Chapter 17– The Sacred Arrow; Kagome's Heart

He could hear it. A deep, erratic pulsing. Kagome's heart.

He had collapsed on the battlefield, hadn't he? What was Kagome doing outside the cave?! Or… was he inside? What had happened? His mind begged him to awaken, to raise himself and finish the Final Battle, to deliver the Fatal blow.

But there was no way. He had no strength, and barely any will, left in his body. He was a mere shell. His soul had detached itself from his flesh. He could no longer feel the ground beneath him or sense the sky above. He could not hear his heartbeat or the ragged battle-cries of his comrades. He could feel no sense of time, and space seemed every bit as non-existent. He was only aware of one sensation.

Kagome's Heart.

At a cry of pain she had awakened. At a child's call for his father, she had come. With hardly any strength left, she had grabbed her bow and collapsed at the entrance to their refuge, supporting herself on the cave wall and her son. He cried into her chest, sobbing over how his birth-father had sent a deadly accurate knife into the back of his surrogate parent. She watched the battle through angry, glazed eyes, wishing with all her strength that she could be in the fray as well. Her anger was transformed into fear as she watched her mate fall to one knee, clutching his bleeding body as if letting go would allow his very soul to flow away on the garnet life-force that spilled from his wounds. She watched as he launched a final attack at their arch enemy, and a sob caught in her throat as he collapsed, his body completely spent.

The Wind Scar hurtled at them with dangerous and powerful force. She stood, notching an arrow into her bow, unadulterated hatred and rage blazing deeply in her eyes.

"Too far, Naraku. You went too far."

She let the arrow fly, and so powerful was the blast of energy with it that it destroyed her bow and scorched her hands as it flew. It ripped through the center of the demonic wind, and absorbed the power into itself, purifying it. The arrow itself could no longer support such a blast of energy, and disintegrated, yet even then, the blast hit its target. The entire area pulsated as Naraku was completely purged of its presence. Not even the debris of his body remained. Again, the area pulsed. Whatever of his aura was left in the place dissipated. Yet another pulse. Kagura screamed and Kanna's eyes widened in pain as their tattered kimonos shifted, revealing that dissipating presence of the mark of the Spider. Another pulse exploded the Shikon Shard from the neck of Kenshin's father. A final pulse, and the sky completely cleared.

Kagome collapsed to the floor of the cave, a miko's barrier pulsating about her body, allowing no one to near her, not even her son.

He wanted to shout in fear as the pulsations subsided, failing to continue. Had Kagome died? Or had it not been her heartbeat after all? His struggled to try and realign his soul with his body, but it seemed as if he only pushed his goal farther away. Again, he tried to cry out, but his words died on his very lips, nay, but they choked back into his throat, unable to even make their way to his mouth. A light shone from behind him, and he startled at its presence. He spun in the shadowed darkness, seeking its source, only to find an angelic creature of some sort standing before him. No… it was not a creature. It was Kagome.

"Inuyasha? Are you okay?" she asked softly, her hair and solid golden garment floating in an ethereal breeze. He couldn't seem to answer her, but walked towards her form silently, his distressed and confused eyes telling her all his story. She smiled softly, floating towards him as though she were nothing but a ghost, and wrapped him in a tight embrace, lowering themselves to the floor. She pulled his head down to cradle it gently against her chest, running her fingers through his blood-stained hair. She murmured a soft lullaby, her words muffled by his hair. He felt like… he shouldn't be with her, like he shouldn't be leaning on her like this. She was a perfect, ethereal being, a celestial maiden. He was a bloody, dirty hanyou; his claws reeked of the blood of his countless victims. Her blood had even stained these claws once, in Kaguya's castle. He tried to pull away.

"Why would you leave me, Inuyasha? Didn't you choose me? Aren't I your mate?" she asked, her stormy-sea eyes pleading to understand. He hesitated, but looked up into her angelic face.

"Kagome… I'm not worthy of you… not worthy of this… how could you want me? You had your pick of suitors, yet you chose me, the most unworthy candidate…" He trailed off. How could he get her to understand?

"I chose you, Inuyasha, because I love you. Love doesn't care about tradition or circumstance, it only shows you the right way. No matter how hard you fight or try to ignore the sensations, it won't leave you alone. You have no say in the matter, but once you submit to it, it's all okay." She combed her fingers through his bangs lightly once more. "Please, Inuyasha… onegai… come back to me?"

He felt his eyes become heavy, and before her essence left his mind and all thought and light perished, he murmured a soft, distinct "yes."

Kagome's eyes slid open to reveal bright daylight and a beautiful meadow. A fire crackled merrily several feet to her left in the opening, and Inuyasha lay at her side. She sensed a barrier dissipating from about herself, and realized that it had been self erected when she'd collapsed. A shattered but soon-to-be-whole Shikon Jewel rested next to her.

"Okāsan!" she heard her son shout as he thrust himself into her arms, her strength being so little that the force threw them back onto the cave floor. She hugged him tightly, but the force of his embrace was so fierce that her air was getting cut off. At last, he loosened his grip just a bit, and looked up into her stormy-hued eyes, tears running shamelessly down his face. "We thought… we thought you were dead! You weren't moving and we couldn't tell if you were breathing and- and- and-!"

He sputtered off, sobbing heavily into her shirt as he buried his head in her chest, embracing her tightly once again. By then, the others had trotted over to her, and she could see that the anxiety that had been on most of their faces was fading away. Sango looked like she would faint from relief, and most of the others looked like they'd just faint anyway. She noticed that, without her medicinal know-how when it came to the things in her backpack, they were pretty incompetent.

But one face was still missing.

Kagome tugged on Kenshin's yukata, pulling him away. On the other side of the cave, just beyond their group, was Inuyasha. His body lay limp, bloody and bandaged, his golden eyes hidden behind thick lashes and heavy lids. His haori and gi, ripped and torn even worse than at their venture in Togenkyo, were lain beneath his upper body, keeping his bare skin from feeling the cold bite of the cavern's rock floor. She held back a sob as she brushed her hand over his cheek, his flesh cold, as though death had come or was pending. He couldn't leave her like this! He couldn't! She drew his body into her arms, heedless of the blood-soaked bandages that stained her white miko's haori, and her pants an even darker red. She loved him. Loved him with all her heart. He couldn't just die on her like this! Without warning, he shifted within her grasp, whimpering something beneath her hearing. Was he coming to? He seemed to struggle with something for a moment, but soon, he relaxed into her once again and his breathing calm. She was almost afraid that he had completely died, for his chest had seemed to have stopped moving.

But all worry melted away the minute his eyes opened and looked into hers.

AN: Yay~ Okay, so this is wondermus, right? Please enjoy the story and be sure and tell me what you think. Set me on alert, because I love Inuyasha to pieces. Though I have to warn you, I do more SessKag these days than InuKag, because I'm a crack-shipper~ R&R and visit my website!