A/N: I can't believe I haven't updated in about a year... Well, actually, I can, with all the stuff that's been going on. I'm in another musical, two different choirs, a nationally trademarked performing group, and I'm back in the swing of things creatively, including poetry, drawing, and of course, fics. My writing style has drastically improved since 7/03, according to friends and teachers, so I bet you'll have fun with that. Anyhows, on with the story! (Damn, it's been a year, and I still say that)

Chapter Four-

"Whisper"

Catch me as I fall. Say you're here, and it's all over now.

The light was becoming brighter and brighter behind her figure, only a silhouette now, dark and featureless, yet posessing an eerie beauty, like a dark goddess. My paradise had gone up in flames, an ashen hell, just another reminder of what existed outside my dream world. There was nothing for me anymore but despair... Unless I could find a way to go with her.

Speaking to the astmosphere, no one's here and I fall into myself.

"Okaa-san? Can you hear me?" The voice came from nowhere in particular, but I knew in an instant who it was. I recognized the voice. But Souta's voice had changed, somehow. He now spoke in a softer tone than his usual upbeat, happy outbursts that all children have. He sounded weak, sickly. "I know you probably can't hear me, but..."

This truth drives me into madness.

The light was becoming blinding, now. I lost all vision of the state I was in, this dream world between life and death. I made my decision. I had to go. I had to move forward. If I turned back, I couldn't bear to se Souta. Just the sound of his voice made me fear what had happened to him. I had already lost one child... I couldn;t bear to see the suffering of another. The very thought sent shivers down my spine.

I know I can stop the pain if I will it all away (If I will it all away)...

I stepped closer into the radiant light, which was burning brightly beyond th silhouette of my daughterof this goddess in human formwhom I had cared for all through the years, she who needed me most, she whom I needed in return. I planted my foot firmly, taking another step towards the illumination. This was it.

"Mom... Please, wake up... We still need you here..."

Don't turn away (Don't give into the pain).

Inuyasha sat on the endge of the well. Something wasn't right, he could tell... Kagome's voice was still echoing in the depths of his mind, like a siren on a distant island, so perfect, yet utterly unattainable. Yet her message was clear as crystal. "Take care of them... Okaa-san, Souta..." He closed his eyes, and took a deep breath, before lowering himself into the well.

Don't try to hide (Though they're screaming your name).

He walked in through the door, and realized that the house was eerily silent, except for a quiet beeping noise. He looked over at the answering machine and saw a blinking light, next to a button. He pushed it in, and a mechanical voice said, "You have one new message." He listened closely, his eyes widening as he heard the message.

"At the Hiyamoto General Hospital... I have to take care of them, for Kagome.."

Don't close your eyes (God knows what lies behind them).

"Damnit, I don't have time for this!" he yelled, pushing the orderly aside and entering the hospital room. As he looked in, he saw two figures, Souta, in a wheelchair, and Mrs. Higurashi, lying in bed, eyes closed, hooked up to all sorts of machines.

The boy turned around as he heard the door open. "Inuyasha?" He met the gaze of the hanyou's amber eyes, which showed concern, an emotion he had rarely seen from the arrogant half-demon.

"Souta, your mother... Is she... Dead?" Souta shook his head, and Inuyasha saw, upon further examination that the woman was, in fact, breathing. Still, Souta was by her side, holding her hand the while while long.

Don't turn out the light (Never sleep, never die).

Closer to the light than ever, my senses became even more keen to the world outside. I heard a voice, yelling. It was loud and clear, yet mentally, I blocked what was being said, the speech only a garbled cry to me. Were they yelling because of Souta, because of me? Was it possible we were slipping away, the both of us?

I'm frightened by what I see, but somehow I know that there's much more to come.

The world outside was so hectic, and so filled with despair. Why go back? All that lay ahead of me there was more pain and more suffering, as more and more of the ones I cared for would slip from my grasp. I couldn't bear that pain, that pain that stabbed at my soul like a knife, and twisted inside me.

Immobilized by my fears, and soon to be blinded by tears.

My daughter speaks once again, but now her voice seems to be coming from my subconscious, her voice whispering a faint "Come in..." I came closer to the light, squinting, and attempting to shield my eyes. "Join me..." The light glowed brighter with each syllable she spoke.

I can stop the pain if I will it all away (If I will it all away...)

"Okaa-san! Wake up! Please..." Souta sobbed. I could hear the desperation in his voice. Was he to go soon? Or was it because of me that he was so pained?

"Kami-sama... Just let her live..." the hanyou muttered, head down.

"Inuyasha...?"

"We can't have you become an orphan like me," he said, glancing over at the boy sadly.

Don't turn away (Don't give into the pain)

Don't try to hide (Though they're screaming your name)

Don't close your eyes (God knows what lies behind them)

Don't turn out the light (Never sleep, never die...)

Gaseous lights surrounded me: spirits. They made their way towards the light behind my daughter's figure. I took another step towards the radiantly beaming light, as Kagome slowly hunched over, wrapping her arms around herself, as if she was in pain.

"Can't have you become an orhpan..." I heard a voice, outside, once again. Then realization dawned. Souta needed me... And my father. And everyone who cared about me. I was being selfish; I would meet up with my daughter again, when the time was right.

Fallen angels at my feet, whispered voices at my ear...

Kagome fell to her knees, her sillhouete now just a pile on the ground, shadow enveloping the light, as she slowly became nothing.

"We've already lost Kagome... I don't want to lose my mother, too..."

She beckons me, shall I give in?

Upon my end, shall I begin?

I was shrouded in darkness, as if in a complete vaccuum. There was no light, and no sound. Not even the beating of my own heart. Then, all at once, I was falling, spinning, down into nothingness.

Forsaking all I've fallen for, I rise to meet the end.

"Okaa-san..." I heard Souta's voice once again as I landed, almost softly, back into the bed. Back to my own body. My eyes were shut tight, and I slowly opened one, and was met with my son's embrace. I just smiled and hugged him tight.