I do not own Inuyasha. Not mine. Never will be.
A Distant Voice in the Darkness
(From "Hymn to the Night")
I felt her presence, by its spell of might,
Stoop o'er me from above;
The calm, majestic presence of the Night,
As of the one I love.
I heard the sounds of sorrow and delight,
The manifold, soft chimes,
That fill the haunted chambers of the Night,
Like some old poet's rhymes.
From the cool cisterns of the midnight air
My spirit drank repose;
The fountain of perpetual peace flows there-
From those deep cisterns flows.
Oh holy Night! From thee I learn to bear
What man has borne before!
Though layest they finger on the lips of Care,
And they complain no more.
Longfellow
His sword glowed with bloody power. He snarled and raised the sword for the third time in succession. Power ripped along the dome of the black barrier, coursed and writhed only to die once again without any effect. "Damn you, Naraku!" He cursed and prepared to raise Tessaiga again.
"Stop." Came Sesshomaru's commanding tone. He had watched the last fall of their father's blade and quickly realized that another attempt was only a waste of power. "You will not be able to break it alone."
"What are you talking about?" Inuyasha asked through gritted teeth. "I've tried all of my attacks and this is the only one that even remotely works on the barrier."
"We are missing something." The Taiyoukai replied as he stepped closer to the barrier. It was obvious that it had been originally formed with Naraku's powers, but there was something different about this barrier. Something slightly off. He reached out his hand and touched the domed surface without hesitation. A sharp jolt of energy threw him back a few yards, but he regained his center and landed crouched on his feet. He looked down at his hand and snarled. It had been burnt by purifying energy. "He's designed this barrier so that it fed upon Kagome's power. By the time her purification energies have been completely absorbed by Naraku's energies and you can break through, it will be too late to bring her back."
"Then we will have to try something different." Miroku said as he approached slowly. His arm was slung over Sango's shoulders. She had wanted him to remain laying down, but he would have none of it. He was dizzy and still recovering from the poisons that had been neutralized in his blood, but he knew that he would be needed. Before they'd arrived he'd sensed the nature of the barrier. Kagome's energies had been the only reason he had been able to push through and communicate with her before, however that realization had been slow to come while conflict and desperation took precedence to the analysis of Naraku's gambit.
"What can we do? Is there any way to dispel purification?" Kouga asked. He had been studying the barrier after Sesshomaru had been blasted back by its power.
"Naraku's barrier would have to be destroyed at the same time that Kagome's purification powers were dispelled." Inuyasha said as he began to understand the nature of their problem. "Which means two strikes."
"With two swords." Sesshomaru said, completing the hanyou's thought. "But what could we dispel the purification with?"
"The shards." Sango answered as she helped Miroku sit on the cavern's floor. "Their power combined with the power of a sword that would not taint them could dispel the purification of Kagome's aura."
Miroku's eyes widened and he slipped his hand into his robes to procure the small vial that contained the only shard they had managed to retain aside from those in Kouga's legs and Kohaku's back. "It was with Kagome's possessions. I took it so that it would not draw any extra danger to the rest of our group back at camp."
Sesshomaru approached Miroku and held Tesseiga horizontally in front of the monk. "Place it near the hilt."
Miroku nodded and did as the Taiyoukai asked of him. "Before I forget, thank you." He said and bowed his head respectfully. "Sango would never have forgiven me if I had died before she could bear my child."
Sesshomaru raised a brow faintly, but dismissed the monk's comment for the moment. There were more important things to attend to. "Ensure that you do not die again. My sword only resurrects once."
Miroku raised his brow this time as he detected the faintest amusement in Sesshomaru's voice. He has to stop doing that. I'm not sure how many surprises my heart can take.
Sesshomaru looked to Inuyasha and nodded faintly. "Now we will end this." He said and readied to send Tesseiga's attack along with Tessaiga's when Inuyasha released it. The blade of heaven pulsed with the power of the shard and darkened to a true black of the void.
"This had better work." Inuyasha said in a hushed tone as the blade of Tessaiga began to glow red again in preparation for the release of their attacks.
"Now!" Commanded the Taiyoukai of the West and, together, the brothers released the full force of their attacks.
The barrier surged and writhed as both powers were violently torn and dissolved. Even before the curved dome of power had been fully melted away, Sesshomaru rushed through the passageway toward where his sensitive nose already was telling him Kagome's corpse lay cooling.
She was naked in a pool of her blood, swathed in the overwhelming darkness of the cave. Small, dirty cuts covered her back and several bruises adorned her normally milky, delicate skin. He felt a pang of severe ache well in his chest as he took in the sight of her. He had very little time. He would not waste it.
He knelt beside her and readied Tesseiga. It pulsed fiercely with the power of the jewel shard that was still joined with it. He saw the imps and snarled, slaying them as they nearly completed their task. Her pure, powerful soul surged and pulsed as it thrust itself back into her broken body. Her wounds closed and healed as Sesshomaru sheathed Tesseiga and drew her into his embrace. Mokomokosama curled around her protectively and held her closer than Sesshomaru could with a single arm.
Her heart began to beat in a strong rhythm and she drew in a sharp, pained breath before releasing a strangled scream. Her eyes flashed open and, for a short instant, they were crystal blue and her body was haloed in white light.
Sesshomaru gasped and held her tighter and the company of her friends paused in awe as, with a sudden, overwhelming pulse, they found themselves connected to the miko along with all living creatures within several miles radius. The feeling passed as quickly as it had come, leaving a small part of the world standing in awe of the sudden wave of peace that had overtaken their souls.
Kagome took in her surroundings slowly. She was entirely aware of who was holding her so close even before her body had fully regained all of its senses. She had felt his mind before she had felt his touch, drawn in his scent or took in the shadowed countenance of his features looking down on her in concern and sudden relief. She raised her shaking fingertips to his jaw and caressed along its curve to his lips. "Sesshou." She whispered and smiled weakly when he kissed her fingers. "You came for me."
He leaned and gently pressed his brow to hers and took in her scent deeply. It was still woven with the scent of her quickly drying blood. "I would not leave you alone. I will never."
She shivered and he frowned softly. Mokomokosama curled around her tighter and he stood, carrying her flush to his chest. She almost asked where the others were, but she found she knew. She knew because she was connected to them with slender, fragile threads of light. "I'm cold…" She whispered.
"I know." He replied softly and approached the group. "I will fly us back to the encampment once I have found something to wrap around you."
Once they were all at the mouth of the cave, Sesshomaru laid Kagome down against Kirara with Mokomokosama still wrapped around her. Sango sat next to Kagome and smoothed her hair gently. Kagome smiled and leaned slightly into her touch.
"Are you alright?" She asked softly, but her eyes communicated her true question. Had Naraku harmed her with more than the steel of a katana?
"I am. He… He didn't do anything other than kill me." Kagome closed her eyes suddenly and began to laugh in a sudden hysteria. Sango frowned faintly at Kagome's sudden waves of uncontrollable laughter. The men had left them alone in the pursuit of finding some sort of clothing for Kagome that remained in the abandoned castle. Even Mokomokosama and Kirara seemed disturbed by Kagome's sudden laughter.
"Kagome?" Sango questioned softly, putting her hands on the girl's shoulders.
As soon as she felt the touch of her best friend, her laughter shifted violently to tears. The hysterical sounds of mirth shifted to painful sobs and her body shook in sorrow. "I tried… I tried so hard not to think, not to let him know what I knew, but he knew… He heard Miroku in my mind and he… And he was ready and… And… I thought that I would die forever and I'd never been able to say… To say…"
Sango looked helplessly as her friend faltered in her words. She embraced her tightly and, with mokomokosama, rocked the weeping miko to comfort her. "What did you need to say, Kagome? Its alright, we're alone for the moment."
"To say that I love him." She whispered and clung to her best friend. Sango's arms tightened around her and she slowly felt the tears abating. "I love him." She breathed again and then sobbed softly. She was so exhausted she didn't think she could remain awake any longer. "I'm so tired." She whispered.
Sango laid her back against Kirara and smoothed her brow with gentle fingers. "Sleep. No one would begrudge you that."
"Do you think he knows?" She asked softly, almost certain Sango knew who she was talking about.
Sango smiled and remembered the warmth of Sesshomaru's eyes when he had asked her if she loved Miroku. She hadn't thought the icy Taiyoukai capable of such tenderness, but there is a way that someone who loves looks when they cast their gaze upon another who loves. There's recognition between the two who love deeply and, while both know they are not the subjects of the overwhelming devotion, it is recognized and understood. Sesshomaru's eyes were those of a man deeply in love and it took no great feat of imagination for Sango to know who it was that was the focus of his devotion. She leaned forward and kissed Kagome's cheek gently. "I think, when we are safe and you are rested, you should tell him."
Kagome laughed softly and shook her head. "I should… With my luck, if I waited much longer, someone might kidnap me again."
Sango laughed shortly and sighed. "Rest, my sweet sister. I'll guard you until the men return and then we'll go back to camp."
"Thank you." She breathed and allowed herself to drift off in the engulfing warmth of her beloved's beast.
In the palace, Sesshomaru led the others on their search for something to wrap Kagome in before they began their trek back to camp. The halls of the palace were empty and abandoned. Every room was stripped and ruined. It was the same way with every palace Naraku inhabited for any length of time. It was as if his being littered the place with fragments of his darkness that remained after he fled.
They found a master bedroom and began searching there when Kouga discovered an old haori in a trunk. As they turned to leave, Sesshomaru felt the suppressed rage rise to the surface. He had wanted, needed to rend Naraku out of existence and he had been denied. He grabbed the nearest piece of furniture and threw it across the room. As it slammed into a wall he doused it with acid that melted it and much of the wall and floor away. He crouched down and steadied himself a moment.
"We will find him."
The words came from the last person he would have expected comfort from. He stood and met mirrored amber pools with a steady gaze. Inuyasha smirked faintly and the same unspoken understanding that had passed between them in battle was reestablished. They had done what they had come to do. Kagome was safe. She would be safe. She needed to recover and learn to control this newly evolving power that had gripped them all so firmly when she had been resurrected. Naraku could wait now for them. In time, the dark hanyou would meet his end, but for now there were many other things that took precedence. Namely the woman who waited for him, sleeping in the embrace of his beast that had, only moments before, whispered her love.