Chapter 1: Her Last Battle

Kagome stood facing the oncoming youkai. She shot an arrow at the demon, but missed. Cursing herself silently, she fumbled around for another arrow.

Inuyasha ran past her, a red blur, and pulled out his sword. "Tetsusiega!" He met the other youkai with a flash of light.

Looking up, Kagome put another arrow in her bow. She carefully took aim and prepared to shoot. The demon snarled and hit Inuyasha, then sent a claw at Kagome. It brutally ripped her shoulder open and blood poured out. Kagome dropped her bow and arrows, screaming in fear and pain, tears welling up in her stormy grey eyes.

Inuyasha turned his head in time to see Kagome fall to her knees, her arm bleeding freely. He looked back at the youkai with his eyes narrowed. "No one. Hurts. My. Kagome," he said harshly, striking the demon violently with each word. The youkai fell to the ground, dying and Inuyasha gave him one last good blow before running to Kagome's side.

Kagome lay on the ground, barely breathing. "I-Inuyasha?" she asked, opening her eyes and wincing.

"Kagome! Are you okay? God Kagome, what can I do?"

The miko shook her head. "I… I'm so sleepy," she murmured, her eyes slowly closing.

Inuyasha pulled her onto his lap and quickly bandaged her wound, tearing strips from his clothing. "Kagome," he whispered in a low voice dripping with emotion. "Come on. You can hold on. Don't die!" In his mind, he thought, 'You can't die. I love you too much.'

He hoisted her into his arms and ran like lightning to Kaede's hut. The old woman looked up and her eyes widened when she saw Kagome in Inuyasha's arms.

"Heavens," she said. "What happened?"

"Never mind that," said Inuyasha, carefully setting Kagome's unconscious body on the ground. "Fix her!"

Kaede examined Kagome's arm and then listened to her heart. There was no sound. "Inuyasha," she said in a sad voice. "It's too late. She's lost too much blood."

"No!" Inuyasha cried. "It can't be. I refuse to believe it!" He leaned over and shook Kagome gently. "Kagome, wake up!" Kaede sighed. Inuyasha bent down and listened to Kagome's heart. But there was no sound. Not even a faint heartbeat. Inuyasha's breathing grew heavy and a tear trickled down his face. "No…" he said softly. "Kagome… It wasn't supposed to end like this."

He stayed by the dead girl's side until night fell. Miroku came up to him and said, "Inuyasha. You have to face it."

"Go away!" Inuyasha yelled. "You don't understand!"

"I do understand," Miroku said. "You lost Kikyo and now you've lost Kagome. We all grieve for her but there is still business. We have to tell her parents. Sango is at the well right now. Do you want to come?"

Inuyasha just stared at him. "Come?" he asked in disbelief.

Miroku lowered his head. "I'm sorry," he muttered. "It's too soon. You shouldn't have to go. Forget I said anything." He turned around but Inuyasha grabbed his shoulder.

"I'll go," he said. "But I'm going alone. It was my fault. I'll tell her parents what happened." With that, he was gone before Miroku could say anything.

Sango saw Inuyasha coming and she stood up. With her head bowed, she said, "Inuyasha, I'm so sorry."

Inuyasha lifted her chin up. He knew that Sango could relate to what he was going through, because she had lost her family the same way. Murder. "I'll be fine," he reassured her.

"Shall we go?" she asked.

"No," Inuyasha replied. "I'm going… alone."

Sango nodded. Sensing Inuyasha's wanting to be alone, she turned and left.

Inuyasha stared down into the well. Never had he thought that he would go to Kagome's time for such an unpleasant mission. He had always looked forward to the visits to the future, though he never let it show. Now he thought of how he could have done things differently, behaved differently. "I never even got to tell her I loved her," he said, kicking the well. "She died thinking that I didn't care about her. That I really meant everything I said when we fought."

With a choked cry, Inuyasha leapt into the well and found himself at the other side. He climbed the ladder and opened the door. He could hear Kagome's family in the kitchen. Bracing himself for whatever might come, he went into that room and stood there.

Kagome's mother was the first to notice him. "Oh, hello Inuyasha," she said cheerfully. "Is Kagome in her room?"

Inuyasha could only shake his head. "I have some bad news," he said.

"What?" she asked. "Is something wrong? Where is Kagome?"

"She's dead," Inuyasha answered, the words falling from his mouth like stones.

The family stared at him, disbelieving. "Dead?" her grandfather asked. "Our Kagome?"

Kagome's mother started crying. "Are you sure?" When Inuyasha nodded again, she asked, "How… how did it happen?"

Inuyasha quickly explained. "So it was really my fault," he finished, finally saying what he had been thinking. "I couldn't stop the demon from killing her. But I didn't mean to!"

"No," her mother said firmly through her tears. "It wasn't your fault. I… can you bring her body here?"

Inuyasha was unable to speak for a moment. "Of course," he finally answered. "I'll do anything to make it up to you. You have suffered a great loss. Kagome was very special… to all of us." He quickly turned and ran back down the hallway and down the well.

Back on the other side, Inuyasha sat leaning against the well and playing with the grass by his feet. A tear squeezed out of one of his eyes and landed on his arm. Inuyasha stared at it. The tear became blurry as more filled his amber eyes. Inuyasha tried to keep them inside but there were too many and they spilled out onto the grass as he bent over with his head between his knees and cried.

In the forest, Miroku and Sango watched as the dog-demon's emotions overcame him. Sango turned away. "Is there anything we can do?" she asked softly, biting her lip to stop her own tears. Miroku just shook his head. He wasn't sure what to do, either. Sango looked back at Inuyasha. "I know how he feels," she whispered, barely audible. "Kohaku…" She trailed off.

Miroku stared at Sango. One hand reached for her but then fell back down to his side. He wanted to comfort her but wasn't sure if she would appreciate it. His confusion was answered when Sango pressed herself against him, openly crying.

"Sango," Miroku said, wrapping his arms around her and gently stroking her soft, black hair. "You have been in this situation. If you want to help Inuyasha now, is there anything that you wish someone would have done for you?"

Sango lifted her head from the monk's shoulder. "People tried to help," she said, wiping her eyes. "but all I really wanted was to be left alone. You, Inuyasha, and K-Kagome helped me by letting me join you in your hunt for Naraku. That's all I really needed, I guess. Other than that, I just didn't want sympathy. I wanted to try to move on and I couldn't do it when everyone reminded me of it day after day."

"I'm sorry," Miroku said. "So perhaps we should leave Inuyasha to his thoughts."

Sango nodded. The two of them slowly made their way back to Kaede's hut.

Inuyasha stood up. "I must bring Kagome's body back to her family," he said to himself. "I owe her and them that much, at least. It is, after all, my fault." He walked blindly toward the hut, not knowing or caring what was in his path. He walked right through bushes and bumped into trees, but barely noticed. Finally, he was at the hut. He stopped outside the door and readied himself for the sight his eyes would meet.

When Inuyasha stepped inside, he saw Miroku, Sango, and Shippo sitting around Kagome's body. Shippo was crying. Miroku and Sango were talking quietly to each other. As Inuyasha walked over to them, they gradually stopped talking and watched him. Without a word, Inuyasha picked up Kagome and walked outside again.