Chapter 15: Love's Courage

Terrified, Kagome sat still in fear as Sesshomaru's hand slowly inched around the hilt of the Tetseiga. It was like a movie in slow motion and she didn't have the control to rewind or stop, anything to prevent it from playing forward. The slashes of poison scarred the side of her face and gave her a burning pleasure but nothing too severe due to the fact that the Shikon no Tama still dangled around her neck.

Sesshomaru licked his lips and eyed up and down the sword. "Finally." He whispered wickedly. "I've waited so long for this day to arrive. And what a perfect day at that." He snickered, shifting his gaze up to the dead hanyou pinned to the tree above him.

Wrapping her arm around Kagome's shoulders to hold her from falling, Sango stared at the youkai in utter horror. 'We were so close.' She said in her head, not daring to speak out loud for it would've upset Kagome greatly. She listened closely to Kagome choke on her tears and soon found her head fall into her own shoulder. Sango shut her eyes tightly to stop her gathering tears from falling and rested her head against Kagome's. "Shh, it's ok. We'll all be together again." She cooed, knowing unfortunately what was to come.

Miroku frowned down upon the girls and their sudden loss of hope. "Both of you stop this foolishness! Would Inuyasha want it to end this way?" Their eyes lifted to his and he quickly answered his own question. "No! He'd want us to live!" He spun on his heels and stabbed his staff through the ground at his side. Glowering at the demon, hatred in his violet eyes, he wrapped his hand tightly around the prayer beads that sealed the curse on his right hand. "Kagome." He called over his shoulder.

Kagome gazed through her tears that clouded her vision at Miroku's sudden determined expression and lifted her face from Sango's shoulder.

"Get the Tetseiga and I'll get Sesshomaru." He smiled slightly, telling her that he had a plan and was positive that it would work. "You can do it."

She gasped from shock and also of the fear of failing again. "What if…" She stopped herself and looked through the corner of her eye to Inuyasha then Sesshomaru. It was worth a try considering she had nothing left to lose. Slowly rising to her feet, her knees shaking she stepped unsteadily to the side of the monk. "Alright." Strapping her bow over her shoulder she awaited his signal.

Miroku smirked and looked to Sesshomaru. "This is it. Let's do it." Quickly untying the beads from around his arm, the flaps of his glove opened and revealed the black void in the center of his palm. "Wind Tunnel!" He shouted loudly. The winds in the forest violently picked up to fierce gales and were sucked into this tiny hole.

Sesshomaru felt his feet suddenly lift off the ground and his body slowly began to be pulled away from the Tetseiga. "No!" He grunted, stretching out his arm to take the sword into his grasp. His clawed finger just grazed the hilt before he was forcefully pulled backwards.

Miroku grit his teeth from the amount of force the wind pressed against his body and twisted his head slightly to the side. "Get ready Kagome." He said calmly to the young girl.

Kagome nodded and prepared herself to make a run for it. "Let's go." Stepping farther away from Miroku her eyes lifted to stare deeply in lost love at her hanyou. 'I'll get you back Inuyasha. We promised each other we wouldn't die.' She clutched her hands into a fist and watched as his hair blew with the wind. '…Either you come back or…I'm following.'

Sesshomaru flipped his body in the wind until he was facing the man that controlled the it. As his body was being blown forcefully back towards them he lifted his two fingers and within no time, his poison whip stretched out from his fingernails. "I told you not to interfere." He muttered infuriated. Snapping the whip at the monk, it wrapped itself around his wrist and pulled tight.

A small painful grunt was heard from the monk and he shut his eyes tightly. 'He'll pull me in if he doesn't let go!' In total panic, his eyes shot open and spotted the fast approaching demon, a smirk upon his face.

As he grew dangerously close to the void in the monk's hand, Sesshomaru pulled against his poison whip, forcing the man to slightly fall forward. "Light on your feet are we?" He mocked loudly over the hiss of the wind.

Regaining his balance, Miroku stared fearfully, though trying no to show it, into the demon's fierce gaze and grabbed hold of his prayer beads, preparing to once again seal the void when necessary. Just as the demon was only a few feet away, he quickly wrapped the beads around his wrist and clutched his hand into a fist. "Go!" He shouted, his eyes locked on the demon.

Kagome quickly kicked off the ground and ran as fast as she could to the Tetseiga. This technique reminded her of those old days spent in school with her friends. So often her teacher would make them run laps around the track and for that she was thankful. If not for him, she would not have been able to run away from demons fought by Inuyasha's side or go quickly to the aid of her feudal era friends or, in this case, retrieve a precious sword and save everyone. She quickly pushed those memories aside and focused on the task at hand…getting the Tetseiga and slaying the demon Sesshomaru.

The wind was still fairly strong and Sesshomaru fluttered with ease towards the monk. Releasing the poison whip from around his wrist, he slashed it rather harsh across the man's chest, ripping apart his robes from where it hit. As he landed lightly on his feet, he returned his weapon back into his nails and frowned heavily as the monk tripped and fell backwards. "Punishment for not doing as you were told."

Miroku grit his teeth and held his hand over his wound. Fresh blood stained the palm of his hand and the singeing burn of his skin had begun to spread down his arm. Sango was kneeling by his side asking over and over again if he was all right but his attention was drawn to something else of more importance. Leaning to the side, he peered around the demon's body to the young girl only a few steps away from their goal.

Sesshomaru narrowed his eyes at the monk's lack of attention towards his dangerous self and was about to kill him on the spot when the echo of fast footsteps passed through his ears. Turning abruptly around he snarled at what he saw. "Damn wench!" He growled then took off after Kagome.

Looking over her shoulder, Kagome held her breath when she saw the demon lord already only a few steps behind her. Quickly turning back to her destination, she felt almost relieved that the sword was almost in her grasp. Feeling Sesshomaru's hot breath on her neck and the sound of his weapon being released again, she dove the remaining steps and took the sword into her hand.

Frowning angrily and feeling the rage build up inside him as she got hold of the very sword he had craved for so long, he lifted his arm high into the air and snapped the whip down at the girl with all the strength he possessed.

Kagome's body crashed into the tree that held Inuyasha pinned and she lifted the Tetseiga up to protect herself. Sesshomaru's poison whip wrapped around the rusty blade, leaving the wielder with no harm done.

Sesshomaru quickly pulled back his weapon and stared down the girl. "I've had it with you and your constant antics. Give me the Tetseiga!" He hollered.

The young priestess frowned and glared angrily at the demon she so feared and stood to her feet. "Not over my dead body." She muttered in rage, her teeth grit and her eyebrow twitching from hate. Sweat soaked her hairline and a few beads rolled down the side of her face.

"I can make that possible." He grinned at her challenge and lifted his remaining clawed hand. "Lets see you even try to use my brother's sword."

Kagome swallowed back the lump in her throat and stared into the demon's cold gold eyes. 'I don't stand a chance against him. Oh Inuyasha, please…I know you're still here. Help me.' Her mind pleaded but she knew otherwise that her wish would really come true. She wrapped her fingers tightly around the hilt of the Tetseiga and planted her feet firmly on the ground.

"Kagome…" Miroku choked, trying to lift himself off the ground with no success. The poison had now spread down to his legs and he no longer had any feeling left. He could slightly feel Sango's hands at his shoulders and hear her soft voice telling him to remain calm. But how could one be calm at a time like this? His friend was about to be engaged in a battle for life or death and he didn't want to be the one to sit around and watch her get hurt for the sake of saving his life. "Sango…" He whispered over his shoulder. "Please…help me to my feet."

Sango gazed into his begging violet eyes and nodded uneasily. Shifting his arm over her shoulder she lifted his droopy body up and held him tightly around his body.

"Thank-you." He choked then coughed quietly under his breath. Observing the tension between the young girl and the youkai, he tightened his hand into a fist and prepared himself if anything was to go wrong.

"You dare challenge me? You're just a human girl." Sesshomaru chuckled though somewhat admiring her courage and ability to stand up to him. He found it amusing and figured her attitude was because of her being around his younger brother all the time.

"Yeah what of it! You don't think I can beat you!" She spat, feeling quite offended by his remark though deep inside she knew it was true.

Sesshomaru smirked and cracked his knuckles. "I don't think, I know my dear." He teased, intending to insult the young maiden even further. His love for her was still fairly strong so his plan to actually kill her was more of a game to watch her squirm. His smirk was quickly whipped away to go along with his more serious role now. Raising his hand to his shoulder, the sharp tipped claws pointed as a threat to the girl standing before him, he spoke. "Lets go then. I want to see how long you can last against me." His arm shot foreword in an attempt to just barely scratch across her chest.

Kagome swung the un-transformed and useless blade in front of her face, batting away the demon's hand before he got too close. "Longer than you think I can." She held the sword tightly in her hands and stared through the blade that split her face to the youkai. "When it comes to destroying you Sesshomaru I'll never give up." The tears that filled her eyes shimmered in the moonlight as thoughts of Inuyasha flooded her once focused mind. 'I'm doing this for you Inuyasha.' Closing her eyes tightly, she held back the tears and painful memories before returning to the demon lord. "You'll pay for killing Inuyasha!" She cried, stepping forward and slashing the Tetseiga around at Sesshomaru.

The feeling of disgust and hate towards Kagome's love for his dead brother slithered up his spine like a serpent but still no sudden urge to kill her tempted him. He took small steps backwards as the girl swung her weapon wildly at him. "Just like Inuyasha." He taunted quietly.

"…Inu…yasha..." Kagome whispered, coming to a stop and staring blankly at Sesshomaru's feet. Her chest rose and fell quickly and her breathing become more like heavy pants for air just as if she had run a marathon. 'Kagome?' A small whisper wracked through her brain and she immediately recognized the voice as Inuyasha's. The muscles in her neck tensed up and she slowly turned her head over her shoulder. Gazing upon the hanyou's lifeless body, her shoulders shrunk, lowering the Tetseiga's pointed blade to the ground. Inuyasha's eyes still remained shut and he hadn't moved an inch from where he stood pinned. Tears of crushed hope this time formed in her eyes as she stared at his pale face. "…Inuyasha." She whimpered softly, letting a single tear roll down her cheek before brushing the others away.

Sesshomaru screwed up his face at the back of the girl's head. His jealousy swallowed up his emotions and he tried his best to shrug it off. 'Might as well kill her now. It'll make it much easier to get to the others.' His golden eyes narrowed as he lifted his clawed hand to the side of his face. "It's time for your demise." His blurred figure charged at the girl, his outstretched hand ready to rip apart her flesh. "You should have been paying attention!" He shouted while leaping into the air and quickly bringing down his claws to the girl.

The Tetseiga in Kagome's hands pulsed, sensing that danger would befall its beholder and a visible barrier was formed around her, trapping the youkai in mid-air.

Sesshomaru gasped and tried in panic to separate himself from the Tetseiga's newly formed barrier around the young priestess. "What is this trickery? This wasn't supposed to happen…Inuyasha's dead!" His eyes lifted and observed the hanyou's beaten and limp body attached to the tree. "He can't be…" He trailed of in a soft whisper to himself.

Kagome turned her head silently back to the youkai now above her, the wind blowing her hair out of her face and her eyes full of hate. Frowning heavily, she tightened her hands around the hilt of the Tetseiga and stared coldly into the demon lord's puzzled eyes. "Our fight has yet to be finished Sesshomaru. And you…you are not to be victorious. I swear it."