Hello again, folks! I'm glad to announce the very last chapter of Cold Heart! I thank all of my wonderful readers and wonderful reviewers! This has been fun to write, and I dearly hope it was fun to read. I look forward to the reviews I get (even if they are flames) because that just means someone took the time to actually read and comment about it. I propose a toast to you all! 'holds up glass of sake'
:Disclaimer:
Akana: 'tear' I'm going to miss you all, dear readers! 'blows nose'
Leiko: Oh, get a grip! We might see them again in another story.
Akana: Oh yeah! Wait, "might"?
Leiko: Well, yeah. You never know, they might not like our other stories.
Akana: Aw... Well, maybe if we bought Inuyasha they'd read the rest!
Leiko: Do you have any money for something like that?
Akana: Well, no...
Leiko: Then, there you go. We've never owned Inuyasha and we never will.
Akana: This makes me sad in my heart. 'tear'
:End Disclaimer:
Chapter 14: Sayonara!
(Note: Sayonara means Good bye)
At that moment, an extremely lucky and astounding event happened. Just as Kenichi's claws were coming towards Kagome, this event happened. It was completely bewildering to all involved, and that was really saying a lot. This was an extraordinary example of theoddest luck ever known to anyone. Seriously. In fact, it was so amazing that even the most amazing person ever would've been amazed. That's how amazingly amazing it was.
Unfortunately, this event didn't happen anywhere near Kagome nor any of her friends.
It was actually in a far off place. In fact, it was on a completely different planet in a completely different galaxy in a completely different part of the universe. The event was this:
Someone who'd lost a bag in an airplane terminal on Earth found it again on this odd planet.
Er... This authoress has been reading a bit too much Hitchhikers' Guide to the Galaxy lately... Pay no attention to any of that, folks!
Seriously, though, something else that was just as major, perhaps even more so, happened at that moment. This time, it happened right in that clearing where Kagome was. It was so amazing that --- Okay, okay, no more stalling!
Kirara burst from the air overhead and landed in the clearing. The sudden appearance of such a large cat and its four riders shocked everyone, especiallyKenichi, causing him to pause what he was doing. As a result, his claws came just short of Kagome's neck, thankfully.
She's okay, Sesshoumaru thought with relief.
"Kagome!" Inuyasha shouted in panic. He immediately jumped from Kirara's back and brought Tetsusaiga from its sheath. He landed on the ground right in front of Kenichi and pointed his sword at his neck. Now the tables had turned, and all in less than a few seconds. "Release her, you bastard," he spat out. "If you don't, I swear you'll die!"
Now, Kenichi was in a very interesting predicament. If he killed Kagome, Inuyasha would kill him on the spot. If he let her go, Inuyasha wouldn't, but he had a sneaking suspicion that Naraku would. Either way, Kenichi was going to die; the only question was, by who?
At that moment, something else happened. I won't go into all the amazingly amazing stuff again, but I will say that it was both good and bad in odd sorts of ways. Actually, this particular event was rather bad... Did any good even come out of it? I guess that in an odd sort of way it did... How about I just tell you what happened and you can figure it all out for yourselves?
What happened was this: Naraku attacked Inuyasha.
Sango, Miroku, Shippou, and Kagome shouted, "Inuyasha!", and he turned around just in time to block the tentacles that were headed his way. He sliced through them, cursing loudly.
"Inuyasha, you've finally come," Naraku said with a small chuckle. He looked at Kenichi now. "Keep the girl alive," he told him. "She can be of use as a hostage once more now."
Kenichi gave a nod, relieved slightly that he didn't have to kill the girl who'd listened (however reluctantly) to him. He was also relieved to not have a sword pointing at his throat anymore. It was definitely very healthy to not have one of those doing that.
Of course, he probably would've preffered it to what came next, which was sharp, greenish coloredclaws that came from someone behind him. "Put down the wench," Sesshoumaru commanded in the usual calm, cold voice.
This caused some confusion with the others, especially Inuyasha. They were wondering why he was trying to protect Kagome. It was unusual for him, to say the least. They didn't know that the two have become fr -- well-known aqquaintances.Of course, they quickly came up with their own theories, and all stated that Sesshoumaru really wanted Tetsusaiga.
Kenichi was once again in the same position as before. It was only slightly different, though, and that difference made up his mind. Naraku would be distracted by fighting Inuyasha in a matter of moments, so he wouldn't be able to kill Kenichi yet. Sesshoumaru would. So, Kenichi's choice wasn't exactly all that hard. He simply dropped Kagome onto the ground. The claws from his neck disappeared, thankfully.
Kagome wasn't stupid. She knew that what would be best now would be to get to the safety of her friends and hope that they'd brought her bow and arrows with them. She leapt to her feet and dashed over to Kirara just as Sango and Miroku were getting off.
"Kagome!" Shippou squealed, immediately leaping into her arms and sobbing into her shirt. "I'm so glad you're okay!"
"It's great to have you back!" Sango agreed, smiling at Kagome over her shoulder before she and Miroku ran to go help Inuyasha in his battle.
So far, not much had happened. Maybe that's because all the events from the time Naraku first attacked Inuyasha had happened in less than two minutes. The two had watched in shock and surprise at the events. Naraku, of course, didn't show it as much as Inuyasha did; he pretended that it was all part of his plan, even though it was highly obvious that it wasn't -- at all.
Yet another annoying chuckle, then Naraku spoke. "You have the wench back," he said in a slightly amused tone of voice, though he was burning with rage inside. "Do you think that will make any difference?"
"You're going to pay for that, Naraku," Inuyasha said. He smirked, in a good mood now that Kagome was safe and back with the group. "Do you really think you can threaten her life and get away with it? You're sadly mistaken." His voice was oddly calm.
Naraku sent more of his tentacles at Inuyasha, which were cut by Sango's boomerang. Sango caught her boomerang when it came back around and stood on Inuyasha's left while Miroku stood on his right. "This is my fight," he told them without even looking at them. "I'll be the one -- " he lifted Tetsusaiga, " -- to take him down!" He brought Tetsusaiga back down and watched the beams of energy from his Wind Scar as they headed towards Naraku.
Naraku's calm smirk remained as Inuyasha's attack came towards him. At the last moment, he erectedhis barrier, and Inuyasha's attack washed right over it. Of course, right after this attack, Inuyasha leapt high into the air and came down on that barrier with a red-colored Tetsusaiga; he was breaking the barrier.
This was just what Sesshoumaru had been waiting for.
When the barrier was broken through, Naraku became frightened for his life and somehow managed to throw Inuyasha back with his tentacles. He was going to let no one come near him now that he had no shell of protection. Of course, Sesshoumaru had Toukijin out immediately and sent a blue blast straight towards Naraku.
Inuyasha growled. He wasn't going to let his brother take all the credit! He added his Wind Scar to the attack, and the two attacks collided into Naraku.
Now, by all accounts, Naraku would have died after this. We know that this cannot possibly be true, however, seeing as how Naraku's the main villain, blah blah blah. Somehow, maybe because of his super-villain insurance, he survived. Or, at least, his head survived. The rest of his body was blown to bits. He made his not-so-grand escape in a cloud of miasma, and his castle and Kenichi disappeared with him.
Inuyasha, once again, cursed. It was only a brief few moments of cursing, though; he was elated that Kagome was back. Now, however, he was faced with the problem of Sesshoumaru. Would he try to reclaim his hostage? Inuyasha moved to stand in front of Kagome protectively, and Miroku and Sango stood on either side of her. Shippou was clinging onto her shoulder, not wanting her to leave ever again.
Ah-Un chose that moment in time to fly over the trees and land at his master's side. The two riding Ah-Un immediately slid down. Well, Jaken sort of tumbled down, actually, and landed in a heap at Sesshoumaru's feet. Rin stood looking up at her lord. "Lord Sesshoumaru!" she exclaimed. "You're alright!"
Sesshoumaru looked briefly down at her, then turned and started walking away. This surprised the Inuyasha group immensely.
"W-Wait!" Inuyasha said incredulously. He should've kept his mouth shut, but he was too confused to really care. "Didn't you want Tetsusaiga?"
Sesshoumaru didn't even stop and/or turn around. "Naraku escaped," he explained in that hot and sexy -- er... cold, calm voice of his. "I must seek out his whereabouts. Also," he did stop this time and turned his head slightly, "the wench was too annoying. How you put up with her, I'll never know." He continued solemnly on his way.
Kagome smiled a bit even though she had just been insulted. She knew, somehow, that he didn't really mean it. Or maybe he did. Or maybe --
A thought crossed her mind, and she nearly groaned aloud. Her bag was still in the clearing, and she had no way of knowing where it was. She might never reclaim it.
Rin and Jaken had been following Sesshoumaru, but Rin suddenly remembered something. She ran over to Ah-Un, who was walking behind them, and looked inside his saddle's pouch for something. (There is a pouch on Ah-Un's saddle, right...? Let's just pretend there is!) She triumphantly pulled a familiar yellow bag and brought it over to Kagome. "This is yours, right, Kagome?" she asked.
Kagome could've leapt and shouted for joy. Instead, the hugged the child and took the bag. "Thank you, Rin!"
Rin grinned, then ran to catch up with her lord, who was still walking away. She stopped about halfway thereand waved at Kagome, who waved back cheerfully. "Take care!" they both called to each other. Rin ran the rest of the way to Sesshoumaru.
Right before Sesshoumaru entered the woods, Kagome called his name. He stopped and turned a bit, looking at her from the corner of his eye. She smiled at him. "Sayonara!" she said to him. He said nothing, only turned and kept walking with the rest of his group following him.
Inuyasha and the others stared at Kagome. "You mind explaining why you're so friendly to him all of a sudden?" Inuyasha asked.
Kagome looked at him, her smile still there. "He's not as bad as you think, actually. In fact, he can be pretty... okay, sometimes. And, I think," she looked over to the spot where Sesshoumaru disappeared into the trees, "that maybe we became friends."
Inuyasha looked at her like she was insane. but it was Miroku who spoke his thoughts aloud. "Sesshoumaru doesn't have any friends," he blurted out. He was still remembering when Sesshy made him fall into that freezing cold river, and he shivered when he remembered just how cold it really was.
Kagome shrugged and looked back at them. "Well... I don't know. Maybe I'm wrong, but I really feel that it's the truth. After all, why else would he save me from Kenichi?"
"Because he wanted Tetsusaiga," Sango pointed out. "He wanted to use you as a hostage, Kagome."
"Then why did he leave?"
To this, no one could give a good, solid answer. After all, if someone answered that he wanted to go after Naraku, then Kagome could ask again why he saved her instead of going after Naraku at that moment. She could then go on to say that Sesshoumaru would've rathered killed Naraku than obtained Tetsusaiga anyday. It was just natural knowledge. Also, no one in the group could erase that flicker of emotion they saw in Sesshoumaru's face as they were flying over the trees. No one could erase that expression of fear from their minds.
Kagome had made her point.
In fact, she wasn't far from the truth. Sesshoumaru even had to admit, if only in his mind, that they were well-known aqquaintan ---
Ah, hell. Who am I kidding? We all know that they were, really and truly, friends.
Well, this was Sayonara for Sesshoumaru and Kagome, and this is Sayonara for us as well! I wish you all a Merry/Happy Christmas/Kwanzaa/Hanukkah, and I hope to see you reviewing future stories that I may write! Thank you for all your support and criticism through the 14 chapters and many months of this story! Sayonara!