AN: here's the last chapter!! Oh, I'm only going to say this once as I place a giant grin on my face, INUYASHA is DEAD, and NO, he is NOT coming back! Reason for killing him? Cause I could, and I wanted to see your reaction…is that a good enough reason?

All stories, if continued far enough, end in death,

and he is no true storyteller who would keep that from you.

—Ernest Hemingway

Last time

The whole battlefield stopped. Both sides stared at the event that just happened. Naraku tore off Inuyasha's head.

Reality sunk in when Sesshomaru expected Inuyasha to cry, or lash out, but only silence filled the air.

The sound of bones snapping and popping and the ripping of muscle and tissue was the only sound heard, not even a single breath could be heard from the dog demon's sensitive ears.

Naraku held up Inuyasha's head and started to laugh. His brother's once golden eyes now stared into space, looking a dull yellow.

They had the look of someone broken.

Now

Chapter 16

Kagome could move her eyes, but it felt like she was run over by a semi. In fact, she had taken a plunge from a hundred feet in the air. So the theory was proven correct, what goes up must come down. Except no one told her the 'down' would have hurt this much. She briefly wondered why she wasn't dead. She had read about people jumping to their deaths, but for some reason she was alive.

She almost wished she were dead. She was using her miko powers to heal herself, but she knew it was going to take a long time. She tried to cry out, yet her voice failed her. She could barely move her eyes, but it was the least she could do.

She watched as Sesshomaru beat Hakudoshi, and she saw Naraku take the shard out of Kohaku's back. Her heart hurt more than Inuyasha's betrayal could ever. Her best friend's brother was dying and there was nothing she could do. If only she could move, if only she could cry out. If she could have done something… but no, she was trapped in a mortal body that was slowly repairing itself.

Getting frustrated at not having the ability to harness more of her power, she witnessed, no she refused to see what was in front of her eyes. He couldn't be dead. He was still alive, if only she would wake up from this sick dream. She screamed in her head for her to wake up, to find Kikyo and Inuyasha kissing, to hear Sango slap Miroku for placing his hands on her backside. Anything but what she was seeing.

Naraku held up Inuyasha's head like it was a trophy. There was no denying what she saw. There was nothing even Sesshomaru could do to bring him back. Naraku had eaten his heart.

Naraku, the name alone was snarled with venom in Kagome's head. The half demon was laughing at the horrified faces that looked at him. Kagome wanted to scream at him, to kill him with her bare hands. He took away her best friend, her first crush, her first love. He was not coming back.

Her weak body spilled out tears. She was not able to move. Why could she could cry at a time like this but she couldn't get up and fight?

She knew that Inuyasha had to die, she changed the timeline, but it wasn't supposed to happen like this! He was supposed to live; she changed the future! Why were the gods so cruel? What did she do to deserve this? She loved everyone that she came across: friend or foe.

She lied there helpless as she witnessed others around her take up their weapons and fight. She heard Sango cry out in outrage at what Naraku did to her little brother. Tears slipped down Kagome's cheeks and she witnessed the unbearable.

Sango had thrown away her large boomerang for her sword. Silently Kagome wished her friend strength to keep fighting. Sango's thrusts became wilder as she became more enraged and frantic to make a hit on Naraku. Kagome wanted to scream at Sango to back off, to cool down, but even her silent warning came too late.

Naraku knocked the sword out of her hand, and threw her into a tree. She couldn't see the damage, but she heard it. Sango hit the tree with a gurgling thump. Then Kagome could hear a cracking sound. It seemed Naraku hit her with such force that Sango split the tree into two.

She heard Miroku's cry of outrage, and Kagome knew that Sango was dead. Kagome was almost lost to despair. She tried to fight against the pain in her body. She was cursing herself for being so weak. If only she had gotten back a little sooner, if only the army headed in the right direction, too many ifs.

Miroku's strangled cry of 'wind tunnel' was the last straw. She felt the impending doom of his fate and his curse. She knew that Miroku would not want to live if there was no Sango. The swirling winds came from Miroku's air void. Demons, good and bad, were being sucked into the tunnel as Miroku made his last and only attempt to kill Naraku once and for all.

Kagome looked at Naraku and saw that he was smiling. She wanted to scream at him, but only a mangled cry came from her throat. Naraku held up his last hive and threw it into the void. Miroku didn't even try to avoid the wasps; he sucked them in. The poisons were taking effect on his body. Still, he didn't care. He was still trying to kill the half demon.

She could finally move her head. She saw his skin turn a sickly yellow from the toxins destroying his body. She pleaded with him to stop, but she knew he could not hear her. She saw him drop to his knees, but he still refused to give up. His will to destroy Naraku flowed too strongly in his veins. She could feel the tears flowing down her cheeks. The winds howled and swirled as Miroku's wind tunnel consumed him. The poison in his body no longer offered the will to keep fighting.

The wind stilled to the point where it stopped. Even the air in the battlefield became heavy as it mourned another loss.

She witnessed the death of her last friend and something in her snapped.

She no longer felt the pain that restricted her movements. She felt nothing but hatred and the heavy sorrow of seeing her friends lying on the battlefield broken and dead.

Kagome stood. The wind tunnel became nothing, the void in his hand disappeared as a sign that Miroku was really dead. Sango was mangled against the tree, her head was bleeding and its contents spilled onto the ground. Inuyasha's remains were dumped like yesterday's trash at Naraku's side.

Behind her Shippo was lying unconscious. She didn't know what happened to him, but she knew that it was better if Shippo never witnessed the death of his friends.

Rage filled Kagome to a new height. The demon armies were slaughtering their opponents. Kagome's vision became blurred as power filled her.

Naraku finally took notice of her and began to laugh. Kagome wanted to wipe that smirk off his face. Kagome stood to her full height and took a step towards him. Suddenly the battlefield grew eerily quiet.

"And then there was one." Naraku boasted.

"I am Kagome Higurashi. Protector of the sacred jewel of four souls, direct descendant of its creator, high priestess of the sun goddess, and I demand that you return what is rightfully mine." Kagome's voice laced with power and spoke of death. She was no longer afraid, she only felt numb. She didn't care anymore. She would succumb to the powers, as long as she didn't have to feel, she didn't care.

She stared straight through him, and the half demon Naraku only laughed harder. His eyes slanted he glared at her trying to knock her of her metaphysical horse. This trick would not work with her. He snorted with disgust at her. "You think I will really hand the shards over to you? How stupid do you think I am?"

"I gave you a chance half-breed, and I was trying to be nice." She saw the snarl form on his lips. Kagome extended her hand, "Now return to me what is my birth rite."

The air around Naraku glowed a bright pink as the fragments Naraku had swallowed earlier tore at his insides. He dropped to his knees as the shards flew out of his body.

The painted marble crumbled as the fake jewel left his body, but the real shards flew to Kagome's outstretched hand.

The fragments danced and swirled around Kagome before they all fused together becoming whole once again. She heard Naraku snarl. It was time to kill the bastard once and for all.

She called out to Sesshomaru and he came to her side. She told him to pick up Tetsusaiga and attack him from the air. He was not allowed to touch the ground.

He was hesitant, but Sesshomaru did as Kagome commanded. He started to attack Naraku from the air. Sesshomaru made sure that the half-breed stayed on the ground. Kagome gripped onto the jewel, and she felt her body surge with power. Her eyes, once pink, had now flared white with raw power.

The ground beneath her shook as an unseen force made its way to Naraku. He was trapped. Sesshomaru prevented him from taking to the air, and Kagome purified the very ground he was standing on.

The combined forces disintegrated the half demon until there was only ash. That was the only thing left that was once Naraku. Naraku's army soon followed suit.

Kagome waved her hand through the air; both armies fell to the ground. The demons with malice in their hearts were purified from the inside out, while the rest were knocked out, with her healing powers repairing their damaged bodies.

Silently to herself she said, "And then there was none."

Only a few remained standing. Sesshomaru stood beside her. They both stood in silence. Yukiro, Kouga, Soun and Genma were the only ones left wake. The four made their way over to Kagome.

Kouga was the first one to break the silence. "So now what?"

The three other demon lords look at Kouga with disbelief, but only rolled their eyes in answer.

"Now you will all go home and talk about a united peace. Sesshomaru will revive whom he can. He is not death's master remember that. He answers to a higher calling and cannot do your bidding. You three will rule with friendship and peace. I will return to where I am needed." The white power faded from her eyes, returning them to the normal chocolate color.

Sesshomaru raised his eyebrow in response to Kagome's orders.

Kagome blushed, "I saw visions of the future, and if you remember what has happened today you will avoid it. You all have fought hard today and deserve some peace and happiness."

Kouga grabbed Kagome's hands in his own and professed his undying love for her. He told her to come back with her to the den where they could live together and grow old. Kagome wanted to cry. It would be at this point, where Inuyasha could come in and stop Kouga, but now there was no Inuyasha.

Now was not the time for tears. She would shed them in private; she would mourn them and honor them with the respect they deserve.

Yukiro, who stood as a bystander throughout the entire battle, finally spoke. "You three," He looked at Soun, Genma and Kouga, "Go and gather the dead, bury them with the honor they deserve. Today's battle shall be written down so that history will never repeat itself. When telling the story to future generations, all mention of Kagome will be omitted. She has suffered enough and does not need some foolish demon coming after her." The trio nodded and set out.

Kagome picked up Shippo. She smoothed out his hair and kissed his forehead. Shippo snuggled closer to Kagome while he slept. Sesshomaru looked at his brother's sword in his hand.

"You knew that this was going to happen," He stated when they were out of earshot.

Kagome nodded her head. "It wasn't supposed to end this way. I thought I could change it. There are some destinies that you can change and others are fated to end a certain way. Inuyasha's was one of them."

Sesshomaru nodded. "Thank you." Kagome cocked her head to the side. He saw her question and decided to answer it. "You gave me back my arm, my brother, and now his sword. That was the reasoning that you mixed our blood together because you knew that Inuyasha would die and someone would have to be able to wield the Tetsusaiga in order to defeat Naraku."

Kagome nodded. She saw Yukiro and knew that it was time to go. "Can I ask one more thing from you?"

She saw Sesshomaru ponder her question before nodding. "I would like you to raise Shippo. He might not be Inuyasha's son, but he was raised and treated as if he were. He lost his real parents, and now them," She nodded to the corpses of her friends. "He's all alone again."

She held Shippo out to him. Sesshomaru was at war with his thoughts before taking the small demon out of her arms. A sigh of relief left her body. Yukiro told her that it was time to go. She nodded in understanding.

The demon lords came together once again. They asked what was going to happen to the jewel, but before Kagome could answer Yukiro told them that it was for the best if no one knew. That way no one would come looking for it.

Yukiro transformed into his true form. He became a blob of energy. He no longer held a tangible form. He engulfed Kagome with his energy and they were gone.

Sesshomaru looked around the battlefield. He would leave the bodies for the other three to clean up, but decided against it when he saw the fox and priestess' friends. He would bury them personally with the honor they deserved. Somehow, he almost wished that Tensaiga pulsed, that their deaths wouldn't have to leave him with this burden.

Nevertheless, nothing came from the sword. There was no pulse; there was not even a hum. Therefore, the only thing he could do was place their graves in a place of high respect and honor.

Inside a lone tear escaped the confines of his ice exterior for his brother. Today Inuyasha was not a half-breed that brought shame and dishonor to his family. Today Inuyasha was his brother, his comrade, and his equal. He only wished that their understanding came sooner.

Sesshomaru sneered. Fate was cruel and sadistic. He placed Tetsusaiga along side his other swords, and started to gather the bodies of the dead to be brought home.

Yukiro floated next to Kagome as the walked from Kaede's village to the well. The old priestess had taken the deaths of her friends pretty hard. The village mourned their protector. To them Inuyasha wasn't a half demon or an outcast, to them he was their saviour. She felt a sense of pride as she gathered her strength to walk back to the well.

The walk back was made in silence as tears finally started to flow down her face. She hoped that they would find peace in the next life. If anyone deserved happiness, it was them.

She sniffled and wiped her nose on her sleeve. Yukiro asked her to take out the jewel. Kagome took out the jewel and noticed that it was turning dark. She gasped horrified. He told her that feeling this much pain was tainting the jewel, this was something he was afraid to tell her. It floated out of her hand.

Yukiro told her that he would look after it until after she had finished mourning. He would take it back to where it was created and guard it there until she could come and retrieve it.

Feeling numb tired, and depressed she nodded her head. Despite Yukiro having no physical form, she felt the comfort of his aura. She didn't care what happened next; she no longer cared at all.

The jewel was a curse, a plague on its protector, and Kagome did not want anymore to do with it ever again. Jumping into the well and left the Warring States Era, never to return.

AN: That's it. THE END. I hoped you liked it! Yup people the adventure is OVER. This was the last stop, so I hope you all enjoyed the ride, it's been a blast. Once again, I thank you all for the reviews! I made it to 100 and I'm grateful! Please leave a lasting review on the way out.