Playing Thief by Night Beauty

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Disclaimer: I do not own Inuyasha or any of its characters.

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Chapter 13: Fly Away

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Ayame's clutched fist dripped blood, staining the stoned ground with silver, the color of the purest of angels. Her fingernails sunk deeper as the root detached itself from her abdominal area. Sparks of raven soared through her body; her wings that were purest white now had burnt marks. She sank to her knees, her blood-soaked hands placed over her wounded stomach.

"Sorry Taijiya-sama," the angel mumbled. "I'll still protect you…"

Kouga flew to her side. "Ayame…!"

Taijiya moved with such alacrity that she was almost a blur as she headed towards Naraku. Her Hiraikotsu began to crack as it collided against the roots. She smashed the boomerang into the ground as Naraku's roots took hold of it. She raised her katana and pierced it into his back.

"Kekeke… Useless," Naraku's eyes gleamed at her. "You've walked into your own death."

"Kazaana!" Houshi sat on Kirara and ran behind Naraku, unleashing his black vortex. "Taijiya! Hold on!"

She pulled her weapon out, trying to ignore the dark blood that was dripping down it. She quickly placed it back into her sheath, both hands gripping onto her Hiraikotsu in attempts to avoid the Kazaana.

The roots began to tear, much to his dismay. "Hn… Don't think I won't take you with me!" Naraku reached and clutched Taijiya's hair. "Die, wench!"

"Let go!" She screamed, gripping to the large boomerang tighter. The roots were halfway torn; she couldn't let go yet. Instead, she unsheathed her katana and slipped it through her hair, escaping from Naraku's grip.

Her locks were swept into the black hole, which would have been followed by Naraku had he not sent poison insects to him. Houshi shut the vortex, his left hand gripping his right arm. "Damn…"

"Close," Naraku chuckled, grabbing Houshi's neck, "but not quite."

His oxygen was cut – Houshi shut his eyes tightly, his nails digging into his opponent's skin. "Stop…"

"Naraku, leave him be," Kikyo glared, releasing an arrow. It was surrounded with a pink light and became more intense as it swept above the ground and sliced Naraku's arm with great precision.

Houshi took in a deep breath of air as he collapsed to the ground. Immediately his hands wrapped around his neck. His vision began to regain itself.

"Ergh…" Taijiya panted, her legs and arms weak from withstanding the Kazaana. "Miroku…"

"No time for drama," Kikyo pulled the string back. "Taijiya, fight."

"I know I know," she frowned. She lifted the Hiraikotsu. Houshi… please, release the Kazaana for a little bit… She held her gaze at Houshi, and then looked to his hand. Do you understand…?

Houshi's eyes met hers, and then he glanced down at his cursed hand. Throw it…

"Hya!" Taijiya threw the Hiraikotsu into Naraku's direction.

"Hn… worthless," Naraku stepped to the side. "You underestimate me too much."

"No, you underestimate us too much," Houshi glared. "Kazaana!"

Naraku glanced at Houshi for a moment before turning back and see the boomerang fall into his direction. The wind tunnel created a perfect path for it.

"Farewell," Kikyo released another arrow, allowing its path to be determined by the wind.

The apparition nearly lost his footing as he tried to fend off the heavy weapon. It was too late for him to dodge as the arrow pierced straight through him. Houshi quickly withdrew his Kazaana and winced at the pain going up and down his arm. At least it's finished…

Kikyo fell to her knees. "I'm running out of time… Thank you for accomplishing the mission."

"It's not like we had a choice," Taijiya muttered. She stumbled her way to Ayame. "Ayame…?"

There was blood trailing out of her mouth, and her hands were stained dry with her own bloody. "Good work… Taijiya… sama…"

"You've lost too much blood…" Taijiya held back her tears. "Hold on a little bit longer…!"

"It's okay," Ayame coughed. "I deserve this anyway…"

"Shut up," Kouga scolded. His hands too were covered in blood; the blood of an angel he loved.

"Isn't there a way to save her?" Taijiya looked frantically to Kikyo.

Kikyo looked down. "Since we are in the Underworld, Ayame's injury is definitely fatal. This would not be a problem had this been in your world…"

"Taijiya," Houshi coughed, and stumbled towards her. "I don't think…"

"There's a way… isn't there?" Taijiya pleaded to Kikyo. "You're a priestess… you can save her, can't you?"

"My powers are depleting slowly as we speak. There is one way… But there are a few consequences."

Taijiya transformed back into Sango. She firmly pleaded, "Anything…"

Don't do… anything stupid… Ayame thought, as she was too weak to speak. Just… give up…

"You can pass your powers of reincarnation to her, and she will be reborn as human. But after this, you cannot transform back into Taijiya."

Miroku, who had also turned back, looked over to Kikyo, "There's no reason for her to be Taijiya anymore, right?"

"Correct."

"It wouldn't have mattered, I'd do it anyway," Sango smiled wearily.

"Her heart beat's fading…" Kouga cried. "Ayame-chan! I'll come back with you, I promise! I'll train hard!"

Kouga…

"I'll give this to you…" Kouga removed a small gold band from beneath his wolf-fur gauntlets. I was going to… but I never had the chance, so… He slipped the small ring into Ayame's cold hands. "I'll be reborn with you, okay?"

Ayame took her final breath, "Promise."

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"Kikyo, I'll give up my powers," Sango stood up. "I don't care if I don't become reincarnated."

"And I'll give my powers to help Kouga be reborn, too," Miroku slipped his hand into hers. "I think that sounds fair," he teased.

Sango blushed.

Kikyo nodded. "Okay." She walked to Sango, placing a shard of the Shikon no Tama onto her forehead. "I will absorb Taijiya's powers and place them into Ayame. The same with you, Miroku."

She did the same process with Miroku. Then, she placed Taijiya's shard into Ayame's hand, and then kept Houshi's near her. "I'll take care of this one."

"Okay!" Kouga said enthusiastically. He gave Miroku's index finger a high five. "Next I come back, we'll make lots of treats for Sango-sama and Ayame-chan!"

"Deal," Miroku chuckled. "Good-bye!"

"Bye, Kouga-kun!" Sango bowed. "Thank you for everything."

Kouga flew and sat onto Kikyo's shoulder. "I'll see you guys later!"

What seemed to be souls dispersed from Kagome's body, along them was a blue orb holding Kouga. Ayame also faded into a green orb, following after them. Kagome fell limp, along with Sango and Miroku…

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"Ungh…?" Sango felt her eyelids sink down as she attempted to lift them. "Where am I?"

Ding-dong… Ding-dong…

"Coming…" she nearly fell out of the bed. "Who is it?"

"Sister!" Immediately Kohaku led her into a full embrace. "Do you remember me?"

"You've… come back?" Sango glanced behind him and saw both her parents there.

"Hello, sweetie," her mom smiled. Her father's arm was around her, nodding.

Her father patted her on the head. "We've come back… for sure."

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Eight Years Later…

"Kyo-kun!" Kagome called. "Kyo-kun! Where are you?"

"What is it?" The little boy called, coming up from behind.

"Auntie Sango's going to be here soon with her baby. Have you cleaned yourself up yet?"

"No…"

"Please go and do that, okay?" Kagome patted her son's head.

He replied, "Okay."

The five year-old boy ran through the kitchen and up the stairs.

"Where's the fire?" Inuyasha arched a brow.

"Auntie Sango and Uncle Miroku are coming!" Kyo shouted before slamming the door.

"Feh."

"Inuyasha!" Kagome sang as she embraced him from behind. "Did you clean up the kitchen yet?"

"Ehehehe…"

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"Hello!" Sango greeted when she opened the door. Her hair was now past her shoulders. Her streaks were gone, and her features were still as young as ever. In her arms she carried her little child.

Miroku followed after with a bag. "It'll be fun hanging out this weekend," he smiled.

"Of course it will!" Kagome rolled her eyes. "Don't state the obvious!"

"Eh?" Sango blinked, then giggled. "Where's Kouga – I meant, Kyo-kun?"

Rapid footsteps could be heard as the small boy came up from behind. "Yo!"

Inuyasha bashed him on the head. "That's not a greeting!" he snarled. "What's up, Miroku?"

Miroku sweatdropped, "Not much."

"Come see the baby, Kyo-kun," Sango bent down on her knees.

"Eh? But I've seen her many times before…"

"Look at her fist, she's been clutching it this whole time. Then I got her to open it…"

"Huh?" Kyo poked the little girl's fingers. When she finally released, a small ring was revealed. His eyes gleamed – as if a memory had restored to him. "A-Ayame…?"

"Yup!" Miroku smiled widely. "Well, actually, her name is Shobu…"

Kyo nearly cried as he hugged Shobu tightly. "Wah! Shobu-chan, marry me!"

"What!" Inuyasha nearly lost his balance. "Don't propose now!"

Kagome laughed. "How cute!"

"Meow," Kirara purred and licked Inuyasha's twitching fingers.

"My child's tainted," Inuyasha choked. "Kagome, this is all your fault!"

"Me!" she retorted. "You're the one who keeps using foul language around him!"

"Guys, chill," Sango waved her hands. "Let's… eat, okay?"

"Wait – is my brother gone already?" Inuyasha took a step outside. "The car's gone."

"Yeah – he said he had to go pick up some flowers."

"… For what?"

Sango merely winked. "That's a secret."

Inuyasha growled, "Sango…"

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Sesshoumaru was dressed, looking exactly as a young businessman would. His right hand gripped a small bouquet of Forget-Me-Nots, as the other hand rested nicely in his left pant pocket.

"Sorry, I had a small errand to run," a young woman ran up to him, panting. Her raven hair was tied into a loose ponytail. "I hope you weren't waiting long."

"No, not at all, Rin," he smiled, handing her the flowers.

"Aww… you shouldn't have! They're so pretty!" she took them, blinking at them for a few seconds. "Huh…"

"What is it?"

"Nothing," she smiled. "Let's go!" she slipped her fingers between his.

For some reason, it felt as if she had lived a different life before this – but the thought quickly swept away.

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"Apparently, there was a young woman named Rin who was dying a few months ago," Sango explained. "Kikyo decided to plant little Rin's soul inside her, and allowed her to live. She doesn't remember much of her past though."

"Luckily, she fell for your big brother," Miroku sipped his tea. "She almost looks like the actual Rin."

"How romantic…" Kagome sighed.

The four talked about their lives, each of them all content. Kyo and Shobu were on the couch, sleeping soundly with his hand holding hers.

Thanks… for coming back.

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The End

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Valdimarian- Yeah.. I was kind of lazy on Kagura's fight… Ehehe. Oh well, she's pretty intent on escaping Naraku in the anime, ne?

iLOVEcheese- Glad you liked it!

asianvietgirl52- Sorry for the wait! I hope I haven't lost my writing skills…

SangoLancer2000- Anime posters are fun! I try and collect Final Fantasy posters… D

Hyper-Citrus- I suck at fighting, so I kind of just wanted to get Kanna and Kagura out of the way, lol.

nekoyasha-kirara- Thank you!

Divine-Red-Crayon- Oho, lucky Chapter 13 is the last one! I hope you thoroughly enjoyed it!

Story Weaver1- Musou was basically a puppet for Naraku since he's unable to access the real world. It's just like Kikyo taking over Kagome – but she just happens to be her reincarnation.

Irasuto- Cliffhangers are fun. B

Fiery Demon Fox- Wow, tons of anime smilies there. Anyway, why aren't you taking the SAT? I totally bombed mine.

AneueSango- The end!

Soli-chan- Eck, don't hurt yourself. TT;; I never read the Inuyasha manga… so I don't know how Kagura actually dies. I also don't have cable anymore… ;; Anyway, I used an HTML code thing for my blog…

kirara242- Yup! She did! Ahh... I hope I didn't make things too dramatic.

DarkHeartKeyblade- Awww. That's sweet! Thank you!

Akeryou-Inuyasha-2112- Sorry, sorry! I haven't had much time…

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Author's Note: Ohayo! So so so so so times 100000 sorry. I guess… I got really lazy… You know what, Junior year sucks. I wish you all luck when you get there, lol. SATs suck too. They should die. Why do they change for the class if '06? Why? WHY!

Anyway… the story's over… I hope you all remember this story, since I haven't updated for a long time. I hope you all review… I hope you all enjoyed it… Thanks! Jaa!