Prologue

200 years earlier

A young woman lay pale on a straw futon by her Chosen. Her once bright, oceanic blue eyes, were duller now, almost distant. Her once full, pink lips were chapped and dry.

A lone tear slipped from her eye. Dutifully, her half-demon caught the tear with his finger.

"Kagome, please don't go." His voice was low and raspy.

Kagome wanted to reach out and comfort him but she didn't have the physical strength. She managed a soft smile at her mate - her heart and soul, her Inuyasha.

"Please, do not grieve for me. Just grieve for our… lost children." More tears pooled at her eyes.

Inuyasha's clasped her sunken cheeks between his hands and rubbed his nose along hers. "It wasn't your fault. Don't say things like that, 'Gome."

She closed her eyes as a bone-deep feeling of fatigue washed over her. She felt so small and weak from the blood loss. 'Of course he doesn't blame me… But how can I forgive myself for having three stillborn babies and then this one… Oh god, he was alive. He was crying - I heard him. Why did he die?'

"Kagome?" Inuyasha whispered, kissing her forehead.

She opened her heavy eyes. She was finding it difficult to remain awake.

"Please, you can pull through. Don't leave me." His amber eyes were filled with tears. "I love you, Kagome."

"I don't think… I can, Inuyasha. I'm so… sorry."

He sobbed and buried his face in her shoulder. "No, I'm sorry. I should have protected you better. I should have been there when you fell."

"Don't… say that, 'Yasha." She breathed deeply for a moment, trying to find her remaining strength. "You… are my whole… world. I will… always love you, Inuyasha. Wait… for me…"

Her eyes closed as her body went limp in Inuyasha's arms. Kagome's breathing slowed until it was nonexistent along with her heartbeat.

Inuyasha sobbed clutching her lifeless body closer to him. "No! No, Kagome!"

"Brother, she is gone. Put her down so she can be prepared for burial."

Inuyasha shook his mane of tangled and unruly silver hair. "She can't be gone. Bring her back! Use the Tenseiga!" His voice was sharp and pitchy.

The older demon stared down at the tragic couple. "She has already been revived by it once. It will not save her now."

"No, no, no, no." Inuyasha sobbed, clutching his mate closer still.

Lords Sesshomaru stepped forward, his hand resting on Inuyasha's shoulder. "Come, you must go now."

When Inuyasha stubbornly remained clutching his dead Chosen, Sesshomaru put his other hand on Inuyasha's other shoulder. Instantly, Inuyasha's body went rigid and his aura flared, his hair flying out.

"Don't touch me." Inuyasha's voice growled, his tone deeper.

Sesshomaru stepped back, not out of fear but out of caution. Inuyasha's grief had allowed his demonic nature to slip out and when he became full demon he lost all control.

"Brother, regain yourself. Do not lose to your demonic blood."

Inuyasha carefully lowered Kagome's body to the floor and he stood up. Slowly, he turned around. His face was marked with purple strips on his cheeks and his once brilliant gold eyes were now blood red, the pupils midnight blue.

"Don't lose myself?" His voice was icy and callous. "I've already lost myself. Kagome was me. And now she is gone." His breathing was rapidly increasing.

The claws on his hands were growing longer. He crouched down protectively in front of Kagome.

"Brother-"

Inuyasha growled in a primal manner. His transformation was complete, there would be no reasoning with him now. Sesshomaru, slowly withdrew his sword.

"Well then, Brother, why don't we take this outside?"

Sesshomaru laid an unconscious Inuyasha down before the witch demon. He was bound by a sleeping seal that the monk Miroku had placed on him after he went full-demon. Even under the spiritual power of the seal, Inuyasha was still in his full-demon form.

The witch demon was silvered hair with large green eyes. She looked almost like an old human female, but Sesshomaru knew better; he could smell her demonic blood.

"You've traveled far for my services." Her voice wobbled with old age. She sat down on her futon. "But I knew you would come anyway."

Sesshomaru raised an eyebrow. "I had heard of your immense power. It is impressive you had predicted our journey."

The witch demon looked beyond Sesshomaru's shoulder to the two humans standing solemnly at the entrance of the cave, a demon slayer and the monk.

"It is my gift and curse. So, you have come for some answers but you are afraid to ask." Sesshomaru remained silent. "Well, the answer to your first question is yes, Naraku still lives."

Behind the Great Lord of the Western Domain, the demon slayer gasped.

"As to the second, the answer is also yes. Your father's prophecy was correct. You will need both swords of the fang to once and for all defeat Naraku."

Sesshomaru nodded. "Can you suppress his demonic nature?"

She nodded sagely. "Yes, that would be easy. But you will need much more than this half-demon to defeat Naraku."

"Then you shall tell me what more I need to know."

She smiled. "You haven't Chosen yet. You will know shortly what it is like to be bond to another." She gently traced a wrinkled hand along Inuyasha's sleeve. "He will never be capable of his full potential without someone to protect."

"This person you speak of has died. He has no one but his human pack to protect."

She shook her head. "It is not enough. You must wait for Kagome to be reborn."

"We do not have that much time. If we are to finally finish Naraku, we must do it while he is still weak."

"In any case, you will need the jewel."

Sesshomaru's hand twitched in annoyance. "Surely, you know that the jewel has been purified."

She smiled toothlessly. "Ah, but it hasn't. It too will be reborn on Kagome's eighteenth birthday."

"I see."

"Indeed." Her emerald eyes briefly flickered over to the slayer and monk before returning to gaze sympathetically at Inuyasha. "This one will need to forget. This lose will kill him otherwise. I will need three days to prepare a potion for him."

"Very well, I will return in three days." Sesshomaru bent and picked up Inuyasha.

"And bring those two back with you when you return." She pointed a finger at Sango and Miroku. "You will need them in your fight against Naraku and it will be a long wait."