Yay, new one-shot! I got the idea while sitting at home tonight, and was afraid if I hadn't typed it out it would flee my mind. Sad, but please enjoy!
His friends had always warned him that she would be the death of him.
At first, she had been the thunder to his lightening, always sure to have the last word. He wasn't sure when the storm had calmed. He couldn't quite place when she had become the calm ocean to his weathered rock, slowly breaking the hardened shell that had grown with time.
She came in to this world, not with a bang, but a whisper; a soft melody that to this day still called to his soul. From the maw of the well she emerged, and at once his heart awoke as she touched down on this earth for the first time. His body refused to wake, refused to gaze upon her until the moment was right. His soul screamed but his body would not listen. And so, he waited with bated breath. He would not be disappointed. Hours later her voice reached his ears once more, and this time he rose to her call, thus sealing his fate. She was not a diamond in the rough, nor a needle in a haystack, but the very sunset after a tiring day – a warm and welcomed sight. Her eyes held a fire in them second to none; often he became cinders under her molten stare. Her smile lit brighter than the sun itself, and on more than one occasion had left him forgetting to breathe. She fought valiantly, with a grace and beauty he had never known in all his years walking this earth – he was sure he would never know it again.
Looking back, he wondered how he hadn't realized how vital she was to his being.
Together, they met many on their way; enemies, friends, lovers old and new, but one thing remained true; she was always just outside his grasp. Unattainable, like the ripest fruit sitting in the tallest branches. He would watch from afar as she grew and matured, and in a few years' time she held an intelligence to her that was well beyond her years. Often his friends would attempt persuasion, enticing him with myths of requited love. How could the sun come to love the cold, lonely moon? Friend after friend would merely chuckle and return to their own musings. After all, they could only lead a horse to water.
Soon came the day when the skies darkened and fates were decided. They had always said she would be the death of him.
He never imagined they would be right.
The day before she had come to him. They spoke under the old tree, and for once, her calm was gone; in it's place was a torrent of emotions. She fumbled with the hem of her skirt as he inspected her from the corner of his eye. He knew what she would say as soon as she fixed him with those determined auburn eyes and her cheeks warmed.
"I love you." His heart stopped. His world began to spin as a single sentence ushered from his lips. For her, he would be numb, he would protect her from her own foolish heart.
"Keh. The sun and the moon can never be together." His eyes downcast. A sage answered him as her wise eyes softened, answering a prayer he hadn't known he had sent. How did she always know?
"The sun and moon can be together, if only for a short period of time. It's called an eclipse. And ours started the moment I met you." The final nail in the coffin hammered, sealing their fates.
That night, Inuyasha gave in to his heart.
The skies cried for the loss of their sun that day. Black clouds had forever snuffed it out. She lay broken and bloody in his lap as he rocked, and for the first time since he had been a small child, he prayed.
Slowly, her hand reached out for him, and he grasped it hungrily against his cheek. He could smell it, her impeding death. He could taste it on the air. Still, she smiled as life poured from her, radiant as ever. This time, however, her eyes did not cease the storm brewing inside of him, it left a hurricane threatening to break free from his skin. Her thumb moved to wipe away the beginning onslaught of tears from his weary face.
"Hush, Inuyasha. We did it, he's gone. There is no need to cry." Her lung's rumble akin to thunder in his ears. Golden orbs glared hotly as more tears threatened to spill.
"H-how can I not, s-s-stupid?" He snarled, cursing every deity he could name.
"An eclipse can only last so long." She sighed, the drum of her heart slowing. Fearful eyes watched as a tear left her.
"I love you." He choked out, his last lifeline. More tears fell from her eyes as he clung to the last few strands of her life. He had never seen her more radiant than in that moment.
"I'm glad." Her answer died on the winds. Her chest stopped moving, her drum silent. Her storm had ceased.
Three days later, they buried her beneath the old tree. Inuyasha refused to burn her, to mar her flesh and forever have her burning flesh etched into his nose. He twisted a small orb in his fingers, the very curse that had brought light to his life. He had contemplated wishing her back, but knew it would come with a price, and so, the jewel was left to his protection. Her grave was left unmarked, known only to those who had the privilege of knowing its location. Anyone close to the couple knew how he suffered; his eyes now hollow, his cheeks sunken with lack of food. His light was gone, the sun snuffed out, and now not even the stars she loved so much could shine from her radiance. This would be as close as he could ever be to her. The sun would never again touch the moon. Their eclipse was over. With a heavy sigh, the young boy clad in red sunk to the ground, finally succumbing to darkness.
A young figure appeared just below him, a sad smile playing on her lips. She bent down, and kissed the young boy between the ears. Be happy Inuyasha, for the moon smiles every night in the sky. Our eclipse shall come again. A smile splayed across his lips as her name was murmured to the wind. And like that, she disappeared.
She came in to this world, not with a bang, but a whisper; a soft melody that to this day still called to his soul. And that was exactly how Kagome Higurashi left.
500 years later, Inuyasha would be in the room when she greeted this world with all of her radiance once more.