Sesshomaru sped through the hole that was created as a result of the destruction his Bakusaiga continued to wreck inside Naraku's body and their group flew out at last into the central cavern where Naraku had been hiding the entire time.

Yuki just sensed Byakuya being sucked into Inuyasha's meido as they arrived and she was grimly satisfied to know the incarnation was finally gone although she regretted she hadn't been the one to kill him. But that feeling was greatly overshadowed by the grim relief she felt as she saw the group already gathered in the gigantic cavern-like space.

"Sesshomaru! Yuki!" Inuyasha shouted in relief when he saw their arrival from where he and Kagome were perched on Shippo.

Yuki couldn't say she was exactly surprised to see the fox-demon currently morphed into a large pink bubble; if Kohaku and Jaken had snuck their way in, she hadn't doubted Shippo would have as well. She then looked up sharply as Miroku opened his Wind Tunnel, sucking in the balls of miasma that Naraku had been attempting to use against Inuyasha and his friends.

"Miroku?!" Both she and Inuyasha cried in alarm, knowing his time was near.

But Miroku shouted back determinedly, "I'm fine! The curse is fading!"

Yuki looked up as the cavern began to tear apart on itself and Jaken said with immense satisfaction and glee, "The destruction caused by Bakusaiga is spreading! Lord Sesshomaru will be the one to defeat Naraku!"

Yuki sweatdropped a little; she had no doubt even Sesshomaru knew it would be Inuyasha and Kagome who would ultimately defeat Naraku. While Sesshomaru and Yuki were strong and Bakusaiga would likely easily defeat Naraku's physical body, it was only the combined power of the Meido Zangetsuha and Kagome's purification powers that could match the Shikon Jewel.

'I wonder if the Inu no Taisho ever thought this was how his sons would use what he taught them, what he intended for them.' Yuki thought grimly as she and Sesshomaru flew closer to Inuyasha's group. 'Saving the world alongside mortals… and another half-demon.'

Inuyasha glanced at her as the thought passed through her mind and he frowned.

"What-?" He began as he thought he smelt something different about her; something almost icy in her blood that had never been there before.

But he pushed it aside for now as Naraku - despite his body being severed into various pieces from Inuyasha's earlier attacks - scoffed.

"So you've assembled. Your worthless so-called friends."

Yuki scowled while Inuyasha sneered back at his old enemy, "Yeah. And we're not missing a single person! It's over, Naraku!"

Naraku scowled as Inuyasha's gold eyes flashed before he unleashed his ultimate attack.

"Meido Zangetsuha!"

Yuki was surprised to see that the meido took the shape of Tetsusaiga, whipping out in multiple curved blade shapes not unlike Yuki's own Winter Blaze attacks.

'His meido… he has transformed the Meido Zangetsuha into his own.' She realized even as she leapt off Sesshomaru and spun into the air to release her own attack at Naraku.

'The circle like a full moon was Sesshomaru's attack, borne as a result of being wielded by the Tenseiga - a sword that cannot cut or kill living things. But the Tetsusaiga Inuyasha wields… it is a sword meant to kill a hundred foes in one strike. Inuyasha…' Yuki closed her eyes briefly before snapping them open. 'Well done, my brother.'

"Winter Blaze!"

Yuki's blue streaks flew out, striking Naraku's flesh and causing even more of his body to collapse at the same time that Inuyasha's meido sliced right through the demon's gigantic, web-like body.

"Hiraikotsu!"

Sango's boomerang spun around, digging open the holes Yuki had punctured into Naraku's body.

"Bakusaiga!"

Sesshomaru's attack whipped past Yuki as it pierced the entire middle section of Naraku's body and went crashing through the other side, the green energy crackling like electricity as it simultaneously sliced apart Naraku's flesh and caused it to disintegrate. Yuki spun down toward him after unleashing her attack, and Sesshomaru caught her as Miroku opened his wind tunnel to suck in all the pieces that threatened to fall on the group.

"Wind Tunnel!"

Bright light started to stream in on the group, the daylight from outside coming in through the holes in Naraku's flesh that he could no longer fix thanks to Sesshomaru's attack.

Naraku sneered as he broke away at his own body, allowing large pieces to drop and Jaken wondered aloud from where he and the children had flown up to be behind Sesshomaru and Yuki once more, "Does he intend to escape the destruction brought on by Bakusaiga?"

"Hmph. A futile effort." Sesshomaru scoffed as he held Yuki close when A smoking piece of Naraku's body fell not too far from where they were.

"But the Shikon Jewel is still intact." Yuki pointed out tersely, staring at where the Jewel floated before Naraku's head, completely unscathed and (from her perspective) completely black with darkness.

"There's a spark of light in the Jewel." Kagome suddenly broke in, clutching Inuyasha's arm. The group tensed at Kagome's words and Naraku scoffed.

"What a simple group." Naraku suddenly taunted, lifted his chin so he was gazing imperiously down at them. "Assembling your friends brought light back to the Shikon Jewel. Is that what you hoped?"

Yuki scowled while Naraku continued, "But never forget, the Shikon Jewel and I are now one!"

His head and upper body - the only parts of him that had remained from Inuyasha's brutal attack - suddenly shifted, turning almost wooden as though his flesh was now tree bark.

"The darkness is pushing out the light!" Kagome cried.

"Bastard." Inuyasha scowled. "He finally fed his soul to the Jewel."

Black whirls of miasma started to appear around Naraku's floating body and Yuki called out sharply, "Look out!" just as the balls of miasma came streaking toward their group.

"Meido Zangetsuha!" Inuyasha yelled, and his meido streaked out to slice and absorb the miasma although it did nothing against Naraku.

"They're coming from below too!" Rin cried as she spotted the miasma appearing from the ground at the same time that the demons in the group smelt the stench.

"Rin! Kohaku!" Yuki called sharply, leaping over to land on A-Un's back just in case while Sesshomaru scowled irately.

He whipped around, unleashing his Bakusaiga as he sped through the miasma, cutting down every single one with his sword as they attempted to spin past and toward A-Un.

"Winter Blaze!" Yuki's attack joined Sesshomaru's, the light blue clashing and merging with the green as she protected the children, her brows furrowed anxiously.

'The miasma from his flesh is stronger than it was before.' She thought worriedly. 'The humans won't stand a chance if this comes close to them.'

"Jaken."

"Hm?"

Jaken glanced at Yuki before his jaw dropped as she ordered, "Take Rin and Kohaku with A-Un, and get out of here."

"Huh?!" Despite having wanted to do exactly that from almost the instant he had entered Naraku's body, Jaken bristled at being ordered about by anyone other than Sesshomaru. "Now, see here, Yuki-!"

"Jaken!"

Jaken squealed at Sesshomaru's sharp shout and he answered quickly, "At once, my lord!"

"But-!" Kohaku began to protest as Yuki leapt off A-Un and sped down toward Sesshomaru.

"But nothing!" Jaken snapped as he took up A-Un's reins. "You two are only in the way of the battle!"

Rin turned back anxiously as Jaken took them off, her eyes following Yuki as she released more of her attacks at Naraku and simultaneously used the momentum to push toward Sesshomaru. The dog demon caught her easily before he spun them around to dispel another ball of miasma. They both tensed slightly when they heard Rin cry out, "Oh no!"

But Sango was already there to protect her brother, her Hiraikotsu slicing through the miasma that had appeared in A-Un's path.

"Kohaku! Hurry and leave!" Sango ordered as she and Miroku flew up to the children.

"Miss Sango."

Yuki glanced up as Rin called out to the demon slayer and she watched the child undo her mask and hand it back to it's owner.

"Thank you for the protective mask." Rin said sincerely to a somewhat stunned Sango while Kohaku handed off his mask to Miroku.

Yuki whipped her head back to the front and she unleashed her Artic Storm attack at the same time Sesshomaru used his Bakusaiga. The energy clashed but instead of absorbing into each other, they melded and Yuki watched the mixed attack cut right through the miasma that had come at her and Sesshomaru and carry on to explode out the side of Naraku's body.

"Well, that's new." She muttered at the same time that she sensed A-Un escape Naraku's body successfully.

"Hm." Sesshomaru appeared less surprised by the easy way their attacks had combined and Yuki glanced up at him.

'Maybe…?' She wondered, glancing up at Sesshomaru. Was it possible that it was because he had…?

A cry above her caused Yuki to glance up to see Kagome fail yet again to draw an arrow to strike Naraku when a ball of miasma whipped past her and Shippo, causing the young demon to fly off quickly and Kagome to lose her balance and aimd. The demon seemed intent on making sure Kagome was unable to fire, which proved he was indeed most afraid of Kagome's purifying powers.

"We have to help Kagome." Yuki turned to Sesshomaru as he cut through another ball of miasma that came at them. "She's the only one that can bring Naraku down-"

Yuki cut off in alarm as Naraku fired off multiple shots at Kagome.

"Kagome!" Yuki yelled. "Winter Blaze!"

"Bakusaiga!"

"Meido Zangetsuha!"

The three attacks smashed into each other as they flew at the miasma, Yuki's and Sesshomaru's combining before they crashed into Inuyasha's meido at the same time they reached the miasma. Yuki's eyes widened as she saw the three attacks combine, pushing through the miasma and then on to where they hit Naraku full-on.

"What?" Inuyasha gasped, surprised as well at how his meido had known not to suck in the other two's attacks. He was used to matching with Yuki, their hundred of years together giving them experience even when Inuyasha wielded steadily different and more powerful attacks. But this…

"The Meido Zangetsuha must have recognized the attacks of it's previous owner." Miroku murmured as he and Sango flew up to Kagome protectively, coming up not far behind Inuyasha. "And so it chose to merge with Sesshomaru's Bakusaiga rather than draw it in."

"And it didn't matter that Yuki's attack was mixed in?" Sango wondered and Miroku shrugged.

"I guess not."

Inuyasha however had a feeling he knew - as much as it disturbed him to think about it. He glanced back at Yuki and Sesshomaru, his gold eyes boring into the couple. Sesshomaru ignored his little brother but Yuki looked down at him when she felt his gaze. Her blue eyes were unguarded, letting him see the truth that Inuyasha had picked up on earlier the moment he'd scented her.

Wrinkling his nose, Inuyasha turned back to Naraku; this was something they could discuss later. Maybe. He wouldn't exactly mind if Yuki didn't - he didn't exactly want to hear it verbalized that his little sister was going completely steady with his big brother. He felt ill just at the thought.

Inuyasha scowled as Naraku - half recovered from the combined attack - unleashed another burst of attacks, but they were less this time. Apparently enough that Sesshomaru and Yuki didn't feel the need to join in as Inuyasha unleashed again, "Meido Zangetsuha!"

The meido cut through all the miasma and sliced Naraku's body into pieces again; only for Naraku to slowly recover once more with help from the Shikon Jewel although his outer body continued to rip off and fall down as a result of their attacks.

"It's useless, Naraku!" Inuyasha yelled, focusing on finishing the fight before him. "The more you resist, the more your body falls apart."

Naraku just laughed before he answered scathingly, "Enough of my body remains to wipe out a single village!"

Yuki frowned; what did that mean. And then her nose picked up what it had failed to do before thanks to Naraku's thick miasma - they were already almost on top of Kaede's village.

"That-!"

Yuki swore viciously under her breath, her words drowned out by Inuyasha's as he - realizing the same thing Yuki and Sesshomaru did - yelled furiously, "Naraku, you bastard!"

Sango, Miroku, Kagome and Shippo had realized what was going on as well and they all growled as Naraku laughed back in their face.

"It's too late." He taunted. "Once you kill me, my miasma-laden corpse will descend on the village!"

Inuyasha hesitated; Sesshomaru didn't.

"And what of it?" Sesshomaru snarled as he slashed his sword. "Bakusaiga!"

"Wait-!" Yuki cried but it was too late. The attack smashed through Naraku's weakened defenses, cutting him in half while the rest of the energy completely blew apart Naraku's larger body.

"It's falling apart!" Sango cried while Yuki yelled at Kagome, "Kagome! Hit the Jewell, you have to purify it before Naraku's body can hit the village!"

Kagome nodded, notching her bow at the same time that she requested, "Shippo! Can you get us outside?"

"Y-Yeah!" The child answered.

"Then go as soon as I've shot!"

Kagome took aim while Sango and Miroku fled Naraku's body, heading quickly for the village where Miroku's wind tunnel sucked in pieces of Naraku's body before they could hit the villagers who hadn't escaped in time. Yuki saw Kagome let loose her arrow just before Sesshomaru took off as well, taking them out of Naraku's body and flying out into the fresh air.

"AH!"

Yuki launched out of Sesshomaru's arms and spun down to the Earth where she grabbed the villager and took them off just before a large chunk of Naraku's body crashed where the villager had been. The man gasped in fear but Yuki ignored him as she grabbed another villager in her other arm to save the woman from the same fate before launching quickly out of range.

"Get to the hills at the back!" She ordered and the two villagers nodded frantically before they ran off with cries of thanks.

Yuki glanced over as Sesshomaru landed beside her, his eyes fixed on Naraku's body.

"I hate you." She muttered and his eyes slid to her briefly before looking back at Naraku.

"He would have destroyed them all regardless. Better to end it quickly."

"I know that but I hate that you're right." She muttered grumpily, just as A-Un landed behind them and Jaken and the children ran over.

"Yuki!"

"Rin."

Yuki embraced the child as Rin ran into her arms. Kohaku stopped beside them and Yuki patted his head warmly, before she turned around to stare up at Naraku's body.

She hadn't seen where Kagome's arrow went, but she saw Inuyasha, Kagome and Shippo landing further down in the village, also watching Naraku. Waiting. They had to believe Kagome's arrow could do it; that it had done it.

'Come on… Let this be it… Let this finally be the end...'

Yuki's eyes widened as Naraku's body suddenly glowed bright white which turned to a light shade of pink. The colour of purification.

'She did it.'

As if to prove Yuki's thoughts, the miasma that had already landed in the village also began to disappear, purified in the light of Kagome's powers.

"Lady Kagome's arrow defeated Naraku." Kohaku murmured.

"So it's over?" Rin wondered, when suddenly the glowing main body went crashing down right where Kagome and Inuyasha were.

"Inuyasha!" Yuki yelled, putting Rin down quickly and leaping after her brother.

Sesshomaru caught her and pulled her into his arms as he took them quickly toward where Inuyasha had grabbed Kagome and was racing away from the body that had smashed into the ground where they had been seconds before. Shippo had barely gotten out of the way as well and he watched in horror as the body continued to follow Inuyasha and Kagome, while Yuki frowned when she saw the direction they were headed.

"They're headed for the Bone-Eater's Well." She realized.

'Why is Naraku trying to go there? The place where dead demon bones are said to appear. The place where Kagome came from. Naraku… what are you planning?'

Sesshomaru and Yuki arrived just as Naraku stopped chasing Inuyasha and Kagome, stopping right above the well. The light disappeared from around his body, revealing Naraku's head - the only piece of his body that remained - floating right beside the Shikon Jewel… once again pale pink and pierced by Kagome's arrow.

Sango and Miroku arrived as well, at the same time that Jaken and the kids arrived on A-Un. Naraku's lips curved into a sneer as he saw them all assembled before his eyes fell on Kagome.

"In that moment, I made a wish upon the Shikon Jewel."

"That moment?" Kagome wondered and Naraku elaborated.

"The moment Byakuya of the Dreams cut through you."

'Kagome was cut? But she's fine.' Yuki thought in confusion as Naraku murmured, "That wish… will be granted when I die. The wish that the Shikon Jewel forced me to make... for itself."

And with that, Naraku finally died, disappearing into the well along with the Jewel. The group tensed, waiting for something to happen, unable to rejoice Naraku's defeat at long last as his words continued to weigh down on them.

"Is that… it?" Jaken asked tentatively after nothing happened for a full minute.

Miroku suddenly gasped and undid the bindings on his right hand… which was now completely normal. Miroku's eyes widened while Sango gasped with joy but Yuki frowned. She didn't doubt Naraku to be spiteful even in death but with the Shikon Jewel she doubted his dying threat had been empty.

As if to prove her point, a meido suddenly opened up… right behind Kagome.

"Kagome?!" Inuyasha and Kagome both shouted as Kagome was sucked in with a scream.

"Inuyasha!"

Inuyasha reached for the girl as she reached for him, but she was already gone and the meido disappeared before Inuyasha could follow Kagome.

"Inuyasha!" Yuki ran up to her brother while Sesshomaru's eyes narrowed. Yuki helped Inuyasha up off the ground, both staring where Kagome had disappeared. "That's impossible… the meido is an attack only you are now capable of wielding."

"Was Kagome cut by Byakuya?" Shippo suddenly asked as he hurried over as well.

"Y-Yeah." Inuyasha answered, although he sounded mostly shell-shocked.

"I saw him - Byakuya of the Dreams. He was stealing demonic energy from the remains of the Meido Zangetsuha after you released an attack."

"What?!" Yuki gasped, her eyes flying to Inuyasha as he stiffened in similar shock.

"The well!"

The group turned as Kaede arrived, her one good eye staring into the centre of the group. "What happened to the Bone-Eater's well?"

They all looked over to see that the well had completely vanished - only even ground remained where it had once been.

"The well… it's gone." Inuyasha whispered numbly.

"Naraku said the Jewel forced him to make his wish right when Byakuya cut Kagome." Yuki muttered, looking back at her brother worriedly. "The Jewel… it feared Kagome the most."

Inuyasha's jaw clenched and he whipped out his Tetsusaiga.

"Inuyasha?!" His friends cried while Yuki's face fell even as she backed away from him just as Tetsusaiga's blade turned black.

"Meido Zangetsuga!" Inuyasha yelled, releasing one single blade-shaped meido.

"Yasha!"

Inuyasha glanced over at his sister even as he fell into the meido. Yuki's face was grim and her blue eyes shone fiercely even though she was fighting back tears.

"Bring her back safe."

Inuyasha nodded before he turned back to the meido as it disappeared behind him.

*A/N Song of the day: Toki wo Kizamu Uta from Clannad After Story. The link is as follows: /b969PCKBQAM