Miroku tore material from his sleeve and hastily wrapped it around Kagome’s neck. He sighed relief as he noticed that only a little blood seeped into the silken material. "Only the skin was cut, nothing major… She’ll be okay."

Sesshoumaru felt a considerable weight lifted from his shoulders as he heard the houshi’s report on Kagome’s health. He had not killed her. However, he knew that he had failed her somehow, by injuring her in any such way. Even Inu Yasha had managed never to hurt Kagome when he was overtaken by his yokai blood.

Kouga gasped as he approached Inu Yasha and the others. As he came closer to the group, he noticed that Kagome’s blood was noticeable everywhere in the area. He looked down when he approached Sesshoumaru, seeing that Kagome’s blood was on the taiyokai’s claws as well. As he overheard Inu Yasha speaking with Miroku, he realized that Kagome was injured, but would survive. He glared down at Sesshoumaru in disgust. "You almost killed her, didn’t you?"

Sesshoumaru, convinced that he was completely at fault, did not deny Kouga’s accusation.

Kouga balled his hands into fists as he continued, "How dare endanger her in such a way? What the hell is wrong with you?"

Kagura stepped between Sesshoumaru and Kouga, hoping to prevent a fight. She shot a cold glare to Kouga as she held her arm in front of him. "Stop it. That’s enough. It wasn’t his fault. He’s gone through enough tonight; he doesn’t need your shit, too."

Kouga shook his head as he moved towards Kagura. "I don’t care what he’s been through—he damn near killed Kagome! Geez… I guess incompetence runs in that family."

Kagura glanced back and saw as Sesshoumaru seemed to take Kouga’s words to heart. She returned her harsh gaze to Kouga as she backhanded the wolf leader. "You’d do best if you just shut your mouth, wolf. Kagome knew very well the type of situation that this was when she came here. She could have just left Sesshoumaru there if she had wanted. She loves him enough that she didn’t care what happened to her so long as it meant that Sesshoumaru would be okay."

Kouga crossed his arms in resignation and began to walk away. "Feh, whatever."

Kagura looked back to Sesshoumaru, hoping that her words in his defense would have lifted his spirits somewhat, but he still looked as depressed as ever.

Sesshoumaru finally managed to make himself stand. He glanced toward the small crowd that had gathered around Kagome. [The wolf was right. I shouldn’t have let that happen. I should have been strong enough to prevent that. I spend so much time making sure that my body is strong… yet my spirit was too weak to resist what had happened. My soul was hurled from my body just because of some jewel shard…]

Sango looked away from Kagome for a moment and watched as Sesshoumaru seemed to be wasting away. He had begun to walk away from the rest of the group, troubled beyond words. In any other situation, Kagome would have been the one to run and comfort whomever was in pain, but at present, Kagome couldn’t do any such thing. Sango stood and rushed towards Sesshoumaru. "Sesshoumaru-sama… don’t beat yourself up about this. It wasn’t your fault."

Sesshoumaru sighed as he looked back at Sango. "That’s what Kagome said, too. I was able to hear her words and see her face and smell her blood… but I couldn’t let her go. I couldn’t make myself move the way I was supposed to… I failed her."

Sango reached out and placed her hand on Sesshoumaru’s shoulder. "You didn’t fail her. For that matter, if it wasn’t for you, she wouldn’t even be here, remember? You brought her back to life after Naraku killed her."

Sesshoumaru shook his head as he pushed Sango’s hand off of his back. "That doesn’t give me the automatic right to do with her as I please."

Sango watched quietly as Sesshoumaru slowly walked back towards the old hut that he had previously stayed in. [He’s being so stubborn… Why can’t he just see the answers that are right in front of him?]

Kagome slowly opened her eyes, seeing nearly all of her friends leaning over her. Their concerned gazes did little to answer the question she needed answered most right now. "Where… where is Sesshoumaru?"

Sesshoumaru looked up from where he stood, several feet away. Kagome had only just now woke up, yet her first worries were about him. Did she not realize that she had several gashes in her neck that could spell out the death of her?

All eyes turned to Sesshoumaru as he slowly approached Kagome. He looked down at her, his eyes cold and face void of expression. "How are you feeling, Kagome?"

Kagome smiled as she saw Sesshoumaru and heard his voice, realizing that he had been returned to normal. She winced as she sat up, enduring the searing pain in her neck in order to see Sesshoumaru. With Miroku and Inu Yasha’s aid, she managed to stand. She took in a deep breath and then rushed to Sesshoumaru. She threw her arms around him as she began to cry onto his shoulder. "Sesshou-kun… I thought I was going to lose you…"

Sesshoumaru reluctantly wrapped his own arms around Kagome’s petite shoulders. "Kagome, I failed you… I almost killed you…"

"That wasn’t your fault!!!" Kagome shook her head furiously as she pulled away from Sesshoumaru’s shoulder and looked up into his cold golden eyes. "That damn Naraku did that to you, even after we killed the bastard! Don’t you dare blame yourself for this, Sesshoumaru!"

Sesshoumaru was momentarily taken aback. Kagome did not even see the fact that he had been too weak to resist what had happened. "Kagome, if I would have been stronger…"

Kagome pulled one of her hands away from Sesshoumaru to point to her neck. "If you had not have been fighting to control yourself, then I surely would have died. When you were holding me by my neck, you were careful not to injure any of the major veins or arteries in my neck—only my skin was cut. Also, when you dropped me, you first withdrew your claws from my neck; you could have just tore my throat out as you threw me down. Don’t you see? You were still in control enough to save me from death!"

Seeing that Sesshoumaru seemed little convinced, Kagome pressed her head onto his shoulder once more. She clung closely to his body as she held tightly to the silken material of the back of his kimono. "I don’t want to lose you, Sesshoumaru… I thought that I had killed you when I killed Naraku. Only now I realize that Kohaku saved you in the nick of time… I don’t know if I would have been able to go on with my life without you, Sesshou-kun… I missed you so much…"

Now realizing that he wasn’t about to win this argument, Sesshoumaru accepted Kagome’s words as he silently stroked her hair, comforting her. How he had longed for her while he was lying in that hut, writhing in pain. Thinking of how he would hold her when he became well again was often his only comfort during those three agonizing days.

Kikyo crossed her arms in annoyance. Just watching the couple began to make her feel sick. She cleared her throat as she approached them. "Kagome, you completed the Shikon no Tama, correct?"

Kagome reluctantly pulled away from Sesshoumaru and nodded her head. The last thing she wanted right now was to deal with Kikyo and the Shikon jewel.

Kikyo snickered as she held her hand out. "Give me that jewel, Kagome. That is, unless you plan on losing it again."

Kagome’s face contorted in anger. "I didn’t see you there when we finished Naraku off! I didn’t see you going out of your way to get any of the other shards! You have no right to demand this jewel! Go away from here and start living your own life."

Even though such words would not usually have bothered Kikyo, something about Kagome’s rant made her realize something. She had been handed a new life, yet she never quite thought about anything aside from the ties that were left from her old life. Of course, she could see now that Inu Yasha was beyond her reach, Naraku had been defeated, and now the Shikon no Tama was completed… what else was there that she needed to do with herself?

Kagome’s expression softened as she noticed that Kikyo seemed to be considering her words. "Don’t you see, Kikyo? You’re free to do what you want with your life now. All of the things that you still had to do in life, they’re all taken care of. You can be whomever you want to be now."

Kikyo nodded slowly, suddenly releasing the need to hold the Shikon no Tama. [She’s right… I can do whatever I want to now…]

Sesshoumaru smiled at Kagome as he looked towards the rest of the group. "We are returning home."

Kagome held her breath for a moment as Sesshoumaru’s words repeated in her mind. She placed her hand atop Sesshoumaru’s hand. "Sesshou-kun… everyone has gone without sleep tonight… Perhaps we should all go and rest. Afterwards, perhaps a celebration of sorts should be in order, seeing as we have not quite done such after Naraku’s defeat…"

Sesshoumaru’s smile widened with Kagome’s every word. Already she was ready to dictate events in his home—whatever would he do without her? He wasn’t about to be complaining, though, he was looking forward to this new life. "So be it. Everyone here is to be invited, then."

~ ~~~ ~~~~~ ~~~~~~~ ~~~~~~~~ ~~~~ -^_^- ~~~~ ~~~~~~~~ ~~~~~~~ ~~~~~ ~~~ ~

A.N. Well, I could have ended it right there, but I keep coming up with ideas, so we aren’t done just yet! [Even though I said, like ten chapters ago that we were almost done…] I’ve decided to drag everyone through something more just yet! So, I’m going to get to working on some of my other fics that I’ve been neglecting and come back to this in a few more days, okay? ^_^

!!! Oh, one last thing—I want everyone’s opinion out there—should Kagome stay human as she is now, return to her hanyou form, or even somehow become a full-yokai? It’s reader’s poll again, and I will be using your opinions to finish the fic!

Ja ne,

Ryoko Yuy / V Shape Otaku