Author's Note: I do not own Inuyasha or any of the source material for this story. All are owned by Rumiko Takahashi. This fic is labeled MA per standards for eventual violence, sex, and language so be warned.

This chapter contains a major character death.

...

Reconciliation

Chapter 14 - I'd Rather Go Blind

Kagome woke in the pebbly sand at the river's edge. She was instantly damp, freezing, and momentarily confused.

'Right. Sesshoumaru. Fighting.' her mind wearily supplied.

Swollen and angry eyes were sore from unstoppable and innumerable tears. Tears of anger, frustration, sadness, longing, helplessness. She felt no better. Sesshoumaru was gone and Kagome wasn't surprised. She had said some unforgiving, albeit true, things to him. With all his power, even the daiyoukai couldn't change the past, even if he wanted to, and she had thrown it all in his face.

Sitting up was startlingly, breathtakingly painful and she was reminded of the severe damage to the flesh at her neck.

'Poison. I forgot. Gods, he was so angry. Well, you made him angry, Kagome. Full well knowing he could murder you if the mood struck him.'

Kagome wondered wryly when her sense of self-preservation had packed up. When she attempted to sigh, nothing but a raspy rush of air left her lips. She coughed and braced herself on the ground in pain. He hadn't killed her but he had effectively silenced her from the outside in. The damage was deep and oozing, and throbbing the more her body stirred to life. She forced herself to drink some river water and slow her heart. The poison was creeping slowly through her system and her reiki was stalling its barrage but not removing it completely. That would require focus and effort.

Washing tear-stained cheeks in the river, she rubbed the soreness from her eyes with dirtying sleeves and moved over the ashes of the fire from the night before to start it again. Now that she had more information but no viable plan, it was time to start over. The new moon would rise at the end of today and if she could find Inuyasha first and bring him back, maybe she could persuade Sesshoumaru to help her find a better solution. It was a fragile hope but it had to be enough for now.

Meditation was a start. Training was next. The mind and the body… What would Miroku say?

'The Buddha tells us that 'the secret of health for both mind and body is not to mourn for the past, worry about the future, or anticipate troubles, but to live in the present moment wisely and earnestly.''

She smiled and the strain of muscles brought fresh pain to her throat but she was glad to remember her wise friend in the midst of this nightmare. With renewed resolve, Kagome rose from the riverbed to meet the day.

…

Closer.

Much closer now.

He was near. His scent was everywhere. On the wind, on the ground, through the trees.

'His aura calls me. His blood is mine!'

Bloodstained claws twitched in anticipation at the thought of rending flesh from his prey. It would be a true fight. He would enjoy it. Every other was a disappointment. No challenge. He could not rise above all others in power with no true opponent to battle. But this one was different.

'Faster!'

His legs did not tire or stumble. He would run until he met his foe in battle. Nothing would distract him from his quest. He would be there soon. Soon the only obstacle between this moment and true dominance would be removed.

…

Light was creeping slowly between the trees when Sesshoumaru touched down in the forest from the sky above. Leaves collapsed under his feet and the sound grated on his nerves. Everything was grating on his nerves. The fight today would be a welcome one. This journey of errors and emotions and futility would finally come to an end. The upheaval of his world would cease and life could return to a rhythm he himself dictated. The foreign and reverse feeling of not being in control would die with the hanyou.

It was his duty to end this before the whelp could further unbalance his world. Inuyasha was merely obeying his instincts but he was ending millennia old bloodlines. It was… uncomfortable killing him. Blood was a powerful bond and whatever Sesshoumaru thought of the hanyou personally, without this outright perversion of his nature, the elder would not have killed him. Sesshoumaru had been given the chance so many times and passed it by in favor of waiting to see what the pup would do next.

Touga must have considered his youngest son often and at great length to have garnered so many gifts even before his birth, and Sesshoumaru had found that the hardest to swallow. While Sesshoumaru himself was still living and attempting to fulfill his quest to best his father, Touga had spent considerable time planning to raise the half-blood bastard of a human after him.

Inheriting the burden of leadership was just that, a burden. How often had he thought about the freedom so many others took for granted? Freedom to move about unchecked and unburdened, knowing all that awaited you was work of your own making. Taking care of your own pack to the exclusion of all else. Like Inuyasha. The jealousy that rose up within him tasted bitter and unbecoming.

Today would not be easy in any sense. The hanyou's power was formidable. His strength and stamina aided by endless energy reserves meant Sesshoumaru would have to find another way. Not knowing the strength of his enemy before battle was unfamiliar but, then again, nothing about this situation was. Warring over land or mating rights, he might have expected from a sibling, but not to have to put him down like a sick beast. It was without honor, and his name would forever be tied to the mistakes of his father once again. Sesshoumaru had trouble making peace with the idea. He reflected that it seemed as if he would forever be punished for doing as duty demanded instead of what his instincts required. He idly hoped one day it would be different.

His trek through the night brought him little solace. The priestess had so keenly seen through him. How? He had lived centuries with others who had observed less. His defenses and discipline were iron clad. Or so he had thought. Who was she to see beyond the still and stoic mask to expose him? Frustrated and angry all over again, Sesshoumaru launched himself into the sky and hovered there, releasing his aura again. He knew the miko would sense him nearby. He wasn't far away from the glade where they had confronted each other. This valley was the perfect place to avoid drawing attention or interference. He would not abandon his own plans so easily to avoid a human woman.

'If she does not die from her injuries, she will be weakened in the coming days. Either way, her meddling will cease.'

…

Kagome was sitting on the same boulder, centered in the river, where she had found the daiyoukai yesterday evening. It was a calming spot, she admitted. He had chosen well. The hum of the water was soothing and the boulder was large and cool, perfect to center your body. She was deep in meditation. Contemplating as much as she could in peace before the battle ahead: her love of her husband, her knowledge of the wild youki she would be facing, and the weapons available to her should it come to that. She also found Sesshoumaru's dark and acrid poison creeping through her and purified it. Then she saw her neck, gouged in an angry and dark yellow, and prodded her reiki to heal it faster than normal. Soon the poison was gone and her neck was returned to its normal patch of pale and unmarred skin.

She was still deep in thought when his prickly aura washed over her again, pulsing as a beacon for their mutual target, far above her. It entered her mind's eye and she was forced to see its beauty. Warm, pale green of new spring growth and delicate yellow ribbons of power, flowing in and out of her conscious recognition, teasing and tangling with her own isolating sphere of ice blue reiki. His youki was poking and pulling at her but she was busy, focused, and in no mood to entertain him. He was calling Inuyasha, she knew, but some part of him was interested in her as well. This might be the closest thing to an apology she would ever get from him; this weird recognition that he was subconsciously focused on her in some way.

"Energies often manifest into an echo of our deepest thoughts and desires when they leave us." Miroku had said.

Huffing her disappointment that Sesshoumaru wasn't going to let her focus in meditation, intentionally or not, Kagome moved on to physical training with a groan. She removed the white kosode and red hakama and stood in her tailor-made black and violet battle raiment. Searching through her pack for the black boots that made swift movement much easier, she tugged them on and stretched her body like a cat to the morning sun. Finding a hair ribbon, she tied it up in a high ponytail and tugged at the ends to make sure it would withstand her exercise. The air was chilled but still, and she knew she'd be warm in no time. Palming her staff, Kagome went to the center of the glade and closed her eyes, planning movements and listening to the forest.

Miroku had been merciless in his physical instruction once he knew her limits, and he'd be pissed she was slacking now. She loved and missed him so much. Aside from being one of the best friends of her life, he was patient and smart and worldly. Kagome realized she had undervalued him during their journey but depended on him without thinking, to his credit. His motivation sounded more like berating most of the time but she was glad to hear his voice echoing through her head as she pushed her body harder than she had in a week. Now was not the time to slack. She jogged leisurely to the edge of the clearing and waited.

'Faster!' she heard Miroku command.

Kagome sprinted from one end of the glade to the other, tucking into a roll before planting a heel and turning back into the other direction to repeat.

'Remember your sequence and flow from this set to the next! Forms are only useful if they are accurate.'

Jab, arc over, spin, and slash. She held the staff just below the end caps and swung a circle over her head, bringing it down sharply to the ground before lifting it again and repeating in several directions. Her body was warm and responsive now. Sweat was beginning to pill on her neck.

'Fill your movements with your aura. Let it move with you and around you.'

Kagome let her reiki coat her skin like armor. Small and glowing spheres of her energy joined her exercise, dancing around, merging and separating as she continued to flow through the forms Miroku had taught her. A tear leaked from her eye at the thought of using her new skills on Inuyasha but she did not stop her practice or pause to wipe it away.

'Harder! The enemy will not fall with such a shallow thrust! Again!'

Before long, she found a rhythm that felt right and was shifting from move to move gracefully with her staff and thinking of nothing else. Cartwheeling away, using her feet and elbows, and flaring reiki along the chinks in her defenses. Spinning the staff over her head, Kagome watched the leaves fall from the trees ringing the glade as the wind picked up.

'Let's have some fun then, huh?' the miko thought. It had been a while since she had any fun.

A mischievous smile appeared as she tagged the first few with the polished steel caps of her staff. The steel ends of the weapon crushed the leaves in midair and sent fractured pieces falling to the ground around her. Laughing aloud at the fun of it, Kagome caught two more when she slid the staff through her loose palm and speared them on contact over her head. It was a game now. Avoid and destroy. Dropping the staff down to catch the grip again, she planted a foot and stabbed the air, left and then right, spearing two more. Spinning the weapon vertically in her hands, several more were shredded when the miko turned, side stepping a few more dancing around the ground in the breeze. Four more were rebuffed in front of her when the staff came down hard at arm's length, lying flat against the ground as she crouched low. She huffed an exerted giggle and stood at ease, wiping the sweat from her forehead.

…

Kagome was not aware she had an audience but Sesshoumaru had been watching her most of the morning with nothing else to distract him from the waiting. She was serious about her meditation but grew frustrated as he resumed pulsing his aura. Then she stripped down into barely anything to begin training. Indecently skin tight leather hugged every swell and valley of her body and when she bent over to find her boots, he had to look away. What woman would wear something so blatantly scandalous to fight in?

Then he understood. While the bulky clothing of her profession was appropriate so as not to distract from her duties, this outfit was made for movement, albeit with little regard for decency. He recalled seeing the other woman that traveled with his half-brother wearing something equally form-fitting but had paid little attention at the time. The young miko's posture was atrocious, and her forms were slack and without grace or power.

Then she flared her aura and released it throughout the clearing. Her power manifested around her in orbs of light like minute stars brought to earth, flaring to life at her command and dancing as she moved. He watched her move them as she moved her body. Watched her smile. Watched her tears slide down a pale cheek.

'So, she does accept the truth.' he realized.

Kagome continued and stilled when the breeze separated a flurry of leaves from the trees. She giggled lightly and resumed her training targeting the fluttering leaves. At least the miko was adept enough to slaughter leaves in a clearing with no real enemy present. He scoffed.

'Ridiculous. Why waste time and energy on something so unproductive and childish?' he thought, before turning away and scanning the horizon once more.

…

Shippou floated over the forest around Edo with excitement. It hadn't been long since he was home but the little kit was worried about his mother being all alone at home while Inuyasha was out doing… whatever it was he needed to do with Sesshoumaru. Shippou felt guilty that he had no idea what was going on. Finishing his tasks and tests early had been hard but Kagome would be so happy to see him home so soon and before the winter break.

He landed at their house and lifted the curtain on the front door only to find it shuttered. The door on the side too, had been shuttered closed. He knocked anyway to be sure.

"Momma?" he called at the door, his voice sounding small.

His sharp hearing didn't catch any sounds of movement inside or the crackling of a fire or the smells of cooking. It was early evening and everyone should be home by now, including Kagome. His heart started to beat faster. The startling feeling of abandonment surfaced quickly. Inuyasha was gone. She was gone. Who else was here? Was he alone?

Two warm hands grabbed him from behind as he stood shaking on the doorstep. Lost in his panic, Shippou turned and growled at his captor.

"There, there, Shippou. There's no cause for alarm." Miroku soothed, lifting him to eye level.

"Miroku! You're here!" the scared Shippou yelled. Glowing, emerald eyes welled up with tears. "I- I thought-"

"I know. Kagome-sama is sorry she isn't here to welcome you but you are to stay with us until she returns. Are you alright?"

"So she's gone? How long? Where'd she go?"

"To find Inuyasha. The situation is serious I'm afraid. She was sure you'd be at school until her return."

"I was. I should be. But I wanted to come home and surprise her in case she was lonely."

"Such a dutiful son, Shippou. I'm sure she will be back soon and will be most happy to see you. Now come, dinner is almost ready, and Sango and the children will be thrilled to see you."

"Mm hmm, okay." he agreed, casting a longing look back at their house as Miroku carried him away. "But she'll really be back soon?"

"I believe so. I hope so. Come, it's time for some dinner cooked by my lovely wife." He smiled but it didn't quite reach his eyes.

…

The day wore on and the sun peaked and began to descend. Kagome kept her senses trained on the valley. Reiki rolled from her in waves to cover the bulk of the small valley floor in an effort to detect the moment Inuyasha came over the hill. She stayed in her fighting outfit, not wanting to take a chance. She checked her staff, her bow, crafted a few arrows and laid them in her quiver. She took a few more out and speared the ground with them in groups of three around the clearing and some closer to Sesshoumaru.

Her companion had decided to land some time ago and resume his post on the boulder, ignoring her completely.

'Fine. Be an ass. See if I care.'

She didn't care. Not really. She only had to keep him from trying to murder his brother… again.

Her thoughts were cut off as Sesshoumaru quickly stood and lifted his chin, analyzing the scents on the wind. His eyes narrowed to the North, turning fully away from her, and Kagome found it hard to breathe as she watched him. Her heart leaped and jilted in her chest.

"Sesshoumaru?" she asked, argument forgotten.

"Silence." he commanded.

He was trying to listen, to hear, to smell. The first faint trace of the hanyou's scent came on the wind. He was not close enough to feel but his scent was unmistakable.

"Sesshoumaru? Is it him?" she tried again.

"You should not be here." he said quietly, without turning around.

"I have more of a right to be here than you. Or at least an equal one. I'm begging you: please let me try to bring him around before you hurt him!"

He looked over his shoulder at her before disappearing into the woods faster than her eyes could follow.

'Oh no, you don't! He was looking north. Fine, I'll go north.'

She stumbled and fought through the dense underbrush, climbing and trudging as fast as she could. The sun was nearly touching the upper ridge of the rounded hills atop the valley. Sweat was running down her face and neck, and breathing was becoming painful the harder she worked. The air chilled and became dry as Kagome ascended the hill, following Sesshoumaru's unmistakable aura. He was hovering there, just over the ridge. Her curiosity and fear both grew as his energy flared sharply, making her shiver with the intensity of it even halfway down the ridge.

'What are you doing up there?' Her mind was racing but her feet were fighting progress now. She had jogged or climbed halfway across the small valley in a single afternoon, leagues and leagues, following Sesshoumaru's youki. Endurance training on flat ground was one thing but trekking uphill through the forest was draining her. Without warning, a fierce roar echoed over the edge of the valley and a new, violent aura slammed against her senses and began approaching rapidly. So much pain and anger were wrapped up in it. The energy was balled tight in on itself with no flexibility. Kill or be killed. It was an animal of pure savage instinct.

'Inuyasha! It must be him! Oh please, don't let me be too late…'

Burning in her legs and lungs forgotten, Kagome hauled herself up to the ridge as fast as she could still manage using her staff for support, slipping on thick piles of fallen leaves and cursing her slow progress. Peering through the trees at the peak, the young miko was trying desperately to recover her breath and squinting against the twilight to see the field below.

Recognition gave way to relief and then to dread. He was here. But that was not her hanyou.

The red and white blur struggling against Sesshoumaru was her husband in body. She could make out his white, triangular ears and silver hair from way up here in the snatches of time he was moving slowly enough. Haunting crimson eyes were oblivious to everything around him as he single-mindedly howled and attacked the inudaiyoukai. His hair was dirty and matted with layers of dried blood and gore. His arms were soaked with it, too, and the blood there looked fresh. He was snarling and roaring in anger behind a sword she didn't recognize. She shuddered to think that he had been this way for a month now. Her eyes burned with sadness when she discovered he wasn't really there. He had no idea who she was or who Sesshoumaru really was.

Sesshoumaru wasn't pulling any punches. He appeared calm and in control, but his mouth was locked into a thin line, brow furrowed in concentration. He was testing the hanyou's strength to gauge what could be done and Kagome was grateful. He wasn't trying to murder Inuyasha outright for now. She still had time to get to him and stall any mortal damage if she could get there before Sesshoumaru decided to take the fight seriously.

…

The hanyou was insane. He smelled of the blood of hundreds of youkai and humans. He was growling unintelligible noises, not speaking the inu tongue.

"Stop!" Sesshoumaru tried, commanding the hanyou. When he was ignored completely, he tried again after forcefully parrying a katana blow and shoving the hanyou back and away.

"Why do you attack?" he roared over the singing of blades and the guttural growling coming from Inuyasha.

Sesshoumaru could not communicate with him between blows. Inuyasha was an animal with a singular purpose. The sheer volume of energy the half-breed had amassed was staggering, even to him. The hanyou had no training in youki manipulation and so used the stolen youki in the crudest and simplest ways possible: raw power and speed.

"Who are you?" he tried again. A simple question. The answer was also simple, if his half-brother could manage it.

Using Bakusaiga to parry the sloppy but powerful katana attacks, the Western Lord was alternating disruptive blasts from his sword and swift strikes to cut through Inuyasha's defenses. But the hanyou was fast. Too fast. The youki Inuyasha had accumulated meant he could accelerate every motion and reaction far beyond his usual skill. Sesshoumaru was defending more than he was attacking as his quest for any sensible answer wore on. Inuyasha would never burn through his stolen energy before the new moon rose.

No answer came from Inuyasha as Sesshoumaru tried again and again to make him speak. No ground could be gained during the fight as it was. Since he could not be reasoned with, or worn down, Sesshoumaru came to the conclusion that the time for stalling was over. He vaguely recognized the aura of the priestess coming across the rise but stopped focusing on her completely when Inuyasha leapt from several feet away with claws outstretched. Vanishing in a millisecond, Sesshoumaru appeared behind the hanyou and aimed Bakusaiga directly at him, waiting for him to turn.

The hanyou, his half-brother, would have to die, he realized. It was a disconcerting thought. Some part of Sesshoumaru had hoped there was another way. But he would die with honor. The daiyoukai would not wait to end him when he was human. That would be cowardly. He would have to find another way. If he could accomplish it before the miko reached them, all the better. Her interference was no longer welcome and this needed to end soon.

…

Kagome started down the hill as quickly as she could, realizing her stamina was waning. She glanced up at the sun. It was getting too close to the horizon. Something had to be done and fast. Stop them both somehow. Sesshoumaru couldn't be allowed to do too much damage before she could bring Inuyasha back or he'd be dead when his youki left him at sundown. She cursed herself for being human and slow for the first time in her life. This run down the hill was taking too damn long. When she finally reached the bottom, the sun was even lower. The light was fading.

The brothers were still locked in combat in the grassy expanse beyond the forest's edge. She watched as Inuyasha swept a clawed arm out and barely missed Sesshoumaru's throat. The daiyoukai pulled back in time and swung Bakusaiga out at the hanyou's middle. Inuyasha caught the swing with his own sword and deflected it upward, spinning toward Sesshoumaru with a powerful kick. To Kagome's surprise, it landed and Sesshoumaru was thrown backward. He recovered quickly and turned in midair to land on his feet before sprinting forward to blast Bakusaiga at the smirking, crazed hanyou.

'At this rate, they'll kill each other before I can get there!' she thought desperately.

The closer Kagome got, the more she realized how lost Inuyasha was. He was grinning the wide-eyed and crazed grin of a homicidal maniac as he sliced through the sleeve of Sesshoumaru's haori, neatly dividing the fabric in two. The slash was followed immediately by a swipe from the claws of the hanyou's free hand. This one connected but only barely. Kagome heard the shatter of his armor and gasped. Sesshoumaru backed away for a moment and Kagome saw the angry, red trails of four deep gouges in the daiyoukai's chest and the hanging, fractured remains of his armor. The blow had looked like Inuyasha's claws only barely grazed him but the gashes were glowing a telling bright red from the excess youki Inuyasha was using to fight and bleeding profusely. Kagome knew the injury could become serious over time if Sesshoumaru didn't heal it soon. When the Western lord shrugged the rest of his armor down his shoulders and let it fall to the ground, Kagome was left with a sinking feeling. If Inuyasha landed a serious attack, Sesshoumaru might actually lose.

They were all running out of time.

Kagome made the decision to test her first theory. Tessaiga. She searched for the energy of the sword from her position at the forest's edge. It was laid against a tree several yards away. She snapped her staff to her back with the bow and quiver, and made a dash for the sword. Plucking it from under the tree without stopping, she pivoted and ran closer to the two warring brothers. Removing Tessaiga from its sheath, Kagome stabbed the fang into the ground several yards from the tree line. Neither one of the inu noticed her movements or presence.

A second later they would.

Kagome called her energies from deep within and a crackling, pale blue sphere exploded around her as she cast both arms out and away from her body. Bringing both hands forward, the miko separated the barrier from her body and moved it toward Inuyasha. Sesshoumaru felt the energy keenly, raising the hair on the back of his neck, but kept Bakusaiga trained on the hanyou as they fought for dominance on the field, swords clashing and sending sparks flying. Only when the barrier closed in around the hanyou, did he notice what was happening. Inuyasha dropped the sword in his hands in favor of pounding angrily on the barrier around him. Panicked, vermilion eyes immediately darted around, looking for a way out. Finding none, he launched himself against the walls of the sphere, burning flesh on contact and damaging himself further.

Kagome was too focused on her task to notice what he was doing inside. Dragging the barrier and the thrashing Inuyasha with it, she pulled him across the ground toward Tessaiga. The sword began to pulse slowly, tiredly, as he approached. The call of the fang's power grabbed the hanyou's attention and he stopped flailing long enough to see it, recognize its power, and reach for it as the two were brought together again. The effort of keeping the barrier strong enough to withstand him and moving it across the battlefield was immense. Kagome was breathing hard when it came to a stop, waiting for the verdict from the sword. She chanced a brief look at Sesshoumaru who flared his youki given the respite, and healed the gashes on his chest and some on his legs but otherwise made no move to stop or look at her. He simply watched the scene unfold with a stoic and undecipherable gaze.

Inuyasha reached a shaking, blood-soaked hand down to grasp the sword, pulling it free of the ground. Tessaiga pulsed rapidly… faster… and faster… faster still until it sounded like the thrumming of drums in chorus. Kagome's hope faded when the sword did not transform but rather stayed small and thin, looking pitiful in Inuyasha's powerful and deadly hands. As the hum grew to an uncomfortably loud volume, a crack appeared down the length of the blade.

"Nooo!" Kagome yelled brokenly.

The crack grew and forked up and down the blade until finally it shattered it a flash, scattering shards of metal and leaving only a ruined grip in Inuyasha's hand. Seeing the sword destroyed and now useless, Inuyasha released it and let it fall to the ground, roaring his disappointment. With no distraction from his cage of reiki, he threw himself wholly into breaking free. Digging claws at the barrier, it began to splinter. Kagome knew it was over so she dropped the barrier, arms falling heavily to her sides and breathing hard, and Inuyasha sprinted back to Sesshoumaru, eager to defeat his enemy.

"It's not over yet." the miko said quietly, taking a knee to recover for a moment and reaching into her sleeve.

Inuyasha took a long leap and readied to swipe Sesshoumaru with his claws as he landed. Easily sidestepped, the dance began again. Sesshoumaru was parrying claws once more when Kagome's reiki flared again. The feel of her powerful aura flaring distracted the hanyou this time, remembering too recently being burned by the barrier. He turned his head and snarled at the burning energy condensing around the small human near the forest's edge.

Sesshoumaru knew what was happening before Kagome could react.

Inuyasha launched himself towards the woman, claws out, to end her. She was interfering again in his quest for power and had to die. Sesshoumaru was right behind him. If the hanyou was going to distract himself from the fight, the consequences would be his death. Kagome was focused on the infusion of power into the kotodama and failed to notice Inuyasha's rapid, bellowing approach until it was too late. With a burst of speed, Sesshoumaru swept his leg toward the hanyou to stop his assault. Too slow however as Inuyasha jumped skyward instead to come crashing down on the priestess kneeling in the grass. She felt him above her as she nearly finished forcing reiki into the beads and flicked scared, cerulean eyes up to see him bearing down on her with an intent to kill. Sesshoumaru was there first and snatched her arm, hauling her roughly aside to toss her out of the way and against a nearby tree. The beads fell to the ground, useless.

She felt the weapons at her back slam into something hard, stealing the air from her lungs. The force of the impact sent her head whipping back, cracking the back of her skull against the tree and everything went black…

"No… Inuya… sha…"

…

Pain. Throbbing, consuming pain. Behind her head. At her shoulder. Her eyes burned and would not focus. Her limbs were heavy. Her mind was working much too slowly. Where was she? What was happening?

The sound of swords clashing was nearby and loud. Snarls and growls accompanied the ringing of steel. Who was fighting?

It was dark. Not totally. The light was fading. Why was that important? She knew it was…

Kagome tried to sit up. Her right shoulder popped and the sudden feeling of bone grating on bone was excruciating, waking her from mind from its pained and concussed haze. She cried out and gasped. Looking across her shoulder to examine the damage, she used her left arm and shifting hips to compensate, sitting more or less upright against the tree. Her right shoulder was out of socket, bones stacked on one another at odd angles. She wouldn't be able to use it until it was popped back into place.

"Damn it…" she hissed.

Fighting was out. No bow or staff without the use of this arm. Maybe she could wrench it around herself… The throbbing in her head redoubled. Reaching back to assess her head, her hand met the warm, sticky feel of blood. Not enough to cause concern yet but it would have to be washed and healed when this was over. A loud snarl from Inuyasha had Kagome's head whipping up to see the two brothers locked in hand to hand combat, swords forgotten. She watched with wide, teary eyes as Inuyasha began to lose the fight, taking blow after blow from Sesshoumaru.

'I have to stop them before it's too late!'

She forced her body upright and leaned heavily on the tree, catching her breath from just the effort of standing. Pushing tired and trembling legs to move her body was slow work but eventually Kagome was taking the first tentative step forward back to the brawling inu.

…

Sesshoumaru could see the futility in swordplay. They were at a stalemate. Given Inuyasha's youki-infused and more powerful strikes but sloppy form, Sesshoumaru recognized he would not defeat him before sundown. The inudaiyoukai had extensive experience in youki manipulation and handling the half-breed with his own two hands might prove to his advantage. He heard the priestess cry out in pain to his right but paid her no mind. If she was incapacitated, all the better.

Forming a whip from his youki, Sesshoumaru lashed out, lashing the hanyou across the chest and legs when his next attack was too slow. Doubling back, Sesshoumaru trapped the hanyou's arms to his sides, wrapping him in the whip's coils, and sprinted forward to land a heavy blow to his head and sending him tumbling across the field. The daiyoukai was on him again in an instant, fist meeting with the empty grass when Inuyasha leapt up from the ground, broke free of his bonds with a roar, and leapt away. Sesshoumaru didn't allow him his respite and followed, clawing and sending powerful legs out to meet empty air as they chased each other around the open field.

"Stop! Please stop!" came a gravelly female voice from yards away. "It's not too late!"

They both paused to see her jogging slowly over. Inuyasha recovered first and lunged for Sesshoumaru, driving a clawed hand into the right side of the daiyoukai's chest and grinning as if he'd won. He had not, however. Sesshoumaru scowled and coughed, spitting blood into Inuyasha's face, but roared his own attack and returned the blow a second later. A clawed hand condensed flatly into a blade glowing with poison and drove itself into the hanyou's chest. Sesshoumaru found the heart of his half-brother in his chest and caged it with his hand before pouring forth his deadly venom.

Inuyasha gasped in pain as the brutality of the move finally broke through the mind-numbing shield of his raging youki. His heart began to stutter as the excessive poison coursed through his body.

"NOOO!" Kagome wailed. "What have you done?!"

She stumbled and cried out as the bones in her shoulder shifted again, new pain flaring to life deeper in the joint. She saw what had happened from across the field and willed her legs to go faster so she could get to him in time. The sun was almost gone now. Only a tiny sliver of red light remained. She would have to work fast. She could for him. She could still save him.

Kagome reached the brothers and knelt down the ground, knees hitting the grass hard, holding her right arm fast to her body with her left. Inuyasha was sputtering and his eyes were wide with pain searching for something to take it away.

"What did you do you to him?!" she yelled up at Sesshoumaru from the ground.

"What I swore I would."

Sesshoumaru merely stood over them both, watching. Cerulean eyes locked on the horizon and saw the last threads of sunlight fade. Inuyasha's aura pulsed and he gasped. Then again. Sesshoumaru stepped back and away from the hanyou, not knowing how his stolen energy would react to leaving its host.

"Gods, no! Please! Not yet!"

Kagome's tears came freely as she tried to call her power into her left hand but it stayed buried, unresponsive. The only response was the throbbing of her head and more pain in her injured shoulder as she fell forward and the impotent hand braced itself on Inuyasha's heaving chest. She sobbed her futility. Suddenly, a shockwave of crimson energy exploded from the hanyou, knocking Kagome backwards several feet and forcing Sesshoumaru to raise his arms and plant his feet in defense. The stolen youki was pouring freely outward from Inuyasha's prone form and he howled its loss, arching his back and writhing on the ground.

Kagome sat up, straining and squinting against the force of the energy pulsing through the field. She surrounded herself in a cloak of her reiki and began to force her way back to her husband. She watched his now visceral energy scorching the earth, killing everything on the ground and underneath it. The youki was binding itself to the land, cursing it with its malice in lieu of anywhere else to go.

'This isn't right… None of it is. Please don't let this be his legacy.'

Kagome closed her eyes, gritted her teeth and grunted with the effort of calling more of her energy from its wellspring within her. It was hers to command, she remembered. Not the other way around. She forced it outward with a cry, surrounding the soulless youki killing the land and herding it back into itself around Inuyasha's still body. With a quick jerk of her left arm, the miko funneled it skyward. The bilious, volcanic column of energy roared into the sky, and lightning crackled and wove through the clouds. It was over in a second and Kagome panted and shook with the effort it had taken but she had stopped him from cursing the valley and the surrounding forest. She could still heal Inuyasha if she could make it back to him. The first rumble of thunder sounded above and the sky gathered in preparation for the storm now building above them.

Kagome heard a ragged cough from the grass and sad, ocean eyes snapped up to find the collapsed red mass in the shallow grass several yards away. Sesshoumaru was kneeling down next to him with a calm look on his face. To Kagome's surprise he stood and began to remove his shredded haori. Laying it over Inuyasha, he kneeled again, nodding every few seconds and speaking lowly. She could not hear but understood they were talking to one another. Inuyasha wasn't sitting up and Sesshoumaru's eyes raised and found hers across the field. Cold, citrine orbs were beckoning her forward and when she didn't move, he stood and spoke.

"Come, miko."

Her boots suddenly rooted themselves to the ground. She shook her head, tears pooling in her eyes.

'I can't…'

Sesshoumaru nodded.

"Come."

Unconsciousness clawed at her mind and Kagome found herself swaying toward the ground as her heart pounded in her ears. This was her nightmare come true. He was dying. Months of hopeful training and preparation all wasted. Time she could have spent with him instead. Time they could have had together. Instead she had stupidly, uselessly, wasted it trying to prevent this exact moment from happening. But she couldn't waste time now. He didn't have much left and she was wasting that, too, slumping here in the grass.

Reaching out with her left arm as a brace, she raised one knee and bent her muscles to her will, finally getting upright. Tears rolled down her cheeks through grime and sweat. She forced one foot in front of the other until she was close enough to see him. Sesshoumaru rose and walked away, sensing his intrusion on what he knew to be their last moments together.

After weeks of travel and months of separation, Kagome finally saw him. She smiled gently despite the circumstances. He had always been handsome as a human. His eyes were closed and blood spattered his face and neck. His breathing was shallow. Long black hair hid most of the grime he had accumulated in the past month but it was stuck together at odd angles around his head. Sesshoumaru's haori was covering his chest but she could see the blood already soaking through it over his heart and his legs. She kneeled down next to him and gently cupped his right cheek, stroking it with her thumb and leaving a smeared trail of blood.

"Hold on… I'll have this healed before you know it." Kagome tried to smile comfortingly as her shaking left hand reached out to touch him for the first time in so long.

He groaned and languidly opened deep mahogany eyes to meet hers.

"Kagome…"

"Shh, I'm here. I'm gonna heal this so you and I can go home, okay?" A choked sob followed and she pulled her hand away to place it over his chest, calling her power.

"No- Kagome… Don't…"

"I have to. You won't get better if I don't, idiot." she said calmly, forcing a laugh for his sake. Her hand glowed a gentle blue and she focused on his wound again.

A warm, trembling hand weakly grabbed her wrist and she sobbed once, shaking her head and closing her eyes.

"Please don't stop me. Don't do this."

"It's okay… Kagome. It's okay."

Her eyes hardened and found his. "It's not okay! None of this is okay! How can you just give up?! I don't want to lose you! Please- please don't leave me here alone!"

"C'mere." He raised his forearm from the ground in invitation, asking her lie down next to him.

"No. No, I can't work from there." she said mechanically. "I have to fix this." She sounded ridiculous even to herself.

"You can't. Not this time. Please?"

"Please? Please what? Please let you die? Like hell. I know you're hurt but I can't just sit here and do nothing! You're running out of time, dammit!"

"Then c'mere. It's getting-" He coughed and the sound was filled with the raspy and wet sounds of his failing lungs. "It's getting cold."

"I can't. I love you and I can't. Please just let me. Let me try. I'll never be able to live with myself if I don't do something."

He nodded weakly and closed his eyes. She didn't waste a second. Calling her power, bending it to her will, she forced it into her hand. She saw the poison coursing through him, filling his chest. So much. The jagged gashes in his belly and the sword and whip lashes cut deeply across his thighs. He was bleeding out from his chest to his legs beneath the haori and he knew it. Sesshoumaru knew it. He had made sure of it.

His heart was wilting in his chest under the poison's influence. She tried to bolster that first, forcing her energy to obey and calling it from deeper within. Using her reiki was making her so tired but the warmth slipped easily from her hands into his failing body. It felt different. Golden. That was unusual. She could heal him if she could keep this up… But she was getting so tired… Just a little more…

"Stop!" Sesshoumaru barked from somewhere above her. "Miko, enough!"

A cold, clawed hand grabbed her own and yanked it away.

"Why- why did you stop me?! It was working!"

He shook his head and looked back over at Inuyasha. Kagome followed his gaze. It wasn't working. He was pale and breathing faster. Sweat beaded on his forehead and his face was flushed. He opened his eyes and looked sadly up at her.

"Cuh- C'mere." He raised a shaking arm again to beckon her down.

She broke and gave up to lie down in the blood-soaked grass with him.

"I couldn't do it. I tried. It isn't working. I'm so- I'm so- so sorry, Inuyasha!"

Her sobs broke free and didn't stop. She cried loudly and openly, hand fisting itself in his haori as she laid next to him. The comfort of even his cooling and bloody shoulder was enough. She nuzzled her head into his neck and felt him lean over to touch her too. Her hand reached across his body and took his right hand in her left. She felt the slick and sticky feeling of the old blood there but didn't flinch, threading her fingers through his.

"Kagome- don't- don't blame him. It's- it's all right." He swallowed and the sound was heavy next to her head.

"It's okay. I'm here. And I love you." she cooed beside him.

Kagome gave up fighting. Inuyasha had. She didn't want to talk about Sesshoumaru. She wanted to remind her husband why she was here and that he was loved. That she wanted to hold him. That he was still worthy of her love and being here in her arms, no matter what he had done. No matter what he decided or what happened next.

"I love you…" She felt her consciousness slipping.

"Kagome, I- I love- I-" He coughed again and she felt him shudder all over, spasming.

"It's okay. I know. It's okay. I'm here. I'll always be here."

His hand squeezed hers and his human eyes closed slowly. Exhausted, blue eyes closed just after his and they slept.

…

Slowly, Inuyasha's body began to fade but the priestess remained asleep. Exhaustion, injury, pain, and the use of her own life force to try to save him had beyond consumed her. She succumbed to sleep nestled into the chest of her husband. Sesshoumaru watched her tears continue to fall against his offered haori even then. He thought that maybe she knew. She knew what would await her when she woke and her mind was mercifully letting her sleep as Inuyasha died in her arms.

Hours passed and the night wore on and still the miko slept. Sesshoumaru had to make a decision.

Mercifully, a familiar youki entered the sky over the field. The inudaiyoukai pulsed his own energy in acceptance and shortly after, Ren landed in the field next to his Lord.

"My Lord, what has happened? We saw the youki part the sky but your honorable mother bid me not to come for hours." Ren asked, truly concerned and taking the bloody and unusual scene in. "Inuyasha… Is he dead?"

"The hanyou, Inuyasha, second son of the Inu no Taisho, is dead." Sesshoumaru stated finally. He was looking solemnly at the body laying before him. "He died with honor in battle. He shall be mourned privately by those closest to him. Ren, it is now your duty to take the miko back to the Palace with you and have Kenshin address her injuries. Then take Ah-Un and gather the silks from the Palace to wrap him for the journey. I will escort his body home to Edo and help make the necessary arrangements with his pack. Let no one interfere, Ren." His command left no room for response or question.

"It will be done as you say, my Lord. I shall return shortly." Ren bowed lowly and moved over the sleeping priestess. Ren examined her for a moment for serious injury and then carefully and gently lifted her onto his back, holding her securely with his one arm. She did not stir or wake. He shifted her one more time and then looked over to Sesshoumaru. Ren bowed and then took off into the rumbling darkness, outlined by a flash of lightning as he retreated back to the West.

Sadness clenched the captain's heart as he left. The pup had not deserved his end. He was not to blame. Sesshoumaru would have many questions to answer when he finally returned to the West.

…

Sesshoumaru walked away and deeper into the grassy field. He took a deep breath and closed his eyes. The death of his half-brother was having more of an effect on him than he anticipated. He raised his shaking right hand into view and cursed the blood already drying on it. He should not have been forced into this. This should not have been his duty. He felt like a petulant child again for the first time in centuries, cursing his lot in life and his role in ending matters that were not of his making.

There was no doubt in his mind that this was the right course of action. Even should they have found a cure of a sort, there was no guarantee it would last. Sesshoumaru would be honor bound to make sure the hanyou never relapsed. Inuyasha would live with a shadow hanging over him forever as he repaid the debts he had accumulated in his frenzied state. Kagome would live as a martyr to stay beside him and they would never know peace. Lives would continue to be destroyed around him.

But another of his species was dead. No, that was not the reason for this sadness, he corrected himself. The only other offspring of his great father. The only other being who intimately knew anything about their shared history. They had not had a relationship Sesshoumaru was proud of but perhaps he had assumed that somewhere in their long lives, it might have changed. Now that would never be. Could never be. And the burden of it was laid at his feet.

Sometime later, Ren returned with the dragon and helped Sesshoumaru wrap Inuyasha in the burial raiment of his house. It was a statement to all who would hear of the tale in the coming days that the hanyou was honored at least in the West, despite his misdeeds. His memory would not be tainted by rumors of dishonor. As they neared his head, Sesshoumaru removed his ruined haori from the body and knelt beside Inuyasha on the ground. Ren stepped away and back to the dragon for a moment, sensing his intrusion.

'All I have promised I will do. The miko is safe and shall remain so. Edo will be kept free of conflict in the coming centuries. The kit will be brought here to be with her for as long as she recovers. Rest well in the knowledge you die with honor and your pack is provided for at your request… little brother.'

To seal his promises, he bent forward and pressed his lips to the brow of his lifeless half-brother.

...

Author's Note: I hated writing this, actually. This chapter has been fighting me for a month. This work is practice for me and I need to work on writing not just those things that are fun and easy but also the heavier emotions. When I chose this path, I knew this chapter would be the turning point. It's hard to see how it will all work out right now, I know, but I have a plan. I hope you appreciate the way it's written and that it conveys the turmoil the two main characters are facing at this moment. I'd love to hear what you genuinely think so far, if you're motivated. Thanks for reading, as always.