A/N: Credit to where it is due. :P Thanks to all the reviewers (-COUGHS-all two of them-COUGHS-lazy people-COUGHS-) I will update regularly, Kags21. :D And Anon... xD You know me. Multi-Tasking Queen. This could take anywhere from a week to a month for me. o.o Anyhow...PLEASE review, people. Don't make me cry. A crying, pretty girl is never a good thing.

By the great... how much pain can one suffer at once...?

He didn't care to learn. The pain tore through him like a torrential flood of hellfire, its white hot rage swallowing his body and mind one piece at a time. Naraku dove within himself, desperate to outrun the path of the inferno which the girl's power had unleashed within him. His mind's eye followed him through corridor after corridor within his own psyche, delving further into his mind. He could feel his body being torn apart, the ashes that had once been his form being devoured completely and absolutely by the flames. His blood screamed to him in a voice that was every bit feral - the blood curtling scream of an animal being slaughtered alive. Every demon he had ever absorbed could be heard in that chorus of pain, and greatest of those voices had been his own.

And then it was over.

Naraku opened his eyes slowly, expecting the hellfire to erupt from his sockets should he let them. The light which shown through, however, was of the candles which had lit up the cave. He pushed himself up slowly, still not entirely believing that the inferno had been quelled within himself. His arms held his weight, and it took him a moment to realize that his fractures had been mended. His entire body, in fact, felt whole; whatever it was that... that Kanna had attempted, it had apparently succeeded. Though tired from the ordeal, he was whole.

Speaking of tired, the demon thought to himself as he looked over at her exhausted body lying against the wall. He watched her for a moment, and caught a sign of her breathing coming under control. Still alive, at least. He considered this against what he had thought before the apocalypse that she had let loose in his body. It had burned in ways that he had never considered possible before, but his body was his own again. I believe I made the right decision.

He stood up slowly, marvelling at how the leg that had, just this morning, given him so much trouble could hold his weight again. He walked slowly toward her body, considering what to do about her as he approached. He reached down for her and, after a final thought, lifted her from the cave floor. She was lighter than she looked, and even in his weakened condition he knew he had the strength to move her. He returned her to the tatami and laid her where she had slept the night before, covering her with makeshift blankets which had remained along the floor. He then laid down on his own side of the tatami and turned away from her, not wishing to look her in the eyes just yet. He wasn't certain that his decision was right, but he felt it had been.

I miss the days when the most complicated thing I had to deal with was Kikyou, he mused silently to himself.

- - - - -

Kanna felt like she was watching herself from above, feeling everything, yet in a way that made it seem more like she was spying on someone through her mirror. She was inside and outside herself, the energy from the zen'yu draining her completely. And yet, it was a calm feeling that came over her, even though she could barely summon the energy it took to breath. She'd done her work, what she had called her duty, and now it was over.

I can rest now...I can truly rest.

Even as he picked her up from the floor, she couldn't find the words to speak, to say she was sorry, to tell him how she wished things were the way they had been. Too many thoughts circled inside, until they all swirled together and became one thought: sleep. Kanna was aware of Naraku laying her down, of him at her side. She wished she could open her eyes, to see if her was angered or pleased...or neither.

Rest. Rest.

A small sigh escaped her as her mind began to fade into unconcious. Perhaps when she next woke, all would be well...

- - - - -

It seemed that she had only just let go of that thought, when her eyes opened. Had she simply opened her eyes...? No, that didn't feel right. Time had passed, though she was unsure how much. The souls along the walls had gone darker, which only could have meant that twenty-four hours had passed.

It couldn't have been that long, could it? I should get up and see...

However, when she attempted to move, she found her body was heavy as lead. Her breaths were even and her vision was clear, but she couldn't even turn her head, let alone stand up. She was effectively trapped inside herself for the time being.

Kanna looked around as best she could, her sight ending at her perepheral vision. Was she alone? Had she woken only to have been left behind? After all, she had no clue how long she'd been asleep...with the souls unlighted, it could have been one day or seven...

That's it. This sucks.

"Naraku?" she called out, relieved that her voice worked. "Are you still here...?"

Kanna had a plan, and by the gods, it was going to work.