Author Note: This was a request and kind of a challenge from Pheonixstar123. I've never done a crossover story before so I was a little nervous. The characters will be OOC more or less, to be honest it didn't turn out as I wanted but I still hope you will like it.

Summary: To have hope is difficult when you want to give up. But even the smallest memory can keep your hope for tomorrow up.

Disclaimer: I don't own anything in this fiction. None of the characters or their surrounding.

Pairing: Kagome/Kazuki

Fandoms: Fafner/InuYasha crossover.

Type: Oneshot.

Read, Enjoy and Review.

Scarlet Flowers of Hope
By Monkan

"Promise," she said. "Promise that you will never forget me."

"I promise." said a child's voice as they connected their pinkies. They chanted the pinkie swear song together.

The girl looked at her best friend and gave him a big radiating smile. The wind blew across the grass hill and swept over them in gentle waves.

From afar an adult shouts after them and the girl hugged her friend good bye before she ran away.

The boy stood up and with all his might he shouted after her, "I will never forget you. Never. I promise."

But if his words were heard or drowned out by the wind was never known.

-o-o-o-o-

The alarms was blaring and everyone ran to their positions. A new enemy had appeared and the pilots had barely left in their Fafner's before the edge of the land was completely wiped out and along with all the life there.

Among the fighting children were a girl with long black hair. She made a huge leap and before everyone else she landed right next to the enemy. She dodged the hit but also attacked right away. She did her best to defend her home and everyone, until the others arrived she endured it.

After a fight that felt like it lasted for days the enemy was finally defeated.

Exhausted she hauled herself down the road to her home. She didn't feel like staying with the others for she felt guilty. Guilt for not realizing the enemy was so close by. They had won but also lost today. The guilt from it was a heavy burden she knew she should carry but she couldn't help it.

Kagome walked up to her room as soon as she got inside the front door. Not bothering to remove her uniform. Her dark bangs fell over her eyes as she landed on her stomach on her bed. It had only been a couple of days, maybe a little over a week since the first attack, since she and the others learned the truth about themselves and their role in life.

She would go to school tomorrow. She knew she would endure it, for every one's sake she had too. They all expected so much from her.

If only he was here then she could cope with it all.

She hoped every day that he would return to the island.

Maybe then would the buzzing noise in her ears stop.

-o-o-o-o-

Kagome straighten her school uniform before giving herself a look in the mirror and gave a nod of approval. With a smile on her lips she grabbed her bag and left her home with an added sprint in her steps, her hair floated behind her back.

She took the stone stairs up the road with ease and every time she meet someone she gave them a cherful greeting. She saw her friends up ahead and moved faster to catch up with them. Interrupting their gossiping.

"Hi everyone." She said when she caught up with them.

"Kagome, have you heard?" one of the girls asked her.

"Heard what?" she asked as she had no clue to what was going on.

"A boat came to this island early today."

Kagome's heart made a skip. Could it be...

"Do you know who it was?" she asked, trying not to get her hopes up in vain.

No one knew.

"But we will find out soon enough." A boy said. "This island is so little that if someone new came we would know it from first glance." he was also exited that someone had come to their island.

Kagome could only make a small sound of agreement as her feelings of hope and anguish welled up in her heart. She really tried to keep her heart from hoping to much, not wanting to be hurt.

As soon as she walked inside the gates to school she could feel how she drew the attention of the others. She walked with the others, listening to their gossiping and laughed with them.

When she greeted a group of lower classmen she said nothing despite the fact that she didn't like it when they added "-sama" to her name. She was the same as everyone else so there were no need to add "-sama" for her.

"Hey, hey." another classmate of hers said as they came closer to their classroom. "You'll never guess who has returned." he said excitedly and it was only then that Kagome heard the other loud voices coming from their classroom.

Without thinking she ran the last part to the open doors and when she could look inside she saw something that made her want to cry.

"Kazuki." she said as she flung herself at her long lost friend. "You've returned, Kazuki. I'm so happy."

She felt how his arms came up around her but to her surprise there were hardly any strength in them, almost the same as if he wasn't hugging her at all.

"Kazuki." she asked as she pulled back.

The boy before her had transformer since she last saw him. His hair was still short and dark and his face showed how the years had formed him, his eyes sharper than what she remembered, he's gotten taller too to almost reach her height. His eyes were clear and stared back at her and although he returned her smile she thought it felt empty.

"I'm back, Kagome." he said with a gentle voice before letting her go completely.

Kagome stared at Kazuki as he greeted the rest of his childhood friends.

Even though her best friend had returned to her side she somehow felt that there were something missing. This wasn't the Kazuki she remembered.

-o-o-o-o-

"Kagome! Kagome!" a boy screamed over and over again but the pain in her back was to severe for her to think about anything else.

Blood dripped down in small drops onto the grass, coloring it red.

-o-o-o-o-

Kagome sat up with a start, her eyes wide as she looked straight ahead and only saw her room. When suddenly her back throbbed she out of instinct reached for it with her hand and her fingertips touched her shoulder where she knew the scar began. It was an ugly scar to look at but over the years since she received it, it had healed nicely and there were no scared tissue left but strangely enough the image of the scar refused to disappear.

"Why did I have that dream?" she asked herself. Her hand in her lap clutched tightly, she made sure to never show her back to anyone. "Why can't I remember who was with me?"

Her bed clock started to beep and she absentmindedly reached out and snoozed it. Kagome pushed the cover of her and her feet touched the rug in her room but she didn't stand up. Her PJ pants were twisted around her thighs but her dazed mind hardly cared for it. When suddenly her clock beeped for the second time she was surprised that 15 minutes had already gone by.

"I have to get ready for school.." she concluded to herself and tried to get her brain to work properly but when she stood in front of the mirror brushing her teeth her current problem came down on her again.

Kazuki was avoiding her. She didn't know why but ever since he returned he had been different. Not only did she feel incredibly sad about it but she also held a small hope that today would be different.

On her way out her room she passed her desk and on it stood a framed photo with a lot of children. A little from the center of the group stood she and Kazuki, laughing as their picture were being taken. How she longed back to that time, when she could laugh carefreely.

"I'm going." she called out as she left the empty house.

-o-o-o-o-o-

"Are you there?"

The voice of the enemy echoed in their ears as they fought of the latest enemy. Kagome fought the desire to yell her response as well as the urge to cry for her fallen friends. Currently there were only she and Kazuki left, capable to fight back. Soushi supported the best he could but the enemy had infiltrated their network somehow and they were fighting on more levels than just killing the enemy.

"Are you there?"

Kazuki went flying into the wall of the mountain and crushed stones into minor pieces that fell down. Kagome jumped in with all her might and pierced the enemy, buzzing the voice out and leaving them victorious once more. She was so out of breath that she had to bend down her head.

"Kazuki?" she whispered over the mecha's system. "Are you all right?"

"Somehow." he said back. "You?"

"Somehow I feel like I will be sore tomorrow."

A soft laughter filtered through, "Yeah, I know what you mean. Soushi?"

The reply of their comrades were buzzed out from Kagome's eyes as her eyes caught sight of something familiar.

One of the trees on the mountain had fallen victim during the battle and it's leaves had completely left it, the tiny blades were floating in the air out toward see. But they weren't green like the season begged them to be but scarlet red from the rays of the setting sun. The ocean were a sparkling gold with hints of red and with the red leaves that looked like flower pedals her mind were transferred back to old memories of her past.

-o-o-o-o-o-

"Look Kagome." the boy yelled happily. "Pretty isn't it?"

"Wow." she said as she took in the cosplay of nature. The sun coloring the leaves red as they danced around them. "Amazing."

"I wanted to show you before we have to go back home." the boy said proudly of making his friend smile.

"It looks like a dream." Kagome said in awe. "Like a fairy tale."

"Since Kagome is special I won't show this to anyone else. This will be just for us. No one else."

"Thank you, Kazuki." she said with a big smile. "I will remember it all my life."

The little boy looked at Kagome with big smiling eyes. His little chubby cheeks were sported with a tiny blush.

"Even if I forget everything else I will never forget you Kagome." Kazuki said before he leaned forward and kissed her cheek. "No one will ever keep us apart."

"Forget?" Kagome asked a little scared, would Kazuki forget her? She didn't want that. She didn't want to forget Kazuki or he to forget her.

"Promise," she said. "Promise that you will never forget me."

"I promise." said a child's voice as they connected their pinkies. They chanted the pinkie swear song together.

-o-o-o-o-o-

Kagome came back to herself and smiled fondly as she remembered. Kazuki had showed her a sight similar to this one and it was a precious memory to her.

She wasn't aware of Kazuki watching her from where he was standing bellow.

Later that same day when most of the days events had passed and the grief of losing more friends had finally set in Kagome was surprised to see Kazuki as she walked down the corridor alone. She stopped a few feet away from him and waited for him to do something, what she didn't know but he wasn't avoiding her anymore.

Kazuki stared at her for a minute without saying anything. She had really grown up but his feelings for her was still the same as when they were children.

"I'm sorry." he said quietly. "I know I hurt you but..."

"Then why?" Kagome asked with her voice controlled and collected. "Why did you avoid me?"

Kazuki bit his lower lip as if he refused to answer. "Kagome..."

"I don't want excuses." she said softly, "I just want to know that you remember me. To let me know I'm here."

Kazuki still hesitated but eventually let go of his lip. "You are the same. Still for forward and honest. Opposite from me you haven't changed at all."

"What are you talking about?"

"Kagome." Kazuki took a step closer until he was close enough to hug her. "All this time I've kept my promise to you and never forgot you but I was scared that you wouldn't like me anymore because I've changed. I thought it was best if I waited and saw how you reacted to have me back but then I never got a chance to talk to you privately."

"What are you talking about?" Kagome asked. "I was happy when you returned."

"You don't remember?" Kazuki asked hesitantly.

Kagome looked at him with confusion. "What?"

Shaking his head he said a clear "Never mind." before smiling at her. "I'm sorry I worried over nothing."

Kagome wasn't ready when she was pulled into a tight hug. "I'm home."

Her eyes went wide as she thought she heard wrong but when she felt Kazuki kiss her cheek she was struck speechless. She couldn't say anything when he pulled back or when he walked away with a smile and she couldn't say anything as the others caught up with her.

She reached up to touch her cheek and her mind slowly registrated everything. She giggle as she realized it.

"You haven't changed at all. You're still the Kazuki I remember."

Maybe tonight she could sleep and hopefully tomorrow would be an even better day where they could go to that scarlet field where all their hope laid.

The End.