This is a story I published a couple years back before I had my son. It's been completely remade over, but the overall story will still be the same. I've only written this chapter so far, and I want to stress that I cannot guarantee an update schedule if one is requested. I'm very sorry, but my son has his seventh surgery coming up and I have a lot to deal with on a day-to-day basis. Let me know if you like it. I will try to update as soon as I can.

"All I ever wanted was Kikyo's heart so I could give mine in return. It seems that even in the afterlife Kikyo and I still won't be together. All that for nothing."

Naraku's statement hung like a thick cloud of fog over the fighters of the final battle, Naraku's last battle, the one to seal his fate. He fell from the sky like a star, burning bright, the purifying light of the Jewel surrounding him in a purplish glow, almost blinding in its intensity, pulsing like the beat of a heart. Maybe it was the final beats of his. His dismembered head descended from the sky, stopping to hover just over the Bone Eater's well.

"Well, it wasn't all for nothing. I was able to make a wish on the Jewel," he amended. Even at his moment of death, Naraku still managed to keep that menacing smirk on his face, eyes narrowed at the pair of Inuyasha and Kagome, deep fissures running the length of his face.

Bewildered, Kagome asked, "What moment?"

"The moment when Byakuya came up behind you and cut you with his sword."

"What?" Shippo screeched. "Kagome was cut with Byakuya's sword?"

"At least I know that this wish will come true, although not until the moment that I die. I am not the only one who had this desire. The Shikon Jewel forced me to make this wish for it, too." The glow of the Jewel surrounding Naraku gave a final pulse, and then disappeared. Naraku was gone.

Kagome looked left, then right, confused as to what would happen next. With a raised brow, she asked, "What was that about?"

Inuyasha just snarled in return, and no one else deigned to answer. Looking around at the apprehensive faces of her friends and allies, she knew they were waiting for something. So was she. Naraku was dead. Where was this wish?

Silence reigned over the clearing, until Miroku, with a surprised gasp, tore hastily at the covering of his Wind Tunnel. Utter disbelief colored his features as he stared down into the hand that was no longer threatening to suck him in.

"The Wind Tunnel," Kaede said, moving to stand behind the monk and slayer. "Has it finally disappeared?"

Sango, teary-eyed and obviously full of joy, managed to choke out, "Yes, the curse has been broken."

"This can only mean one thing," Miroku said somberly. "Naraku is clearly no longer in this world."

Kagome smiled, exuberant at the fact that Miroku was finally free. He had waited so long for this moment, the moment that his continued life was certain. He could take Sango as his wife without the fear of his curse overtaking him. He could live a normal, happy village life with the woman he loved, the last woman he would ever ask to bear his child.

A chill swept over Kagome from a breeze hitting her back and she shivered. It was awfully cold… but it really shouldn't have been. The land was scorched around them. She knew it was from Naraku, but it could've almost been from the heat of the day. It had been hot before the battle had started, and now it was boiling. She guessed she hadn't really paid that much attention to how the weather had evolved throughout the day. They were rather busy. Still, it shouldn't have been cold.

She gasped as her feet left solid ground, and realization dawned on her as she looked toward Inuyasha and her friends, staring astonishedly at her, worry creeping onto their faces. She was right; it was awfully cold, but it was also unnaturally cold. Turning her head to gaze into the empty void of the Meido that had opened up behind her, she screamed Inuyasha's name as she vanished, the Meido closing up as it swallowed her.

"Kagome!"

Inuyasha screamed at the empty air, and Sesshomaru couldn't fathom why. Sure, the girl was gone, but she was also gone. She couldn't hear him beyond the gap between worlds, but Sesshomaru could and his howl grated on the Daiyoukai's sensitive ears. Were Sesshomaru of the… less collected sort, he may have cringed. Not from pain, but annoyance.

Admittedly, he almost liked the girl. She was like his Rin, caring and dreadfully loquacious. Knowing that she was from a distant time, he could also concede that she was intelligent, holding knowledge that didn't even exist in this era. She was… bright, and shiny… and Sesshomaru was not. At least she toned it down when in his presence.

He could hear Inuyasha's labored breathing, the sound of his heart pumping his frustration and anguish. He could also hear the whelp's sharp intake of air, signalling another oncoming scream, no doubt of the girl's name. Sesshomaru only let him release the first two syllables before hoisting him off the ground, his bare feet hovering a good foot above the dirt.

"Will you desist."

"You bastard," Inuyasha growled. "Put me down before I gut you."

Sesshomaru raised a fine brow, allowing a silent chuckle to float through his mind at the sheer impossibility of Inuyasha's statement. He let the boy hang there and narrowed his eyes, his nostrils flaring. "If you must, do something about it. Do not continue to scream her name."

He unclenched his hand, letting Inuyasha topple to the ground, and turned on his heel to walk away. He would take his pack home. Now that Naraku was gone, it was time to return to the west.

But Inuyasha was nothing if not predictable. Sesshomaru heard a growl from behind him, heard the whoosh of air from Inuyasha's leap-

And met his attempted blow with Bakusaiga, swirling to meet the hanyou and freeing the sword from its sheath in one fluid movement. "Did you really think you could best me, even with my back turned? You're a coward."

Inuyasha chuckled behind their flush swords, and Sesshomaru narrowed his eyes. It wasn't often that Inuyasha had gotten the better of him, and the hanyou's reaction made him suspicious. It was only then that he noticed the Tetsusaiga's sheen, the blackness covering the blade in the swirling galaxies of the void. A Meido exploded around them.

"What have you done, half-breed?"

Cold winds drew at them, surrounding them in a vacuuming maelstrom, engulfing them as the light of the clearing disappeared, winking out of existence. The pull was indefinite, stronger than the speed of his light orb as they were yanked farther and farther down in a never-ending drop. Sesshomaru had never felt the uncertainty of death before, and he refused to now. He pushed it down, though could not help the slight drop of his stomach as his feet continued to touch nothing. They fell and fell, for how long he couldn't be certain, but he let himself feel relieved when the winds finally stopped and they floated in black nothingness.

Sesshomaru looked to Inuyasha, the solace of the sudden stillness clear on the hanyou's face. His eyes were shut and his breathing was still rapid. Sesshomaru used his youki to propel himself forward, resting inches from the his face when he finally opened his eyes.

"I will repeat myself only once, Inuyasha," he said, glowering at the foolish boy he wished had never been whelped. "What have you done?"

Inuyasha looked at him coolly, a fanged grin spreading across his face. "I did something about it."