For One More Day

Written by the Priestess of Nottingham

Song Name: Golden Grounds

Sung By: The Gathering

07As the sand
spreads wide open
and the glow of the sun
pearls the skin
All hope is craving fluids
and the yearning to where we've been07

It was a cold night when she died. Cold, icy, and unyielding, the storm raged outside sending the group running for shelter. Kagome sat by the fire attempting to sip some warm soup, shivering uncontrollably after her fall through a patch of thin ice. Her teeth chattered so much that every time she brought the bowl to her lips soup spilled onto the ground. Inuyasha watched her from the dark corners of Kaede's hut, his golden eyes reflecting concern.

07Golden grounds
so absorbing
When the heat of the sun
boils the skin
We have to stand the test of nature
to return to where we've been07

Later that night, Kagome complained of being cold when the hut was burning hot. Inuyasha knew that something was very wrong with her then. Cradling her in his arms, holding her gently, he whispered her name and stood. Miroku was the first to look up with a questioning eyebrow.
"And where are you going, Inuyasha, with Lady Kagome?" asked the perverted priest of the stubborn half-demon.

"It's none of your business," snapped Inuyasha as he held Kagome closer to his warm chest so that some of his warmth would comfort the trembling and shivering young woman. He walked outside, making for the well, when he heard Kagome's weakened voice call to him, her voice speaking of lyrics from a song that she had heard long ago.

"Hold on my saviour
Keep my heart in holy dimensions
Drag me on your back
for one more day
One more day
One more day
You give
You learn
You live
You learn
I guess what ever you may find
It's all right to eat a piece of your mind." Inuyasha looked at Kagome's pale face with worry and started to run again, not realizing that she was begging for him to stop and let her rest in peace.

"Inuyasha, please, I feel so cold and everything is so dark," Kagome cried as her body was wracked with spasms. Inuyasha's eyes widened with horror as he ran even faster to the well. But when he arrived, hypothermia was already in its final stages for the Feudal Era was not familiar with the symptoms of such a deadly illness, and the Feudal Era did not have the correct materials to prevent a fatality. Kagome's eyes grew heavy but she struggled to stay alive, just to see those honey colored eyes look at her one last time. One cold, yet gentle hand reached up and rested on his cheek.

"Drag me on your back for one more day," she whispered softly, using the same words that she had previously used when she sang that haunting song.

"You're going to be fine Kagome, I promise," whispered Inuyasha in return as he stared stubbornly at the well. "I won't let you die."
"Just…just hold me on your back," she whispered as her hands clutched onto the thick cloth of his fire rat kimono. Knowing that this was a battle he would not win, Inuyasha shifted Kagome in his arms so that she was on his back, her head resting on the area in between his shoulder blades.
"How's that Kagome?" asked Inuyasha quietly, dark fear creeping inside his mind when he noticed how cold she was. "Kagome?" Kagome did not answer, and when Inuyasha turned to catch her falling form, he noticed the smile on her face. A tear rolled down Inuyasha's face and he held her, rocking back and forth over and over.

"For one more day, I'll carry you with me," Inuyasha said as he stood and carried her slumbering body back to the hut. "And for every day from now on I will love you." The snow blanketed around the two, coating their last moments in white.