In His Arms

All previous disclaimers apply.

Author's Note: The final showdown is coming in the next chapter. This is a short filler.

“You have killed without mercy. Turned brother against brother. Decimated whole villages. Do not think that you are going to live through this day, Naraku,” Kagome’s voice was cold and hard as she pulled an arrow from her quiver and fitted it to her bow, looking down at the abomination that simply smiled back up at her.

“So noble minded, Lady of the West?” He scoffed, stripping his heavy coat and shirt off until he was clad only in a pair of loose pants and an elaborately embroidered sash. Kagome felt the bile rising in her throat as she remembered Kikyo’s words about perfection. How could it be that someone so evil could look so beautiful? He was perfection, she could not deny that. Not nearly as attractive to her as her lord mate, but she could not pretend that she did not see why others were attracted to what he was. Beauty and power was a hard combination to resist and he had both. She felt her heart ache for those who had been lost because they had not been able to see past the façade to the truth beneath it. With an abrupt pull on her mind she finally came to the realization that they would never be able to honor all those that Naraku had killed because they would never know just how many lives he had taken or how many had been taken because of his actions. And she couldn’t bring herself to care about them as much as she thought she should. She would never care about them as much as she cared about those she loved.

“Noble minded,” Kagome allowed a dark chuckle to escape, “Perhaps others might say so. Perhaps I am. But, understand this, Naraku. You will die for your crimes against the peoples of the lands. But, it will be a painful death for what you have done to me and mine. Even I am not above revenge.”

“You are only human,” Naraku drew closer and Kagome lifted her bow, drawing her arrow, touching the corner of her mouth with her knuckle as Kaede had taught her. She wondered briefly, how they looked, the evil beauty and the mated Miko, as they circled each other, each waiting for the other to make the first move, “It does make me wonder, Lady Miko, how did you manage to get the Western Lord to mate you? Does he not hate humans? How can he stand your stench, do you think?”

Kagome knew this was exactly the type of comment that would have made her attack brashly just months before, breaking her concentration and allowing her temper to take over. As she was now, she just looked back at him coolly, keeping her arrow in place and waiting for his move, “I am not as easily distracted as I once was, Hanyou.”

“Clearly,” Naraku laughed, “And I love the fire in your eyes. Perhaps I will let you live. If only so that when this is over I can break you. I will enjoy watching your eyes deaden as I ravage you again and again…and again.”

Kagome twitched, almost letting the arrow fly in temper, but remained in control, noticing that they were getting closer and closer to each other as they circled. She wondered if Naraku knew the mistake he was making. He expected her to lose her cool, and she would not. The closer he got, the bigger her target got and the more damage she would be able to inflict right off. She did not delude herself into thinking that he would be killed with one arrow, or by herself alone even, but the faster she could inflict the maximum amount of damage, the better. If she could inflict enough damage, perhaps no one else would have to die. She just prayed, silently and fervently, that the part of the jewel within Naraku’s body would not allow him to regenerate too quickly for them to finish him off. There was always the risk of such a thing happening. Even now she could see the faint glow of the nearly completed jewel deep in his chest and felt the shards in the small bottle around her neck calling out to the large piece, wanting to be whole again. No matter who won this battle the jewel would have to be completed. It would no longer allow itself to be shattered. She shuddered slightly at the thought of the thing that had been inside her at birth having its own will and wondered briefly, not for the first time, how much of what had happened had been due to the will of the jewel.

As if he sensed her momentary loss of concentration, Naraku let out a battle cry and flew toward her, narrowed red eyes burning. It was more a reaction of pure shock than it was intentional when Kagome released the arrow she had been holding for so long and it caught Naraku squarely in the chest, the holy fire surrounding it burning through the flesh like tissue paper. But, she was not a fool by any means, she knew that even that shot, perfect by most standards, would mean nothing more than the fact that Naraku would transform into one of the more disgusting incarnations of himself that they had seen before. She jumped back quickly, fitting another arrow, as the tentacles exploded from Naraku’s body and covered more area than should have been physically possible. She hardly had time to gasp in surprise when a tentacle sliced into her arm before Sesshomaru had her swooped up in his arms and carried high in the air on a high jump away from Naraku momentarily.

“It’s just a scratch,” she assured him, as he set her on her feet.

“Yes,” he agreed, “All of the Hanyou’s generals have been incapacitated in some way. We wanted to consolidate our forces and attack him at once.”

“Good plan,” she whispered, and grabbed the front of his armor, dragging his mouth down to hers by force for a brief, intense kiss before they joined the others who were preparing themselves for a final showdown.

It was hard to see how few of them were left as she joined them. They looked like a rag tag group of low level yokai rather than the Taiyokai and generals they were. Ayame was favoring her right leg, but there was more than the regular fiery determination in her eyes. The Eagle looked like a man ready to meet his death. She wasn’t surprised. She had seen him with Tsubasa motionless in his arms and wondered who it was responsible for killing the young eagle she herself had spared. The Dragon was looked like he was about to fall over on his feet. Paru looked more grim than she had ever seen his merry face, but otherwise unharmed. She turned to her mate and really looked at him, well are that it might be her last chance. Other than a cut on his cheek that had blood seeping down and onto his clothing he looked the most put together and well of all of them.

“Is anyone not ready for this?” Kagome asked, allowing her eyes to scan them all one more time. All she received were looks equal in determination and anger. It was all she needed to see. She nodded once and turned back around.

Without a word they all dove into the mass of tentacles. She wasn’t quite sure what it was about this battle as compared to every other battle she had ever been in. But, everything seemed to move so slowly. How could it be that just a few months living with yokai had strengthened her senses and her powers so much.

“That’s not it,” a smooth voice she didn’t recognize suddenly whispered in her mind.

“What?” she asked aloud, narrowly dodging a tentacle aimed for her heart.

“It’s not specifically you, my dear. I am helping you.”

All of the sudden Kagome knew who it was speaking in her mind and she froze, “Midoriko?”

“Yes, young one. I have been trapped in this jewel so long, I am ready to be freed. My soul will finally be free when you purify the jewel. Until that can happen I will be helping you as much as I can. It’s been a very long time. I’ve been able to gain no little amount of power while I rested. Why do you think jewel shards give power to those who find them? But, now, I am ready for this life to be over. So you see, my involvement is not entirely without gain for myself.”

“But, the demon you were fighting?”

“Is helping the hanyou, of course. You didn’t think he was capable of such things completely on his own? He is powerful, certainly, but not nearly as powerful as you seem to think. My enemy has concentrated on aiding him. I will concentrate my power on you. Did you think you would be doing this alone?”

“No…I…” She wanted to say that she had her mate and many others by her side, but it didn’t seem as if Midoriko was interested in something so trivial. Kagome found herself wishing that she could see the ancient Miko as well as speak to her. A person could tell so much more when they could see facial expression and she had a feeling that the ancient woman did not really care for her at all, just for her final freedom. She supposed that after having done all Midoriko had done and after being trapped in an eternal battle inside of a jewel for so long, she didn’t really have to care about anything except her freedom.

“Don’t worry so, young miko. Concentrate on the hanyou. I will continue to help you.”

“After he’s gone, will you speak to me again?” She was a little torn as to whether she wanted Midoriko to speak to her again or not.

“I will not. I have spent so much time in here, young one. An eternity. When you purify the jewel, I will leave this plane immediately. Please do not think me harsh.”

“After so long I suppose you have a right to be however harsh or gentle you wish.”

And Midoriko laughed, a twinkling bell sound that had Kagome smiling just a little, “Yes, I…Look out!” The scream cleared all thoughts of Midoriko from her head and she knew two things simultaneously. One was that there was a tentacle headed for her heart and the second was that she would not be able to dodge it. She closed her eyes and waited for the pain.

But it never came. Instead, gentle hands gripped her arms and she heard a soft grunt of pain from a voice she knew all too well. She opened her eyes on a gasp. Her mate stood in front of her, his arms lightly around her upper arms, almost as if he was holding himself in place. She could only stare at him, mouth a little open in shock as he began to sway. He brushed her cheek with one of his clawed hands and she could see his eyes beginning to lose focus.

“I…” He could barely seem to get the words out and she wrapped her own hands around his arms when he coughed and a small amount of blood rolled down his chin, “My…mate…”

“No,” she whispered as his eyes closed and he slipped to his knees. She went with him and helped him to lay down, his back to her chest so that she could support him, “Just hold on, my love. You’ll be fine.”

“Love…” he forced out on a gasp just before his body relaxed in her arms.

“No,” she said it a little louder as she held her unmoving mate in her arms tighter, resting his head just above her mating mark praying beyond all hope that she would feel his breath on her neck, but she felt nothing, “No, no, no, no, no.” It became her mantra as she rocked him gently.

And when she heard Naraku laughing, she screamed.