Hi, minna!!! I'm soooo sorry that it took me so long to update!!! And such a short chapter, too… I do apologize! But I'll get more up soon, I promise!!!

Disclaimer: Mine, all mine!!! Ha ha ha!!!! All mine!!! Whoa, all my stuffed animals are dancing on the bed… and I think that I just saw a dinosaur pass by…

Well, here we go!

My Soul's Desire

"I'll trust you for now, but only for Kagome's sake. What do I have to do?"

The demoness looked at him with wide eyes for a moment, as though she was searching him for something. She then nodded. "Grab Kagome and follow me. I have what we need back at my village. It's not far from here. Try to put pressure on the wound; if nothing else, it should slow the bleeding."

And with that, they took off into the forest.

Inu-yasha was amazed at her speed. She was definitely a hanyou. But she also had that miko energy… She was his only hope right now.

"Bitch! If you betray us, it will be your own death."

The girl winced at his words, and he noticed that she was probably no older than Kagome.

"I won't betray you. It was my fault this happened. If she were to die, I'd never forgive myself."

"I don't think I'll ever forgive you anyways!" Inu-yasha snarled. Kagome's life was fading, even right there.

Thankfully, the village came into sight, and he could see her visibly relax at the sight.

"We're almost there!"

'This is the village that we were coming to… does that mean she's…?'

"Lady Naoko! You're ok!!! Oh, thank kami!" Inu-yasha's thoughts were rudely interrupted by the cries of a young girl, who was in the streets of the village. She seemed to be familiar with… Naoko. "You just changed one day, and you lashed out at everybody! Some people were hurt, and we all ran away! Then you got distracted, and left… what happened???" The little girl was practically in tears.

"Hai, hai, Hitomi, I'm better now! There's no time to explain! Get all my supplies ready - everything! - we have an emergency!"

The girl suddenly hid her emotions and ran to do as she was bid.

"Quickly, this way!"

Naoko led him to a large hut. The little girl, Hitomi, ran in after them with baskets of herbs.

Inu-yasha laid Kagome down on a small bed. Naoko rushed over to her and immediately ripped open her shirt. Despite the emergency, she managed to hit Inu-yasha's face away.

"Just because this is desperate doesn't mean you get to peak. Hitomi, get a blanket over her chest. We need to keep her warm!"

Hitomi did as she was bid and quickly covered her. Naoko had been working nonstop, even while yelling out instructions, throwing in all kinds of herbs and occasionally mumbling a quick spell.

Inu-yasha was quite upset.

"Just who do you think you are?"

Naoko kept working, even as she responded.

"Naoko Sakamoto. I am the priestess of this village, a perfect cross of demon and miko, so don't you dare ridicule anything I do. I already know who you are. I was conscious during all of these events. I've been wanting to meet you, Inu-yasha. You know that we're the only two hanyous alive currently? It's kinda sad, really."

Suddenly she grabbed him and pulled him over to the bed and drew her knife. She quickly cut his palm open, and he cried out in surprise. His instincts told him to snatch his hand away, but she held it with a surprising strength for a female (not being sexist… well, I am, but not in a mean way, k everyone?). She appeared to take no notice, and appeared to be concentrating on something.

"Are you ready? I'm going to put your hand to her wound, and then take mine away. You must repeat every word I say exactly. You mispronounce a single syllable and this will all fail. You will not recognize the tongue, so focus on repeating it, not understanding it. Are you ready?"

"Yes, do it!"

She slowly put his hand down, whispering small spells that would allow the contact of the blood. Then she slowly removed his hand. If the spells failed, she would need to grab it to keep any damage from occurring - to either of the two.

"Ok, here we go… Yaminoturaa… vehedra sumorai… sansunai kusoro… habtaii, habtaii…"

Inu-yasha repeated after her, in an identical whisper. He felt a power growing in his hand, but did his best to ignore it.

"Sumora nalandiai… fomoreei… desecantemos… habataii, taii…"

The power was starting to burn. It was hard for even Inu-yasha to bear. They kept up the steady chant, but Naoko noticed him grimacing with pain. She turned and looked at Hitomi, and made a few quick motions with her hands.

"Say nothing, whatever you do! It will be her death!"

Inu-yasha almost messed up his words at that, but quickly recovered. It was hard to keep from crying out, especially as he felt his power draining.

Then Naoko stopped chanting.

"Say nothing, Inu-yasha, be strong! You just have to hold it for a moment!" she cried as Inu-yasha finished repeating what she had just said.

Suddenly, the room erupted in light, all centered around his hand. He was biting his lip hard to keep from crying out, to the point of drawing blood.

Then the light faded, and the pain went with it, but slowly.

"You may speak now, Inu-yasha." Naoko informed him as she started covering Kagome's wound. "She'll live now. She's a lesser hanyou. Though I wonder why it caused you so much pain… it shouldn't have… Maybe you weren't… but then it wouldn't have worked at all, and it did…" She looked at him quizzically.

Inu-yasha said nothing, but simply sat there panting. The process had taken much of his energy, and his hand hurt like no wound he had ever had. Well, except one… Kikyo's arrow…

There wasn't much to be said, so Inu-yasha leaned back against the wall to sleep some. He was still right next to Kagome, and it was obvious that, even in his sleep, he was alert to anything that would come near her.

"Lady Naoko!" Hitomi whispered, "Why did it hurt him so much? I thought it wasn't supposed to hurt like that. Doesn't he love her?"

"He must, Hitomi - otherwise it wouldn't have worked. But I don't know why it hurt that much. It was like she was… hmmm… I think their relationship has some complications…"

"You mean she doesn't love him?"

"She loves him with all her heart and soul. That much I could sense. You know that I specialize in emotions, don't you? I sense them really well. I thought I felt those vibes when I first saw them, even though I had no control over myself. But in the instant before she went unconscious, this strange look crossed her face. It was sad, and then almost… dutiful. Like there was something she had to do. I wish I knew more of their past, so that I might make sense of this. It was like she gave up… I don't know what it is that would make someone as in love as I thought she was give up that easily… and that worries me…"

The moonlight danced over the pair through a small window. Hitomi didn't know it, but Kagome was the only one in the room who was sleeping. Inu-yasha had heard every word that was said. Hitomi assumed that his head turned in his sleep, but Naoko sensed his emotions, and turned away so she wouldn't see that single tear that she felt roll down his cheek.

Kagome had resisted life.

Dun dun dun!!! Well, there you go, minna! Sorry this took me so long… Been very busy, y'know! I won't take anywhere near as long next time. Now we're almost to the place where the title will make sense. Sorry the chapter was so short, but I gotta get to bed now, tho. G'night, minna!!!!!