Kagome’s face flushed a deeper shade of scarlet as Sesshoumaru broke their kiss. She said nothing, but her eyes reflected her brief uncertainty as she felt Sesshoumaru’s hands touch her abdomen, snaking upwards as he leaned his head on her shoulders. Winded, Kagome placed her hand on Sesshoumaru’s shoulders. "Se-Sesshou-kun?"

Sesshoumaru looked up, seeing Kagome’s troubled expression. He moved back and stood from where he had been leaning over Kagome. A light brush made its way to his cheeks as he bowed his head. "Gomen ne…"

Kagome brought her hand up to her face, brushing her fingers over her lips. [That was… my first kiss!] Her eyes downcast, she shook her head. "No… I was just… not expecting…"

Sesshoumaru straightened and turned around, more than ready to change the subject than to endure the awkward conversation that was looming in the room. "I forgot to tell you, I’ve finished carving out your bow. All that is needed now is the string… in order for it to be truly your weapon, you’ll have to… ahem… place the string on your own."

Kagome nodded slowly. [He’s changing the subject?!] She slowly stood, though her knees were wobbly—she was still somewhat shaken. She reached out, placing her hand on Sesshoumaru’s shoulder. Her sapphire eyes softened as she stepped closer to him. "You didn’t have to apologize… Really, I didn’t mind. When your mother and I spoke… she asked me if I realized that because I was human, I had little chance of ever… of ever even having a chance at being able to be by your side… Heh, I knew that she was probably right, but I didn’t want to believe it… But, if it’s what you want, I can promise never to leave you. I’ll never betray you, no matter what."

Sesshoumaru placed his hand on top of hers, still on his shoulder, though he did not turn around to face her. "You… no longer wish to be with Inu Yasha? Didn’t you promise him the same—to stay by his side for forever?"

Kagome shook her head. "I promised him a lot, and every time I made a move to show him my loyalty, he threw it back at me. Then, when we began staying around Inu Yasha again, he managed to do no more than to insult me and treat me as though I was trash… I admit, this will be breaking my promise to him, but I can’t stay with him anymore. He needs to learn how to properly treat a woman before he deserves to have anyone making such promises to him… I suppose that I was too naïve to see that."

Sesshoumaru nodded slowly. "You know, you’re the only person aside from myself and my father that has ever spoken with mother after she passed away? I was frustrated in my younger years, when she refused to speak with Aki, but maybe I understand now."

Kagome smiled as she reached for the shard that she had set on the floor, from when she withdrew it from her chest. She held it out in front of Sesshoumaru, allowing him to take it from her. "We really need to get finished here and go… We’re on borrowed time as it is."

~ ~~~ ~~~~~ ~~~~~~~ ~~~~~~~~~ ~~~~^_^~~~~ ~~~~~~~~~ ~~~~~~~ ~~~~~ ~~~ ~

Miroku looked up at the evening sky, noticing something that had been, well, rather ignored by the rest of the members of his party. He turned to Inu Yasha and Kouga, whom had been quarrelling constantly. "Inu Yasha, have you noticed? The moon has been waning for some time now. The skies are clear of clouds, yet I don’t see the moon tonight."

Inu Yasha looked up to the sky to reassure himself that what Miroku was say was indeed true. "Figures…"

Kouga leaned forward, curious. "Is this when he turns human? I mean, it’s better to be tonight than for it to be tomorrow, right? Heh, maybe he’ll smell better tonight…"

Inu Yasha swung out his fist at his rival, only to hit air. [Dammit… but… I guess he’s right—better to fight Naraku when I know I don’t have to worry about being mortal…]

Rin tugged on Sango’s sleeve, a small bouquet of flowers and weeds in her young hands. "Sango-chan, when are Sesshoumaru-sama and Kana-chan coming back?"

Sango smiled as she took the bouquet that had been offered to her. Every moment she spent with this girl convinced her even more—she was ready to have a child or to of her own. She patted the girl’s head as she looked at the bouquet. "They should return tomorrow, Rin-san."

"And then everybody will be happy again, right, Sango-chan?" The child smiled, a twinkle in her eyes.

Sango looked around and shook her head. "I don’t know, Rin-san… I don’t know."

Miroku moved closer to Sango, placing his hand atop hers. She startled when she felt his skin brush against her own, but she turned and smiled at him. He moved closer now, wrapping his left arm around her shoulders. He held out his right hand, staring at it as though he had never before seen it. "Tomorrow, if we are successful, I will never again have to worry about losing myself to this curse. You will have your brother once more, the girl, Sayaka, will be saved, and the Shikon no Tama can be reassembled… So many problems in this world will end—just because of Naraku."

Sango nodded thoughtfully as she placed her hand on Miroku’s right hand, bringing it back down to his lap. "So many things have been delayed because of that bastard… Perhaps these lands will be somewhat peaceful after he has passed."

~ ~~~ ~~~~~ ~~~~~~~ ~~~~~~~~~ ~~~~^_^~~~~ ~~~~~~~~~ ~~~~~~~ ~~~~~ ~~~ ~

Kagome smiled as she felt the energy—the power–flow over her body as she returned the jewel shard to its holding place in her chest. She stepped out of the hut and looked up into the clear, empty night sky. Her smile fell briefly as she realized that the moon was not present in the sky. "Sesshou-kun… How soon do you think we can get back?"

Sesshoumaru glanced up. He knew what a moonless night meant for his younger brother, whether or not he was ever concerned—that was a different story. However, when he saw the solemn expression in Kagome’s eyes, he became intrigued… and a little hurt. "You want to return… to him?"

Kagome shuddered as she heard the poison in Sesshoumaru’s tone. "I’m still his friend… I’ve never left him alone on this kind of night since I met him…"

Sesshoumaru scowled, but he was careful not to allow Kagome to see the severity of his displeasure. He gestured for her to follow as he led her into the dark forest. "I’ve already found and cured a string… but you’ll have to stretch it to set it on the bow."

Kagome reached out and took the bow from Sesshoumaru’s right hand. "I can do this. Tomorrow, we will destroy Naraku. Tomorrow… all of this will end."

Sesshoumaru remained silent, startled by Kagome’s words. No matter how much he had wanted to finally bring an end to Naraku, he didn’t want his time with Kagome to end. He reached up, his hand slightly shaky, and pulled the string, made from the tendon of a beast yokai, from the stretching frame he had mounted on a tree. "What will you do then? Will you return to your home?"

A sick feeling washed of Kagome’s heart as she considered. [After the Shikon no Tama is reassembled… I planned on leaving this world behind—forever… but… how can I? This place, this time, it is more of a home to me than the time that I came from… I… I have come to love the people here… Sesshoumaru especially… I could never leave him behind…]

"Kagome…" Sesshoumaru whispered, moving closer to the girl disguised as a hanyou. "I know that this will seem selfish for me to say, but I’d like you to stay…"

Kagome’s face flushed scarlet, though the change in the color of her cheeks was unnoticeable in the shadows. Her heart raced as she felt Sesshoumaru’s hand brush against hers. She had often kept herself distanced because she was afraid that Sesshoumaru would never even look at her. She had been worried that he would not accept her, even as a friend, much less a mate. Her fear, her worry, it all seemed irrelevant now—he was accepting her, even though she was human. She stepped forward and wrapped her arms around Sesshoumaru. "I will…"

For the first time in many years, a genuine smile graced the taiyokai’s lips as he wrapped his arms around Kagome. "I’m glad."

~ ~~~ ~~~~~ ~~~~~~~ ~~~~~~~~~ ~~~~^_^~~~~ ~~~~~~~~~ ~~~~~~~ ~~~~~ ~~~ ~

Kagura took in a deep breath as she slipped down into the dungeon room, apparently unnoticed by Naraku. She let out a heavy sigh as she saw Sayaka, in the dim light, crying. "They’re supposed to come tomorrow…"

Sayaka shrugged. "That doesn’t mean that I’ll be saved from this hell…"

Kagura tilted her head, as though trying to better understand Sayaka. "Naraku came down here, didn’t he?"

Sayaka hesitated and then nodded. "He told me about all of the horrible things he’s going to do… No matter how strong these people are—there’s no way… it’s not possible."

Kagura leaned forward, shaking her head. "Don’t give up so easily—the worst thing you can do now is to lose hope… That’s basic survival, Sayaka-san. If you lose hope now, you’ll have no will at all tomorrow… and that will only serve Naraku’s purposes."

~ ~~~ ~~~~~ ~~~~~~~ ~~~~~~~~~ ~~~~^_^~~~~ ~~~~~~~~~ ~~~~~~~ ~~~~~ ~~~ ~

~ Several hours later ~

~ ~~~ ~~~~~ ~~~~~~~ ~~~~~~~~~ ~~~~^_^~~~~ ~~~~~~~~~ ~~~~~~~ ~~~~~ ~~~ ~

Inu Yasha scowled as he leaned against the base of a tree. [Will this night ever end? All I’ve heard all night has been that damn flea-bitten wolf pestering me about anything he can think of. I can’t even think straight when he’s doing this…]

"Oi, Dog shit, how long until you turn back to normal?" Kouga leaned away from his place beside the fire to better annoy the hanyou. By this time, only he remained awake to converse with Inu Yasha—Sango and Miroku had already gone to sleep, with Rin next to them, unknowingly preventing anything from happening.

"I told you four times already—I don’t change until sunrise! Geez, when will you get it through your damn thick skull?" Inu Yasha crossed his arms, threw his head back, and shut his eyes, feigning sleep.

Kouga sighed, the first serious expression he had that night now donning his face. "You know… when she comes back… She’ll probably expect you to understand that her and your brother are… well, you know…"

Inu Yasha flinched, though unintentionally. The thought that he had lost Kagome to his brother still bothered him more than Kouga could ever dream of bothering him. Every time the thought surfaced it was as though an icy feeling washed over his heart, causing all of the rest of his body to go numb.

"Inu Yasha… maybe you just weren’t meant to have a human woman…"

Inu Yasha’s eyes snapped open, though he played the action off as though he had been woken from sleep. "Kouga, stop yipping and go to sleep."

"Haven’t you even taken the time to think about this? Do you realize how much your life is about to change?" Kouga shifted his weight as he turned around to face Inu Yasha. "Tomorrow, assuming that we finally beat Naraku, the majority of the Shikon jewel will be completed—if not all of it—and Kagome will have no other reason to stay in this time. She will disappear. As for me, I will no longer have to worry about avenging my kin. I will more likely do as I’ve been requested and go to the Northern tribe, possibly to marry Ayamé. The houshi and the taijiya will leave to start a family… which means you will be alone—where are you going to go?"

Inu Yasha’s brown eyes narrowed into an icy glare. "Why are you so concerned about me? Since when is it any of your business?"

Kouga shrugged as he glanced back up at the starry, moonless night sky. "You’ve got to do something…"

Inu Yasha closed his eyes once more, but now Kouga’s words seemed to be ringing true. Kagome would leave him, he had already broken his ties with Kikyo, and Sango and Miroku would probably leave to live on their own. He, more than anybody, knew that Kouga was right—he would be left alone in the world once more.

~ ~~~ ~~~~~ ~~~~~~~ ~~~~~~~~~ ~~~~^_^~~~~ ~~~~~~~~~ ~~~~~~~ ~~~~~ ~~~ ~

A.N. Whew… Hot summer days here in Illinois are frying my brain! ^_^ However, I do have the good/bad news that I’ve gotten a job at our local Steak ‘N Shake! That means I’ll finally start making money (even more than when I was working in the horseradish field.) However, it also means that once they start giving me decent hours, I won’t have a whole lot of time to work on fanfics… T_T Never fear, I will finish this fanfic!