Kagome woke up and looked around. She was in a different place. She was outside. She looked around and saw Sango and Miroku sleeping next to Kirara, transformed. She looked over and saw Inuyasha. He was asleep. His arm was resting on his knee, where his head rested. His other hand was holding hers.

She smiled slightly. Inuyasha looked innocent when he was asleep. He didnt look like he had the whole weight of the world on his shoulder every day. He looked almost childlike. She looked up at the sky, the sun was going to rise soon.

Kagome frowned as she tried to sit up, waking Inuyasha. He opened his eyes and looked over at her. "Hey." he said gently. Kagome turned and looked at him. "I'm sorry, did I wake you?" she asked.

He shook his head. "Just catching a little bit of sleep. How are you feeling?" he asked. Kagome sat up and braced herself against the trunk of the tree she was sleeping under. "A little tired. I don't really have a lot of energy today."

Inuyasha clenched his jaw. Kagome yawned and she looked back over at him. "Where are we?" she asked. "We are a bit far from the village we were staying in. I smelled Naraku and we moved while you slept. When his scent dropped we decided to stay here and get some sleep before setting back out."

Kagome nodded. She closed her eyes and she laid her head against the trunk and she sighed. She opened her eyes and she could see that he was clenching his jaw again. "I'm just a little tired, Inuyasha. There's nothing to worry about."

He sighed deeply. "I really think that you should return to the village and stay with Kaede until this is over. I can tell you that you don't have the strength to continue on. You need to rest." Kagome shook her head.

Miroku and Sango both woke up again but stayed laying down. They could tell that Inuyasha was getting frustrated with her again. "No, I can do this. My body can take it." Inuyasha shook his head.

"Kagome, you can't keep doing this. Every time you move, you are making the miasma travel through your body quicker. Once that miasma reaches your heart, I can't save you. You don't have the powers to keep it at bay like Kikyo did."

Miroku's palm smacked his head. 'Way to go Inuyasha.'

"Oh, so you're saying that I'm not as strong as Kikyo was!? You're calling me weak!?" yelled Kagome. Inuyasha shook his head. "No, I'm saying that Kikyo had an advantage. When she was attacked with the miasma she had you to purify it. And then she continued to purify it with her spiritual powers."

"She had the advantage of having two purifying powers. You have none. You are just normal right now because you're sealed." Kagome sighed and looked away from him.

"I made a vow to see this battle through. I promised Kikyo before she died that I would do whatever it took to do this." Inuyasha sighed. Kagome turned to look at him.

"And I made that vow to you that day when I came back after being sealed in my era. That I would stay by your side until Naraku was destroyed. I would see this through. That way we can all move on with our lives."

Miroku and Sango stood up and walked over to her. "We're with you, Kagome," said Sango. Kagome smiled and nodded. Kagome took Inuyasha's hand. "Until the end. I will keep fighting. I will keep that promise I made you." She said, locking eyes with Inuyasha.

He squeezed her hand and nodded. Kagome smiled. Suddenly she was overcome with a coughing fit. Kagome struggled with catching her breath between coughs. She leaned over and she started to choke and cough more.

Inuyasha gently rubbed her back. He didn't know what else to do. Kagome put her hand to her mouth as she coughed hard. She felt a warm liquid on her hand. She took her hand from her mouth. It was dark red almost black blood.

Inuyasha looked from her hand in horror to her mouth. She had blood running down the side of her face from her mouth. Kagome took a tissue and she wiped the blood from her hand and mouth. She took a deep breath, her chest hurting from the coughing.

"Kagome." said Sango as she and Miroku came closer to her. "The other day that I smelled your blood." Kagome turned to look at Inuyasha, his hair covering his eyes. "That blood I smelled wasn't from your wound. You were coughing it up." Kagome nodded silently.

'Not only that, but my lungs are on fire. There's a little chance that I will last another day or two. I'll be lucky if I live until tomorrow. The miasma is really infecting my lungs. It's making it very hard to breathe. It'll reach my heart in no time.'

Kagome gasped and her head snapped to her left. She could feel it. The jewel. She looked at the others. "The jewel is over there." She said pointing. Sango and Miroku nodded. "We'll go on ahead." said Sango. Kagome nodded.

They flew off. "Inuyasha." she said, his hair still covering his eyes. "Inuyasha, let's go. Our friends need us." Inuyasha continued to look away from her. Kagome took his hand. He gasped and looked at her.

"Let's go. I'll be okay. I promise." she said with a warm smile. Inuyasha nodded and he turned and kneeled so she could get on.

'Please don't get my hopes up by making promises you can't keep.' He could smell the miasma leaking from her wound. It made Kagome smell almost metallic. It wasn't the sweet strawberry scent that he loved more than anything.

"Let's go." he said. She nodded. They took off running. Naraku laughed as Kagome and Inuyasha appeared. "You impress me, Kagome. You're still breathing, even with me controlling the miasma in your body to make you hurt more."

Kagome jumped from Inuyasha's back. "This ends today." she said. She mounted her bow and she drew back. "Today either we both die today, or you do. Either way, you aren't walking out of here alive." said Kagome, releasing the arrow. It hit Naraku in the shoulder where the jewel was.

"Impudent wench!" he screamed as he sent demons at her. Kagome mounts another arrow and shoots it.

"Hiraikotsu!"

"Wind Tunnel!"

"Meido Zagetsuha!"

Naraku laughed as he protected himself from their attacks. Naraku pulsated and Miroku screamed out in pain. They all turned and he struggled to get his wind tunnel under control. There were nicks in the ends of the void. He screamed as he tried to distance himself from them.

"Miroku!" yelled Sango as she rushed over to him. Miroku looked at her. "Don't! Get away from me!" He screamed. She stopped. "I might be swallowed and I don't want you to too!" he screamed.

Sango was full of anger and she turned and looked at Naraku. "Naraku damn you!" she screamed, throwing Hiraikotsu. It busted through the barrier and rips Naraku to shreds. He glared at Sango and he allowed his miasma to swirl around her weapon.

Sango caught the weapon and was overcome by the miasma. She dropped down to her knees and coughed. She fell onto her knees and she lost consciousness. "Sango!" yelled Miroku, still fighting his wind tunnel.

Inuyasha is thrown to the ground hard. "Inuyasha!" Kagome screamed. She looked at Naraku. "Inuyasha, if I hit the point where the jewel is then you can attack him and weaken him!" she yelled.

Inuyasha sat up and looked at her. He nodded. Kagome mounted another arrow and she aimed it and released. It hit Naraku in the shoulder. He turned and looked at her with an anger that Kagome never saw before.

"DIE!" he yelled, sending a blast from Moryomaru's armored shell. "Kagome! Adamant Barrage!" He screamed, trying to cancel out the other adamant shards. They hit the ground. "Kagome!" he looks over as the dust settles. She's unconscious with little nicks of blood in her shirt.

Inuyasha listened for her heartbeat. It was slowing down. The miasma was getting closer to her heart. He growled as he looked at Naraku. He went after Naraku full force and hit him with blow after blow.

Naraku laughed as he dodged every attack. "You seem to be fighting differently. You aren't just fighting for yourself. You're fighting for that stupid girl. You can't live with the fact that you failed to protect a stupid girl like her. Just like you failed to protect Kikyo."

"Shut UP!" he yelled as he stabbed through another one of his barriers. He got thrown to the ground hard. "You didn't have to get Kagome involved in this! She's innocent!" he yelled as he continued to slash at the barrier.

Naraku laughed. "You have gone soft, Inuyasha. You allowed yourself to fall for that girl. Just as she did for you. You are fighting so you can be with her." He laughed. "Don't make me laugh. You want to destroy me so you can avenge Kikyo. The only reason you love that girl is because she looks like Kikyo."

"Although she is a sorry excuse for a reincarnation of Kikyo." Inuyasha screamed in anger. He slashed at the barrier more. "There's no way you can save her. You can sense it too can't you? The miasma is licking at her heart. She's a lost cause."

Inuyasha turned to look at Kagome for a split second. Her breathing was labored and she was extremely pale. "No! She's still alive!" he yelled. 'As long as she's breathing then there is hope.'

Sango opened her eyes and she looked over at Miroku. He had his wind tunnel under control. She ran over to him. "Are you okay?" she asked. He nodded. "Are you?" she nodded. They looked over at Kagome.

"Kagome!" They rushed over to her and Kirara laid down, bracing Kagome against her. Sango looked at Kirara. "Please watch after Kagome." Kirara nodded. Sango rushed over to help Inuyasha.

Kagome struggled to open her eyes. She looked over and saw her friends fighting. Sango was thrown to the ground. Miroku is pierced in the shoulder by a demon's blade. Naraku pierced Inuyasha through and through the shoulder. He hits the ground hard.

Kagome felt her body growing weaker. She forced herself to stand. Kirara put her head under Kagome's arm, trying to keep her steady. Kagome smiled and looked at Kirara. "Thank you, Kirara." The feline nodded.

Inuyasha struggled to pick up his sword. He couldn't feel his right arm. Naraku landed and he walked toward Inuyasha with a maniacal look in his eyes. "Time for you to finally join Kikyo in hell."

Kagome picked up her last arrow and she mounted it. 'Kikyo, if you're there, please help me. Please help me defeat Naraku so the man we love can be free.'

The arrow began to glow a bright pure purple. Kagome pulsates and she draws the bow back. She felt a gentle hand on her shoulder. She smiled. She knew it was Kikyo. Kikyo squeezed her shoulder. Kagome nodded.

Naraku raised a bladed tentacle and he went to deliver the final blow on Inuyasha. "Die." he said. "NARAKU!" yelled Kagome. Naraku raised his head and looked over at Kagome, glowing with a bright purple light. Inuyasha looked at her in awe.

REWRITTEN FEBRUARY 2024