Reanimation and Repentance

Eighteen

In realisation of what had happened, Inuyasha watched in confusion as Kagome threw herself over Kazuya, trying to pull him off. 'Get down Kagome!' choked Inuyasha, though Kagome ignored him. Inuyasha watched helplessly as the same thing happened all over again. Kazuya threw Kagome off him, and she flew backwards, hurtling towards the same stone wall.

Suddenly, her body froze in midair, a dazzling, white light radiated from her pale skin, and everything in the chamber stopped. Everyone turned to watch her in confusion. Inuyasha's eyes widened as he watched the blood from her wounds and the bruises around her throat fade from her skin, as the light shone all the brighter. All of a sudden, the light faded, leaving just a dim glow to her skin, as she dropped gently to her feet, and her eyes flickered open. Inuyasha was startled to see the once beautiful deep hazel of her eyes, now replaced by an eerie, bright blue, as she stepped slowly towards Kazuya.

Kazuya released Inuyasha slowly, and got to his feet, ignoring Inuyasha completely now, and facing his attention upon Kagome, his eyes wide in amazement. Inuyasha stumbled to his feet, watching Kazuya's expression closely as Kagome neared him, and surprised to find what looked like the beginnings of a smile on his face. It was not the cruel, wicked smile that seemed to twist his face to make him look more ominous, but a sincere, innocent smile, that could have belonged to a small child.

'I know that aura anywhere,' he muttered, as Kagome stopped before him, 'you're not Kagome…you're…Yuna.' Kagome tilted her head slightly, but then nodded. There it was, the smile threatening at the sides of his thin mouth, spread over his face, and Inuyasha noticed how different he now looked; no longer sinister and malicious, but human likenesses and even hints of kindness in his face now showed. 'Y-Yuna?' he asked, his voice trembling.

'Yes,' she replied, and with her voice echoing, sounding as if two different voices were all playing at the same time. Inuyasha knew what was happening, Yuna needed to come back to this time, to before Kagome died, because she needed to use Kagome's body to fight Kazuya. So hers was the body that Yuna said she had, he thought. Then Yuna turned to look at him.

'But why Kagome's body?' he asked her, and she smiled at him, ignoring Kazuya for the moment.

'Because Kagome's blood summoned me,' she replied, then turning to look at Kazuya once more, 'Kazuya.'

Kazuya watched her carefully, clearly lost at how Inuyasha knew her, and Inuyasha thought that he saw those crimson orbs begin to glass over with tears.

'I thought…I watched them burn you…the runes said that you were killed, and could never be resurrected.' She watched him, not saying anything. 'I tried to get you back from the dead, god knows I tried, but I…I thought you were gone forever…' She stepped closer to him.

'I know you tried, and you couldn't resurrect me because I am not dead.'

'But, you're a spirit, that's how you can get inside Kagome's-'

'Yes, but they never killed me. The ritual you witnessed - them burning me didn't kill me it…made me one of them.' Kazuya's eyes widened.

'You're a…Sage?' She nodded once more, and Inuyasha watched Kazuya's expression soften even more. 'I thought that you…I thought I'd never see you again…'

Inuyasha was surprised to find that as Kazuya softened, Yuna became more and more icy, and showed him less and less affection.

'Evidently,' she muttered, staring coldly at Kazuya, and making him look confusedly at her. 'You told me long ago, that loving me allowed you to make the decision, to be a better man…you told me, you swore to me that you'd never kill or harm another living thing again…' Kazuya stepped closer to her.

'It's not as simple as that-'

'-Did you or did you not swear that to me?' she demanded, her dulcet tone changing swiftly into an echoing thunderous voice.

'I did swear it, I don't deny it,' he replied, his usual attitude and expression returning fast. 'But you never had to watch that! You never had to watch the one you love die!'

'I watched my father die because of you!' she shouted, 'and I still loved you, but don't you dare tell me that what you saw changed anything! Even if I had died, I would have died because of you…' He flinched slightly at her words, making everyone in the chamber, including the demons look at him in surprise.

'Don't say that…'

'Why not? It's true, and breaking your promise to me would have been a great way to repay me for dying for you!'

For a moment the whole chamber fell silent, and Kazuya studied the ground as Yuna watched him with angry eyes.

'So this is it is it? You're going to stand with the half-demon instead of me…you're going to try to kill me, aren't you?' She stepped forward, her expression softening, and she took the fear demon's calloused hand in both of hers, and smiled radiantly at him.

'I'm here to set things right, and Inuyasha is right, but that doesn't mean I have to kill you-'

'If you stand with the hanyou then you will have to,' he snarled. She still smiled, and stroked the back of his hand with her thumbs.

'Is that what you want? You want me to fight against you?'

'Would you?' he asked. She smiled again, and closed her eyes for a moment before looking up at him once more.

'I…love you enough, to want to put you right, I love you enough to want you to be at peace…and I love you more than enough to be able to be angry with you…' Kazuya sneered slightly.

'You're saying because you love me, you will fight me?' She nodded. 'Well aren't you lucky…because I feel…the same WAY!' He scratched at her hand, and blood poured from it as she pulled away from him sharply.

This sudden outburst seemed to be the sign to the demon followers of Kazuya to continue; they leapt at Miroku so suddenly it made Inuyasha jump nearly out of his skin. As Inuyasha watched as Miroku was swiped nastily across the chest by one of the demons, he remembered that there were other deaths he had to prevent, and he dodged the burning flames that soared towards him as Yuna deflected Kazuya's attack, and scrambled forward to help Miroku and the others. Inuyasha seized Tetsusaiga from the ground where it had fallen, and leapt forward, slicing of the head off the demon that attacked Miroku.

'Thanks,' gasped the monk as he fought to catch his breath. Inuyasha ducked as a snarling demon leapt at Miroku from behind, and Miroku flipped him over onto the ground at his feet. A repulsive crunch could be heard as Miroku smacked the demon's skull in with his staff, and looked with a bloodstained face at Inuyasha, as if he were a child waiting for praise. With a small grin Inuyasha looked down at the dead corpse with approval, and then to Miroku.

'Nice,' he said, before hearing a pained scream from Shippo. Inuyasha sprang from Miroku's side, and landed in the middle of a horde of screeching demons.

Shippo whimpered his thanks as Inuyasha scooped him up onto his shoulder, savagely lunging at and slaughtering the surrounding demons. Shippo whinged squeakily as the demon's blood splattered all over Inuyasha and himself in turn and desperately swiped at his face to get it off, though only making himself into a bigger mess. Inuyasha clucked his tongue impatiently, and wiped the blood off the kitsune's face with the sleeve of his kimono, as a pile of demon corpses lay strewn about him.

'That was quick,' muttered Shippo, still sulking slightly at blood landing all over him. 'I thought that you were supposed to be weaker as a human.' Usually a remark like this would probably earn the kitsune a smack from Inuyasha, though Inuyasha, far from being angry, nodded his head in agreement.

'Something's wrong with them, they were so much tougher before…'

'Before what?' Shippo squeaked confusedly.

Before Inuyasha had chance to even begin to explain, a roar, mixed between agony and anger echoed through the chamber, and Inuyasha turned to watch the demons leap towards Kilala. Inuyasha jumped forward to help her, only to receive a whack in his skull from a massive hammer that one of the demons was carrying. Miroku kicked the demon aside, and rushed to Inuyasha, only to see that Kilala had been protecting Sango's body, that still lay lifeless and still on the ground. Tears poured from the monk's eyes, and he turned to Inuyasha.

'You okay?'

'Aaaah! My fucking head hurts! Just cut it off for god's sake! That was a mean weapon to use on me…' he whimpered the last part, and Miroku tore some material from his own kimono, trying to stop Inuyasha from bleeding.

'You should live if I can stop the bleed-'

'MIROKU WATCH OUT!' screamed Inuyasha, and Miroku turned, leaping out of the way just in time as the demon returned, the hammer dropping into the ground beside Inuyasha, narrowly missing him. Miroku smiled at Inuyasha as he jumped up from the ground, attracting the attacks towards himself rather than the badly wounded Inuyasha.

'That's a big hammer,' he giggled as he looked to Inuyasha, 'think he's compensating for something else?' he asked with a grin. Inuyasha tried to smile back, but his head hurt at his attempts. Inuyasha thought the demon must have knocked half his skull in the pain was so severe, and all he could do was watch helplessly as Miroku continued to dodge the hammer blows, and Kilala and Shippo fought to fend off the last demons, but no matter how many demons lay dead on the ground, no matter how much of their blood was spilled, there were still many left, and the strength of Inuyasha and the others was fading fast, they needed a miracle.

Kazuya roared in anger as Yuna leapt at him, and kicked him full strength in his stomach, sending him flying into the wall. Blood poured down his neck from where his head had hit the wall; however as a demon this wound was not as fatal to him as it had been to Kagome.

'Well Yuna, never thought you was such a sadistic little thing, like it rough do you?' he screamed, though only receiving another kick in return. Blood poured from his mouth and he spat it on the floor as he scrambled to his feet. 'P-p-please Yuna,' he stuttered, more blood pouring from his mouth. 'You can't kill me; you're too pure to take a life.'

'I told you, I'd give up anything for you,' she said sadly, sinking her fingernails into his throat as she lifted him from the floor and smashed his head against the wall. 'I'd even give up my purity to give you peace.' Kazuya snarled at her, and sunk his teeth into her arm, before sending her flying across the chamber.

'The only time I was ever at peace was when I was at your side, and those bastards took it away! I had spilled no blood except for my mother's which wasn't my fault! I had regretted and repented for every moment of my pitiful life! They thought my mother was a whore anyway, why should they care? But still, I was innocent and they'd killed both of us! How can you serve them?' he screamed, spitting blood everywhere.

Yuna stood up, tears falling silently down her pale face that was marked with various scratches and wounds from Kazuya.

'They killed you because you were descended from the darkest and most evil of demons. It wasn't fair I know, and it was cruel, but the Sages are dead, don't take this out on the world, Inuyasha, Kagome…none of them have done-'

'-But I was innocent! They are innocent, and so was I! Those bastards did this to this world, not me! I take every life that they took, not just mine, thousands of innocent souls rest below your very feet in the glass path, lost for eternity because they were too blind to see that they weren't guilty-'

'-You take lives in revenge…but you tried to…you tried to rape Kagome...didn't you?' Kazuya stopped before her, about to hit her. 'Why did you do that?' she asked him.

'I – I-'

'-The only reason these people are targeted was because of her…and you condemned them by singling her out, because she looked like me?'

'I wanted…I wanted to get back what they took from me…'

'But Kagome isn't me, Kazuya…'

'I know she's not…I hoped that…I hoped that it wouldn't matter to me, I hoped that if I took her, that I wouldn't care, and that I'd…'

'Forget me?'

'No! Never, I wanted to…I – I don't know why…'

Yuna got to her feet.

'And why do you fight me now Kazuya, if none of this is your fault, why do you have to fight me?'

'Because...because you want me to give in…I'm not going back to that path, to that abyss of torment – I WON'T, YOU HEAR ME I WON'T!' he screamed, and smacked Yuna across the jaw, and sent her skidding across the ground once more. 'I WON'T GO BACK TO HEARING THE CONSTANT PAIN AND SUFFERING FOR THE REST OF ETERNITY!' She snatched his clawed hand as he went to punch her again, and threw him backwards, making him hurtling through the air, and fall backwards into the dark depths of the black mirror.

The black waters of the pool trembled, and surged upwards with terrible force, blinding sparks of electric energy entwined with the waters, all encircling Kazuya as he roared in anger, his crimson eyes glowing a blood red as he soared towards Yuna. Yuna screamed as the electricity scolded her skin, and the water sank painfully through every pore in her body, drowning her from the inside.

'Kagome!' screamed Inuyasha as her watched this happening, knowing that it wasn't Kagome, but that it was her body, and soul somewhere amongst Yuna's.

'I took the lives of but a handful of the sages that took my life away, that made you and your family die because of my existance, and for revenging the people I love, I was condemned! What sort of senseless logic is that?' Kazuya clasped his clawed hands to Yuna's throat, and she sank to the ground at his feet, drowning, and choking and burning, all under the hostile gaze of the person she loved.

Yuna screamed painfully as the searing pain threatened to overwhelm her, and Inuyasha, and everybody could hear within her scream, the deafening echo that was Kagome screaming along with Yuna inside the same body. Suddenly the demon that Miroku had been distracting knocked Miroku aside, and leapt at Inuyasha, sending the hammer thundering downwards, and crushing Inuyasha's arm. Inuyasha screamed in agony, and amongst the screams of Yuna, Kagome's terrified voice called out.

'INUYASHA!' Kazuya let go of Yuna and she dropped to her knees, the water spurting from her mouth mix with blood as she coughed heavily, and random sparks of left over electricity shot out of her in an aftermath.

'You see,' muttered Kazuya gasping for breath, 'you can't beat me, My Love, you know very well this isn't even my full power.' Yuna stopped coughing, and looked up at him, shaking slightly. She picked up a bloodied demon's knife from her side that had been dropped, and thrust it into Kazuya's hand.

'You're right,' she gasped, holding his wrist, making the blade rest against her throat. 'So kill me, end it now.'

'NO!' screamed Inuyasha, 'If you die Kagome will die too!' Suddenly the demon that had attacked him with the hammer lunged again. Inuyasha flinched, closing his eyes, waiting for the end to come. He opened his eyes moments later, realising something was wrong, only to see the same demon's corpse at his side, and Kilala standing over him triumphantly, blood dripping from her fur. Inuyasha tried to lift his head to look about them, but the pain was too severe, and he winced.

Kazuya looked deep into Yuna's eyes as she knelt at his feet, and she held his hand that clasped the blade close to her throat.

'If you will not come back with me…then kill me.' Kazuya shifted his hand, making the blade cut into her skin lightly, and he began pressuring it more, and more, making Yuna wince. Tears poured from her eyes as she looked up into Kazuya's, and he closed his eyes, not bearing to look at her as he did what he did. His hand moved swiftly, and the knife dropped. Kazuya dropped to his knees before Yuna, and looked at her for a moment, before his crimson eyes watered slightly, and tears poured from them. Yuna cried as she hugged the demon tight, the both of them shaking slightly. The revolting dead bodies of the demons surrounding faded into nothing, and the Black Mirror glistened, shining calmly once more, as the fires on the torches dimmed down, so that all was dark.

The firefly like spirits from the path materialised from nowhere, lighting up the chamber. However suddenly, they weren't angry anymore, suddenly they were, dare it be said…at peace. The dancing lights shimmering and flowed around the two, the silence broken by Kazuya's sad, stuttering voice.

'I – I'm ready…to be repaid for my sins,' he muttered, closing his eyes, 'I'm ready to accept the fate of those who take lives – I'm ready to be punished…' Yuna hugged him tighter, still crying.

'You're not going to be punished…' she whispered, 'you're coming back with me.'

'But…but I've done terrible-'

'-And you'll repent for them, and the punishment you'll have, is what you'll give yourself. You've only ever killed evil, the rest of the sins were not fatal, just harmful. A heavy conscience is the worst payment for a sin, especially as heavy with sin as yours is. You have to live with your mistakes for eternity, knowing what you've done…and you'll have to live it with me.' She smiled at him, and the lights that were the spirits faded from view along with Kazuya, as the torches flickered back to life, and Yuna got to her feet, wiping her tears from the porcelain face of Kagome.

She hurried over to Inuyasha and the others, who winced slightly at the sudden brightness of the chamber. 'Hurry there's not a lot of time,' she said, looking about her. 'Kazuya's evil energy was what this temple was built for. All of you together, I'm going to send you back to your corner of the world, where you'll be able to get help for your wounds. But the temple and my power will fade with the sunrise - the first one after Kazuya's evil had vanished.'

'Is he going to die?' asked Shippo.

'No,' she replied quickly, 'he's immortal he cannot die, and he has suffered, far more than he'd deserved I believe, but he will repent, I promise. Now please hasten yourselves, the sun is about to rise; unless you want to stay here for eternity, hurry!'

With a mass of flames Kilala transformed back, Shippo at her side, nuzzling against Inuyasha hand, where he patted her weakly, in thanks for saving his life…or had she? Inuyasha winced as blood continued to pour from his head wound, and his arm was broken. 'Don't worry,' Yuna assured him, 'when you transform into a hanyou again, your wounds will heal quicker, and will not be as painful to you…and you'll have Kagome at your side…' Inuyasha nearly smiled as she said the last part, though again it was too much a strain on his body. Yuna looked over to where Miroku was, tears pouring down his face, as he held Sango's body close to him. Miroku carried her over to the others, still crying silently, tears now pouring from both Shippo and Kilala's eyes as well. Yuna seemed to also be crying, and Inuyasha, whose eyes were glassy, wondered if it was because Kagome was crying.

Yuna leant forward, and pulled Sango out of Miroku's arms, and Sango lay in Yuna's arms, tears falling onto her cold face. Yuna leant down, still crying, and placed a kiss on Sango's forehead. A blinding bright light engulfed the group, and wind rushed past them, carrying them in their current positions away from the temple. Inuyasha looked around him, the orange light from the sunrise about to peak up from the horizon. The well sat beside them a little way off, and Yuna released Sango back into Miroku's arms, looking to Inuyasha. 'Everything's okay now,' she assured him, before the sky shone a wash of pinks, lavenders and oranges, her head was thrown forcible back, so that the tresses of black silky hair flew about her, and Inuyasha watched as a white, firefly like light emerged from her body, and faded away into the air. She dropped her head back down, looking down at Inuyasha again, the startling blueness of her crystal eyes gone, she was Kagome again, hazel orbs glittering with tears as she looked back at him.

As soon as she was able to look at him again through her own eyes, his black hair and dark eyes were silver silk and golden orbs once more, dog ears, fangs and claws back in their place as she looked at him, he was a hanyou again. Inuyasha sat up, and Kagome threw herself at him, throwing her arms tightly round him.

'W-what did she mean?' he stuttered, trying not to cry in both relief and sadness, 'everything's okay now?' Kagome looked up at him, the temptation to kiss him nearly overwhelming.

'She meant-'

'-Sango!' they turned to see Miroku, smiling and crying at the same time, as he stared into Sango's eyes, as they opened, she was alive! 'But – but how?'

'Yuna,' replied Kagome, as Sango came slowly to her sense, and began to blush at Miroku holding her, 'Yuna brought her back to life, before returning to the temple...and Kazuya.' She looked from Sango and Miroku, back to Inuyasha, she smiled warmly at him, and he smiled back. A great warmth that she hadn't felt in so long, a warmth she had feared Kazuya's fog had chased away, and she felt it as Inuyasha met her eyes, returned her smile, and his fingers entwined with hers under the first sunrise after the darkness of fear they had for what had seemed an eternity to be under. This great warmth was the last that she felt as Inuyasha held her hand and her gaze, before her exhaustion overcame her, and she collapsed in his arms.

TBC

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A/N: See, my super villains aren't your average two-dimensional, "I shall destroy! Mindless destruction!" Evil has emotions too ^_^ I was gunna leave Sango dead but I couldn't do it! There's still a few sequels and how could I write it without Sango? LOL. Did ya like? Anyways, one more chappie left, then we shall be done and ready for Part 2, yeah? Everybody up for it? Nice reviews please, since we're coming to the end of it. Also in your reviews, please say if you'll actually read the next one so I know if it's worth posting! If people do, I'll post the first one of the next series up at the same time as the final chapter of this, K? ^_^ R&R

Luv Shigure

x chuu x