CHAPTER 1

Alpha and Omega

No scream came from her mouth when she saw the tentacle flying towards Inuyasha's chest. All she could do was watch the horror film being made and could do nothing to stop it from happening. The only sound Kagome could hear was Naraku's tentacle slicing through flesh and bone, straight through the half-demon's heart. There was no yelling from Inuyasha, no cocky comment about how that should have at least hurt. Nothing.

Tessaiga clattered on the ground and returned to its slumbering state. Inuyasha's body went limp and Naraku said something but Kagome couldn't hear. How she came to be on her knees, she did not know. Naraku threw the dead body of her best friend to her. Kagome felt for a pulse. Nothing. She put her ear above his mouth to hear if he was breathing. Nothing.

"I...Inuyasha." Kagome shook him. "Inuyasha, come on this isn't funny."

"He is dead, woman." Kagome heard Naraku's voice but ignored it.

"Come on, Inuyasha. Are you going to let Sesshomaru have all the fun?" she goaded but Inuyasha lay still. Kagome didn't notice Sesshomaru until he stood on the other side of his half-brother's body. "Sesshomaru, why won't he wake up?"

Sesshomaru's thoughts and emotions never showed on his face but his grip on tenseiga gave it all away. Sesshomaru was angry and there was nothing he could do to bring his brother back. The sword simply would not allow it. "He is dead, miko. You cannot depend on him anymore."

"No he's not. He's sleeping."

"Kagome! Watch out!" But there was no way Kagome could move. She was frozen in place. As she closed her eyes, waiting for her fate, Kagome realized that Inuyasha would not be coming to save her. Miroku was out cold, Shippo had moved him off the battle field and was protecting him under his fox fire barrier. Sango had been slightly injured but she still fought atop Kirara's back. Sesshomaru also fought against Naraku and he only bore a few scratches but the battle had gone on long enough. Kagome could see the fight wearing on him.

Inuyasha. She would protect him from Naraku. It was her turn to protect. No one else would die today.

sssssssssssssssssssss

Sesshomaru was furious that the disgusting hanyou dared to kill his brother. Inuyasha was to die by Sesshomaru's hand and his hand only. Tentacles flew at him from every direction but he cut them down as fast as they came.

"My my, Sesshomaru. We are in quite a mood today aren't we."

"You will die."

"Now you're repeating yourself. I believe you tell me that every time we meet and yet you still haven't beaten me once. It was that pathetic brother of yours that beat me and his little rag tag group. It's unfortunate that he's dead now-"

"SOURYUUHA!" Sesshomaru swung the deadly Tokijin through the air and stabbed it into the ground not 10 feet from the half-breed. With a glance to the side, Sesshomaru saw the miko still leaning over his brother, as still as death itself. She wasn't going to avoid his attack. It was her decision to die and she would. Naraku put up a barrier around himself and the attack slid right over him.

"Is that all you've got, Sesshomaru? I'm afraid you'll have to do better than that if you wish to defeat me." Naraku laughed and turned his attention to the unmoving miko. "Miko, I can bring him back to life if that is your wish. Give me your half of the jewel and I will give you your heart's desire." Naraku got irritated when Kagome didn't answer him. Her face was covered by a curtain of hair, her fists still clenched to the fire rat robe.

"Do not turn away from me, Naraku."

Naraku smiled and looked back at the demon lord. "I'm sorry, Sesshomaru but you've had your turn. Look, the miko is sad. I am merely going to comfort her."

"I am your opponent!" But Sesshomaru couldn't cut through the barrier that Naraku's half of the jewel powered. He watched as the hanyou continued towards the motionless miko.

"Miko," Naraku extended a few tentacles towards her and was surprised he was able to touch her. She did nothing. He wrapped a few more around her back and kept one for rubbing her shoulders. "You are sad that he died. Why did Sesshomaru not bring him back with Tenseiga?" When the miko said nothing, Naraku continued his little speech. "Sesshomaru wanted his brother dead, he was never able to get Tessaiga while the hanyou was alive. What a perfect opportunity, don't you think so, Kagome?"

Sesshomaru watched as Naraku made a move towards picking his brother up.

"Must...protect..." It was a mere whisper on the wind, but he heard it. It seemed Naraku did not hear the miko's words. He wrapped tentacles around Inuyasha's corpse to absorb it as his own. Kagome's hand wrapped around tessaiga's hilt, the sword that lay next to its deceased master. Slowly, the miko stood with the sword in hand. The winds picked up around her, swirling her hair about. Sesshomaru felt the power of the earth pulling towards this small woman and jumped backwards to stand behind her and out of the way of what was going to happen.

"Let. Him. Go."

Naraku clucked his tongue. "I'm sorry my dear, but he is a spoil of war and I have won." Naraku laughed as he wrapped more tentacles around her and Inuyasha and dragged the hanyou's body towards himself.

Kagome lifted the old rusted sword and plunged it into the ground.

"My dear, that is no way to treat the great tessaiga."

Pulse.

Sesshomaru narrowed his eyes and jumped further back to the line of trees.

Pulse.

Every demon on the battlefield froze as they felt a great power grow in the midst of them. All eyes turned towards Naraku and the miko.

Pulse.

Naraku's eyes widened. This power. Where did it come from?

Pulse.

The Miko?

Kagome's head lifted as her body was slowly surrounded in a bright blue light. "He is mine to protect." Her glowing eyes bore into Naraku's. A circle on her forhead pulsed with power. The tessaiga transformed and the last thing Naraku heard was "WIND SCAR!"

The earth tore apart as the power from the miko traveled through the sword and out to claim its victim. Screams pierced the air as the demons of Naraku disintegrated from the miko power that poured over the battlefield. Tendrils of light shot out from the miko's body and made their way across the field, searching for familiar souls. Sesshomaru jumped to avoid them but two caught him and ran themselves over his flesh. All his injuries were gone, his pain-non existent. He looked across the field and saw the same tendrils tending to the taijiya and the fire cat. The monk was sitting up now and the kit was in his lap as they watched the light show.

Kagome walked to the crater that was Naraku and picked up the black half of the jewel. It purified the moment she touched it and the other half around her neck flew towards it. In Kagome's hands the jewel was whole and pure again. She turned to where her friends and Sesshomaru were, witnesses to the whole battle. With her hands stretched in front of her body, Kagome showed the completed jewel to those around her.

"I am Alpha and Omega, the beginning and the end. I am life and death to those that seek it. I am daughter and protector of earth and keeper of it's heart. You shall be witness to the end of the jewel created by Midoriko."

Sesshomaru watched as the miko raised the jewel to her mouth and whispered words to it. The jewel glowed then dimmed as the life drained out of it. In a last move, a sphere of light grew in the hands of the miko and expanded across the land as far as a demon's eye could see, touching the far reaches of Japan. The last pulse of power threw everyone back. The miko lay in the center of the field now carpeted with white flowers. No one moved.