Just because it's come up a lot, anyone who wants to talk to me on AIM is absolutely welcome to do so. I would love to hear from you guys one on one.

Chapter 17: Our Story

She awoke as though she had been in slumber, but the headache was crazy to boot. Bringing her hand to her head to rub the soar spot, she silently wondered if she had had any sake lately. Not recalling, she finally opened her eyes, only to see the sky above her. She sprang up and saw Miroku lying next to her, covered in bruises. "Houshi-sama!"

Sango grabbed onto him and shook his shoulders, "Houshi-sama! Wake up! Please wake up!"

How sly of Miroku to sneak his hand behind her before revealing his eyes to her. Sango was almost at tears when she felt a familiar squeeze, and a scowl returned to her face. She slapped him hard in the face. He let out a yelp and rubbed his cheek with the perpetrating hand. Sango sulked and crossed her arms, "You seem fine. Wait till I tell Kagome about this."

Her eyes widened. Kagome! Inuyasha! Naraku's castle! "Oh my God! Miroku, what happened to everyone? Where are we?"

"Calm down," an emotionless voice called, who they recognized immediately to be Sesshoumaru's.

"Sesshoumaru? Wh-what are you doing here? Where are our friends?" Sango asked, still in shock.

"That kitsune is out gathering medical herbs, and Inuyasha and the miko are still fighting Naraku," He replied as he sat down up against a tree.

"What?.!" Sango cried, "We've got to help them!"

She made a move to get up, but quickly collapsed under the pain. Sesshoumaru stated the obvious, "You both have broken bones. You will not be able to fight. You'll have to stay here. Besides, only Inuyasha and Kagome can defeat him now."

Miroku struggled into a sitting pose along with Sango, "Did… did you… save us?"

Sesshoumaru seemed to be in thought for a moment, and then sneered, "Heh. You were in the way, so I had to fix it."

The same answer he had given to Kagome before. Sango wanted to ask more, but Miroku stopped her, thinking it was only bad to question Sesshoumaru. Miroku replied, "So, it's up to Inuyasha and Kagome-sama to defeat Naraku. Well, let's just pray that they figure out this ultimate weapon Myouga-jiji was talking about."

Back within Naraku's castle, Naraku was becoming uneasy. Perhaps it was something in the air, but he suddenly had a bad feeling about letting the couple stay in there. It was taking far too long for Inuyasha to kill her and return to fighting him. Satisfied with his theory that things weren't going as he planned, he aimed his sword's power towards the pile of rock. If rocks didn't kill them, he would.

Inuyasha smiled at his beloved one, "Let's go get him."

As if on cue, they heard something crash, and saw as the loose wall of stone began to fall apart above them. Thinking fast, Inuyasha clutched Kagome under him and brought out his Tetsusaiga. He held it above them and the barrier took over. They bounced off of it's aura in every direction, until finally the rocks stopped.

When the dust settled, they looked up to see their enemy, Naraku, standing on the opposite side of the vast room, with sword in hand. Seeing Inuyasha's human eyes made him growl, "You've transformed back! You bitch, you've stolen my power!"

Kagome replied, "You underestimate us, Naraku!"

Naraku grunted in frustration, but then his gaze returned to normal as if he was unfazed by it all. "Silly me. How could I have left you two alone. Well, since you're both here anyway, you still up for dying?"

"You've lost, Naraku," Inuyasha stated rather calmly.

Naraku didn't like how confident he was, but he wouldn't let them see how furious he was that he had been robbed of the hanyou's power, "I will not lose to a pathetic hanyou. You've already seen that my power can destroy you, and any attack you possess is unable to stop it. There will always be more youki for me to steal, and I will become more powerful everyday."

"Then we'll just have to stop you today," Inuyasha threatened, and he positioned his sword in front of him.

Naraku smirked, "And how do you plan to do that? None of your attacks can stop me. You will die here, along with your precious miko."

Inuyasha's protective side kicked in as he clutched Kagome's clothing with his free hand. Naraku continued, "Go ahead. Whatever you think of won't work. It will only come back to you."

Inuyasha whispered a grunt. What could they do? Every attack he had tried had failed, and even his youkai form couldn't stop him. Now, they were without their powerful teammates, both of them were vulnerable, and Naraku had a power they had never seen an equal to. Inuyasha looked hopeless, "Kagome?"

He reached his arm around her and brought into his chest for a sweet embrace. All the while, he glared over his shoulder at Naraku, who looked amused at the couple. He whispered, "What should we do?"

Kagome wrapped her arms around his mid-section, "We stay and fight."

"But… every attack I have will just come back to kill us."

She gave a sad sigh, "If I had to die, I would want to die with you."

He clutched her tighter, "Kagome… I don't want to lose you again."

"You'll never lose me, Inuyasha. Whether we die today or not, we'll always have each other."

He sighed remorsefully. Time and time again he would die for this girl, and so being with her in death sounded like no chore. And yet, they still had a purpose there… didn't they? To love… and to live. It was their purpose to survive this battle and in doing so, rid the world of a monster and be in happiness forever. They still had so much to hang onto. Even if they were doomed to die, they had to still try. "Okay… What's our strategy?"

They both racked their brains for a few moments to come up with something. Inuyasha could only think of using the same attacks again, which would inevitably fail. Kagome wasn't fairing so well either. She was out of arrows, so she was utterly helpless at this time. All their friends were gone. At this point, she would welcome any other enemy. She thought, 'Man. Where's Sesshoumaru when you need him?'

She gasped, 'Wait! Sesshoumaru, what did he say to me?'

FLASHBACK

"I'll never understand why your weakness is needed, but it's apparent that it is…You'll have to go find him yourself and help him defeat Naraku."

"But I can't fight. How could I possibly help him?"

"Don't know. Don't care, but you have to do it."

END FLASHBACK

'I have to help Inuyasha defeat him?' Kagome thought, 'But what in the world could I do to help him.'

Inuyasha brought his battle arm around her protectively, leaving the sword as a barrier as if thinking that Naraku would attack immediately. She glanced over as it reflected light into her eyes. She inwardly gasped, 'Oh my God. That's it.'

It was all so clear to her now. Somehow she felt certain that it would work. In her heart and everything she believed in, she knew that they would make it through. This was the key; this was how she could help him. She whispered, "I'll do it with you."

"What?"

"I'll do it with you," she repeated.

With one free hand, her fingers grazed the Tetsusaiga. Inuyasha saw this, and knew. "Are you sure that will work?"

She smiled where he couldn't see her, "Promise me that we'll defeat Naraku, and that we'll do it together… Our only chance is to be together, to fight together. There is no other way."

Inuyasha smiled. His Kagome… he would always be with her. He would always need her by his side. The air which was once as cold as a mountain stream was thawing out. She pulled away from his embrace to look into her eyes. The eyes that could stop an army in his opinion. She was worth fighting any battle for. The fact that she was there with him gave him more strength than she could ever know. But Kagome did know. She knew because she felt it too. Never had there been a reason for her to abandon her life, to put it completely on the line, to give up everything she had ever loved. It was a glorious sacrifice she was willing to make any time.

Inuyasha's ear twitched as he heard the echoing sound of dropping water reaching his ears. They were flowing freely, more willing to fall to their doom. Not caring if a compassionate hand came out to save them from their fate. It was their purpose to die, but as it was the hanyou and miko's purpose to live.

She stepped out of his embrace and they turned to face Naraku side by side. She tenderly placed her hand over the Tetsusaiga, and he quickly smothered her hand with his own, grasping it tight as he promised to never let go of her. Not in waking day, not in slumber, not in life, nor in death.

The display of courage did not move Naraku. "You ready for your fate?"

They lifted the sword together until they were eye level with the tip. Inuyasha spoke, "You've lost, Naraku."

The metal of Naraku's sword tapped against that of his armor, as if he was in some sort of army salute. The eyes that were naturally red seemed unusually calm for their chosen character. Not cocky, but unbelieving in the power this couple before him supposedly possessed. His cold face was as dead as the air, just as was his smirk. Inuyasha and Kagome watched as his sword started to light up with the energy inside. Enough power to deal them a lethal blow. They knew this was their one chance, the only way to defeat him. If fate had decided for them to die, they would accept it, as long as they were together. Finally Naraku spoke, "And so ends your pitiful story called love."

When the swung was finally made, the vibrations of the sword ran through his own fingers as the power was released. The blinding light emerged once more in a greater size than ever. As it rolled towards them, the stone floor crumbled beneath and shattered in all directions. It kept on its steady path of destruction, never fading even by fraction.

The thunderous roar of shattering rock didn't shake the inmost calm of the hanyou and miko holding the Tetsusaiga. The storms of their worries had died moments earlier. For a few minutes, they felt no fear in the face of certain death. Death was welcome, if they could just bring Naraku down. Their souls now lay in the eyes of the storm, never faltering from the silence that engulfed the world within those few moments. The kind of thing that only was heard of in story books lied between their touching hands. Others who had felt it before them lived only for each other, and so never existed outside of themselves. Perhaps with this love story, they would be one of the few to be in story books for years to come, and therefore become immortalized.

Together, with their hands grasping to the sword and each other, they lifted their arms over their heads. When it had reached its highest height, they turned to steal a quick glance from each other. In their eyes was the storm still stirring around the pupils. Their hearts silently pondered if there love would be enough to withstand such power as was done in story books. Was such a thing impossible in the real world? Metaphors for the passion that is love?

Yet, in those few seconds they realized that love didn't need to be a story to be good, or to be real. Love is never fictional, no matter how you look at it. It always held a shard of truth that purifies the purpose of life and human relations. Their love was pure, and worthy of a story to be told, and as they starred into each other's souls, they knew in an instant that their love was strong enough to withstand anything that was thrown at them.

Returned their gaze to the oncoming ball of light, they finally let go, and shouted in unison, "BAKURYUUHA!.!.!.!.!"

The blade sliced through the air, causing any element in the area to quake in the tremendous energy. They could hear the sound of the blade impacting on the ground, and the moments in between fired messages of the couple's purpose everywhere. The purpose to live and to love. They grasped on tight as the energy of the sword fired back ever-so slightly. And then out of the Tetsusaiga, there immerged a wind of yellow with streams of glowing blue, the blue which was Kagome's purification. Like a tornado it swept towards the ball of lethal energy, and they watched and waited for the worst.

Would their story be worthy of story books? Could love truly prevail? In so many stories, loving has been for not. It has brought on unequivocal pain, tears, anger, jealousy, and a thousand other emotions unsuited for such a wonderful thing. Yes, love was a wonderful thing, no matter how manipulated by human nature it could get, it was still wonderful. Not all the pain in the world could destroy what was its purpose. The force that was perhaps not strong in the physical world but strong in our hearts, enough so to break the boundaries of how we treat each other, remained to be the ever-lasting essence that intertwined any living thing. They could have died. It would not have been unjust or unfair for them to die when so many other loved ones had died before them, who had suffered before them. Inuyasha, a hanyou had been shunned by youkai and humans alike, forced to walk the earth as an outsider until his dying day. Kagome, a rape victim of a ruthless monster who was still fighting to keep what was dear to her, despite the overwhelming agony that haunted her day by day, never seeming to totally disappear. In a world where life was unjust and cruel as was love, solitude was their fate… fear was their fate… death was their fate.

But perhaps… they had changed their fates, and a hand had reached out to catch the last falling drop of water.

The power of the Bakuryuuha finally approached that of Naraku's sword. When they expected some kind of combat between the two forces, the result of their fates was decided then and there, not by anything else than the level of power love can bring.

Naraku's face widened in fear as he saw the power of his sword shatter into a thousand infinitesimal pieces before disappearing into nothingness. He could see the last shard of his so desired power flicker out in his last moments as the Bakuryuuha charged him. He thought, 'But… this is for silly love stories. He should be alone. She should be miserable. Why aren't they? They, how could they have found… the ultimate power?'

Without another chance for thought or breath, the storm of the Tetsusaiga engulfed him and carried the heat of his own attack. No more thoughts crossed his mind, except that of shock and confusion, over something that the villain could never understand or embrace. His purpose to oppose such a force had become absolute. And just like that… the great Naraku was finished.

The arm of Inuyasha's haori instinctively went up to block the blinding light of the onslaught from their eyes. They clutched to each other closer, and even after the light deceased, they didn't even have to look to where Naraku was standing to know that he was gone. When they brought their heads up, they looked straight into each other's eyes with the power that could shake the spirit of the universe. Inuyasha's hand gently massaged the back of Kagome's neck and her cheek. Beyond the respect and undying admiration that was reflected between them, there was something else that told their story, even if it would never be told again. Whether their true ending would be happy or sad, deserved or undeserved, the meaning of what lied between the two hearts would hold the key to the best story of all time forever. Best, because it was the story of every story ever written. Forever, because that was true purpose.

And with another chaste kiss, they knew that their inevitably happy ending wouldn't come for quite a while. And it was the waiting that was the best part of any love story.

To be continued…

One more chapter to go!.!.!.! Love love love… fate fate fate… purpose purpose purpose. I used those words a lot in this chapter, didn't I. Oh well, that's my philosophy on the meaning of life, so too bad. Love conquers all. So very corny, but I think in more ways than not, so very true. I wrote this really fast, so I hope there aren't any type-o's, but I have no time to check. Hope you'll forgive.

Again, no responses, cause I'm running around like CRAZY today trying to get things done. Stay tuned for the wrap up chapter that I'll start writing………. NOW!