A Fallen Angel

Kagome and Sango had not stopped whispering to each other since the previous night when a very somber looking Azarruya and Kouga had appeared through the trees. Both women agreed that, though both were acting normal, there was something different. The emotion in their eyes when they looked at each other, Sango could have sworn she saw respect reflection from Kouga to Azarruya. **What in Kami's name happened in the woods last night?**

"Have you noticed that Kouga hasn't flirted with me since Ruya showed up?" Kagome whispered in Sango's ear.

"Yes I have. That is very strange, especially for Kouga. Too bad she doesn't have that affect on Miroku, he's grabbed my butt at least three times just since breakfast." Sango murmured back, watching their newest friend as she walked in the front inbetween Inuyasha and Kouga.

"Don't pull that crap with me Sango, you and I both know you love it when he grabs your butt and that you wish you could grab something eof his in return." Kagome grinned evilly.

Sango's face reddened to the hue of Inuyasha's robes, "I told you to never repeat that"

"Repeat what?" Miroku had snuck up behind the two girls as the group entered a clearing and had his hand firmly planted on Sango's butt, giving it a squeeze every couple of seconds.

Sango reddened further, which only gained her an embarrassing remark from Shippou, "Sango are you alright? You look like a tomat..." *SMACK*

The contact of Sango's palm with Miroku's face echoed through the woods. Before they could blink Azarruya was by Sango's side with her sword drawn, darting her gaze from trees to shadows to rocks. "What was that...an attack...is anyone hurt? It sounded as if someone...." Her sentence faded as she took in Sango's reddened face, Kagome's mischevious grin, and the glaringly bright handprint on Miroku's face.

Inuyasha muttered his usual.."Women...why do I put up with them? grumblegrumble All they do is distract grumblegrumblegrumble not to mention slow us down. HEY WHATS THE HOLD UP? MIROKU!!! I'VE ABOUT HAD IT WITH YOUR LECHEROUS WAYS!"

While Inuyasha was ranting, Azarruya was biting her lip staring resolutely at the ground...but she just couldn't hold in her laughter once Kagome and Sango both started yelling at Inuyasha and Miroku.

It started as a giggle, then grew to a chuckle...she looked up at the two arguing couples and then at Kouga who was standing next to her and looking thoroughly peeved at the hold up. She started laughing loudly then and when Kouga's bewildered expression fell upon her she broke down entirely. Azarruya started laughing so hard that she had to lean on her sword for support while clutching a stitch in her side.

When he first heard the slap, Kouga was interested in knowing what the monk had done to earn this one. Then as he realized that the fighting was going to continue for a while he started getting peeved. Just as he is ready to jump in on the shouting matches, he hears the most beautiful sound coming from Azarruya's lips and it stops him in his tracks. **Is she laughing?** Kouga watched as a smile graced the warrior's face and laughter bubbled up from within her. He was utterly confused at what she was laughing at. Surely she didn't think this annoying display was humorous? He became even more befuddled when their eyes met and she burst out in laughter. She sank to her knees with her sword in the ground and was starting to cry she was laughing so hard. Kouga looked back at the couples and surprisingly found that this display was rather humorous when playing the spectator. More because of her beautiful laughter than the situation, Kouga found himself grinning and then laughing right along with her.

Kagome and Sango finally won out when Kagome "sat" Inuyasha and Sango delivered another sound slap to Miroku's other cheek. The pause in the shouting was all the time needed for the four to notice Azarruya and Kouga doubled over in laughter. Kagome, Sango, and Miroku soon began to chuckle along with them, but Inuyasha was looking put off to say the least.

"I don't see whats so funny...We could have covered a lot more ground by now if that monk had kept his hands off of Sango's butt..." Inuyasha noticed Azarruya stop laughing and lift her sword towards the west "If we didnt have to stop evertyime Miroku gropes Sango then we probably could have found Naraku by now"

"Too late" Azarruya muttered, her eyes still trained on the sky in the west.

"Huh? Too late for what?" Inuyasha asks.

"We don't have to find Naraku...cause he and Chaos just found us. EVERYONE MOVE!!" Azarruya jumps to the other side of the clearing as an energy blast hits the ground where she had been moments before. Inuyasha and Kouga jumped the blast as well, the others however were not as quick and were flung into nearby bushes and trees.

"KAGOME! Are you alright!" Inuyasha jumps to the girl's side and drags her out of the path of another energy ball.

Above their heads stood Naraku. His eyes glowing red and another energy ball sitting in his right hand.

"So you're still alive Azarruya?" Naraku laughs "I thought you would have given up and killed yourself by now."

"You know I couldn't do something as selfish as that. I'm taking you to hell with me Chaos, but before that I will make you pay for what you did to my friends." Azarruya takes a step closer to Naraku's floating form.

The rest of the gang gathers in the clearing ready to fight. Inuyasha holds the transformed Tenseiga...Miroku's hand rests on his prayer beads that release the wind tunnel...Sango has her Hiraikotsu ready to fly...Kagome has one of her arrows knocked and ready to shoot...and Kouga has claws and sword beared, waiting for the chance to use his super speed.

Naraku shoots a glare at the weaklings below him. **I don't know how you infiltrated my body Chaos, but I'm going to use your power to finally kill that annoying hanyou and his newest miko** ...**NO! First we kill Starfire, then you can kill whomever you want**...**She is merely a woman, the demons are who we should kill first**...**You are a fool Naraku, kill the carrier of the light and the others won't know what hit them**...**What do you mean Chaos?**...**Trust me on this my dear Naraku. You're victory will be assured once Sailor Starfire is dead**.

Naraku waves his hand and a band of demons surround the clearing. Inuyasha is the first to strike a demon and the battle is on.

Kagome is shooting arrow after arrow towards any demon that comes close to her. She wishes she could help the others, but there are so many demons that she can barely keep up with the ones coming after her. She reaches her hand back for another arrow, as another demon comes flying towards her. Before she can pull the arrow from her quiver, her arm is yanked back and pinned against a tree by a snake demon. She tries to wriggle free from the snake's grip, but it's too strong. **Shit Inuyasha can't save me this time**. She watches the demon approach her with a determined look in her eyes, but before the demon and touch her it is ripped in two by a blinding silver light. The snake demon's arm disintegrates and Kagome is freed. Expecting Inuyasha to be her savior, she is shocked to look up and see Azarruya holding her hand out to her. Azarruya pulls her away from the tree and slices the snake demon's head off. Then she's gone, back into the dust of battle. Kagome doesn't waste time in knocking another arrow and letting it fly.

Sango and Miroku are back to back and encircled by demons. "Miroku DUCK!" Sango yells as she flings her Hiraikotsu towards the closest demon. The giant boomerang then makes a circle finishing off at least twenty demons before returning to Sango's hand. Miroku does a quick scan of the surrounding demons to see if there are any of Naraku's insects. When he sees none he unleashes his windtunnel, after sucking in around fifty or sixty demons the insects appear, Miroku knows he can't close his windtunnel because the other demons would be on him before he could react. Suddenly Azarruya appears in the side of his vision running towards the insects with incredible speed.

"Azarruya! NO! He'll suck you in too!" Sango yells as she plows down another couple of demons with her katana.

Before Sango can even get her warning fully out, Azarruya is standing infront of Miroku and his windtunnel. Miroku stares at her back in astonishment...demons are flying around her and into his windtunnel, yet the warrior herself doesn't budge.

"Dont you even think about closing that thing Miroku" Azarruya turns her head to yell at him. She winks and points her sword at the oncoming insects. "I'll just get rid of these pests and you'll be set right?"

Miroku, not knowing what else to do, just nods. Azarruya tilts her head in return and faces the oncoming insects. She brings her sword above her head and flies at the flying bugs. Within mere seconds they are all on the ground in pieces. Without a word, Azarruya flies out of the path of the windtunnel and heads back into the thick of the battle.

Inuyasha had been throwing wind scars left and right, but there were still more demons. "Damnit, how can Naraku create this many demons this fast?" He wasn't expecting anyone to answer, so it naturally surprised him when he heard Azarruya's answer.

"Chaos is very powerful, I recognize a lot of these demons as being hers." Azarruya and Inuyasha took up a stance like Miroku and Sango. Back to back they held their swords across their bodies and attacked. Together they sliced through demons and sent blasts of power from their swords. Inuyasha was busy with a particularly nasty tiger demon when another came up from the side. Azarruya saw the sneaking weasel demon though, and flung herself inbetween Inuyasha and the weasel. She cut off the weasel's head, but yelped in pain when she felt demonic claws tear through the skin of her arm.

"Are you ok?" Inuyasha yells through the noise of the fight.

Azarruya grits her teeth and switches her sword to her uninjured arm. "I'm fine. Go help Kagome, I think she's low on arrows"

As Inuyasha runs off towards Kagome, Azarruya slices through another demon trying to attack Inuyasha from behind. The few seconds of distraction is all that Naraku needs and he sends a powerful energy blast towards Azarruya's back.

"Behind you!" Kouga shouts. He had been slaying demons in a steady path to Azarruya, but she never stayed in one spot. It didn't surprise him that Naraku would attack someone from behind. What did surprise him was the surge of anger he felt towards Naraku for trying to kill his Azarruya. **Wtf?? MY Azarruya? Whatever happened to MY Kagome?** Kouga knew that he had never really loved Kagome, he mostly said those things because it pissed off Inuyasha and because he did like Kagome, just not that way. He growled as he set off for Azarruya, but was stopped dead in his tracks by a huge rock demon.

Azarruya heard Kouga's cry and whipped around with her sword ready to chop another demon in two. She wasn't expecting an energy blast though and she tried to erect a shield, but it was too weak and the energy ball blasted through it. Azarruya was thrown backwards into the middle of the clearing. She never fell, but there were deep grooves in the ground where her feet had dug in.

**Thats it! Again! Attack her again and AGAIN! KILL HER!!!** Naraku starts throwing blast after blast at the warrior. She manages to deflect the first two blasts with her sword, but the third causes the sword to fly from her hand.

Azarruya didn't know how it came to this. One minute she was slaying youkai and helping her friends, the next she was being pummeled by energy blasts. Her sword had been blasted out of her hand and now lay useless far out of her reach. She could sense the next blast and crossed her arms infront of her to try and fend off the energy. The energy whipped past her and pushed her farther back. Suddenly there was a pause in the energy blasts. She looked up see Kouga flying at Naraku.

"Kouga NO! Leave him to me!" Azarruya cried out, but it was too late. Naraku didn't even glance at Kouga as he blasted him. Kouga's eyes went wide and he hit the ground with a sickening thud and crack. Azarruya ran to him in a panic **No..dammit No not again...Kouga you bastard why couldn't you just leave him to me?**

Naraku tries to blast Kouga again, but Azarruya jumps inbetween. She wraps her arms around Kouga as the blast hits her full in the back. "Don't you dare die on me you mangy wolf." Azarruya growls into his ear before screaming in agony. The blast is enough to rip away parts of her armor, revealing a thin scar and searing her flesh. It feels as if Naraku is everwhere at once. He hits her from the back and then teleports to her side where he blasts her again and again. Azarruya feels herself weakening with each blast.

"Mwahahaha There's no one to save you now Starfire. No precious princess to give her life for you. No mentor to try and shield you from my influence. No friends to speak of" Naraku laughs again.

"You're wrong there Naraku! Azarruya does have friends and we'll fight by her side till we see you dead!" Inuyasha growls as he wind scars another onslaught of demons. Miroku, Kagome, Sango, and Inuyasha have worked their way to Kouga and Azarruya and now surround them, but are too busy fighting off demons to be able to help with the energy blasts.

Azarruya looks around at these people...her new friends. She then looks down to the wounded wolf prince in her arms...**He will not die because of me...I wont let anymore people die because of me** A single tear slides down her face. As the tear falls a bright light radiates from it. The light surrounds her and then spreads out to engulf Kouga, Inuyasha and the gang. They watch in fascination as demons throw themselves at the light and are disintergrated.

Inside Naraku, Chaos begins to feel panicked. **That light...but it's not possible. No, it cant be the crystal. I destroyed it when I killed that moon princess. But then where is that light coming from?**

Azarruya stood up slowly and faced Naraku. When she spoke it was in a voice as gentle and soft as the wind, yet it was heard over the cries of a thousand demons and caused an involuntary shudder to run through Naraku's body. "I grow tired of your games Chaos". The light begins to pulse again and slowly spreads outwards, eliminating any demon that touches it.

**What is this power? You've betrayed me Chaos!**...**This is why I told you to kill her first. She has great power once she concentrates. Get ready to run**...

Kouga didn't know what had hit him. He felt like his head had been split in two and his arm was definately broken. **Where is that light coming from.** He looks up and sees Azarruya floating high above him. Kagome kneels at his side and he looks around at the entire gang. They are surrounded by some strange light, and it seems to be coming from the woman in the sky.

Azarruya glares at Naraku, her eyes turn silver and her armor begins to change. Naraku fires the biggest energy ball he can muster at her and grins in triumph when it engulfs her. His grin quickly fades when he sees a figure hovering in the middle of the energy blast.

The group of friends on the ground gasp as the energy ball dissipates. Where the warrior Starfire had been, there was now a woman with a flowing silver dress and long brown hair with pearls strewn through it.

"Princess" Kouga whispers before he passes out from the pain and loss of blood.

Azarruya gathers the energy from the blast Naraku had just sent and crosses her arms infront of her again.

**Run NOW!!!** Chaos screams in Naraku.

An instant later Azarruya's arms whip open and the shield of light blows up, dissolving the remaining demons and badly burning Naraku.

The group below her had to shield their eyes, and when the light faded they were alone. They looked up to see where Azarruya had gone and found her floating softly to the ground. Her feet gliding across the earth, she approaches the group. One at a time she places a hand on Inuyasha, Kagome, Miroku, and Sango and they watch as their serious wounds heal before their eyes. Azarruya then kneels beside Kouga and place two hands on his chest. The light drains from her body and into his.

When Kouga opens his eyes he feels no pain. **Am I dead?** When he sees Azarruya's silver-blue eyes staring at him, he figures he has to be dead. She is...in a word breathtaking. Her brown hair flows freely in soft curls around her face and draped on her forhead, a thin silver chain with a star hanging from it serves as a tiara.

"Thank you Prince Kouga, for risking your life to save me" Her voice is soft and tickles his ear.

"You're welcome...Princess" Kouga then sits up and helps Azarruya stand. When she is standing, Azarruya glows brightly again, but this time when the light fades it isnt the warrior or the princess that stands before them, but a woman dressed in a simple blue kimono. She stumbles as she rises, but Kouga catches her and walks her over to a log so she can rest.

The rest of the gang gather around the log and stare at each other.

"I'm sorry I couldn't heal all of your wounds." Azarruya sighs while leaning against Kouga for support.

"That's alright Ruya, but what about your own wounds? Your back must be badly burned from when you took that blast infront of Kouga." Kagome's eyes are wide with concern.

"I'm fine Kagome dear, whenever a sailor scout returns to her princess form her wounds are healed by her home planet. I just hate the fact that Chaos had to find out about the crystal this soon." Azarruya bends over and lets her forehead rest on her palms.

"Crystal? What crystal are you talking about?" Miroku asks from his spot next to Sango.

"The crystal of power. Chaos thinks...or rather she thought that she had destroyed the crystal when she killed Princess Serenity." Azarruya pauses at the painful memory, "She didn't know that, by the laws of an ancient magic, when the crystal's carrier passes away, it moves to the next in line. The next after Serenity would have been Princess Mercury, but since I'm the only one left, it passed to me. When I realized we were losing the battle I had to use the crystal, unfortunately it drained almost all my energy and I had just enough left to help heal you all."

"So does this mean that Naraku is dead?" Sango asks.

"No he is not. I'm afraid Chaos knew what I was about to attempt and advised him to run" Azarruya answers her friend serenely.

"Well too bad the bastard chose now to listen to someone." Inuyasha grumbled.

"Don't worry Inuyasha, Chaos is strong, but only in the absence of love. That is how I know you can help me defeat her. You all care for each other strongly, it was evident in the way you defended each other, even if it meant letting your guard down and risking yourselves. The light of love is the only thing that can defeat her once and for all. Now I suggest we eat supper, it has been a very long day and I'm sure you are all hungry as well as exhausted. Now if you'll all excuse me I really must rest before we set out again tomorrow" Azarruya stands and walks over to a clearing where she lays out her bedroll and tucks in for the night.

The rest of the group sits around the campfire and eat in silence. When they do turn in, it doesn't escape anyone's attention that Kouga chooses a spot very near to the princess.

"Isn't this exciting Inuyasha?" Kagome stares at the sky dreamily "A real princess and she's going to help us defeat Naraku."

"Why do you trust her so much Kagome? I trust her now, but before the battle I wasnt sure what side she was on." Inuyasha asks uncertainly leaning against a tree.

"I dont know, I just felt like I could trust her. I really cant explain it past that." Kagome yawns and leans against Inuyasha. She snuggles into his chest as she falls asleep and Inuyasha smiles down at her as he wraps his arm around her, pulling her body closer to his.

Kouga laid down close to Azarruya, intending to watch her sleep for a bit, but when he turned over to look at her he found her eyes open and staring at him.

"I...uh I uh...I must have rolled over one too many times" Kouga starts, but is stopped when Azarruya places a finger on his lips.

She scoots closer to him and leans against his chest. When she feels his arms encircle her she fights down a surge of panic. **Get a grip this isnt Shinozaki, this is Kouga. He just risked his life for you. Surely one hug wont hurt**

But it wasnt just a hug, the two fell asleep like that and as he was drifting off Kouga heard Azarruya whisper "Please don't hurt me if I let you in"

"I will never hurt you" He whispers back.

That was the last thing they remember before slipping into their dreams.