Title: A Second Chance

Summary: When you dead, your dead, there are no exceptions, no second chances at life. But the death god can make a few changes! Enter in Kagome Higurashi, a woman who sacrificed her life to save to the one she loved.

An: Yes, I realize I said in the pathetic little blurb that I wouldn't do anything to story, but I lied. Obviously. So, along with rewriting this story I will also be updating 'Continuous,' an original story of mine that (needs obvious work) I inputted the Inuyasha characters into. So yes, it seems weird and completely out of place, but hopefully it keeps you slightly busy while I fix this up. So, if you'd be so ever kind, I would really love corrections and such on that while I fix this.

After posting this I will be writing up the new chapter for 'Continuous' (maybe, can't decide that or this) so stay tuned.

Lastly, for a clarifying point, Kagome is currently 20 because, well, I want her that way.

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It was our only chance to kill him, our last resort. We were already tired to the point of collapsing and injured to the point where if we were hit another time, it would be our last. But we knew that we couldn't give up, because if we did, we, and everyone that fought to protect the jewel, would die at the hands of this monster, and I couldn't allow that. I would give my life before any such thing would ever happen. I would make sure that we killed him.

I had already run out of arrows and within the first hundred shots my bow had broke, but I couldn't give up despite the struggle. Those things were just silly little toys anyhow; I didn't need them! I had trained for five years, mastering and almost perfecting most of my spiritual power and moves. I could form a bow and arrow out of spiritual energy if needed, I could form a barrier in a blink of an eye and I could shoot spiritual energy out of my hands as if it was nothing! I didn't need silly little toys. I just needed to concentrate.

But with the amount of blood loss and damage I had took, it was very difficult to concentrate, and I couldn't help but worry for Inuyasha as well. Out of each deadly blow aimed towards me, he stepped in the way of them and took them for himself. Idiocy in a way, but courage and love in another. He was being brave but it could cost him his life in the end, and that's something I couldn't bare.

Inuyasha and I looked at each other, and although we were several feet away, I could see the courage and confidence gleaming in his eyes. He nodded at me, as if he were asking "Are you ready?" I nodded my head back in response and he gave me his famous smirk, tightening his grip on the Tetsusaiga. I knew he wanted to get out of this alive, I knew that he wanted everyone to get out of this alive, and I hoped the same thing as well. But there was no more time to think about losing anyone. This was it; now was the time to end this.

I positioned myself as soon as he turned away from me and allowed the spiritual energy to spark in my hands as I began to form my bow and arrow. This was our last shot, our last resort, if this didn't work all would be lost. We were going to put everything we had in this shot, everything we could muster. After this we'd be drained.

I had to believe in myself; I knew I could do this… I had to! This can't fail… We have to do this. It has to end! "Naraku! You're going down!" Confidence then flowed through me, confidence that I never had when I was younger. I knew I could do this, I knew that this was going to be the end of him! My bow and arrowed formed stronger than ever before as I poured everything I had into it—every thought and feeling, every hardship my friend's and I have been through all these years, every death I've witness because of this monster, everything. He's going down! "This is the end!"

But for some reason, I had this bad feeling that something terrible was going to happen... That he wasn't going to be the only one to die.

I snapped out of that ridiculous thought as soon as I heard "Meidō Blades!" and I knew that it was my time to go. Taking a deep breath to reassure myself that this was the end I yelled, "Go!" as I released my arrow, watching it soar through the air, a wide trail of pink energy streaking behind it as it followed the Meidō Blades.

But the feeling I had before still hadn't disappeared. Why? This was the end! All our suffering and turmoil… this was it! What else could be left? Was Inuyasha going to get hurt? Were Sango and Miroku injured? What was going on? Why hadn't the feeling gone away? What the hell is this?

Despite my overwhelming fear and anxiety, I could hear Naraku's agonizing screams. The attack was working, our mission would soon be complete and these lands would soon prosper once more. It was a happy thought; I was glad that everything was going to be okay. Everyone could live happy and peaceful lives once more without being terrorized by a terrible demon such as this one.

I continued to watch and listen to the scene playing before me, attempting to ignore the gut-wrenching feeling I had. Everything was starting to die down and disappear; the Meidō Blades, Naraku's agonizing screams... They were all slowly disappearing, going away forever, vanishing from our sights. This was the last time we were ever going to see this, the last time we were ever going to have to risk our lives for a demon such as this one. We had been through so many hardships, seen so many deaths and been injured so many times... It was our turn to be free and live our lives, it was our turn to live as -almost- normal people. This was a joyous day even if we were bloodied and tattered.

As soon as everything disappeared, dust and debris flowing throughout the air was the only visible thing we could see, and the howling of the swirling winds were the only think we could hear. Naraku's death and our attacks were gone from our sights at last. Five years of turmoil finally finished. Out of relief and complete exhaustion, I collapsed onto the ground and let go of the breath I wasn't aware I had been holding in. It was finally over, finally gone. We were free.

"Kagome!" I heard the voice of the man I loved yell. I looked over toward the direction of his voice and smiled. I was so tired, so ready to take a nice hot bath and just sleep, but I watched, and as he got closer time seemed to slow down. The feeling I had prior had grown immensely and I grew cold and started to hyperventilate. What was going on? Why was this feeling back? It was over!

Turning away, I looked over to the sight of Naraku's death- the dust and debris had started to settle down and a figure had come to view. My eyes and mouth opened in shock, and my heart began to thud loudly out of fear as I could see, despite the dirty air, the bright pink light of the Shikon No Tama shining in the hands of the figure. No, no not again. Please no! Please no! I turned back toward Inuyasha, my facial expression not changing. He apparently hadn't noticed the figure and was still running towards me, oblivious to the new threat that had arrived.

This, I heard a voice say in my head, is the end of your beloved Inuyasha, Priestess Kagome. And then a laugh began to echo throughout my head, a very disturbing laugh that had me snap my head back toward the figure.

It was then when saw them; three sharp, unidentifiable looking weapons heading straight for Inuyasha. I screamed.

"INUYASHA! INUYASHA WATCH OUT!" I scrambled to my feet and ran as fast as I could to him. He seemed so close, but he was so far away… I was afraid that I wasn't going to make it. "MOVE OUT OF THE WAY!"

He stopped running and gave me a confused look. "Kagome… what're you…? He obviously didn't understand the agonized and fearful look I had plastered on my face, and most likely wasn't aware of the three unidentified sharp objects going straight towards him at a fast rate. But then again, if I'm yelling at you in a terrified voice saying, "Move out of the way!" don't you think the most logical reasoning would be to move out of the way? Unfortunately, things never seem to work out that way, do they?

"YOU DUMBY! DONT STOP! MOVE! MOVE OUT OF THE WAY!" I ran as fast as I could towards his stopped figure, but my weak body wouldn't let me run as fast as I wanted it to and I stumbled quite a bit, almost falling a few times. But I had to save him. I had to let him live. I loved him too much to let him die.

"GET OUT THE WAY!" I was so close to him, practically in reaching distance! If I hadn't stumbled so much, I probably would've been able to save us both. But of course, this way was slightly cliché. Nothing ever seems to work out the way it's supposed to. Not everyone is supposed to make it out alive.

God I loved him so much. I would do absolutely anything for him; live for him, die for him, be a mother to his children, love him. I suppose now I am a complete equal to Kikyo, mind, soul and heart. The reason being is because I died for Inuyasha... I died for the man I loved just the same as her, I suppose. But I didn't pin him to a tree, so I guess we're still a little different.

At the last moment I saw him turn is head in the direction of the objects flying toward the both of us now, but by the time he turned back toward me it was too late, I had already pushed him as far as I could and yelled "SIT!" slamming him into the ground. It was the only way… The only possible thing I could do that would save him. I wanted to cry, but I held it in and looked down at him smiling as he tried to lift himself out of his body-shaped hole. To be honest, I was quite proud of myself. The girl who use to be weak and defenseless, the girl who could never ever tell her feelings or fight for herself just pushed the man she loved out of the way as three sharp unidentified weapons came flying towards her at a fast rate. In the end, I'm sure he'll understand why I did this, why I wanted him to live and that I loved him.

One thing that really sucked about dying like this is that you never really get the chance to say "I love you" and "goodbye." You can't really say anything actually. You just stand there and all you can do is look at the person, giving them the eyes that say: "Everything will be alright." Despite the person struggling to get out of the body-shaped hole you put them in.

"KAGOME!" I knew that as soon as he lifted himself out of that hold and said my name those objects would pierce through me like a nail to paper. I could feel the objects stab through my back and through me as if it were nothing. I didn't really feel the pain at first, only the thud of the hilts hitting my back when they finally made it through me. I took a step forward to regain my balance and touched one of the areas in which the blade was poking through my clothes. I lifted my hand and looked at it covered in blood, and then back at Inuyasha.

"Inu-Inuyash-" I felt the blood rise up to my throat and spurt out of my mouth, dripping out of the corners of my lips and down my chin. I took another step toward him this time and reached out to him. The warm liquid substance, I could slightly feel, trailed down my back and stomach like a flood, staining my shirt and jeans but I didn't care. I knew I was going to die but again I didn't care. I saved the man I loved, that's all I cared about.

I dropped my hand, and with the ounce of energy I had left I gave him the biggest smile I could muster despite coughing and choking, then proceeded to fall. It felt as if I had been flying through air until I hit the ground with a hard thud, but I was still smiling. Though I'm not sure who the reassuring smile was for more: him or me?

I continued to cough and choke up blood; more and more came up each time. It was getting incredibly difficult to breath and when I opened my eyes I was disoriented. Where was Inuyasha? I couldn't even focus to see him

"KAGOME YOU IDIOT!" I heard Inuyasha yell loudly as he ran over to me and lifted me up bridal style. I pried open my eyes and by the look in his, I could tell I wasn't a pretty sight. Was I really that ugly? "You IDIOT!" I heard him yell again, "Why? Why the hell did you do something so reckless? You dumb Wench!" I couldn't tell whether he was incredibly sad or just really pissed off. He hid his eyes behind his bangs and I could feel his hands start to shake. Was he... really that angry? "Kagome, why? Why the hell did you do that? You should've just let it hit me! I would've had a better survival chance than you! You're just so stupid sometimes! You're... You're only a human... So weak…"

I gave him my apologetic eyes. Inuyasha. I brought my hand up to his check and stroked it gently. Don't be sad Inuyasha, I did this because I love you... I continued to stroke his cheek gently, but was getting incredibly tired, it even became difficult to lift my arm up, plus there was still blood caught in my throat so it made it difficult to breath.

Inuyasha sat down Indian style and put me in his lap, making sure that he didn't hit any of the sharp weapon things. He brought one of his hands up to the hand that was on his cheek and laid it on top of it, gently at first but then squeezed it, "Kagome... What am I going to do without you?" He looked down at me with such sadness in his eyes. So in an attempt to cheer him up, I mustered one last smile for him, let my hand slack a little and let my heartbeat slow. And with that, I died peacefully in the company of the man I loved. Now I guess you can say that I literally died smiling.