InuYasha Fan Fiction ❯ Unforeseen Obstacles ❯ This is where my story ends… So good-bye my friend, good-bye. ( Chapter 26 )

Disclaimer: I don't know Rumiko Takahashi, so I can't say I own any of this. Now the warning: YAOI. That's right, man lovin' man. If you don't like that, you don't have to read another word. If you don't like my pairing, you don't have to read it, but you'll be missing out! I'm constantly reading InuYasha fics with pairings I don't like just because I like the story. But if you don't like my story, please be polite when you tell me. And also, tell me why. Or if you do like it, review and write whatever you want, LOL.

Notes: Finishing the story and tying loose ends.

Genre: Drama, romance…
Rating: R
Codes: Mir/Sess, Inu/Kag
Feedback: Reviews are something that give me a happy little thrill. They're also making my muse purr and chatter.

-;-;-;-;-;-;-;-;-;-;-;-;-;-;-;-;-;-;-;-;-;-;-;-;-;-;-;-;-;-;-;-;- ;-;-;-;-;-;-;-;-;-;-;-;-;-;-;-;-;-;-;-;-;-;-;-;-;-;-;-;-;-;-;-;-

Unforeseen Obstacles…Chapter 26
This is where my story ends… So good-bye my friend, good-bye.

-;-;-;-;-;-;-;-;-;-;-;-;-;-;-;-;-;-;-;-;-;-;-;-;-;-;-;-;-;-;-;-;- ;-;-;-;-;-;-;-;-;-;-;-;-;-;-;-;-;-;-;-;-;-;-;-;-;-;-;-;-;-;-;-;-

Miroku recovered from the exorcism and rejoined the group later in the day. They returned to the village to give them the good news, and then Kagome dropped her news.

“I'm going home.” Even InuYasha couldn't argue that she had been in their time longer than she ever had. She said something about her mother paying for her school and not wasting the money, but no one was arguing. Sango loaned her Kirara and InuYasha and Shippo left with her. Sango and Kohaku stayed with the village in the trees to help them bury their dead and rebuild the buildings damaged by the fire. Miroku left with Sesshomaru's group and enjoyed the time they had to themselves. He came to terms with what he had done after being tortured and built his relationship with Rin. She was more precious to him now than ever before.

The rest of the time was spent looking for clues as to Naraku's hiding place and enjoying having time to just be together. Jaken shot Miroku plenty of disgusted looks, but wisely, said nothing. Almost two weeks passed before Kagome and InuYasha returned and they were no closer to finding Naraku than before. At least, that was what they thought before they stumbled onto a huge sign. They had just killed a demon who was trying to revive some warriors from the past and saw one of Naraku's poisonous insects. Sesshomaru didn't waste time leaving everyone behind to follow it. Surprisingly, he did leave a trail for them. He marked several trees along the way with his claws and InuYasha followed the scent trail without any difficulty.

But when they reached him, he was staring around in confused anger. InuYasha started to run past him, but slammed into an invisible wall. He dropped Kagome on her butt and growled, “What the hell?”

“A holy barrier,” Miroku said, reaching out and touching it. “There is no way Naraku can be past this.”

“This is where the wasp disappeared,” Sesshomaru said, reaching out and touching the unseen barricade. InuYasha pulled out tetsusaiga uncertainly.

“Well, I have to try,” he said at Miroku's skeptical look. Miroku stepped back unhappily. He didn't like the idea of the hanyo destroying someone's holy barrier, especially when they didn't know why it was erected or against what. The blade turned red and InuYasha took up a firm stance and followed it with a strong swing. After the dust settled, Miroku could see it hadn't made a dent. He wasn't surprised, as he had never felt a barrier so strong. He was also relieved, in part, that InuYasha had failed. A demon's fang shouldn't be able to cut through a holy barrier. He stepped past it effortlessly, followed by the other human members of their party. He stopped and turned back to InuYasha, Shippo, Kirara, Jaken, Ah-un and Sesshomaru. He didn't want to face Naraku without the brothers by his side, if the demon had really managed to go this way. A strange look passed over Sesshomaru's features and Miroku frowned.

“Miroku?” Sesshomaru said, frowning. “Where are they?” he asked, turning to his brother.

“Huh? They're right there, stupid. Can't you see them?” InuYasha replied rudely.

“No,” Sesshomaru said, looking very unhappy. “I cannot scent, see or hear them.” Rin immediately jumped back through the barrier and Sesshomaru took a step back in surprise.

“I'm here, my lord!” she said. “Don't worry.” Miroku quickly followed her and saw Sesshomaru relax a little. He realized that it had been fear he had seen on the taiyoukai's face in that moment. He stepped carefully to the side, letting his arm brush against Sesshomaru's side so that the youkai could tell he was real without any embarrassing displays of affection.

“I don't get it, I could see them,” Shippo said. Jaken was frowning.

“I could not,” Jaken admitted.

“Why could Shippo?” Kagome asked, stepping past the barrier.

“Maybe because he's a little kid?” InuYasha answered. He had sensed his brother's hackles rise when Miroku passed the barrier. He had scented the fear when Rin also disappeared. It was obvious why he could see past the barrier—his human half. He imagined what his brother must have seen; imagined Kagome disappearing completely right in front of him and he grabbed her impulsively.

“InuYasha?” Kagome asked, blushing as she was pulled against his chest.

“I just imagined,” he whispered for her ears only, “what Sesshomaru just experienced. I didn't like the thought of you disappearing.” He saw Sesshomaru's eyes flash to Miroku when he said that and knew his brother had heard him, but he was glad. He was starting to care about Sesshomaru's feelings as much as any of his friends and he didn't like him being upset. He had made certain that Sesshomaru had heard him.

“We should try to find a way around this barrier,” Miroku said.

“I agree,” Sango said, surprising Miroku. “I don't like going in there with our numbers reduced. Who knows what Naraku's done to himself to be able to pass through unharmed.”

“He has begun to transform into a full youkai,” Kohaku said, speaking up for the first time.

“You've seen him, Kohaku?” Sango asked. Kohaku shook his head.

“No. Only Kanna and Kagura have seen him. But Kagura told me what she suspected,” Kohaku said. “Before she died.”

“Kagura's dead?” Kagome asked, surprised.

“Naraku killed her,” Kohaku said. “For plotting against him.” A silence fell over the clearing for a moment for the loss of an unknown ally. Sesshomaru walked away while everyone else was absorbing that Kagura had died without their knowledge that she was on the same quest as they. Kohaku, who also knew, walked behind Sesshomaru, with Jaken, who didn't care, Ah-un and Rin, who didn't really understand, followed. Miroku fell into step with them, somewhat numb. He wondered how long Kagura had been secretly scheming against Naraku and if it had ever benefited them without their knowledge.

It became apparent very quickly that there was no `going around' the barrier and they were going to have to find a way for the youkai in the group to cross. It was InuYasha who grew frustrated first. “This is pointless,” he growled. “He's in there, we can't get to him and we're just going to walk in a huge circle.

“Then it would seem we should explore inside the barrier and see how far in Naraku is hiding,” Miroku said. Sesshomaru stiffened and glared into the distance.

“It could be a trap,” Kagome pointed out. “He may be trying to separate us.”

“Well then, it's going to work,” Sango said. “Kohaku and I are going to go through. If anything happens to one of us, the other will come back.”

“And what? Let us know that one of you is trapped in there? I don't think so,” InuYasha growled.

“If this is a trap, it's a damn good one. We can't go forward, we can't go back. Where do we go?” Miroku yelled in frustration.

“Can you not sense the source of the barrier?” Sesshomaru asked Miroku. Miroku closed his eyes and `felt' the area as far as he could. “No. It's not being created by a seal or even a group of them. It's more like the entire mountain's been blessed.”

“Who could do that?” Kagome asked.

“The only person I could think of would be a living Buddha,” Miroku responded.

“Do you know any?” Kagome asked, sitting down.

“Me?" Miorku laughed harshly. "No.” Miroku sat down as well and exhaled noisily.

“We may as well have lunch,” Kagome said. Maybe he'll come out to see who's on his doorstep,” Kagome said, pulling food out of her bag. Miroku stared off into the distance, trying to ignore a throbbing in his right palm. He hadn't told anyone that his kazaana was giving him trouble He knew he was running out of time. They had to find Naraku and kill him… soon.

…

InuYasha began working on strengthening the Testsusaiga again. He was intent on breaking through the barrier. Miroku wasn't the only one feeling as though time were running out. Finally, after a few more months of battling, InuYasha entered a battle that nearly cost him his life, but achieved his goal. They reunited back on Mount Hakurei (Miroku had left with Sesshomaru, Rin, Jaken and Ah-un; Sango and Kohaku had left to deal with the issues being so near to Naraku had caused within the boy and InuYasha, Shippo and Kagome had gone searching for jewel shards and the next technique of tetsusaiga) and InuYasha broke the barrier.

In the months they had been apart, Miroku and Rin's hair had grown back for the most part and their wounds had become scars. Shippo had healed much sooner and no longer ran and hid during battle as had become his custom before. Miroku and Sesshomaru had worked out the difficulties they experienced with battling together and being distracted from concern for the other's safety. While Miroku didn't tell Sesshomaru that he believed he would soon die from his curse, the youkai had sensed something was wrong and slept with Miroku every night, no matter where the human bedded down. Any time he had him alone, they made love as though it were the last time.

Sesshomaru believed that his concern was over Miroku surviving the showdown with Naraku and started training with the monk every day, forcing Miroku to better his skills. Miroku was never able to win a mock battle with Sesshomaru, but he didn't give up and he was soon startled by how quickly he could defeat any other opponent. Having Sesshomaru as a sparring partner improved his skills immensely. Sesshomaru also practiced with InuYasha and the brothers found that fighting each other without the intent to kill quickly became their favorite part of the day. They were finally a true family.

They found Naraku within days and put off the battle for one last night. While most of the group used that time to rest and regain their strength, the two couples used it to spend what could be their last night together. InuYasha and Kagome sat together in a tree, InuYasha's arms wrapped around Kagome tightly, expressing their love without words. Sesshomaru and Miroku left everyone behind to spend the night memorizing each other's bodies inside and out with hands, mouths, and as much skin on skin as they could manage. It felt as if they were trying to find a way to share skin and merge into each other's body completely. They returned to camp afterwards and lay in a lover's embrace, enjoying the peace and quiet of the night and the scent and feel of one another.

The next day, they entered the ultimate battle. It was long and bloody. Miroku's improved skills at hand to hand combat saved his life on more than one occasion. It seemed impossible that Naraku could hold them all off, but somehow he did. Koga showed up in the middle of the battle and soon after, Naraku fell to the combined blows of tetsusaiga and toukijin. Defeated, he fled yet again. But InuYasha and Kagome's first goal was accomplished. He left behind the shikkon no tama. Kagome merged it with the shards she had collected and it was whole, save two pieces. They turned to Koga and Kagome asked him for the shards in his legs. He refused, stating he wouldn't give them while Naraku lived and battled InuYasha for the rest of the jewel.

Sesshomaru lost interest and left, returning to the hunt for Naraku. The rest of the group joined him after Koga fled, one shard lighter. It took them next to no time, compared to before, to find Naraku. He was obviously unprepared, as he was caught in the middle of creating an incarnation. He never finished it. Kohaku showed fierceness he never had before and delivered the killing blow. Miroku, not taking any chances, absorbed Naraku and his last remaining incarnation, Kanna into his wind tunnel, which promptly closed behind Naraku's form, signaling their true victory.

Miroku couldn't believe it. Naraku was dead and gone. He opened his right palm, which had been convulsing the last few days so badly that he had known he wouldn't see the end of the curse only a few hours before. Now it was over. The sutra beads fell to the ground with the cloth that had bound his hand for most his life. He looked over at Sango with a mixture of joy and sadness. This was supposed to be the moment he asked her to be his wife. That seemed a lifetime ago now. And when he turned to Sesshomaru, he felt nothing but elation and triumph. This was the one he was supposed to be with. He would happily follow Sesshomaru until the end of his days and he couldn't imagine it any other way. Rin emerged from her hiding place, ran to Miroku and threw her arms around him in celebration.

“You did it, Miro-kun!” she yelled. He lifted and spun her, their laughter mingling in the evening air. He had never felt happier in his life.

“Now life can return to normal,” Sesshomaru said, looking off into the sunset. Miroku smiled and stepped over to him, leaning against him. Sesshomaru leaned against his lover, relaxing, and touched his back with his hand, showing how pleased he was with the events of the day.

“So what exactly is normal?” Miroku asked, curious. “Beating up on your little brother?”

“No. Ignoring him is closer to normal. But I think that will change now.” Sesshomaru and InuYasha's eyes met and the hanyo nodded to his brother, smiling. Miroku smiled at the exchange.

“What of you, Lady Kagome?” Miroku asked.

“Huh? Well, I guess I have to guard the jewel now,” Kagome said, fingering the tama. InuYasha had peeled the last shard out of Koga's leg almost a month before. Koga was glaring from across the field at the jewel.

“Are you sure you won't join our tribe, Kagome?” Koga called.

“I'm sure!” Kagome called back, waving at Koga. He glowered, then turned and ran away, not looking back.

“Will you be returning to your own time?” Sango asked.

“Yes,” Kagome answered. InuYasha let go of her hand and stared at her, a look of betrayal crossing his features. “But we'll be back to visit,” Kagome said, snatching his hand back into hers.

“We? Who said I was…”

“I did,” Kagome said, spinning to glare at him. InuYasha's ears flattened in fear. “I have school, you know! I have to graduate and get a job and then I can worry about starting a family and…” InuYasha didn't give Kagome a chance to say another word. He cut her off with a kiss, which caused her to blush furiously and go quiet. Miroku smirked. He had seen the hanyo do that before. It was his non-violent version of `sit' and it worked just as often.

“What about me?” Shippo asked. “I'm still just a kid!”

 

“You can stay with us,” Sango answered, smiling down at him.

 

“Oh, that reminds me,” Miroku said, fishing out the snakeskin the fox had given him as he lay dying. “This is yours, Shippo,” Miroku said, offering it to him. Shippo looked at it, and then shook his head.

 

“No, I gave that to you. Keep it for good luck. And don't forget to come visit me!” Shippo smiled up at Miroku as the monk placed the gift back in his robe. He looked around at his friends, realizing that this was the last time they would be together like this. Now they would move on separately and find new adventures, new dreams to chase… new lives.

“Then I guess this is good-bye,” Miroku said. Everyone turned to stand in a circle. Kagome and Sango, then Kagome and Shippo, then Rin and Shippo and finally Kagome and Rin exchanged brief hugs and everyone else bowed to each other. Then they turned and walked their separate ways, to their new lives, free of Naraku's curse; free to finally live and hoping to avoid any unforeseen obstacles in the future.

The end.

And they lived happily ever after. That's it, there isn't any more. Well, it's been fun, but it was time to end it. I don't know if I'll write a sequel, but I doubt it. Maybe an epilogue. One way or another, it's done, it's over. Stabbing Westward owns all chapter titles and as they taught me, all good things must come to an end. I can't believe it's over…

Thank you to everyone who's shared this journey with me and to all those who will in the future. My readers are the reason for me to write and my stories are here to hopefully add some entertainment to your days.