Motoko Aoyama: After reading Chapter 374 of the Inuyasha manga, I was inspired to write a one-shot on Kagura's fate. As this is a fanfic, I will be adding some "original content" into the story, but there will still be major spoilers so please be warned.

Background: Kagura tried to find Naraku's heart so that she could destroy him, therefore freeing herself. However, Naraku discovered Kagura's plan and set off to meet her one last time...

Disclaimer: I don't own Inuyasha although it is certainly a wonderful story!

Freedom of the Wind

" I have to run away...I have to run away from Naraku!" Kagura thought as she rode on her giant feather, trying to leave as fast as she could.

" Kagura..." A menacing voice sounded from directly in front of her. It was Naraku, surrounded by a dark barrier.

" Naraku!" Kagura gasped.

" So...Hakudoshi has died, hasn't he?" Naraku started off. Kagura knew that he was hinting something, hinting about her own fate.

" You killed him! Now, am I going to be next?" Kagura angrily shouted, tired of Naraku's irony.

Naraku merely smiled wickedly as he reached out his hand to produce a red, bloody object on his palm. It was...

" My heart!" Kagura exclaimed. She knew it! She knew that Naraku would end her life now because she was no longer of use. Fear swept over Kagura as Naraku wrapped his fingers around her heart, sending a strange feeling into her chest, but soon the fear disappeared. Even if she was to die like this, she had had her own feelings, her own will, unlike Kanna, her older sister. She had lived, and that was all that mattered.

" Kagura..." Naruku whispered almost gently as he stroked Kagura's heart with care, "I'm going to free you."

Kagura was stunned. Was this her imagination? Naraku, of all people, wanted to free her? He must be lying! He was always lying! Just as she was thinking about whether or not she should trust him, she could see the heart in Naraku's hand disappear before her eyes, and before she knew it, she could feel a strange presence in her once empty chest, making her complete for the first time in her short life.

" Now that you have attained your heart, you are no longer tied to me. This is what you were looking for, was it? For this, you had tried to seek out my heart and destroy it. For this, you had betrayed me..." Naraku said.

The wind sorceress felt a strong desire to feel her own heartbeat, causing her hand to reach up to feel the new-founded warmth that lay inside her chest. Just as she did so, Naraku's poison tentacles shot for her, piercing into her heart to send a terrible pang of pain that had spread to every extremity of her body. Blood splattered everywhere, mixed with Naraku's shouki, its scent spread far and wide. She opened her mouth to scream, but she had not the slightest bit of strength left in her dying form to emit such a sound. No matter how much she detested the idea of showing her weakness in front of her most-hated nemesis, tears welled up in her eyes and flew into the air as she collapsed onto her feather.

" Damn you," was all Kagura could mutter.

" This is what you have sought for...freedom. Enjoy it while you can, enjoy every moment of loneliness and despair that you would gain from the freedom I have granted you!" Naraku yelled after Kagura as she flew away.

The pain was gripping her tightly; not willing to let go as it slowly devoured its prey. Kagura could feel her strength draining away from her at the passing of every second until she was so weak that she had to land. She had descended onto a quiet field where the wind was blowing ever so lightly on the flowers around her, causing them to sway slightly amidst the emerald glades. She sat there, letting the breeze play with her hair as she touched the blood stained kimono that was covering her bleeding heart. It was moving...her heart was moving.

Looking upwards, she gazed at the blue skies above her. Never had it seem so limitless, so open, so welcoming as the warming sun shone through the patches of clouds in the endless blue haze.

" Where would I go now? I can go anywhere, because I'm free..." Kagura whispered to herself. The skies began to swirl, the surrounding pasture a blur of green. She knew the end was about to come as she felt increasingly colder, but she was no longer fearful. If only it wasn't so quiet, if only there was someone with her...

" So this is where it'll end? I'm alone. Is this the freedom I had longed for?" Kagura thought as she lowered her head, trying to cling onto what remained of her life. She wanted this freedom to last longer, to last long enough for her to find the answer to her own question. Is this truly what she had longed for?

" Kagura..." a voice spoke before her. She turned to look upwards at the incoming figure, the graceful dog demon that she had truly longed to see.

" Sesshoumaru..." she muttered.

" I came after smelling Naraku's shouki," he replied coldly. Kagura felt her slight strength disappear from her as her only hope vanished. What irony! What stupidity! She had gone through all this torture only to find that it was useless! In Sesshoumaru's eyes, Kagura was a mere detachment of Naraku, nothing more, nothing less.

" You must be disappointed that he isn't here..." Kagura commented.

" I knew it was you," he merely spoke as he drew his Tenseiga out slightly, before putting it back into its sheath. Kagura had gone too far. Nothing could save her anymore, not even the sword of healing.

" You'll be going soon, right?" Sesshoumaru asked.

Kagura nodded with a faint smile as she felt her body beginning to disintegrate into the wind. Losing her strength, she collapsed, only to be caught by the single arm of the taiyoukai.

" Voice you last wishes, Kagura," Sesshoumaru demanded.

" All I wished for was to be free, and it has finally been attained. I have no more desires except to be loved when I depart from this world..." Kagura's weak voice sounded in the still plains, carried away by the soft wind.

" Very well," Sesshoumaru answered, holding Kagura closer to him. The wind demon felt colder and colder, her surroundings finally breaking away into a bright mist that overcame her world. All was still, all was cold, but that was something that stood out from the rest, something that was moving, something that was warm...

" In the very end, I was with him. I was free..."

Kagura's body vanished. All that remained was the wind that sent the flower petals flying in the air. Sesshoumaru felt the weight on his arm disappear, leaving only a single feather in his grasp.

" In the very end, I became the free wind..."

Motoko Aoyama: I hope you liked it! This is my first try at an Inuyasha one-shot so please give me some comments and suggestions! Thanks for reading! Hope to hear from you all through your reviews!