Under the Pale Autumn Moon

She braced her knees and bent over her hands, chanting softly as Inu- yasha tensed up, ready to defend her if Naraku moved at all towards her crouched form.

Suddenly Kagome let out a loud chant and a burst of pinkish white light slammed into Naraku, causing him to fly back into the castle walls, the light surrounded him and went past him, his body too small to have the whole thing hit him. He crashed into the wall of his castle and it cracked.

The castle was opened.

Naraku grinned as the smoke cleared and the door was clearly open, "Why thank you Kagome dearest!"

He began walking slowly towards the door, keeping a close eye on the shocked Miko and the bleeding hanyou. He glanced towards the sun, not long now...

Kagome stood in shock; her hands still out stretched towards the castle, little swirls of smoke from her blast escaping the warmth of her hands. She wasn't blinking or moving. She was just staring and she felt coldness rush over her as she fell to her knees.

Finally she blinked. And she blinked again. She shook her head and closed her eyes and opened them to look at the crushed castle.

She'd opened the castle.

Naraku was halfway towards the castle.

That wasn't supposed to happen.

She looked at Inuyasha who was struggling with the pain from his wound. She wondered why he hadn't died of blood loss yet.

Naraku's shadow danced across the debris. It was hard to see him in the fading sunlight, but she stood up and charged the bastard.

"Don't go near that jewel, bastard!!"

Naraku cringed when Kagome head-butted him from behind. Inuyasha had a look of approval as he tried, in vain, to help the Miko.

And then the sun was gone. And there wasn't a moon...

Miroku continued to pray as the barrier continued to flicker and slowly but surely disappear.

"Hurry Miroku!"

"I'm going as fast as I can, dearest Sango," Miroku said calmly in order to not break his concentration.

The sun was setting in the background and their shadows grew longer as the barrier finally snapped and flickered, before the translucent blue barrier was gone and the instead of seeing trees behind the barrier, they saw a castle.

Miroku blinked, "That explains a lot. It's an illusion barrier, no wonder it was hard to break."

Sango nodded and clenched the object in her hands as she broke out into a run, Miroku following behind her.

Inuyasha paled as he realized what day it was. And how much blood he'd lost. He gulped and leaned himself against a sapling that hadn't been crushed by falling debris. He chocked out inaudible words to Kagome, who didn't hear him, and clenched his chest.

Then the world started to spin as he felt himself becoming weaker and weaker. His silver hair turning into a dark ebony color. Though he couldn't see it, he knew his eyes were turning the dark violet that Kagome loved so much. His dog-ears disappeared and his claws dulled. He was human.

"Kagome!" he managed to gasp out before he lost feeling in his legs and buckled.

Kagome whirled around and stared at the kneeling Inuyasha, she ran over to him without a second thought. "Inuyasha, what are you doing? Now is no time to be human!"

Inuyasha shook his head and grabbed her shoulders, supporting himself as he stood on wobbly legs, "I have no choice. It's the new moon, Kagome."

"New moon?"

"I turn human, a true human, once a month. I'll turn back once the sun rises," Inuyasha stared at Naraku, speaking low enough so that Naraku hopefully wouldn't hear Inuyasha's explanation of why he was the weak human boy.

Kagome stared blankly at him, "B-But!"

"I'll be fine," Inuyasha whispered as he pushed her slightly forward, his hands lingering on the small of her back before he stared at Naraku, who was beginning to build up some weird whirlwind again.

Inuyasha shoved Kagome aside and raced towards Naraku, aiming to punch him in the stomach. Naraku merely threw the human aside, and watched with liking as he crashed into the sapling he'd been leaning up against moments before.

Inuyasha gasped out in pain and closed his eyes tightly. It was getting hard to move, lack of blood and just pure exhaustion were taking their toll on the former hanyou.

But he couldn't give up; he had to protect Kagome. He tried to stand, but he felt nothing.

That is until Naraku had Kagome by the neck.

"Stupid little bitch, you are no use to me now," Naraku smirked and cast his eyes towards his castle, "you've gotten my castle unlocked for me." He then glanced at Inuyasha, "and you killed an annoyance."

Inuyasha's eyes narrowed to little slits as Kagome gasped for air and clawed at Naraku's arms like a cat, though he didn't seem to notice.

"Inu-Inuyasha!" she wheezed before Naraku tightened his grip around her petite neck. She cringed and fought for breath, but was obviously losing the battle.

Inuyasha felt a whole new wave of emotion wash over him. Naraku was hurting Kagome, he would not allow that, ever.

He stood with newfound strength that he needed to protect Kagome. His hands moved without his knowledge and before he knew it, he had Naraku on the ground and was punching the living shit out of him.

But then the weak feeling in his legs came back and Naraku tossed him aside carelessly.

"Inuyasha...!" through woozy and wobbly vision that fuzzed in and out of blackness, Inuyasha was able to make out two figures running towards him.

"Sango...Miroku?" he asked stupidly, already knowing who it was.

The two stopped in front of him, "Save Kagome." He looked at them pleadingly and then Sango placed something in his hands.

"Inuyasha, we can't see Kagome," Sango said as she closed the space between the object and Inuyasha's hands, "But you can protect her with this!"

Inuyasha's bleary vision focused on a sword, "What?"

"Tessaiga." Miroku said matter-of-factly, "It's an ancient sword that only a youkai wanting to protect humans can use."

Inuyasha stared at it dumbly, "It won't work."

"Why not?" Sango never got an answer because she was knocked aside by Naraku, having recovered from Inuyasha's half-powerful punches.

Miroku threw a punch at him but was thrown aside.

Inuyasha stood and glared at Naraku, "Don't hurt them anymore, bastard!"

He unsheathed the sword. And nothing happened.

It was just a rusty piece of crap.

Terrific.

Naraku seemed to find it terrific as well because he chuckled softly, "This is your big weapon? A sword that couldn't cut paper?"

Inuyasha shot him a glare and urged the sword silently to work. With that thought in mind he lunged at Naraku and dug the sword into his arm and ripping it off. That was the theory at least. Instead, it panged off his arm like a rubber ball does when you throw it at the ground.

Naraku and Inuyasha both stared dumbly at the sword as it jangled and twanged in Inuyasha's hand. And then Naraku burst into laughter.

"Sango," Inuyasha whispered angrily as his cousin and Miroku stood stupidly. Why weren't they helping him?

Inuyasha's eyes widened, maybe they couldn't see Naraku?

And where was Kagome?

He had to protect her, he glared at the sword, "Why can't I protect her?" of course the sword didn't answer, "Why won't you work you stupid piece of junk?"

The sword pulsed.

Inuyasha stared as the sword continued to pulse in his hand, almost as if it had a heart embedded deep within its blade. Inuyasha thought the pulse was a very optimistic sign and without a second thought launched towards the chuckling Naraku.

He sliced off his arm with ease.

Unlike last time, the sound of flesh hitting metal was easy to hear and the scream of agony from Naraku was at large.

Grinning with a new confidence, Inuyasha proceeded to cut the youkai in half...

Naraku was dead. Inuyasha blinked and stared at where Naraku had fallen, that was...easy. He stared at his sword; it was now a large fang-looking blade that looked able to cut through solid rock.

Inuyasha breathed a sigh of relief and glanced at his comrades, he grinned sheepishly at Kagome as he collapsed to the ground.

Kagome instantly rushed forward and flung herself onto the human form of Inuyasha, he looked at her softly.

Sango and Miroku were both staring at Kagome.

Not Kikyo, Kagome.

Sango examined the girl-she did look slightly like Kikyo, only warmer.

Miroku silently agreed when Sango whispered this to him.

Kagome smiled softly at Inuyasha, "We won, Inu."

Inuyasha nodded slowly, it hurt to move and he felt his life slipping away for real this time. He was really going to die. Unless the sun rose soon.

Kagome felt tears slipping down her cheeks, "I'm so sorry for all of this, Inuyasha, it's all my fault!"

Inuyasha wiped the tears from her eyes, "How is it your fault, Kagome?"

Kagome sniffled and looked away from his violet eyes, "If I'd never met Naraku..."

"Fate is fate, Kagome, we can't deny that," Inuyasha said softly as he continued to wipe the waterfalls of tears from Kagome's cheeks, "don't cry."

Kagome didn't meet his eyes.

"I don't think it was fate that I met you though," Inuyasha spoke just above a whisper, he had no strength to speak louder, "and I'm not sorry I met you."

Kagome looked at his eyes then, they were shinning softly, glazed over in pain and his eyes wouldn't focus on her, he whispered something else, but it was lost in the dying breeze.

He reached up a hand and cupped her cheek, "Kindred spirits?" He asked softly.

Kagome nodded, tears returning, "Yeah, Kindred spirits."

Inuyasha smiled in relief, "Love...you." And the hand fell from her cheek and lay lifelessly on the cobblestone pathway.

Kagome stared at his closed eyes for what seemed like hours...maybe it was, because at that moment, the sun rose.

Sango placed a hand on Kagome's shoulder, "It's ok, Kagome." Though she knew it would never be ok for her.

Kagome looked at her in confusion, "Ok? OK! How can it be ok, he's dead...and how can you see me?"

Sango blinked, "We saw you, me and Miroku, right after Naraku died."

Kagome nodded dumbly and laid her head on Inuyasha's shoulder, "Hear that Inuyasha? The curse is broken, you saved me." She fingered his black hair.

Wait.

Black hair? Didn't Inuyasha say that he would turn to a hanyou after the sun rose? She stared at the sun to make sure that the sun really was up. And it was, Kagome stared in confusion.

Miroku and Sango stood helplessly, Miroku having previously returned from the castle, he held the Shikon no Tama in his hands, and looked at it stupidly as his friend died right before his eyes and a girl appeared right before his eyes.

It had been an interesting night.

Kagome rose silently off of Inuyasha and whispered something Sango and Miroku couldn't understand.

She turned to them, her smoky blue-gray eyes moist with unshed tears, "Let's go dig a hole for the body then?"

Sango looked sympathetic as she patted the girl's shoulder tenderly.

"At least he died curse free," Kagome said. She'd decided the reason why he hadn't changed back into a hanyou was because Naraku was dead, and without the caster of the curses, they both broke.

Too bad Inuyasha wasn't alive to celebrate.