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Chapter 7: Sacrifice

Sango slowly opened her eyes and winced them shut again as the sun glared directly into them. 'Dawn?' she thought. It had been the middle of the night when they had begun their battle. She felt something prod her shoulder and realized what had wakened her.

"Oi, Sango!"

Sango groaned as she looked up at Shippou and Kirara. "I'm alright," she said. "Where are the others?"

"Miroku is here, but not Inuyasha," said the worried kit.

Glancing around she realized they were no longer in the castle, though she could see the walls through the trees. Her eyes found Miroku lying not far from her and she quickly crawled over to him.

"Houshi-sama?" she called, turning him onto his back. His robes were torn badly and she could see blood on one side where he had taken the fall. She felt herself breath again as he stirred under her hand. Putting a hand to his head, Miroku began to sit up cautiously.

"What happened?"

"That last blast must have thrown us clear out here. Are you alright?" she asked in concern.

"I'm not sure. . ." Sango felt a hand creeping up her thigh and promptly slapped him.

"I'll take that as a yes. Come on, we have to go find Inuyasha."

Miroku pulled himself up and dusted himself off. "Shippou, Kirara, do you two think you could help us find him? We can't do anything else until we do." The memories of that last blast disturbed him. . .seeing Inuyasha being torn apart by his own attack. . .and that strange white light.

As they walked after Kirara and Shippou, Sango noticed Miroku was lost in thought. "What's wrong, Houshi-sama?"

"That white light Naraku sent out after he repulsed the Bakuryuuha. . ." he mused. "It doesn't seem to have harmed us."

She looked at him inquiringly.

"It makes since that the Bakuryuuha did not focus on us, it goes after a demon's youki. It was fortunate that Shippou and Kirara were far enough away. That wave was tearing Naraku's lesser demons apart."

'Hopefully not Inuyasha as well,' he thought. "But that light must have had a purpose. It did not seem to be of Naraku's making. It felt. . .different."

"Guys," Shippou called, "Inuyasha's just ahead. There's a lot of blood," he added softly.

Miroku and Sango rushed through the trees and stopped short and stared when they came to their friend.

"Oh my God. . ." Sango said fearfully.

As soon as they stepped outside the castle Sesshoumaru was assailed by the heavy scent of drying blood. It looked as if Inuyasha's bakuryuuha had destroyed whatever had been left of the lesser demons. The stench of death hung heavily- and continued into the forest, along with the smell of his half-brother's blood.

"Sesshoumaru," Kagome said weakly, "where are you taking me?"

He sniffed the air as they returned to the courtyard, the first rays of dawn just pushing their way over the battered fence. "To find my half brother," he decided.

Strangely, he didn't want to leave without knowing the fate of Inuyasha. He had seen the Tetsusaiga flare in response to the attack, but it did not appear to have protected his brother as well as the Tenseiga had for him.

Sesshoumaru glanced down at the woman and the girl beside him. Rin was wrinkling her nose in distaste, but she feared nothing as long as Sesshoumaru and Kagome were there. Kagome was still relying on Sesshoumaru to carry all of her weight, which did not trouble him; the girl was hardly heavier than Rin. The manacles and ends of the chains were still looped around her wrists and clanged every time they moved. One hand had found its way behind his arm and its fingers had curled tightly around the edge of his armor, as if afraid he might let her fall. She was also still shivering, which was no surprise. Sesshoumaru had never seen such little clothing on a decent woman. But then, if she hung around with his brother, she probably wasn't all that decent.

She looked up at him in surprise when he said they were going to find his brother. Her mind swirled with questions. Was Inuyasha nearby? Had he come for her? And did Sesshoumaru plan to return her to him? She wouldn't have believed that possible, but he had been acting unpredictably lately, he had stopped coming after Tetsusaiga, had stopped Inuyasha's rampage, and even prevented her own torture at the hands of one of the Shichinen-tai.

"Why?" she could not resist asking.

"Because I think he is dead." Sesshoumaru stated.

Kagome felt something sink inside of her and would have crumpled again but for the strong arm holding her upright as they walked through the forest. She felt completely numb. It couldn't be true, she thought. It couldn't be.

As soon as they had found Inuyasha, Sango and Miroku looked up to see Sesshoumaru, Rin, and Kagome enter the clearing.

Kagome, catching sight of Inuyasha, released her hold on Sesshoumaru and lifted her legs, letting gravity pull her out of his grasp. She struggled forward to Inuyasha's side as Sesshoumaru stood and watched her.

Tears were pouring down her face as she took in the sight. He had almost been literally torn apart- it looked as if his tattered fire-rat jacket was all that was holding him together. But even worse, his blood was pooling in jet black hair.

"He's human?" she asked in disbelief. "He can't be human. It's daylight! He has to recover from this!!" She picked up his clawless hand from where it lay limp at his side. He was so pale, though she could still hear slight noises as he struggled for breath. "Inuyasha, you can't leave me," she pleaded. "Wake up...please. Wake up."

Miroku and Sango were shocked to see the state of their friend as she desperately pleaded with Inuyasha. It looked as if she had been tortured and beaten, and she seemed so weak and sick. Their insides twisted again when they noticed the severed chains still attached to her wrists.

Miroku kneeled next to Inuyasha as well, opposite Kagome. He had gathered the Tetsusaiga from where it had lain near Inuyasha and removed the scabbard from his friends side. He sheathed the sword with a sigh.

"Miroku...what happened to him?"

Miroku sighed. "I'm not exactly sure. Inuyasha used the bakuryuuha, but he was already badly injured. Naraku managed to return the attack to all of us, though Inuyasha seems to have borne the brunt of it. Naraku must have anticipated that Tetsusaiga would protect him, as it has from the kaze no kizu before, and prepared to send out a purification attack to make sure he wouldn't recover." Miroku had been going over in his mind possible ways for Naraku to gain access to such magnitude of holy power, but only one source suggested itself, and he kept that thought to himself.

"Sesshoumaru," he said, turning. "Naraku almost certainly intended for you to be killed by the bakuryuuha and purification as well. How can you be so undamaged?"

Sesshoumaru lifted his chin and glared at the monk. "It is not within Naraku's power to kill me," he said simply. The same question had been troubling him as well, however.

Kagome was running her fingers lightly over Inuyasha's chest and arms, staring and shaking her head in disbelief and chanting Inuyasha's name over and over.

"Ka. . .kagome. . .?" the voice was so soft she was afraid she was imagining it.

She looked up at his face and saw his dark eyes open slightly. She squeezed his hand slightly and brought her other hand gently to his face to brush his hair away. "I'm here," she choked.

"You're safe?"

She nodded. His voice was so quiet. It hardly seemed like him at all.

He frowned slightly and his eyes started to close again. "Kagome. . . I'm sorry."

Kagome vehemently shook her head. "No, Inuyasha, it wasn't your fault, besides, Naraku's gone for now and we're all safe."

"Don't go," she whispered desperately. ". . .please don't leave."

"I'm sorry. . ." he breathed again.

"Kagome. . .I love you."

Kagome felt the muscles in his hands and face relax as he slipped away.

"No. . ." she whispered softly. "Inuyasha. . ."



The rest of the group watched as Kagome gave a half-gasp, half-sob and collapsed on the ground next to Inuyasha's still form with one hand still draped across him, their dark hair mingling indistinguishably.

Sango and Miroku, startled and shocked at the recent turn of events, rushed to take care of her, but were stopped by a firm voice.

"Stay back," Sesshoumaru ordered.

His hand had gone unconsciously to Tenseiga's hilt.

Well, that was a really short chapter. I'm really sorry, but I wanted to leave it there, for obvious reasons(i.e. I'm really evil). The next chapter is much longer with many interesting goings-on, I promise you. This chapter wasn't what I originally intended to write, it just kind of ended up this way (though I assure you, I have a plan. . .I think), so let me know how you think it turned out.

This chapter, incidentally, is the end of what I have been calling Part 1 in my outline, so the tone of things will shift a little from here. Hopefully, chapter length will be longer as well as the rest of the story develops, for those of you who have asked for longer chapters. 8 is about twice and half again as long as this one, so, yeah. Yes, in case you were wondering, I like to stay one chapter ahead of what I post.

Thanks to my reviewers, especially my loyal hangers-on kagomesirene, dreamertwin, sailor panda, atashi-wa-yume, and kawaiikitsune!!

Keep reviewing!!! Demanding reviews make me post faster! And, as always, feel free to criticize or complain.

-Aiwendil