CHAPTER SIXTEEN

*

The time until the sunrise seemed to stretch forever, the seconds dripping away slowly. The faint glow in the distance grew slowly brighter, promising that sometime -- a very long time away -- the sun would come up. Too long, Kagome suspected.

Kagome could feel Inuyasha's entire body trembling as he fought to stay suspended on the sword. His fingers were digging into her stomach, and his other hand had turned white at the knuckles. His breath was coming in little strained gasps in her ear, and she could feel sweat forming on his skin.

She wanted to help him, talk him through the end of this horrible night. But at the same time, she didn't want to distract him and make it even harder for him to hang on to Tetsusaiga. One little slip, one moment of weakness, and they would both fall to their deaths. And it would be worse for Inuyasha, because he would feel guilty in those last seconds for not protecting her better.

I don't know how he's managed it so far, Kagome thought. I've never seen somebody -- any human -- do this for so long... I just hope he isn't wrecking his arm... Inuyasha, just hand on a little longer, the sun's almost up.

She squeezed her eyes shut. If she sat there and waited for the glow in the distance to grow into the sunrise, she would go crazy. The time until sunrise seemed to be measured in her heartbeats, in Inuyasha's strained breathing. The only sounds was the eerie blowing of the wind.

Then suddenly Inuyasha's grip on her tightened and seemed to grow stronger. Kagome opened her eyes with a gasp. "Inuyasha-"

"It's coming," Inuyasha whispered.

A little flash of light had come over the treetops. As the sun slowly rose, Kagome felt Inuyasha's trembling stop. She felt a pulse of power pass through his battered body, and suddenly the hand around her waist had claws. A few strands of dark hair, blown over her cheek, started to shimmer and turn silver.

It's happening! Kagome thought excitedly. He did it! He made it!

Inuyasha groaned heavily and held Kagome tighter. The Tetsusaiga transformed in a flash from a rusty old blade into a gleaming giant fang. He took a deep breath and pushed himself off the cliff face, with Tetsusaiga coming free in his hand. "You did it!" Kagome cried as they shot up the cliffside.

Inuyasha's face still looked strained. But his golden eyes, silver hair and dog ears were back, and they were both alive, even a little bruised. He smiled a little before looking back up at the top of the cliff. "Good thing that damn snake is gone. If he weren't dead, I would've torn him to shreds," he said in a low voice. "C'mon, Kagome, we gotta get home."

They shot past the plateau and hovered in the air for a moment. Then Inuyasha landed heavily in the dust, letting Kagome roll out of his arms. For a long time, they just lay next to each other, breathing hard and exhausted. Then Kagome crept over to Inuyasha's side. "You okay?" she whispered.

"Yeah," Inuyasha said, not opening his eyes.

"How is your arm?"

"Can't even move it. It feels like a wet noodle." Inuyasha winced as Kagome gingerly touched his forearm. "Damn, I'm not using it for at least a day."

"Inuyasha..."

"Yeah, what?"

"Thank you."

"For what?"

"For saving me. You would have died, jumping off the cliff, if you hadn't been able to stop."

Inuyasha flushed a little and looked away. "Idiot. You think I'd just let that snake kill you?" he said gruffly.

Kagome curled up beside him and put her hand on his limp, injured arm. "I'm just saying I'm grateful. Leave it at that, okay?"

"Feh."

Inuyasha let his head rest on the ground, and for a moment Kagome thought he was going to just rest for awhile, letting his bruised body recover from last night. But then he stiffened. The sounds of voices were coming from the distance -- voices he recognized. People from the village.

Suddenly a familiar robed figure stumbled out of the woods: Miroku, rumpled and red-eyed. He eyed the two exhausted figures sprawled on the ground, and smiled. "Shall I leave you two alone a little longer?" he asked smoothly.

"Shaddup," Inuyasha grunted. "If my arm weren't useless, I'd strangle you."

"Lady Kaede!" Miroku called over his shoulder. "I found them."

Kagome sat up and rubbed her bruised head. The villagers were coming out of the woods, armed with spears and torches. The one-eyed old priestess was leading them, looking even more rumpled than Miroku did. "Found, nothin'," Inuyasha said, carefully sitting up. "What took all of you so damn long? We could've used some help!"

"We were searching all night for Kagome," Kaede chastised him. "When she failed to return, we sent out search parties to find her. We feared that some demon had attacked her."

"Not far off, old woman," Inuyasha said, getting slowly to his feet. "Look at the bottom of the cliff and you'll find a smashed snake demon body." He glared at the assembled villagers. "Nice to know somebody was worried about me too."

"They didn't know you were missing," Kagome said, poking him in the side.

As the villagers began heading back home, yawning and rubbed their eyes, Kagome took Inuyasha's uninjured arm. He looked startled, and slightly embarrassed. But as the moments passed, he just began walking, with his arm linked in hers.

THE END