Well, second-last chapter folks! Yay! Soon I'll start a new story, woo!!
Deds:
Kitsune's Lover - You're the only one who reviewed the last chapter, you're so awesome, and thank you for your wonderful comments, I couldn't stop smiling!! I worked real hard so you wouldn't have to hang on long, and I hope to finish this tory today, so keep your fingers crossed!
Every Time We Touch
Eleven shadows slipped through the purple mist like ghosts, without making a sound, toward the dark, dilapidated-looking castle beneath the rippling barrier. Kagura, leading the way, bid them all to wait a moment outside.
Sesshoumaru nodded, and asked everyone to lay a hand on him, even though the thought of everyone touching him made him cringe. When eight hands and two paws were felt at various points along his haori sleeves, he concentrated his jaki, and masked everyone's presence, along with his own.
Satisfied, Kagura stepped into the castle; her job was to lead Kanna away so that the rest of them could sneak in. Opening the screen, she quietly closed it behind her and began to walk toward the basement, when Kanna said from behind her, "I thought you went to bed, Kagura."
Kagura froze, but smoothly recovered. "I did, but I have to go to the bathroom," she lied, and Kanna narrowed her eyes. Sighing, Kagura offered her hand and asked, "Would you like to escort me there?"
Silent, Kanna passed her, leading the way. Little brat, she thought maliciously, her hand falling limp to her side, her face never changing.
Sesshoumaru gave the go ahead when Kagura's voice faded in the depths of the dankness around them, and, moving as one, still holding onto the demon Lord, they moved quietly through the hallways of the castle.
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Naraku settled in for a night of quiet meditation, in which he would experiment with the demons currently residing in his person. He occasionally heard the faintest squeak of the floorboards on the main level, but felt assured that down here, no one would find him. Of course, he couldn't trust Kagura not to lead his enemies to him, but he was pretty sure she didn't know about his plans for tonight; besides, Kanna was keeping an eye on her, as he'd asked her to several weeks prior.
He seriously considered reclaiming the wind witch once and for all. She was beginning to prove more trouble than she was worth; her independence had been impossible for him to break. Even when he'd shackled her for a week down here, he'd heard no complaint from her. Her resentment was too obvious for her to hide, but he cared not about her feelings for him; they didn't matter.
What mattered was that she did as she was told, or suffer the consequences.
A loud thump came from two floors above. Naraku rolled one red iris to the ceiling and glowered at it, as if that would solve all his problems. His enemies had no idea how taxing it was for him to stay that crucial step ahead, how difficult it was to constantly be putting himself out of commission to merely experiment - for that was all he could do, without the complete jewel. It irked him, and he became short of temper, and often snapped on his servants, or randomly decided to torture someone new with his diabolical schemes, which, he grunted, were not at all easy to come up with.
It was no picnic being him, but he was determined to reach his goal. He had once survived horrible burns, broken bones, long falls from high places, rivers - hell, he was practically indestructible. He grinned to himself. If he ever did go down, he'd not go to hell alone, that was for sure. Or so he told himself.
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Sesshoumaru glared at Inuyasha as they continued to move down the dark halls, looking for the door Kagura had told them led to the basement. Inuyasha rubbed his head, a goose-egg growing on the back of it. He'd accidentally stepped on Sesshoumaru's foot and his brother had slammed his head into the nearest wall, making the loud thump Naraku had heard from the cellar. Everyone shook their heads in disgust; would these two never get along?
Kagome, taking pity on Inuyasha, kissed his goose-egg better, while Kouga tried not to feel left out, and kept his eyes on the hall behind them. Faintly, he began to see a white glow, and whispered, "Someone's coming!"
Panicking, Sesshoumaru flung open the nearest screen and shoved everyone inside, just as Kanna turned the corner. Quietly closing the door behind him, he waited, holding it shut.
Kanna glanced down the hall, where she thought she'd seen movement just a moment ago. She could see nothing now in the dark, and she sensed no auras, so she continued to lead Kagura back to her room, much to Kagura's chagrin.
When they had passed, everyone emerged from the room, and moved once more toward the basement doors. Sesshoumaru rested his hand on Tokijin, in readiness. Kitana put her hand atop his for the briefest moment, and the look he saw in her eyes made him feel terrible. She was so sad, he thought he would crumble if anything were to happen to her…Kagura was out of the way; she had warned them that Kanna might catch her, and they'd be on their own, but there was nothing he could do to protect Kitana any better than standing in front of her.
Looking away, he decided to cross that bridge when he came to it. Kitana, getting no response from him, pulled her hand away.
Finally, they came upon the door they'd been searching for. Right away Kagome confirmed that she strongly felt the presence of the jewel below them.
"Alright, no talking beyond this point," Miroku whispered, and they all nodded. Inuyasha looked like he was about to jump out of his skin.
"We go in hard, we go in fast," he said, looking into the hanyou's eyes as he began to calm down now that he knew what was expected of him. "Use everything you've got to hold him down, and Kagome, Inuyasha, and Sesshoumaru will finish him off. Remember, you three have to attack at precisely the same moment, so you might want to work out a signal between you."
Kagome blinked, and whispered, "Thumbs up?"
Both brothers nodded.
"Alright, let's do this thing," Kouga growled, disappointed that he wouldn't be part of the killing, just the holding. He thought maybe if something went wrong, he would save Kagome; that thought smoothed his ruffled feathers admirably, once he realised that she'd probably want to thank him…
Suddenly, the doors behind them slid open, and everyone felt their heart miss a beat.
"Am I too late?" Kagura asked, a smile on her face.
"Not at all," Kagome said, the first to recover.
"Good. I'll lead the way, that way he won't suspect a thing until it's too late."
Everyone moved aside as Kagura flung open the cellar doors, and began to descend them. After a moment, they heard Naraku ask, "Kagura, why do you disturb my slumber?"
After that, everything was a blur. Sesshoumaru, Inuyasha, Kouga, Miroku, Sango, Kitana, Kagome, Shippo, Storm, and Kirara all rushed into the opening, spreading out behind Kagura like an army. It was hard to see in the dark, but the bright pink glow of the arrow Kagome loosed at Naraku's head lit the room brilliantly, giving everyone a chance to grab and hold the evil myriad of demons that comprised Naraku. Moving his head so the arrow only grazed him, Naraku glared at Kagura as he found all his limbs immobilized, and a trio of enemies standing before him. Kagome lifted her thumb and in unison, Sesshoumaru, Inuyasha, and she herself all shouted the names of their attacks, and let forth a volley of power so strong that the castle exploded around them on impact.
Smoke and fire blinded everyone's senses as a wind began to blow through the air; now that the walls were gone, blue sky could been seen through the grey smoke and bitter smell of burning flesh.
When the air had cleared, nothing remained of Naraku but a charred pile of smoking flesh, the jewel nestled snugly in it like a cherry on the top of an ice cream sundae.
Picking it up, the burnt flesh began to turn to ash at her touch, and blew away. The jewel turned a bright pink, and Kagome held it against the few she had on her; they fused to form an almost whole jewel.
Inuyasha came to her, and saw the bauble dangling from her neck. "You did it," he whispered, and picked her up, spinning her through the air and kissing her lips as she giggled in his ears.
Sesshoumaru poked the ashes with Tokijin, not yet satisfied that Naraku was really gone, when he heard a low moan. Looking around, everyone was accounted for except…
Turning to follow the noise, he found Kagura in a nearby shrub, her chest impaled so deep that he could see right through it. Her eyes were glazed over and she tried to focus on his face when he bent close to speak to her.
"Did you get him?" she asked, her voice an awful croak. Sesshoumaru, for the first time since Ai, felt tears prick his eyes, but he valiantly held them back.
"Yeah," he whispered, holding her hand tightly, "We got him."
She smiled, but didn't quite finish; she looked like she was in severe pain. She blinked, and choked, coughing, and as he held her up, she whispered, "Thank you Sesshoumaru…now I'm free."
He squeezed his eyes shut as he felt her breath leave her body, and she became dead weight in his arms, limp as a rag doll.
"Farewell, Kagura," he whispered, laying her gently back down on the ground.
Kagome put a hand on his shoulder, and then stepped aside as Kitana grabbed both his shoulders, gently pulling him away from the body.
Suddenly he spun, and without another thought, pulled Tensaiga from its sheath, and sliced Kagura's body with the blade. Tensaiga did not glow.
He shook it, but still it did not respond; not even a pulse resonated from the thin blade.
"Worthless," he gritted, jamming it back in.
He flung Kitana's hand away as he passed her, and she looked after him, the tears in her eyes spilling over to stream down her cheeks and drip from her chin.
Sango released her grip on Miroku. Something still bugged her.
"He went down so easy," she said to him, and he peered into her eyes.
"But?"
"But I can't help but think that we've overlooked something."
Miroku smiled. "Fear not, my lovely Sango, I shall put an end to your worries." Removing his most powerful sutra from his robe, Miroku approached the pile of ash that had formerly been Naraku and slapped it on it. A harsh sizzling could be heard as the last of the evil energy was dispelled, and the pile of ash disappeared into nothing, leaving not a trace behind. All that remained to remind them of Naraku was his burnt castle, a few stone walls and a large hole in the ground, a crater created from the auras of the three strongest beings in the group.
Taking her hand, he pointed to the west as someone emerged from the bushes; Kohaku, disoriented, came running when he saw Sango, the only person he remembered from his past. A shard still remained in his shoulder, and Kagome frowned; she had to remove it. Sesshoumaru approached and once again removed Tensaiga from its sheath.
Sango, at a loss for words, held Kohaku in her arms as Kagome extracted the shard carefully, Kohaku's life-force draining away as she did so. Sango stroked her dead brother's hair as she murmured, "Soon I'll have you back, Kohaku, don't leave me."
Tensaiga, silent before, now pulsed with life; it was ready to resurrect the boy, and began to vibrate in its urgency to be used to do so.
Sesshoumaru sliced at him, and immediately he took a breath, and looked up at his sister, tears in his eyes. "Sango?"
Unable to speak, Sango gathered him close to her heart and cried into his hair, as he cried with her. Kagome felt tears prick her eyes as she added the final piece to the jewel, a piece she'd not noticed was missing until now. As she added it, the jewel glowed white, then pulsed gently in a soothing rhythm at the base of her throat.
"Well," she breathed, "we've done it!"
A loud cheer went up, as everyone gathered in a group hug, except the male demons of course, who would never willingly be caught in a public display of affection if they could possibly help it.
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Well, I'm so happy, you guys, that I'll overlook the lack of reviews just to finish this monster. It's 108 pages, which is a record for me! What an achievement! Does anyone have a medal? Lol! One more to go! ONE MORE!!!!!