Author's Note: For SparkleTrue, who is dear to my heart.
This story takes place one month prior to Ineluctable.
Irrevocable
Part I of the Second!Verse
Waiting is always the hardest part. It truly is with the way that your palms sweat, your heart pounds, and your head races with images that you just can't shake. You're waiting for him, always for him. Will there ever be a day you never stop waiting?
You lean against the old tree, the cherry blossoms black with the night. The moon is out but it's heavily covered by clouds, thick and ominous. It adds to the mood, you think, trying to breathe. The air is warm, almost suffocating, and you take four deep breaths to shake this.
He's going to come.
You have to tell yourself this because you don't have another option. Your heart will keep beating until it breaks, and even if you know he's going to be the boy to let you down you can't stop. He's just him and you love everything about it.
You remember the first time like it was yesterday. The clash of gold as eyes met across the room, the feeling of weightlessness when you met secretly on the balcony. These weren't typically things one should do, especially not towards someone of such power and status. But it's the way he smirks at you, all smug confidences and vulnerable, terrified eyes that draw you in.
The moment you figure it out, it's already too late. You're in love.
So now you wait. Always waiting for him because you're just a merchant's daughter and he's so much more. Until the day fate breaks you apart, you'll remain waiting at this very tree.
Closing your eyes, you try to remember reasons why this will work. He always tells you that – that it will, that it has to. He can't let you go, that's exactly what he says, and you desperately try to believe as strongly as you love him. You push away from the tree with a flourish, struggling to let out the energy that's building inside of you. He's going to come, you have to remind yourself. He promised he would. He said he would. Those golden eyes wouldn't lie to you and you know it.
It's almost terrifying when there's a crack of branches from somewhere behind, but before you can even turn around there are arms around you. They're strong, warm, protective, and you feel yourself melt as much as you want to hold still. But it's him. It's always been him. He's what you've been waiting for.
"Kagome…" Inuyasha whispers and it's as much of an apology as it is a promise. You feel his warm breath against your neck as he buries his face in your hair, arms refusing to let you go.
You never want him to. Ever.
Because you love him and you'll wait for him. So long as you have this moment, this embrace as strong as the love itself, you figure that nothing will stand in the way.
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