Disclaimer: I do not own Inuyasha but I DO, however, own the lines on this chapter this time...they're my poetry...
A/N: Sorry that this took so friggin long to get around to doing...but you know what? It's worth it now...(grins)...this week is basically shot. Monday night I had ANOTHER choir performance, then Tuesday I went to see a play at the college, then I had to attend a meeting after school hours until way after 6 o'clock. Then today I did Excellence in Ed a program in school that honors the top 15 students in each grade (high school...) they take us on a tour of the local hospital and then feed us pizza and give us awards, a certificate and a medal thingy...yea...anyway...and THEN Saturday is the PROM! So you see that this week has been shot as for normal thinking/writing/and posting processes are concerned. Yep...shot...but yesterday I DID manage to write most of this...and I finished it today...so here it is! The LONG AWAITED and anticipated epilogue...do you know what would be REALLY coold guys? If you could leave me 300 reviews for this story (grins sheepishly) as a "story-is ended" celebration? I do admit that enough pressure to add more stuff in a post-epilogue might just sway me BUT I make no promises...(clears throat) and now...lost and alone CONGRATS! You were number 250! YAYS! (surrounds lost and alone with lots of happy people and throws a big party complete with delicious virgin strawberry dacquiris and chocolate chocloate chip cookies...) there1 Now you're not lost or alone anymore...well, maybe still lost...but at least you found us! Anyway, enough of me babbling oh...a note: f-bomb dropped this chapter once I don't like using it unless emphasizing (in person I NEVER use it!) a character's emotions...I think where I use it will make you laugh...anyway...READ THE END OF SWFM! Then remember that I have numerous other stories that you might enjoy...and with this one over I'll soon be starting another...CHECK MY PROFILE if you want to have a say in which I decide to start...Bye for now!
Epilogue: Can't Live Without You
"I hunger for you
As the green earth does
For the light of the sun…"
With the arrival of the sunlight Kagome stirred, jerking awake with a gasp. Her body was covered in a cold sweat; she shivered involuntarily and grimaced. When she shifted in the blankets about her they were wet, soiled with her body oils. What was I dreaming? She wondered, frowning and fretting, pushing herself into a sitting position so she could look around. Everyone seemed to be sleeping…her eyes landed on Inuyasha, lying on his stomach in his usual corner, his breathing a little ragged. Even Inuyasha was asleep…I could get away to the well, go home, shower…she thought, and the idea stuck, despite its abrupt appearance. Yes, a trip home is exactly what I need…
The schoolgirl climbed weakly from her bed, a brief dizziness taking her as she stood. She frowned down at the stained, smeared, and damp white peasant's kimono she had been wearing for the past week. Eew…I have got to get out of this thing…
Her belongings had all disappeared in the river with her original fall of several weeks ago, so Kagome had nothing to gather up before she went—she just found a robe that would keep her warm against the early morning chill, and left. As she stepped out of the hut she failed to notice the slight movement behind her as the dog-eared hanyou in the corner lifted his head and blinked sleep away, the amber eyes immediately locking onto her white form as she vanished outside. As she slipped away, heading up the hill following the path that lead to the meadow where the Bone-Eater's well was waiting to take her home to a sweet-smelling shower, Kagome didn't see Inuyasha leave the hut too.
The schoolgirl reached the well easily, though by the time she had her feet were beginning to hurt from all of the pebbles that were so easily caught in her thong sandals. They were of the same sort of design as Miroku's, and Kagome was astonished to realize that the monk had lived with such shoes his entire life! Sango as well, when not in her demon slaying body suit, wore thin, simple sandals, much like the monk's. She wasn't accustomed to such footwear however, not by a long shot, and the trip home had been agony for her. Rocks and splinters and thorns seemed attracted to her defenseless feet while she was in the sandals, the whole way back. Now was no different—but she walked with an extra spring to her step just at the thought of the soft carpeting in her room, in her era…
When she leaned over the dark depths of the well, peering over its edges, she bit her lip, suddenly thinking about Inuyasha. The hanyou still hadn't shown any signs of remembering the terrible trauma that had happened in the village…or of how he'd managed to acquire his wounds. The latter of those two facts didn't really surprise her. Inuyasha had turned into a wild youkai in his instinct to survive when Koshi's arrow had pierced his side, and he never remembered those incidences.
He doesn't remember killing anyone, not before he turned into a full-blooded youkai and not after it, not right now—he can't remember anything through his pain right now…she knew that although Inuyasha never complained, refused to betray his weakened physical state to them in conversation, he was hurting. When he looked about sometimes she thought she saw confusion in his golden eyes, searching his friends' faces for an answer to a question that he may not have even known. But always the worry, confusion and amnesia resulting from his brief escapade as a full-blooded demon, faded into the background as the hanyou's physical body attacked him again. She'd seen, many a time on their journey back, Inuyasha struggling to stand up straight and breathe proudly…but it was a hard thing to manage. He did it alone, and silently. On the days when Kagome's feet had hurt so badly that she just wanted to collapse, she'd looked to Inuyasha on instinct, hoping he could carry her, and immediately forced the thought away. The hanyou was in no way able to offer such favors with one lung.
But it wasn't really these memories that made her look back. Neither was it that she'd sensed him peripherally. Instead it was with uncertainty that she turned her face into the wind and gazed back down the path, twisting away beyond where her eyes could see until it reached the village and Kaede's hut. In some way she was frightened of speaking to Inuyasha now that he was beginning to recover…what could she say? If he remembered his grief and his crimes against the samurais—no matter how bad most of them were—she didn't think she could bear the pain it would cause him. Somewhere inside she knew that Inuyasha's wild, untamed, feral side should've scared her senseless—but she couldn't deny that it didn't. What Inuyasha had done when Koshi had shot him hadn't frightened her—she accepted it as merely a thing that he did out of instinct. And it had worked; Inuyasha was alive and recovering from a wound that was fatal to mere mortals. And what he'd done to the samurais as a normal hanyou while he'd thought she was dead…?
Kagome turned her eyes away from the path and frowned, trying to bring up visions of such horror and gore. She tried to see her hanyou ripping through the samurais' camp, slashing, blood flying in wide splatter patterns, screams of terror and rage mingling in a scene out of a nasty war movie that her mother would've banned Souta from watching…she tried to see the red-robed, silver haired Inuyasha as anything but the stubborn, obnoxious, loud-mouthed, protective and ultimately endearing being that she'd known him to be for years now…
Kagome opened her eyes and sighed, her facial muscles relaxing. She just couldn't do it. In her memories she'd seen Inuyasha killing and fighting and cursing a million times over—she even remembered clearly when she'd first met him and he'd tried to steal the Shikon Jewel from her—but in every instance she'd never felt true fear for herself. Even when Inuyasha had chased her for the Jewel…his slashes had fallen short, his curses were weak. And when the Jewel had rolled away from her he'd abandoned her for it. She didn't think that his attacks could've been genuinely as weak as they were. Did he let me escape? Was he just trying to intimidate me so long ago?
The breeze that swept past her now made the schoolgirl shiver. It was too cold to be pondering such things…it'd been too long since she'd seen her family…
Kagome grasped the edge of the well and threw herself over it, into its welcoming blackness. It absorbed her like an amoeba and spat her out again in the 21st century.
Home…
Inuyasha crossed the meadow to take his place beside the Bone Eater's well, contemplating the schoolgirl that had just disappeared into the invisible time that lingered in its depths. His claws clutched and dug into the wood of its sides, digging a little in his lingering frustration. There's something going on here…he'd watched her jump into the well—but only after she'd stood before it and waited, as if frozen. For a moment he'd wondered if perhaps Kaguya (A/N: second movie's villainess I think) had taken over Japan again and worked a reverse spell—capturing only Kagome this time, freezing the girl where she stood.
But, much to his dismay, she'd turned backward, looking toward the village. Her eyes—and her scent he realized, through painful gulps of fresh air that the breeze provided, brushing past her and straight to him—had changed dramatically. It was full of mixed emotions, so many he had trouble discerning any of them. Kagome stood that way for a long time, while Inuyasha too had forced himself to be as still as stone, then finally she'd moved again, jumping into the well at last.
Only now did he move to follow her—and found himself having trouble doing just that. If he closed his eyes and focused all his senses on the air and the wood under his fingertips, Inuyasha could still feel her. Kagome…he whispered within his mind, using it like a silent prayer. His lungs ached—but it wasn't his physical wound now that was causing it…you'll never know how much I miss you when you jump through this damned thing. And now…it…hurts so much to think about losing you…I almost did…
And not just to the other side of the Bone Eater's well…forever.
I saw you fall from the cliff. I heard your dying scream. I felt my insides dying with you. When you hit that water, I tasted it with you, and even as I tore that fucking pig demon apart I was dying, I was crying for you. We both died that day…he gasped when a jolt of physical pain in his left lung as well as grief rippled through him, and Inuyasha stumbled back, ears flat against his head. I always swore to protect you and that day I failed. I failed us both. For as much as I…
He stopped, realizing the thought that was crossing through his mind, and blinked. Stunned, he shook his head, as if trying to clear it, or perhaps to deny it, though a part of him—a growing part actually—knew he couldn't rationally. Yes, I was right…he shivered a little, realizing the truth of his inner consciousness as well as the reality of his thoughts. For as much as I love Kagome I can't really promise her tomorrow, I can't really save her from death…I can't save myself from suffering through life without her…
With that truth what else was there but despair? He felt the forbidden tears assault him, stinging and burning with both shame and grief; he squeezed them shut and growled to himself, trying to bury the feelings. His muscles, body wide, shook with the effort. His breaths became even more ragged and winded. The hanyou's usually lusty skin color faded and paled.
And then the thought struck him from out of nowhere, as if it'd fallen from the inner perfections of heaven itself—and perhaps it had, for he later reflected on it and came to the self-diminishing epiphany that he was unable to think with such brilliance—Inuyasha's amber eyes burst open. The tears cleared abruptly and his lips hardened into a thin white line of determination. The glowing eyes slipped to the well and locked themselves on it.
If I can't promise either one of us that there will be a tomorrow I'll just have to make it today…today and everyday…
He moved speedily toward the well and leapt into it without a second thought.
The water steamed like the jungles of Brazil in the heat of July. Kagome didn't spare herself one luxury this time. She'd set the water as hot as she could stand it, poured in the finest, sweetest smelling soaps, oils, and bubble bath mixtures, and then soaked herself in it for more than a half hour. She had to fight the drugging lure of sleep while she lied there, her head supported just barely by the edge of the tub, her toes stretching to twiddle the bubbles at the far opposite end of her little sliver of heaven…but nothing can last forever.
Souta pounded on the door, uttering her name in a high, whiny voice, "Kagome!"
Her eyes slid open very slowly. Time seemed to pass with a lassitude that Kagome didn't mind at all. Bathroom time and family time weren't the same. Ten minutes in the bath was like an hour outside—and her little brother's kidneys had waited as long as they dared.
Before she could bring herself to answer in a reasonable "outside-the-bathroom" timeframe, Souta squeaked at her again. This time his voice was noticeably more urgent and Kagome's pleasure, heat-induced coma began to lift in reluctant stages.
"Kagome! I gotta take a—" he paused, and the door rattled, banging against something that she thought was probably his head. He seemed to reevaluate his previous statement and choice of words, for which she was glad. The last word of that sentence would've likely made their mother red with anger.
"Kagome!" he started again, "I gotta pee REAL bad!"
Slowly she sighed and pushed herself up and out of the foamy, sweet indulgence. Such pleasures just couldn't last forever. Life was always a mixture of good and bad. She winced as she realized that that too reminded her of Inuyasha…
"Kagome!" Souta screamed outside the bathroom door, and the pounding came again, more violent and insistent than before, "You're already pruny! I gotta PEE!" this cry was followed by a pathetic whimpering that made his older sister cringe.
"I'm coming Souta…" she frowned when she realized that her voice sounded dreamy and half-asleep. Maybe it's a good thing that he has to pee, if I'd been in there any longer I could've fallen asleep and drowned…at least that was a better way to go—far better than falling from a cliff after being cornered by a monstrous, smelly pig demon…
"Hurry up!" Souta squeaked, and she thought she could hear the floorboards outside creaking as the boy squirmed, trying to find a position that relieved the pressure on his bladder with little success.
Kagome snatched her towel, smiling at the droplets of water and bubbles that trickled over her reddened flesh. She took a deep breath of the sweet smelling steam and sighed. I don't do this enough…
"KAGOME!" Souta screamed, bumping the door again and Kagome woke abruptly into action, wrapping the towel around her body and then reaching toward the hanger on the back of the door to grab her robe…there was no robe…she almost cursed under her breath, smirking when she realized that was what Inuyasha would've done. Without a robe she'd have to walk out of the bathroom in nothing but the towel, which barely managed to cover her body's vital areas sufficiently. Oh well Souta's just my brother…it's not like Inuyasha is here or anything and at the very least I'm not really naked…
She heard Souta whimpering pitifully again, about to beg her all over again, and she reached for the knob. The misty steam swirled and blocked her view for a moment before Souta rushed passed her, barely throwing her barely covered form a glance before he'd pushed her out of the bathroom and slammed the door behind him. Kagome lingered, still dripping and starting to shiver, for a moment and then, blinking, padded swiftly to her room.
From downstairs she heard her mother's voice calling, "Kagome? How do you want your eggs this morning, honey?"
Preoccupied with keeping her towel on, Kagome reached her room, pushed the door open with one hand behind her while turning to call back at her mother in the direction of the stairs. "Scrambled Mama, if it's okay?"
"It's fine honey!" her mother's cheery voice chirped in response.
"Thank you!" Kagome stepped backwards into her bedroom, shivering against a strange chill as she pushed the door shut, spun round and started to drop her towel—only to freeze when she both heard and sensed that she wasn't alone…
It'd been the sharp inhalation of breath that had caught her ear and thankfully stayed her hand. The towel remained where it was, protecting her modesty, while Kagome whirled around and stared at a very pallid, very wide-eyed hanyou. For a moment there was nothing but shock between them—and then Inuyasha's ears slid backward and his amber eyes narrowed slightly, his face turned so red it rivaled his Fire Rat robes. The blush was so thorough that it seemed to touch his ears and color them as well.
Kagome's voice was shaking when she spoke…her lips quivered, "Inuyasha…" panic and embarrassment took over and she closed her eyes and shouted with instinct, "SIT!"
Inuyasha immediately flattened onto her bed, his face smashed into the sheets and covers…and Kagome paled all over again, realizing that such punishment was unwise when he was only functioning on one lung. "Inuyasha! Oh no! I'm so stupid! I'm sorry…" she rushed toward him, kneeling beside the bed, ready to cry if she saw pain in his face when he looked up…
Indeed when he looked up his features were crumpled with discomfort, his fangs bared silently, but the blush rose quickly again when his amber eyes opened and his nostrils flared, taking in her scent…Kagome bit her lip and backed away, her eyes quickly searching for her missing robe. When she caught sight of it she grabbed it and slipped it on, wordlessly removing most of the trouble between the two of them.
Inuyasha was relieved when she drew away—while at once he also regretted it. Kagome smelled beautiful, her hair shone with the moisture of her bath, her skin glowed with the warmth of it…and the hanyou felt an inner warmth of his own spread through his gut and rise to his face—creating the tremendous blush that sprawled over it like a mask. He was glad that Kagome couldn't see him trying to cover his embarrassment, as well as the underlying desire. He was also glad that she didn't see the way his amber eyes took in her shapes hungrily and yet helplessly. He was at the thoughtless control of his inner male instincts for a split second, and it was all he could do to turn his eyes away from her…but her scent continued despite the eyelids that covered his visual organs. He was convinced that the schoolgirl couldn't possibly smell bad. It was just against the very laws of nature. But as she turned back to face him, clothed in the simple pinkish robe, Inuyasha buried such thoughts.
He pushed himself up from where she'd flattened him on her bed, carefully, trying to avoid the pain in his left lung. Dimly he could feel it aching…but strangely when he was righted the thing felt better than it had before when he'd climbed, panting to his disgrace, up to her widow a few minutes ago. As he took a hesitant breath he blinked in mute surprise as both lungs filled with air. Well it's about damn time…he forced his realization away as Kagome met his gaze.
Her face was a strange mixture of worry for him—for having sat him he supposed—and keen embarrassment. "I'm really sorry Inuyasha…" she murmured, her eyes lingering on something on the carper that had suddenly become utterly fascinating. Inuyasha forced himself to scowl to cover the amusing thought that crossed his mind: the only utterly fascinating thing that I could think of that is worth staring at is her…
"It's nothing." He scoffed, snorting. He noted, though made no sign, that he had enough air left over for long sentences without having to stop like an asthmatic and breathe again.
"But you're hurt…"
He snorted again, "Feh!" now the amber eyes were irritated. "Kagome you should know better than to worry about me! I'm half demon, remember?"
She shifted on her bare feet uncomfortably, "Yes, but you still feel pain…"
Inuyasha stopped, the frown that he'd been crafting on his face dying before it was quite finished being born. Pain…yes, but he wasn't thinking of the dulled ache in his left lung, he was thinking of the sharp, bitter spasms that creased his heart when he considered the thought of being alone…of living without her…
His ears fell backward and the amber eyes strayed to the floor. "Yea…you're right Kagome, I do." He risked a glance at her in the pinkish robe and begged her silently to understand what he really meant by those words…and after a moment of confusion he saw the change in her features and the realization form.
"Inuyasha," she half-whispered, so gently that he brought his white dog-ears forward again just to hear her, "I'm sorry…" her eyes grew teary and the hanyou frowned, scenting her tears immediately.
"Don't cry wench!" he hissed, though without negative emotion, his words were far closer to a plea than they were to reprimand. "I hate it when you cry…"
She nodded, as if agreeing or trying to take sides with him against her tears, but, he supposed, tears didn't listen to foolhardy, callous hanyous that came to see the young women they loved only to grumble at them and speak in foolish riddles…he gulped nervously, trying to speak, only to have her beat him to it.
"Inuyasha—I'm so glad that you're okay! I was so worried when you were hurt…" she half choked on her own words, "I don't know what I'd do if you ever died, if you left me alone…" they both knew that alone wasn't the truth, Kagome had Miroku, Sango, Shippo, Kilala, Souta, Gramps, her friends, Hojo, and her mother. She was anything but alone, and yet he felt something close to pride to know that she valued him enough to tell him so…with a jolt he blinked once, an inner voice silently scolding his stupidity…You dolt! She loves you and you know it full well! She's saying what you came here to tell her…
He shook his head, looking down at his lap and the covers of her bed. They smelled of Kagome. Years and years of Kagome…he could scent her life changes in them, the fullness of her life, an existence shared with her family and friends…how he envied her that security.
His fists tightened. "Kagome—I-I'm lost without you…" he swallowed, hard, his eyes remained carefully trained on his lap, at her bed, "I know that sounds stupid," he scoffed at himself, "But it's true. I remember a few things now…I remember you dying…"
He heard her sharp intake of breath and, fearing that if he didn't let it spill out now he'd never gather the courage to say it, he closed his eyes and let the words flow, "I saw you fall from the cliff and I couldn't save you and—Kagome—I just don't think I want to live without you anymore. I'm tired of pretending…" he fought the lump in his throat, the stubborn stinging in his eyes that told him he was on the verge of tears, "That I'm happy without you…" his voice shook, his amber eyes frantically searched the room, looking to stare at anything that wasn't her face as his lips forced out the last whisper of truth, "I've waited my entire life for somewhere to belong—for a family to be a part of…" his gaze darted to the bed again, his nostrils flared, taking in the scent. Dizzying years of Kagome and more Kagome…years of togetherness, of family, of friends, of strength, of hope, of courage, of sadness, of heartbreak, of tears, of joy and desire and pain and love…things he only dimly knew of…
Inuyasha lifted his gaze and forced his face to be stern and expressionless. The amber stare met the stunned, pallid gaze of the schoolgirl, and though he shook everywhere inside, Inuyasha plunged onward, his voice somehow strong, "I love you Kagome…I just thought you should know…" he lowered his head in something close to a bow of respect and turned, ears pinned hard to his skull, moving for the open window.
"Inuyasha!" Kagome called after him, her young feminine voice shrill and piercing in the eerie silence that had descended after his last words, "Wait!" she pleaded.
The hanyou turned to throw her one last gaze of the amber eyes, burning with deep emotions that she was unable to read, glowing like the red hot coals of a raging fire, "I'm not asking anything of you Kagome, I just…" his eyes darted away and he shifted, moving closer to the edge of her window, further out of her room, further from her, "I just needed to tell you the truth…before…" he frowned, "Before something gets the chance to kill one of us." He turned his back on her, a flash of red, a flicker of silver, and disappeared.
Kagome lunged after him, her heart pounding in her chest madly. "Inuyasha!" she screamed after him, through the window. At the bottom she could see him dashing through the shrine grounds, heading toward the well house…no…
She whirled and grabbed clothing in desperation—sneakers, some dinky green shorts that were required for gym class, a gray sports bra and a white hoodie—pulling them on as she stomped toward the door…she hopped down the stairs, struggling to shove on the sneakers. Her brother, playing video games in the living room, threw her a curious glance…and gaped, wide-eyed. His sister was grumbling and hopping, as she frantically pulled on the sneakers in her dinky green shorts and the gray sports bra, the white hoodie in a messy heap on the ground next to her.
"Kagome!" Gramps was covering his eyes with one hand and waving a newspaper threateningly with the other, as if his granddaughter was a misbehaving pet. "Put some clothes on!" he pleaded.
Mrs. Higurashi blinked confusedly at her daughter as Kagome, ignoring them all, pulled on the white hoodie and dashed out the front door wordlessly. One of her sneakers was only half on; her heel crushed the back of it, making the schoolgirl limp. The Higurashi family stared at one another in blank, wild confusion, each gaping in their own way. "What's gotten into her?" Mrs. Higurashi asked, one hand, still holding an idle spatula, propped on her hip. She was shaking her head in consternation.
"A demon for sure!" Gramps ranted and moved at a hobble to grab purifying salt and other sacred precautionary artifacts. Behind him his remaining family sighed and rolled their eyes quietly.
Kagome hauled herself out of the well with a frustrated grunt. Her untied sneakers nearly tripped her as she tried to start walking again. The clean, crisp, fresh air of the feudal era greeted her lungs, like a caress. The birds chirped in the early afternoon sunshine…and when her brown eyes traveled over the meadow she saw nothing that stuck out—no red robed, silver haired hanyou that had moments ago professed to loving her…and then run away.
She wanted to scream for him to come out—because she was certain that he was nearby, watching her as always—but she doubted that he'd show himself. He was apparently afraid of her reaction, though she hadn't the foggiest idea why. Couldn't he see that she felt the exact same way? Why would he run?
If running is what he wants…maybe I should let him go…but as soon as the thought came to her Kagome frowned, hating it. No, sometimes people run because they want to see if you have the courage to follow them…to have faith in them.
There was a far more sinister way to draw him out of hiding, if she was cruel enough to use it against him after he'd confessed something so deep to her…surely he'd withdraw it…but even as she thought that it was an unwise idea she'd opened her mouth and whispered the word experimentally, "Sit, Inuyasha…"
From the trees to her left there was a crash and a resounding grunt of pain. Kagome cringed but wasted no time in rushing over to the source of the noise. It was no surprise to her when she found Inuyasha smashed into the ground face-first, a small impact crater enfolding him within it. She felt guilt stir within her at the sight—and then remorse at the groan that arose from her hanyou's throat.
Without thought she fell to her knees beside his self-made hole in the earth, and reached out to him, trembling words spilling from her in apology. "I'm so sorry Inuyasha! Please forgive me! I just didn't want you to run off and I knew you wouldn't answer me if I tried to call you…I just had to stop you from running away…"
He pushed himself up speedily, huffing in a strange mixture of irritation and embarrassment—she could see his bright red face—and pushing her hands away disgustedly. His ears fell backward and the amber eyes glared daggers, swords, knives, fireballs and acid at her, everything that could conceivably be used as a weapon. Kagome cringed.
"I wasn't running away damn it!" he snarled, making Kagome blink. He's upset about me accusing him of running away? What about the sitting? "I wasn't running from you bitch!" he snarled, crossing his arms stubbornly. One amber eye locked onto her gaze and then obstinately slid away for a moment before jerking back once to watch her expression, then it darted away again and he thrust his nose into the air, "Feh!"
He was running away…she stared at him, wide-eyed, completely missing the name he'd called her in his frustrated wrath. The Inuyasha that she knew feared nothing. He faced demons that hated him with the intensity of the hottest infernos that hell itself could offer without even blinking. But facing her was somehow different; somehow it scared him, scared Inuyasha into fleeing. She'd never seen him back down from a battle—even when it seemed impossible that he would survive it, even on nights of the new moon when he lost his demonic powers. She could name countless examples when he'd been so stubborn and pig-headed she'd had to sit him to get him to behave…but now…
He's afraid of me…but why? He must know that I feel similarly…why run?
She fixed him with a hard stare and eventually her gaze—and the heavy silence—made Inuyasha bristle and look back at her. He was chewing one side of his lip with the corresponding fang idly. "What are you staring at wench?" but despite this hard words the tone was weak and shaking, revealing his inner uncertainty, his inner fear. Kagome watched his amber eyes waver with a mixture of pain and fear and then he frowned, started to rise to his feet…
Before she really realized what she was doing, Kagome had wrapped her arms around him; pulling their faces together…perhaps some part of her had made the motion to keep him nearby, to keep him from pulling away from the closer, more intimate position they were in, side by side, on the ground, but then again maybe she'd just done it to comfort him…whatever she'd intended ceased to matter, however, as Kagome's slender, graceful hands clasped the hanyou's neck, fingers brushing through his hair, because Inuyasha took her scent in, her beautiful face, the warmth of her body and breath so near…and couldn't stop himself. Inuyasha closed that tiny gap between them that Kagome had left intact, startling them both.
As their lips met, a tad clumsily at first, a sort of fire erupted—butterflies that had lain dormant for years and years suddenly spread their wings, tickling the insides of both youths. Such a shock made their tentative meeting short-lived, and a second later they both pulled away, staring wide-eyed and disbelieving at the other.
Crimson colored both their cheeks immediately and both tried to speak and explain themselves at once, "Inuyasha I—" "Kagome I—" but their words died, unfinished, doomed from the start. Their gazes locked, as if pulled by gravity, they had no other choice but to meet the other's stare.
Shifting uneasily Inuyasha realized that when he'd moved to kiss her he'd managed to wrap one hand around her neck, where it now languished in her sweet-smelling hair, and the other had molded to the heat of her waist, feeling the power hidden beneath it. As much as he hated the thought of losing such contact with something he so cherished and worshipped as beautiful above all other things, Inuyasha withdrew…but as his hand slipped from her waist, Kagome grabbed it and clutched it in between her own.
"Inuyasha…" she whispered, her warm eyes still locked on his shimmering golden. "I…just wanted you to know that…" she pursed her lips once and he felt her squeeze his hand in hers, "That I love you too…"
His heart was beating to wildly for him to think straight. The warmth of her lips grazing his own, the brief but delicious taste he'd had of her moments before, was still heavy in his mind. It made him dizzy, standing before her, hearing words spoken aloud between them that he'd never even dared to imagine would happen…
This time it was Kagome who closed the gap between them, slowly this time, with a few calculated glances between his amber gaze and his lips, silently asking permission. The warm, loving glow in her hanyou's eyes was all that she needed…
Her lips moved gently over his, the lightest, most timid of kisses. "Inuyasha…" she whispered against him, and breathed in sharply as he responded with a fiercer kiss, pressing his hungry lips to hers, tasting her deeply before he pulled away and leaned close to her, his cheek against hers, his breath in her ear.
"Yes?" he breathed huskily.
"I couldn't live without you either…when I couldn't remember who I was it always hid in the back of my mind that there was someone out there, someone that I needed, someone that I was searching for, someone that was waiting for me too I hoped…" she hated the quiver in her voice, it was a mixture of her emotions trying to overwhelm her ability to speak as well as a physical reaction to Inuyasha's hot breath in her ear.
She felt his lips on her ear, tickling it teasingly, "I've always been waiting…" he breathed, and she felt his arms reach up and wrap around her, protectively, possessively. His heat seemed ready to grill her—most pleasantly she had to admit—to death. "Promise me you won't leave me ever again Kagome…please."
Although she wanted to do just that Kagome felt the pain reach through her heart. If I told him that I'd be lying. There should be no lies between us… "Inuyasha," she sighed against him and buried her head into his shoulder, speaking, though muffled, through his red haori, "I can't promise that. I have to go home sometimes and no one can ever know that they'll be alive tomorrow…"
"What you can control, Kagome," the hanyou whispered, and she realized that his voice was thick with sadness and grief, "Promise me that if you can control it, you'll never leave me."
She nodded against him and tightened her grasp on him for emphasis…his warmth was a blanket that she wanted to be lost in forever. "I promise."
"As long as you live…?" it was a shaky sentence, though it was by no means just an afterthought. Kagome identified it silently, with an inward gasp of shock, for what it was. He's asking me to be his…she knew that "girlfriend" was too shallow a term for what Inuyasha was thinking, he was thinking of something more, something not like casual dating, but closer to marriage perhaps. Part of her reeled against such a possibility, thinking herself far too young, while the rest accepted that Inuyasha would never push her too far physically…to end the silence that was lengthening between them and to answer him as truthfully as she felt was possible at her tender age, Kagome nodded silently against him.
"As long as you want me here with you, Inuyasha."
She felt his ease against her, sighing contentedly. His lips tickled her earlobe again and she shivered, "Forever it is then, Kagome…"
Now it's time for the LAST Endnote! Remember, though this story is ending I have others...check 'em out if you haven't already! And don't forget to read my profile and help vote for which one you'd most like me to start next...
Everything welcome but this time I can't answer you...(whimpers) sorry...pressure for another post-epilogue might convince me, but again, with my busy schedule, I promise nothing. All suggestions for the next story (read my profile for my latest ideas!) are WELCOMED! (notice the encouragement...) anyway, onward ho!
THANK YOU ALL REVIEWERS AND READERS! I'd be lost without you guys myself...(sniffles)... THANK YOU: Kiante, Psycho-Playgirl, Taeniaea, Mad-4-Manga you asked about my name? What name? A name of a character, a story, or maybe my own writer's pen name? The pen name is a character's name from a novel I half-wrote of my own (not published sadly...maybe someday) about personified big cats...it's complicated. But basically Shilyn was a character of particular power and prestige, and she makes a great mistake...and finds herself with the choice of exile or death. She's driven to join a different species of big cats--her kind's sworn enemy. I LOVED the character and the name when they came to me...so I use it everywhere now...(grins)... Pyrinsomniac WOW! Thank you! Your review made me go back and reread my own stuff...(smirks sheepishly) to see what I did that was right...hope I managed to do it again for you... Valeve, ladybug1974, SerenaClearwater, Simonkal of Inyu, toxiclollipop, lost and alone (Number 250!) Yami Chikara, Tiamath (sheepish look) Yea...my biology...hehe...I'm always reviewing...for weeks on end during and even now after we studied the kidneys chapter I would pee and think "Wow! I know how that works!" I'm shamelessly fascinated by a lot of the body's biology...kidneys are just cool...(smirks sheepishly)... fanfiction1 Thank you! inuyasha'sbabe07, Rinelwin, Inuadmirer, Relia Thanks for reviewing "Hanyou" for me (grins), and cool-chick-rae.
All right guys...the show's over...(whimpers)...but there's always more in my head...right now I have an idea for an AU, all the usual pairings, a plot and humor and everything! It just struck me one day...it'd be like Men in Black Inuyasha style...(snickers)...read it in my profile, I'm already fleshing that one out and starting it experimentally...if you guys show interest it may be the next one I publish/post here...or I could just feed you guys a quickie one-shot or VERY short story...I have several of those...(snickers)...but now I must leave you...THANK YOU ALL again! Ah! wait...here's a preview...give you one guess who they're talking about in relation to Sango:
Kagome struggled to hide her smirk. If her partner caught sight of it now chances were she'd be shot dead, no questions asked, no second chances. "You could always file charges of sexual harassment on him…nail him good for it, Sango." She risked a quick gaze out of the corner of her eye toward her stiff, scowling partner and chuckled nervously, "You know, it's probably why he's always being reassigned…"
Apparently that was the wrong thing to say.
Sango growled vehemently under her breath and, with a jerky look to her blind spot, she darted out into the street. A horn blared behind her when she cut someone else off and Sango cursed into the rear-view mirror at the other driver: "Asshole!"
Don't want to mess with her…Kagome thought silently toward the car behind them, peering into her side-view mirror with a scowl, Sango is armed and not afraid to shoot…
Bye all! Don't forget to drop me a line...