Disclaimer: I do not own Inu Yasha or any relating plots or characters.

Redemption

By Ardent Ly

When she caught the rumble of his car pulling up onto their driveway, dread dropped like a heavy stone in her stomach. Her pulse was racing and she frantically tried to calm herself down. She knew that if he caught the slightest hint of a difference in her character, suspicion would grow and she knew that having him in that state wouldn't help her case at all. She stared with a trembling gaze at the package in her hand, suddenly unsure if this was the right thing to do. Was she really willing to give up seven years of a steady marriage over one silly little doubt?

Thinking back on all the incidents when she caught whiffs of undistinguishable floral scents on his clothes; all the late, unexplained nights; the mysterious phone calls from blocked numbers; his hesitance when touching her…

Yes, she affirmed. Yes, she was.

"Koi?" He called out to her. Forcing a smile on her face, she left her package on her seat and went to meet him at the door. Her smile faltered slightly at the sight of him – the glow of his presence revealed the satisfaction of man who had just made love to a woman. A woman who was not his wife. She blinked the tears that burned her eyes and pulled the ends of her lips to stretch even farther. He might've just had a really good day at work, she tried to console herself, maybe a new promotion or a new office. No need to be apprehensive of everything.

"Hey, honey. How was work?" She eased his work coat off his broad shoulders, resisting the urge to place a kiss on the blade of his shoulder. His cologne was stronger than usual, she noticed, but again she made up his excuses. She never woke up in time to see him off, so maybe he had a late start and forgone having a shower. It was a possibility; it didn't have to be his sly way of trying to hide his other woman's scent – if there was another woman at all. She could've been wrong about this entire thing, she knew. She didn't have concrete evidence, just her nagging doubts and insistent girlfriends. She appeased herself for the moment with the idea of her being wrong.

Rolling his shoulders back and dropping his suitcase on the side table in their entryway, her husband sighed out, "It was okay. I ran into some trouble with the computer's system today, so I had to get Miroku to come by and take a look at it for me. He fixed it in a jiff, so I didn't lose that much time." She frowned mentally at his response. "Let's go have some dinner, 'kay? I could smell it from the driveway, and I'm starved!"

As she followed him into the dining room, the frown in her head grew deeper. She sorely missed the days when he would do the little things for her, like ask her how her day had been. But times have changed, and with his new job, he had been under more stress than usual. Yet another excuse for his benefit.

They settled into their seats and ate in peace, the only sounds coming from the clanking of their eating utensils and the occasional grunt of appreciation from her argent-haired spouse. She had prepared all of his favorites, hoping that all the ramen bowls and pickled radishes would keep him amiable and open-minded.

Finally, after having an inner battle with herself and losing, she managed to pitch up enough nerve to ask him. "Do you love me?" she blurted out timidly, lowering her gaze to her plate. His eyes, the amber orbs she first fell in love with, had always been able to reflect his thoughts and emotions and she dreaded seeing anything that would point towards a negative answer.

Though his brows were raised in surprised, he offered her his most genuine smile. Had she been standing, her knees would've buckled from beneath her. "You know I do," he replied, taking her lithe hand into his and brushing his lips against her knuckles. With just a touch, she knew that all of her fears had been confirmed. There was no warmth in his gesture, at least none compared to the love there used to be behind it when they first started dating. He had fallen in love with someone else.

She swallowed heavily, trying to moisten her suddenly dry throat. "Then please, do something for me?"

"Anything," he promised without delay, though still obviously perplexed with the whole situation.

Without another word, she slid a thick package of paper towards him, waiting patiently for his reaction. After a moment or two, she heard his audible gasp and flinched at the echoing sound of his fork hitting their fine china.

"You want a divorce?" The shock rang clear in his tone. Still without looking up, she nodded her head. Emotions clashed as the minutes between them went by quietly; anguish, regret, confusion, agony, and as much as she tried to deny it, love. The man before her had hurt her countless times with his infidelity, but that didn't stop her heart from pounded loudly whenever he so much as stepped into the same room as her. Pathetic. "If… if that's what you want." It pierced her deeply to know that he didn't even want to try to patch things up between them, but knew that a clean break was all she could hope for in her sad little drama.

She took a deep breath to calm her nerves. "It's what I want," she confirmed. They went about the rest of their dinner in stoney silence.

Two months passed and after organizing what went to whom, changing financial entitlements, and making the arrangements with their lawyer, they were officially and legally single again. She slipped out of her lawyer's building, feeling uncharacteristically giddy and free. On her face was the smile that had been missing for so long, and on a sudden whim, she threw her head back and released a joyous laugh. The cab she had hailed stopped just a few paces away from her.

Just as she was to open the door and slip inside, a voice from behind stopped her. "Um, so, I guess this is good bye then," She turned; embarrassed that he of all people had caught her in such a vulnerable state. Taking in his expression, she didn't find a sneer but rather, a sheepish grin.

Feeling sheepish now too, she gave off a nervous laugh. "Yes, I suppose so. At least, for now. I expect an invitation, Inu Yasha, so don't you dare forget about me." Her air was light and could have easily been mistaken for a jesting mood, but she knew that her words startled him.

Despite it, he offered her a toothy, almost smart, smile. "Like I could," he replied in a tone that matched hers. "You got a place to go?"

"I have a few friends down at Osaka who've agreed to put up with me while I get settled." Though he wasn't hers anymore, she was touched by his concern. In a bout of spontaneity, she launched herself at him, basking in his warm embrace for the last time. Without a word of goodbye, she settled herself in the backseat of the cab and with a quick word, she were gone.

Inu Yasha watched the yellow car grow smaller and smaller until it turned a corner and disappeared from his sights completely. With a fond look in his eyes, he pivoted on his heel and started walking. Whipping out his cell phone, he tapped in a few buttons and waited for the ringing to cease. "Kagome? Hey, it's Inu Yasha. Yeah, it's been finalized…"

There you have it! I bet I fooled a few of you, huh? Haha If you didn't quite catch the twist here, Inu Yasha's previous wife was Kikyo and the woman he was having an affair with was Kagome. Tsk tsk, Kagome, you home-wrecker, you! Oh well, I think they're better suited for each other, don't you?

I've had this plotline running around in my head for a while now, and since I've neglected writing Inu Yasha stories for so long, I figured it was about time I let it out. So, drop me a line and tell me what you thought about it! Thanks!

~Ardie out!