Disclaimer: See chapter 1.

The Beginning And The End

Chapter 10

Kagome was wandering the orchard, gathering some fruit, enjoying the peace and quiet of the early morning. She had sat on the windowsill, watching the sun rise, hoping Sessho-maru would wake up, but he didn't so much as bat an eyelash. He's been so worried about me, he hasn't been taking care of himself. He's exhausted. I'll let him sleep and go gather some fruit for breakfast. So Kagome went to the orchard by herself. This was the first morning she had woken up without screaming, reliving the awful memory of the feeling of Inu-yasha's claws ripping through her flesh. Kagome shuddered at the ghost sensation and continued to wander the orchard, choosing some select fruit for the day's meals.

Kagome stood on the small step stool and stretched for a piece of fruit that was way out on the end of a branch. Her fingertips were brushing the fruit, and when she took that extra reach, she fell from the stool. As she braced for the impact, she found herself caught in strong arms. She looked up, expecting to see Sessho-maru looking down at her. Instead, she found herself face to face with Inu-yasha.

Kagome froze, terrified. "I-I-Inu…." She was so scared she couldn't even say his name. Her body began to tremble and she felt tears streaming down her face. The half demon placed her upright on her feet and took a few steps back. Kagome's legs buckled under her and she sank to the ground.

Inu-yasha saw the terror in Kagome's eyes and his chest hurt. He had hoped to come here and speak to her in private, apologize and promise her anything she wanted if only she would return to him. But seeing her now, his hopes of getting Kagome back were quickly diminishing.

"Kagome…I won't hurt you. I swear." Inu-yasha sat down, his eyes still fixed on Kagome. "I came here to apologize. I know that saying I'm sorry isn't going to make things any better." Inu-yasha began to breakdown and Kagome's image became blurry. "I don't know what else to do, Kagome. Please…please forgive me." He was fully crying now, his face in his hands. "I'll do anything you ask. Just…don't…."

"Go away." Her voice was a whisper in the early morning quiet.

"Huh?" Inu-yasha looked up at the small voice.

"Go away." Her voice was a bit louder, a little more forceful. "Now."

"Kagome…no. Please don't just send me away." He started to crawl towards her and she jumped up, her eyes sparking and her hand glowing with spirit energy. She had a piece of fruit in her hand and it was charged. She could turn anything into a weapon, and if that piece of fruit hit him, it would actually cause some damage.

"Leave now or I will let Sessho-maru do what he's wanted to do ever since you…..you ki…killed me."

Inu-yasha stayed there on his knees, pleading with Kagome. He had no pride left. He had nothing left but a small glimmer in his heart that Kagome would forgive him. But the priestess was having none of it.

"I told Sessho-maru that I didn't want you killed. That this was partly my fault." She let the piece of fruit fly and watched as it struck Inu-yasha. He fell backwards holding his shoulder. "But seeing you here, I realize how crazy I must have sounded to him. Why should I protect my murderer!"

Kagome reached out and broke a small branch off a nearby tree. "You killed me, you bastard!" She lunged at the shocked half demon, the stick charged and raised for a strike. Inu-yasha's first instinct was to run. But then he realized that this was what he deserved. He had killed Kagome and now it was only fitting that she kill him in return.

Kagome felt the stick pierce the demon's flesh and it kept going, urged on by her momentum, until it had completely run through Inu-yasha's body. She lay there on Inu-yasha, still grasping the stick, panting, the feel of warm blood covering her hand and beginning to soak through her clothes. She scrambled up, kneeling next to the dying half demon. Golden eyes looked up at her and she saw tears flowing back into white hair. Inu-yasha reached up and with a small smile on his face, he caressed Kagome's cheek.

"I do love you, Kagome. And I understand. I hope…" Inu-yasha spasmed in pain and rolled to his side, spitting up some blood. "I hope…he makes you happy."

"Why, Inu-yasha? Why didn't you move! Why did you---"

Inu-yasha reached up and placed two fingers over her lips to stop the hysterical rant he could hearwas coming.

"It was the least….I could do...for…..what I….did to you…..Please….Kagome….just be….happy….please…."

Kagome stared in horror as Inu-yasha's eyes unfocused and he became very still.

"Inu….yasha?" She reached out a trembling hand and laid it on his chest. "Oh god, no. No…Inu-yasha! No!" Kagome grabbed his shoulders and started shaking him. She was now crying uncontrollably and screaming at the unresponsive body. "You can't die! Inu-yasha! Wake up damn you! INU-YASHA!"

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Sessho-maru's brow furrowed in his sleep. The powerful youkai could sense something was wrong. As his subconscious fought to wake him, a heart-rending scream and a wave of spirit energy ripped through the air and he sat bolt upright, all his senses alive and searching for answers. He immediately noticed Kagome was not beside him and jumped up to search for her. As he strode through the hallways to check the kitchen and the library for his mate, he heard Jaken yelling in the distance.

"My Lord! My Lord! Come quick!"

The toad youkai came to a crashing halt into Sessho-maru's leg as he rounded a corner. He righted himself quickly and bowed to his master.

"Jaken, what is it? Is Kagome safe?"

"I don't know my lord. One of the servants just reported seeing Inu-yasha in the orchard a few moments ago. Nobody has seen Lady Kagome, my lord."

Like a silver lightning bolt, Sessho-maru was gone and reappeared in the orchard a few seconds later. He was immediately assaulted by the smell of sweet fruit and blood. As he tried to determine the direction the smell of the blood was coming from, his ears picked up the sound of crying.

He raced through the rows of trees and finally came upon a scene he would remember for the rest of his days. Kagome, kneeling on the ground, bent over Inu-yasha's body, crying and speaking quietly. As he slowly approached, his sensitive ears started to pick up what she was saying. Her tone was that of a storyteller, reliving fond memories for her audience. But Sessho-maru was quite certain her audience could not hear her words.

"….and you were so mad but you deserved it. I remember another time when we were arguing and you picked me up and threw me into a lake." She let out a weak chuckle as she brushed some hair from Inu-yasha's face. "I got sick afterwards and you…." Kagome's voice broke and became choked with emotion once again. "….you felt so bad, you….you took care of me. Oh god, Inu-yasha, this wasn't supposed to happen! Why did it come to this? Why!" Kagome laid her forehead on Inu-yasha's stomach and cried, unaware of her approaching mate.

When Sessho-maru heard Kagome's voice change he stopped. He was about twenty feet away. Although he showed a calm outwards appearance, inside he was in turmoil. He's dead. How is it that Inu-yasha is dead? Could Kagome have killed him? Or did he do it himself out of guilt? Out of all the thoughts and emotions assaulting him, none of them carried any regret for the death of his brother. They had never known anything but animosity between them their whole lives. Not even in death, did that fade.

Sessho-maru waited for Kagome's current crying fit to die down before he spoke. He made sure his voice was soft and caring, so as not to upset or startle her.

"Kagome. What has happened?"

At the sound of Sessho-maru's soothing voice, Kagome's body stiffened. Suddenly, her grief over Inu-yasha's death was being pushed aside for another emotion. Fear. She had just killed her mate's half brother and even though they'd never been close, surely he would not be able to forgive her for such a despicable act.

When Kagome did not answer or move, Sessho-maru came a few steps closer and Kagome let out a small whimper and flinched away just slightly, leaving him no choice but to stop.

"Kagome. It's me. Won't you please let me approach?"

Still no response other than a whimper. Sessho-maru wasn't known for his patience, but he'd found that ever since Rin became his traveling companion, that he did indeed possess patience. But only for her. And now Kagome. So he stood there for several long, silent minutes, then tried again.

"Kagome. Will you look at me? I'm worried about you. Please look up so I may know you are alright."

He saw her eyes moving, darting about as if in thought. Then she turned her face towards him, without leaning up. Her normally beautiful and happy face was pale and streaked with tears and blood. Her eyes were wide and he could see they were red from all her crying. She's not in shock, that's good. But she's terrified. Could she be fearful of me? But why?They remained staring at each other for a few tense moments until Kagome whispered a strangled plea.

"Please….don't hate me."

Sessho-maru started to approach Kagome again and she scrambled backwards, away from Inu-yasha's body and away from Sessho-maru. She sat there, leaning back on her hands and gazing up at the youkai who was now beside his dead brother's body, looking down upon it with great disinterest. When he turned his attention back to Kagome and approached her, she didn't try to run away this time. He squatted down in front of her and reached out a hand to tuck some hair behind her ear. Kagome flinched and looked away before he even made contact.

"Nisou….I could never turn away from you. You are my mate. Remember what that meant? We live for each other. We belong to each other. I cannot live without you."

Kagome slowly turned to face Sessho-maru and he could see the fear receding, and found her staring at him, alost look in her watery eyes.

"Don't you understand? I killed Inu-yasha."

"Did he attack you?"

"N-no. He…he saved me from a fall."

"So his death was an accident?"

Kagome shook her head.

"I killed him. I drove a stick through his heart."

Sessho-maru could see he was losing Kagome again as her eyes welled up and lost their focus. He reached out and hugged her to him tightly. He was surprised she allowed him to do it, but he was grateful. His first priority was to take care of Kagome. Then he would dispose of Inu-yasha's body. He buried his nose in Kagome's hair and inhaled deeply. He needed to drown the smell of blood and death and he knew of no better way than to drown in his mate's scent.

As Kagome let herself be embraced by Sessho-maru, she felt a certain calm wash over her. She didn't know where it came from, but she let her body relax and closed her eyes. The scene began to play back in her head and she mumbled a narrative against Sessho-maru's chest.

"I was picking fruit….I just wanted to bring you breakfast in bed….." Sessho-maru squeezed Kagome a little tighter and stroked her hair, hoping it would help her in some small way. "I fell from the ladder and he caught me. He wanted….begged….for forgiveness…..I just wanted him to leave…..why wouldn't he just leave?...I was so angry….But he still wouldn't leave. He just kneeled there…and let me….and then he told me he loved me and wanted me to be happy….those were his last words."

Sessho-maru listened with morbid fascination as Kagome told of her confrontation with Inu-yasha and his last moments before death.

"Please don't hate me."

Sessho-maru cupped Kagome's face and brought it up to his own, pressing his lips to hers as hard as he dared. When he pulled back to look at her, he saw so much fear it broke his heart. "I love you, nisou. You matter most to me in this world. Don't ever doubt that."

Kagome nodded and leaned in to rest her head against Sessho-maru's chest once again. They remained there for a few quiet moments then Sessho-maru stood up, cradling Kagome in his arms. In a flash of silver they were back in their bedroom. He led her over to the bed and helped her to lie down, covering her still trembling form withblankets up to her chin. He brushed back her hair and spoke to her in a quiet, soothing tone.

"You stay right here and I'll bring you something to help you rest, alright?" Kagome grabbed his arm and that panicked look returned.

"Please. Just stay with me."

Sessho-marucouldn't refuse. She had already expressed her fear that he would hate her and leave her because she killed Inu-yasha. He caressed her cheek and smiled.

"Of course, nisou. Anything you want."

He slipped under the covers and lay next to Kagome, enveloping her within his arms. It didn't take long for Kagome to fall asleep. Her mind and body had gone through a very traumatic experience and needed to recuperate. But subconsciously she would not let go of Sessho-maru. For several hours he tried to leave Kagome to rest and go take care of his brother's dead body, but she would whimper and clutch at him so he stayed. Finally, after many failed attempts, he escaped. He placed a tender kiss on Kagome's forehead and left to take care of Inu-yasha's body.

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Sessho-maru made his way to the orchard. He left instructions with Jaken that nobody was to enter the orchard without his permission and he was to be alerted as soon as Kagome woke up. By the time he entered the orchard, the early morning mist had burned away and he was able to easily return to where he had found Kagome bent over Inu-yasha's body earlier that morning. He stopped as he turned into a new row of trees and saw a pile of red and white up ahead. Inu-yasha.

He was standing over the body in a heartbeat, his golden eyes taking in the whole picture of his brother's death. The half-demon lay on his back with a broken off tree limb sticking out of his chest. His silvery hair was splayed all around, stained pink in spots with his blood. His face looked…..peaceful.

"I have learned to live with your existence through the years and would have never bothered with you again. But you were stupid enough to kill my mate. The one person in this world I pledged my very soul to. You thought you could take her away?" Sessho-maru drew Tokijin and aimed it at the still figure. "I hope you and your priestess are happy in hell."

The sword glowed red as the inu youkai gathered enough energy to evaporate the dead half-demon.

"Sessho-maru, don't!"

He looked up to see Kagome running toward him and he lowered the sword as he made a mental note to throttle Jaken. The priestess stopped, a hand on his arm to steady herself as she caught her breath. "You can't…..do this….what about a funeral?" She straightened to look up at a very raised silver eyebrow. "I-I'm sure Kaede and the others….." She looked down at Inu-yasha and felt the panic and guilt building within her again. "They'll probably want to…..do something."

"What do you want to do, Kagome?"

She continued to look at the body, suddenly hating the color of red. "We'll take him back to Musashi. Kaede and the others can do what they feel is right."

"What about you?"

Horrified green eyes turned to him. "What about me?" Her voice became sharp, accusatory. "Do you think they're going to want anything to do with me after they find out what I did! Gods, I'll be lucky if they don't try to kill me!" She was crying again and her body was shaking. She tried falling to her knees but strong arms wrapped themselves around her and pulled her close.

"Do you truly believe your friends will blame you? Turn on you? Even after what he did?" His only answer was muffled crying and he squeezed a little tighter. "I can't promise you that things will be alright between you and your friends. But from what I know of them, they will not try and harm you."

Kagome just kept crying, and nothing Sessho-maru was saying was getting her to speak. Silently cursing his dead brother once again, he picked the priestess up and carried her back to bed, instructing Jaken to administer a sedative to keep her asleep while he left to visit Kaede in Musashi.

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Sessho-maru wasn't sure what he was going to say or even how to say it, but he knew that Kagome was in no condition to do it, so the task fell to him. Inu-yasha was his brother after all and if Kagome hadn't killed him, Sessho-maru surely would have eventually. He approached the small dwelling in broad daylight and wasn't surprised when the villagers took one look at him and fled. Typically he did not visit the village unless under the cover of darkness and he was well aware of the reputation he enjoyed among most humans.

He was about to knock on the dwelling to ask admittance when he heard the old woman's voice from within.

"Come in, Sessho-maru. I've been expecting you."

He silently entered and sat across from Kaede, giving the old woman a slight bow in greeting.

"Tell me what has happened. I was awakened by a scream that ripped through the spirit world."

"Inu-yasha is dead."

She sighed heavily and hung her head. "By your hand?"

"No. By Kagome's."

Kaede's head shot up and she stared in horror at the inu youkai sitting across from her. "That can't be. Why would she…..?"

"She stabbed him through the heart."

Sessho-maru studied the old woman as he spoke. From what Kagome had told him, Kaede had become a surrogate mother to all of them. And in the span of a week she had experienced the death of two of her "children". And even though she had regained one thanks to the Tenseiga, this latest was not granted that miracle. Inu-yasha was dead.

"From what Kagome has told me, Inu-yasha showed up begging for forgiveness. But Kagome still hadn't recovered from the shock of what he did to her and so when things escalated she attacked him. I am well acquainted with Kagome's and Inu-yasha's abilities. There was no way she would have been able to kill him unless he let her."

Kaede nodded weakly as she wiped away the steam of tears running down her cheeks. Sessho-maru looked away from the scene.He had no affection for the woman, he just felt like he was watching something too personal.

Kaede listened to the demon prince calmly explain the happenings of that morning as if reciting a list of supplies. He at least had the decency to turn his face away from her grief. Kaede shook her head, covering her face with her hands as the tears began to flow. She was too old for this kind of heartache. She'd never married and had children of her own. Inu-yasha, Kagome, Sango, Miroku and Shippo were her children. She wasn't supposed to outlive her children, much less witness them destroying each other.

"Where is he now?"

"My fortress. Kagome wishes to bring Inu-yasha back here so you and the others may hold whatever funeral rite you wish."

"And Kagome?"

"She is….resting. She was becoming hysterical at the thought of what you and the others would think of her so I sedated her. She hasn't slept well since her encounter with Inu-yasha a week ago."

"I could never forsake her. This whole disaster was not the fault of just one, or even two. We must all share in the blame for what has happened. They are our friends, children, lovers and we let them destroy each other. For that, we are all guilty."

Sessho-maru bowed his head and then stood to take his leave. As he raced back to Kagome, he considered Kaede's words. Were they truly all to blame? Could he have handled things differently to avoid this situation? What of her friends? Sango knew they were mates and yet she did not try to convince Kagome to confess her secret. He supposed the old woman was right. No one was blameless in this tragedy.

To be continued….