AUTHOR'S NOTE: For best effect, listen to some dramatic music at the same time. I suggest Yoko Kanno's "Fish- the Silent Cruise", because that's what I was listening to when I wrote this.

Favorite chapter so far! Draaaaaaaaaaaaamatic! I'm very proud of this one because it used a lot of my heart and soul, so I hope you enjoy it. Fluff fluff fluff fluff fluff fluff fluff!

IMPORTANT: Italics mean that the dialogue is connected to voice, but not to body, so Sango's whole spiel is really audio background to Inuyasha's preparation.

Chapter 11: What is Human?

Miroku sat in deep concentration of the barrier, which would keep out anything the hurricane could throw at them. His mind had separated into two parts. Most of him focused solely on the barrier, while the rest kept him breathing, his heart beating, and his ears open. This barrier was the strongest one he had. It was only to be used under the most extreme conditions, and although he couldn't help but be annoyed that his former master's most prized scroll was to be used to guard a simple well, he willingly made the sacrifice, along with his attention. Sango and Shippou stood over him, ready for anything that might happen. They stared out of the barrier at Inuyasha who now stood unharmed over the northern hill just ahead of them. There was no light left in the sky, and their only reference was the lightning that came every few seconds. As it struck to the north, a figure with long flowing hair and an oversized haori stood on the peak of the hill, not moving, but concentrating on something seemingly out of reach and out of mind.

He knew the hurricane would prove hazardous, but as a hanyou, he had at least moderate chance of surviving. Youkai didn't retreat due to unfavorable weather conditions. When all the world's inhabitants cowered before the height of the season's power, the youkai remained lords over everything they dared to defy. Even with a human heart, the young one on top of the hill possessed the strength and courage of a true demon.

Within a partially transparent blue sphere that served as protection, a female exterminator and a kitsune watched their lone leader staring into space, giving himself emotional preparation for the trial ahead of him… the last trial. An old flea-demon leaped onto the head of the kitsune and looked in pity at his former master's son, "But he needs to learn the secret move first. He has no idea what he's getting himself into. He knows not of the power Naraku has recently possessed…"

Sango spoke without looking away from Inuyasha, "You couldn't have stopped him."

"What?" The two small ones looked up at her, and she continued to speak seemingly from another world. As though her voice existed out of her body…

"… Nothing is more naïve or fragile than the human heart, and yet in its weakness is its strength. Neither we, nor she could ever convince him to leave this be for another day, for that spirit that engulfs him will not allow it. It blinds him, yet gives him sight. Freezes him, yet gives him warmth. Forever a world of opposites conquers his heart…"

Inuyasha took in some deep breaths in preparation for the journey and the fight. There would be no rest for him at the end of the road. Only more toil.

"… What unholy night is this, that we may leave one friend to do battle alone while we guard the path to our other friend, his heart? Able to do nothing? All this time, Inuyasha has appeared to us as cold and selfish, unfeeling for the well-beings of man and youkai alike. He lived in our eyes as an outsider, seeking the Shikon no Tama to become a full-youkai so that he could become stronger. His soul became shattered at the loss of his old love, and who would have expected that her reincarnation would sew the pieces back together? Protection he gave to her, and soon, protection he gave to every righteous human being he ever encountered. What are we if not to protect those whom we love, but who are we if not to love those whom we protect?..."

Water dripped carelessly down the threshold of his muscles, plunging coldness into his veins, and ever so slightly began to freeze over his blood. He shook the water from his clothes, knowing wholeheartedly that it would do nothing in the end. The hurricane was growing stronger by the second, and he couldn't hear anything but the horror of the storm invading his eardrums. In the very far distance, he could just make out the speck that was Naraku's new castle… the final destination. They had never planned to be going so soon to that place so forbidden, but had hoped with all their hearts that they would be ready when they arrived. Turned out that time for action came sooner than needed.

Inuyasha, the half-demon with more power than a full-demon, grasped the sheath of his sword Tetsusaiga, which he could tell was ready for battle. It hummed lightly to him, promising to stay strong for him, if Inuyasha stayed strong for it. Inuyasha inwardly nodded at this. "Tetsusaiga, I am counting on you, just as you are counting on me. We have seen so much battle together, and I have faith in you, but what about myself?"

"… This curse and this blessing may lead him to his doom, and yet he follows his path without care for his future! We see now that he is not selfish or childlike, but a man with weakness and with strength! He has hidden it away from everyone, and yet one girl managed to heal his spirit, and make him give his love again, not just to one person, but everyone!..."

Inuyasha reached under his haori and pulled out the locket Kagome had once given him. The pictures inside had been replaced with nicer ones from a Polaroid camera not too long before.

"…Inuyasha, who started out fighting to become a full-demon, who started out in a fight for his own survival, now enters a realm in which his realities have changed just as the wind changes!..."

Inuyasha wasn't smiling in the picture, but had a scowl, and yet in those eyes, his love was captured. Kagome was smiling sweetly, more with her eyes than her lips. Happiness had been captured in that one moment when the camera flashed. It was untarnished by the drops of water that landed upon it.

"…His passion for the fight… his never-ending struggle to bring happiness and safety to the one he cherishes… to protect the world which they inhabit! Justice he seeks!..."

In that world of the picture, her happiness would remain pure and true as long as he kept that picture next to his heart. It was his driving force... what kept him battling anything and everything. It was what made him love the world he was made to fall in love in, the world that hated him back. He closed the locket again and clenched it within the palm of his hand to feel its strength. "Kagome…"

"…His love is unshakable, just as his rational thought is ever-changing… this is what makes him who he is. Inuyasha seeks not to be youkai… WHAT HE SEEKS IS HIS HEART… WHAT HE SEEKS… IS HUMAN!"

Through the tumult of the hurricane that ravaged the valley, calm suddenly spread over the land, although the eye of the storm had not yet reached them. Time became frozen. Sango's last words echoed over the land, and repeatedly entered back into the ears of the hanyou on top of the hill. The power of those words trembled through the mountains in a way that could confess the meaning of life itself. A smile slowly formed on his face, and he glanced down once more at the locket between his fingers. "Keh. Kagome… I don't even need to transform, do I, to be human."

After a moment more of basking in his realization, lightning slashed through the sky, breaking through the elements and his thoughts. Time continued its rapid movement in terrifying harmony with the wind and rain. Time, which led to the meeting of his love, surged on with more energy than had ever been seen before. And in a flash, Inuyasha was gone. The others lost sight of him as he disappeared over the hill and towards the north.

As fast as his legs could carry him, he stretched outward through the fields, dodging anything in his path. Trees and debris flew past him, mocking him with the speed and power of the wind. It demonstrated what power he was up against in this hurricane. They collided with each other, thereby smashing to pieces. Inuyasha leapt over broken logs and caved in quarries as he continued onward and onward. He reeked of vengeance, which he insisted would be brought forth to his enemy on that very night.

Memories of Kagome possessed his thoughts. Thoughts of her happiness, anger, embarrassment, and sadness. He remembered the day he had met her, and how his motives had changed since that day. He remembered when he had pined away for Kagome when she was mad at his jealousy over the situation with Kouga. He remembered all the times when he would go gallivanting after Kikyo, and how it saddened Kagome. He remembered when he thought he had lost her in the fire at the temple, how it had terrified him so much. He remembered how Kagome's touch brought him back to his hanyou self with a single kiss that spoke of an undying love he did not feel worthy to keep. He remembered that wherever he went, whatever dangers he faced, she was always there, being his guardian angel, just as he was being hers. She had saved him more times and in more ways than she would ever know.

He passed some animals on the way, who were daring enough to attempt crossing the field to the other mountains, praying against all hope that there would be shelter there for them to take refuge in. As he sped along further, he momentarily passed Kouga's pack, and they were knee-deep in water as they struggled through the elements to safety. Once out of sight, he stopped but for a moment to catch his much-needed breath and shake the water once again from his haori. The water returned immediately afterward, and he decided it was useless to fight the inevitable.

The lone hanyou continued once again sprinting for the castle in the far distance where Naraku awaited. He kept running not for a shard, or a youkai, but for human.

In the distant future, the reincarnated miko girl once again jumped into the well, and landed roughly on the soil at the bottom of the well in her time. She pounded at the dirt that blocked her path to the past, "Argh, Inuyasha! This is so typical! Baka, baka, baka! Insufferable hanyou!"

Giving up, she sat down next to the wall. She brought her knees up to her chest and sighed. 'Inuyasha must have blocked off the well again. I can't let him face Naraku, not when he isn't ready. That secret Myouga-jiji was taking about… he needs whatever that maneuver is to defeat him. No! I can't let this happen! I have to go back! … but how?'

A few tears slipped onto her cheeks, 'Inuyasha… baka! You want so much to fight, maybe even do die. Why? Because it makes you feel more like a youkai? I have seen your heart, I have felt it beating whenever you look at me. Or is that why you fight… because as a loved one, you must protect me? Inuyasha no baka! I don't need you to get killed trying to save me. I'll get my revenge on Naraku when the time is right, but for now, all I really need… is your love."

She closed her eyes, remembering the love she shared with the hanyou. After all the horror she had faced, nothing… NOTHING could take the place of the joy that was the aftermath. Those moments she would never give up. And during all the battles they had ever fought, they were always together… side by side. Inuyasha would always try to prevent Kagome from getting involved, yet somehow she always managed to out of her love for him. What was strange was that it seemed to be her presence that kept him fighting longest and hardest, and vice versa.

The girl with ebony hair and tearing brown eyes clenched the soil beneath her fingers. She would not leave him now, not ever! They needed each other to love, and to fight. That's all there was to it. If there was love involved, she knew… they could pull it off together.

Seeing as she was a priestess, she did the only thing she could do in a time like this. She prayed. Clenching her dirtied hands together and intertwining the fingers, she sent her thoughts out in waves as signals to 500 years in the past. The spiritual dendrites of her mind reached out to grasp at anything from that time period. Anything her mind could grab a hold of, and it would be enough. Memories flashed through her mind… memories of Inuyasha. When she met him that fateful day at Goshinboku and how much he had changed since that day, when she left him to go home after having one of their many fights, when she cried for him when she thought he had died, when she had kissed him in order to prevent his transformation, and all the times when she had fallen in love with him over and over again.

Somewhere in the vast reaches of space and time, the cries of her soul grazed the side of a well, and in reflex, her soul grabbed a hold of it tightly. Light flew past her in blue and white while she was suspended in nothingness, and in another moment, she rested once again on solid ground. She stood up facing forward, and summoned up her courage to peer upward. Although circumstances would produce different results on most occasions, she smiled in relief as she came face to face with the branches of a tree.

To be continued…

Yeah! I had so much fun with this! FLUFF FLUFF FLUFF! Very emotional for me and very… very moviesque. Did I do good everyone? Don't feel afraid now to tell me if it wasn't good, cause if I need to improve, I'd like to know.

Mikkasura: I'm really into the whole insanity thing. It really creates moments for over-the-top drama, which I love to death. I'm wondering… do Brits have problems understanding American slang? (hugs)
inuyasha4ever1: Well, something has to happen to them, otherwise there would be no story. Haha! I can't promise you nothing bad will happen, cause along the way, there will definitely be troubles. (hugs)
SlummyRedDragon: Wow, you responded to three chapters all in one sitting. Hurray, you know how I love reviews! And I am so happy to think so highly of this fic to think it could rise above the rest. (hugs)
Jenn-silent breed: Been playing the piano for 14 years so far, so it's like second nature that any chance I can get to transpose, I do it. And Inuyasha, he's a baka! That's why! A stubborn baka who thinks he's responsible for everything! But that personality becomes really important to the moral of the whole story, so it does have a purpose. (hugs)
InuyashaKougalover: I always wondered why he wouldn't just try that to begin with, but then again, he ain't that bright. I also wonder how Inuyasha could've stolen the shikon jewel in the episode 1 if Naraku had already taken it from Kikyo. Ah, plot holes!
mnnoct91: I also loathe cliffies, but somehow it always works out that when I reach that certain number of pages, something drastic happens. It's like some weird phenomenon with me. But there won't be cliffies all the time. (hugs)
inubaby2: Aww, you're cute. I like you. I promise things won't be sad in the end. Glad you like the story. (hugs)
LanierShazar: Hope that wasn't too out of character for him, but it was poking at me and poking at me and poking and me and… (hugs)
Liknn: All shall be explained over time, not here, of course. I'm so mean like that. (hugs)
Reilly may: MORE! Lol… couldn't resist! Of course I will! (hugs)
inuyasha lover: I wouldn't dream of stopping now. We gotta get Naraku after all. By 'we' I mean me and my puppet, Inuyasha. (hugs)
Personage: My first Inuyasha fic, but I have written just a few Teen Titan ones, though I think this one is my best so far. Still a newbie to fanfiction though. Glad it's working out so good. Oh… and a main point in this story is that Kagome will heal over time even though she will still have vulnerable moments, and that that healing will be brought on by Inuyasha being there for her. (hugs)
InuyashaGal: I'm assuming that 'onegai' means 'please' and that you're not insulting me or anything . I haven't a clue what 'sugoi' means, but I guess it must be good. I'm glad you appreciate it so much. (hugs)
a100rinchhead: I applaud you on both counts! Are the English subtitles really accurate? I'm glad you like the story. (hugs)