Chapter One;
This place was barren now, different, cold. It held none of the excitement and the life that had once been so relied on by the beautiful girl who lived in the Higurashi Shrine. It held no magic, no hint of the adventure she had once embarked on. There was nothing left in the bone eaters well but dust, dirt and memories… memories of a life that was better, not safer not more healthy… but better.
The door to the shed the well lied within slid open slowly, a single string of light drawing across the edge of the well. A thin, pale hand snaked across the door as Kagome Higurashi slid into the well house, her heart racing a lot faster than it had ever raced before.
Kagome closed her eyes and took a deep breath, her eyes filling with tears as she stared down into the darkness of the well. There hadn't been anything in the darkness for a long time, a very long time. The tears tilted over her eyelids as she fell apart, her hand gripping tightly at the well.
"Hey Inuyasha…" She spoke, biting at her lip slightly as her finger tips etched into the thick, old wood of the bone eaters well. So many memories surrounded this place, surrounded the ancient shrine that now covered her in darkness that littered her with her deepest sorrows. "I miss you." She whispered, her voice quavering slightly with the weight of her emotions.
A sigh fell from her lips, her head falling so that her dark bangs crossed over her eyes. "It's been a year now," she whispered, feeling every string in her heart ache violently. "I finally graduated from school… It took awhile, but I made up all those classes I had failed. Moms proud, grandpas prouder…. All my friends have sort of taken me back, though skeptically…. I keep realizing that they will never be like you."
She thought about all the times she had spent with Sango, Miroku, Shippo and Inuyasha. Finding the jewel shards, getting to know each other, it had all been an adventure she had never wanted to end… but everything ended at some point or another.
"I hope you're taking care of Shippo for me," she sobbed, the tears starting to cascade down her cheeks as she realized how abandoned the young fox demon had to feel. "And… and I hope you're taking care of yourself, too." She wiped her hand across her eyes, a sniffle falling from her lips. Her makeup was running down her face, her heart hammering. "I… I never got to tell you the truth, Inuyasha and I've got to get myself together… I've got to… I've got to let you go someday."
She could remember seeing a doctor, a therapist of sorts for a few months after she had been forced so eagerly back into the future. Every day he had told her that she had to let go of her delusions in order to move on, to grow stronger… I loved you," she whispered, the tears falling even faster now, uncontrollable it seemed. "I loved you so much, I know you loved Kikyo, I know you wanted to bring her back, to be with her but…" the sobs wracked her body, her entire frame shaking slightly. "I never thought it would end like this… I never thought…"
Her mind snapped back to that night, the night that everything had fallen apart. She could see the darkness, the single shadow and the strong arms that wrapped around her. At the time, she had thought it was Inuyasha, thought he was taking her away, but he wasn't… it wasn't… Before she knew what was happening, the jewel was being ripped away from her body and she was lost in darkness as she spiraled down the well and back into the future where she belonged.
"Why haven't you come to get me?" She cried.