Lightning streaked across the artificially black heavens, highlighting the clouds of purple miasma that pervaded the evening sky. Dead, blackened trees twisted their limbs upward in supplication. The suffocating swelter of summer heat and noxious fumes lay heavily on the scorched, broken earth. The little band of travelers fought for breath, drawing humid, fetid air through their masks, metal mouthpieces that purified the majority of the air that passed through them, but could not remove the foul, rancid odor from it.

One of the group was badly injured, gored through the belly. A half-demon, he moved with superhuman agility through the thick purple miasma, seemingly unaware of his wounds, seeking an opening against his opponent. The others all bore a number of telltale abrasions and bruises, and at least one of them had been seriously compromised by the poison in the air, despite their protective masks. This one wore the garb of a Buddhist monk, though the battle had left it in tatters. He clutched his right arm to his chest, teeth gritted in pain, unable to rise from behind the boulder that separated him from his enemy. Beside him, a tiny kitsune with red hair divided his attention between the battle still raging on the other side of the boulder, and the weakened, poisoned monk.

Their companions, two girls and the wounded man who circled the enemy weren't faring especially well. One of the girls swooped in low, carried on the back of a cat-like demon, attempting to strike at the creature while its attention was diverted by the hit-and-run attacks of the bloodied man below. She wasn't fast enough; the creature, many times larger than a normal human being, swiped at her with a scaly, reptilian claw, one of many such bizarre appendages, knocking her from her perch. She plummeted toward the earth with a cry. Her furry mount shot after her, barely managing to catch her sash in its mouth and slow her fall before they hit the ground. Even so, the impact sent them both sprawling. They both lay still.

The monk forced himself to his feet. He managed a few steps toward the girl and her cat – now as small as any domestic feline – before landing heavily on his knees.

"Miroku!" the kistune shouted, racing to him on short, paw-footed little legs.

"It's alright, Shippo," the monk replied, pain and effort straining his voice. "We need to help Sango." He attempted a smile; his mouth twisted into a pained grimace instead. Unable to walk, he began to crawl, still cradling his right hand against his chest. From several hundred meters off, the other man watched grimly for a moment before renewing his assault on the massive conglomeration of demon parts that opposed him.

The little kitsune called Shippo scurried over to the fallen cat and gathered it up in his arms, and then carefully picked his way back to the girl and the monk who had finally reached her. Miroku pulled the girl into his lap awkwardly, still not using his right arm. She didn't stir.

"We're not going to make it this time, are we, Miroku," the kitsune whimpered. It was not a question.

Miroku opened his mouth to comfort the child, then evidently decided against it. Perhaps he could find no reassuring words to offer.

From a cliff high above them, the other girl shrieked. "Inuyasha!"

One of the demon's many appendages connected with the wounded man, landing the blow precisely on top of his already injured belly. Inuyasha flew backward with a strangled cry of pain and landed on his side. The creature advanced on him; he struggled to rise, but could not.

A point of pure light split through the dark miasma as the storm above broke, sending sheets of heavy rain sweeping through the devastated landscape.

"Naraku!" the girl screamed. She held a long bow in her slender white hands, and even through the heavy rain and darkness, Miroku and Shippo could see the blood the heavy twine of the bowstring had drawn from her fingertips. Inuyasha had left her on the cliff purposefully: the least able to protect herself of the group, she was furthest away from the battle, and being above allowed her to use her arrows to their fullest advantage.

The miasma closed over the narrow opening her arrow had pierced in it, roiling and writhing into the same menacing mass it had been before.

She fired another arrow at the hulking monster, which shied away from the pure light of it. Its barriers broken, it was left with only brute strength and its poisonous miasma as weaponry. The problem was that those two alone would probably be enough.

Only the girl's arrows and Inuyasha's claws could even penetrate its thick hide. Though deprived of its barriers, it was still unbelievably powerful. Unfortunately, the half-demon was still unable to rise, and her aim wasn't always perfect.

The arrows seemed to enrage rather than frighten it, and it abandoned Inuyasha in favor of the girl on the cliff.

"Kagome, run!" Miroku cried. For a moment, her body could be seen to tense, backlit by the lightning, as she prepared to do as she was told. And then…

Then she stopped. Her arms fell to her side, her bow slipped from her hands. She dipped her head back. Rain poured into her face, spilling like a waterfall through her dark hair. The creature continued to advance on her. For several moments, she stood there absolutely still, only illuminated occasionally by the lightning. She seemed oblivious to the horrified screams of her companions below. Inuyasha had finally managed to get to his feet, and had joined Miroku in shouting at her to get away, to run, to escape, to do anything but stand there and stare into the black rain. Finally, she raised her head almost back to its accustomed position.

But not quite. Her chin was raised, her shoulders set back, her whole posture one of determined pride.

"Kagome!" Inuyasha shouted, his voice shrill with fear.

"Inuyasha…" she answered, raising her voice just loudly enough to be heard. The creature stood immediately in front of her, so enormous that the cliff before it only reached to the lowest of its six eyes. "Inuyasha!" she yelled more loudly, a terrible resolution in her voice. "Everyone, I'm so sorry! Inuyasha! I'm sorry!" One of the monster's insect-like limbs swiped at her, she retreated a few steps to dodge it. Inuyasha took a flying leap that landed him on the creature's back. He was absently shaken off.

Kagome watched him fall. "I'm sorry!" she screamed. Then she began to run, a long-legged sprint that probably would have outdistanced Miroku if they'd ever had time for petty, silly, wonderful things like relay races. But she wasn't running away from the monster. And she didn't have her bow.

Flinging off her quiver, she raced for the edge of the cliff. Inuyasha still hadn't figured out what it was she was trying to do. But Miroku had.

"Kagome! Kagome, no!"

Upon reaching the precipice, she kicked off from the stony edge of the cliff, hurling herself into the horrible red maw of the creature called Naraku.

"Kagome!" Inuyasha's heartbroken wail betrayed feelings he had never openly declared, feelings everyone had known he'd possessed. His despair was echoed in the terrible sobbing of the kitsune.

"No…" Sango whispered. Even she hadn't been spared the terrible sight; just as Kagome had begun her headlong rush to death, Sango had opened her eyes.

"Kukuku." The monster chortled, well-pleased. "Kukukuku. Foolish child. She could never accomplish what she set out to do. Not even Kik-" Its face froze.

"Impossible," it murmured, suddenly less confident. "Impossible!" Real fear gripped the chagrinned creature. It began to claw at its chest, at its abdomen. "Impossible!" it avowed again. Then it began to scream.

Deep cracks appeared in its motley assortment of body parts. Kagome's companions watched, captivated and horrified, as large chunks of flesh slid from its frame, revealing a blinding white light within. Almost lost in the glow was a small orb of light that drifted from the mouth that had so lately devoured their friend. As it left, the creature froze, no longer animated by a soul. It shattered, and pieces of its flesh dropped uselessly, harmlessly, to the spoiled, ravaged earth.

Only a light remained, hovering just below the cliff. A final pulse of light dispelled the surrounding miasma and turned the lifeless chunks of muscle, skin, and nameless viscera to dust. The light subsided, revealing what its glory had hidden.

Kagome lay lightly in the air, pale, nude, clasping the complete, purified Jewel of Four Souls gently in her hands. Her hair floated about her as if suspended in water, and her eyes were closed. For a moment, she hung there, carried on the aftermath of the great power that had just been released. Then, as if time had suddenly decided to resume its natural course, she fell.

Inuyasha caught her, though with difficulty, considering his own injuries. Miroku found that he no longer suffered the effects of the miasma that had poisoned him, the corrupted wound inflicted on him weeks before, his grandfather's curse, or the pain-numbing poison he had willingly taken not so very long ago in order to continue his protection of Sango. So, painfully rising to his feet, he gathered Sango up in his arms, ignoring her uncomfortable red blush, and carried her to where Inuyasha crouched over their savior.

Already he had swept away his blood-stained haori to cover her nudity, causing Miroku rather less disappointment than he would have anticipated, perhaps because the feel of Sango's thighs on his left arm was so deliciously distracting. Or perhaps it was the rub of an even more interesting part on his other arm. Either way, he was much too pleased holding onto her to lament the covering of Kagome's pretty white body.

"Is she…" Sango whispered, eyes fixed on Inuyasha's bowed head.

"She isn't breathing." His voice was dull, lifeless. Miroku thought he detected a tear, but it could have been the rain.

"Kagome!" Shippo had made his way to the girl's side, and flung himself on her, crying hysterically. Kirara too had joined them. She nuzzled lightly at Inuyasha's hand, who in turn settled his other hand on Shippo's head, brushing his hair with a surprising gentleness. Then he reached for Kagome's still, white hands. His hand trembled a little as it moved, hesitating before touching the hands that still held the Shikon Jewel. Just as he brushed her skin however, the jewel began to glow.

Brighter and brighter it shone, multi-colored energies swirling brilliantly throughout the sphere. When it burned almost too incandescently to look upon, it suddenly sank into Kagome's chest, as though her flesh had no more substance than water. Like the jewel, Kagome's body started to burn with a fiery white glow. Sango gasped, Miroku watched intently, Inuyasha flinched away. Shippo continued to cry, insensible. Beneath Kagome's body, the ground shivered.

The earth began to heal itself. Lush green grasses sprang from the ground at Kagome's feet, spreading to circle her entire body, and reaching out from there to encompass the entire valley. Tiny white flowers, the likeness of which Miroku had never seen, opened slowly under the dying rain, spilling the water from their petals onto the grass beneath. Flowering creeping vines curled up the trees, and where there was still life within the burnt, black bark, soft green buds emerged. Even the rain slipped away, and moonlight dusted the valley with its kiss.

A little moan from the ground distracted Miroku and Sango from the miracle around them. Inuyasha had never looked away. Kagome shifted a little, and opened her eyes. The light died away, but not without leaving its imprint deeply engraved on its vessel.

Her hair shone white, with the same iridescence that had always so marked the jewel shards she carried. Always pale, her skin now seemed as white and translucent as alabaster, and her eyes, though still a sweet blue, sparkled with the incandescent flames of the Jewel of Four Souls.

"Kagome," Inuyasha choked, finally able to take her hand. She closed her eyes again, drawing slow, deep breaths.

"Remind me not to do that again," she breathed. "I don't think I've ever been so scared in my life."

Shippo had finally realized his friend, his protector, his almost-mother had survived her ordeal. Now weeping with happiness, he burrowed into her neck. She nuzzled at him briefly with her cheek.

Her sparkling eyes suddenly seemed confused. "My clothes?"

No one felt especially comfortable answering that, and she didn't have much of a chance to consider it.

"Kagome, you moron!" Miroku was certain now that the wet shine on Inuyasha's face was tears, not rain; the rain had almost completely stopped. "Stupid, stupid, stupid girl, you ought to have been killed for pulling something like that!" He seemed like he was on the verge of hysteria, and Miroku and Sango hastened to set him right.

"She had to, Inuyasha, Naraku couldn't have been destroyed if she hadn't been able to purify the jewel."
"That's right, Inuyasha, she couldn't do that if she hadn't been able to touch it, and since it was inside of him, that's where she went! I'm sure she didn't think she had any other choice, the rest of us were all out of the fight!" Sango spoke rapidly, trying to quell the fire in Inuyasha's eyes.

He glared at both of them, grabbed Shippo and hurled him at Sango. Kirara made a graceful little retreat. "Go. All of you. Now."

Miroku took Sango and Shippo to a safe distance, careful to remain within earshot of the half-demon and the brave girl who had just saved all of their lives.

"Moron," Inuyasha spat. "I told you I'd protect you. Why didn't you run?"

Kagome flushed angrily and pushed herself up on her elbows, revealing a tantalizing amount of bare white breast. Sango shifted in Miroku's arms, however, and once again he was distracted by more immediate attractions. "Because he would have killed you!"

"Better me than you!" he retorted hotly, and blushed fiercely. He stubbornly continued to glare at her, however.

"You selfish little monster! Do you think I could have lived with myself if you got killed over me? Or if I ran away when Sango and Miroku and Shippo and Kirara were in trouble? What kind of person do you think I am, anyway?"

"You died!" His objection soared into a painful howl. Neither looked at the other for several minutes, both blushing violently, both scared and hurt and angry.

Finally, Kagome sighed and reached up to touch Inuyasha's face. He almost winced at the unaccustomed contact, and she smiled softly.

"Better me than you," she told him quietly, still smiling. "Besides, I already apologized for that. I won't say I'm sorry again."

Inuyasha exhaled sharply, and pulled her to him, burying his face in her neck, where Shippo's tears still clung to her skin. "Stupid little idiot."

"Stupid, violent, stubborn jackass."

He didn't answer her.

"Inuyasha?"

"Hmmm?" His voice was much subdued.

"Kiss me."

"Promise not to do that again."

"Call you a jackass?" He glared at her; she smiled. "I promise not to jump into any more demon mouths. Ever. It smelled like raw sewage in there." She shuddered.

"Promise not to die."

"Don't ask me to make promises I can't keep. Everything dies. There are worse ways to go than protecting people you care about. I promise not to take unnecessary chances, if you'll promise me the same."

He nodded stiffly.

"Then kiss me."

Above them, the sky had cleared, and every flower in the valley glittered in the moonlight. A fresh northern breeze swept away the summer heat, blowing through silver and iridescent white hair, mingling them so that Miroku couldn't be entirely sure what belonged to who. As Inuyasha lowered his mouth to Kagome's, Miroku carried Sango to the boulder that had been his shelter not very long ago, respectfully allowing the two their privacy. Shippo and Kirara stayed to watch; he didn't really think the two newly confessed lovers would mind.

But he would.

"My dear Sango," he began, settling her on the ground before him. "As I recall, a certain lovely demon slayer agreed to wed me if we survived this particular little battle. I'm feeling particularly lively."

"Move your hand, monk," she told him. But there was no slap, and she didn't protest when he moved his hand up to her hip. She looked down.

"That's not my favorite feature," she admitted, blushing furiously. "I've always thought it was too big."

Miroku stared at her. "That's why you get so mad?" he demanded. "Because it's certainly one of my 'favorite features!'" He narrowed his eyes rougishly.

"What about this?" he inquired, moving his hand further upwards.

She gasped a little. "You can only touch that if you can kiss me at the same time," she sighed blissfully.

He did that for awhile. "To think," he whispered against her lips, "all this time I could have groped these instead." He squeezed one of the "these" in question gently, earning a pleased groan from Sango.

"You just would never ask, you pervert," she murmured back, never quite taking her lips from his.

"So, now," he grinned against her mouth, lowering his hand to the once forbidden "feature."

Not far away, Kagome started when a slap rang across the valley.

Against her lips, Inuyasha laughed, just a little cruelly. "Sounds like Miroku and Sango are off to a rocky start," he observed. "He probably deserved it."

"I think they're doing just fine," Kagome answered. She leaned in to kiss him, long and hard, and continued. "Just like we are."

He kissed her back, and none of the four adults noticed when Shippo and Kirara fell asleep somewhere in between the two couples, under the misted moonlight and glittering white flowers.