AN: This is an important author's note, and it explains a bit what has been going on. I apologize for my lack of updates and response. My husband was abruptly placed in ICU after massive asthma attack, something he has struggled with since he was 4. Shortly there after, he was diagnosed with CHF (congestive heart failure) and lung disease. He is only 23. He's doing alright now, but our lifestyle has to change completely. It's strange how suddenly things become real. My greatest fear was losing him because of something I had done, not of him dying. If we're lucky, and his lungs can repair themselves, he can have a normal life, if not he'll be lucky to have another ten. I've never been so fearful of anything. He has been my best friend since I was 16 and my lover since 17. I'm turning 26 next month and I feel like I would be utterly lost without him. Ups and downs, what have you, the only thing that anyone can do is move forward and try to be a better person than they were the day before. Enjoy what time you have because there's always something to remind you that you're only human, even when you don't feel like it. I will continue writing as it is the only outlet I have. Take care of yourselves and make the best of your lives.
Love Jillian.
The death of the season whispered sweet nothing's into old limbs and winding tree trunks.
It told them to wash away what the spring had given in such lush display. Each fiery leaf feathered to the blackened ground like summer's floral arrays.
They rustled quietly in a windy symphony, as InuYasha laid his weary head against the spine of his tree. The Goshinboku was never ill, never saddened by the sights of those falling before it.
In turn, the hanyou nestled himself where he could see over the umbrella of lush greenery. Below, his tawny eyes curled with dewy films as Kagome lay upon her back, staring so contently at the clouds.
Her lanky frame was covered in layers of clothes that were unfamiliar. A coat, as she had called it, as red as an apple, blanketed her tiny frame.
Her skin, oh such heavenly of a pallor could have only been found upon the starriest of nights. She was beaming brighter than the thrush of yellow thistles billowing beside her.
Did she know her eyes absorbed the honeys and sapphire hues the sky reflected? The gray washed away, bright and full with the sun.
She played with dead leaves, pulling them diligently from stem to head. Some coiled in the inky curls cradling her head in an attempt to keep her safe from the cold earth.
That girl was unraveling him. No matter how hard he tried to focus on the distant mountains, or the smells of persimmon and cloves, he could barely sense them.
Kagome's heart sang louder than the tempests crying for his attention, as they wished him to come on their serpentine steeds.
Daylight made them less nightmarish. Yet, relenting, he inhaled the future miko's scent. The aerial intrusion was no more a threat, as it beguilingly nuzzled against his ears and coiling of silver hair.
Kikyo was going to have to wait today, he mused. Raising a clawed hand, he petted the beast and rumbled a message against its nose before sending it away; floating gracefully on the wind's current.
His heart could lie, but it was no use to ignore its sheer want. He was captivated, distracted by the way Kagome's lips flourished in rosy petals, like her cheeks ablaze from the chilly air.
She was defenseless against it. Her former self, the haunting breath that gave life to the dark of the forest, was always waiting with her arrows drawn.
Kagome was no child. She could manage, yet it still pained his heart in a way that he couldn't ease. Solace came in the form of her smiles, her laughter - not the overly wrought disparity that came with the quiet prowess of a hunter.
She was blooming beneath him. If he had ever lost her, he would be half the man he was at this juncture. Kikyo was the test he failed and retook thousands of times. This girl was the reward of his efforts, he doubted she could ever see it that way.
He knew where her heart laid its affections to rest, which made his resolve a blundering mess. A flush of color sprang forth on his cheeks, crawling down to the pert tips of his claws.
These moments of quiet belonged in a reel of images flittering like a film in his subconscious. He would trade none. And as the Goshinboku shuddered beneath him, he hesitantly floated down to the paling earth.
Kagome's eyes gravitated towards him, peeling away the layers of his stony facade. Her fingers aptly made work in winding a wiry old stem around her fingers as he stood above her.
His hair bristled in the chilly wind as the girl raised upon her elbows, extending a hand openly. "Come here." She said, wiggling her digits for him to take them.
InuYasha eyed her gauntly. "Why do I need to? You're fine aren't you?" He remarked almost sarcastically.
The girl's brows furrowed, "How often do you get to just relax? Come look at the clouds with me, InuYasha. If we don't get tomorrow, why not enjoy something?" She said softly, feeling his hand brush against her own in relent.
A sigh escaped him as he let her guide him fluidly to the ground beside her, even though he didn't need her help in doing so. He was content to feel the warmth still clinging to her skin as he held on a moment longer than he should have.
As he cradled his head on the backs of his arms, Kagome peered over towards him an boldly inched closer.
"My bones are aching. I think it's going to rain." She yawned, closing her eyes in a hazy attempt to nap. "It would be nice to have some tea and stew right now."
"Mphm, Kaede-baba is too sick to make anything and I doubt anyone else could cook anything decent." As soon as those words rolled off his tongue, he thought better of it and wishes he had stayed tucked away in his tree.
The girl scrunched her nose and made a ghastly expression before thinking her head unceremoniously into the crook of his arm and chest. "If I didn't feel so tired, I would argue. But, you can come home with me and we can go to the festival. Mama is making food and treats for the bonfire."
Idly, InuYasha's lips curled into a pout as he worked the tips of his fingers through her bangs. She wondered if he ever noticed how gently he acted towards her, or if he even acknowledged that he did touch her quite often when they were alone.
The man was still, contet as he watched the clouds roll like feathers across the sky. Kagome's floral aroma made his eyes heavy as her breathing sang him a sweet lullaby. "Why do you always try to drag me there?"
Kagome nuzzled into his haori, brushing her fingers over the overlapped stitching, "It's the only place I know that you'll be safe." She muttered, lazily raising her eyes to meet his.
InuYasha wanted to bark at her, call her names and shove her away, but what good would it have done to hurt her for the sake of his pride? Relenting, he watched her through the curves of his lashes and let a rumble roll through his chest. "You can't always take care of me."
"I try." The miko interjected, smiling weakly at the blood prickling his skin. "What kind of person would I be if I didn't?"
The hanyou smirked against his will and impulsively pulled her small body closer to his. She was cool, still warm but less than the first round of closeness had radiated. "Stop worrying so much."
For a moment, Kagome washed away on the tidal waves rolling off his chest. His ever uneven breathing made her aware of his nervousness. Cautiously, she pulled herself up and places a chaste kiss upon his cheek and rested her nose against his collar. His heart beat thunderously as her fingers wound white coils of hair into shapes.
InuYasha was a great many things, and for her, he was everything. She wanted to look at the mess of emotion she had left for him to clean off his features, yet refrained to not embarrass him.
If there came a day where he disappeared, she doubted that she would be able to handle the loss. Distance, time, the juncture of the two, had never been an issue. She fought both with the fervor in her bones to be with him, even if for a moment.
And in return, he would wait for her obiently. There was seldom a thing that could separate him from her, and as he sensed the shinnidamachuu, he knew that there was nothing, as he let them pass by on their way back home. Kikyo knew better now, and let him be as he absorbed the moment he was submerged in.
Happiness was so fleeting, wasn't it? Yet, as he gave the now-slumbering miko a glance, he relished the simplicity of the world around them. The moment, like many, would be tucked away in secret for only him to display. And with that, he shifted until his mouth barely pressed against hers, feeling the smoothness of her lip caressing his as he fought to stay awake.