Part Four

The morning sun was just beginning to peek over the eastern horizon, when Sango finally re-emerged from the hut. Inu-Yasha, Kagome, Miroku, and even Kouga had spent the night around a fire; sharing concerns about where this war against Naraku was taking them, and wondering what else the devious hanyou had up his sleeve.

"How is he, Sango? Did he make it?" Inu-Yasha asked, as the taijiya tiredly walked over to them.

"He made it through the night, thankfully enough...But I don't know if he'll ever truly regain all of his strength. He's very ill, right now." Sango murmured, a little disheartened by what she'd seen and dealt with, all those hours before.

"Hey, Jaken, is Rin asleep?" Inu-Yasha asked, as the green imp waddled over to them.

"Finally. Why do you wish to know?" Jaken asked, in turn, shortly.

"Just somethin' to tell him in case he wakes up." Inu-Yasha replied, as he turned to walk into the hut.

"Inu-Yasha..." Sango called, making the hanyou pause for a moment, and look back.

"What?" Inu-Yasha questioned.

"He might never wake up. Naraku may have won this battle." Sango said, sadly.

"You don't know Sesshomaru. He's not one to give up so easily...Trust me on this one, Sango, he'll survive...and he'll be ready to kick my ass in no time." Inu-Yasha stated, as he entered the darkened hut; leaving his companions in stunned silence.

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The fire-pit had been allowed to burn out, to allow its' occupant to rest. Yet, even Inu-Yasha could see the still form of his half-brother lying there, almost as still as death. Sesshomaru's face was pale; his markings washed out against his almost white skin. His breathing was a raspy wheeze that caused even the battle-hardened Inu-Yasha to shudder at the sound of it.

"Even breathing is almost too painful for him, at this point." Inu-Yasha mused, as he silently kneeled at Sesshomaru's side and, without even realizing what he was doing, slowly slid an arm behind his back, and gently propped him up. For the briefest of moments, a wince adorned the Taiyoukai's pallid features, and then he breathed in a little more deeply.

"It's helping!" Inu-Yasha thought, as he remained by the wounded youkai's side. At first, a part of his mind questioned him as to why he was doing this; why he was caring so much about his brother's survival...Yet, it was evident that Sesshomaru had cared enough to get Kagome out of Naraku's clutches in the first place.

"I owe you one, Sesshomaru. Thanks for rescuing Kagome." Inu-Yasha murmured, careful to keep his voice quiet enough, so that no one outside would overhear him.

"You...owe me nothing...hanyou..." a soft voice irritably replied, startling Inu-Yasha into looking up, and finding to his unexplained relief, that the Taiyoukai had regained consciousness! Sesshomaru was now gazing up at him with his usual impassive gaze, albeit it was a little vague, thanks to the numbing effect the antidote had on his wound.

"Why'd ya say that?" Inu-Yasha asked.

"You...have nothing...I could possibly want...Save Tetsusaiga." Sesshomaru muttered, as his pain-glazed amber eyes slowly focused on his half brother. Inu-Yasha only smirked at this; he knew it only too well.

"That's nothin' new." Inu-Yasha retorted, hiding a sigh of relief behind a snort of contempt...or trying to, at any rate. Sesshomaru could somehow sense that his brother was acting differently, and knew that it had something to do with his recent injury at Naraku's hands.

"Does something yet bother you, little brother?" Sesshomaru asked, arching an eyebrow when something of Inu-Yasha's usual irritation emerged, and then was taken over by almost an overwhelming concern.

"As much as I hate to admit this, I was actually afraid that Naraku had found a way to kill you...I can't remember ever having seen you this bad off..." Inu-Yasha admitted.

"Fear not, hanyou. This Sesshomaru will not die so easily...Naraku has merely dug his own grave even deeper...that is all." Sesshomaru replied, turning his head slightly when he heard footsteps coming towards the hut.

"Yeah...I'll have to agree with ya there...and everybody else would, too." Inu-Yasha muttered, watching as Kagome and Sango entered, their looks of relief breaking through the grave expressions that had been there until then.

"Can we count on your help when we finally manage to corner and kill Naraku, Sesshomaru-sama?" Miroku asked,, as he approached and kneeled respectfully before the inu-youkai.

"That depends...I may just get there first...and you will have to wait your turn...houshi." Sesshomaru retorted, the look in his golden eyes promising death for the evil hanyou...and it didn't matter who he had to fight alongside (if anyone) to do it.

"I'm sure we will...but you'll have to let your wounds heal first, before you try it." Kagome said, finally speaking up in Sesshomaru's presence.

"Miko, I am not a certain hanyou who leaves his sickbed before he is supposed to." Sesshomaru muttered, then added, "I am not as foolhardy as he, I can assure you of that."

"Shut up!" Inu-Yasha shouted, as the atmosphere eased around them. Sesshomaru was going to live after all...and his alliance was, if not spoken, then silently understood. Naraku had just made one enemy too many...and he was soon going to pay dearly for it.

Owari

Author's Note!

Yeah, I know, kind of a rushed and sappy ending, but this part wrote itself! (If you must flame anyone, flame my muses! They need to be woken up a bit!) So sorry about the long wait for the conclusion, minna!

Gemini14