"Lady Kaede," Kagome screamed as she carried Inuyasha's limp and motionless body in her arms. He was still alive; his feint heartbeat pounding against her shoulders was proof enough of that, however the poison continued to linger in his body – threatening to kill him. If Kaede did not know of a remedy, he would die.
Racing as fast her old legs could carry her, Kaede approached the young girl as she struggled under the weight of the much heavier hanyou. From the terrible cuts and savage bruises Kaede could tell that Inuyasha had been in a fight, although she did not know of what force from Kagome's era could have done such a thing. Despite his broken and twisted form, she also knew that Inuyasha had been dealt far worse injuries in the past, but what could have caused him to become so reliant on Kagome, and why was their such torture in his eyes?
"What hath happened to Inuyasha?" Kaede asked as she led Kagome into her simple hut.
"We were attacked, by a future version of Sesshoumaru. He injected his poison into Inuyasha," she said as she lowered the hanyou down off her shoulders and rested him against a futon in the far corner of the room. "Please Kaede, if we don't do something soon – he will die."
"You say that this be the work of Sesshoumaru, if that be the case, then there is but not that can be done for him my child," Kaede said as she looked down at the battle scared and half-dead Inuyasha. "Give to thou the sword Tetsusaiga, for it doth haveth healing properties. Other than what I haveth aforementioned, knoweth that only Inuyasha's will to live can keep him from the world of yonder damnation."
"Please don't die," Kagome gently said as she rested the reverted Tetsusaiga across Inuyasha's chest before taking his hands within hers. "I don't want you to die," she spoke as the first of many tears trickled down her cheek and splashed off her chin. "You are far to important to me," then, pausing for a short moment, she decided not to say what she couldn't help but feel.
I love you, she thought – but did not speak.
The daylight faded to darkness, and then rose again before Inuyasha found his strength enough to rise to his feet. Although the poison had ravaged his insides, and wrecked his body from within, he was his father's blood, and thus could stand strong against the pain.
Sliding the Tetsusaiga into its sheath, he pushed aside the simple reed cover that hung over the doorway of Kaede's hut, and stepped out into the early morning sun. Sitting with their backs against the slope of a nearby hill, Kagome and Sango stopped their conversation as they watched Inuyasha walk towards them.
"I was afraid you weren't going to make it," Kagome said through her smiling lips.
"I'm never going to be beaten by the likes of Sesshoumaru," Inuyasha boasted – before he quietly froze on his feat. Kagome also became silent as she watched Inuyasha turn his head away from her, and glare sternly into the horizon.
"Inuyasha…" Kagome gently said as she rose up from the soft grass to comfort him.
Seeing Kagome with her arms bared open to embrace him, Inuyasha stepped backwards. "I want to be left alone," he said as he turned away from her and slowly walked towards the solitude of the forest, leaving Kagome quietly watching after him.