A/N: So here it is. The last chapter. It was really hard to write this ending, and I'm not going to lie it broke my heart to write it. But I just wanted to say for the last time: Thank you all for sticking with me until the end. Thank you so much to reading and reviewing and keeping me going when I wasn't sure if I wanted to. Thank you for putting up with my grammar mistakes and typos. It really means a lot to me. So thank you. :)
As for the warning for the chapter um let's see... ummm... Sesshomaru is really OOC but please don't let that change your opinion too much. Also I'm not going to lie this chapter is sad and I don't know if I kept my promise for a happy ending...
For the last time I do not own Inuyasha.
Chapter Twenty-One
Sesshomaru didn't even spare a look at the guards that were stationed in front of the palace. He didn't slow down until he was met with the maze of hallways that led to the armory, even then he only slowed enough that he wouldn't jostle Nicole's body too much. He had caused her enough pain today. He only paused a moment to shoulder open the door to the armory. Sesshomaru ignores all the other weapons in the room and focuses solely on the Tenseiga, the sword that had the ability to heal. The sword that had the ability to bring people back to life. The sword that could bring her back to life.
Quickly but gently Sesshomaru set Nicole's body on the ground. Then he snatched the Tenseiga off of its resting place. He turned to Nicole and held the Tenseiga waiting for it to pulse, waiting for it to tell him that it would save her. But it didn't. Sesshomaru stood there trying to see demons trying to take Nicole away. But he couldn't. No matter how long Sesshomaru stood there, he couldn't see anything, the Tenseiga didn't pulse. After Sesshomaru stood there for several minutes he let out a yell and swung the sword over Nicole's body hoping beyond hope that it would just do something. But it didn't.
Nicole was still just lying there. Dead. And he was the cause of it. Sesshomaru stared at the sword in his hand. Still nothing. Sesshomaru felt his grip tighten on the sword's handle, he felt his eyes bleeding red. Soon he was shaking, although he would never admit it, This Sesshomaru doesn't shake. Doesn't have petty emotions. Doesn't love. Doesn't get sad. Doesn't regret. But that didn't stop Sesshomaru from letting out what could only be described as a roar—a ground shaking, ear shattering, deafening, heartbreaking roar. It also doesn't stop Sesshomaru from throwing the Tenseiga as hard as he could against the wall, hoping that it would shatter. It doesn't stop him from grabbing anything within his reach and breaking it, throwing it. All while yelling and howling at the top of his lungs. Sesshomaru could feel the metal cutting into is hands, making them bleed, but he welcomed the pain. He needed the pain. He deserved the pain.
When the gang finally caught up and followed the noises to the armory, there was almost nothing left intact. Everything was broken, and thrown across the room. The only spot that wasn't littered with broken weapons was the spot where Nicole's body was lying on the floor. Sesshomaru had finally stopped throwing things, there was nothing left to break. No, now Sesshomaru was just standing off to Nicole's side, staring down at her body, breathing hard with his hands clenched into fists at his side. It was the first time that anyone really understood just how much Nicole really meant to Sesshomaru. Inuyasha and the others didn't fully understand what had happened but they understood that Nicole wasn't coming back. But no one dare say anything, they didn't know if they could have said anything even if they tried. No one moved, they all stood at the doorway, staring at the body on the ground.
The funeral was ready in just a couple of days. Normally funerals weren't really a thing. But Nicole was a princess, so Sesshomaru insisted. There wasn't a lot of invitation sent out, the palace was invited, Nicole's village was invited, and the invitation extended to Lord Isao's family and that was it. And Sesshomaru almost didn't want to invite them, he almost wanted the funeral just to be a thing between him and Nicole. But he didn't feel as if he had the right any longer. He had been the one to kill her after all. Several people ended up coming to the funeral, far more than Sesshomaru had expected, he hadn't truly realized how many people that Nicole had touched during her time in the feudal era.
Nicole's body was kept in her room during the days leading up to her funeral. She laid on her bed, and if Sesshomaru didn't think about it, it looked like she was sleeping. Only she was too pale, and that's saying something considering she was pale before. And not breathing. Aside from Sesshomaru no one was allowed near Nicole's room, not even Rin.
Rin, Sesshomaru had noticed, had stopped eating. She barely spoke anymore. And if Sesshomaru hadn't already felt miserable he would have then. Sesshomaru himself had stopped eating also. And the whole palace seemed to be taken over by silence. No one seemed to want to talk, no one seemed to want to do anything other than silently mourn the girl who had wiggled her way into the whole of the palace. This partly made Sesshomaru mad, they most of them hadn't even like her while she had been alive. How dare they pretend like they care now? Be he was too exhausted to say anything.
The days leading up to the funeral went by excruciatingly slow. So slow that there was never enough things to keep everyone's minds preoccupied. Eventually, there wasn't anything else to think about except Nicole, and the fact that she wasn't having dinner with them. Or breakfast. Or lunch. Or the fact that she wasn't playing with Rin or Lord Isao's children. Or the fact she wasn't at lessons. Or the fact that you couldn't hear her laughing. Or see her blushing face. Or hear her arguing with Sesshomaru. Or anything, because she was dead. And these things swirled around and around in everyone's head, and then it felt like a lead weight settled itself on their hearts. Making it so they couldn't breathe. Almost making it impossible to move. Like it was suffocating them. Like it was drowning them.
Eventually though it was time for the funeral. Nicole's body was moved from her bedroom and put in the front of the garden. Nicole's favorite place, so Sesshomaru thought that it was the only place suitable. Nicole's soul was still swirling around her, giving Sesshomaru a painful hope. Why wouldn't her soul leave if she was supposed to stay dead? But nothing happened. And that was the worst part, having hope and then having crushed, it was worse than having no hope at all. People took their turns saying goodbye, some people chose to stand up and speak about her, but mostly people just cried. Rin took the longest to say goodbye, not that anyone blamed her. Nicole was like a sister to her, maybe even like a mother. She sobbed while leaning over Nicole's body, no one said anything or hurried her along. Hotaru went up there with Rin and she was barely keeping herself together. Chieko-sensei cried silently from her seat, it wasn't the first time she had lost something and it wouldn't be the last, she was an old woman and had seen a lot in her years, but this was definitely a blow. Lord Isao's family cried a lot and cried loudly. Lord Isao and his wife tried to console them but it was no use.
Sesshomaru waited until everyone else had finished saying their goodbyes, some had to leave to compose themselves, but mostly everyone was still there, before he made the trek to where Nicole was laying. Sesshomaru wasn't crying, but to say that he felt like he was dying wouldn't be an understatement. He didn't say anything when he got up there, he just stood there for a moment. And then ignoring everyone there he leaned down and kissed Nicole, first on the forehead and then on the lips. He closed his eyes and savored the moment. Because there wouldn't be another. Because he had been stupid.
Finally but slowly he pulled away and was blinded when he opened his eyes. Not that he couldn't see, because he could see just fine, it was Nicole's soul. It had gotten impossibly brighter, warmer even. Sesshomaru stood up straight and stared, ignoring the pain it brought to his eyes, he didn't want to miss anything. Slowly the brightness dimmed and Sesshomaru held his breath, trying not to hope but somehow not being able to not hope. After what seemed like an eternity Sesshomaru let out his breath and turned away, somehow more crushed than he had ever been before. He had barely taken a step before—
"Sesshomaru?" The voice croaked.
Sesshomaru whirled around and looked down, Nicole's eyes weren't open and he was sure that he had imagined it. But then he watched her take a deep breath, he watched as her eyes opened and focused on him. And suddenly he couldn't keep still any longer, he scooped her up and held her tightly against her chest. Buried his face in her neck and for the first time since this all happened Sesshomaru let out a sob. But he reveled in the fact that he could feel her running her fingers through his hair.
After a minute he pulled back to look at her face, and there she was. Alive and smiling at him. He opened his mouth, completely ready to apologize, but she shook her head and let out a watery sob of her own before she bent down and kissed him. It wasn't like their first kiss, which had been filled with passion. This kiss was slow and unrushed and tasted of salt water. And it couldn't have been more perfect.
He pulled back for the second time, and suddenly became aware of the other people. He didn't want to let her go, but he did, just long enough to let other people come and hug her and rejoice in the fact that she was really alive. Rin came running up from wherever she had been and jumped on Nicole.
"Nicole! I missed you," she cried.
Nicole smiled as she hugged her but she was also crying, "I missed you too."
There were a lot of tears as I got hugs from everyone that had to come to attend my funeral. All under the watchful eyes of Sesshomaru, he wouldn't let me out of his sight. As if he did that I would die again. And before too long he whisked me away from everyone, claiming that they would still be there tomorrow. It didn't take long for us to end up in his room. For a while we just sat in each other's arms like we still couldn't believe that I was here. But soon I kisses turned more passionate, more desperate, like we were trying to prove to ourselves that I was still there. We fell onto Sesshomaru's bed, it was slow and it was rushed. It was passionate and it was gentle. And if I am really dead, and if this is heaven. This is exactly where I want to stay.
A/N: Thank you all once again, I hope you liked this chapter. Leave a review and let me know what you think. I don't usually write fanfiction so I don't know if I will write anything else. But it's been fun and thank you all for getting me through this :)