Something I wrote a long time ago and posted on my blog. I fixed it up a bit and decided to post this. I'm not planning on continuing this, cause if I did, it'd probably be ruined. And I would have no idea where to go either. The coupling is not really specific, but I had a Kagome/Sesshomaru thing planned when I wrote this. You can imagine whatever coupling you want, though.

To Love and Loose

By: Renangel

"I'm not human." he said, "I never will be."

She leaned against him and lay her head against his chest. "I know. I never asked you to be. You aren't human...you're something more."

He looked down at the slip of a girl leaning against him, and some unknown feeling stirred within the depths of his mind, bringing with it a type of warmth he'd never experienced before. With regret, he said what both of them were undoubtedly thinking, "We cannot be together. Society will not allow it."

She closed her gray-blue eyes and willed away the hot tears that gathered beneath them. Gripping the fabric of his kimono in one hand, she laughed shakily...helplessly. "It is not possible...I know. We were condemned before this all began, ne?"

Unbidden, the tears leaked from her eyes and seeped into his clothes, staining them with the despair that they were both experiencing. Wordlessly, he brought up a clawed hand and placed it ontop of her head. Running his fingers through her ebony tresses, he silently cursed the gods for the pain that they'd brought down upon the two.

Two.

Two hearts. One lost, one saved.

Two souls. One pure, one tainted.

Two paths. One left, one right.

Two children. Both forsaken, both denied.

They did not whisper words of love as most secret lovers would. They did not make promises; empty promises only brought more pain and sorrow. They did not pretend that everything would work out, nor did they pretend that true love would conquer all. It was useless to hope. Things simply didn't work out like that in the real world. Those were fairy tale dreams, false truths that would ultimately tear them apart if they chose to indulge in them.

"How much longer?" she asked softly.

"Two hours." He removed his hand from her head. Time was creeping up on them. It could not be stopped; no matter how hard they tried, it could not be stopped.

She clasped his hand between her smaller ones, and he could feel her body convulse as she struggled to keep her tears inside. Licking her lips, she managed to ask weakly, "Do…do you regret…" she trailed off, unable to finish her question.

He was silent for a moment. Then, he placed his chin on her head and wrapped his arm around her torso. Now her hands were resting on top of his on her waist instead of on either side of his hand. "No." he answered her bluntly, "This Sesshoumaru does not regret."

"It is better to have love and lost then to have never loved at all, huh?" she mused quietly.

"Hn."

Together, they stood beneath the branches of the old, sacred tree, looking up at the night sky. The wind blew by them, carrying way their unspoken words of love, hope, and desire. All that was left was a sense of hopelessness, despair, and longing. The moon was hidden behind the gray storm clouds that had gathered. The stars were dimmed by the rain that started to pour from the sky. Still, they stood there, wrapped up in eachother's embraces, never wanting to let go.

Finally, as the red sun rose out of the east, they departed. Both turning away from each other and walking in opposite directions, neither looking back.