Chapter 10 - Consequences

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"Inuyasha would never claim you!"

"Well, he did. He proved that he loves me more than he loves you."

"His soul will never love anyone as much as he loves me."

"You forget again that we share a soul. He may love our soul, but he prefers it in me."

"How dare you think that whatever affections he has for you now will last past you death."

Kagome can see Kikyo begin to falter.

How long have we been fighting? Is Inuyasha okay? I can't feel him anymore.

"You need to focus more, Kagome. I should have killed you by now, but where is the fun in that? Besides, I want Inuyasha to watch you die and know I'm the one killing you."

"You evil bitch."

"Sticks and stones, Kagome. I believe that is a term from your time."

Kagome, unable to control her temper any longer, hurls herself across the gap in the floor at Kikyo knocking her into the wall. She manages to keep her balance and takes a step back should Kikyo decide to grab for her. Kikyo slowly pulls herself up off the ground and glares at Kagome. She in turn tries to get her soul catchers to gather what is left of her soul. Unfortunately, they only take the souls of the already dead.

"Not so tough now are you?"

That said, Kikyo puts her right hand out in front of her and emits a beam of power from it (think Kagome in eps #1). It knocks Kagome off her feet and Kikyo moves in for the kill. Kagome recovers quickly ad manages to sweep Kikyo's feet out from under her in one fluid movement. Kikyo's head makes hard contact with the floor. She loses consciousness. Kagome slowly stands up, just in case she's faking it. When Kikyo doesn't move for her, she goes to the curtain and pushes it aside. She doesn't see anyone, and decides to walk toward the well. The further she gets into the woods the more worried she becomes. There is no noise coming from any direction. Her fear is starting to take grasp.

Please let Inuyasha be alright. Don't let him be dead. He can't be dead.

When she finally reaches the Sacred Tree, she falls to her knees at the sight before her. Inuyasha is laying against the tree. He appears to be barely breathing and losing a lot of blood from wounds covering his body. Kagome looks to her left and finds that Kouga too is out cold.

At least he didn't kill him.

She stays next to Inuyasha weeping. She feels a sudden warmth brushing the tears off of her cheek. She grabs onto it and opens her eyes to find Inuyasha's golden ones staring straight into hers. She can tell that shock is starting to set in. His eyes begin to glaze over.

"No, Inuyasha. You can't leave me. I need you to be with me!" She cries clutching him to her chest.

The warm sensation fills her again, and she begins to feel that tugging on her heart. It is fainter than before. She can feel it starting to slip away.

NO! I will not lose you

I'm sorry, Kagome. The battle was too much. Please be happy, for my sake

NO, I won't let you leave with that the bond between them strengthens.

Kagome! What are you doing?

If I can take part of your energy, than you can also take part of mine

The smell of lilacs and lavenders pushes around them till it feels as though they could suffocate on it. When it seems like they would drown while being smothered in flowers. Then suddenly the smell dies away. Kagome is still cradling Inuyasha, but she notices that his breathing is regular and his wounds have healed.

"Inuyasha,"she whispers against his hair. "Can you hear me?"

"Sure I can. Why wouldn't I be able to?

She cries and clutches him tighter.

"What's with the tears? I said I'm okay."

"I thought I lost you." She says trying to collect herself.

"You'll never lose me, Kagome. Remember, our souls are bound together for all eternity. No matter what happens, I will always come back to you."

A noise behind them startles her. Inuyasha growls and throws a menacing glare over her shoulder.

BACK IN THE VILLAGE

Kikyo awakens and picks herself up.

I refuse to believe that she has bested me.

Kikyo flings the curtain wide and looks toward the forest. The Sacred Tree is glowing lightly. Kikyo has a feeling she knows what is going on.

If I can't have him, no one can.

She takes off toward the Tree of Ages and one last confrontation with the man she loves.

BACK BY THE TREE

Kouga picks himself up off the ground and heads toward the embracing couple. (Kagome is still wearing only Inuyasha's haori and he is still shirtless)