Inuyasha had made a big mistake by not finishing his opponents fast enough and he knew that. By being 'slow' he had given Sesshoumaru the opportunity to study his attacks and although the dog demon was hurt he was still a formidable enemy. But the hanyou had more to show and the result was Sesshoumaru's shocked and stunned condition.

"This can't be possible!" Jaken was shouting from inside the cave as the others were just staring. "He is just a hanyou!"

'I am not a hanyou anymore.' Inuyasha told himself with disgust and growled. The whirl of youki around him became stronger, his teeth became sharper and his face started to change.

Kagome felt her whole body shaking. If someone had told her that something like this was going to happen she would've never believed. Now she still couldn't believe it and was desperately praying to whoever was hearing her all this to be just a bad dream. But it seemed that nobody was listening. She looked at her friends, and then at Sesshoumaru – they were all shocked and stunned just like her, well except Jaken who was in panic.

The sight of Sesshoumaru in this condition was best for a picture and Inuyasha seemed to enjoy what he was causing. Suddenly his words echoed in her ears 'I will drink your blood.' and something seemed to snap inside her – in situation like this instead of fear she felt anger raising inside her. 'No, Inuyasha.' Kagome said to herself firmly. 'I will not let you kill your friends and brother.' she bent down and picked up her arrow. 'Ok. I may die but I'm going to stop you... Inuyasha...'

Gripping the arrow tightly Kagome ran toward the transforming hanyou. Her friends yelled to her not to go near him but she didn't listen and continued running. All that noise caught Sesshoumaru's attention and he seemed to snap out of his shock but it was too late for him to stop the girl. "Kagome," he yelled after her, "stay away from him!"

Although it was a miracle to hear her name from Sesshoumaru's mouth, Kagome didn't pay attention to him – she had made her decision. She was determined not to run away, sure that deep inside his heart Inuyasha remembered her and wasn't going to hurt her. She would do everything to bring him back, after all she had promised to be with him forever. This forever couldn't be so short, right?

"Inuyasha!" she yelled at him just a meter away from him and he just looked at her. The whirl of youki swallowed her and Inuyasha reached with one clawed hand to grab her throat. "You want my blood? I'll give you some!" with that she gripped the arrow tip with her left hand and violently pulled the arrow away from her hand.

Inuyasha pulled his hand back as blood from Kagome's cut palm flew in the air. A few drops landed on his face and the smell of the blood hit his nose. For some reason, which he didn't know or couldn't remember, it was so familiar and intoxicating that he felt dizzy. The youki around him immediately calmed down, his eyes turned to red and his claws shrunk.

When she had cut her palm Kagome had dropped the arrow and held her hurt hand close to her chest, trying to stop the bleeding. She had closed her eyes and waited for Inuyasha to at least attack her, if not kill her. But then she felt the whirl of youki disappear and Jaken's comments about what was happening. She opened her eyes and met Inuyasha's.

Inuyasha stared at her in disbelief – he hadn't expected something like this. And the smell of her blood... It was becoming more familiar with every passing second, the same thing was happening with the girl's scent too. He looked at her pained look and felt like someone had stabbed him in the heart. He reached with his right hand to his left cheek and whipping a drop of blood held it in front of his face.

Kagome watched his actions with great interest. She was kind of happy seeing that he hasn't completely forgotten her, but that wasn't enough. She saw a faint glow in his chest. 'With that demon side... It will always corrupt the Shikon shards. I have to do something...' she thought and while Inuyasha was still inspecting the drop of blood on his fingers she stepped closer to him.

Sesshoumaru gulped. 'That girl... She is completely insane.' he thought and quickly glanced at the others. They were still behind the barrier and were like hypnotized of what Kagome was doing. 'But she has more chance of bringing him back to his senses.'

Inuyasha saw her move closer to him but didn't react. Somehow he didn't feel threatened from her and just watched what she was going to do. Kagome reached with her hands toward his chest, wincing as her hurt palm touched him. She felt him shiver and he looked at her wide-eyed.

'I...I know her...' Inuyasha thought and his eyes seemed to widen more. 'K-Ka...' he didn't know why but he suddenly felt a need to remember her name. His head was starting to hurt but he still couldn't say the name.

Kagome didn't dare to look at his face. She kept her eyes in level with his chest, where she could see the glow of the Shikon shards. 'Please remember...' she thought and closed her eyes, then moved even closer and leaned her head on his chest. She felt his heart beat and breathing quicken and smiled.

Only Sesshoumaru, being right in front of Inuyasha, saw how his brother's eyes suddenly flashed in gold and after he blinked a few times they remained like that. The dog demon could smell his brother's scent start to turn back to normal but he could also feel that Kagome's strength was weakening. 'I she doesn't hold on he'll transform again.' he thought and prepared to attack, just in case.

A strong pulse ran through Inuyasha's body and his claws shrunk, with the next pulse his teeth turned back to normal and finally the purple marks on his cheeks disappeared. Kagome opened her eyes and saw that the glow in his chest had become purer. She slowly lifted her head and saw his golden eyes intently staring at her. She smiled at him and he looked at her as if he was frightened.

"Y-You..." he stammered out and Kagome felt him stiffen.

"Yes, Inuyasha, it's me..." she said to him and pulled slightly back.

"B-But y-you..." Inuyasha continued stammering. "You died... I..." he gripped her forearms and tried to push her away, afraid that she was some kind of hallucination.

"No, Inuyasha!" Kagome held his shirt tightly despite the pain in her hand. "It's me, I didn't die..."

"No!" Inuyasha yelled and pushed her back.

Kagome fell on the ground a few meters away from him. She saw him make a few steps back holding his head and growling at the obvious pain he was feeling. She stood up and tried to go to him again but was stooped by a hand on her right forearm. "Sesshoumaru, let me go." she turned to him and tried to free herself.

"No, stay away from him." the dog demon said firmly and pulled her back with him, despite her struggling. "You did what you could. It's up to him now." he said and that made Kagome to stop wriggling and look at Inuyasha.

He gripped his head tighter, trying to ease the pain but instead it was growing stronger. It was because of the girl – before she interfered it didn't hurt so much, there was only a dull pain in the chest and something in the back of his head that was telling him that he wasn't supposed to do such things. And until now he could easily ignore it. Suddenly he found himself wanting to hold on to the pain, if after it he would get some answers. He felt a strong pulse coming from his chest and bending his head he finally saw the faint glow of the Shikon shards.

As Inuyasha looked at his chest he stooped growling and dropped his hands to his sides. This made the others freeze – has he remembered or has he managed to hold on against Kagome's purifying power and corrupted the shards again. Nobody could be sure.

'This can't be all...' Kagome thought as she looked at the hanyou. 'There's more I can do for him. To remove the shards he has to have something to do it for.' with that she pulled her hand violently and Sesshoumaru was caught unprepared. She managed to free herself from him and ran toward Inuyasha.

'Stubborn girl.' the dog demon thought and was just about to go after her when another thought ran thought his mind. 'Maybe there's more she could do for him...' he said to himself and remained on his place.

Kagome was in front of Inuyasha again. She held his shirt and shook him slightly. "Inuyasha snap out of it." she almost yelled at him but he wasn't moving. "Inuyasha, do you want to remember? Do you want to see me again?" she asked but still got no response. Then she decided to try something else. "Who am I, Inuyasha?"

At her last question the hanyou's head snapped up to look at her. 'Who is she...' he asked himself and felt the pain in his chest grow. By now he had noticed that she, more than anything, was making the pain grow stronger. Somehow he knew that she must've meant much for him and she had died, but what was her name – he couldn't remember. So, it was obvious that she was the key.

"Her name..." Inuyasha murmured and his hands started shaking. Something inside him was raging and he desperately wanted to let it go.

Kagome heard his words and smiled at him. "Yes, Inuyasha, my name. What is my name?" she asked and reached with her uninjured hand toward his left cheek. She caressed his cheek and pushed herself on her tip toes. She moved her lips, noiselessly saying her own name and kissed him.

Inuyasha's eyes widened, just like everybody else's, and another pulse came from the shards. He felt warm and at ease for the first time in days. And now he realized just how much he missed that feeling. It was so overwhelming and pleasant that he lost himself and kissed back the girl in front of him.

As she pulled back the pain returned but now he knew what to do. He pushed her away, again, and growled at her to stay away. Kagome didn't want to listen to him and wanted to go to him again but then she stopped in shock of what she was seeing. Inuyasha made a step back and raised his right hand in front of his chest. His breathing was heavy and ragged and he cast one last look toward her before digging his claws in his chest.

"Inuyasha!" Kagome cried and held her hands on her mouth but she knew better than to go near him at this moment.

The hanyou doubled over in pain and dug his claws deeper. Finally he reached the shard – the seven shards had merged together in his body and now it was easier to take them out. Pulling his hand away, along with the shard, a single name ran through his mind – Kagome. The shard flew in the air and fell on the ground not too far away from him. He was slightly bent down, his arms hanging to the sides, blood dripping from his right hand and chest.

Kagome still didn't dare to go to him and Sesshoumaru was still ready to fight. Finally Inuyasha lifted his head and his golden eyes found Kagome's brown. "Kagome..." he said and made a step forward.

The girl didn't move from her place – she just couldn't believe that he had remembered her and everything was over. Then with his next step forward Inuyasha's legs gave out and he fell on his knees. He almost cried her name making her to run to him and falling on her knees in front of him, embrace him. She held him tight and desperately tried not to cry – after all he's been through she didn't want to upset him more.

Inuyasha buried his face in her neck and inhaled her scent deeply. "You're alive, Kagome..." he was saying and still couldn't believe it. His arms were wrapped around her and he was holding her so tight like it was no tomorrow. At this moment he realized something – he didn't want to let her go, ever.

He felt a wave of feelings and emotions and they were so overwhelming that he thought he was going to cry. And for the first time in his life he could distinguish every one of his feelings and emotions, for the first time since he had met Kagome he knew what he felt for her – love. He could finally separate her from Kikyou and that made him hold her even tighter. He wanted to tell her but he couldn't make himself to talk. He just stayed in her arms and for now that was enough.

Sesshoumaru watched his brother and his girl and shook his head. "I can't watch this." he said and walked toward the Shikon shard. After taking it he went to the cave. Jaken was overexcited that his master was alright and was making too much noise, while the others were trying to make him shut up. Sesshoumaru sighed and threw the shard at the barrier. It disappeared and the shard hit Jaken's head, effectively silencing him.

"Let's go." the dog demon said and turned to leave, followed by Ah-Un and the still dizzy from the hit Jaken, who was begging his master to wait for him and stumbling all the way. Rin said her goodbye to the others and followed her companions.

Miroku took the shard from the ground and placed it inside his robes. Then his eyes turned toward his two friends, who were still holding each other in their arms. Kouga made a disgusted sound and turned away, which only made Sango and Shippo smile.

"What should we do now, Houshi-sama?" Sango asked and placed a hand on his shoulder.

"I suggest we leave them alone for a while." the monk said and turned to look at Kouga.

"Alright." the wolf demon sighed. "I guess I don't have chances with Kagome anymore." he said and followed the others inside the cave.

Kagome and Inuyasha stayed on the clearing for a while and whenever Kagome tried to make him let go of her so she could see his wound he was growling and tightening his hold on her. "Come on, Inuyasha, we can't stay like this forever." she pleaded with him and he nuzzled her neck in response. Suddenly she felt something wet on her skin and was just about to say something when Inuyasha pulled away.

"Don't say anything." he said, his voice a little shaky. He turned his head slightly away and wiped his eyes. "I'm sorry..."

"You know what?" Kagome said and smiled a little. "We both have to be sorry." that made him to look at her a little surprised and confused and she placed a hand on his cheek. "I for leaving you and you for not waiting me to return. But you're forgiven, 'cause you're an idiot." she laughed at her last sentence and to her surprise Inuyasha smiled too.

"A big one." he said and sighed, happy to be able to look at her again.

TBC