Disclaimer: I do not own Inuyasha, or anyone else for that matter. Just borrowing them for my story!

Ch. 3: Rainy Day

Morning came, and with it a bit of fear. They were ready, they knew they were, but still, there was a sense that this was too big, they had bit off more than they could chew. But they were set in their resolve, and would finish what they started, no matter what the cost. They knew going in that they might not all leave.

They sat around the smoldering fire, eating their breakfast of fish caught in the river by Shippou and Kirara earlier that morning. Inuyasha and Kagome sat close, unwilling to lose contact until absolutely necessary. Miroku sat silent in his thoughts, and Sango did the same on the opposite side of the fire.

The sun had not shown its face, and made no move to do so. The skies were dark, with fat clouds full of rain fast approaching. The weather went well with their moods.

They cleaned up their things and began to walk the final leg of their journey. Each member of the group walked in silence, preparing for the upcoming fight.

"I can feel Naraku's dark energy," Kagome said.

"Everyone, be on guard," Inuyasha said. "It is time. We've trained hard for this. We will fight Naraku, and we will defeat him."

They walked up a gently sloping hill, and were suddenly treated to a view of Naraku's castle, sitting on the edge of a cliff. The land in front of the castle was clear and would be good fighting ground. If it weren't for it being a castle owned by one as evil as Naraku, it would be beautiful. The castle itself sat next to a cliff. To the left, the cliff ran about three hundred feet before trees made an appearance. To the right, the trees were thick and began a large ring around the clearing.

They reached the front of the castle, weapons drawn. Kirara and Shippou had transformed into their large demon forms. Inuyasha held Tetsusaiga, fully transformed. Kagome had her bow ready and an arrow nocked in place. Miroku had his staff at the ready, a pile of scrolls in his other hand. Sango held Hirakotsu behind her, ready to throw at a moments notice.

They heard a deep laugh from inside the castle. They heard boards creak, and then he appeared in the doorway. He wore his human form, but his full power was easily felt by all of them. It flowed off of him like waves, and they all felt sick as it hit them.

He laughed again. "The little band of 'warriors', come here to finish me off? What do you think you can do to me? I am invincible. I have almost the entire Shikon jewel, and you are so kind as to bring me the rest." He stopped, and looked at each of them, the determination on their faces. "You really do think that you can stop me, don't you? Fools...you will soon see the error of your thoughts...I am Naraku!" He thundered. "You cannot possibly hope to defeat me!"

With this he attacked the group. His arms lengthened, fast approaching them where they stood. He swung and the group scattered. Kagome let her arrow fly. It screamed toward her enemy, a pink flame starting at the tip and flowing down the length of it. It struck Naraku's arm, separating it from his body. But as it lay disintegrating on the ground, the arm grew again, preparing to strike once more.

Inuyasha saw an opening and attacked. His sword cleaved Naraku's evil appendage at the shoulder. Naraku roared in pain and swung his other arm at the attacking hanyou. Inuyasha sailed through the air and skidded into the ground between Kagome and Naraku. He didn't move.

Kirara and Shippou attacked, both jumping at Naraku and biting ferociously. Naraku's evil energy sprayed out of the wounds, poisoning them. He flung them to the ground. He looked Kagome straight in the eyes as he reached down and snapped Shippou's neck. Kirara attacked him again, weak as she was, and swiped at his chest with her claws. More poison billowed out, and she fell for the last time, succumbing to the choking gas.

"You bastard!" Kagome screamed, letting arrow after arrow go, tearing away chunks of Naraku's body, slowing him, but doing no real damage. She knew she was better than this, but she didn't feel any more power available to her.

Miroku ran at Naraku, staff raised. He threw a scroll at Naraku's face. The scroll hit, and Naraku screamed. He tore it off and looked at the monk in fury.

"You will die for the, monk."

He swung at Miroku, connecting at the monk's arm. There was a snapping noise and Miroku screamed.

Sango looked over. "Houshi! No!" She prepared to throw her boomerang.

"Sister!"

She quickly turned to see Kohaku walk out of the castle. He looked at her, eyes shining with tears.

"Sister! I...I remember you!" he cried.

"Kohaku! Stay where you are! I'm coming for you!" she yelled.

She ran across the clearing towards him when she saw her brother stiffen.

"Sister..." he whispered, a trickle of blood leaving his mouth.

"No! No, Kohaku, wait!" she cried, catching him in her arms as he fell forward. She looked up to see one of Naraku's evil insects carrying away the shard that had kept her brother alive. Naraku put it with his almost fully completed jewel and they combined, leaving a space for the final chip to be added.

She looked down into her brother's eyes. He could barely keep them open and he was now breathing heavily.

"I can see Father...he's standing in front of me," he whispered. A sob escaped her.

"No, Kohaku, don't leave me, you're all I have left, please...please..." She gently rocked his body.

"I'm sorry Sister...I'll be with Father now. He says he forgives me..." With that, a small smile touched his face and then Kohaku died.

"NO!" Sango screamed, facing the dark sky.

She quickly stood and threw Hiraikotsu at Naraku. He lashed out at her, throwing her up and across the clearing.

She fell to the ground twenty feet from Miroku. She looked up to see him get hit in the back. Another snapping noise. He's too close to the edge, she thought. A trickle of blood left the corner of his mouth.

He couldn't see. All he could feel was pain. It filled his body. He couldn't stand much longer. His life was steadily flowing out of his wounds.

"Miroku...no..."

He had never heard her call him by his name before. He could hardly breathe, and yet, he felt suddenly free, from pain and sadness. She had said his name.

His vision cleared and he saw Sango, crawling towards him, her left leg broken. She was sobbing, screaming at him to walk toward her. He looked down at her, tears flowing from his eyes. He spoke.

"Sango...I..." He coughed up more blood. "I'm sorry." He stumbled, backwards.

"No! Miroku! Wait..." Sango screamed, as she watched him step back.

"I'm sorry..." he said again, weeping, and she knew what he meant as he looked at her with love in his eyes.

He stumbled once more, and then he fell over the cliff's edge.

"No...no...no!" Sango screamed into the sky. She fell to the ground sobbing. "No...no, Miroku, don't leave me, you can't leave me..."

Kagome let loose another arrow at Naraku. Inuyasha had not yet regained consciousness. She was fighting as hard as she could, but it wasn't enough.

Sango stood up. She had her weight on her right leg, as she couldn't use her left. She glanced around and saw her weapon lodged in a tree across the clearing. She watched Kagome attack Naraku. She saw that it wasn't working. She looked toward the cliff where her love had disappeared before her eyes. Tears streamed down her face. She looked at Kagome and their eyes locked.

"NO!" Kagome yelled.

"I'm sorry, my friend..." Sango whispered. She turned and stumbled toward the edge. She looked back once more at Kagome, and then she stepped off of the cliff's edge. She felt like a feather drifting lightly down to the ground. She looked down and saw Miroku's purple robes on the ground below her. He had fallen into a beautiful meadow, full of flowers. She closed her eyes and knew she would be with him soon.

Kagome stood, tears falling to the ground. She was the only one left standing right now. Inuyasha had begun to stir, but he hadn't gotten up. She felt then that it was hopeless. She lowered her bow.

"You will defeat him," a voice said behind her. Kikyo stood at the edge of the forest. "I now know what to do. Tell Inuyasha that... I hope he is happy someday." With this, she released the dead souls that kept her earthen body alive. She paled, and Kagome could see a faint smile on her face. She suddenly started to glow with radiant light, and a small glowing sphere burst from her chest. Her body crumbled to the ground.

The glowing sphere rushed through the air towards Kagome. It struck her, entering her chest where it had left Kikyo's. The force threw her back into the ground.

Inuyasha opened his eyes. He rolled his head to the side. His Kagome was on the ground. He didn't see Miroku or Sango anywhere. He pushed himself up onto his knees. He saw Kagome stir.

She stood up. She felt different. She suddenly realized that Kikyo had given her back the part of her soul that had been stolen. She looked up at Naraku, the rage visible in her eyes. She knew that she now had the power she had thought herself capable of. She held the final jewel shard in her palm and concentrated. A tiny blue sphere encased it and hovered about her hand. She focused all her purification powers at it, and it burst into blue flames. It rose in the air, until it hovered in front of her face. She looked at it.

"Go."

It sped toward the air at Naraku, so fast that even he could not dodge it. It struck the jewel, instantly completing and purifying it. He screamed it pain, his body writhing. Where it had hit, his body started to turn to dust and disintegrate. He looked up at her.

"NO! You cannot do this to me! I am the powerful Naraku! I do not die by your hand!"

"You killed my friends! Die, you evil bastard!"

"You will pay, miko. You will pay for what you have done!"

Inuyasha had just stood up. He was facing Naraku, and he saw that Naraku was disappearing before his eyes. He turned to see what had caused it. Kagome stood there, her hair whipping around her, her eyes defiant. She was radiant, glowing with magical energy. She had done it. She had killed Naraku. The world was safe. He could take her home, and be with her forever. He started to walk toward her, a huge smile breaking on his face.

She saw Inuyasha walk toward her. She smiled at him. She started to move to him when she saw it.

"INUYASHA! WATCH OUT!" she screamed.

She saw the arm stream at him and pierce through his back and out of his chest. He looked down to see it sticking out, his blood running down his front. He watched with a questioning look on his face and it started to disintegrate. He looked up at Kagome and saw his blood on her shirt.

"I'm sorry, Kagome..." He fell down as she caught him in her lap.

"NO! You can't take him from me! You can't!" She yelled.

But there was no one there to listen.

Sango...Miroku...Shippou...Kirara...she thought. All dead. Inuyasha... She looked down at Inuyasha. He coughed. He was alive! She tenderly stroked his cheek, her tears mixing with his blood. He opened his eyes and looked up at her. He smiled. He reached up and rubbed her cheek with his thumb. A smear of red marred her otherwise perfect porcelain skin.

"Kagome...you did it. We won..." he said, coughing up more blood.

"We did. Don't speak anymore. We need to get you help. You'll be okay. You've been hurt like this before. We'll get you help and then you and I will be together and everything---" She stopped when he started another coughing fit.

"Kagome, I love you. Know that always..." He looked at her, tears running down his face. His hand fell from her face. His head turned away from him, and he was gone.

She frantically lifted his hand back up to her face. She turned his face up. His lifeless eyes gazed at the sky. She gathered him up in her arms and rocked his body. She turned her head to the sky and screamed, sobs racking her body.

She was so powerful now that in her heightened state of grief, she started to glow. A deep pink aura of purification energy surrounded her. She looked back down at him.

"I love you Inuyasha."

The aura around her grew into a circle surrounding her. She sobbed, and it grew more. She felt that she would die from heartache, and the circle exploded. It expanded to more than thirty miles in every direction, killing any youkai that it touched. It started to dissipate then, until it started getting weaker and weaker.

Sesshomaru walked through the forest, trying to find the source of incredible power that he felt in the air. Jaken was walking a ways ahead of the great demon lord when they saw a great wall of pink energy rushing their way. It hit Jaken and he disintegrated before Lord Sesshomaru's eyes. As it passed through him, the Lord of the Western Lands felt as if his entire body was in a vice. But he also felt a great sadness. It passed, and he recovered, as he was too powerful for the fading energy to truly affect him. He glanced to where Jaken had last stood. He stood for a moment. He had not seen this coming. He had never shown it, but he had begun to tolerate the little toad demon.

Then he continued in the direction of the power he sensed.