Inuyasha walked along the bank of a stream ahead of everyone else. He was deep in thought. Buried in a dream, a long lost memory. It was so close, and yet so far away. Fifty years had past since he had last seen Kikyo, and it seemed like yesterday. What had happened to her? Where had she gone? He bowed his head. He felt his eyes stinging.
Tears form behind my eyes but I do not cry. Countin' the days that pass me by.
How long would it be until she came back? Why was she doing this? Or was she...dead? Inuyasha shook his head. He'd been over this thousands of times. All it did was keep his insides tied up in knots. What exactly was he looking for?
I've been searchin' deep down in my soul. Words that I'm hearin' are startin' to get old.
Inuyasha looked back at Kagome, who was laughing and talking to Sango. How long had it been since SHE had joined his quest for the Shikon No-Tama? She was such a child. But...with her around, the past few months had been more tolerable without...Kikyo...
Last three years just pretend.
What do I do? He thought. She's gone! I don't need to think about her anymore! But Kikyo's face floated in front of his eyes, haunting his very existence with her memory. She was all he could think about lately.
I still get lost in your eyes. And it seems I can't live a day without you. Closing my eyes and you chase the thoughts away...
I'm obsessed! He thought bitterly. What can I do to get her out of my head?!
But it's not right.
Wait. If Kikyo's gone...I have to move on too. It's time I accepted that Kikyo's dead, and she's never coming back. Inuyasha looked back at Kagome again. His expression softened as she smiled back at him.
"It's not good to live in the past Inuyasha," he remembered someone saying. "It can only bring you a longing that can never be satisfied or forgotten. Only buried in the depths of the mind." By this time Kagome had caught up to him. She looked concerned at the troubled look in his eyes.
Inuyasha took her hand with trembling fingers. It's time, he thought.
And I said...Goodbye to you.
Inuyasha felt a rebellious tear run down his face. All the others except Kagome had gone on ahead. It felt like his mind was leaving him as Kikyo slowly drifted from his thoughts.
Goodbye to everything that I knew. You weren't the one I loved, the one thing that I tried to hold on to.
Kagome squeezed his hand. "It's alright. Kikyo is gone, but I'll always be here for you." Inuyasha nodded and smiled. It was a small, disobedient smile, but a smile all the same.
That night, after everyone had fallen asleep, Inuyasha lay looking up at the night sky.
And when the stars fall I will lie awake.
"Goodbye...Kikyo," he whispered into the night wind. And as he turned over to let his consciousness slip away, he could have sworn he heard someone...somewhere...say, "Goodbye...Inuyasha."
You're my shooting star.