Chapter Thirty-seven: When You Can Live Forever

Here, was the place.

This was where he was going to end it once and for all.

Inuyasha had been able to pick up Miroku's scent and followed it here to an old, abandoned manor that was just outside of town. There was no doubt in his mind… that was where Naraku was hiding, he was sure of it. His hands clenched tightly into fists as he envisioned tearing that bastard to pieces.

Because of him, he had lost so much… but now was his change to finally put an end to it all. He was going to take his life back. He had long since given up hope of ever finding the jewel and being rid of this curse, but so long as he could take Naraku with him, then he could deal with it.

He knew that as long as Naraku survived, then Kagome would always be in danger. He had to save her… and he was determined to save her no matter what. The image of her lying there, covered in her own blood, sweat dripping down her face, inhaling and exhaling heavily just for a breath for air was stuck in his mind.

He raised his clawed hand and stared at his fingers.

Kagome…

It killed him to see what he had done…

He didn't know how it happened, but he wasn't going to let Naraku have a second chance at her life.

"I'll find a way to save you," he whispered, his fingers curling into a tight fist. "I promise. I won't let you die…"

This was it…

Naraku… The bastard's voice echoed through his mind. This would be the perfect time. The time to for him to die…

He raised his fist and broke down the door—to finally confront the demon that had ruined all their lives.

*Naraku*

Naraku chuckled, looking down at an injured and bleeding Miroku. "It was truly too easy you know—" he said to him.

"To what?" Miroku demanded, glaring up at him—heavily tied up with chains. "To kill me? If you're going to… just get it over with. Anything to save me the sound of your voice."

"As tempting as that sounds," Naraku said softly, "I have a better use for you."

Miroku glared at him. But just then, Inuyasha came bursting through the wall and stood against Naraku. As soon as he saw him, Inuyasha almost flew to his side and knelt down next to him.

"Miroku! Are you still alive?"

"Just barely," Miroku panted at him, before looking up to where Naraku sat. Just looking at that despicable face seemed to set them both off and Inuyasha stood up, placing himself right between Miroku and the villain.

"Inuyasha," Naraku replied calmly. "Now, that was an entrance. I think it would have been obvious that I knew you would come here. Especially after you were so close to killing your beloved just last night."

Inuyasha walked forward, stepping on one of the broken boards, and smashing it to pieces.

"Out with it," he demanded. "What the hell did you do to me?"

Naraku tilted his head and answered, as if it was obvious, "I merely awoken the true demon in you."

As Inuyasha took another step forward, Naraku then stood up from his chair.

"This is it," Inuyasha snarled. "This time, I'm going to tear you apart!"

Naraku laughed darkly as he watched them.

"It is nothing but the truth…" Inuyasha said. "I'm going to make sure that you never hurt anyone ever again."

Naraku's face was shrouded in darkness, but the little of his mouth that could be seen… was smiling a cruel sneer.

*Outside*

Kagome fell to her knees, placing her hand over her chest. With every step she had made, her heart pounded in pain and she felt close to being sick. Closing her eyes, she could feel her eyes beginning to water from the pain—trying hard not to pass out.

"Kagome!" Sango shouted in worry, helping Kagome to walk. "Kagome, we must turn back now. You're not well!"

"Get away from me!" Kagome spoke, pushing her away, but as soon as she did, she almost ended up falling forward onto her face until Sango steadied her. "There's… I… I need to do this!"

"There is nothing more you can gain going back into this battle, Kagome," Sango continued gravely. "I understand why you feel like you have to do this, but please… turn back now."

No, she couldn't… not now. Kagome knew in her heart what she had to do. Although in much pain, she knew she had to reach the battle—to reach Inuyasha. Standing back up, she began to feel light-headed and almost ended up taking another tumble, but Sango was there to catch her before falling again.

"There is no strength left in your body for this, Kagome," she told her.

"Yes, there is." Kagome forced herself out of her grip and continued, but walking. "I… I will not be left out here… I have to do this! I need to see him…"

"Kagome…" Sango spoke, placing her hands on her shoulders, looking into her eyes. "It's too late. You're in no shape to be doing anything."

"NO!" Kagome shouted, looking up at her desperately, "I know that he's going to get himself killed if I don't do something. I have to reach him and let him know!"

"Kagome…" Sango said softly,

Seconds later, she was on the ground again, gasping for breath. "The fight between vampires won't end unless we stop it. We have to do something to stop him—anything! It's just… I… I want to be by his side… you… you understand right?"

Sango's eyes widened a little before they became sad. "I know that you have feelings for Miroku," Kagome went on. "You want to be with him too don't you?"

"But I can fight," Sango told her. "This is just how it is Kagome. There is nothing else either one of us can do."

Kagome shook her head firmly, refusing to believe it. This wasn't how she wanted things to turn out… but she was willing to do something about it. She looked up at her with tears in her eyes, pleading that her friend would understand.

"It's okay. Everything will be okay," she told her. "We can stop this now… tonight…"

*Inuyasha*

Naraku laughed as he watched Inuyasha bleeding everywhere. "If I had known that you were that willing to die, I would've killed that girl long ago."

Inuyasha spat out a mouthful of blood as he forced his wounded body to stand up again. "You're going to regret that. I'm going to kill you."

He glanced quickly at Miroku—wondering if he could get him up to help, but with those nasty looking wounds, he doubted that the monk would be of much help.

"You know that I'm going to have no choice but to kill your little human beloved…" Naraku began to taunt, halting Inuyasha stop.

"Lay one finger on her and I'll make sure that it will be the last thing you ever do…" Inuyasha replied, clutching his hand into a fist.

"Why must you be so blind, Inuyasha?" Naraku laughed. "I would've thought you learned your lesson with what happened with Kikyo."

Inuyasha's eyes burned red at those words. "Damn you," he growled menacingly at him. "It's your fault! You're the one who killed her for the stupid jewel."

"Yes, but I didn't get it now did I?" he asked. "She was a talented priestess… I probably wouldn't have been able to defeat her if I didn't know what her weakness was. You…"

Inuyasha began to growl at him, his anger was now growing an uncontrollable rate.

"I never thought that you would ever allow anyone into your heart again," he answered, sitting back down on his chair as if it were a throne. "But imagine how surprised I was to see you with that woman. She's Kikyo's reincarnation now isn't she? She is so like, yet unlike, Kikyo don't you agree? You barely know her, yet you've already surrendered your heart to her. You think that you care about her… but your affection for her is just an illusion, something that was never real."

"And what would you know about what is real or not?" Inuyasha shouted, now getting ready to rip out his throat. "How would you know what's going on in my head? Well? You don't know because you don't care about anything but your—"

"She is different from you and I, Inuyasha. No matter how many times you'd try, the two of you can never be together," he answered him. "Vampires and humans live two different lives, live in two different worlds, whatever we are, they are the opposite. That is why we cannot be together."

"No! They aren't! We aren't… we're not that different…" Inuyasha said stubbornly.

"Inuyasha…" Naraku continued, walking up to him. "Think about it. You can't even be with her without her life in constant danger. Do you really think that the two of you can live together in peace? No… soon, Kagome will die. If not by you, then age will finish her off. And then what? We are dead… time stands still for us… but for mortals, time is everything?"

Inuyasha looked away, closing his eyes. He was right. As much as he hated to admit it, Naraku was right. Everything he said… everything that he tried to tell him over and over again was true.

Naraku merely chuckled at the tormented look on his face. "I am going to offer you one last chance to accept my deal," he said. "Will you agree to become my servant? Do so, and I will leave your love alone."

Inuyasha's eyes began to burn red. "How dare you? You're the one who's been trying to hurt her!"

"If it hadn't been for you, she never would have known about vampires now would she?" he asked.

That shut Inuyasha up. It was true… if not for him, then Kagome would never have been drawn into this battle. But he wasn't going to let her die because of him. He was selfish yes, and because of that, he wasn't going to let Naraku take her.

He stood back up and said, "If I said yes to you, then there would be no point in being born a man."

"Then you will die here tonight," Naraku told him.

"I don't care," he said. "What's the point in living forever… if I have to live without a reason? Sacrificing Kagome, and enduring your ego forever is to steep a price to live forever."

Naraku smirked. "To tell you the truth, I didn't think that you would accept it… after all, you have been losing against me for nearly 500 years."

"Shut up," he said and then he lunged for Naraku's throat.

*Kagome*

Kagome and Sango continued their way through the thick brush. "Are you sure that this is the right way?" Kagome asked Sango.

"Yes," she shouted back. "We're almost there."

"Inuyasha and Miroku are waiting for us…" Kagome gasped, still feeling sick, but more aware of what was going on around her. She leaned against Sango and asked, "Do you think Shippo is angry at us?"

"He wasn't happy about being forced to go back to get the others, but he'll be fine," Sango whispered. "Right now, we focus on getting the boys. We have to end this tonight…"

Kagome raised her head and spotted it. "There," she whispered, pointing to the run-down manor. "They're in there aren't they? I'm sure of it."

*Inuyasha*

Inuyasha was fighting with everything he had against Naraku. But no matter how many times that he struck him, Naraku's body continued to regenerate. It was like fighting jello… no matter how much he sliced apart with his claws, Naraku only continued to regrow his own body.

Inuyasha was bleeding a lot more now… he lost so much blood that he was having trouble staying on his feet. As he struggled to breathe, Naraku merely laughed. "This must be difficult for you to watch, isn't it monk?"

Inuyasha froze as Naraku turned his attention onto Miroku, who was still trapped in place, struggling hard against the chains.

"How about I put you out of your misery before I'm finished with Inuyasha?" he asked, before the body parts that were scattered around the floor suddenly came back to life and launched themselves at him.

"NO!" Inuyasha shouted, watching, as if in slow motion, as Miroku was about to be sliced apart by a long, clawed hand. But just as the claws pierced his skin, the wall behind Miroku broke through with a CRASH and Sango came charging in. "YOU LEAVE HIM ALONE!" she screamed, taking a wild slash with a broken board.

"S-Sango…?" Miroku croaked out as she cut through the detached limb.

"Miroku!" Sango cried, dropping next to him and hugging his head tightly. "Thank God… I was starting to think that we wouldn't make it in time."

Naraku stared at the two before his smirk was back. "I'm impressed that you managed to survive this long," he said. "I honestly didn't think that anyone else would be joining us tonight. Not that it matters. You're all too late to do anything now."

Sango, who was now pulling the chains off Miroku, glared up at him. "Shows what you know," Sango said stubbornly. "The jokes on you!"

He burst out laughing. "You realize what tonight is don't you? The one night that you've all been praying would come for the last five hundred years! You haven't been able to destroy me or find the jewel and yet you still think that you can all keep going?"

"That's right," Sango said stubbornly. "For all we have to do now is kill you and we can start over again."

"What do you mean?" Inuyasha asked her, not sure to what she meant.

"Inuyasha…" whispered a soft voice and he stopped dead. Spinning around towards the hole in the wall that Sango made, he saw her… Kagome walked into the room, her hands over her heart and staring at him with the uttermost relief.

"Kagome!" he cried, panic now taking hold—all thoughts of pain and fatigue now leaving him. "You aren't supposed to be here!"

"I'm sorry, Inuyasha," she whispered tiredly. She was still deathly pale, and seemed to be having trouble standing up on her own. "But I had to come… I needed to be here with you."

She stumbled a little and Inuyasha was on his feet again as he flew to her, catching her before she dropped to the floor.

"You idiot," he hissed to her as she rested her head against his shoulder. "You should never have come here!"

"I know…" she whispered. "But I… I had to come… I had… to be with you."

"Now now, seems like we're all gathered together," Naraku chuckled and Inuyasha glared up at him.

"We just need to beat you," Sango said crossly. "The others are on their way. This is the end for you Naraku."

"What makes you think so?" Naraku asked with a sneer. "All I have to do is wait until the sun rises and then you will all have to wait another five hundred years."

"You won't hurt anyone again," Kagome whispered, and she opened her hands so that the bright light couldn't be missed by anyone. No one said a word as they stared at her; even Naraku's smirk was wiped off.

For there… in her hands… was a bright, pink jewel…

(I know it's been a long time. But I've had so much work to do that I just haven't been able to find time for this story. But know that it's almost over now. I'm thinking maybe another two chapters and the epilogue?)