Part III: Cut to the Chase (2)

4.

It is the rocket that ignites itself

And launches its way to the stars

A driver on a busy freeway

Racing the oblivious cars

-Rush, "Cut to the Chase", stanza 4

"Sango! You're all right!" Kagome said, happy as ever. "Thank Kami! The medicine helped."

Sango sat up. "Hoshi-sama…" she looked around frantically. "Where is Houshi-sama!" she asked, staggering to her feet.

"Sango…" Kagome said, reaching out a hand to stay the young girl. "Sango, he died, remember?"

Sango shook her head. "No… I just saw him… I know I did!"

"Sango," Kagome stood and gripped her friend's upper arm. "It was a dream. Please, don't be stupid!"

Sango turned to face Kagome. Her eyes were filled with tears, tears of worry…for her. Sango relaxed. "…"

"Don't you realize what would happen to this group if you weren't around to help us? Sango, please don't fall for Naraku's trap. I… if you died, I wouldn't be able to live with myself knowing that I let you go into that castle. Sango, you're truly one of my best friends. Please… stay here. Let Inu-yasha handle Naraku."

"All right," Sango said, relaxing and sitting on the ground near her friend. "By the way, Kagome, I'm sorry," she said, leaning against Kagome's shoulder.

"Sorry for what?"

"Taking your shards. Here…" she reopened the wounds in her wrists where she had inserted Kagome's jewel shards. Taking them out carefully, she placed them in her friend's hand.

"It's all right. You needed them."

"Yeah, you're right. I did." With that, Sango drifted off to sleep, exhaustion and blood loss finally catching up with her.

5.

It's the motor of the western world

Spinning off to every extreme

Pure as a lover's desire

Evil as a murderer's dream

-Rush, "Cut to the Chase", Stanza 5

"I… I can't breathe…" Miroku clawed at the dirt that covered him. "Perhaps…" he gripped at his wrist. No, no prayer beads. Nothing. "Damn it…" Finally, he felt one of his fingers touch air. Frantically, he dug his way out of the hole that had buried him. As he climbed out and shook the dirt off of his robes, he looked at the ground where he had been buried. There lay, carefully and reverently strewn across the gravesite, his staff, a piece of Sango's Hiraikotsu, and a picture of the group drawn by Shippou. On top of all this, there lay a sealed envelope, addressed to him in silver ink. Carefully, he opened it and read it to himself.

Houshi-sama,

I'm sorry I let you down. I know you will have these items in the afterlife, so I decided to tell you how I really felt in this letter. Miroku, I love you so much, and I'm sorry I could never admit it to you. I always got so jealous when you would ask other women to bear your children, and yet, when you found the courage to ask me, I took it as an insult. I should have told you all this while you were alive; maybe it would have meant something then.

With my infinite love,

Sango, your Taiji-ya

Miroku bit back a sob. His Taiji-ya. What an acclamation. Holding the note to his heart, he took in a deep breath, hoping to catch a small whiff of her simple fragrance. Looking about him for a sign of where she may be, he noticed he was close to Kaede's hut. "She's got to know where Sango is…" he murmured. Trudging up the hill, he noticed something. His shards… from his shoulder… where were they? Frantically, he dug about where he had been buried, then, he remembered the attacks. The blood. Dear God, had he really been… dead?

After staggering up the steps, he gripped the shoji of the hut and swung it open. "Kaede…" He stumbled and fell onto the floor. "Kaede!"

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"Naraku! Where the hell are you! Come on out and fight!" Inu-yasha walked through the castle grounds, calling out challenges to the demon. "Come on! I'm ready!"

"Kukukuku," Naraku's laugh pierced the darkness of the night.

Inu-yasha watched as a figure in a white baboon coat came out of the dusty shadows. "It's you," he said, gritting his teeth.

"You come to me with no weapons and no Kagome. Could it be that you are here to give yourself up?" Naraku asked drawing closer.

"No, I've come to destroy you!" He bared his claws "IRON REAVER SOUL STEALER!"

Naraku dodged the claws, and Inu-yasha tumbled onto the ground. "Damn it…" he murmured to himself, "I'm going to need more power…"

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"I have no idea where they are now, but Sango left this note for the group," Kaede told Miroku, handing him the slightly crumpled letter.

"She's got to be near Naraku's castle," Miroku said calmly, refolding the note gently.

"That is not a bad guess…" Kaede offered.

Miroku turned to the old woman. "Kaede," he asked hesitantly, "Would you accompany in finding them?"

Kaede looked taken aback. "Of course I will, friend," she said.

Miroku looked down at his naked hand, where his windtunnel used to be. He clenched it into a fist. "I will no lose you, my dear Sango. Not this time around."

6.

I'm young enough not to care too much

About the way things used to be

I'm young enough to remember the future

The past has no claim on me

-Rush, "Cut to the Chase", stanza 6

Sango awoke in a warm place. Choosing to keep her eyes closed, she savored the feelings of water lapping against her clammy skin. "A hot spring," she murmured to herself. "Thank Kami…" She sank down into the water so low that only the upper half of her face peeked above the water level. "So lovely…"

"Oy," came a deep voice from nearby. Sango opened her eyes and promptly screamed.

"You HENTAI! Miroku, I ought to…" she stopped, holding the rock over her head, looking stupid. "Miroku!" she dropped the rock into the water. "Oh Kami!" She rushed to him, grabbing a hold of him and holding him close. "But you were…"

"Dead, I know. But now, I'm alive, and I'm here," Miroku said, holding her.

Sango stepped back, skeptical. But how do I know that you're not Gensai, playing a trick on me?"

Miroku rubbed his chin, and then stripped his robes off, jumping into the hot spring with her. "Would Gensai do this?" he asked, holding her chin and offering a deep kiss.

Sango pressed herself closer, responding beautifully to his advances. At last the kiss ended, and he held her. "Sango, I missed you so much."

"As did I," she replied. Suddenly she felt a rubbing sensation on her backside. "Kami damn you, Houshi-sama!" she smacked him hard across the face, leaving a reed imprint where her hand had struck. As he stood up, rubbing his sore cheek, he smiled.

"Well, now I know that you're not Gensai, either," he said, laughing.

Sango was speechless for a moment, but then she began laughing as well. "You hentai," she giggled, falling to her knees in the shallow water. "Aishiteru, Miroku," she said, suddenly becoming serious.

"Aishiteru, Sango-sama…" Miroku replied. "Very much." They sat in the hot spring and held each other for a very long time.

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Gensai watched the couple from a tree above the hot spring. "Do not fear, Naraku. I shall not fail you." An evil laugh echoed across the calm countryside.

7.

I'm old enough not to care too much

About what you think of me

But I'm young enough to remember the future

And the way things ought to be

-Rush, "Cut to the Chase," stanza 7

Kagome watched Inu-yasha fight from the ledge where Kirara had stood before they took Sango to the nearby hot springs. Behind her, she heard a clattering of horse hooves on stone. "Kaede!" Kagome whirled around to face the old woman.

"How is he?" Kaede asked, dismounting.

"Surviving… barely," Kagome answered, watching the two as they fought it out to the death below.

"Indeed," Kaede said. "Without the Tetsusaiga, there is not much he can do to kill Naraku. He may very well die in this battle."

Kagome looked at the shrunken lady. "Do… do you really think that he will die, Kaede?" she asked.

Kaede looked up at the young girl. "Yes, Kagome." She looked back out over Naraku's castle. "It is very possible."

Kagome's knees buckled, and she slid down to the rock, hiding her face in her hands. Oh my god… she thought to herself. What have I done?

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Naraku dodged every move that Inu-yasha gave him. "Kukukuku…" Naraku laughed. "You'll never do it! Just admit it. Without your precious Tetsusaiga, you can't beat me!"

"Dammit, he's running down my strength so he can get an attack in… I'm getting more and more tired." Suddenly he got a plan. He fell to his knees. "Naraku, I admit it," he spat. "You've defeated me."

Naraku laughed as he came close to the Hanyou. He raised a clawed hand. "Die, Inu-yasha…" he laughed bringing his hand down over Inu-yasha.

Inu-yasha smiled. "No, you die. IRON REAVER SOUL STEALER!" he slashed at the demon, whose eyes opened wide with surprise.

"No…" Naraku fell down, defeated.

Authors note: Yay! Naraku's dead, Sango and Miroku got together and kissed, Kagome and Inu-yasha are going to fall in love…is this the happy ending we've all been waiting for? NO! I have too many more chapters to write, plus Gensai's still alive, and I know there will be downfalls for the Inu-ikkou to endure yet… Enjoy!

Gina: (Happily sipping coffee as she types away) Yes, alone at last…. (hums a happy song. Suddenly, an "achoo" and a crash. She goes to the door and Opens it, Glaring ominously at the muddled mess of hands, feet, and faces before her.) Explain.

The group: (A long and muddled argument about who wanted who to listen in and who was forced to do so)

Gina: (Flames around her) OUT! (The house shakes.) NOW!