Disclaimer: Inuyasha belongs to Rumiko Takahashi. I just write these for fun.

Author's Note: This is just a bit of fluff I wrote for a friend. Takes place a very long time before the beginning of the series.

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Chapter Sixteen: Love Me 'til My Heart Stops

"Inuyasha!" Corin screamed. There wasn't time for him to get out of the way of the second demon that was bearing down on him. With no thoughts in her head except the hope of saving the one she loved, Corin dove in front of the scorpion demon and took the full force of the attack that had been meant for Inuyasha.

Hideous claws ripped through her belly and she slumped down on the ground. Inuyasha ripped apart the first demon and turned just in time to slaughter the second demon with his razor sharp claws, but not in time to save Corin.

"Oh no! Corin!" He gasped when he saw her lying at his feet, blood pooling on the dirt around her. He knelt down and pulled her into his arms. There was so much blood and the thick, sweet scent sickened him. "Don't worry! I'll get you to a healer. You're gonna be ok! I promised I wouldn't let anything happen to you."

Corin put a finger to his lips to silence his rush of frightened words. "It's better this way," she wheezed.

"What are you talking about? I'm not going to let you die!" As he spoke, he knew somewhere in his heart that it was too late to save her from death and slowly, agonizingly, his heart began to shred into millions of little pieces.

"I'm sorry Inuyasha. I should have told you, but…" Corin coughed. Blood was bubbling up in her lungs, making it hard to speak, and she had so much left to say.

"I'm happy to have died saving your life. It's better than being taken over by an ice demon."

"An ice demon? What are you saying?" Inuyasha was very scared and confused now. He thought she might be delusional. "That wasn't an ice demon, it was-"

"No," she coughed again. "I was poisoned by an ice demon before I met you. That's why I've gotten so cold… It happened before you saved me."

"Why didn't you tell me?"

"I was already so much trouble to you…" She caressed his face gently. She had lost so much blood that it was hard to move her arm that short distance to his face. "So much trouble. I'm sorry."

"Don't be sorry! Just don't die! Please don't die Corin!" Inuyasha bent his head over hers. "Please don't die. Please."

She kissed his cheek and tasted salty tears. "I was so happy," she told him. "So happy with you."

"Corin…"

"Listen to me Inuyasha/ I don't want you tobe sad." She kissed him again and he felt the warmth flowing out of his lips, one of the powers of an ice demon is to draw out the warm life force of another being. Corin pulled away quickly. "Soon you will forget me." But she wasn't sad as she said it. "But you will never forget the feeling of my love for you."

"But I don't want to forget you!"

"Don't be afraid. Someday you'll meet someone who loves you even more than I do."

Inuyasha held her tighter. "Corin, please don't go. Please." He was afraid. He wanted more time with her, but no amount of pleading could stop the mortal wound she had received from saving his life. Nothing could grant them more time than they had already had. Life was again cruelly unfair.

It was getting much harder for Corin to breathe and she coughed and gagged on the blood that filled her lungs. Inuyasha's tears fell softly on her face and she felt every ounce of his pain. She could feel his heart shattering and she wept for her love who would be left behind. "Inuyasha…" Her voice was barely above a whisper as she struggled to give him words of comfort. "I will always love you and watch over you. Do not be afraid."

"But I am afraid," he cried.

"My love…" she rasped. Her eyelids were getting heavy and she reached for his face. Just to touch it again, to focus on his beauty before she disappeared into the darkness.

Beyond words now, Inuyasha held Corin, begging silently for her to hang on to life, but it was too late. She smiled up at him as her eyes closed; the image of Inuyasha's face guiding her into death and her body went slack in his arms.

"NOOOOOO!!!!" He screamed to the heavens. "NO! Don't go!"

Inuyasha buried Corin by the riverside among the summer flowers. A few days after her death, his memories of her began to fade. And after that she was nothing more than a vague specter in his heart. An inkling of something he was missing, a faint pulsing glow that kept him warm at night with the light of her eternal love. She was always smiling down on him as he traveled the land, searching for a place to belong.