Disclaimer: I do not own InuYasha or any other Rumiko Takahashi characters. All original characters belong to me.

One Last Chance: Prelude

He held her broken body in his arms. Her eyes squinted up at him, and managed a small smile before coughing up more of her own blood. He stared down at her, unable to believe what he was witnessing. How was she supposed to survive a huge toxic tentacle plunging through her torso as she leaped in front of him before he dealt the final blow?
No, no, this wouldn't stop her. It couldn't! Surely she would pull through, just like all the other times his own carelessness had almost caused her serious harm. She would pull though with a new scar, that's all. She would have to go home and rest for a long while, but that would be okay, because their long battle was over, thanks to her.
InuYasha held her closer still, listening to her heartbeat slow, and begin to fade. Tears weld up in his eyes, but not a sound escaped him as he watched the very light in her eyes go out oh so slowly. Naraku had plunged his miasma-filled tentacle toward InuYasha as he raised his Tessaiga to toss the bastard into hell. The demon tried to stop him with the last move he could make, and InuYasha was so focused on powering up the Meido Zangetsuha, he didn't even notice the flesh zooming towards him. Kagome saw what was about to happen and ran in front of the hanyou to take the blow at the last second as he opened up the vortex, and sent both Naraku and the Shikon no Tama into the abyss.

..:iillii:..

InuYasha and Miroku carried her body away from the battle field on a makeshift stretcher made out of a nearby tree that InuYasha had sliced to pieces. Miroku's right hand was, for the first time in years, free of the rosary, as he relished the fact that his wind tunnel was gone. But for such a price, he thought, he would have allowed himself to be sucked into it.
The hanyou was still in such a state of shock, he didn't really seem to be able to focus on what he was doing. Or perhaps, it was what he was doing that was distracting him.

'You promised to protect her, always...'

'I know.'

'And she promised to stay by your side...'

'I know.'

'Guess that makes you both liars, now, huh?'

'She never lied.'

'So what are you going to do now?'

'...I don't know...'

'What would you have done, if she lived?'

'I never thought about it.'

'So you knew she wouldn't survive?'

'No. She was the one that was supposed to defeat him in the end.'

'Then why did it never come up?'

'Because I thought I was the one who was going to die.'

'They say that talking to yourself is the first sign of insanity.'

'Maybe that's the only option I have.'

..:iillii:..

"InuYasha?" said Sango quietly, a sob hidden on her breath. She peered worryingly at her friend as he stared into the small fire. Sango felt as if her world had finally come crashing down from the tentative stance it had taken ever since her father had died at the hands of her own brother. Kohaku had crumbled into a boneless heap after Naraku extracted the last shard from his back. Not only had she lost her brother today, but the girl she had come to consider a sister as well.
InuYasha ignored her, lost in his own disbelieving grief. She was lying close to him, as if asleep, was it not for the gaping hole in her chest. She had died merely minutes after Naraku struck her, holding on long enough to make sure that the hanyou was okay. The group had stopped on their way back to Kaede's village in order to get some rest after their long battle. Miroku had collapsed in an exhausted heap by the fire after carefully setting Kagome down. Sango was cooking a small rabbit she had managed to catch while InuYasha stared into the fire, an expressionless face pasted on.
Normally by now his ears would be swiveling a dozen different ways at once, his nose working over time, checking the area to see if any nearby youkai had any plans of attack, perhaps even circling the area a few times before settling down, although never truly at a complete rest. Now, though, Sango never thought she had seen anything sit so still, as if he were just waiting for the world to end.
'To him, it has.' Sango thought bitterly. How could this have happened? Did they not fight hard enough? Was their quest dishonorable in some way? What had Kagome done to deserve this? What had any of them done?
Sango felt another wave of sobs come over her, and rushed into the woods to relieve the unbearable pain with a few loud sobs and more tears than she knew she possessed.
InuYasha's nose took in a small analyzing breath as a scent reached him that normally shoved him on his feet, reading for scuffle that would be broken up by Kagome activating the beads around his neck. 'But never again' he thought.
A long, low, mournful chorus of howls raised the hairs on the back of his neck as the wolf demon tribe voiced their tremendous sorrow at their sister's death. Something stirred in his ribs as he thought about how many people would want to moan and howl at the news.
Although he could smell and hear Kouga's presence behind him, InuYasha did nothing to acknowledge his presence, not even a flick of his ear. He heard the ookami prince fall to his knee's at Kagome's head, and begin sobbing as he curled his arms around her head, her blank eyes opening a little at the movement.
"I...I...I could smell her death, b-but I thought it was just a trick of the wind or something...how..how...?" Kouga looked questioningly up at the hanyou, who he expected to draw his sword and end him right there.
InuYasha turned his head a little, so he was looking at Kouga, the answer in his hideously miserable eyes. Kouga bowed his head, and gave Kagome a small, meaningful kiss on her forehead. He gently set her head down, and walked away towards the forest. When he was almost out of sight, he stopped, tossed his head to the heavens, and let out the longest and saddest moan yet, and another chorus of howls jumped up from the surrounding area.
Miroku was startled out of his sleep, and for a moment, he forgot where he was. He looked around, and with sinking feeling, the events of the day flowed back to him, and a weary look of a man twenty years older came over his face. Sango walked silently back to camp, still rubbing her tears away, but not bothering to hide them. She looked up at Miroku, and in the next moment she was in his arms, sobbing again. The monk buried his face in her tangled hair as a few tears escaped his eyes as well.
InuYasha did not even acknowledge the grieving couple, for his own grief seemed to be beyond tears. He felt as if someone was slowly smothering him with the realization that he would have given anything to deny. He drew his knees a little closer to his chest, and he was reminded horrifically of how he felt both the nights when both his mother and Kikyou died, although now the weight on his shoulders had increased tenfold. She had been cut, no, smashed down in her prime, with her whole life in front of her. She wouldn't have been anywhere near the final battle if it wasn't for him. If it wasn't for him, she would have jumped in front of that damn tentacle. If it wasn't for him, she'd be tucked safely into her bed now, warm and breathing in the protected world she never should have left.
The guilt was too much to bear. His uncontrollable anger began to well��up inside him, and felt the need to kill something. Before his youkai energy had the chance to take over and he accidentally hurt the other two, he jumped up and ran towards the river nearby, jumping up and plunging in as soon as it came into view.
As he sank towards to bottom, he considered not coming back up, and just lay there at the bottom of the pool as the youkai submitted and retreated back into his body. As he began to drown, he thought how what was happening to him now mirrored what was happening to his soul. At the last minute, he shot back up to the surface, as a thought reached him. Who was going to tell her mother, and the rest of her family? When his head reached the air, he didn't even bother gulping down oxygen that his body was screaming for. InuYasha crawled onto a rock, and retook his position with his knees drawn up close to his chest.

'What would you be doing now, if she was here?'

'I'd want to hold her close to me, and never ever let go.'

'So you truly never thought about what you were going to do when this was all over?'

'Not really.'

'She loved you. She even told you so. You never thought about a response?'

'Of corse I did. I thought about maybe asking her to stay with me. But-'

'But you still thought no one would want a hanyou?'

'Who would, really?'

'She would have loved to. This place is...was more of a home to her than the other was. At least in the last couple months. You know that.'

'But all the shit she would've had to go through...it wouldn't have been fair. I don't care how much she protected the villagers, they'd kill her in a heartbeat if they found out that she was with a filthy hanyou.'

'Bet she would have put up with it, though, for you. Bet she would have given those idiots the what for.'

The voice in InuYasha's head snickered and flickered out of existence, for the time being. InuYasha felt a shiver run down his spine that had nothing to do with the cold water, and in a flash, he was running again, this time to no where in particular.
No, that wasn't right. He was trying to run away from the pain now. As he leaped from tree to tree, almost flying, only coming down to jump back up again, Kagomes' face came into his mind. She was talking to him, but he couldn't hear what she was saying. Suddenly she was mad, her face flushed and scrunched in the way it only did whenever he had said something offensive to her, often resulting in him being sat. InuYasha shut his eyes closed as hard as he could, resulting in him miscalculating his step and falling out of the tree, smashing onto his own face, much as if she had sat him.
His fists were trembling at his side as he rose. His frantic dash for relief was over, and he began walking back to his companions.
"InuYasha." said a cold, stately voice. There was only one person with that voice who would be talking to him at a time like this.
Perfect.

..:iillii:..

"So the miko is definitely dead?" Sesshomaru stated, without even a hint of pity. InuYasha hadn't bothered to stand in his brother's presence. He couldn't bring himself to answer, as if saying it out loud would make it true. His head was screaming at him that she was dead, and it was all his fault. But his heart was whispering the words he had always wanted to tell her, the soft pumping denying the truth like a hot coal in an ice cold lake.
"Tis a shame, InuYasha. She was a strong being." said the taiyoukai, the closest thing to comfort he would ever offer his half-brother. "Especially since her duty was not finished." He added, waiting for the hanyou's reaction. He saw the boy's ears twitch, but gave no other sign that he could even hear the demon lord.
"When you were fighting Naraku, you seemed to think I was knocked out. Quite the contrary. I was waiting for the right moment to attack while you distracted him. But of corse, you decided that it would be best to get rid of both him and the jewel in the same swing. Perhaps you had overlooked the possibility, younger brother, but do you not think that Naraku would have the power to escape hell with the Shikon no Tama?" said the lord, noting that his ears twitched again. "Before it escaped with him, I managed to take the jewel out of his clutches, to insure that very scenario wouldn't occur." The taiyoukai reached inside of his armor and pulled out the small orb, still black with Naraku's evil.
"I've noticed that you seem to attract women who can purify the Shikon no Tama. Perhaps, should you ever find another who can purify it completely, you may seek me out. Until then, I shall keep it safe." with that, Sesshomaru placed it back in his armor and retreated into the darkness, back to his vassals, who were awaiting his return.
InuYasha felt himself give a small 'keh' at the idea of someone who could do what Kagome could do. He stood up, and leaped back to the camp.

..:iillii:..

They marched into the familiar village with solemn faces. InuYasha was dreading Kaede-Obaa-chan's and Shippou's reactions. With a jolt, he remembered Kagome promising that everyone would come back alright to the little kitsune. He could almost smell the boy's broken heart already. Once more, the crushing pain of her absence weighed in on him, and it took all of his strength not to try and run away again. Something would not let him believe that Kagome wouldn't wake from her sleep. But that didn't stop him from missing her ever warming presence. It felt almost like whenever she would escape to her own world after seeing him with Kikyou. Gone, and he just didn't have the heart to go get her, just yet anyway.
InuYasha let a small moan breach his lips as he wished it were true, how he wished it were all a dream! He would give his own life, his own soul just to see his Kagome standing beside Goshinboku, resting her hand on the smooth patch off wood, where they had first met. He felt Miroku give a small tug on the stretcher behind him, and began to set it down. The blanket that had covered her still body was jostled a little when it hit the ground, and her pale face was uncovered.
The longest moment InuYasha ever endured transpired after that. He stared down at her for an eternity, and yet, she still wasn't dead, not yet, not to him. That wasn't Kagome. Kagome was full of life, always smiling and laughing and talking. She was never so sad as she looked lying there. Finally, he reached down and pulled the blanket back over her face, and promptly sat down beside her, refusing to look at the others.
Miroku and Sango reluctantly headed towards Kaede's hut. The next hour seemed to be over within a few seconds. Kaede took the news much as InuYasha expected of the old miko. She bowed her head and said a prayer for her soul, tears silently falling down her old face. The reaction that he was not expecting was Shippou's. Instead of the screaming and blame that he had come to expect of the boy, a simple deadened look came into his eyes as he looked at the covered body of his surrogate mother, another parent lost to him. He did what InuYasha had wanted to do the night before; he turned and ran.
The others tried to catch up with him, but InuYasha knew better than to even try to bring him back. The kitsune was much too young to have to deal with this again, it was only natural for him to run. Even if they did manage to catch him, he would only run again. It was Shippou's choice weather or not he would come back. InuYasha wouldn't blame him if he didn't. He wanted to run himself, and never look back.

..:iillii:..

After Shippous' desertion, the monk and demon slayer returned, after half-heartedly searching for the little youkai. They found InuYasha at his favorite spot, at the top of Goshinboku, his hair flowing in the lazy breeze.
"InuYasha, perhaps now would be the time to...return...Kagome...to her home." said Miroku, a sob hidden beneath the calm in his voice.
"Houshi-sama, perhaps this is not the time-" said Sango, placing a hand on the monks shoulder, but not being able to complete her thought as the hanyou jumped down from his perch and walked over to his once breathing companion.
InuYasha picked her up off of the stretcher, and clutched her body in his arms. Something in him still would not allow him to think that the lifeless body was Kagome, his Kagome, who was always moving, so full of strength. No, it couldn't be her, said his heart soothingly. InuYasha ignored his mind's screaming, and leapt to the Bone Eater's Well, disappearing in a flash of blue light.
The hanyou reemerged from the well house, debating on what to do next. He couldn't just leave her for her family to find, but he didn't think he'd be able to handle their faces, hearing their hearts break, too. He walked up to the house, and took a deep breath. No, he couldn't do it, he said to himself, shaking his head violently. He had to stop himself from jumping back up into Goshinboku, from breaking the stiff body he was clutching.
InuYasha felt a twinge of guilt as he awkwardly struggled with the sliding door, struggling to keep Kagome in a respectable position, the blanket beginning to slide off of her form as he managed to open it with one arm holding her. He shifted her back into his arms without bothering to close the door behind him.
The house was asleep, and the kitchen was dark and silent, matching the moment perfectly. InuYasha felt as if he was being suffocated again, the air around him was too heavy, even for his superior hanyou lungs. He laid her out on the dining room table, and a memory dragged itself to the surface of his mother in the exact same position, on her funeral pyre.
'No, she can't be, this is just a dream!" screamed InuYasha's heart, the denial wearing thin. The hanyou jumped as her heard stirring in one of the rooms nearby. He began backing towards the open door as a lone figure wandered in.
Mama Higurashi had walked into her kitchen, hoping to see her daughter home early from her adventures in the past, perhaps in need of some tea. Mama smiled at the thought that perhaps her daughter was home early because she had finally finished her mission. She knew that their battle was nearing it's end.
Kagome's mother was a bit surprised to see the hanyou boy her daughter had befriended standing alone in the kitchen. She looked hopefully around for her daughter when her eyes came to rest on the figure lying on the table. Something in her head stopped, and the look on her face went from cheerful and welcoming to as if someone had carved it out of ice. Horror washed over her body as she dropped to her knees, never taking her eyes off of the thing on her table, that unbearably still thing. It couldn't possibly be...
She looked up at the boy and saw the misery in his eyes. Was that guilt she saw?
"YOU!" she screamed at the hanyou, running and pulling a meat cleaver out of a nearby drawer. She would kill him! She had trusted him with her daughter's life and he had failed. So now it was time for revenge before he escaped. She threw the cleaver with all her might at the fair-haired boy, but he was too quick, and it lodged itself in the wood paneling behind him. Before she could throw something else at him, he leapt out of the house, and back towards the well house.
InuYasha heard the moan of a mother losing her child, as well as his heart breaking yet again, but this time for Kagome's mother.

..:iillii:..

He was sitting at the top of Goshinboku again, the wind whipping his face. Tears were finally breaching his hard eyes as the unbearable reality hit him like a poison claw through his stomach. The silence was surprisingly comforting to him, as he opened his mouth to speak for the first time since it happened.
"I'm sorry." InuYasha whispered before he leapt away, too silent and careful to be seen by his remaining comrades.