A sudden thought occurred to Miroku as he set there still holding his friend. He felt something warm and wet on his robes, and it was in the wrong place to be her tears. He flashed back to the battle and recalled the scream his friend had let out. She had been injured he realized and she had apparently been bleeding all of this time. "Lady Kagome," he cried out "you are hurt."
"It is nothing, leave it," she lethargically replied.
And with a chill Miroku came to the conclusion that she had been aware of it all along. "I will not leave it," he argued. "Have you noticed that since being here we have felt no hunger? I believe that we are beyond the reach of time. It will be torture, but if we survive I believe that we will see them again." Without waiting for her permission he ripped his robe and began to feel for her wound. Once he had found it he tied the makeshift bandage tightly around effectively stopping the flow of blood. The immediate danger to his friend had now passed. But he now knew that there was another danger that he must find a way to address. Hopelessness; she had almost given into it and he would now have to find a way to keep it at bay. So he began to engage her in conversation. They spoke of their fondest memories of their friends. Though he could not see it he felt certain that he could feel her smile.
Inuyasha watched on with pains of guilt shooting through him. It had been a year now, but time had done nothing to diminish his love. And he knew Sango's had also not wavered. He had watched her over the last year as she made preparations for the monks return. She had taken to working as a slayer again to have an income, and Inuyasha had helped out for free, he just needed a way to let out his anger. Sango had saved every penny that she had earned until she had enough to have a hut built; a home for her and Miroku. A home that Inuyasha knew they would never share. He saw the small changes that time was already making in his friend, the lines around her eyes becoming slightly more defined, and was again reminded that she would never live to realize her dreams.
Time really had no meaning for them. There was after all no sun to greet each day; no moon to mark it's end. No, there was only the void and the relentless darkness that would have driven either of them insane without the other to lean on. One day though; Kagome felt something, and it filled her with fear. It was the remainder of the jewel. Part of the jewel still hung on a chain around her neck. The rest she knew was with Naraku. After he had been sucked into the void they had never had a chance to recover his portion. And, now he was coming. There was no longer an Inuyasha to protect them, and she wasn't sure how she and Miroku would survive. She placed her hand on Miroku's shoulder; such intimate gestures long ago having ceased to cause either of them discomfort. "He is coming," she said in a shaking voice.
Before he could question who he felt him too. Somehow Naraku had found a way to reach them and Miroku knew what the vile creature was after. The jewel, no doubt he now hoped to use it to gain freedom from the prison they all shared. He grabbed Kagome and crushed her into what he was afraid may be their last hug before pushing her away. "Lady Kagome, you must run. I am afraid I can buy you but a few moments, and in that time you must hide the jewel from him."
"No," Kagome exclaimed "I will not leave you. Without you I would be lost here. I am sure I wouldn't even be able to keep the jewel pure; all would be lost."
He wanted to argue. He even knew that he should, but he couldn't. He knew that her presence was the one thing that kept him sane. How could he deprive her of the same? "Then we stand side to side and fight," he said with conviction.
In the next instant Naraku was on them, and apparently the void had changed him. He didn't even mock them which was something that had once bought him great joy. And, he fought like a wounded animal, no longer the calculating genius he had once seemed. Kagome had noticed the change and was grateful for it for once she was able to think things through while battling him, and she came up with a plan she was certain could not fail. What she did next made Miroku scream and question her sanity. He could feel the sudden move as she ripped her piece of the jewel from her neck, and he couldn't miss the ripple in the perpetually still air of the void as she tossed her portion of the jewel to naraku. The jewel that naraku would now undoubtedly use to free himself from the prison that Mirkou had made the ultimate sacrifice to place him in. But before he had a chance to panic he felt another change. He began to feel the warmth of his friend's priestess powers. Suddenly there was a light. Though it was dim it was enough to blind all three inhabitants of the void who had become so accustomed to the endless dark.
It would seem that Kagome had indeed had a plan. She had allowed Naraku to dissolve the jewel before purifying it. Effectively destroying him from the inside out. The shock wave of his demise was intense, and the light that followed was blinding; though as soon as it had flared it died out. Miroku rushed to where he sensed Kagome and embraced her in such a strong hug that he picked her up off the ground. It was over Naraku was no more and ironically it was the gentle creature in his arms that had taken him out. It made an odd kind of sense that it had taken an absolutely good creature to destroy one of absolute evil. The feelings that he felt from her were so warm that he felt a deep sadness that he would have to be the one to extinguish them.