Disclaimer: I don't own anything…

Love After Death


Who would have known that after all that time Inu Yasha had saved Kagome from all sorts of youkai's and all other sorts of demons; he would not be able to save Kagome from Naraku.

With anger and rage flowing through his body, Inu Yasha makes the final blow to Naraku, which kills him almost instantly, not until he decides to say a few things to Inu Yasha before he dies.

"Know this half-breed; you have been bestowed a curse, a curse grave only to you. Know that you kill your greatest enemy, and this enemy will also take the life of the person you most love in you entire existence" Naraku hissed. He took his gave off of Inu Yasha and stared at Kagome, who was only 10 feet away.

Inu Yasha looked in his direction and saw that he was looking straight at Kagome. At this, he panicked. He turned to face Naraku once again. "You dare not hurt her you asshole!" Inu Yasha yelled in his face. Naraku could only smile wickedly. "You do, then I will be forced to follow your soul into hell and kill it once again." He hissed.

Naraku only smiled evilly but this time, only weaker. "Then know this Inu Yasha, I will be waiting for you in the depths of hell, along with Kikyou and your precious Kagome."

This got him angry. Inu Yasha dug his nails deep into Naraku's chest making it hard to breath for him. He only looked at Inu Yasha with a blank stare. "You kill me, you kill her." Were Naraku's last words. Inu Yasha did not take heed of what he was saying and decided to shut him up for good.

----

Kagome only stared at the pair, almost on the floor. She stared at Naraku who seemed to be saying something to Inu Yasha and he only yelling out something that she didn't understand. Naraku seemed to be glaring at her for some reason. Kagome only stared in bewilderment.

A few minutes later, Kagome felt great pain on the left side of her chest, near her heart. She found it difficult to breathe and fell to her knees.

Sango and Miroku who had been lying on the ground almost unconscious saw Kagome fall to the floor and rushed to her side with little energy they had left. Shippou, being tired, collapsed on the floor a few minutes before Kagome had any signs of pain.

"Kagome! Kagome! Are you alright?" Sango asked her. Kagome now seemed pale and in a lot of pain. Sango noticed a blood stain gradually getting larger on her school uniform. She didn't know where this was coming from so she thought quickly.

'Where is this coming from?' She asked herself. Looking around she saw Inu Yasha still with Naraku, his nails deep within his chest. The only thought that Sango thought of gravely entered her mind. "Oh my god….. Inu Yasha! Stop!" Sango cried out loud to the hanyou.

Miroku who also noticed what was happening quickly concluded that it was a curse. Thinking of what he could do, the monk tried prayers but they didn't work. He tried everything he could think of in the few minutes he had, but it was futile. He knew that Kagome was going to die.

----

Inu Yasha was still with Naraku when he heard the shouts of Sango.

"Inu Yasha! Stop! You're killing Kagome!" She shouted.

Inu Yasha was confused. He was doing absolutely nothing to Kagome and yet she seemed to be in pain from where he was standing. He saw her on the floor, in pain. Then he remembered the curse Naraku spoke of.

'Kill me, and you kill her' Naraku's voice echoed in his mind. He immediately left the worthless trash of Naraku to die on his own and rushed to Kagome's side to aid her.

----

Kagome was in agony. The pain in her chest seemed to increase every time she breathed in air. 'This is the end.' She thought. 'I'm gonna die.'

Suddenly, she saw Inu Yasha rush to her side. A sudden flood of relief passed through her, and yet with it, sorrow came as well. She knew she was going to die, but what about Inu Yasha? How would he take it? Would he blame himself? How was she going to go with so many things unsaid?

Inu Yasha quickly inspected the wound on her chest. He noted that this was made by claw marks, his claw marks. This worried him. He knew how deep his claws were inside Naraku and also knew Kagome would die within minutes…..

"Kagome, don't talk. Please" Inu Yasha pleaded with the young girl. His words seem to have no effect on her since she kept struggling to tell him something very important.

"Inu Yasha….. Listen to me" Kagome whispered while holding his hand. "Inu Yasha, I love you" She choked out. Tears were falling off her pale cheeks. Her breath became feeble and shallow. She saw the look on Inu Yasha's face and it told her he was in pain, pain for her.

Inu Yasha looked at Kagome with sad eyes. He was losing another person he loved in the world. First his mother, then Kikyou and now Kagome; the one person to bring happiness back to his life, that gave him the will to be who he wanted to be, to be accepted as who he was. Now, he was losing the love of his life.

"I love you too Kagome" He whispered. A few tears trickled down his face and landed on Kagome's figure below. "Please, don't talk. Save your strength."

Inu Yasha knew that the ritual concerning the blood of a demon being passed on to a human is futile. He knew she wouldn't survive it, so all he had to do is wait for destiny to come and claim Kagome as another one of its prizes.

Kagome looked around to see her other friends, Sango and Miroku. Sango was on the verge of breaking down into tears, while Miroku was trying to comfort her every way possible.

"Sango" Kagome called out. The demon hunter was soon by her side clutching on her other hand, not wanting to let go of it ever. "Do what your heart tells you to do, follow your hearts desires." With that, she glanced over at Miroku who was also feeling the pain of soon losing someone dear to you.

Sango looked at her in awe and understood what she meant. She bowed her head and tried to control her sobs as best as she could. Sango felt the anguish in her heart; she knew what it was to lose someone close to you. She didn't want to feel the same way again. All she could say without bursting out into tears was "I'll try my best." She gave Kagome a quick yet sad smile and let the tears run freely from her eyes.

She now glanced at Miroku who was standing quite far from the mourning group. He looked scared, and Kagome smiled at him, only before being stopped by pain in her chest. "Miroku" She called out. He looked up to meet her gaze and stumbled over to the group.

"Miroku, now with Naraku gone you can make your life a better one. You don't have the Kazzana anymore so you don't need to worry about anything." Kagome said, she signaled for Miroku to come closer and whispered something into his ear. "I know you love Sango, try to make her happy."

Miroku pulled away slightly stunned. He knew she was right, but how? Well, it didn't matter now. He would fulfill Kagome's wish and his as well when she is gone. He nodded in agreement and kissed her hand gently, a signal of friendship and courage.

Kagome looked towards Inu Yasha now, who was seeing if Naraku was dead. Fortunately, he was still breathing. She called out his name. "Inu Yasha"

Inu Yasha quickly turned around to see Kagome reaching out for him. He took her hand and stayed there for a few moments. Sango and Miroku stepped away a few feet to give the couple some privacy.

Kagome coughed briskly, signaling that it was almost time for her to die. Inu Yasha was now crying. The person he loved the most was now dying. It seemed like a bad dream replaying itself over and over. He couldn't stand it.

"Inu Yasha…" Kagome said softly, the blood on her shirt seemed to have grown since it was now dripping from her sleeves.

"Kagome please, don't talk. It will just be worse." He pleaded with her, but it seemed that his stubbornness has rubbed off on her as well.

"No, I know that I won't be around to see Shippou wake up." Kagome glanced at the sleeping kitsune and smiled sadly. Tears had now run down the sides of her cheeks. "I'm going to break the promise I made to him."

Inu Yasha looked at Shippou and sighed. He knew how much he loved Kagome and that this will be very hard on him. He swallowed hard, trying to pass the lump he had in his throat.

"Inu Yasha, promise me something…"

"Anything" He said, still holding on to Kagome's hand. It was loosing its warmth already, and knew she wouldn't pass 10 more minutes.

"Tell Shippou I love him and that I'm sorry I broke my promise to him. Please watch over him, Inu Yasha. Please" Kagome said, drawing in her final breaths. "I love you Inu Yasha." She whispered.

Inu Yasha wanted to die alongside Kagome. Hearing those words in her condition made him want to kill himself even more. But he knew that he promised Kagome he would take care of Shippou, and that dying wasn't going to fix Shippou's suffering.

"I love you too, Kagome. I'll always love you." He whispered to her. Inu Yasha slowly bent down and kissed Kagome on the lips. The kiss was so soft and yet filled with so much emotion. They both savored the moment.

Kagome's hand went limp in Inu Yasha's grasp. He couldn't move. Tears were streaming down his face. The world seemed to be crying with him at that point because it started raining. The rain and Inu Yasha's tears were intertwined.

He looked at the now dead Kagome on the forest floor. The color had faded from her face. The pink, rosy color was now a pale white color.

Sango and Miroku both came to consolidate Inu Yasha. Sango picked up Shippou in her arms and was carrying him towards him. Miroku put a hand on his shoulder and Inu Yasha wouldn't look at him. All he would stare at was Kagome.

Inu Yasha took Kagome's dead body into his arms. He started walking towards the village to where he would give Kaede the bad news.

Sango and Miroku followed behind, Sango crying silently and Miroku with his head bowed. Shippou was still in his deep sleep. He didn't know what was going on.

----

5 months had now passed since Kagome's death. Kagome had been laid to rest near the Bone Eater's well. Every now and then she would have visitors, whether they are simple villagers or even her dear friends, she was sorely missed.

Inu Yasha had come to Kagome's grave alone. He told her how much he loved her and how much he missed her. Tears would come and go, but the wound in Inu Yasha's heart will stay there forever. Shippou received word from Kagome's passing, and being the young kitsune that he is, didn't take it very well.

"I miss her" Shippou said. Inu Yasha was bent down near Kagome's grave; he knew that Shippou was behind him; he already knew by the scent in the air.

"Me too" Inu Yasha quietly said. Shippou just sat on the ground, hugging himself. He started crying. Shippou started mumbling something to himself while he cried, something about being his fault that Kagome had died.

Inu Yasha felt guilt creep within him. He remembered the promise he made to Kagome just before she died. He slowly got up and went towards Shippou. Shippou saw what he was doing and slowly stopped crying. Inu Yasha knelt in front of him and stared at him straight in the eye. Inu Yasha did the unexpected…

He hugged Shippou.

"Its not your fault Kagome's not here with us." He whispered into Shippou's ear. Shippou understood what Inu Yasha was trying to do and cried freely in his arms.

"I miss her… Dad" Shippou said within sobs. Inu Yasha heard it and smiled sadly. Dad, the first time Shippou had called him that, even thought they weren't related by blood.

Dad. It was still a marvelous thing to hear from a child.

Inu Yasha got up and started to walk towards the village. He turned around to face Shippou. "Come on, we have to go. Sango and Miroku are waiting for us. Come on… Son"

Shippou's face seemed to brighten up. He ran towards Inu Yasha and took his hand. Hand in hand, father and son went walking towards the village in good spirits.

A spirit appeared where both of them were before. Kagome had smiled upon them from heaven and was now watching over Inu Yasha and Shippou.

The End.

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Hope you people liked it. Sorry it was kinda sad…@_@ I don't normally do that, but I thought I'd give it a try. Please review! Thank you! ^_^

I was thinking of making a sequel to this one-shot. It will be IY/KA if I decided to go through with this, and Kagome will come back to life! Of course, it will be Humor/Romance all the way! LOL… Well, that's enough, please review and tell me what I should do! (that kinda rhymes… @_@)