heart began to race furiously in his chest as he watched the beast slowly raise his blade into the air again -- this time over Kagome.

"Kagome! Get in her!" InuYasha pleaded again, getting angry now.

Is she trying to get herself killed?! He wondered, enraged. He was losing his touch on everything around -- only seeing Kagome, the best and the giant blade now hovering threateningly above Kagome's head.

"Please!" InuYasha begged, ready to lose it. Tears were stinging his eyes and his vision began to blur. "Why are you doing this?" He nearly whispered, but to who exactly, he wasn't positive.

Kagome heard him though, and announced the mantra she'd been repeating in her head since the monster appeared. "Protecting you comes first." She told him in a strong, determined voice. "And I will only slow you down now that I'm injured. InuYasha, you go ahead! Find a way out. I'll be right behind you!"

Somehow he didn't believe those words, no matter how determined they sounded. And Kagome didn't believe them either. She didn't have her bow and arrows on her, she didn't have any weapons on her. InuYasha's sword is so dull without its demonic aura present that it wouldn't do any good. But she didn't want InuYasha to witness her demise. InuYasha wouldn't leave her alone though, and deep down, no matter how badly she wanted him to, she knew he wouldn't. And selfish as it may be, a big part of her was glad that he wouldn't leave her there.

"No! I aint leavin' ya here!" InuYasha yelled, causing a small smile to grace Kagome's lips. "Let me outta here Kagome!" He screamed, pounding on the bars, trying to break the gate open. She was completely lucky that the gate locked from her side. The last thing she needed was for an unstable hanyou in human form to go running into a mess like this. He was human right now, and lost all of his strength and ability, but she was always a priestess, so she had more strength and powers then he did at the moment. InuYasha was becoming angrier and more desperate with each passing moment and Kagome knew that if by some chance she survived this, she'd get an ear full from him afterward.

Tuning everything out, she focused on the blade still held above her head. No matter how dull the blade was, she knew that the thing must weigh a ton and with that much weight coming down on her head at the height it was being held and the force the monster has been using, it would cause unfixable damage. As her pulse pounded in her ears, she watched wide-eyed as the blade began to descend towards her. She was pretty defenseless, but as long as she could keep InuYasha safe, she had to keep the beast busy. Maybe she could find it's weakness.

"Kagome!" InuYasha screamed as the blade struck the place Kagome used to be standing.

She'd jumped to the left and successfully dodged the blade. InuYasha couldn't have been more relieved, but he felt the bloodshed wasn't over yet. Kagome's injury slowed her down, and though she'd been successful, she'd only barely dodged the sword. The monster spun towards her, enraged now, and as soon as Kagome stood from the floor, he shoved his sword right through her stomach.

"NO!" InuYasha screamed, horrified. He dropped to his knees as he watched Kagome's blood dripping onto the floor. Everything around him seemed to freeze in time, except the agonizing sound of her blood splashing to the metal floor. The sound of it boomed in his ears and he felt like he was going to scream. He looked up at her face and they made eye contact, causing the scene in front of him to play in real time again.

"Go...InuYasha..." She whispered. "Run..."

But he couldn't even move as waves of pain and sorrow washed over him and through him, tainting his soul and blackening his heart. He could do nothing as the girl who had taught him to trust again and reminded him it was okay to love; the girl he'd come to trust and grown to love, died quickly in front of him. He watched in defeat as the light quickly faded from her eyes.

"Kagome..." He whispered in a heart broken tone, his voice cracking.

Kagome looked over at InuYasha's defeated form and felt tears pool in her eyes at the pained look on his face. What shocked her completely though, were the tears gliding down his pale cheeks. He was crying for her. He cared about her. Her own tears fell from her eyes as she felt her life fade away, and she knew that though what she had to do would kill her faster and would be excrutiatingly painful, she had to make InuYasha safe from the hellish man on the other end of the sword pierced through her body.

She looked deep into InuYasha's eyes and let all of her love for him show through hers. "I'm so...sorry InuYasha..." She told him in a weak yet still determined voice. "But I have to make you safe."

With those words spoken, she grabbed the edges of the blade and used all of her strength to pull herself further up the blade, closer to the demon at the other end. She didn't want to let InuYasha know how much pain she was in, so she clenched her teeth together tightly in an attempt to keep from screaming. She couldn't contain the small whimpers however, but she still ignored the pain.

"No Kagome. No!" InuYasha tried to convince her to stop, but his pleas fell on deaf ears.

The demon tilted his head in confusion as Kagome came closer to him. Finally Kagome had gotten close enough to him to touch him and that's all she needed to do. She smiled as blood ran down her chin, and grabbed the demon forcefully with both hands, allowing her pure will to flow through her entirely. Willing all of her miko powers to come to the surface. And in a moments time, a pink glow dominated the room, forcing InuYasha to shield his eyes with his arms.

When the glow faded away, InuYasha looked back towards Kagome to see the demon in front of her had been purified and watched as he fell to the ground, taking the sword with him. Kagome felt the sword being pulled out of her body and once it was out, she fell to her knees and collapsed on the ground in her own pool of blood.

"Kagome!" InuYasha cried, reaching an arm through the bars of the gate and stretching it out to where Kagome's body lay.

She was unmoving and staring at InuYasha, the light now almost completely faded from her once bright eyes. She tried her hardest to lift her arm up to reach InuYasha's, but could barely move. He realized this and reached out further, grabbing a hold of her hand. Her warmth hadn't faded with her life and for that he was grateful. He wanted so desperately to remember her warmth.

"Kagome. Hold on. Please! Hold on! I'll get you outta here!" InuYasha pleaded, his heart breaking as he knew they were simply words of comfort. She wouldn't make it out of the room.

"InuYasha..." Kagome whispered, coughing afterwards as she choked on her own blood.

Seeing her like this broke InuYasha completely apart. He felt fresh tears sting his eyes and fall down his face.

"Don't cry...InuYasha..." Kagome demanded quietly. "I...love you InuYasha..." Kagome finished, then her hand fell lifeless in his grasp.

"Kagome?" InuYasha breathed. "Kagome?" He asked more frantically. "Kagome!" He screamed, as cries of pain assaulted his body.

He didn't want to let her go, but he needed to get this gate open and retrieve her body. She deserved a proper burial where her family could go and visit her. He squeezed her hand one final time before whispering the only three words Kagome had ever wanted to hear.

"I love you...Kagome."

InuYasha spoke the words from his heart, and meant them completely. He only regretted not telling her sooner. Now she'd never truly know his feelings for her. Letting the breath out of his lungs, he let go of Kagome's hand, and watched it fall through the air, hearing it hit the floor with perfect clarity.

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InuYasha awoke with a start, gasping for breath. He had broken into a sweat as he slept. Wiping it off his brow with the sleeve of his haori, he looked down at the campsite below him from the tree he was perched in, still trying to catch his breath. He was disoriented, and looking around frantically for the only person he wanted to see at that moment. He found her, sitting up in her sleeping bag, trying to catch her breath just as he was. He didn't hesitate to jump out of the tree and run to Kagome.

"Kagome." InuYasha whispered, kneeling in front of her.

Kagome looked up into InuYasha's eyes, and threw herself into his arms.

"Oh InuYasha! I just had the worst nightmare!" Kagome cried into his shoulder.

A nightmare? InuYasha thought.

He wrapped his arms around Kagome and whispered words of comfort into her ear. "It's okay Kagome. It was just a nightmare. It's okay." InuYasha whispered.

It was just a nightmare. Both InuYasha and Kagome breathed a sigh of relief at that.

However, I'm going to knock some sense into her about locking me out of rooms like she did... InuYasha grimaced as he remembered his own nightmare. He made a mental note to talk to her about it in the morning. For now, he just wanted to hold Kagome in his arms for as long as he could.