Disclaimer: I do not own InuYasha, and honestly I think I've made that clear enough at this point, but I keep giving a disclaimer for consistency's sake.

Falling Skies

Pompeii | 79 AD

Chaos had broken out throughout the city. The very Earth itself was cracking, splitting and collapsing in upon itself. The great volcano continued to spew fire and ash, showing no signs of ceasing. It seemed as though every citizen in Pompeii was trying to get to the harbour, the streets so crowded that none could push their way through. People were screaming and crying, attempting to push past the wall of people blocking the streets.

There had to be another way out, but time was ticking.

Jaken pushed his way through the crowd, shoving anyone and everyone out of his way. He would absolutely not die in this stinking city. Finally, he got to the edge of the crowd, and noticed that the only ship docked was a ship with Roman flags. They were probably waiting for Senator Naraku to safely return so they could make their passage back to Rome, leaving every citizen in Pompeii in their wake. Other boats had already fled from the harbour, leaving a mob of panic in their wake.

Thankfully, for Jaken, he was not a citizen of Pompeii.

A woman in front of Jaken, holding a small and crying baby, tried to rush onto the boat. Two guards grabbed her by the arms, and threw her off. No mercy given.

"You!" Jaken caught the eye of one of the guards, beckoning him to come closer. He held up an entire bagful of gold, and shook it in front of the soldier. "For my safe passage."

The Roman considered it for what felt like a long while.

"I'm full demon! A Roman!" Jaken insisted, and the guard finally nodded.

"Let him aboard."

Jaken scrambled aboard the ship, all but yelling, "We must leave now!"

Lord Sesshomaru had absolutely had enough. Every single stupid citizen of the city decided that they would rush to the harbour, to no avail. They would all die. The volcano had erupted before, and it would erupt again. Even if there were enough boats to take them all to safety, he knew that the harbour was not the best option.

No, he would flee into the mountains. Past the great volcano, past the neighboring cities until he found safety, and was no longer able to smell sulfur and burning flesh. Although, if he were being honest he may never get the scent to go away entirely.

It served the city right, after hosting the half-demon abomination that shared his blood. Now he could really cleanse himself of this whole mishap.

It was difficult to horrify Lord Sesshomaru, or to cause him to feel any sort of emotion other than distaste or indifference, and quite frankly, he was more appalled at the lack of dignity of the citizens of Pompeii than anything else.

However, as he was making his way through the city to the mountains, a small child caught his eye.

She was a little thing, though she couldn't have been younger than eight. She had clearly been a bit beaten by the quaking of the earth, but she seemed rather cool, calm, and collected. Everything that the adults of the city were lacking was clearly being held by this small child.

Though one of her eyes was bludgeoned shut, and one of her arms appeared to be broken, she sat calmly, watching her surroundings.

"Girl." Lord Sesshomaru stopped in front of her, peering down. "Where is your mother?"

The girl looked up at him with her one seeing eye, grinned a toothless grin, and shrugged.

"Girl. Answer me, are you mute?"

The girl stared, clearly unsure how to answer. Perhaps she did not know what mute meant.

Lord Sesshomaru stared at her, and she stared back. After a moment he said, "I'm going to leave this place. You will join me."

The girl grinned wider this time, and scrambled to her feet. Lord Sesshomaru picked her up in his arms, mindful of her broken arm, and continued to run.

It would be mildly acceptable if there was one survivor.

Though the Earth had always shaken before, to Sango's recollection, it had never lasted so long. She couldn't stay on her feet, and continued to stay curled in a ball long after the shaking of the Earth had stopped, clinging to Miroku's robes as she sobbed.

His hand rubbed her back in small, soothing circles, but every time she let herself glance up at him, he looked visibly shaken, which only caused her to weep more.

"What's happening?" She was finally able to ask between sobs.

Miroku shook his head, "I don't know."

The Roman guards had scattered to safety, and it had seemed that everyone else at the villa had also fled. It became eerily quiet, and Sango took a few deep breaths, attempting to steady herself. Miroku helped her to her feet, and she looked around. A few pillars had collapsed, but otherwise, the villa remained relatively unchanged.

"Do you think that's the end of it?" She couldn't help but shake the feeling that the worst was still to come.

"I do not", Miroku said grimly, taking her hands. "Dear Sango, we must get to the harbour. I have enough to buy the both of us passage across the sea."

"What? I'm not leaving Kagome! We don't even know where she is!"

Stabbing the nobleman of Pompeii was easier than Naraku would have thought. Not that killing men was ever difficult for him, but he had enjoyed toying with Takumi for the duration of his visit. The wife was alive, but Naraku paid her no attention. Surely she wouldn't be alive for long.

Throwing the bloody and borrowed sword down in disgust, making sure that he still had his own, the half-demon shook his head, spitting on Takumi. "Upon further consideration, I have decided not to invest in your city."

He was pleased to see that Goshinki had joined him, looking a little scratched and worse for wear, but still up to the task of protecting Naraku's life. "Get me to the harbour", Naraku snapped at his guard, and the two disappeared into the rubble as InuYasha and Bankotsu surfaced.

The pair of Gladiators stared at the mountain in disbelief, shock, and horror. InuYasha chanced a glance at Bankotsu, who shook his head. The arena was on fire, and the stench of burning bodies filled the air. Soot filled InuYasha's lungs every time he breathed in, and the sky was completely blocked out because of the ash that filled the sky. It wasn't quite as dark as the night, but it filled the air with a sense of foreboding.

He felt small and powerless, standing in front of the great mountain. The molten, golden lava was threatening to explode, and when it did, there would be no chance of anyone make it out of Pompeii alive. His base instincts were telling him to run - if he ran into the mountains, he could probably save himself. But … Kagome. She had risked her life for his, many times over. Now, he needed to save hers. He owed it to her.

InuYasha wasn't sure if he loved her - how could he be capable of love, when all his life, he'd been told that he was a monster, an abomination? He cared for her, though. They shared some sort of strange bond, and he wasn't going to let her die. Feeling a string of protectiveness tug at him, he knew what they needed to do.

"Help!" The cry reverberated throughout the arena. "Please." It was a woman.

InuYasha and Bankotsu both leaped forward, rushing to the scene of the cry. InuYasha leapt up into the rubble and debris, avoiding stepping on any of the fallen. He wasn't entirely surprised to come to the side of Kagome's mother. Kagome's father, the great Lord of the city, was a few feet away, eyes closed, chest unmoving.

Kagome's mother wasn't in great shape, either. She was impaled, stuck and breathing as though she were using up the last few breaths of her life. InuYasha wanted to pull the rod out from her stomach, but he knew that she would die either way. Kagome would be devastated.

"Takumi? Please. Please, save Kagome. You have to save Kagome."

InuYasha nodded, not bothering to correct her. If, in her dying moments, she thought that it was her husband saving her daughter, that was fine by him. "You have my word. Where is she?"

"Back at the villa", Lady Mai looked beyond InuYasha, and he whipped around. Of course the villa was even closer to the mountain than the arena was, and nowhere near the harbour, even though it sat high above the water. It was only a matter of time before the whole thing slid into the murky seas below. He needed to go to her now.

At least the villa still looked somewhat intact.

InuYasha nodded his reassurance, and with that, Lady Mai took her last breath.

"Dog breath, we have to get out of here!" Bankotsu yelled at him, and he nodded, jumping down. The pair took off running, although after a moment, Bankotsu grabbed InuYasha's arm.

Citizens of Pompeii ran around them, screaming, crying, even wetting themselves in fear. No one knew what to do, who to look to, or how to save themselves. It was every man for themselves.

The Earth quaked, and a pillar fell over, crushing people as it shattered to pieces. InuYasha covered his face from the wreckage, trying his best to stay calm despite the panic that hung thick in the air.

"Where the fuck do you think you're going? You're running straight for it!"

"I have to find her", InuYasha yelled over the chaos.

"Fuck that, this is madness! We have to get to the harbour and find a boat! Otherwise the mountain will kill us all."

"She risked her life for me, Bankotsu! She risked everything for us! Without her, they would have killed us in that arena."

Bankotsu mulled over that information for a moment, and then, clearly against his better judgement, said, "Then we'll go together."

"No! You're free. Go to the boats."

Bankotsu nodded, "Then we'll meet at the harbour. I won't leave this shithole without you, dogbreath."

InuYasha clasped Bankotsu's hand. "At the harbour", he agreed.

Without wasting another moment, InuYasha took off running at full speed, as fast as his legs could carry him. Dodging flailing people, falling debris, and chaos, InuYasha leapt, ran and jumped.

It didn't help that he was going against the flow of people - everyone was doing whatever they could to get away from the great mountain. He was running straight towards it, straight towards the danger. Every nerve in his body, every ounce of self-preservation was telling him to turn and run the other direction. InuYasha knew he was being foolish, but he was determined.

"I'm coming, Kagome." He breathed.

He just hoped that it wasn't too late.

Sango and Miroku were dodging great balls of fire that had started to rain down on them in order to find Kagome. Sango had begged Miroku to leave, to find himself safety, but he knew that she would not leave without Kagome. And so, he stayed.

"Kagome!" He cupped his hands to his mouth, hoping that she would hear.

"Kagome?" Sango yelled from a few feet away.

"Wait, Lady Sango, I hear something!" Miroku grabbed Sango's hand, and they ran to where Miroku had heard the faint yelp.

"Sango?" Kagome's voice was muffled through the storage room door.

"Kagome!" Sango burst into tears, flinging herself into the door. Immediately, she tried shaking it open, but it was locked.

"The guards, they have the keys!"

"They've left. Kagome, what do we do?"

"Leave me here! You and Miroku must go, you must get yourselves-"

But what Kagome was going to tell them, they would never know. Sango turned to Miroku, eyes wide with shock and fear as the marble wall started to crack in half. The crack tracked all the way up to the ceiling, and then the great marble wall started to fall in on itself.

"Sango!" Miroku pulled her away from the door, dragging her as far as he could and threw his body on top of hers. The roof caved in on itself, breaking into pieces and showering down upon them. Miroku had never seen anything like it. Surely, they were all to die. It must have been the will of the Gods, but what he could not figure out was why.

Only once he was sure the cracking of the roof had stopped did Miroku allow himself to stand, extending his arm to Lady Sango.

"Kagome?" Sango rushed back to the door, and started pounding on it. "Kagome?"

She was met with silence.

Not minding the fact that his body was starting to fatigue on him, threatening to give out, InuYasha ran on. He kept running until the streets were empty, save for the rubble of a city that was falling apart. He didn't know what the great mountain would do next, and he certainly did not want to stick around to find out. All he knew was that he needed to get to Kagome and get them to safety.

It didn't take him much searching through the villa before he caught sight of Kagome's handmaiden, the one who had brought him food the night previous. It had only been mere hours prior, but it felt like an entire lifetime. The villa definitely looked worse for wear, in fact, it almost looked worse than the arena. They were closer to the great mountain, though, and the handmaiden looked relatively unscathed.

"Where is she?" InuYasha demanded gruffly, ignoring the man who was hovering behind the handmaiden. Some Priest, by the looks of it. Corrupt bastards, the lot of them.

"Sango-" The Priest stepped forward, but the woman shook her head.

"We could use his help, and we don't have a lot of time."

The Priest sighed, nodding. Sango pointed towards a large door, "She's in there, the guards took the keys and the roof fell in on her."

InuYasha felt the strings of rage tug at him, and striding forwards, he kicked the door open with all his might. It blasted off the hinges, and he rushed inside, realizing that he probably should have warned Kagome so she could have moved out of the way.

"Kagome?" He shouted, immediately covering his mouth with the inside of his elbow, using his other arm to sling debris out of his way. The room was filled with dust, smoke, and rubble. After a quick scan, he saw her, huddled on the floor with her arms over her head. It didn't look like any of the falling debris had made impact with her, but she must have inhaled a lot of smoke.

Picking her up with his arms under the backs of her knees and her upper back, he carried her out to the middle of the courtyard, laying her down on a clear patch.

She was breathing, even if she was barely conscious. Kagome lay, sputtering and coughing. There really was no clear air, as the entire city was filled with ash and smoke, so InuYasha snapped at Sango, "Get her some water!"

Sango almost looked as though she were going to argue, but apparently thought better of it, and disappeared for a moment, reappearing with a cup of water.

"Inu - InuYasha?" Kagome sighed, and InuYasha flushed, realizing how close proximity they were to one another.

"Kagome!" Sango rushed forwards, helping Kagome sit up so that she could drink a bit of water.

It didn't go down easy, but the next few sips did.

As soon as she was breathing a bit more steadily, Kagome wrapped her arms around Sango in a giant hug. "Thank you", she whispered, and Sango nodded, stepping away to whisper to Miroku.

"InuYasha - you're here! You came! You came back for me."

"Ah well, it's no big deal." InuYasha's ears twitched in embarrassment. "I just didn't want you to think I owe you or nothin'."

Kagome grinned at him, and InuYasha felt his heart skip a beat. She was about to retort when a horrible, giant cracking noise started. It almost sounded like a clap of thunder that never ended, and InuYasha yelled, "Everyone get back!"

Picking Kagome up roughly with one arm and grabbing onto the back of Sango's robes with another, InuYasha ran away from the villa. The Priest was on his own, but he seemed to be keeping up alright.

With a mighty groan, half of the villa cracked itself in half, sliding off the bank into the roaring sea below.

All they could do was watch from safety in awe. Kagome took a small step forward, eyes wide with horror. "Our home."

Seeing what had happened to the city was going to devastate her, but they needed to rush through the entirety of Pompeii to get to the harbour. If the fires continued, InuYasha hoped that they could wait it out in the water until things died down. Or at the very least, he could get Kagome out to safety on a boat.

He didn't have the heart to tell her about her family.

"Kagome, look at me", InuYasha pulled Kagome to him so that they were almost touching, and grabbed her cheeks in his hands. "We have to go. We have to get to the harbour."

Kagome nodded, snaking her hand down his arm to grab his hand, reaching for Sango's hand with her free arm.

And they went.

A/N: So, I really struggled with whether I should post this or not, with everything going on in the world right now. I think that a fic like this, that is more heavy and angsty, may not be what people what to turn to right now. On the flip side, with everything so topsy turvy, I can see that people would want to take comfort in fic, and in their favourite characters and ships. And we've finally gotten to the InuKag union, which has been a long time coming! On that vein - I hope that you're all staying safe, sane and healthy!

The support for this fic has been really overwhelming, and I really can't thank you enough – anyone who has read, favourited, alerted, or given this fic any sort of love. (Especially to whoever keeps nominating it for the Feudal Connection awards, a million thanks!)

I hope that you enjoyed this chapter (we have finally gotten to the good stuff and boy am I excited) and as always, feel free to drop me a line and let me know what you think!