Inu-Yasha opened his eyes. He felt wet… He felt cold… What the hell had happened?

He sat up and cupped his head. Then, it all rushed back. He had heard of Kagome's imprisonment by Naraku and had gone to protect her, but had arrived too late. She hadn't recognized her. But she had tried to kill herself, stepping out of that barrier… but Kagura had saved her. Then had come the eight years. Eight long years. It had been enough to show him just how much he loved her. Loved the sound of her voice. Loved the way she moved, the way she walked, the way she stood. Loved the peaceful face she made when she slept. He had been positive that she had died, but no. He had come across her and asked her who she was. She had turned towards him and he had caught her wonderful scent. She was alive…

But she attacked him. Then attacked Sango, but stopped and looked stricken. Kagome had then doubled over in what appeared to be pain… Then she had killed both Miroku and Sango, but it wasn't HER who had killed them… No, it wasn't! It was Naraku. He could see it in her eyes.

When she turned to kill him, he had prepared to attack her, but couldn't. He just couldn't. She had asked him to kill her. She had practically BEGGED him too… but he couldn't. He told her the truth… He told her that he loved her… then that bastard Naraku had killed her. Then Naraku had killed him.

'But… I'm not dead…' he thought, blinking. He looked around wildly and saw Miroku and Sango a little ways off, Sango crying and Miroku praying, trying to keep back tears. Why?

Inu-Yasha looked to a slumped form and gasped. Kagome's eyes were closed and she faced the sky. A bare patch of ground lay not far from her, and an even smaller bare patch was only a few feet away from her.

He almost crawled towards Kagome. He smelled the death on her. He smelled her sweet beautiful scent mixed in with blood and death. He felt his heart break and his clutched his chest. "Kagome… no…" he whispered, bending over Kagome, tears streaming down his face. She was dead…

"KAGOME!" Inu-Yasha screamed, pain filling his voice. He bent and hugged Kagome close to him, wanting to feel her beating heart against his chest, but only hugging a cold dead corpse of the woman he loved.

He sent Kagome's body back down and lifted his head, fire in his eyes. "Where… the hell… is that bastard… Naraku?" he hissed. Miroku looked down at his feet and shook his head. "I'm so sorry, Inu-Yasha, my friend… but Naraku is dead…" He undid the cloth that wrapped his cursed hand and exposed it towards Inu-Yasha. The palm was bare.

Inu-Yasha punched the earth near Kagome's head. "Damn… He kills Kagome then dies so I can't get my revenge?" he screamed. Miroku shook his head. "He didn't kill Kagome… she killed him…"

That night, Inu-Yasha shifted in his sleep, seeing over and over the moment Naraku killed Kagome, like one of those movie things she had talked about. "Kagome…" he whispered in his sleep. He finally slipped into dreams.

Kagome stood before him, a blue light dancing around her, just like when Shippou's father's pelt had protected her against the elder Thunder Brother. "Kagome…" he whispered, watching her. She smiled and he took a step forward.

He hugged her close to him. He felt her hands curl up and clutch his back and feel his robe dampen as she sobbed into his shoulder. "Inu-Yasha… I'm so sorry… so so sorry…" "Don't be. There's NOTHING to apologize about!" Inu-Yasha said softly, hugging her close to him. She had no heart beat.

Inu-Yasha listened to a muffled account of what had happened after he had been killed. So… she had sacrificed herself for her friends… "You shouldn't have," he said. Kagome pulled away from him angrily and glared up at him through tear filled eyes. "It's MY fault you all died… The least I could do was give you your lives back." "You didn't give me my life back… A life without you isn't worth living…" Kagome gasped and her eyes opened wide. "Wha-what?" she asked, shaking her head. "I'm NOT asking you to come to the netherworld with me!"

'No… she isn't…' Inu-Yasha thought. 'She's not Kikyo…' "I don't care… If you don't live, then I don't live…" Kagome shook her head. "NO!" she shouted, making Inu-Yasha's puppy dog ears flatten against his head. He hugged her close to him and breathed in her scent. He closed his eyes against the pain, then opened them to a new morning. He wished he hadn't.