Draw Your Swords

By: BookyJuliet

Disclaimer: I don't own anything. I wish I owned things but I don't. Sadly, and the only part of this I do claim, is the plot. I am making no money off this; I am simply a fan, doing a labor of love as most of us do. Happy reading!

/Chapter One: Shoot me to the Ground/

Kagome smiled at her family as she waved a final good-bye and walked to the well house. The straps of her backpack dug into her shoulders painfully as she re-adjusted to the weight. Inuyasha had been nice enough to give her three days away. Just three, like she was gone all the time. Not that she cared. It was fine with her. What did it matter to her if Inuyasha wanted to dictate her every move?

Men, I swear. Huffing at her ownher own thoughts, she entered the dry well house, the scent of dust and age hung heavily, it was familiar. Like coming home after a long vacation, and it was true in a way. Even her Japanese was getting rusty. She was using old endings, things that no longer made sense in her era. It was confusing to her family.

But she never really felt that she belonged with them anyway. Not since she'd started going back and forth. She was a child of time, not bound by the restrictions. The descendant of a powerful line of holy people; the reincarnation of Kikyo, the Miko, and now she was the protector of the Shikon jewel. No. Life was never meant to be easy for her. And she realized, maybe with a smirk of pride that fate had chosen her for the task, because no one else could handle it.

Carefully parching on the lip of the well she looked down, feeling the pull of the sacred jewel as it sensed its home and original time, the energy radiating from it shot through her body, her fingertips tingled from the sensation.

With a final breath she pushed off the edge of the well and closed her eyes, allowing the powers of the jewel and of time, to carry her to the other side. Inuyasha would be happy she'd brought more Ramen. Kagome could already hear ShippoShippou's giggles of excitement as he sensed her return. A soft smile graced her features as she finally felt the power ebb, and fade, before she opened her warm brown eyes and rebalanced her backpack as she grinned up at the visible light. "I'm home." She smiled warmly as she grabbed a vine and used it to pull herself up.

She could already smell the smoke of the fires at KadeKaede's village, these scents where familiar to her now. She was home. That's what it felt like anyway. And who was she to argue with home? Resting for a moment by the God tree she gave the bark a gentle stroke of affection, thanking it again for her life and friends before she wandered her way to the village smelling the wild spring flowers on the way.

She smiled rememberingremembered a conversation with her soul-sister Sango days before as she went. 'You know Kagome, I think it makes the Kami's really mad when people don't take time to stop and smell the flowers. Or to just admire them, they are so pretty; that can't be an accident." Kagome smiled softly plucking a blossom from its place and gently pushed it into her hair.

Maybe Sango would collect flowers with her later. The village women loved wild flowers. It'd be a nice gift. She had been so distracted; maybe if she'd looked forward the sight before herin front of her wouldn't be so shocking. But lost in her world as she was it wasn't until a hand shot out from the underbrush and gripped her ankle that she looked around, shrieking in panic.

She pulled her ankle away from the bloodied, clawed hand and took a few steps back cautiously, her eyes never leaving that clawed hand.

"Ka..gome…"

That was a voice she knew. That was a voice she knew all too well, and her heart dropped as her pack slipped from her shoulders, it made an angry thud as it hit the ground and she dropped to her knee's pushing the brush aside, looking for the face she knew she would find. Praying she was wrong. Please, Inuyasha. Please.

But the silver hair was a giveaway and his battered face turned towards her slowly with a sad sort of dramatic smile. With a panicked breath she gripped his shoulders as gently as she could, and pull him out from the bushes, trying to ignore the grunts and moans of complaint that he made.

"Inuyasha…" Her fingers trailed over his abused and blood splattered face gently and she winced, her stomach quivering. There is so much blood her mind screamed. "What happened?"

Inuyasha's bitter laugh made her blood run cold, and she watched as his eyes fluttered open, the hatred shining in their depths causing her to inch back. He wasn't so much himself anymore, as he was the demon of his blood sake. And she was scared of that ancient blood. Was scared of his primal side, but if it was showing he was far worse off then she'd originally guessed.

"Naraku ambushed us this morning, KadeKaede left last night to travel to a village east of here…I should have smelled him. Damn it!" his curse gave way to a wet cough and Kagome's concern rose. How long did he have left untreated? Could she even save him? She wasn't trained to take care of injuries this severe. Her own self doubt ate her alive in those few seconds.

"Everyone's dead, Kagome" she heard his soft grief stricken voice, her heat sinking. Her eyes began to sting as she desperately looked around praying it wasn't true. But she saw no movement, heard no sound. It was a graveyard here now. And her friends would rest in this place forever. Choking back a sob she grabbed her back pack and forced herself to remain calm. On the inside, she was breaking.

Grabbing Inuyasha's arm she hefted him to his feet and pulled him up. He was so heavy…but she forced it away, tucked the physical pain away with the mental pain and dragged him away from the village. Onigomo's cave wasn't far and she thought maybe it would be a safe place. At least for a while, until she could bandage Inuyasha's wounds, it had to be.

Stepping inside she gently rested him next to the ancient fire pit and walked to the door, grabbing a protection sutra from her bag chanting softly as she placed it at the entrance to ward off evil. To keep the demons out there, where they belonged while she worked; please work.

She pulled out her medical supplies and sat next to him, her legs folded under her, the rock of the caves floor digging into her knee's painfully as she untied the red haori, pulling it open. Her heart sank further at the sight of his chest and abdomen. He's going to die Kagome,Kagome; you can't save him this time. She shook her head holding the tears in as Inuyasha watched her.

"I just need to bandage these, okay?"

Busily she cleaned the wounds, but the blood, it clung to her, to him to their clothes to the cotton pads to everything. And as she washed a spot clear, more blood would ooze out and take its place. She was all but defeated and she hadn't even started. With a look of determination she grabbed a large gauze pad and positioned it over a wound getting the adhesive ready.

He sighed heavily and pushed her hands away smiling sadly. "I'm going to die, Kagome."

And he was right. She knew he was right. And her throat seemed to close up as her vision blurred with unspent tears. "No, you'll be okay I just…let me bandage this you'll be okay." The broken desperation in her voice had him tearing up as well. "You can't leave me to..I..you can't."

She sobbed silently bloodied hands in her lap, the gauze sticking to her fingers. "You…you're all I have left." Her voice caught as she tried to get out what she wanted so desperately to say, but the look on his face stopped her cold.

"Kagome, I'll never really leave you…" and the 'but' hang heavily in the air. The only truth was that he was in fact going to die. And she would be a feudal orphan. How would she finish her task without him? Without him and Miroku, and Songo? Without ShippoShippou and Kirara? No. She couldn't do it without him…

"But I…I love you" she choked out pathetically her hand grouping for his,his; clinging to it tightly once his cold flesh met hers.

Kagome looked down at the boy she loved. Seeing only the man she'd come to admire before her. Maybe it wasn't true love. Maybe it wasn't the home-run kind she saw in movies. But he was her first love. And the thought of losing him was unbearable. And suddenly she understood what Meyoga was always mumbling about to Inuyasha. Do you have something to protect,? To fight for? She did. And all but one of them was dead.

"Kagome, you know I-" his head shot up and he growled low in his throat.

"Naraku…"

Kagome looked at him shaking her head. Naraku…not now, not after everything that'd already happened; but Inuyasha's piercing gaze was enough to have her rocking back on her heels to regain her footing. She looked at her long-time companion and smiled weakly, he was pale, looked tired. And she wanted so bad to make him feel better;. tTo let him rest. But there was no time for that now, there was just no time. She couldn't even stop to let him think let alone rest. She really wanted to give up, to sit down and cry.

To pretend she didn't care about anything. Let Naraku kill her, what did it matter? Everything she had here was dead or dying. But she hoisted the heavy canvas backpack on to her shoulders and leaned down gently helping him to his feet. "How far off?" she asked softly walking to the entrance of the cave, pulling her sutra from the stone. "Not far."

His voice sounded pained, was heavy and strained. Frowning she walked to him and slung his arm over her shoulder, slowly pushing him to move forward. The speed they were going, Naraku would meet them any moment. But Kagome couldn't bring herself to worry about the half-demon. "You know when I first met you, you were a real jerk" she teased softly, smiling at his strained laugh. "You were a real annoyance" he replied hissing as he took a step that forced him to stretch too far. Kagome couldn't help but to wince.

"You weren't so easy to get along with yourself. Letting me almost die all the time wasn't good for our friendship." Where they just friends? Yes. They were anymore. Maybe at first…there was a chance for more. But Kagome was young she shone brightly, a new star. Inuyasha's star was a bit weaker, strained by time and heartache.

The only person for him was Kikyo, and she was no longer living. And though Kagome shared her soul, she wasn't Kikyo, n. Not at all.

Sighing heavily under his weight Kagome almost missed his reply. "But you didn't die. I always saved you." That was true. He did. And now when he needed her most she was letting him down. Every step brought him closer to death. The unshed tears stung at her eyes. "I saved you a few times to you know!" Sshe smiled, it was resigned. And pain. It was loss and heartbreak all wrapped in one. How could she ever be so selfish as to let him down now when he needed her so much? But it wasn't her choice.

And he was so tired…"Kagome, set me down against the tree…" She paused in her stride and slowly nodded, helping him situate himself at the base of the God Tree. His tree, she reached up and slowly ran her finger of the scar from Kikyou's arrow. This was where it all started. It seemed fitting that it would all end here as well.

She turned, and tucked her skirt as she sat next to him, her head resting on his shoulder. You need to run her mind screamed. But she couldn't leave him. Not now, not like this. The sun shone brightly, causing his hair to shine and she smiled softly reaching between them. Grabbing a lock of his hair she pulled it towards herself gently and wove it with a strand of her own. Midnight contrasting perfectly against silver as she braided the strands and knotted the ends.

"What are you doing?" He asked lazily his eyes heavily closed. "I'm making a friendship braid that way when you…later. When I miss you, I'll have this with me.

That way I won't forget." Her voice was chocked as she grabbed an arrow and used the head to carefully cut through both of their hairs, leaving her with a perfectly braided lock of both of their hairs. He chuckled softly and opened one pained golden eye to look at her. "Don't I get one?" Smiling softly she nodded and grabbed another lock, repeating the process.

"Here, now you can have me with you too." She tucked the braid inside his haori and smoothed the cloth down. Inuyasha's ears seemed to perk for a moment and he reached down grabbing her hand. "Kagome, Naraku is close, and you need to go." She held on to his hand tightly shaking her head. "I can't…I can't leave you." Her voice broke and she fought so hard to keep it steady.

"Sesshomaru isn't far from here," he pointed into the trees, "run that way, you'll find him. He'll smell my blood,blood; it will perk his interest I'm sure." Slowly bending his head he raised her arm and as gently as he could bit her forearm, growling lightly at the taste of her blood in his mouth. The mark if nothing else would save her life. And she didn't even know it. Letting her hand drop he smiled weakly and pointed again. "Get out of here." Kagome nodded dumbly and stood bending to press her lips to his one last time, her heart breaking at the contact.

"I'll see you soon" she smiled and turned running into the forest the way he'd directed. Her vision blurred, and her cheeks where wet, but she didn't care. Her body was on auto pilot. She kept moving because he'd told her too. Kept her eyes open for a flash of white haori and red flowers because, he'd told her to. It wasn't long until she pushed through the brush, her legs like rubber, her breathing erratic as she tried to run and sob that she found the elder of the brothers. Walking slowly towards her, his gaze like ice as his eyes the locked on her form, she stepped in front of him, lock of braided hair in her hand and looked up. "Inuyasha…." She tried to swallow her tears and found that she couldn't she was choking on her grief.

She looked up at the regale figure before her, and the tears continued to fallow. "He's by the tree…he's dying…" She reached towards him, and he caught her arm glancing icily at the mark there before nodding his head. Lifting her with his arm he walked back the way she came, carrying her and her pack effortlessly as she cried into his shoulder. He found his brother only after the female had cried herself into exhaustion.

She'd be sick when she awoke, and would probably cry more. He hated to see a female cry. Finding his brother already gone he allowed his stoic mask to fall, his molten gold eyes expressed his grief at the loss of his last living direct blood kin. Bending he closed the flat gold eyes that stared at him and mumbled softly. "Alright little brother, this Sesshomaru will take care of it for you,. rest peacefully with our father and kin."

Shifting the girl in his arms he called for Ah-Un. He rested the small broken woman on the dragons back and lifted his brother from the ground nodding to the dragon. "Let us return." And they both took to the sky, flying to the Western Lands.

XxXxXxX

Kagome awoke in an unfamiliar place; her head throbbed at the light shining on her face. Rolling onto her side she closed her eyes again trying to think of where she was, how had she gotten here? She didn't remember. Feeling something in her hand she looked down and saw the braid of black and silver, eyes welling with tears again as realization struck, and she closed them tightly trying to fight reality. She just wanted to sleep.

Sleep forever until her lifetime was passed and she could rest forever in peaceful darkness. Death was easy. She heard the soft rustle of silk that indicated movement and open her sore eyes to find the person responsible. Sitting beside her silently was Sesshomaru. Sighing heavily she allowed her tired eyes to fall closed again.

"Miko, today, you will rest. Tomorrow is the burial." He stood near silently and left her room, the sound of her door being slid closed met her ears. And then silence. Kagome decided she liked silence, and allowed her exhausted mind and body to slip back into a peaceful slumber. She would worry about Inuyasha tomorrow. Today, she just wanted to sleep.

Falling into darkness, she saw the smiles of her friends, heard the laughter of adopted family, felt the arms around her. And she was happy.