Hotaru met Kohaku's eye. "I'm sorry I couldn't keep my promise." She told him. He cried her name and reached towards her, but she turned her barrier on the group, forcing them all out of Naraku's body. The power of the attack sent them all flying back at least a hundred yards. Kohaku fell off Kirara's back, landing hard on the grass. He immediately got her his feet and started running back to Hotaru, but Lord Sesshomaru put out an arm to stop his advance.
"Do not interfere." The demon said simply.
Kohaku was about to push past anyways, but it was too late. A blinding purple light burst from Naraku's body and illuminated the entire sky. They all felt Hotaru's energy increase exponentially and then fade away all together.
"NO!" Kohaku screamed. He raced forward, the others following him. There was very little left of Naraku's body, some scattered broken remnants of a shell and a large black scorch mark on the grass. But nothing else. "HOTARU!" Kohaku cried out, desperately trying to wade through the rubble left over from Naraku. "HOTARU! WHERE ARE YOU!?" There was no answer. No movement among the charred remains. Nothing. "HOTARUUUUUU!"
"I can't sense the Shikon Jewel anymore." Kagome said. "It's gone. She really did destroy it."
"No..." Kohaku dropped to his knees. She was gone. How could he have let this happen? He had sworn to protect her, and he had failed. She had died all by herself. Even after she had promised Kohaku she wouldn't let him have to face death alone. After she had clung tightly to him, vowing to die with him rather than let him die on his own. He hadn't been able to return the favor. She had died alone and in pain. "Why? Why did she do that?"
Sango put her hand on Kohaku's shoulder. "She wanted to protect you." Sango tried to comfort him. "She wanted to protect all of us."
But why like this? Why did it have to end like this?
Inuyasha walked past, sniffing.
"Inuyasha..." said Kagome.
"This ain't right, I can still smell her." replied the half demon. He kicked over a few chunks of the destroyed shell, sniffing around. "Kagome! Get over here!"
Kagome ran through the wreckage. When she reached Inuyasha she gasped. "Give me your jacket!" She demanded. Inuyasha quickly took his coat off and handed it to her. She knelt down and wrapped it around something. She walked back to the others, cradling something close to her chest. Kohaku tensed. Dread clawing at his stomach as he worried that maybe some part of Naraku survived, maybe the infant or something, and that Hotaru's sacrifice was for nothing.
But when Kagome got closer, Kohaku saw that while it was a baby she was holding, it wasn't Naraku's infant. Instead wrapped up in the cloth of the fire-rat, cooing happily, was a little black haired baby with the sign of Saturn glowing dimly on her forehead. She looked at Kohaku with familiar bright violet eyes. She let out a strange baby noise and reached her tiny little arms towards him.
"Hotaru?" He said. He held out his hand and she grabbed his fingers. She kicked her legs happily and waved his finger up and down. She didn't seem to be aware a few minutes ago she was a twelve year old, or that they had just finished a battle. She seemed like an ordinary, happy baby.
"Is that really her?" Rin asked.
"We should get her back to Kaede." Sango suggested. "Just to make sure she's alright."
Kagome agreed. They returned to the village. The villagers were cautiously returning to their homes. Kaede was outside the storehouse, she looked up as the group approached. She appeared to be doing a head count to make sure everyone had survived the fight, her face saddened a little when she must have realized that one was missing.
"What have ye got in your arms, Kagome?" She asked as the group drew closer.
Kagome revealed the baby. "Hotaru was the one to destroy Naraku and the Shikon Jewel, but doing so cost her her life. We're not sure how, but we think that she was reborn."
Kaede blinked in surprise and took the babe. "Lets go inside." She suggested. "I will make sure she is healthy first of all. And ye all have injuries that need attending." The group nodded and followed the old priestess into her house. All except Sesshomaru and Jaken that is, whom both seemed to want nothing to do with the old woman and walked in the other direction. However Kohaku knew they wouldn't go too far without Rin.
Kaede jingled a bell above the baby's face, while she prayed. Whether the bell was functional or just to keep the child occupied, Kohaku wasn't sure. Though when she took the bell away, Hotaru's face scrunched up and she started crying. "Ye want to keep it?" Kaede asked, handing the bell to Hotaru. The baby took it in her tiny little hands and started sucking on it, obviously quite pleased with herself. Kaede then wrapped the child in a blanket and lifted her up again.
"This is without a doubt the same child that left with ye." Kaede confirmed. "I know not how she managed to do this, but it is possible this is the only way she could save herself."
"Do you think you can turn her back to the way she was?" Kohaku asked.
Kaede shook her head. "She is completely reborn. Her old body and memories are lost. She must grow up again just as any other child would."
Kohaku's heart fell, so his Hotaru was gone. She wouldn't remember him. She would have to grow up all over again, possibly becoming an entirely different person. He had to fight down a lump in his throat, he didn't want to cry particularly not in front of his sister.
"Can..." He started, looking down, "Can I hold her?"
Kaede nodded and placed the baby in his arms. She was warm and soft. She looked up at him, still sucking on the bell. She smiled with a loud coo.
"Oh, Hotaru..." He murmured.
The baby yawned widely and fell asleep in Kohaku's arms.