Disclaimer: I do not own Inuyasha.

The Ultimate Sacrifice

He had done it. He had finally destroyed Naraku, but at a grave cost. As he had given the final blow one of Naraku's tentacles had shot forward and delivered a deadly blow to his chest. Now he was fading fast and he had to tell her before it was too late.

" 'Gome." He called out weakly.

"I'm here, Inuyasha. Just hold on! Don't you dare die on me!"

He opened his eyes to see her beautiful, tear-stained face above him. With his remaining strength, he reached out to cup her cheek in his hand. She grasped onto his hand and kissed his palm.

"Don't you leave me, Inuyasha! Hang on!"

" 'Gome. Sorry. Never told you. Love you." He managed to say.

"I love you too, Inuyasha. Please don't leave me!"

But he was already gone, his hand limp in her own. Kagome broke down and sobbed into him despite the fact he was covered in blood.

"No! No! You can't leave me! What am I supposed to do without you!" she cried, clinging to his body. Behind her Shippo clung to Kirara crying, and Sango buried her face into Miroku's shoulder; Miroku wrapped his arms around Sango and looked close to tears himself.

Nearby, another watched the scene without a trace of tears. Sesshomaru pondered how so many could cry over his younger brother, a mere half-breed. He wondered if anyone would mourn his own death. The Tenseiga shook in its sheath.

Kagome was still sobbing into Inuyasha's body. She couldn't accept that he was really gone.

"Move, girl." came a deep voice from behind her. She turned to see Sesshomaru unsheathing the Tenseiga. Kagome quickly and watched in awe as Sesshomaru sliced the air around Inuyasha's body at some invisible force. Kagome held her breath. Had it worked? Then to her enormous relief Inuyasha's body moved, and he let out a groan. Sesshomaru turned and started to walk away.

"Wait, Sesshomaru! Why did you save Inuyasha?" Sesshomaru paused.

"I will be the one to kill Inuyasha. No one else." He continued on his way.

"Thank you so much, Sesshomaru!" the girl, Kagome called out, and if you looked close enough the smallest of smiles showed on Sesshomaru's normally emotionless features.

Inuyasha was really confused. One minute he had been falling and the next he had stopped abruptly. Now he didn't know where he was. He heard Kagome cry out in joy and call his name. He opened his eyes to see Kagome, her face beaming with happiness.

"Kagome? What the hell happened to me?"

"Sesshomaru saved you with the Tenseiga."

"Your kidding!" he said propping himself up to see Sesshomaru's retreating figure form. Kagome shook her head.

"No, he really saved you, and I can't tell you how happy I am the your alright." She leaned forward to wrap her arms around him and bury her face into the crook of his neck. Inuyasha sat fully up wrapping his arms snuggly around her in return. He nuzzled his face into her hair, breathing in her wonderful scent.

"Me too. Kagome?" She leaned back to look him in the eyes.

"Yes, Inuyasha?"

"I love you." he declared with a grin.

"I love you, too." she replied, flashing him a brilliant smile.

Inuyasha darted forward to capture Kagome's lips in a long awaited, passionate kiss, bringing his hand to cradle the back of her head.

He kissed her as if she were his very lifeline, his mouth seared to her own. She felt as if she were melting into him and kissed him back with as much passion and abandon as she could muster.

Inuyasha never wanted their kiss to end. Her lips were so soft and warm against his own, and it felt so right to be kissing her. When they broke apart they stared deep into each other's eyes completely ignoring the others, who stared at them in shock. All at once, Shippo shouted out, "It's about time!" To everyone's surprise Inuyasha started to laugh, but they quickly followed suit. Naraku was gone, and were all finally free to move on.