One Arrow

Chapter 4: One Arrow

I watch as the monk falls first. The poisonous insects are too much for him. I can't help the pang of jealousy as I watch him sacrifice himself for the woman beside him. I smile as the woman uses her weapon to destroy more demons than I can count. The love for the man laying at her feet turning her from merely a strong woman to a powerful fighter without rival. I envy the depth of that love.

The woman, powerful as she may be, cannot hope to destroy all the demons Naraku sends after her. Her fire cat cannot save her. Nor can she save the cat. Together they fall beside the monk and the brother who defied Naraku to fight at her side.

It is touching.

My sister uses a barrier to valiantly protect the fallen warriors who barely cling to life. She is old and weak. She will not last long. And when she falls, they will without a doubt all perish.

I could focus my powers on her, to protect her, to save her from the death that awaits her, but I knew when I entered this battle that sacrifices must be made. I had hoped that Kaede would not be one of those sacrifices, but I must not let memories of emotions sway me from my goal.

Naraku must be destroyed.

I send all of my energy into my arrows. They pierce him, but they do not destroy him. My last arrow should have killed him, but it did not. I have failed.

Inuyasha sends me a look that promises me a painful death. My aid in this battle does not exonerate me in his eyes. If he lives after this battle, it is assured that I will be dead shortly after. It is my fate. It was my decision after all.

And I am ready for that end. This mockery of life only serves only to remind me of what could have been, what should have been.

I am disappointed in my reincarnation.

I had hoped that she would have had the strength to defeat Naraku. Instead she holds the still kit in her arms, tears flooding down her face. Even from this distance I can hear her wailing. All of our hopes for victory had rested on her shoulders, but she failed us all. She has let her emotions control her. She will never be a true warrior.

This battle is lost.

The demons are overpowering us. The brother of Inuyasha as well as the prince of the wolf demon tribe have no hope of surviving the flood of demons descending upon them with the injuries they have sustained. Even the young female thunder demon who fought beside them fell as she attempted to protect the kit in Kagome's arms.

Inuyasha.

It defies logic that he still stands. His determination to defeat Naraku and to protect the young miko keeps him moving. He fights on sheer will alone. But that is not enough, not even for Inuyasha.

With a sad heart I watch as he falls to the ground. I have no hope left in me that he will stand again before this battle has been finished.

I summon the last of my strength to find my sister in the carnage. I sit beside her to reinforce the barrier she continues to hold. For as long as I am able, I will protect her. It is not much, this little bit of time, but it is all that I have to give.

That's when I hear the cry.

I look to find Kagome standing over Inuysha, the kit now laying in his arms, both still as death. Tears dry on her reddened cheeks she turns slowly to face Naraku alone.

"ENOUGH!"

She draws her arrow, her last arrow, and aims it at Naraku. He laughs at her, mocks her. His laughter dies as the pink glow surrounding her turns to fire red, flaring around her, creating a whirlwind of energy.

In awe I sit and watch as the girl starts to control her anger and channels it into sheer purifying power, and her body glows pink once more. She grows brighter. The light surrounding her turns white as it spreads out, engulfing everything around it, even those of us inside of the barrier. Soon it is too bright even for me to look upon.

With one last cry I feel the air around me grow cold, then the world shudders and becomes still.

Once I am able I open my eyes and look around the battlefield. Naraku has been defeated. There is nothing left of his body, nor of any of the demons or incarnations he created. There is only scorched earth where they once stood and ashes falling from the sky like snow.

My sister sleeps beside me. It makes me glad that she survived after all. She is stronger than I remembered. Our parents would be proud.

As I stand, it strikes me as odd that I would be the only being left standing after the battle. I walk over to where my reincarnation has collapsed. Every ounce of her energy was in that arrow. Her entire soul.

A soft glow captures my attention.

The Shikon jewel lays half covered in dirt where Naraku had last stood. I reach down and pick up the nearly completed jewel and sigh.

After all this time, the jewel is once more under my protection.