The rain was just starting to turn.

It had finished its intensity that barraged the ground with seemingly all it had, and was now slowly clearing into a serious drizzle, the last of it slowly and unwillingly pattering out.

For now it fell upon what was once an open field, sapping any remaining warmth from the day, leaving nothing but a chill that enveloped like a cold, smothering blanket.

This expansive field, once green, was now a deep shade of brown; mud that had been churned thoroughly while the rain fell, leaving puddles inches deep that seeped through the loose dirt to become the mud with the consistancy of over-watered dough.

There was the grimy scent of unclean water in the air, and the burning smell of gunpowder; not unlike a candle that had long since been snuffed out, and the slightly crackling feel of leftover electricity, the aftermath after a storm.

The scene was unbetrayed by movement, for the hillside was heavy and still as a cemetary, as death wandered aimlessly at his handiwork, waiting for the inevitable in the falling rain that washed clean the tears of the fallen.

And then, the heavy silence was wavered by a hitching sob, and a hushed answer.

'Hey,' came the response, from one broken figure to another, 'do not cry.'

She who had emitted the sob pressed fingers that were not hers to her face all the harder.

'I,' she had to pause to hiccough, 'I can't help it.'

The two lay in the mud, buried under the weight of their own mistakes, and their own injuries, with death standing over them, waiting for the words to fail.

They lay with their faces aligned, and their bodies pointed in opposite directions; he had used up the last of his strength to get to her.

Her broken sobbing continued, though her tears had long dried up. 'This was my fault.'

His fingers tensed slightly under her own hands against her face as he gazed at her. 'It was a trap. There was no way you could have known.'

'I should have seen it.' She, who was unable to move, was trapped by her own injuries, bleeding dark blood slowly into the mud where it could escape like rats to a sinking ship.

'This is not,' he had to pause for a heartbeat to catch his breath, his free hand attempting to hold his stomach together, 'your fault.'

'I should have gone alone.' Her grip defied her state, yet her wavering voice betrayed her. 'No one else would have died then. Why, did you have to follow me?'

A little of the light returned to his eyes for a moment, before his face softened slightly, despite the pain. 'I couldn't let you, die alone.'

'But, why? You might have,' she had to cut off as a fresh wave of pain clawed its way through her chest, seeming to seize her heart with knife-like talons.

He waited several moments for her to relax slightly, her teeth clenched firmly shut to stop herself from screaming.

'You might, have lived.' She was panting slightly. 'And that is all, I could want.' She had to hesitate again, forcing herself to continue breathing, for just a moment longer. 'You do not need me.'

'I could not, because, I love you.' He grinned slightly at her, the half of his face that was not dirt-smeared and blood-stained, resting in the mud as it was, held a rougish smile that she felt she had not seen in a million years, like a breath of fresh air.

'You, idiot,' she had to catch her own breath, squeezing the hand she held all the tighter.

'And we won, did we not?' He continued to gaze at her, as blood from his missing ear dribbled gruesomely over his cheekbone.

She was silent for a long moment, as death shifted slightly closer. 'But at what cost?'

Together their minds wandered over to their fallen comrades, blood mixing with dirt on the battleground.

'Do you think anyone will miss us?' She asked quietly.

He had to pause. 'No, I do not think so.' Even their enemies were gone, there would be no survivors of this final battle.

She was quiet for a short time, her breathing continuing to hitch. 'Wait for me, okay?' She hesitated. 'I don't want to die alone.'

'I'm right here.' It was hurting even more than his wounds that he couldn't hold her.

Her shaking was fading, her grip was slackening. 'It's so cold,'

'I know.' He was unable to comfort her, even as the rain continued to fall.

The heavy silence fell once again, cold and oppressive.

'Do you remember, when we first met?' He eventually questioned, his eyes beyond her to happier times.

She did not respond, but he knew she was listening, and he chuckled, a broken wheeze of a laugh.

'We were so very different people then.' He paused, a little lost in thought. 'I apologize for trying to kill you,'

'It does not matter anymore.' She coughed slightly. 'Nothing matters anymore. We will be the last to die.'

And death on his silent wings enveloped her, hiding her from his sight, the light fading from her eyes like the afterglow of a snuffed candle, and with a final shove in his grief, rolled himself skyward, his shoulders squelching in the mud.

'Are you happy now?' He cried at the sky. 'Where's the "I-told-you-so", you bastard!' His own breathing hitched, as the last of her warmth faded under his fingers. 'You were right!' His pain intensified, as death stood over him and him alone. 'But how could I not love her? She was just so,' a tear escaped, mingling with the blood, 'beautiful,' he was unable to speak for a long moment, his anger and grief threatening to drown him like the mud that surrounded him. 'Why did it have to end up like this!?' He shouted towards the heavens. 'Why is it so essential to your plans to deny me anything I've ever wanted?' He was forced to pause to breathe. 'THIS ISN'T FAIR! All of my plans are in vain, everything is for naught now she is gone!' He rolled his head back to the side to look at her, her lifeless glassy eyes gazing back at him with unspeakable sadness. 'The world truly is a cold, empty place.'

And with those final words, death placed his hands upon the shoulders of Naraku, he who lay dead in the mud, next to the assassin he had come to love, and together they walked towards the great nothingness of hell.

Sometimes I love my own writing, and sometimes I end up bawling like a little baby, but I love it anyway.

Let me know who cried, I know I seriously did!