Disclaimer - I do not own InuYasha, or any of the characters therefrom. I'm sure there are certain individuals who are thanking any and every god they can think of for that.

Author's Notes - Well, I did something I swore I would never do . . . I deleted a review. Actually, I deleted a flame, but I found it so moronic I didn't feel it was worth keeping up, even for my other reviewers to tear it apart. However, I will admit to my mistake . . . my little flamer was a girl. That, of course, confuses me even further that a female could think InuYasha had no romance in it . . . but whatever. To each his own. I only have one thing for her, if she is still reading . . . your hatred warms my heart. I'll add it to the pile of other people who's hatred reminds me that I am human, and not a goddess.

Now, for my serious and loving reviewers - I'm sorry this chapter took so long. I had to do a bit of research on certain characters that I am not familiar with, and even after that, it still wasn't up to the point where I felt comfortable with it. The fight scene still doesn't feel quite 'right' to me . . .but it's a good deal better than it was when I first finished it. I hope you enjoy it.

Many of you seem to be worried about how I'm going to end this . . . without giving anything away, let's just say that I don't THINK you'll be disappointed. I will, however, warn you all that there is more angst to come. Come now people . . . you didn't think it was all going to be cake and roses now that they've got their relationship issues worked out, did you? I couldn't make it THAT cheesy. There are still so many PROBLEMS to deal with : ) So, while there will probably be a happy ending . . . it's not going to be the yellow brick road : ) With that said, enjoy the story : )



Chapter 21 - Walking into Shadows



"I know this will be hard for you Sango . . ." Miroku murmured as he walked by her side. He stole a sidelong glance at his love, and nearly flinched from the cold mask she presented to the world.

"Naraku must pay for what he did . . . and it is fitting that he should be waiting for us at my former home. After all, it is where the Shikon Jewel was born . . . and where it was protected for a very long time." She spun suddenly, catching him off guard as she tackled him in a hug, burying her face against his chest. "I can do this . . ." she whispered, "but at the same time I dread going back there, and seeing it all again." Miroku could say nothing to this outburst, replying by running a gentle hand over her back, wordlessly trying to soothe the demon exterminator.

InuYasha glanced backwards to the couple, lightly touching a hand to Kagome's shoulder to signal a halt. He had known this would be particularly rough on the young woman, and he regretted that fact in a way he had thought he never could, but at the same time it had to be dealt with. Naraku had chosen the battle ground . . . it was now up to them to take the fight to him. Kagome sighed as she sank onto a rock, her own eyes sad as she looked at her best friend.

"Poor Sango . . . it's bad enough she's going to have to face her own brother without having to do it in the very village they grew up," she murmured, leaning lightly against InuYasha as he settled on the rock beside her.

"Will she be able to handle it?" Sesshoumaru asked quietly, his own eyes serious as he examined the distraught demon exterminator. "Perhaps it will be best if we leave her out of this fight." InuYasha snorted as he glanced up at his elder brother.

"Even if she couldn't handle it, Sango would rather we killed her than left her out of the fight. She has her own vengeance to take on Naraku . . . both for her brother and for her entire village. Trust me, brother . . . she will be an even fiercer fighter once she gets her bearings again." Sesshoumaru sighed, but did not argue further.

At the first sign of Miroku and Sango separating, they were back on the move, walking silently through the endless forests and plains of Feudal Age Japan, moving towards what would be their final battle.



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Naraku studied them through the mirror in silence, hungry eyes resting on Kagome before moving over the rest of the group, only to come back to Kagome every time.

"So . . . Sesshoumaru has joined them . . . as has the wolf lord, Kouga. This could prove to be most interesting . . ." he murmured. Standing slowly, he moved towards the window in his throne room, looking out over the once teeming village of exterminator's to the cave far below . . . the cave where Midoriko and the final demon rested in eternal slumber. "Soon the jewel will be mine . . . and I will walk into that cave and destroy the very thing that makes the jewel unbalanced. That battle will be over . . . and a new world will begin." He began to laugh slightly, drawing the gaze of his three remaining servants.

"Kagura . . . you and the boy shall await them just outside the village. Do as much damage as you can." Kagura bowed, hiding the snarl that graced her lips as she acknowledged that he was sending her out to die. "And Kagura . . . I will be watching," Naraku added, a final taunt to his unwilling servant as she walked gracefully from the room, Kohaku a silent shadow at her side.

"Are you sure it is wise to trust her?" a soft voice asked him from the shadows as he returned to the mirror Kanna held out for him, his eyes resting hungrily on Kagome.

"I hold her heart . . . she can do nothing against me, as she well knows. None of my children can," he said distractedly. In his mind, he was comparing the girl in the mirror before him to the clay doll that stood behind him. Both contained a soul he had hungered for . . . but he found that he still hungered for the girl who traveled with InuYasha. Her light . . . her warmth . . . he craved it, craved that flame as if he was a moth drawn to it. He longed devour it, to take it into himself . . . and he thought perhaps that he just might do it anyway. But he would need to taint her first . . . corrupt the purity that made her so lethal to him, as he had corrupted the purity of Kikyo with his game so long ago. That had ended in her death however . . . he had misjudged what she would do after being wounded. He had thought she would use the jewel to heal herself after killing InuYasha . . . instead, she had opted to die, and in doing so take the jewel out of this world and into the next with her.

He could feel her presence beside him, her own eyes resting on that which she had joined him for . . . the hanyou, InuYasha. She desired him, desired his death, his damnation . . . and Naraku's desire for Kagome fed into that perfectly. Naraku would get Kagome . . . and Kikyo would take InuYasha to hell with her. In the end, they would both get what they desired . . . all for a simple, brief alliance.



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"Well . . . I'd say this definitely means he is here," Kagome murmured as they stared into the dark cloud of miasma that surrounded what once had been Sango's home village. They had been on the move for three days, almost non stop. All of them were anxious for the battle to be over . . . Kouga for his final vengeance in the death of his clan, Sesshoumaru for Rin's protection, Sango for her families honor, Miroku for the curse his family had endured, InuYasha for the final justice he and Kikyo's betrayal cried for . . . and Kagome so that she could finally settle down and have a life again, with her hanyou.

There was a hiss of indrawn breath and the ring of fang against sheath as Kagura and Kohaku stepped out of the miasma before them.

"So, Naraku sends you to do his dirty work, and once again hides in the shadows. Isn't that always the way?" InuYasha snarled, his grip on the Tetsusiaga tightening as he stared into the face of the wind controller.

"She's mine, dog breath," Kouga snarled, moving past InuYasha to take up a fighting stance facing Kagura. "She decimated my pack . . . I owe her." Reluctantly, InuYasha stepped back, allowing Kouga his vengeance against the wind demon.

"Hello wolf lord. My lord Naraku sends you greetings . . . and gives you one last chance to flee here before you become a rug before his fireplace," Kagura called, snapping her fan to the side in preparation for the battle a head. "Like the rest of your clan did."

Snarling, Kouga charged, the shards making him no more than a blur as he flew at the still figure of Kagura. Intent as he was on his target, his rage blinding him to all else, he almost did not see the blade coming at him from the side until it was too late. He ducked and rolled, coming back onto his feet with a growl as he glared at Kohaku. A hand on his arm stopped him from charging the puppet.

"I will take care of my brother . . ." Sango murmured as she stepped out from behind him, the two siblings facing off against each other across the very field upon which they used to play. Tears sparkled in the exterminator's eyes, but the look of determination on her face was enough to convince the wold youkai that she meant it . . . she would be the one to deal with her brother, no one else. Kouga nodded and turned his attention back towards Kagura, a small smile passing his lips as he spied the remaining members of InuYasha's pack spreading out. Miroku had moved to keep an eye on Sango, and Sesshoumaru stood a slight distance away from Kouga, ready to move in at a moment's notice.

InuYasha and Kagome stood together away from the fighting, watching solemnly as their friends charged into battle. Kagome stood just slightly behind and to the right of InuYasha, her bow drawn, arrow nocked and held loosely, ready to be shot should it become necessary.

"Will Sango be able to handle this by herself?" InuYasha murmured to his mate as he watched the demon exterminator face off against the boy who had been her brother. He knew from many talks with her that this was going to be hard on her . . . it was a confrontation she had been both in dread of and anxious for. He knew that he wouldn't have been able to do it . . . to face killing a person you had cared for. So few people in his life had truly cared for him at all . . . if any of them had turned on him, he wouldn't have been able to get past that fact in order to fight.

"She needs to do this . . . she needs to know her brother is finally at rest." Kagome didn't add that she was hoping the perhaps Kohaku could be restored to himself if she could only get her hands on him with her powers . . . she knew her mate would not approve of her taking the chance, not when Naraku was so near. But Sango was her best friend in this time . . . and she knew how she would have felt if that was Sota. If there was even the slightest chance that she could undo what Naraku had done, she was willing to at least try . . . no matter what the risk to herself might be.

Kouga charged Kagura again, an arm thrown over his eyes to protect them as Kagura called a cutting wind to slow him down. He bulled through it, his shards pouring extra energy and speed into his limbs as he moved towards her, claws reaching blindly for the fan that she used to control the wind. If he could just remove that from her grasp, he was pretty sure he could take her down easily. He could feel the wind abrading his skin, rocks and small debris alike slamming into his body from the small vortex she was creating. He hissed as she narrowed the vortex, the wind becoming more cutting as she fine tuned it on him, finally being forced to stop altogether as he began to lose ground against her.

Thinking fast, he dodged to the side, out of the direct line of her wind. Rolling to his feet, he began to weave back and forth across her line of sight, keeping her from narrowing the wind vortex on him as he kept on the move. Finally, he was close enough to her. With a final leap and a snarl, he moved to tackle her. Too soon, he realized, as he was picked up and thrown back by the wind she called to her.

The wind knocked out of him as he slammed into the ground. He scrambled to his feet, gasping to restore his air as he watched Kagura smile across the distance between them. That smile quickly faded as he charged, and she summoned a tornado around her, she herself standing in the eye of it. Kouga slid to a halt outside the wall of air, thinking for a moment. Coming to a quick decision, he leapt high . . . directly into the wall of air. As he had suspected, after a few rounds, it deposited him straight into the middle . . . face to face with Kagura.

A clawed hand reached out, snatching the fan out of her startled grasp and shredding it quickly. He quickly moved to snap her neck . . . and stopped when he realized she was not moving to defend herself.

"Kill me," she said, staring at him angrily. "Finish it . . . release me from him. It's the only way I'll ever be free." He glared at her, his eyes angry as he found himself unable to carry out his plan. Angry at himself and her, he spun her around, tying her hands neatly together behind her back, making her a prisoner.

Sango and Kohaku faced off across a short expanse of grass. Sango's face was devoid of expression as she looked at the boy who had at one time been her younger brother. 'He's not Kohaku anymore,' she reminded herself again. 'He's simply in your brother's form . . . you have to do this so the real Kohaku can rest in peace.' Suddenly, the siblings moved,, Kohaku flinging his blade at her in a rush, his body moving to the side and forward as he angled to get close to her. Sango read the move, using her boomerang to deflect the weapon as she dove farther from her brother. She came up in a crouch, the boomerang in front of her as a shield, and was just in time to move it upwards as Kohaku's came over it with his short sword. The sudden movement of the boomerang caught him in the midsection, and he grunted with the impact as it flung him onto his back a short distance away. Sango moved in, but was not fast enough to prevent his climb back to his feet. He quickly dodged, moving back to summon minor demons to his aide,

"Oh no you don't," Sango murmured. Setting her feet firmly into the ground, she flung the bone boomerang at him, charging in behind it. Kohaku easily dodged the boomerang, but was caught off guard by the sudden charge, and suddenly found himself flat on his back, Sango's blade at his throat. It was then that Naraku decided to use a ploy he had used before. He released his hold on the boy, allowing the real Kohaku to come forth.

"Sango . . ." the boy murmured, staring up with confused and sorrow filled eyes at the figure of his older sister above.

"Kohaku . . . I'm sorry, little brother," she murmured in reply, staring down into her brother's eyes for what she thought would be the last time. A hand on her shoulder stopped her from pressing through with the blade.

Kagome knelt beside her, reaching under Kohaku for the shard that was implanted in his back, her other hand resting on his heart, glowing with power.

"I don't know if this will work . . . but I hope it will," she whispered, just as she pulled the shard from the young boy At the same time, she sent her power into him, cleansing him and healing him of the taint Naraku had spread through him.

Kohaku howled in pain and anguish as Kagome's purifying power washed through him, restoring his memory and healing his physical wounds . . . the wounds that would have been fatal if not for the shard Naraku had implanted in him. Finally, it became too much, and he passed out . . . but not before Kagome knew she had done it. Kohaku would live . . . and he would be himself again.

Sighing, she staggered to her feet, smiling gently as Sango who looked up at her with tears of joy flooding her eyes. Kagome had restored her brother to her, against all hope and expectations. She felt the warmth inside her, knowing she had done something good this day. Her eyes rested lightly on the brother and sister at her feet. Miroku had moved to join them, kneeling beside Sango, who was sobbing happily, hugging her brother's limp body to her as Miroku in turn rested a light arm around her shoulders.

She turned to check on Kouga, and found him standing not far away, a bound Kagura in front of him on her knees. He looked absolutely disgusted with himself . . . probably due to the fact that he hadn't killed her. Her glance turned to Sesshoumaru, who was moving forwards to talk with Kouga . . . and he didn't look all that happy himself. She debated on moving to head off the fight that she was sure was about to break out . . . but she found suddenly that at the moment she was too tired to really worry about it. Turning, she smiled as she saw InuYasha, and moved to join her mate, who was smiling at her and shaking his head at the same time.

It caught all of them off guard when Naraku suddenly appeared . . . right next to Kagome. Startled, and still suffering the side effects of her restoration of Kohaku, she was unable to do anything as he snatched her back against him, pinning her arms to her sides as he faced InuYasha over her shoulder.

"Come and get her, if you dare, hanyou. She might be waiting for you if you hurry." Kagome could only struggle futilely as she watched her surroundings swirl and darken until the only thing that remained was Naraku's firm arms around her. She managed to get a single arm loose, reaching out towards InuYasha in a desperate attempt for her mate to reach her, to prevent her from being taken from him.

"KAGOME!" InuYasha howled as she faded into darkness, one hand reaching out to him in a desperate plea as Naraku took her away from him.



Author's Sub-Notes - Well, I hope it wasn't too short for you. I'm going to be posting every other week now . . . we're coming into a very tricky part of the plot that is proving to be a real pain to get write, and I'm getting REALLY picky : ) So, the chapters will be probably be longer and more tangled, but should be well worth the read : ) Don't forget to review, tell me what you think, give me ideas. All I ask is that you do it in a sane, reasonable, and dignified manner. Even flames, as long as they are logical and worded nicely, will get my attention . . . flames that are stupid, pointless, and just filled with 'I hate you' and 'you are so wrong, sick, and disgusting' tend to piss me off . . . in case you hadn't noticed : ) That said, see you in two weeks : )