Title: So Far, Yet So Close

Prologue Part 1: The Last Day

Disclaimer: I don't own Inuyasha or Perish in the Name of Love, which gave me the inspiration for this story.

Author's Note: This story, formerly known as We'll Meet Again and Familiar Strangers is once again, back up, and improved! If you read this, please, please, please review this because I really need feedback.

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"Kagome!" yelled a voice through the grassy field.

A raven-haired girl with a beautiful old-fashioned pink kimono on suddenly turned around, frantically scanning the area behind her to locate the source of whoever said her name. When she spotted silver poking somewhere in between the hills, she suddenly ran to it, shouting, "Inuyasha!"

Black hair suddenly collided into silver, sending them flying straight into a tree.

"Wench," Inuyasha said. "Do you have to run so hard?"

Kagome giggled as she got up from him. This was their daily playing routine: look for each other, crash into a tree, amuse themselves with some kind of game until it was time for dinner. After that, their routine would continue with eating and then sleeping peacefully, knowing that the next day would be filled with as much fun as it is now.

But this day was different. This would be the last day for Kagome, before she goes into hiding with her mother. As much as she didn't want to live the rest of her life in some kind of other identity and without the riches of her kingdom, she had no other choice. A few months before, her father had been murdered by Naraku. If they didn't run away from their palace soon, he would also murder her and her mother. They had already packed most of their belongings and would be leaving tomorrow morning.

Kagome took a deep breath. Breaking the news to Inuyasha wouldn't be so easy. They had been friends ever since they started to learn walking, and being separated from a long-time friend wasn't too easy. Besides, when her mother told her the news, Kagome had flipped out and didn't talk to her for days. However, after giving her mother the silent treatment for about a week, she realized that it wasn't her fault. It was Naraku's fault. If he wasn't such a selfish prick, then everything would have still been peaceful, and nobody would be fighting over for power. She hated Naraku. He was the one who caused all this trouble. 'Someday, I will avenge my father's death,' she vowed silently to herself.

"Inuyasha," she stammered, "I-I have something I have to tell you."

Inuyasha gave her a quizzical look, as if it was a joke. "What?" he asked. It was unusual for Kagome to talk to him nervously. Usually it wouldn't be a problem for them to tell each other things, even their deepest secrets. If Kagome were stuttering, it would mean that either she was lying or she had some bad news to spill.

Kagome looked down. It hurt her to see her best friend sad. "Mama, Souta, and I will have to go away."

Inuyasha stared at her. "When?" he asked.

Kagome tried to keep herself from crying. "For a long time...maybe forever. I can't come back. Mama says that it's too dangerous for me and Souta to stay here."

Inuyasha felt his heart go down. He was expecting an answer like, "Oh, maybe two weeks." But he didn't expect her to leave her palace. He could stand living here without his best friend for two weeks, but ten years, or twenty years was too much. He wondered if he would be able to see her again. Suddenly, feeling something wet on his cheeks had startled him. He had rarely cried, except for that time when his mother died. Now he had lost two of the most important people he had in life. Whom will he play with when Kagome's gone? Definitely not Sesshoumaru, his older half brother, who found mascara more interesting than Inuyasha was. Hell, he would die if he even got within 10 feet of him. His father was too busy with politics. The servants would be too busy hiding from him or cowering in fear because he was a hanyou. So that would just leave him alone again, feeling unloved and unwanted.

Kagome felt like she had been stabbed so many times. Never had she seen Inuyasha cry. He wasn't that kind of person who would cry in public, yet even in front of her. He would always try to act like a big shot, so this surprised her. It broke her heart to see him like that. They were inseparable. Like Siamese twins, they had always done everything together, and they could almost read each other's minds. Breaking them apart would be like trying to remove the snow off the cap of a mountain: it was impossible. She hated Naraku for doing this to them. What was once peaceful would not be all chaos.

Suddenly Inuyasha's ears perked up. Kagome's eyes snapped towards him, almost as if waiting for him to say something. "Can I come with you?" Inuyasha asked hopefully.

Kagome looked doubtful. "No, no, I don't think I can. Our escape is supposed to be a secret, and if your papa finds you gone, he would have everyone searching for you. I don't think that would be good for us. Naraku might find us and kill us." She shuddered. "I would if I was given the chance for you to come with me, but mommy said that I can't bring you along," Kagome's eyes turned teary, "I'm sorry I can't bring you along, Inuyasha."

Inuyasha felt hopeless. He was hoping so much that his plan might work! True, his father would find him eventually, but who gives? Nobody cared about him, the hanyou. He suddenly felt extreme hate towards Naraku, the man who had torn apart his family, Kagome's family, and now, their friendship. He was the one who killed his mother. He remembered every single detail of his mother's murder. When he later told his father about what he saw, all he did was pat his head and smile at him, like he was some crazy idiot. But no one believed him, except Kagome. She was the one who was always by his side. She was the one who stood up for him whenever someone made fun of him about his demon/human heritage. She was the one who didn't feel ashamed to play with a dirty hanyou boy. Demons didn't want to interact with him because of his human blood and he was a disgrace to them. Humans also didn't want to be seen with him because they were either scared of him or they thought he was a freak or they singled him out because of his funny appearance. She was the one who understood what he felt. They were like part of each other, like the halves of a jewel. Without the other half, the jewel cannot be full. Without each other, they both felt powerless and weak.

The sun shined down on the two children standing next to each other, faces glum. The grass was swaying with the wind, as if it was laughing at them. The birds were chirping happily, as if they were mocking them. The sun was shining brightly down through the sky, as if it was smiling happily about their doom. It was like the whole world was turned against them. It wasn't fair. It just wasn't fair at all.

Inuyasha sighed and sat down, trying to ponder a way to stop the escape. Kagome followed him, sitting to the right of him. Suddenly, Kagome fumbled with the folds of her kimono, reaching into her wide sleeves, took out a rolled piece of paper, and handed it to Inuyasha.

Giving her a quizzical look, Inuyasha slowly unrolled the scroll. Inside was a beautiful watercolor painting that he and Kagome and painted not too long ago.

Flashback

Kagome and Inuyasha sat listlessly under a large, shaded tree. It was one of those icky hot summer days where the sun was too bright and hot for the two to play. Not only was the heat disabling Kagome and Inuyasha to play under the sun, but the meadow was very muddy and they did not want to risk being punished for dirtying their clothes.

"Hey, Inuyasha, why don't we paint something?" Kagome suddenly asked.

Inuyasha frowned. He wasn't that creative, but since the meadow was muddy because of the thunderstorm that last for two weeks, they had nothing else to do, so he had no choice but to agree. He shrugged, "Whatever."

Taking that as a yes, Kagome took Inuyasha's hand and led him around the palace, looking for the storage room, where most of the art supplies were kept. Finding the large closet in the back of the art room, they quickly found a large variety of watercolor paints, many paintbrushes of different shapes and sizes, and a large bucket full of water so they would be able to wash the paintbrushes if they wanted to change colors.

Soon, Inuyasha and Kagome were finished with their painting, and considering the fact that they were only seven year olds, their painting was beautiful. While Kagome was admiring the painting, she noticed that the person that she recognized as herself was holding a lovely red rose.

Kagome turned to Inuyasha with a questioning look. "Hey, Inuyasha, why am I holding a flower?" she asked.

Inuyasha ears drooped. "You don't know why?" he asked, feigning hurt.

Kagome frowned, "No, I don't think so..." Her face scrunched up into a pondering look.

Inuyasha just grinned. Using his demon speed, he ran back to his quarters to retrieve a wonderful bouquet full of flowers of all sorts, and ran back to where he was originally standing in just two minutes. "Here, these are for you, happy birthday."

Kagome gasped. She had been so caught up mourning for her father that she had forgotten the date of her birthday, June 6. She smiled. Even though she had forgotten her birthday, her best friend didn't. Giving him a hug, which caught Inuyasha, who currently had his arms crossed in front of him, off-guard, earning a yelp from him, she yelled, "Thank you Inuyasha!"

Scratching his back, he gave a simple reply, "Feh."

Kagome giggled. Under that skin of stubbornness, he was really a kind-hearted person inside, although he always ruins the moment with his fehs.

End Flashback

Kagome smiled at the memory of her birthday. Even though her father had died only a few weeks before her birthday, her family and friends had always been there to cheer her up, no matter what. Turning left towards Inuyasha, she said, almost in a whisper, "I want you to have it."

"Why? Isn't this your birthday souvenir? I have plenty of souvenirs, you know..." a confused Inuyasha began.

Kagome giggled. "No, Inuyasha, it's not because of that. You're too clumsy to remember me, so this will be a token of our friendship."

Inuyasha pouted. "Kagome, I'm not that forgetful, and it won't be fair if I get something and you don't…"

Kagome playfully slapped his arm. "Yes you are. You do remember that time when you watered my mom's plants too much...and that time when you forgot to feed Lucky the Goldfish...and that time when you—"

Inuyasha interrupted her, cutting her off from what she was about to say, because after about a year of trying to forget it, he wasn't just going to let all that effort swim away just because Kagome mentioned it. "Okay, okay, I get the point, but now, we are going to find a souvenir for you." He stood up to stretch, and then jumped up a tree to sit on a branch so he would be able to think.

Kagome followed him, absently climbing up the tree. Reaching the branch adjacent to the branch that Inuyasha was currently sitting on with her arms, she swung her arms to flip herself so she would be able to sit on the branch. When she landed on the branch with a small thump, she held onto it, using both of her hands, to regain her balance. As soon as she was sitting stable and steadily on the branch, she finally let go of the branch, only to grasp onto it tightly again as Inuyasha jumped off his branch, causing the whole tree to shake as he jumped.

"Inuyasha! Wait up!" called Kagome as she also jumped off her branch and landed rather gracefully, due to all of the previous years that she had spent climbing and jumping off trees. Inuyasha stopped, and turned around, looking rather impatiently as Kagome landed lightly on the soft grass and scurried towards him. As soon as she was a few steps away from him, he once again turned around and headed towards his room at a quick pace. Kagome followed behind him at a slower pace, pondering what Inuyasha would give her.

When Kagome arrived at Inuyasha's room, she saw Inuyasha already impatiently waiting for her. The maids who were standing at the entrance of his room curtsied at them, while also greeting, "Prince Inuyasha of the Shikon Isles and Princess Kagome of the Higurashi Kingdom." Giving them a nod, Kagome entered the room.

Inuyasha's room was, once again, as messy as she remembered it the last time she went in. Walking around the heap of clothes that he had carelessly thrown around, Kagome sat on his bed, her back facing the ceiling. Fumbling in the chest that was full of his mother's stuff, Inuyasha finally retrieved a small little clear black velvet bag with red rose designs on it. Yanking it out of the bundle of his mother's many belongings, which she passed down to his son, Inuyasha hopped over to his bed where Kagome was sitting. Thrusting the bag towards Kagome, he mumbled, "Open it."

Kagome fiddled with the soft silky material of the bag. Embroidered in intricate designs, it was truly a beautifully made bag. Noticing the small and even stitches on the bag, Kagome instantly knew that it was hand-made by a professional. Since the decorations on the bag were so complicated, she knew that it was probably very expensive.

"You done scrutinizing the stupid bag now?" a grumpy showing impatience voice interrupted her thoughts.

Kagome giggled and delicately opened the bag, as if it would break if she made any wrong move. Treating the bag like a glass doll, she slipped her petite hand in and withdrew a beautiful golden chain, with a little light pinkish ball as a charm. Kagome instantly fell in love with her new present.

"Oh thank you Inuyasha!" Kagome shouted with glee, despite the fact that this was her going away present. Latching her arms around his neck, she gave him a tight hug, nearly choking Inuyasha.

Unhooking her arms from his abused neck, he crossed his arms in front of him, giving a simple reply, "Feh."

Kagome giggled and hugged him again, though, this time, not too tight. Retracting the beautiful chain back into her new pouch, she stuffed them into the little pocket that she had sewed into the wide sleeves of her kimono.

Just as they were about to leave, Inuyasha stopped them, saying, "Oh, and it's called the Shikon no Tama, if you were wondering."

Kagome just gave him a simple nod, although she didn't know what he meant. Hearing the gong, which meant that it was dinnertime for the royal family members, the two took off into a chase towards the dining area.

As they arrived, Kagome and Inuyasha separated their ways, because since Inuyasha and his family was the guest, they sat at a different table, while Kagome, her mother, her grandfather, and her little brother Souta sat in the main table. But before leaving, Kagome slipped a note in Inuyasha's hand. Making sure that no one was around him trying to peer into the note; he unfolded it, and read,

"Same time same place. Don't be late.
-Kagome"

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End. The second part of the prologue will be up in a week or two. Please, I tell you again, please, please, please, review this chapter to tell me what you think. This is very important to me. And before I forget, welcome back Jacky! Not that much of a good welcome back present, but whatever.