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Author's Notes: Wow, so that was an action packed chapter, and this one is going to be full of angst. Sorry, I know that's not exactly fun to read, but I think it's necessary for this story. And please, don't kill me at the end of this chapter, I promise things will start to look up because of the simple fact that I'm a happy person by nature and can't write depressing stuff for long without getting depressed myself. So, I promise, no more angsty chapters after this one, okay? That doesn't mean there won't be drama, just no more angst, because frankly I can't stand the stuff.
Thanks as always for your wonderful reviews, I can't tell you enough how much they mean to me. I'm trying to get out frequent updates, but one never knows what my evil teachers will throw at me when it comes to homework so, who knows. We'll just have to wait and see. Enjoy chapter eight!

Miko Sakura-sama: Thanks for the information, I couldn't remember what that creature was called. Now I know. And as for Kagura and Kanna, I think I'll just stick to the fact that they die with Naraku, because I haven't seen the movie so I don't really know about that whole aspect. But thanks for the input, and as always I appreciate your reviews!

Inulover#1: Yes, Kouga will have his appearance eventually, so have faith. And I'm glad you like my stories, thanks for the review!

Dinkydaelf: I think except for cheerleading, most girls sports receive little or no funds. Unless it's football, basketball, or baseball, which draw big crowds, nobody cares. I know exactly how you feel.

Ssp51201: 'Summertime, and the living is easy. Fish are jumpin, and the cotton is high.' I love that song! Thanks for the review!

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Title: Soldiers in a Timeless Battle

Author: dolphingirl0113

Chapter: Eight

Rating: PG-13 (for language and, at times, sexual implications)

Disclaimer: I don't own Inuyasha.

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Everything was moving in slow motion as Inuyasha thrust himself forward, barely managing to snatch Kagome before she hit the ground. Her dead weight forced him to his knees, but that didn't matter since all he cared about was that she was in his arms once more.

But something was wrong. She wasn't moving, and even his sharp ears couldn't detect any signs of breathing.

"No," he whispered, and squeezed the woman with all his might, as though to transfer some of his life into her body. "No Kagome, don't you dare die. Don't you even think about leaving me!"

But she remained still and lifeless in his arms, and Inuyasha felt the desperation that overcomes someone at the prospect of losing their inspiration for existing at all.

"Damn you, Kagome," his voice cracked, the tears welling in his eyes, "Wake up! You're such a wench, always having to have the last word! This time it's not going to work! You're not going to sacrifice your life for me! Do you hear me? Wake up!"

In that moment, not even Kikyou could ignore the sudden melancholy air, and she was moved by Inuyasha, her former love, and the obvious fact that he would truly be lost without her reincarnation.

Sesshoumaru stepped forward, placing a hand on the hilt of his sword, the tenseiga. "Inuyasha, stop shaking her body, it will do her no good."

The hanyou looked up and, seeing what his brother intended to do, felt a great relief wash over him. Kagome was going to be okay, once Sesshoumaru revived her.

But the demon lord replaced the sword at his side after only a second, and everyone still conscious in the clearing gave him a strange look.

"Kagome is still alive," he stated simply, "There are no demons from the otherworld trying to take her soul." And with that he turned around and returned to the fallen Nancy, still unconscious on the ground.

She was alive?

Inuyasha placed one of his ears next to her mouth and, sure enough, heard and felt a faint whisper of breath escape her lips.

He wanted to shout for joy, but instead the hanyou contented himself by pulling her close and holding her gently against him, as though she were the most fragile of gifts that could break in an instant.

All was silent, though now everyone was more relaxed knowing their friend was not dead, and it was only when the sound of shuffling leaves broke the moment that they realized they weren't alone.

Sukiono was staring stupidly at Kagome as though he couldn't understand what had happened. Inuyasha growled menacingly, but his opponent ignored him as though he didn't exist.

"Why?" he whispered, utterly bewildered. "Why was she hurt? Why did she do that? She wasn't supposed to get hurt. I," he staggered back, "I promised I wouldn't hurt her."

Growling even more furiously, Inuyasha gave Kagome over to Miroku and Sango's care before rising to his feet and grabbing the hilt of tetsusaiga.

"You bastard," he hissed, "You almost killed her. I will never forgive you for that as long as I live."

Sukiono's eyes suddenly went hard as flint, the display of confusion and tenderness gone in an instant, as though they were never there in the first place.

"Kagome will be mine in the end, Inuyasha," he stated simply, sounding more like his father then ever. "She is vital to my success. So I suggest you enjoy the time you have with her now."

"Shut up, baka!" Inuyasha burst out. "I won't have you talk about her that way! She will never be yours!"

But before he could charge, the hanyou found himself surrounded by the horde of demons that had, only a moment before, been attacking Miroku and Sango. The quiet was gone, and Inuyasha watched as his enemy disappeared while he was forced to fend off the weaker demons.

Once he was rid of them, he made to follow Sukiono, but stopped when he felt a familiar, friendly hand on his shoulder, and turned to see Miroku with an unusually serious face.

"Don't, Inuyasha, not yet. Kagome needs you now. Later, when she is better, you can go after him together."

Realizing the sense in the monk's words, Inuyasha nodded and frowned. "He's a worthy opponent, and one we should not underestimate, don't you think?"

Miroku nodded. "Most certainly. But now that we know his attack strategies, which aren't much different from Naraku's, we at least understand our new enemy a little better."

The two friends continued to confer with each other for several more minutes, but broke apart when Sango gasped in horror.

Whirling around, Inuyasha saw everyone staring at the blood starting to heavily stain the crotch of Kagome's jeans. At first he assumed she was just in her time of the month, but when he looked at Sango's worried face, he knew something was horribly wrong.

"What is it?"

Tears came to the exterminator's eyes, and she was unable to speak, other then to whisper, "Oh Kagome, my sister."

This only caused Inuyasha to feel his frustration grow. "Would someone tell me what's going on?"

Kikyou stepped forward and knelt beside the unconscious Kagome, looking the woman over thoroughly before nodding to herself grimly and glancing up at Inuyasha, her expression dark.

"What is it Kikyou?" His voice was beginning to sound desperate. "Please tell me what's wrong with my mate?"

"Inuyasha, Kagome's having a miscarriage."

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Slowly opening her eyes, only to shut them instantly against the bright light of the sun, Kagome groaned as pain shot through her head. Where was she? What was going on?

All she could remember was Sukiono attacking Inuyasha, and then feeling herself practically explode as she leapt in front of the beam meant for her husband. After that, it was all a blank slate.

Wanting to know what was going on, Kagome tried to sit up, only to groan again and decide against it, feeling a sharp pain in her abdomen, not to mention the fierce protest of the rest of her body against the movement.

At least I know I'm not dead, she mused silently, checking off that possibility, but still nervous and desperate to understand her current situation.

"Okay, think Kagome," she whispered out loud, hearing her voice giving her assurance that she was indeed alive and okay, at least to a certain extent.

Her body was warm, and she soon discovered that was due to the fact that she was wrapped securely in a soft blanket, her head resting on a pillow. But noting the blanket forced her to also realize the fact that she was NOT wearing her other clothes.

"Oh god," she whispered, praying she was not still in the company of Sukiono, and that he had not been the one to remove her garments. She had been down that road once already, and had no desire to do it again.

Thinking about that caused her to also think about Inuyasha, and Kagome suddenly realized that she didn't know if her plan had worked, or if he was dead.

"Inuyasha," she whispered, feeling herself grow panicky. "Inuyasha!"

Light suddenly filled her eyes as a figure appeared in the doorway beside her, and Kagome sighed in relief when she saw a pair of familiar ears and long, flowing silver hair framing concerned amber eyes.

He was alive.

Realizing this, Kagome put two and two together quickly and finally made the discovery that she was in Kaede's hut. The thought made her blush, thinking about how foolish she had been to assume the worst before thinking things through.

A pair of strong arms embraced her and, trying not to wince in pain, Kagome leaned against Inuyasha's strong chest, sighing as she breathed in his scent, which always reminded her of the forest.

"Inuyasha," she whispered, tears coming to her eyes, "You're alright."

Hearing her voice, the hanyou felt himself collapse in a state of relief, his whole body losing its strength as he sank down to lay beside her, suddenly not having the energy to sit on his knees.

Kagome gratefully spooned against him, her back to his front, and never felt as secure as she did at that moment when he put his arms around her waist and buried his nose in the nape of her neck, inhaling deeply as he smelled her hair.

"Kagome," he sighed, "I was so afraid."

"Of what?"

He tightened his hold on her instinctively. "I thought you were dead. You weren't moving, and I couldn't hear you breathing. Oh god, Kagome, I thought I had lost you."

His voice was frantic, but Kagome only felt her love for him swell to the point of nearly causing her to burst. He loved her that much. Never had she felt so happy.

"Its okay, Inuyasha, I'm okay and we're together again. And I'll not let him take me away from you."

She felt him about to respond when light flooded the small room once more as three more people appeared, caught in the doorway since they couldn't all fit. Kagome couldn't help but smile as she recognized Miroku, Sango, and Shippou.

"Kagome!" Shippou cried in joy as he rushed her with open arms, starting to pounce on her with a huge hug, only to be stopped by an annoyed Inuyasha holding him up by the neck.

"Idiot, she's not fully recovered. You should know better."

The steadily-growing kitsune put a large frown on his face, to which Kagome simply laughed, though the sound turned into a whimper as hot pain shot through her lower abdomen once more.

Seeing her clutch her stomach, the others frowned, their faces paling, which did not escape Kagome's notice.

"Hey, its okay, you guys, just a little pain, that's all," she tried to assure them, but that only seemed to make things worse.

Sango fell to her knees beside her friend and pulled her into an embrace as Kagome awkwardly moved to sit on her knees.

"Oh, Kagome-chan, I was so worried," she whispered, and Kagome could feel the woman's tears against her own cheek.

"Sango, what is it? I'm fine, so why are you crying?"

The usually controlled demon exterminator pulled back and wiped at her eyes furiously for several minutes before looking away, unable to meet Kagome's eyes, which only caused her more unrest.

"Would someone please tell me what's going on?" She glanced at Miroku, but he seemed near tears himself as he looked away, and Inuyasha had so much pain in his eyes Kagome nearly fell backward in shock. "Inuyasha?"

"Kagome," he started to say something, but at that moment Kaede appeared, doing her usual slow shuffle across the floor to kneel beside Kagome.

"Oh, bless you child, you're awake," the old woman sighed happily, touching Kagome's face kindly. "And we're so glad to have you back among us."

"Lady Kaede, there is something the others are not telling me," Kagome began, and noticed how the older miko's face fell instantly. But rather then letting her look away, Kagome took the old woman's hands in her own and forced their eyes to meet. "Please tell me what's going on."

Kaede sighed, but finally relented, speaking to Kagome in the gentlest voice she could muster under the circumstances.

"Kagome, did you know that you were with child?"

"What?" Kagome opened her eyes as wide as saucers at the unexpected news. "That's impossible, I was taking birth control pills."

"No form of birth control is fool proof," Kaede replied gently, seeing that the news had not yet fully sunk in for the young woman.

"So, you're saying that I'm pregnant?" The hope in Kagome's eyes killed everyone in the room, and all were thankful it was Kaede telling her the bad news, and not themselves.

"No Kagome, you were pregnant."

"Were?"

"After you took the hit from your enemy to save Inuyasha, your body naturally went into shock, and you had a miscarriage."

"What?" Kagome felt like she could only speak one word at a time all of a sudden, and knew she did not fully comprehend what she was hearing. She had been pregnant? But how was that possible? She would have known, wouldn't she?

"I'm terribly sorry, child, but keep in mind that while you may have lost your unborn baby, you still saved the life of your husband."

"What?" That was fast becoming Kagome's favorite word as she felt the color drain from her face. She was lost in her thoughts, suddenly not hearing anything anyone was saying as she tried to piece together this incredibly confusing puzzle.

I'm pregnant.

No, I was pregnant.

I had a miscarriage.

But how is that possible?

Kagome tried to remember the last time she had her period, and for the first time realized that it had been well over two months since her last cycle, she had just been too busy to notice.

I was pregnant.

But I had a miscarriage.

Suddenly it all made sense. All those dizzy spells, and the unexplained nausea for hours at a time. She recalled that afternoon in Mr. Clancy's classroom, waiting for the nausea to pass and thinking it was just because she hadn't eaten breakfast. What a fool she had been!

And now, as she continued to work through the mess of thoughts running through her mind, the reality of what Kaede had said began to sink in.

I was pregnant.

I was going to be a mother.

Inuyasha and I were going to be parents!

It could have been a little girl like me!

Or maybe a little boy with ears like his father.

Tears began to well up in Kagome's eyes as she continued to think, at the same time wishing she could just close her mind off from the pain that was beginning to seep into her soul.

She hadn't known this child until a few moments ago, after it was already gone, and yet, somehow, Kagome felt such a sense of loss that it was taking several moments to fully comprehend what she was feeling.

Images of her walking down the streets of Tokyo carrying a baby in her arms, people commenting on how much it looked like her, or how cute or well behaved it was, filled her mind. She thought of what it would have been like to sing the child to sleep every night, or watch as Inuyasha's eyes softened at the sight of his son or daughter. She imagined how awkward he would have been holding the baby at first, but how he would have quickly learned.

And suddenly, with these memories, came the pain, horrible, excruciating pain that tore into her very soul and ripped out a piece of her heart. The part that desperately wanted such a reality to come true.

I was pregnant.

I was going to be a mother.

But now the baby's dead.

The baby's dead.

"Oh god!" she screamed, and suddenly burst into tears.

Inuyasha had watched the woman he loved more then life itself for the past several minutes, knowing from the look on her face that she was struggling to comprehend what was happening, and what she had just been told. And then, when her face had turned ashen and her eyes had filled with tears, he knew the reality had sunk in.

Immediately he fell to the floor and took her in his arms, clutching her tightly, ignoring the fact that she was still weak from the attack, only wanting to help her past this pain.

"It's okay Kagome," he soothed, "It will be alright."

"Oh Inuyasha, our baby's dead," she whispered, and hearing her say 'our' brought back all the pain he had first felt when he heard the news.

She continued to cry for several minutes, everyone else in the room silent, just their presence enough to offer their friend support in her time of need.

Finally, pulling back and wiping her eyes, Kagome tried to think clearly, though she felt empty in the pit of her stomach. "What happened to Sukiono?"

"Sukiono?" Inuyasha had a confused expression.

"Naraku's son," she replied, feeling a slight stab at the word son. She could have had a son.

Inuyasha growled at the memory. "He fled like a coward, just like his father before him used to do. But he'll be back, and he'll want to take you again." He looked at Kagome steadily. "But I won't let that happen."

She nodded, not feeling like saying much of anything at the moment. She glanced up at Sango and Miroku, and tried her best to give them a smile. This only brought more tears to her friend's eyes.

"Oh Kagome-chan," Sango cried, wrapping her arms around her friend's neck once more. "I'm so sorry."

"As am I, Kagome-sama," Miroku added, kneeling beside her and embracing her fondly. Kagome felt his hand slide down her back a little, and pinched his shoulder to halt its process. Funny how that usually annoying action actually lifted her spirits in this situation.

Shippou joined the hug, and before long Kagome was feeling herself toppling over from the weight of too many bodies. Inevitably, they crashed against the ground, but rather then crying out in pain, Kagome started laughing softly.

"Thanks, you guys," she said kindly.

"Are you going to be okay?" Sango asked, touching her friend's cheek, and Kagome nodded.

"I'll be alright. As heartless as it might sound, if I had to lose this baby, then it's probably better I didn't know before now that I had been pregnant. It hurts enough just knowing there ever was a baby."

Kaede nodded. "A mother's instincts are strong, and while you did not know of the baby's existence, your body did, and now that it is gone you will mourn what could have been."

Nodding her head, Kagome sighed and felt suddenly very tired, both from grief and physical strain.

Allowing herself to lay back down with her head against the pillow, she sighed and felt her eyelids grow heavy. "Where is Nancy? Is she alright?"

"She took a pretty bad beating," Sango replied, "But Sesshoumaru took her back to his home for a while to recover, and," she winked playfully, "Probably to have some 'bonding time'. Who would have thought our stoic demon lord would have fallen in love with a human."

Kagome smiled softly as the other's conversed around her, trying to stay awake and hear what they had to say, but in the end surrendering to sleep.

Losing the baby would be hard, but Kagome knew she and Inuyasha had time for other children. This pregnancy had been a complete surprise, and now when she was better Kagome intended to see her obstetrician about finding a different pill, since the once she was on now clearly wasn't doing the job.

Kagome knew she would mourn the baby for a while, but she also knew that time could heal all wounds. And she also knew she and Inuyasha had plenty of time for more children later. For the moment, they needed to focus on Sukiono, and defeating the threat he now posed to their lives and the lives of other innocent people.

A part of her wanted revenge for what happened to her and her baby. After all, if it weren't for Sukiono she would still be pregnant now. But Kagome refused to fall into such a pit of darkness.

After hearing his story, about how he had met Naraku and became what he was now because of seeking revenge against those who had killed his mother, Kagome saw that once you started down that path you could never turn back, and were never fully yourself again.

I can get through this, she thought, because I have Inuyasha. And so, with his handsome face in her mind, Kagome allowed herself to slip into the world of dreams.