~Their Salvation~

~Chapter 25~

"We've got you cornered Naraku!" Inuyasha snarled, his friends by his side all ready to attack this demon once more. His brother landed a little ways away to really corner Naraku. Naraku stared, his body nearly completely destroyed, death had her hands wrapped around his throat. Then, his crimson eyes landed on Kagome, a gentle smile pulling at his lips.

"It seems." He spoke before closing his eyes.

"Inuyasha, didn't you wish to be a true demon?" He asked making Inuyasha tense. Naraku opened his eyes once more looking at Inuyasha.

"Hmm?" He pressed on.

"What of it?!" Inuyasha snapped.

"Well, you've defeated me, so I will reward you." With that last of his strength, he summoned the corrupted Shikon no Tama into his hand, then it turned into a red flame as he threw it at Inuyasha. Inuyasha's eyes widened and before he could even think, he felt a burning sensation in his chest as he fell to his knees, his breath being taken from him.

"Inuyasha!" Kagome quickly lowered her bow to make sure Inuyasha was ok, but then another red flame soared right at her making her freeze in place.

"Kagome!" Sango, Miroku, and Shippō called. Naraku closed his eyes as the rest of him turned to dust blowing away in the wind. Inuyasha's mind slipped from him, the next thing he knew Kagome was aiming her bow at him. He wanted to ask what was wrong, but he couldn't part his lips, he wasn't in control.

'Kagome?' Kagome blinked a few times, her eyes glimmering crimson.

'Kagome?!' Suddenly, his vision blurred, cleared, blurred, then cleared again, but now Hana stood where Kagome was.

'Hana.' She had tears in her eyes, but her eyes were dull. It reminded him of when Menōmaru had gained control over Kagome.

'Hana!' Inuyasha, once again, couldn't speak. His vision blurred again, and when it cleared up once more all he saw was an arrow flying to him, yet he couldn't move. Finally, he willed his body to do something, all he could do was close his eyes and wait for what came next, his resealing.

"Inuyasha." A woman spoke softly. Inuyasha slowly opened his eyes, now he stood in a never-ending field with a woman standing in front of him. He didn't recognize her, nor her voice, yet she somewhat reminded him of Hitomi, the girl Sōta had fallen for. Though the woman also looked different from her, so it couldn't be Hitomi, she was a lot older too.

"Your past still plagues you it seems." She spoke once more as she walked closer to him. Finally, Inuyasha could move his body so he parted his lips.

"Who are you?" He spoke softly. The woman smiled and stepped only a few feet away from him.

"My name will come in time, love. Now, I must ask. Do you truly believe history repeats itself, that you're destined to be a tool and nothing more?" Inuyasha froze at this question. He didn't understand who this woman was, let alone how she knew he'd even been thinking of such.

"What about it?" He asked with a hint of defensiveness only for the woman to smile.

"Just curious, just as I'm curious as to what you think of Hana." Inuyasha's eyes narrowed.

"How do you know her?" The woman laughed.

"I'd sure hope I'd know her, I watched her grow up." Inuyasha still didn't understand the woman making him grow irritated. The woman saw this, so she decided to cut it short.

"Do you trust Hana?" Inuyasha looked down at this. He felt safe around her, secure even. Yet, isn't that how it always begins?

"May I put in a little thought into this endeavor?" Inuyasha looked up once again.

"Hana, too, has lost a lot. She too is plagued by her past. She too knows pain, and she knows how to see the pain in others. Why do you think she risked her life to calm you with your guy's second meeting?" Inuyasha looked down yet again.

"I can say from personal experience that Hana is very smart, even in panic-inducing times she'll do what it takes to save a life." Inuyasha thought for a moment.

"How'd you be so sure?" He asked looking up at her once again only to receive a smile.

"My death was inevitable I'm afraid, yet, if it weren't for her, it would have come a lot sooner. Only four years old and yet she knew just what to do."

"Wait, you're dead?" The woman nodded.

"If I weren't, you would have never met Hana. My death was inevitable because it needed to happen." Inuyasha gave yet another confused look.

"So you purposely died?"

"No, but after I did, I knew why my death came early."

"So you were important to her?" The woman shrugged playfully.

"Was I?" Inuyasha let out a low growl making the woman laugh. Suddenly, Inuyasha's vision clouded making him blink trying to clear it.

"Soon you'll see, Inuyasha. She will fix what we could not."