The Scent of Despair

Written by Catrina Winner

Author's Note: The story is almost completed!  I'll bet you're all excited to see how it ends, right?  Well, grab your tissues – this chapter's going to be quite the tearjerker.   Remember:  There is a happy ending!  Hold onto that thought as you read the following chapter, because it may be very sad for some of you.   Got your tissues?  Well, let's go!  And, as always, I love getting your feedback!

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Chapter Twenty-Six

Kagome leaned back after a long time, keeping one hand snuggled in his.   Inuyasha sat up slowly, his eyes never leaving her face.   She whimpered quietly and he held her again, pulling her against his chest.   She shook her head in disbelief, mind swirling.   Moments ago she had been standing outside with her little brother, and now, now she was here, with Inuyasha.   


She thought – knew – she had lost him.   Her Inuyasha, her love, her everything.   Her parents gone, what was she to do?  Pick up and move on?  No, she tried, she tried, but it failed.   And she didn't have to try anymore.   Because Inuyasha was here, holding her tightly against him, his breathing shaky as hers as he tried to stop the tears that were trickling slowly down.   

All around them, the forest was silent.   Trees whispered against the light wind, hardly stirring.   Leaves and grass seemed afraid to shift, for fear of ruining the moment.   No birds flew overhead.   No nighttime animals roamed about.   It seemed everything, the whole world, was centered on the two of them. 

"I can't…  Am I dreaming…?" she asked hesitantly, almost fearing the answer.   He smiled at her, a kind, gentle look Kagome has not seen on his features before.   His face appears older, lined, tired.   She feels a shift in the pit of her stomach and swallows hard.   "Inuyasha…?"  Her hand touched his face, tracing the lines beside his eyes and lips, a frown forming.   The hanyou lifted her fingers away, holding her hand as if it were a lifeline.

"Kagome…" his voice was richer and deeper, startling Kagome slightly.   "Kagome, I have… a lot to tell you."  Taking a deep breath, Inuyasha pulled her head against his chest again and remained quiet for a moment.   The wind picked up, the trees leaned in to deepen the shadows.


"I…" he began, slowly, haltingly.   "I don't have a lot of time to tell you of this.   No, shh.   It's going to be okay."  Kagome shifted, crawling into his lap like a little child.   He didn't protest, leaning back against a tree and continuing.   "A few days after you vanished…  Well, I was upset when you left."  Here he tightened his grip around her.   "To say the least.   Kaede took pity on me and found… a spell."

"Spell?" Kagome asked, noting his pause and the very slight wince of his body.   Inuyasha nodded and shushed her again.

"Yes.   It was mostly a sleeping spell that prevents you from aging.   But it's meant for real demons – not hanyous.   There is a single ingredient that will temper the… well, the potion, I guess, and make it compatible with a hanyou's body."  He fell silent again.   Kagome chewed on her bottom lip, afraid of what was coming next.   His speech – so much more elegant then what she remembered – was almost distracting to her.   

"I'll move on, for the moment, if you don't mind."  Kagome nodded, urging him forward.   "You see… Sango and Miroku – they did get married.   Sango was in that kimono that you gave to her.    Very pretty that day, too.   Miroku is a lucky man…" The last statement was whispered quietly as Inuyasha squeezed Kagome tightly.   

"The two of them promised me that they and their offspring would watch over my sleeping body until the four hundred years had passed and I could be with you again.   The villagers all built a small hut for me.   The strongest wood you can imagine.   It was built just beyond your well."  Inuyasha smiled.   "In fact…" he lifted a finger and pointed out into the woods, "You know where the streams meet?"  Kagome nodded.   "If you walk just a little beyond there, turn into that bushy patch of woods, the hut is just out there." 

Kagome's eyes widened.   "You were there this whole time?  I-!"  Inuyasha's gentle finger on her lips cut her off.

"It's okay; your parents were the next generation of Sango's kin.   You and your brother are the last now…  Unless, of course, you have children."  He looked away, his voice taking on a bitter edge.   Kagome stared up at him and he shook his head, shaking away whatever was upsetting him.   "Anyway… just before your parents… had their accident, your mother gave me this."  He lifted the necklace Kagome had given him days before they were separated.   She stared at it, as if seeing a piece of her past for the first time in many years.

"That's…" 

"Yes.   It was the only way to return myself to my hanyou state four hundred years into the future.   You see, in an effort to make the spell work properly, I had to become fully demonic.   Give myself to the bloodlust and…" he trailed off, his fingers drifting to his side.   Kagome finally noticed the absence of the Tetsusaiga.   Her gasp caught his attention.   

"What…?  Where is it?"

The hanyou sighed and pointed back over his shoulder.   "I believe it's somewhere in your home…  If it's still intact at all."  His voice sounded hurt.   "But…  That won't matter soon.   Kagome, even though the spell worked to some extent…" he quieted, "we couldn't find the ingredient to make the potion right for hanyous."

Digging in the pockets of his ragged clothing, he pulled out a wrinkled piece of paper, yellow with age.   Scribbled on it was old Japanese.   Kagome tilted her head, unable to make out many of the words.   She tried to ignore the fear that was slowly gnawing away at her insides.   

"This is the spell.   Here, at the bottom, it warns what will happen if you don't find the right flower and then give it to a hanyou."  Inuyasha slipped the paper back into his clothes, quickly, before she had any chance to see what was written on the bottom. 

"Inuyasha…?"

"Kagome…"  He took her shoulders in either clawed hand, looking into her eyes.   "Kagome, the spell…  My body is in the wrong timeline, you see?  I shouldn't be here – it's not my true era.   The spell failed because we didn't find that last ingredient and-"

"No!"  Kagome cut him off.   "No, you're here with me right now!  You're here and everything will be okay!  You can't go away again!  No!"

Inuyasha clutched her to him.   "Kagome, Kagome…" he whispered again and again.   "I can't stop it.   The spell, once I was revived, will only keep me going for a week at the most… and…"  Kagome started sobbing, shaking her head.   

His voice was deathly quiet, shivering with omens.   Tears splashed onto her upturned face from his eyes.   "Oh, Kagome…  It's now, it's now…"

The miko, the girl who had been so strong all this time, cried out, brokenly, her body going limp in his arms.   Gently, with all the delicacy he could muster, Inuyasha tipped her chin up so her eyes were on his.   What he saw broke his heart again, but he knew there was nothing left he could do.


Hugging her as if she were a fragile doll, Inuyasha shivered.   "At least…  At least this time…  I could say goodbye." 

"No!" Kagome choked out.

"Goodbye, Kagome…" he whispered, his body wincing with pain.   He leaned down and kissed her forehead, then gently pushed her away.   She fell on dirt beside him, her widened eyes staring at his convulsing body.   

His hand lifted towards her and he murmured something, but she couldn't speak, couldn't reach back, could only watch him die.   He collapsed on the hard ground, writhing.   And then he stopped moving.   Was still.   Kagome stared at him, her mouth opening.   His eyes were open still, watching her, perhaps, but empty.   Empty and… dead.   

As she looked at the body of her love, it shimmered, vanishing in a single brilliant flash. 

Kagome, screaming in agony, threw herself against the rough bark of the tree they had been leaning on, weeping.   "No!  You can't be gone!  NOT AGAIN!!"  

The Shikon Jewel lit around her neck, exploding with the darkest, most violent shade of red imaginable.   Sota appeared from between the trees; Buyo clutched to his chest, and ran towards Kagome, shouting out her name.   His hand snatched hers, dragging her away from the clearing and away from Inuyasha's death.

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Well, it was shorter than intended, but I think it made his death easier to… understand?  E-mail me with any questions, catwinner@earthlink.net.   Happy ending!  Remember!  Almost over, really.   I hope you all enjoyed this chapter; my mailing list is still open if you want in.   Reviews are much appreciated.   Hope it wasn't too sad for you guys!