A/N: Please don't kill me.
Disclaimer: Only the plot is a product of my twisted imagination. Everything else is a product of someone else's.
Whisper
Kagome lay on the cold ground, blood pouring from the gaping wound in her side.
A strange detachment crept over her and she watched the activity around her as though it were nothing more than a movie.
Sango, standing over her opponent, a horrified look on her face as she saw her friend fall.
Shippou, screaming and running out from the grass he had been hiding in.
Miroku, turning to see what had affected Shippou.
Inuyasha, who had managed to catch her before she fell, his face washed with pain and tears. She found that she could feel sorry for him, for what this would do to him.
And at the very edge of the clearing, a glimpse of white.
Catch me as I fallSay you're here and it's all over now
Speaking to the atmosphere
No one's here and I fall into myself
This truth drives me
Into madness
I know I can stop the pain
If I will it all away
If I will it all away
Kagome could see faces hovering above her, hands coming out to touch her, arms that held her close.
Shippou.
Sango.
Inuyasha.
Miroku.
She could see their mouths moving in slow motion, but she couldn't hear their voices. The white silence in her mind washed everything away.
She was dying now, she realized with a sudden shock.
No! she thought, flinching away from the obvious truth. She wanted to howl, to scream her defiance, but she was too weak, and growing rapidly weaker.
Don't turn away (Don't give in to the pain)Don't try to hide (Though they're screaming your name)
Don't close your eyes (God knows what lies behind them)
Don't turn out the light (Never sleep never die)
Ignored by Kagome's weeping friends, Sesshoumaru slowly turned away from the blood-soaked clearing. Was this not why had he come?
Before he could retreat back into the dark forest his hand fell to the sword slung at his side.
No. That was just a lie he had told himself. So why was he leaving?
He turned back. Kagome's friends were gathered around her fallen form. He watched as they frantically tried to stop her bleeding, begging her not to die. He was drawn closer almost against his will until he loomed over them, staring down into her strained face.
She shouldn't look like that. Shouldn't be in so much pain.
He saw her eyes flicker over her friends. Saw them lock briefly on him. They were glazing over rapidly, their light draining away with her blood.
I'm frightened by what I seeBut somehow I know
That there's much more to come
Immobilized by my fear
And soon to be
Blinded by tears
I can stop the pain
If I will it all away
If I will it all away
Kagome was terrified. She could feel herself dying, could feel her blood draining away. She couldn't feel her feet anymore, or her hands, and the numbness was creeping upwards, towards her stuttering heart.
She tried to stay motionless, as though death would overlook her if she stayed still, like an animal hoping a predator would pass it by as it cowered in the shadows. But she knew it wouldn't miss her. Soon, she thought she would be dead. She didn't want this!
Mama, she thought, I'm sorry. I didn't mean for this to happen. I love you. Tears filled her eyes as she thought of her family, 500 years and a memory away.
Don't turn away (Don't give in to the pain)Don't try to hide (Though they're screaming your name)
Don't close your eyes (God knows what lies behind them)
Don't turn out the light (Never sleep never die)
Sesshoumaru drew the Tensaiga. He paced forward, brushing the monk aside, his attention locked on the pallbearers appearing out of the shadows.
Utter determination filled him. His father had left him this healing sword. He would use it. He didn't need to justify it. Even to himself.
The pallbearers were nearly at the body. Kagome's body. Inuyasha was lurching to his feet, lunging towards his half-brother even as Sesshoumaru swung, Tensaiga's blade vibrating as it slashed through the otherworldly creatures, severing their heads in a single swoop.
Reflex had the youkai lord batting his younger sibling aside effortlessly, his entire being concentrated on the fallen priestess. An unexpected chill shot through him. When he had resurrected Rin, it had been almost instantaneous. Why wasn't Kagome responding?
His fingers closed more tightly around the hilt of the sword.
Fallen angels at my feetWhispered voices at my ear
Death before my eyes
Lying next to me I fear
She beckons me shall I give in
Upon my end shall I begin
Forsaking all I've fallen for
I rise to meet the end
Ice crept through Kagome, chilling her to the bone and washing away the pain. Suddenly she was floating. She could hear her friends whispers now, could see them clustered closely around her, but she couldn't feel, couldn't speak, couldn't move.
Sudden peace washed through her. Dying wasn't so bad, after all, she thought contentedly. For the first time in what seemed like forever, she felt no pain. She wished she could share the knowledge with her friends, but she knew it was too late. She regretted the pain she knew they would feel, but only remotely. Everything seemed remote now, distant.
Dimly, through rapidly fading sight, she saw Sesshoumaru draw his sword, saw him cut through the air over her, and she felt a sudden tug. The sensation frightened her, and she tried to draw away as she realized what was happening.
The youkai lord was trying to resurrect her!
She was being dragged inexorably back to her body, back to life, and she didn't want to go. She wanted to rest, to escape the torment her life had become. She struggled frantically, trying to free herself from the force that was dragging her back to the body she had so recently left.
She had almost won free of the tenacious energy when it intensified, and she suddenly realized what it was. Or rather, who it was.
It was Sesshoumaru.
He was fighting her desire to die. Desperately. Dragging her away from oblivion as though his own life depended on it.
For a moment shock overpowered her and she stopped fighting. Why was he fighting her? Why wouldn't he let her go?
And what was she going to do about it?
She realized that she had nearly been dragged back into her body while she tried to process the situation, and she started to fight again, reflexively, but much of her previous conviction was gone. Sesshoumaru wanted her back this much?
Don't turn away (Don't give in to the pain)Don't try to hide (Though they're screaming your name)
Don't close your eyes (God knows what lies behind them)
Golden eyes watching a resurrected human child by the light of a campfire flickered through her memory, and she abruptly surrendered, stopping her struggles and letting him drag her back to life.
With a snap, Kagome could feel again, could move. She pushed herself to one elbow, ignoring the joyful clamouring of her friends and the fading jolt of pain that shot through her. Her voice was a rasping whisper.
"Sesshoumaru."
Don't turn out the light (Never sleep never die)***
A/N. And that's it. Imagine where it goes from here. It's the end of the album, and I'm out of music. If there's enough demand, there will be a sequel although it will have to share muse-time with 'The Bargain'. There WILL NOT be any songfics involved. In any of my stories. Ever again.
