Chapter 21: Heartbeat

Disclaimer: I don't own Inuyasha!

A/N: This chapter is on the shorter side, sorry. Hope you enjoy anyway!

"No! Don't touch him! Get away!" Sango screamed as she covered Miroku's body with her own.

Kagome's ear twitched as she listened to Miroku's heartbeat. Shit, it's fading, and fast! She thought to herself as she pondered over how to get Sango to snap out of it so she could help him.

"Sango!" Kagome yelled as she grabbed her shoulders lifting her from Miroku's body so she could stare into her eyes. "Listen! I know you're scared, but I can help Miroku! I just need you to back up and neither of you to interrupt me because this is very dangerous for me and for him, one wrong move and I could kill us both! Please! I can help him; I know I can! But he has to have a heartbeat and his heartbeat is fading, so if I don't help him now it'll be too late, he will die!"

Sango was still unsure; she didn't know how Kagome could save him, but she nodded and scooted back anyway. Both her and Inuyasha watched as Kagome stood up straight with her legs together, bringing her arms up over her head in a 'Y' formation and closing her eyes. They watched as Kagome's hands start to glow a bright blue, they watched as a steam of water came out of the air and started to circulate around Kagome's hands and they watched as the water started to glow a bright blue color just like her hands, then as Kagome opened her eyes they both gasped in shock to see that her eyes were no longer the fuchsia they were fully blue - the same blue as her hand and the water, there wasn't even any white to her eyes.

They watched as Kagome slowly knelt down next to Miroku, bring her hands together so they were palm to palm above her head then she slammed her hands down on his wound causing and huge gust of bright blue mist come out from all around Miroku's body and outward until it vanished into the distance, his body arched off the ground the moment her hands touched him, his eyes opened wide as well as his mouth in a silent scream as a bright blue light came out of both his eyes and his mouth. They watched as Miroku's body took the bright blue glow from Kagome's hands and noticed as the wind around them begin to pick up. They noticed that Kagome was sweating, gritting her teeth and breathing heavily - Sango wanted to stop her, she didn't want to see her in pain but before she could even move Inuyasha noticed and stopped her from moving toward Kagome and Miroku.

They waited for another ten minutes, almost an hour all together, before they watched both Miroku and Kagome slump down, Miroku's back relaxed back to the ground - breathing deep and evenly - Kagome slumped forward but caught her hands on the ground to keep her from falling all the way to the ground.

Sango chocked out a sob as she watched Miroku open his eyes before trying to sit up, however, he stopped trying immediately because of the stabbing pain that shot through his gut making him wince.

"Don't try to get up." Sango commanded Miroku softly as she gently pushed his shoulders back down the ground.

"Unfortunately." Kagome began before stopping to gasp for air, it had taken a lot out of her and was a very painful experience for the both of them. "I wasn't able to take all the pain away, you'll still be in some pain for the next week or so."

Miroku nodded in understanding. "Thank you, Kagome." He whispered before closing his eyes and falling asleep.

"Kagome?" Inuyasha whispered. "H-how did you do that?" He asked and Sango nodded her head in agreement, she too wanted to know.

Kagome took in a deep breath before letting it out slowly. "About a year before I met Sango, I was traveling down south and ran into a tribe of water benders. They welcomed me to stay within their tribe so I stayed with them for a few months as they taught me how to better control my water bending while teaching me a few special tricks that I could do, one being healing. Though it dangerous because if I do something wrong, I could reflect the person I'm healing wounds onto myself, or I could royally mess up and kill us both in the process. Healing someone is a very painful experience for both the healer and the wounded; the healer because they are taking the pain away from the wounded and channeling it within their body - so not only will he be in pain for the next week or so, so will I - the wounded because their broken body is knitting itself back together." She explained before stopping to gasp for breath. "I don't use the healing technique unless I absolutely have to, like if someone is dying. Up until now I haven't been able to use it because either the wound is not sever enough or the person wounded died immediately."

"Okay." Inuyasha nodded in understanding as he stood up before scooping the unconscious Miroku up off the ground. "I'm going to go put Miroku to bed then go find where Shippo ran off to hide. Sango, will you help Kagome back to the ship?"

Sango nodded as she watched Inuyasha walk off of Naraku's ship and towards their own before looking back at Kagome giving her a watery smile. "Thank you so much Kagome for saving his life."

Kagome gave her a small smile in return. "You're welcome, Sango." Kagome grunted as Sango helped her stand up, she put her arm around Sango's shoulders as she put her arm around Kagome's waist as she supported most of her weight.

-X-

When Sango and Kagome joined Inuyasha on his ship, Sango always just slept on the deck every night -however- this night she was found curled up next to a sleeping Miroku while she stayed away counting his heartbeats.

"One, two, three, four."

"Five, six, seven, eight." Inuyasha whispered as he counted Kagome's heartbeats as she slept next to him on his bed, her usual sleeping place - thought they never did anything sextual Inuyasha still looked forward to bedtime because he knew he'd be able to curl up next to her and cuddle while they both fell asleep. He counted her heartbeats because it kind of scared him when Kagome was explaining how the healing power went. He never knew as he watched her heal Miroku that she was so close to death, sure she warned him, but he didn't think it'd be serious but when she explained that she was inessentially taking his wound from him and channeling it through her body that was what freaked him out the most and he knew he never wanted to watch her heal anyone ever again. He didn't think he'd be able to handle the worry.

"Nine, ten, eleven, twelve." Sango quietly said to herself as she continued to count his heartbeats. She had never been that scared before in her life, sure she had watched her entire village and people burn to the ground but this, this was a different kind of fear - a different kind of pain. She couldn't explain it but maybe since she's lost everybody in her life it left a scar, a deep seeded fear making to where she couldn't handle losing any more people that was close to her. She was immensely thankful for Kagome and what she did, but when she told them about the power - it scared her, she didn't want to lose Miroku, but she also didn't want to lose Kagome either - and the thought of potentially losing both of them, that was almost too much to bear so she didn't think about it she just continued to count Miroku's heartbeats.

"Thirteen, fourteen, fifteen, sixteen." Inuyasha continued to count as he laid on his side propped up on his elbow with his head in his hand watching Kagome breathe. He almost lost her today. God, what if he lost her? What if he never got the chance to tell her how he really felt about her? He couldn't live without her by his side, he wouldn't, he refused. As long as he was living, he'd make sure she'd never have to use that power ever again. He also made a silent promise to tell her how he felt and pray that she felt the same way about him.

"Seventeen, eighteen, nineteen, twenty." Sango counted feeling her eyelids start to droop but trying to force herself to stay awake not wanting to miss a single beat of his heart. Never wanting to miss another beat she vowed to herself to never leave his side, to always be by him and share a life together. She couldn't believe that it took Miroku almost dying in front of her that she loved him. What if she did lose him? He'd never know how she felt, and she didn't think she'd be able to live without him.

"I love you." She whispered as she lifted her head up off Miroku's chest before pressing a kiss to his cheek. Though, he didn't wake up he did tighten his arm that he had wrapped around her drawing her even tighter against him and when she laid her head back down on his chest, he laid his head against hers. She closed her eyes and went into a deep sleep to the music of Miroku's heartbeat.

"Twenty-one, twenty-two, twenty-three, twenty-four." Inuyasha counted as he scooped Kagome up and pulled her towards his body burying his nose into her hear taking a deep breath of her aroma in. "I love you." Inuyasha murmured into her hair before being lulled to sleep by the sweet melody of Kagome's heartbeat.

Hope you all enjoyed this chapter! Please review! See you soon!