Summary: As Kikyou lies in the shadows of the past that betrayed her, Inuyasha brings her some news that will change their relationship, even break it's fragile boundaries. What he never expected was her reaction...a pledge to remember, at least one moment being with her. InuKik Hints of InuKag No character bashing.
Disclaimer: Don't own Inuyasha.
The Vagueness Of Twilight:
"Kikyou..."
The Miko lay across the bark of the tree, as the autumn leaves that shone red and gold, collected in large groups at her feet, almost seeming to mock her in her loneliness. As the sun slowly turned to fire, she narrowed her eyes as if to scare away the impending darkness that was starting to eat its way though the vast greenery of the Inuyasha forest. Her black hair, tamed by a white ribbon, cascaded down her shoulder in raven, silky waves that touched the tip of her breasts.
Her striking black eyes glared straight ahead, as if she was refusing to look at him. Because if did, Kikyou knew the pain would be too great.
To see those expressive, fiery golden eyes interlock with hers, just one more time.
To run his wild, silver mane though her cold, dead fingertips.
To feel the beating of his heart against hers, if only for a moment.
To taste those tender lips, alive and breathing against her own.
Such simple treasures, the things...that the other woman took for granted.
Kagome.
Beautiful, pure Kagome, brimming with light and happiness. As radiant as the sun, with wide brown eyes that could bring a villain to his knees, and a smile that lit up even the darkest corner. Bold, brave, kind, and selfless...and most of all, loving. She constantly forgave: Inuyasha never doubted her for a second...while Kikyou knew, with her, it had been a different story.
Kagome was the light...leading Inuyasha away with her bright, alive touches, her clear, thoughtful words...into a place full of friendship, devotion and love. For the first time in his life, Inuyasha was not alone. Constantly surrounded by comrades, with good humor, including understanding, the angst of his past and pain was being slowly forgotten.
All because of Kagome.
Kikyou's arms weren't loving, kind, forgiving. They were cold, dead...full of danger. Even in her tenderness...Kikyou was a cobra, waiting to strike. It was like a sheep being lured into the arms of a wolf. A mouse in the jaws of a tiger. Like a thin, red thread of fate...their so called love had become tangled in the webs of cruel destiny. And like Kikyou herself had predicted, they could not be undone.
No wonder...in the end...he had gone to Kagome.
Her eyes flashed in the now dimming light as Kikyou turned her head away from the figure that approached her: a certain half demon clothed in the hair of the fire rat. He stood out from the darkness...a unearthly being clad in red. His eyes burned like flames, while Kikyou's flared like dying embers. His skin was tanned, like the sun, while Kikyou's remained purely white like moonlight, resembling a sculpted china doll.
"What do you want?"
Her voice cut though the stillness that surrounded the two of them, biting though the air like ice. Inuyasha only watched her blankly. She could sense his unease: what more news could he bring to her that could break the Miko more?
Like she had predicted, he spoke the fateful words.
"I thought you would like to know," he concluded with growing confidence, "That me and Kagome...are engaged."
The silence that fell then, was even more painful then the last. Kikyou's face remained smooth, untouched by the news...instead a small, eerie small crossed her lips as her bow struck the cold ground. Lifting herself to her feet, the Miko retreated away from Inuyasha, her eyes emotionless. However, as she opened her mouth to speak, a hint of bitterness unlined her words.
"Congratulations."
Despite himself, Inuyasha winced at the sheer coldness in her voice.
"K-Kikyou..."
"You mistake my silence for caring."
The anger, the sorrow, the pain was unquestionable. Her long, pale fingers balled into a fist as she glared at the ground...a wind blew, scattering the leaves around her, concluding in their mockery: some even got caught in her hair, but she made no action to dust them off. Inuyasha stood there behind her, lost for words. When he did speak, his words were the wrong ones.
"I'd thought you'd be..."
"What?" she hissed, almost shouting as she swirled round to stare him out, even to dare look into those eyes which once she had been so in love. "Enlightened? Happy? Joyous? Or do you think my heart is breaking? Smashing? You don't realize that my heart..."
Kikyou's eyes became soft serene once again. For a instant, she almost seemed to be the old, chaste Kikyou that had once walked the earth fifty years ago. Her eyes slowly began to well up, as a distant memory flashed across her mind.
"If you become human...then we can stop fighting."
"If the Shikon no tama disappears, what happens to you?"
"I am the one who protects the jewel. If it disappears, I can become a ordinary woman..."
Water...rippling water, the sun's rays sparkling off it. A gasp as a shoe catches a faulty board on the bridge. Wide, unsure eyes as hands reach out to catch the falling figure. A promise made on that special, magical evening. Warm arms encircling a body. Eyes meet. Lips touch.
A whisper of a love unbreakable.
...it should have been me." whispered Kikyou quietly, as her eyes met Inuyasha's. "No...it should have been us." She moved towards him...her very motives seemed to question everything, even the borders of reality itself. She didn't care if he pulled away, or resisted, or was disgusted by her actions. But it was the only way she could...
Kikyou stopped before him, examining every last inch of him: imprinting him on her heart, to hold him there forever. Questionably, she reached out her hands, expecting him to brush her away or even run. But he just stood there, a odd mix of tenderness, even fear on his face. Kikyou bought her arms around him, pulling herself closer to him. She grasped his garments and breathed in his musky, weather beaten scent, so familiar yet again, so far away.
As crystal tears clung to her dark eye lashes, she closed her eyes before bringing her lips inches away from his.
"It should have been our engagement," she began quietly, her brown eyes gleaming in the moonlight, her hands tightening on the gentle hair of the fire rat. "Our marriage..." A pale finger wound itself around silver locks as cold lips pressed themselves against his. A gasp of surprise echoed around the glade.
As the sun set in the distance, setting the tops of the trees alight, twilight feel on the two figures in the forest of Inuyasha.
Kikyou's arms were draped around Inuyasha, her eyes empty as she glanced off into nowhere: a thought rushing though her head like a unruly river.
Her eyes had interlocked with his.
She had ran her fingers though his wild, silver mane.
She had felt the vibration of his beating heart.
She had tasted his lips, alive and wet against his own.
Inuyasha stood frozen, his own eyes, deep and sorrowful. He didn't return the embrace, but a old, old feeling, slowly began to take over his heart...a shadow of the love of what he used to have for this woman. This dead, dark creature that stalked his dreams...
No.
This was no creature, no thing, no beast.
It was Kikyou.
Once, Kikyou had wanted time to stop for both of them. She had no idea how long she lingered in his arms, nor did she care. All that mattered was this moment.
In the present, time had not stopped it's cruel facade.
But for Kikyou...at least in her heart...time had stopped.
BB3: Reviews are loved. . I love this ficlet, and wrote it to break some writers block of mine. This is my first Inuyasha and Kikyou fiction, seeing as I am a InuKag fan but I love Kikyou so I couldn't resist. I...tried to keep it all in character.