Last Shard
Naraku is destroyed. The field of battle is silent.
They are gathered around him, the one who has the last shard of the Shikon Jewel, the one who will die when it is removed.
Sango is shaking her head frantically, her hair falling out of its high tail and tumbling into her tear-streaked face. Miroku has a gentle hand on her shoulder.
Then what the hell did we do all this for? Why did we go through hell and back to get the damn shards? It's Kohaku's decision, Sango, not yours!
Kohaku thinks he has never been so grateful to anyone as he is to Inuyasha in that moment.
Please, Sango whispers. Please. I can't loose him again.
Silence falls again, no one willing to make the first move.
Do it.
His voice, weak, faltering, choked with tears, breaks it. Take it. Please. You must. You have to complete the Jewel, otherwise all of this has been for nothing. If you let me live like this, Naraku has won.
Kagome starts to cry silently, the tears rolling down her face.
Kohaku turns his head, regards the one person who has always greeted him with a smile in the last year. But even her sunny face is solemn. He tries to smile for her, barely manages, and is relieved when she returns the gesture, even if her smile is sad and there are tears in her dark eyes and she's clutching her 'father's' sleeve for all she's worth.
Kagome stumbles forward, pulls the shard from his back.
Darkness closes in, and he is relieved. Finally, it is over. He does not want to die, he does not want to cause Sango more pain; he wants nothing more than to see his sister smile again.
The last thing he sees is a clawed hand, drawing a sword;
and Sesshomaru steps forward.
Rin smiles.
End
A/N – Weird. Just weird. I'd say I'm sorry, but I'm not. It's abstract, but I like it.