"Just give me a really good reason to leave you here." He whispered to her as he crouched in front of the woman who melted the ice around his heart.
"I can't keep you chained to me any more." She laughed as the blood continued to drip down onto the snowy ground. "Do you know the old saying, 'If you love something set it free and if it comes back its yours, but if it doesn't it was never yours in the first place?' " He shook his head, confusion evident in his golden pools. She chuckled dryly dipping her head to stare at the ground as white mixed with deep crimson. "I'm letting you go." Her breath now came in short, shallow wisps of air. "I just want you to promise me one thing."
He fought the clenching in his chest as he watched her grow pale and her blood continuously flow to the snow beneath them. "Anything, Kagome." She looked into his eyes, Blue clashing with Amber, Purity meeting Darkness, A Miko and A Demon.
"Promise me you'll remember that," Her breath caught as her tears spilled over the damn she had built for them.
"What is it Kagome?" Sesshomaru was now gently cradling her left cheek in his right hand. Her breaths were labored now as she put her hand over his hand and whispered the words that she had wanted to say from the moment the battle began.
"I love you."
And with that she breathed her last breath, her heart beat for the last time, the sparkle in her eyes faded and the last tear she cried fell to the ground. Sesshomaru let a single tear fall as his Miko fell limp in his arms.
"I, as well, Love you." He whispered kissing her forehead before gently setting her limp form on the ground. His hands clenched to fists at his sides as he looked to her limp body before tightly shutting his eyes, as he fought to keep his beast at bay so it would not go killing innocent beings.
A memory of seeing Rin and Kagome sitting beneath the Ancient Sakura Blossom Tree in his private gardens just below his quarter’s balcony slipped to the forefront of his mind.
'Do you like it here lady Kagome?' an eight year old Rin asked as Kagome pulled her to sit in her lap, just as a mother would to her child.
'Of course Rin, why would you ask such a question dear?'
Rin smiled widely. 'Well Rin would like to be able to think of you as Rin's mother!'
Kagome had smiled sweetly at the young girl and rested her forehead on Rin’s. 'I would like that very much Rin.'
He had walked to stand next to them, and was unceremoniously pulled down next to the Miko and the young girl he thought of as his own. Rin had climbed over to him and wrapped her arms around his neck and had whispered ever so quietly that he could barely hear it with his demon hearing.
'Now Rin has a Mother and A Father.'
He had smiled a small content smile at the child and it only grew when the Miko had laid her head upon his shoulder, letting a small sigh escape her rosy lips, mumbling something about wishing she had a 'camera', whatever that was, and leaned into him. He surprisingly hadn't minded that the Miko had decided to find comfort in his shoulder. He had even wrapped his arm around the Miko's waist and pulled her snug to his side, she had looked to him with surprise in her eyes and a small blush had graced her cheeks before she had once again rested her head against him. He looked over at her, examining her.
Her black almost blue hair cascaded over her shoulder in soft curls, reaching the ground and pooling around her. The kimono she wore matched the color of his crescent moon and had a design of a silver vine like pattern stitched into the sleeves and slowly grew smaller and less frequent as it flowed down her body until it was stopped two inches before the bottom hem. It was complimented by a deep maroon obi that was tied into a simple knot and the tails trailed down to the ground. All in all he thought she looked beautiful, like an angelic beauty that he was lucky to even have in his presence.
The memory was bittersweet to him as he stood over her now lifeless body; even in death she had such a beauty to her. Tenseiga pulsed sadly at his hip, begging to be unsheathed and bring back the light to this woman’s eyes. Sesshomaru's eyes bled red as he unsheathed the life-restoring sword; he swung the sword at the minions of hell as they wrapped the chains around the onna's body. His beast wallowed in its own sorrow when it watched Kagome die, for long before Sesshomaru had realized his desire for the Miko, it had claimed her as theirs. A heart shattering realization was made as they realized the minions of hell had not disappeared and her soul was gone, nothing but the shell of the most beautiful woman in the world was left.