The floor shattered apart under foot, and Kohaku fell hard as the whole cave shifted. His head hit the ground with a loud crack. For a moment he saw stars beneath his eyelids and his ears rang. He pushed himself up in spite of overwhelming dizziness.

"Kohaku?" A familiar voice called. Kohaku turned and scanned the dark cavern. Kagome was getting to her feet nearby.

Kirara had been thrown back as well. She shook her giant head as if she was getting her bearings.

"Are you okay?" Kohaku asked, hurrying to Kagome's side.

"I'm fine, but I didn't see where the others went."

Kohaku took in his surroundings. They were still in the cave, but now it appeared as if Naraku's flesh had completely encircled them. It covered the walls and ceiling. The way back was blocked by a solid, pulsing wall of flesh. There was no way to go but forward.

"I guess we should just keep going and hope we find them." Kohaku suggested. Kagome nodded in agreement. Just then, Kohaku saw movement up ahead. He caught a glimpse of white hair and a red kimono.

"Inuyasha!" Kagome shouted, she started forward but stopped suddenly. Inuyasha turned to them. His eyes were blood red. Violet markings had appeared on his cheeks. His claws as fangs seemed to have doubled in length. His lip curled up in a sinister snarl. There was an undisguised bloodlust in his face. He growled a deep, threatening growl when he saw Kagome and Kohaku. His claws curled like he was ready to tear them apart. Kagome froze in horror.

"Inuyasha?"

Kohaku took a step back, preparing his weapon. A second later, Inuyasha sprang at them. Kohaku leapt out of the way while Kirara pulled Kagome to safety. It didn't take him long to recover before he rebounded and launched himself at Kagome again.

Kohaku threw the chain of his scythe at the demon and it wrapped around Inuyasha's outstretched arm, but with a sudden and powerful yank Inuyasha used the chain to whip Kohaku against the wall, knocking the breath out of him.

Kirara jumped at Inuyasha in an attempt to pin him down, but he swatted her away as if she were a fly.

Kohaku got back onto his feet and grabbed his weapon. He had heard that Inuyasha could transform into a full demon when his life was in danger, but this was Kohaku's first time ever seeing it.

"Inuyasha, stop! Please. It's me!" Kagome pleaded.

There was no hint of recognition or humanity in Inuyasha's eyes, just rage and a desire to kill.

"I'm going to tear you apart." He snarled.

He launched himself at her once again.

"Sit boy!" Kagome shouted.

Nothing happened.

"Sit!"

Inuyasha swiped the side of Kagome's arm as she jumped out of the way with only moments to spare. He ripped her sleeve, a trail of blood ran down her arm. Inuyasha licked the blood from his hand.

"This isn't the real Inuyasha!" Kagome shouted. "It's an illusion!"

The fake-Inuyasha stopped his attack and started laughing. It wasn't Inuyasha's voice that came out, but Naraku's.

"Very good." Naraku-Inuyasha taunted. "You figured it out far quicker than I anticipated."

"Enough of your games, Naraku!" Kohaku shouted.

He threw his scythe, the imposter easily caught it. Naraku-Inuyasha swiped once more at Kagome, catching her off-guard and sending her flying. She hit the wall and landed in a heap on the cave floor.

"Kagome!" Kohaku called.

He started to run to her, but Naraku-Inuyasha cut him off. Kohaku drew his katana and charged at the demon. He drove the blade into the imposter's shoulder.

Naraku-Inuyasha just laughed.

"Is that the best you can do Kohaku? This is your final chance to avenge your father. I expected a much better fight. Perhaps your mind is elsewhere." He jumped back, splattering blood as he went.

He lept over Kohaku's head. Kohaku could feel the demon flanking him. He swung around, ready to attack again but he froze when he saw who was standing there.

Hotaru.

He managed to stop his blade inches before it struck her. She stood still, looking at him with her wide violet eyes. Kohaku dropped his blade and stumbled backwards.

"Kohaku…" Kagome's voice came from behind him. "Don't fall for it! She's just an illusion!"

Of course she was an illusion. Kohaku knew that, but seeing her face was still too much for him. His entire body felt cold.

"This was never her battle to begin with." Naraku's voice rang out from all around him. "She only stayed because you didn't want her to leave. Had she gone home with Kagome then she would be alive right now, safe and happy in her own world with her real family. Instead she stayed, because you were too weak to live without her. She's only dead because of your selfishness."

I know...Kohaku wanted to shout, but he was completely paralysed. You don't have to tell me this, I already know...

"There is something you don't know, though." The voice twisted into sick pleasure, "Her fate. Would you like to see it?"

Fire erupted all around them, the illusion of Hotaru fell to her knees and screamed in agony. Her skin blistered and burned. She tore at her own flesh. Her body contorted into grotesque shapes.

"You're lying!" Kohaku shouted, rage breaking him free of his grief induced shock. "Hotaru had one of the purest souls I've ever known! There's no way she went to Hell!"

Naraku's cold laugh filled the cavern.

"You think the soldier of destruction's soul was pure? You are deluded. The pureness of her soul doesn't matter. She was possessed. While it is true that she was in control of her own mind and body up until the moment of her death, she still died with Magatsuhi clinging to her soul. She died as a demon. Because of that they were both dragged down into the fires of Hell."

"That's not true!" Kohaku shouted, falling to his knees, "That can't be true!"

"Don't listen to him!" Kagome pleaded. "Get up!"

"You know it's true." Naraku continued. "You know better than anyone how a demon can corrupt one's soul. She will face eternity burning, screaming, suffering...all because you were too weak..."

Kagome recovered enough to run over to him, she grabbed his arm and attempted to pull him to his feet.

"Kohaku, come on!"

He couldn't. He couldn't move. It wasn't true! It wasn't true! Hotaru's screams echoed in his ears. No matter how much she writhed she couldn't escape. No matter how much of her skin flaked away, she continued to burn.

Now that Kohaku was on his knees, Naraku sent tendrils shooting at him from the darkness of the cave. Kagome blocked some with her bow, while Kirara bit down on others.

"Kohaku, we have to go!" Kagome pleaded. "Now!"

He knew he was vulnerable. But he didn't care. His brain couldn't cope. In the end, he had done all he could do to try to end Hotaru's pain, but it didn't matter. How could he go on knowing she was damned?

It should have been him. They should have killed him when he was possessed instead. Then Magatsuhi wouldn't have had the chance to possess her. He should be the one in Hell, not her.

Kohaku was vaguely aware of Kagome and Kirara attempting to fight off Naraku's attacks, but they were quickly becoming overwhelmed. A tendril raced toward him, ready to kill. He didn't make any move to stop it, in spite of Kagome's screams. He didn't care. Naraku could take his life. It didn't matter anymore. Nothing mattered anymore.

Just as it was inches from his throat, the tendril froze. There was a sudden warmth in his pocket, and a purple barrier surrounded him.

"This is..." Before he could finish his sentence, the barrier exploded outwards, eviscerating Naraku's body parts 20 feet in every direction.

Get up! It was Hotaru's voice. He didn't hear it, he felt it. Her words resonated in his soul. Get up and fight! Get up! NOW!

He pushed himself to his feet, and threw his weapon. The same violet energy enveloped his blade: Hotaru's energy. The effect was devastating. Everything the blade touched crumbled to ashes. The walls of flesh which had separated the group were destroyed.

"Kohaku?" Sango's voice was the first to cut through the darkness. She appeared through the newly cut gap in the wall. Inuyasha was right behind her. Sango's face filled with relief as she ran to Kohaku. She almost knocked him down as she rushed to hug him.

"Are you guys okay?" Inuyasha asked. Before Kagome could answer, the half-demon was by her side, examining the wound on her arm from his doppleganger's attack. Kagome covered it with her hand, though her entire sleeve was stained red.

"It's not as bad as it looks." Kagome assured Inuyasha.

"Sango!" Miroku's voice entered the fray as he ran to join the others. Lord Sesshomaru was with him.

"I know how to defeat Naraku." Kohaku announced as his sister and Miroku embraced. "Once and for all."

Everyone stopped to look at him. He wasn't sure how the idea came to his head, but he knew the moment that it had formed that it would work. It was as if Hotaru was there with him, explaining everything. He reached into his pocket and wrapped his hand around her brooch. It was warm and comforting. For a moment it felt as if she were holding his hand. She had poured so much of her own energy into his body while he had been unconscious, now he felt that energy pulsing through him. They were still connected. Even in death, she was protecting him.

Kohaku pulled the brooch out of his pocket to show the others.

"Hotaru told me she was the guardian of death and rebirth. This stone still holds some of her power. If Inuyasha and Lord Sesshomaru use the sword of destruction and the sword of rebirth to release its power, it will destroy Naraku."

"How do you know that?" Sango asked.

"I just do."

The others exchanged glances. Kohaku wondered if they would believe him.

"Whatta ya say, Sesshomaru? I'm willing to give it a shot." Inuyasha said.

"Huh. I do not require your assistance to defeat Naraku." Lord Sesshomaru replied. "However, it would be fitting for Naraku's end to come at the hands of a dead human child."

"We need to get to the center of the cave system. That's where we'll find Naraku."

"He is this way." Lord Sesshomaru stated.

He continued forward without waiting for the others. Kohaku noticed that for the first time since he had known Lord Sesshomaru, the demon had two arms. There was a second sword at his hip as well.

Kohaku's attack with Hotaru's power seemed to have done a lot more damage than he had originally thought. Naraku had retracted much of his body, as if he didn't have as much expendable flesh as he once had. He was on the defensive. When they finally reached him, his flesh was ragged and corroded. Yet when the group approached him, he still sneered and sent tentacles flying towards Kohaku. Sango and Inuyasha both posed to defend against the attack but the tentacles hit Hotaru's barrier which crackled with blinding purple light.

"It's over, Naraku." Inuyasha announced.

"It will never be over." Naraku replied. "Once I complete the Shikon Jewel my strength will increase 100 fold. Now that you've so graciously delivered the final shard to me, I need only wait until you all succumb to my miasma."

A thick cloud of miasma poured from Naraku's body, instantly overpowering Miroku, Sango, and Kagome who collapsed into fits of coughing. Kohaku remained standing thanks to his jewel shard, still he knew he had to act quickly or his sister and her friends would die. He pulled Hotaru's brooch from his pocket. It pulsed like a heartbeat in his hand.

"Inuyasha! Lord Sesshomaru!" Kohaku shouted.

He threw the brooch into the air. The brothers drew their swords in unison. They struck the heart-shaped stone at the same time. A blinding light erupted from the stone and sent a shock-wave of energy outwards. It warped around the barrier, leaving Kohaku and the others unharmed, but exploded outwards. As the energy wave rapidly expanded it obliterated everything in its path. Naraku's body practically evaperated. Even the cave was annihilated.

When the light subsided, Kohaku and the others were standing alone in a crater no less than a mile wide. The sun was shining down on them. There was no sign that there had ever been a cave there. Not even rubble remained, only charred ground. Both tenseiga and tetsusaiga momentarily glowed with purple energy which quickly faded.

For a moment no one moved. No one spoke. Everything was perfectly still, as if the world itself was suspended the shock of what they had just accomplished.

Miroku was the first to move. Slowly, very slowly, he lifted his hand. He stared momentarily at the prayer bead that sealed his wind tunnel. He carefully and deliberately unraveled them from his wrist. Everyone watched with bated breath as he let his arm guard fall to the ground. He stared for a moment at his empty palm, then looked up at Sango.

Sango made a sound that wasn't a laugh, a sob, or a shout of joy, but somehow the combination of all three. She ran into Miroku's arms, and he lifted her off the ground in his fervent joy. Their lips met for a long passionate kiss.

Inuyasha and Kagome were celebrating in a very similar manner.

Lord Sesshomaru sheathed his sword and began walking back toward the direction of the village.

No one else noticed Hotaru's brooch was laying on the ground broken in half and blackened like a burned log. Kohaku noticed it. He knelt down to touch it, the last piece of her he had left. The thing which had saved his life, saved all of their lives, even after he had failed to save hers. It crumbled to ash under his fingertips.