Okay, guys. Here's the deal: this is not a happy fic. It will, however, get betterin the next chapter.Please stick around till then, and I promise you won't be disappointed. :)
In this story, Kikyo and Naraku are gone. The Shikon no Tama's still there, though.
Fic Disclaimer: Okay. If I were Rumiko Takahashi, I would not have time to be writing fanfics. I'd be drawing up next week's Shonen Sunday chapter. So, no,I do not own Inuyasha. XP
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To Protect That Which You Cherish
By Haunter Mooneyes, Muse, and Mage
-.-.-
Inuyasha trotted lightly through the forest, ears perked forward, sighing in frustration.
I didn't find anything out, he mused silently, eyeing the glowing orb in his palm. I went all the way to Midoriko's cave for nothing. Stupid corpse couldn't have told me anything anyway; I don't know why I bothered going.
He snorted. I know why I went. Kagome wanted me to go. Baka me. Shouldn't have let her talk me into it…
The hanyou had set off for Sango's old village a week ago to see if he could find anything out about the Shikon no Tama. Naraku had been killed a month earlier, destroyed by Kikyo…
…
…and the undead miko had died in the process of killing him.
Take care of the Jewel, Inuyasha thought dimly. She tells Kagome to take care of the Jewel, tells me to take care of Kagome, and then dies. Keh. Idiot…
He sighed. He couldn't say that he really missed the woman. Kikyo'd never been around much in the first place.
Besides, she'd been happy when she died…
Inuyasha yawned and stretched. But there'd been nothing at Midoriko's cave. Nothing. Nothing that could tell him what he had to do.
We'll just have to figure it out on our own, he thought.
Suddenly he stopped.
A scent wafted to the hanyou on the wind, prickling his nose. Blood. Human. Female.
Kagome…Kagome's blood! What the fuck?...!
Inuyasha broke into a run, racing after the scent as it moved away from him on the wind. He ran faster, something wild and frightening rising in his blood. His ears flattened as a new scent began to cloak the miko's. A familiar scent.
Death.
Shit, shit, SHIT! He sped up, desperate to reach them, desperate to see what was happening.
He halted in the clearing near the well.
Something was definitely wrong. Demon scent was everywhere, the scent of a male shadow-youkai. It centered around the well. The hanyou padded forward and peered into the depths of the time slip.
Nestled on the soil below was a skeleton.
He frowned, then looked around. Kagome's blood scent was thick on the air, the scent of death cloaking the once-sweet lavender.
And then he saw, right beside the well, a square patch of soil that looked as though it had been recently upturned, exactly the same length as Kagome.
No…
The hanyou stared at the grave, not wanting to think, not wanting to feel…a dull, aching lump was growing in his stomach, moving into his throat…choking him…
He sat down hard, shaking. Kami, no…she can't be…NO!
"So you're back. "
The hanyou jumped and whirled about, baring his teeth at the voice. Then he relaxed. It was just Sango…
"What…what happened? " he whispered, ears drooping. He didn't care what the taijiya thought anymore. He didn't care if anyone thought he was weak. Kagome…oh Kami, no…Kagome..!
Sango smiled, but he could see her shaking. "A demon came four days ago…looking for you…a shadow-youkai…he said his name was Taiwachi. He…Houshi-sama and I were fighting him, but he was beating us…Kagome fired an arrow at him…"
STUPID! he thought, suddenly angry at the miko. You should have stayed out of it! You should have let them handle it…Kagome…
"She hit him right in the chest, but…as he was dying, he struck her in the stomach…" Here, the taijiya swallowed hard, the scent of tears building over her. "She stayed alive for three whole days, saying that she was going to wait for you…she said she was going to survive for you…but yesterday, she said she wanted me to tell you something."
Inuyasha's ears twitched. "Did she tell you what she wanted to say? "
"Yes." Sango nodded, smiling faintly. "She told me to tell you that she loved you."
It took several minutes for this to sink in. When it finally registered, it felt as if someone had hit the hanyou over the head with a sack of bricks. Inuyasha felt the air leave his lungs in a whoosh and the lump formed, hard and heavy, in his throat again. "She…"
The taijiya nodded, tears slipping down her cheeks. "She loved you, Inuyasha. Try to find a way to bring her back, okay? "
He nodded numbly. Of course he would. Why…does it hurt so much?
Inuyasha didn't notice Sango leave, turning his gaze upon the grave. His ears drooped. Kagome…
How could you have been so stupid! Why'd you act like that? Couldn't you have waited..? I would have come…I would have saved you…
Inuyasha swallowed hard.
You should have waited…I…I can't save you now…
He laid down, curling up on the grave as an emptiness gnawed at him. I should have been here. I should have saved her. If I'd just been…if I'd stayed with her, maybe she wouldn't have died…I never should have gone…
It's all my fault.
It was his fault. The lump in his throat dissolved as the emptiness formed into a pain. Eating away at him…guilt…bile rose, bitter and angry, in his throat, the pain of betrayal stinging his nose and the back of his eyes.
I can't cry. Not now. I have to be strong for her…I won't cry…She wasn't that important… The hanyou sat up, head hanging. Shit, who am I kidding? Kagome…
He felt himself slipping away. A part of him he hadn't even known existed was dying, dying along with her…his mate…
"Mate" he whispered, nuzzling his face into the soil, inhaling her scent, as if that simple movement could bring her back. "Mate…my mate…Kagome…"
He'd never realized it, but she filled something in him. She had, anyway. Her death…her loss…he'd never felt like this for Kikyo. It was as simple as that.
I love her…Kagome, why the hell did you have to leave? Baka!
The hanyou punched the earth, sending cracks spiraling through the soil. Stupid! You shouldn't have interfered!
She was the first thing he'd seen after waking up from the 50 year spell. Her face…Kikyo's face…the face that had sent rage coursing through him…
But her scent…
The girl's scent was something he'd never, never forget, no matter who he met in the years to come, no matter what he smelled now. The gentleness of spring rain against his nose, tinted by the sweetness of lavender and cinnamon.
She cried for me, he remembered suddenly, nose burning with emotion. She cried for me, when I was human. She thought I would die…gods, Kagome, how am I going to survive without you..?
Pieces of his heart fell away, settling somewhere lost inside him. Darkness clouded his vision; tears burned salty paths down his cheeks; and the hanyou bowed his head, sobs racking his body for the first time since his mother's death.
Misery coursed a burning path through him. It hurt…everything hurt right now. His bones ached, his chest ached, even his head pounded. Something cold grew in his stomach, flooding him with and icy, numb feeling that threatened to kill him.
Suddenly Inuyasha snorted, rubbing his eyes fiercely. I can't die…actually, I think I'm already dead. Nothing but an empty shell…
He was nothing without the sweetness of the girl's voice, the gentle warmth of her touch, the tender look in her gaze.
"I have to bring you back, Kagome, " Inuyasha said out loud. "I'm sorry if you're happy dead, but I can't…I can't bear to go on without you." He closed his eyes. "You're my mate, and…I love you."
At these words, something grew warm in his hand. The hanyou blinked. "Eh? "
Inuyasha looked down, opening his fist. He blinked as the Shikon no Tama, glowing white, became visible from beneath his fingers. "The jewel…"
I can bring her back!
Gripping the magical orb in his hand, Inuyasha lifted his fist against his mouth and whispered, "I wish Kagome was back."
The jewel grew warm, and then…
Nothing happened.
-.-.-
There is no difficulty that enough love will not conquer, no disease that enough love will not heal, no door that enough love will not bridge, no wall that enough love will not throw down, no sin that enough love will not redeem... It makes no difference how deeply seated may be the trouble, how hopeless the outlook, how muddled the tangle, how great the mistake. A sufficient realization of love will dissolve it all. If only you could love enough, you could be the happiest and most powerful being in the world...
-Emmet Fox