Chapter 15: Kikyou's Final Goodbye

Kagome knelt down and gave the girl a fierce hug. They had become quite the pair over the last hours that they spent together, and Kagome was actually sad that she was leaving Rin behind. "I'll come back and visit so much you'll get tired of me."

"Promise?" Rin nearly choked a sob, the smart little girl somehow knew that Sesshoumaru would be returning to the castle alone.

"Promise." Kagome squeezed her tightly and then let go. Standing up she wiped the girls eyes and then smiled down at her. "You're something else. Torture Jaken for me while I'm away." Kagome grinned as she and Sesshoumaru began to walk off.

"Rin will!" She promised as she waved at their retreating figures. Jaken stared at them in agony. There they go again... leaving him. To care for a human child once more. He sighed and then shook his head.

Kagome and Sesshoumaru walked side by side. Kagome looked at the rising sun and she felt a sinking feeling in the pit of her heart. "Something is going to happen today." She whispered to herself more than to Sesshoumaru. "And it won't be good."

"Indeed." Sesshoumaru replied, his voice seemingly lost in thought.

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"Guys this is Naraku we are talking about! We have to beat him and we have to beat him together. As I much as I hate to admit it..." Inuyasha crossed his arms. "I need you guys by my side."

The Inu-tachi was sitting in Kaede's hut discussing whether or not they should trust Kikyou. And even if Kikyou was telling the truth, they were also wondering if Naraku was lying. Inuyasha was intensely defending Kikyou's word, while the others were still pondering.

It just didn't add up. Wouldn't Kagome come back if the last shard had been found? Surely she would know about it. And why did Naraku plan a duel with them? Usually he was tricksy and sly when he attacked, always trying to catch one unaware.

So that led to their next thought, what if this was all one big trap set up by Naraku and possibly Kikyou? But what would be the point? They had no shards. No Kagome who could sense the shards. All they had was Inuyasha, who yes was a threat to Naraku but... was he really planning to kill him now?

"I just..." Miroku began but then fell silent. His mind going into a sea of unanswered questions. "Wouldn't Kagome return if the last shard had been found?" He asked one of his unanswered questions, looking from person to person, his eyes falling on Kikyou who was sitting in the corner. "After all, if the girl can sense the shikon no tama, she could sense it becoming whole and engulfed in darkness, wouldn't you say so Kikyou?" His eyes were firm and his lips in a solid straight line.

"Feh!" Inuyasha threw his arm in front of Kikyou, blocking the monk's view of the miko. "That bitch left us for my brother. They're probably fuckin' in some field right now." Inuyasha said bitterly, but in his heart he knew he was making excuses.

The last time he saw Kagome, he had said something he never meant to say. She didn't mean nothing to him, she meant everything to him. He would much rather Kagome be at his side then Kikyou because this Kikyou was not the one he fell in love with.

But Kagome's actions had hurt him. She was sticking up for his brother. Of all people. His fucking brother. And what was worse was that they were actually a striking pair. They complimented each other in every way and when he saw them fight together, he knew he had lost it all. Kagome would fall in love with Sesshoumaru. That he was sure of.

And Sesshoumaru, well Inuyasha knew Kagome could change the coldest of hearts... it was her gift.

He had screwed up. He wanted Kikyou's image but Kagome's soul and when he tried to have both it just blew up in his face. And he also knew that this so called fight with Naraku wasn't real. He heard the plan that Naraku spoke to Kikyou, and now he openly accepted his fate. He would go to hell, where he belonged.

"Listen I don't care if you made some promise to Kikyou to go to hell with her. But don't expect your friends to follow. They didn't choose to give up their lives for this wench."

It was Kagome's voice that Inuyasha could hear in his head now. And he knew that it was a voice he really needed to follow at this moment. "Guys." His sudden change in tone brought his friends' attention all on him. "If you don't feel it right to come, don't come. This is my choice and I have to live with it. Kikyou let's go." He turned to the dead miko and then gave one final look at his friends. "Goodbye." He whispered with such finality in his voice.

As he walked out of the hut his friends glanced at each other. "It sounded as if..." Sango looked at Miroku with worry.

"He was never coming back." Miroku finished her sentence for her.

"Houshi-sama..." Sango's eyes were tearing up. "We can't let him fight alone. Whether it's a trap or not, we have to stick by his side." Sango said firmly and Miroku quickly nodded his head.

"Yes, my dear Sango, you are right." He stood up and then outstretched his hand. "Shall we go?"

Sango gave a smile and took his hand. He lifted her to her feet and then wrapped his arm around her waist, bringing her close to him. "And if this shall be our end. I want you to know, I love you." He then pressed his lips against hers in a passionate kiss and Sango surprisingly returned it.

"Whoo hoo! Go Miroku!" Shippou cheered and the couple broke away laughing.

"Let's go you guys." Miroku finally said and then looked at Sango who laughing eyes suddenly turned serious.

"You know that I-" But Miroku touched her lips, cutting her off and gave a boyish smile.

"I know." He let his hand drop and held it out for her. "To the end."

"To the end." Sango smiled and took his hand.

"To the end!" Shippou cheered.

"Uh... Shippou you're staying here. Kagome would not want you to come along." Miroku bent down and patted the kitsue's head. "You stay here and keep Kaede company.

"But I want to fight!" Shippou puffed out his chest causing Miroku to chuckle.

"And I want you to grow up so that you can fight. When you're older Shippou. Plus someone needs to be here if Kagome does come back." Miroku said as he and Sango stood.

"Kirara. Let's go." Kirara turned into her large cat youkai form once the three were outside. Miroku and Sango hopped on and Shippou followed them out.

"Can you try..." Shippou looked away from the two as he said his next phrase, "...to bring back Inuyasha?" He looked at the ground and clutched his fist. He worried about the hanyou and despite how Inuyasha treated him... Shippou really looked up to him as a big brother.

"Hai, Shippou." Miroku promised and then they were off to catch up with Inuyasha.

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Inuyasha stopped in the clearing. Despite the rising sun, the air felt cold, as if something evil was lurking. And Inuyasha knew that something was. "Alright Kikyou." Inuyasha turned to the clay miko, "Let's get this over with--"

"Inuyasha!" Miroku and Sango riding on Kirara appeared out into the clearing. They slid off the cat youkai and held their weapons protectively in front of them. "Inuyasha even though we think it's a trap, we won't let you face it alone." Miroku grinned mischievously.

"We're a team, Inuyasha. We always will be." Sango said as she swung her boomerang to her side.

"Guys..." Inuyasha whispered.

"Well done, Kikyou." Naraku chuckled overhead. "You did exactly as I wanted. You're a good little bitch." On a tree limb high above Naraku appeared cloaked in his usual baboon attire.

Honestly he needed a new wardrobe.

"Naraku!" Miroku and Sango screamed in unison.

"Now let's get this show on the road." He crooned.

"As you wish." Kikyou said coldly. Miroku and Sango shot her a death glare, while Inuyasha stared at the ground.

"Kikyou, you can take me to hell, but I ask of you, don't let any harm come to my friends. They have nothing to do with us or our past, so please." Inuyasha met Kikyou's chocolate brown eyes, his voice pleading. "Let them go."

Kikyou smirked and then flicked her wrist. Soul stealers came from the trees and wrapped Miroku and Sango around the nearest tree. The two struggled desperately to get free but the soul stealers were like a strong braided rope and the struggle was futile.

"Kikyou!" Inuyasha grabbed her shoulders and looked at his friends in horror. "LET THEM GO!"

Once again Kikyou only smirked and wrapped her arms around Inuyasha. The ground they were standing on began to part. Cries of woes and sorrows could be heard from the pits of hell. The noises filled up the forest, drowning all else out. Inuyasha's eyes fluttered close as his body sank against Kikyou.

Naraku's lips twisted in an evil smile as he watched the scene.

"INUYASHA!" Miroku and Sango screamed at the same time. "INUYASHA YOU HAVE TO WAKE UP!"

Further and further the couple sank. "Inuyasha." Kikyou whispered as tears streamed down her face. "This isn't where you belong. I didn't bring you here to take you to hell. I brought you here to tell you what I really feel. Because only here, at my death, in the midst of hell, does all of my feelings come back to me. I'm sorry I didn't trust our love. It was my fault we failed."

"I loved you. But I died. You have to accept that. This is my final goodbye."

"INUYASHA!" Miroku and Sango screamed once more.

"But here is also the only place where I can tell you the location of the last shard and Naraku not be able to hear. It is my final duty as a miko. The duty Kagome helped me realize that I needed to fulfill. I have always known the location of the last shard." Kikyou pulled her head up to Inuyasha's ear and whispered the location of the shard. "...northern...mountains...village..."

Kikyou flung Inuyasha's limp body off of her. The souls that were once inside of her fled. And the part of Kagome's soul that she held carried Inuyasha back to the surface. The opening of hell closed and Kikyou was swallowed by the demons that awaited her.

Naraku stood on the limb in utter shock.

The part of Kagome's soul fled towards him and pierced his heart, causing the puppet of Naraku to vanquish. And then it flew to its keeper.

The soul stealers that wrapped Miroku and Sango to the tree disappeared and the two immediately went to their friend who was still lying on the ground unconscious. "What made her change her mind?" Miroku asked Sango as he brushed back Inuyasha's bangs.

"I don't know. None of this made sense." Sango shook her head and grabbed Inuyasha's cold hand. "Why did she do it?"

"I don't know." Miroku met Sango's confused gaze. "I don't know."

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It wasn't long after Kagome and Sesshoumaru began their journey, that Kagome suddenly stopped walking. She felt something, though she didn't exactly know what, enter her body.

"Oh my..." Kagome clutched her chest and immediately fell forward. Sesshoumaru instantly caught her and held her wilted body against his own. He looked down into Kagome's eyes which were eerily vacant.

"Kagome?" She blinked at the sound of her name and then met his gaze, her sapphire eyes back to normal, only there was a slight sadness in them.

"Kikyou's dead." She said softly.

"I know. She's been dead." Sesshoumaru set her back on her feet, but she just shook her head and sat down on a rock. Sesshoumaru stood in front of her, waiting for her explanation.

"When Kikyou was brought back to life, she needed my soul in order to be whole again. But I wouldn't let her have it. I got all of it back except for one piece. That piece has enable Kikyou to live and also live off of other souls." Kagome put her hand on her chest. "I just got that piece back. She's dead. Gone."

Sesshoumaru didn't say a word. But he knew Kagome was worried, no doubt about Inuyasha. She would probably want to go back and check on him. Sesshoumaru felt something tug at his heart. Jealously? It would appear so.

Shaking her head, Kagome stood. "Well, let's go. We've wasted enough time." They began walking and Sesshoumaru just stared at her. "What?" Kagome looked up at him after awhile, annoyed at his staring.

"Don't you want to go to him?" Sesshoumaru asked before he knew what he was saying.

"Sesshoumaru Inuyasha's either one of two things. In hell, or sulking in a tree somewhere. Both cases I really can't help him with." Kagome shrugged and Sesshoumaru smirked.

She was really over him.

End of Chapter

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Moonchild: Alright! I'm back in the flow.

Inuyasha: Where the hell have you been!

Moonchild: I'm sorry! I've been moving. And everyone who has moved before knows what kind of pain that it is.

Kagome: Plus wasn't there like, no internet for like a week in your new house?

Moonchild: No internet or cable. Moving is a bitch. Don't move, just stay where you are. It's better.

Sesshoumaru: Well MC moving would have probably been better if you weren't such a pack rat.

Inuyasha: Yeah, like you don't need all of those stuff animals I saw in your room. C'mon get rid of them.

Moonchild: NOOOOO! Those animals are my friends! You don't get rid of your friends! Well... unless you're Naraku, but that's beside the point.

Inuyasha & Sesshoumaru: Psycho.

Moonchild: You know what, just shut it. Ok well! Thanks for reading this chapter! Please send a review! But no flames! They... they... burn!