Disclaimer: Guess what? I don't own Inuyasha! Did you know that? Well, know you do!

Author's Note: K, guess our wonderful hero, Inu-chan, has to go rescue his girl again! Some fluff in this chapter! ^_^ Yay! And there's a bit of angst, too, but I'll make up for it! I promise! Please don't hate me! Review when you're done reading! No flames, please! Hope you like it! ^_^ (Review responses below!)

The Course of True Love Ne'er Did Run Smooth…

Chapter 22

Inside the blazing hut filled with stifling, blinding smoke and fierce orange flames, a lone figure rushed through each of the rooms. He dodged falling timbers, leapt over patches of burning ground, and when necessary, put his own life at risk and charged blindly through walls of deadly fire. Inuyasha was feeling the heat, even through his fire-rat coat. Though it had been made to withstand heat, the prolonged length of time that the demon had spent amidst the burning house searching for Kagome was starting to wear through the fabric of his hakama. The heat pressed upon his body like a heavy, smothering blanket, and the parts of his skin that were bare were hurting like hell, yet he kept on going. It was hard to breathe, and every breath that he drew through the wet cloth around his face brought hot, choking lung-fulls of smoke into his chest, making him cough. His body was almost numb with pain and lack of oxygen, and the only reason the hanyou was able to stay conscious was that his brain somehow managed to squeeze out enough air to keep on saying, "Save Kagome! Save Kagome!" And so he continued stumbling, almost blindly, through the black waves of ash and smoke, hoping that his search would lead him to Kagome soon, before he passed out.

Finally, just when he was about to give up hope, his feet stumbled upon a lump on the floor as he was stepping over another obstruction on his path. He squinted, and recognized the slumped form in charred clothing to be Kagome, trapped under a blackened wooden beam, just as Miroku had said. Somehow, because of the urgency of the moment, Inuyasha somehow gained an extra burst of strength, and running on the fuels of his adrenaline, he strained at the beam and slowly heaved it off of the teenager's leg. The hanyou's chest heaved from exertion, and from coughing, but he wasted no time. He hurriedly bent over and picked her up. The girl had smudges of ash on her otherwise pale face, and seemed to look as if she were sleeping. Without pausing to check if she was conscious, the dog demon put the limp form of the girl over his shoulder, and crouched down towards the floor, where the air was somewhat clearer and cleaner. Luckily, he was able to lope along on the bottom of the hut, on hands and legs, quite easily, because of his dog-like bone structure. He headed toward where he thought the door was, for now the rooms were so dark, that all he could see in front of him, even with his demon eyesight and the light of the flames, were blurry gray shapes in front of him.

After what seemed like ages to both Inuyasha, and the onlookers outside, though it was actually only a bit more than a minute, he finally crawled to door, where his eyes were met by a blinding brightness. When his vision cleared, he almost smiled, for Sango was sobbing into Miroku's shoulder, and hugging Shippou as a teddy bear at the same time. Miroku looked extremely pleased, though whether it was because of Inuyasha's successful rescue, or because of the demon exterminator finally warming up to him, the exhausted dog demon couldn't tell. And Shippou was struggling comically to get out of Sango's tight, breathtaking embrace.

Inuyasha tried to laugh, but he ended up coughing instead. He sat up slowly, wearily, and looked at Kagome, who was still a slack, unresponsive bundle in his arms. Then, suddenly, he realized. In horror and despair, he cried out in a choked voice, "Kagome? Kagome! Talk to me! Please!" He shook her frantically, trying to get her to open her eyes, to see her blue eyes look up at his and smile like she always did. But the girl didn't respond. The white-haired man knelt at her side and held his furry, triangular ears near her part-opened mouth. He listened intently, hoping to hear some sound of her breathing. There was none. He lurched up with the miko in his arms, and staggered, tears running unhindered down his cheeks. It was too late, then. He had not been fast enough. She was dead. He raised a shaking hand to trace the curved contours of her peaceful face.

Never again to hear her beautiful, bell-like laugh. Never to see those expressive eyes capture his gaze and talk to his soul. Never again to be able to watch as her long, black hair waved in the breeze. Never to see her greet him with a cheerful wave of her palm. Never again to see her, to hear her, to talk to this girl who had won his heart. No more. He hadn't even gotten to tell her, to tell her, that he loved her…

"Ka…go…me…Please, speak to me. Please. Please don't die!" He sobbed into her black hair, shaking his head with grief. His strong shoulders sagged and trembled as the usually stoic dog-demon became a scared, sorrowful boy. Kaede hobbled up to the pair, and tried to take the girl from his arms, but the hanyou bared his teeth at the old woman, and continued to caress the girl, with rivulets of tears running down his cheeks, onto his neck. Teardrops stained his red coat a dark maroon. It was as if a dam had broken inside the hanyou, and he had finally realized how much he had grown to care for this strange girl from the future.

Kaede sighed, and spoke softly, her wise heart telling her that he needed time to grieve, but her wisdom urging her to tell him that there was still hope.

"Inu…yasha. She may not yet be dead. Kagome-sama may not be breathing, but I think that is because she has been suffocated by the ashes and smoke of fire. But if her heart is still beating, we may still have a chance to save her."

Inuyasha's ears swiveled towards the sound of her old, crackling voice, then he placed his head on Kagome's chest and listened intently. Hope rose on his face, for he had heard the slow, faint, yet steady beat of Kagome's heart, which sounded like a beautiful symphony to his ears.

He whirled around towards the village priestess and pleaded anxiously, "Tell me how to save her! Tell me!" Kaede nodded her assent and walked forward, saying, "We must hurry. There is not much time. To give her breath and clear her air passageways, you must breathe air into her through your own mouth. Are you willing?"

Inuyasha nodded dumbly. Following Kaede's complicated instructions with unusual patience, he worked hard to bring breath back into Kagome's body. Placing his mouth on hers without any outer signs of qualm, he breathed as the miko instructed. At last, the girl on the ground coughed once or twice, took a hesitant breath, and her chest finally started to rise and fall regularly. Inuyasha wiped the sweat off his face as he stared intently and happily at her own face. She slowly opened her eyes, and her gaze immediately fell on the dog demon, who was only a foot away from her face. At that moment, regardless of smudged cheeks, singed hair, or greyish pallor, Inuyasha though that Kagome looked like the most beautiful girl in the world as she lifted her mouth up in a pretty smile.

Kagome lifted a finger up to touch the dog-demon's still-wet cheeks, and spoke in a soft, raspy voice, "Why were you crying, Inuyasha?" She sounded confused and a bit disoriented as she frowned at the tears that glistened on her love's cheeks. Inuyasha just shook his head gently, his eyes glimmering in happiness, and pressed a soft kiss to her forehead. Inuyasha grasped her small hands in his own.

"I- I thought you were dead. Kagome, I'm so glad that you're okay. Kagome. Promise me that you'll never leave me again." He gazed intently at her, his deep golden eyes boring into her confused cerulean ones. The young woman, still muddled from her ordeal, could nod dumbly. He smiled once more at her, with a mixture of wistfulness and pleasure, then walked away.

Review Responses:

Miyami ~ S'okay! I'm always impatient to read the next chapter of other writers' stories, too! It is hard, but *sigh* we authors can't help it! I love fluffy moments too!

Noodals ~ Heh, heh! Yep, it's waffy! What did you expect? Inuyasha saved Kagome again, yep, yep. And yes, I know, I AM EVIL! Bwahahahaha!!! xD Not!

Itadakimasu ~ Thank you! I'm so glad that you like my story! Yep, Inuyasha can be kinda clueless sometimes, but Hojo's even more naïve! I wish I could learn kendo or archery or something! ^_^

C-Chan ~ Arigatou! I thought my incantation was not that bad, but not so good either. Glad you approve!

whatsinaname ~ Yah, I agree! Thanks, I'll need luck to pass freshman year without making myself the laughingstock of the entire school!! ^_^;;

Naatz ~ Thanks for letting me know! I changed the settings!

Kin-chan Pandum ~ THANK YOU!!!!

Katoumaru ~ I will keep writing! You can be sure of that! ^_^
celadonserpent ~ Hee, hee! I'm not cruel, I'm evil, and I love writing cliffhangers! Sorry about that! J Thanks for reviewing! Continue writing!

totally-wicked ~ Thanks! I'll write more as soon as possible! Email me please, when you have a chance!

Neko-Yasha ~ Thanks! Keep reviewing!

LilFoxgirl ~ Hi Kit-chan! Thanks for reviewing! I love Pocky! Especially chocolate Pocky! Yum! Thank you! *glomp* Heh, heh. I think hitting 200 reviews is still very far away in the very distant future, but I can hope, can't I? ^_^ Cool, we voted the same thing? Great minds must think alike!

aBacus ~ Arigatou for reviewing! I'm sorry about writing a cliffhanger, I just think it's very fun!

chickittychick ~ Wow! 18 chapters?!?! Then you're almost there! I'll go read chapter 15 of your story soon! I kinda thought my last chapter was pretty long, not short. @_@ Who knows? ^ ^ I tried to make this one longer, for you! Hope you like it! Of course, Inuyasha will always rescue Kagome, no matter what! Anyway, thanks so much for reviewing! Ja ne!