Title: Inescapable Destiny
Rating: PG
Genre: Drama
Word Count: 195
The war was over. The jewel was complete. The wish was made. None of them knew why the jewel didn't vanish. That didn't matter right now. All that mattered was that their quest had ended.
Sango couldn't stop smiling as she spoke with her brother, brought back to her with Kagome's self-less wish. Her friends all sat in the shade of a nearby tree tending to each other's wounds. Inuyasha, having been hit the hardest was sleeping more soundly than he had in years. Perhaps that's why he didn't make it on time.
Lost in their own thoughts, nobody noticed the flying demon circling, drawn by the power the jewel still radiated. Immediately alert with her first scream, Inuyasha quickly disposed of the creature, but not soon enough.
Inuyasha stared at the flames of her funeral pyre flicker around the jewel with hollow eyes, unable to shed another tear. Miroku had watched his friend struggle with the loss since Kagome's death. Turning his gaze to the fire before him, he found himself praying that the next incarnation would be able to find peace. That for once the shikon would bring love instead of death. Praying…
