Author's Notes:  Here is the second and final chapter of this story- I know many people were anxious from the cliffhanger (sorry, I'm a slow writer).  I am going to refrain from interjecting Japanese phrases and words because this is English, and not everyone who reads these will know Japanese.  The only thing Japanese that I'm putting in here are the titles of each of the characters, or what each character calls each other (ex: Kaede= Kaede-baabaa [by Inu-Yasha], Kaede-obaasan [by Kagome], etc.).  I'm doing this because there really isn't any good way to translate these into English (or at least not any way that won't get criticized).  They are not that hard to figure out if you don't know them, so hopefully I won't alienate anyone by doing this.  Comments or questions can be sent to lena_iy@hotmail.com.

Language, violence, graphic descriptions.

Warm Rain

Chapter 2 :  Savior

Inu-Yasha raced through the forest, the wind and rain beating against him.  Not far ahead of him he could see the mysterious crimson light expanding towards him at an increasing rate.  The closer Inu-Yasha came to the light, the stronger it seemed to beckon to him.

This has to be what I'm looking for!!! he thought anxiously, and sped up to meet it.

The rest of the group wasn't far behind, but they were struggling to keep up with Inu-Yasha's manic pace. 

"Inu-Yasha!"  Kagome yelled, but her cry fell deaf to the raging storm.

Inu-Yasha was fast approaching the hellish pool when he was suddenly seized by a violent gagging sensation in the back of his throat that started to suffocate him.  He fell to the ground and started choking.  He felt a pressure in his chest that felt as if something heavy was crushing his lungs.  Gasping for air, he tried calling out for help, but only succeeded in strangling himself further.

Then, just as quickly as the sensation had set in, it left again.  As it dissipated, a feeling of warmth blanketed his body and seemed to seep in through his skin.  Heaving deeply, he pulled himself into a crouch and sat still for a moment, his mind racing.

What the hell just happened to me?!! his thoughts screamed.

"Inu-Yasha!" Kagome's voice resonated against the trees and surrounded the area.  He then noticed that there were no longer the sounds of the rampaging wind or rain.  Looking up quickly he found himself and everything around him bathed in a low scarlet light.  He turned towards the direction that Kagome's voice had originated from, but found no one else there.

"Kagome!" he yelled, "Miroku!  Sango!  Where did you go?!!"

His voice echoed in the hollow clearing with only silence answering him back.  He turned in every direction, trying to catch any sound or a glimpse of anything other than himself, but still there was nothing.  He decided to go back, but then realized that he couldn't tell which direction was which anymore or even where he was.

"Goddammit!!!" he screamed in frustration, "Where the hell is everyone?!  What's going on!  Someone tell me, dammit!"

This time his demand was answered by a rustling sound from behind him.  He spun around quickly to find Kagome, alone, standing several yards from him.

"Inu-Yasha," her voice whispered.

"Kagome!" he started after her, "Do you know what's going on-" he stopped after a few steps after he looked at her.  She was almost translucent, the dark red light seeming to shine through her, her eyes illuminated red against her darkly shadowed face.  Her hair tossed around her face freely as if she were standing in a ferocious wind even though the air was perfectly calm.

"Inu-Yasha," she repeated.

He started walking towards her, his arm outstretched.

"Kagome, you're-"

He looked into her eyes, elucidated and clear, almost beckoning him to her.  As he approached her, his focus shifted from her to his outstretched arm.  As he did, he noticed that his arm bathed in the soft red light.  But as he looked closer, he realized that his arm wasn't just covered in the red light, but that it was covered in blood.

The sudden sound of Kagome's frantic screaming snapped his attention back in front of him.  She was now standing there crying uncontrollably, her sobbing voice sending a familiar chill through him.

"Inu-Yasha!  Look at me!  Inu-Yasha!"

He watched the tears run down her soft glowing cheeks and the non-existent wind flip her hair violently back and forth.  Even though her figure was somewhat hazy in the strange light, her eyes clearly betrayed the pain and helplessness she was feeling.

I've seen this before!!

His thoughts raced in confusion as he tried to make connections between the shades of memories that slipped around in his head and what he was seeing.  He looked back at the figure of Kagome running towards him with her arm stretched out, grasping towards him.

"Inu-Yasha!  Please!"

She faded as she approached him, losing more and more substance the closer she came.

Inu-Yasha started to reach out for her, but as he did so he felt a warm sensation coming from all around him.  The crimson light began to pulse; with each pulse, it brightened from its dark color into a light red.

He looked again at Kagome's form, which was still coming towards him, but not gaining much ground.  He could still hear her voice, but it had become distant, echoing more in his mind than in his ear.

The light had become blindingly bright, everything fading into it.    An easy calmness swept through Inu-Yasha, and the tumultuous thoughts that had raged in confusion only moments before now settled down.  A tranquility subdued his emotions and feelings, and his memories dulled as if the light had faded them along with everything else.  A warmth seized him from behind, compelling him to turn around.  Slowly he twisted around, the warmth spreading all over him and settling deep within him.  His thoughts, though faint and unorganized, finally began to converge into one, clear realization.

This is…death.

He didn't know why he knew, or what had happened, but none of that seemed to matter anymore.  He couldn't feel anything, or at least not in any way that he had ever known before.  His memories vanished; everything vanished, consumed by the bright void that surrounded him.  He felt as if everything that had held him together in life was about to be released into oblivion, and all he had to do was to let go of himself.

Let go…

He closed his eyes, inhaled deeply as if he still had breath, and started to let his mind go blank.  Everything that he ever known, everything that he was, all of it was a heavy burden to him now that he had to set free.  He exhaled.

Now.

Just then another sensation interrupted him, abruptly pulling him back.  The sensation, small yet warm, pricked at his dying senses and caused his thoughts to merge together again.

What?

He brought his hand, heavy and cumbersome, up to his face.  His hand brushed against his cheek, another sensation spurring his thoughts back to life.

Rain…warm rain…

He then heard a voice, faint, resonating within his mind.

"Look at me!"

He knew the voice, but couldn't recognize it.  For some reason he couldn't comprehend, he wanted to reach out to that voice.  Conflict tore through him, his will struggling against falling back into the deadly calmness, but at the same time wanting to.

"Please, look at me!"

He forced himself to listen, to make himself remember.  As he did, the warmth that had enveloped him had subsided, and a strange coldness began to creep in.  Memories rapidly flooded back, overwhelming him.  Experiences, places, things, people, all came rushing back in a blinding flash of consciousness.

Kagome…

The thought of her name sparked visions of what he had seen before, her dark silhouette alighted against a dark sky, rain and wind raging around her.  It was all coming back to him, and he could her voice choking on sobs above the roar of the storm.  Her sad face loomed over his, tears streaming down her cheeks and falling on his.  Her warm tears…he thought.  Just like…

Rain.

Everything fell into darkness.

Inu-Yasha opened his eyes.  Too bright to see anything at first, it took a moment to adjust to the soft light.  He looked around, and in a moment realized that he was in Kaede's hut.  He heard soft breathing to his side, and looked over to find Kagome sitting up against the wall asleep.  He started to make a move towards her, but a sharp pain shot up through his chest, temporarily paralyzing him.  He exhaled sharply, and the gripping pain dulled.

Pain? he thought.

The unexpected motion next to her woke Kagome, and on finding Inu-Yasha awake, he could see an expression of relief spread over her face, her body straightened as if a weight had been lifted off of her.

"Inu-Yasha, are you okay?" she asked softly as she moved closer to him.

I'm alive…he thought.

He was still groggy and weak, but even worse was his confusion.

"What happened?" his voice rasped as he found it difficult to breathe.

"We were attacked when we went to investigate a strange light in the forest not far from here a couple of days ago.  You were hurt pretty bad, and we weren't sure for a while whether or not you were going to make it…" her voice cracked as she started to choke up.

He watched her eyes puddle up, and she hung her head and he heard her sobbing softly.  The fatigue of the past couple of days seemed to finally catch up to her.  He laid his hand on hers, and took a deep breath.

"I'm fine now," he said quietly.

She looked back up, tears trickling down her face.  Some of the tears dripped onto his hand.  He looked at her and smiled.

"Everything's fine now."

The End

So there it is.  My first complete story…ever.  I hope the wait wasn't too excruciating- I tried to write it as fast as I could, but I didn't think this would be as hard as it was.  It ended up being very psychological, which made it very hard to get across the feelings and emotions and such.  Anyway, I hope you enjoyed it.  Any questions, comments, reviews, etc., feel free to email me at lena_iy@hotmail.com.  Thanks!