Disclaimer: The characters of InuYasha are not mine; they are property of Rumiko Takahashi, Shogakukan, Yomiuri TV, Sunrise, and Viz. The following story is for entertainment and not profit.

Chapter 30: Completion

She sat on the bed, brushing the tangles from her damp hair. She had hoped that a hot shower would calm her anxiety but it had failed. Her body was tense like she was expecting something to happen only she couldn't figure out what. Her hand stopped mid stroke, something wasn't right. The air around her was too still. Slowly getting to her feet, she saw him coming, the dark figure from her nightmares. He burst through the pane of glass in a shower of sparkling shards and landed silently before her.

"You!" The weight of the single word hit her like an accusation. "Hand over the jewel shard and I shall make your death swift."

Naosu remained motionless as she studied the demon that stood between her and any chance of escape. "I don't know –"

"Do not play stupid with me woman!" He cut her off. "Hand over the last piece of the Shikon no Tama!"

"What makes you think I know where it is?" Her tone was harsh, to match his and to hide her shock at the mention of the jewel that had cursed her family. Recognizing the deeply hidden desperation in his eyes, Naosu took a chance and turned her back on her unexpected guest. He watched, a slow rage building at her defiance as the thin towel that had covered her bare flesh fell to the floor. 'How dare this woman act as if she has no fear of me at all,' he fumed.

Naosu picked up the folded, knee-length kimono she kept for just around the house and wrapped it around herself before turning back towards the shattered window and the angry hanyou that stood before it. "I will bring you the piece you desire but first you must take me back through the well with you."

'I should just kill her and be done with it,' he thought but something in the way she held herself before him stayed his hand. Not to mention, the spider shaped scar on her back was far too similar to his own to be a mire coincidence.

Kagome lifted her eyes from the pale, lifeless body Naraku had discarded and remembered the small ways she had changed since they had first met. She had gone from sad and isolated to friendly and hopeful; and now, because of her willingness to buy them a little time, she was dead.

Naraku laughed at the shocked expressions that his actions had caused, but he would not have someone as lowly as a woman believe they could play such games with him and live to tell it. Besides, once he completed the Shikon no Tama no one would dare judge him.

The light was almost blinding but he knew where his target was. Naraku had added the last shard, drenched in blood, to the jewel. That was the moment he had been waiting for. Shippo lunged forward from his hiding place amongst the scattered debris and snatched the completed jewel from Naraku's hand, replacing it with the round stone Sesshomaru had trained him with. He could hear the buzzing of Naraku's insects close behind him, but he dared not stop to look. Only one thought ran thought his mind, 'I have to get the jewel to Kagome!'

He ordered the Saimyoushou after the importunate kit although he was impressed that the small fox demon had managed to get so close without being detected. Naraku had snapped close his hand when he had felt the brush of fur on his fingertips both to protect the jewel and in an attempt to catch the tiny fool. 'I may have missed the child,' he thought, 'but he missed his chance.' Naraku smiled wickedly as he squeezed the solid orb in his hand. Soon there would be no stopping him. "What a brave child you have raised, miko. You must be proud of him…" he paused as the exterminator made short work of his remaining insects. "…even if he is a failure."

Kagome smiled as she removed Shippo from his perch on her shoulder and shooed him towards Miroku. "You would be right, Naraku. I would be proud of him even if he failed me, however…that has yet to happen." With her arm raised to shoulder height, Kagome opened her hand slowly, the light of the purified jewel escaping around her fingers.

Naraku's eyes dropped to his closed fist. 'How could she have the jewel when …?' He let the round stone in his hand fall. He had been deceived. 'How dare they!' Anger flared in his eyes as he remembered Naosu's warnings. 'That stupid bitch,' he thought, 'this is all her doing.'

His footsteps had grown heavier in the days since his sister had left with the others. Every day the weight of the shadow that hung over him seemed to increase. Naraku's presence seemed all around him and impossible to avoid. He had woken Rin almost every night with his screams and desperate flailing to fight back the nightmares. She would crawl out of her bed and wrap her arms around him, snuggling into his chest, her presence serving to calm his racing heart. Every morning he would wake before her and pretend that nothing had happened, and every morning he was grateful that she would play along.

It had been well over a week since Sesshomaru had charged him with her protection and with the passing of each day he felt less and less capable of the task. Allowing his feet to move him, Kohaku aimlessly wandered down the lengthy corridors until the shifting of a shadow on the wall froze him in his tracks. His heart began to beat faster as his eyes focused on the object of his fear. A large black and red spider clung to the fine filaments of the web it had spun over a crag in the wall. Between its spiny, jointed legs lay the half encased body of a smaller, redder spider, its front legs twitching as if attempted to fight the venom injected by its captor.

Kohaku tried to move himself away from the disturbing microcosm but found that he no longer seemed to be in control of his muscles. It was as if, he too was suffering the effects of the paralyzing toxins.

Rin noticed the terrified look in his eyes as she approached. She had been searching the halls for the older boy in the hopes of receiving more weapons training. She called out to him as she got closer, hoping to pull his attention from whatever horror he seemed transfixed by. His body remained stiff and unmoving, while his eyes stared unblinking at the rough stone wall. "Oh." She exclaimed as she noticed the darker spot against the wall. "It's a spider."

Placing herself between her protector and the unwelcome guest, she slipped off her shoe and stooped to pick it up. "It's okay, Kohaku," she smiled as she stood up, " he can't hurt you anymore." With a loud thwack that echoed down the hall, Rin squished the unassuming insect beneath the sole of her removed shoe.

Kohaku blinked seeming to notice her for the first time, and embraced her small form. Rin smiled sadly and wrapped her arms around him in return as she felt the tears of thanks land on her shoulder.

Sesshomaru had to admit that his brother had chosen his mate well. With a single motion she had wiped out not only Naraku, but all the demons that had been following him; his entire web had been destroyed.

Inu Yasha was hesitant to touch her, the purifying aura of the Shikon jewel still surrounding her. He found himself in awe of the woman he had fallen in love with. He had come to learn that she was stronger than she looked but he never guessed just what kind of power had been lying dormant within her. As the light faded, her body pitched back into the arms of the attentive hanyou that was quick to her side.

"It's over." The words disrupted the stillness, "It's really over." Miroku slipped his hand into that of the seemingly stunned woman at his side. As she turned to face him, he saw the dampness of tears glittering on her cheeks.

"Father can rest now."

Nodding, the monk simply crushed her smaller form against him. "Both our fathers." He whispered into her hair as he gazed at his no longer cursed hand through slowly misting eyes.

Leading his master's stead up the hill Jakken came to see the devastation. They had been sent, along with the exterminator's pet, to guard the path up the hill and keep any of Naraku's minions from attacking the main group from behind. They had only had a few skirmishes with Saimyoushou when a blinding light from the hill top seemed to dissolve the remaining insects. Jakken had insisted they wait to be summoned, just encase things hadn't gone as well as they seemed. The powerful cat, however, had taken off to check on her master. Not to be out done in loyalty, he had snatched Ah-Un's lead and hurried after her.

Upon spying their master unharmed the double headed dragon raced forward, causing the smaller youkia to fall on his face and be dragged through the grass. Jakken, spitting the dirt and grass from his mouth, jumped to his feet as soon as the ride stopped and ran the remaining distance, "Master!" he proclaimed as he ran. "Your plan was successful! Naraku has been defeated!"

Taking the reins of his stead, Sesshomaru pulled his gaze away from the empty grass before him. "Come, Jakken. We are finished here."