Beyond the Darkness
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A/N: Aggh. My chapters are getting shorter. /: Or so it seems. I'm trying hard to make them longer (upon request ;D), but I don't want to give away too much in one chapter. I like to spread out the wowness. d: Anyway, I've got chapter fifty written up as well, so as soon as I'm done posting this, I'll put that one up too, and then I think I'll be done for the day. Alrighties. Enjoy and R&R please. (: Chaaanks. (Oh, and the ONLY reason why I didn't kill off Naraku was because I wanted to kill him according to how he really does die (IF he does ... I don't know, since I'm not even done with the series). So if he DOES die in the series, well, that's how he'll die in mine. I need to hurry up and read/watch it. d: AND I DON'T WANT ANY SPOILERS. SPOIL THE ENDING AND I WILL BOMB YOUR HOUSE. Alrighty. Bye again.) -Michele

::Forty-Nine::

Naraku was gone. Again. He'd gotten away with killing Nikala. Sesshomaru roared with anger.

"You damn bastard!" he cried, cutting a nearby tree down with his claws. His breathing was heavy.

"Lord Sesshomaru?" asked Rin softly, cautiously walking up to him. Sesshomaru sighed and gained control over himself again. Rin's voice calmed him. He looked back at Nikala's body and started towards her.

"Where's Ma?" Shippo suddenly asked from behind him. He didn't have to look back to here the scattered footsteps of the small fox demon. He sensed the rest of the crew coming towards him as well.

Nikala wasn't breathing, and from what he could see, Tenseiga wasn't pulsing either, not yearning to heal her. What the hell was wrong with that sword? Sesshomaru knelt beside her, extending his hand out to her.

"Lord Sesshomaru, you're shaking," Rin said gently. It wasn't until she'd said that that he realized his arm was shaking. As a matter of fact, he noticed that his entire body was trembling. Why? Was it because of Nikala? Because he knew she was dead?

He heard a gasp from behind him and immediately smelled the scent of tears, the salty stench entering his nostrils. Whose tears, he wasn't sure, but someone was crying. Was it Shippo?

"Mama …?" Shippo's voice was shaky as he appeared just behind Sesshomaru. Sesshomaru's sharp ears picked up Shippo's staggered breathing as he witnessed the gaping hole.

"Where's Tenseiga? Lord Sesshomaru, you can heal her!" exclaimed Jaken, waving his arms around.

"You don't think I've already tried? You think I would be sitting here if I hadn't tried?" Sesshomaru barked. Jaken cowered back, in fear of Sesshomaru's tone.

"No. No, no, no, no, no! Ma can't be dead! She can't!" Shippo cried, bursting into tears. Kagome rushed to his side. Sesshomaru spotted wetness on her cheeks. So it had been Kagome's tears he'd smelled.

Everyone fell in silence, other than Shippo's loud crying. Sesshomaru's head swirled. This couldn't actually be happening. He'd just met his true love. He'd just found out what it was like to love. And he was just about to become a father. How could all of this be taken away in a single day? It wasn't possible. It wasn't fair.

"Do you have someone to protect?"

I've failed, Father. I had someone to protect, and now she's gone. And your fang won't save her? Why can't it save her?

That was the question. Why couldn't Tenseiga save her? Tenseiga was supposed to be able to save one hundred souls at once. Why was her soul any different?

She is different, though, he thought. Sesshomaru actually loved her. Could that be it? He wasn't sure, nor was he positive that was the reason.

"Rin, get me Tenseiga," he ordered and Rin immediately obeyed. She looked around for it before finding it amongst some of the rubble from Naraku's explosion.

"Here you are, my lord," Rin said, handing him his sword delicately. Sesshomaru took possession of it. Still no pulse. He held it above her, yet he still could not see the soul-bearers. What was wrong with this sword?

"She's … gone …" he muttered, the words stinging his tongue. Shippo broke into another explosion of sobs.

"G-gone?" Sango asked in disbelief. Sesshomaru found it hard to believe as well. He glanced down at Shippo and his heart surprisingly throbbed at the sight of his torn expression. Both his parents were gone now. Just after he'd been reuniting with his mother, too ….

Wait, he thought. Tairoku. Was Nikala with Tairoku now? Was she happy to be with him wherever they were? His stomach churned at the thought. He wanted her to be with him. She was happy with him. They were about to start a family. Why was it all being taken away?

Are you keeping her from me, Tairoku? Have you taken my Nikala?!

But he thought again. Nikala was Tairoku's initially. They were mates before Nikala even met him. But he couldn't help but feel possessive. Besides, Nikala was carrying his baby, his first baby. His mind twisted with confusion.

* * *

Sesshomaru carried Nikala back to InuYasha's campsite, the clearing that they'd been staying in. There was a sullen silence amongst the crowd. Shippo's crying had stopped and had been reduced to sniffles and occasional silent tears.

"Should we take her to Kaede?" Sesshomaru heard Kagome ask InuYasha.

"She's gone, Kagome. Kaede won't be able to do anything," InuYasha muttered. Even he was sullen about Nikala's death.

Sesshomaru looked down at her face. Still in her fox form, her face looked pained, as if she could still feel Naraku's tentacle in her chest. He gripped her body tighter, his fingers lingering on her large belly. It wasn't as big as it was in her humanoid form, but it didn't look natural. Was the baby still living? Was it dying because it wasn't getting any oxygen from the mother?

They reached the clearing and Sesshomaru set Nikala down after Kagome and Sango made a place for her to lay with a blanket and a log to place her head on. Shippo made his way to the opposite side of the clearing, curling up in a fetal position, his back to everyone else. Kagome sighed.

"Shippo …"

Suddenly, they saw Rin walk out from behind them, tracing Shippo's steps. They watched as she knelt down to him, tilting her head and looking at him, concern and sympathy in her gleaming brown eyes.

Rin … thought Sesshomaru.

He knelt beside Nikala, staring at her face. Of course, Jaken remained at his side. Miroku gave Nikala a long look before dispersing, and Sango and Kagome followed him. InuYasha, however, lingered.

"Sesshomaru," he began, but Jaken shot him an annoyed look.

"Lord Sesshomaru needs to be alone, half-breed!" he snapped. InuYasha shot him a look of death.

"Shut up, imp! You're one to talk!" he snarled.

"Both of you, shut up," Sesshomaru growled, glaring. They both obeyed, Jaken with a look of terror on his face and InuYasha scoffing. "Jaken, leave us."

"Lord Sesshomaru!" he protested, but with one icy glare from Sesshomaru, Jaken scurried off, isolating himself from everyone else.

"What do you want, InuYasha?" Sesshomaru asked, looking back down at Nikala.

InuYasha sighed. This was awkward, he thought. He was actually feeling sympathy for his older, hateful half-brother ¾ the very one who wanted to kill him for his sword.

"I didn't know you had this soft side to you," he scoffed. Sesshomaru said nothing, as if he'd merely ignored his comment. InuYasha rolled his eyes, and, before he continued with another snide remark, he looked into Sesshomaru's eyes. There was actual sadness filling those golden eyes. He was distraught, InuYasha could tell, just by the look in his eyes. His face showed no emotion whatsoever, a look InuYasha was familiar with, but beyond the careless expression, he read the grief that filled those eyes.

"Sesshomaru, I'm sorry … about Nikala. I guess you really did love her. I didn't think it were possible," he said in a much gentler tone, adding a brief chuckle to the last bit. Again, Sesshomaru said nothing, but he definitely soaked in his brother's kind words.

"You feel sympathy for me, InuYasha?" Sesshomaru asked softly. InuYasha shrugged.

"It's human nature. I'm half human. Yeah, I feel sympathy for you, even if you are an arrogant bastard." InuYasha smirked. Sesshomaru looked up at his younger half-brother. How long had Sesshomaru resented him? Since his birth? He'd blamed him for his father's death, because his father had chosen to run to InuYasha and his mother's rescue when he was wounded badly. But as Sesshomaru pondered this, he thought, was it really InuYasha's fault? After all, he was just a baby — a small being that he himself would have had one day.

"I've just always known you as the one who wanted to kill me because I carried the old man's fang you so desperately wanted. I guess Nikala really did help you see beyond this darkness you were in. Who would have thought?" InuYasha laughed. "And I can't believe I'm actually telling you this now. Wow, I must be out of my mind."

Sesshomaru stared at InuYasha as he tilted his head back in his awkward laughter. He believed him — InuYasha finally believed that Sesshomaru had really fallen in love with Nikala. After everything they'd been through … Was InuYasha actually starting to grow on Sesshomaru?

"InuYasha," Sesshomaru said finally, and InuYasha suddenly stopped his laughter. He looked back at Sesshomaru, his eyes slightly narrow, but not at all resentful. "Thank you … for understanding."