Disclaimer: I do not own Inuyasha or any of its affiliates.
The Time Had Come
The time had come.
Even though Inuyasha could tell by the look on Kagome's face that she had no idea what he was about to do, he had made up his mind to do it anyway. Kikyo was his first love, and he had never quite let that go. She had never killed him when she'd had multiple chances, and it was her admission of human feelings under her severe exterior that made him feel his humanity in ways he never had before. She had spent hours talking with him and had come to trust him The strange and torturous desire that had kindled in his heart was ignited when she fell into his arms on that dock so long ago. After that night, he thought he could experience no deeper a love than what he shared with this guardian of the Shikon jewel.
When Kikyo told him that she would purify the jewel by turning him human, he was skeptical at first. But when she continued that no power to protect would relieve her of her duties as a shrine priestess and allow them to live together unfettered, all doubt left him. Inuyasha did not sleep that night, his mind swirled with a curious mix of unbridled joy, relief and nervousness. His life was about to change forever and he and never once before thought that he could be so happy. When morning dawned, he was up and ready, albeit a little frightened.
The time had come to change.
It was, of course, on that fateful day that his life would indeed change forever. The interjection of the miserable demon Naraku into their lives ruined everything. Inuyasha felt foolish for believing he could have a happy, sedate life and share the love of another, so he struck at the village with particular vehemence. The pain of the arrow digging into his shoulder to pin him was insignificant compared to the gaping wound in his heart. As the sacred jewel dropped from his hand, the resignation and sorrow that filled him took his breath away, leaving him with nothing but a mind numbing emptiness filled only with betrayal.
These horrible feelings had time to fester and eat at the trapped hanyou, plaguing his magic-induced sleep with agonizing nightmares. If he could just wake to stop the images; he would rather starve to death than relive those awful moments again and again. As the decades passed, his heart hardened simply to stay intact, and Inuyasha hid his feelings and hopes for happiness away, fully intending to never think about them again. By the time Kagome emerged from the well, he was a bitter, angry soul with no tolerance or mercy for the feelings of others. Then one day, her sweet, feminine voice broke into his nightmares and weakened the magic enough for him to come to consciousness.
The time had come to awaken.
Kagome was filled with a magic so kind it made Inuyasha want to weep. He was merely nearby when she used her previously hidden magic for only the second time, but he could feel a warmth radiating from her that reminded him fiercely of his lost Kikyo. The hurt and anger he held for his one time lover had not dulled much with the passage of time, so he struck out at her look-alike, seeking to validate his long held emotions. Instead of crumbling or cowering under him as he expected, she stood defiantly. Even after she had pulled the arrow and released him, he struck at her, and she still stood defiantly. Even when he was under her control because of that accursed prayer necklace, she had never abused him, only kept him from hurting her or those around them.
Carrying the burden of living two lives as lightly as a feather, Kagome never ceased to amaze the last, small part of Inuyasha that still acknowledged emotion. She never failed to have a smile for him, even when her own heart was in turmoil. She had saved his life more times than he cared to remember and had never once betrayed him. She was willing to let him chase the embittered shell of a dead lover who was competing for his affections and stand by his side. She had nursed him in times of sickness and found joy in his newly gained strengths. He had a hard time understanding where her boundless inner strength came from sometimes. It had been countless moons since he had been released from the sacred tree, and he had finally begun to see that it was the one who released him that he wanted. Not just wanted, but owed.
The time had come to choose.
Kikyo and Kagome had both come to the forest's edge at his request; noticing that he was much too somber when he asked for their presence for this to be frivolous. Kagome was already at his side when Kikyo appeared, her soul stealers bearing her to the ground from the cloudy sky a safe distance away. To the women's surprise, Inuyasha took the sheathed Tetsusaiga from his belt and laid it at his feet. Kikyo approached, sensing it was time to drop all petty arguing and grandstanding. This was very serious indeed, and the middle school student began to worry nervously. Kagome knew he wasn't under any spell, she would have been able to sense the magic with her own powerfully developed miko magic. The silver haired half demon looked at each of them for long moments with a strange, subdued hue to his golden eyes and then turned to Kikyo.
"K-kikyo, I..." As much as Inuyasha wanted to believe he had healed from the wounds of the past, he knew it wasn't true. He opened his mouth once again to try to force out the most difficult words anyone had ever said, but nothing came. He took a deep breath and took one step closer to the dead priestess, holding her eyes with his. "You...I...can't...be like this anymore. F-forgive me...my love." The last words were whispered as he moved as fast as lighting as raked his claws through her midsection. Sounds of shock at his sudden and violent action came from both Kikyo and Kagome. The older priestess fell to her knees without ever taking her eyes from her slayer.
In answer to her questioning look, he simply bowed his head and said, "I choose Kagome," without emotion. Immediately a pleading look replaced the shock on Kikyo's face as she weakened. Kagome had never felt such elation. His dull words filled her with such a joy that she nearly fainted from the emotion. All the times she had watched him pine for Kikyo, all the heartache she felt falling in love with him now seemed a pittance for the gift she had just received. She could not stop her smile, even though her enemy was bleeding before them, and the entire world seemed a lighter place. She stepped closer to Inuyasha, her heart's and body's desire newly reignited at his choice, hoping to touch him. He didn't move at all, so Kagome stayed her hand with great difficulty.
A glow formed a circle in the ground around the falling Kikyo that burned with the terrifying intensity of hell. She raised an arm toward the hanyou as she began to descend, one last, desperate attempt to grasp her love and life. Inuyasha took a step back, placing himself between the rejected woman and the chosen woman, subconsciously responding to the change in the departing spirit before him. Kikyo's countenance changed from that of a tragic beauty to a grotesque demon built of rage and betrayal. The death of the shell Urasuai had created had released the festering hatred that had animated that shell.
Although the hate demon could not escape the pull of the underworld, it lashed out under the auspice that if she could not have him, no one would. As fast as Inuyasha normally was, he simply could not keep up with the speed of a hell driven, rage filled spirit. The hanyou tensed, ready to defend Kagome, leaning forward with claws extended, but no expression on his face. His ears had fallen limp against his head as he faced this unwanted and dreaded confrontation. Killing Kikyo felt like killing part of himself, and he had no desire to prolong the painful ordeal. He was so intent on protecting Kagome that he was completely unprepared for the revolting clawed hand that slammed into his chest and tore out fistful of his insides. As he fell, he could not utter even a cry of pain, only look from his chest to the Kikyo demon, wide eyed.
The time had come for goodbye.
Kagome screamed in uncontrolled fury, a hot white glow enveloping her as she streaked toward the hate demon. Her rage fueled magic had become a terrifying weapon, and she crushed the demon in seething magic. A woman's scream unlike any had ever heard was ripped from the demon, a combination of sadness, redemption, rage, resignation and pain that made even those who heard its echo cower. In one more blinding moment, Kagome had completely decimated the remains of Kikyo, not even leaving ash for the hell hole to swallow. Having no prey, the portal to the underworld vanished, leaving Kagome kneeling at the dying Inuyasha's side.
Kagome could barely comprehend what was happening. Inuyasha had finally chosen her and now he was slipping away right before her eyes. His eyes were tightly shut and he clenched his teeth trying to deal with the pain, his ears were trembling from the effort. She began to hyperventilate as she gathered him into her lap and frantically concentrated all the magic at her command into a healing spell. A blue glow appeared under her hand, but when Inuyasha tried to swallow a grunt of agony, it completely distracted her. She began to panic and started again, trying to keep her gaze off his pain contorted face and on the task at hand. She had never been able to make magic without an arrow before Kikyo's destruction, and she didn't know how to recreate it. Tears welled up in her eyes as she tried again and again. The blue glow flickered and got weaker with every attempt. Kagome began to whisper the word no over and over, shaking her head at her failures.
She squeezed her eyes shut to try to clear her mind, but they snapped open when she felt a tender touch on her cheek. She looked down to see an almost soft expression on Inuyasha's face. His eyes were shining with the last moments of his life and he had something to tell her. "I...I'm s-sorry, Kagome...p-please forgive m-me." Her tears were flowing freely as Kagome shook her head, denying his need to apologize. She took his hand with hers and was frightened at how weak his grip was. The hanyou sucked air sharply through his teeth as another wave of pain filled him. "I...should...h-have told you...s-sooner. I..." Inuyasha's ears stopped trembling and hung limply, his pain induced shivering stilled. Both of them knew this was the end. "I...love...you...Kagome." With his last breath, he smiled at her, a genuine smile filled with such emotion that a single tear dropped from his golden eyes. Then they closed forever.
Kagome stared at the still form in her arms while all emotion drained out of her completely. Her entire world came crashing down around her and she could do nothing. Her mind was still trying to absorb the fact that Inuyasha, source of constant pain and joy, had just died in her arms, and her heart cracked like the stone weight it had become. She sat in silence for a moment, then felt a grief fill her so powerfully that she had no choice but to scream lest it burst her. The cry of utter despair rose into the air, traveling with unnatural force, so all those who heard it fell to their knees in sadness. She screamed until her voice gave out, then cried silently on her beloved's shoulder, holding him tightly to her buried face. Her body shook with gut wrenching sobs, stealing the air from her lungs and the strength from her soul. Soon, even the searing tears could no longer come.
She almost believed that she could hold Inuyasha close enough to stave off the cold of death, but the blood pooled in her green skirt was already icy. She laid her departed love down as gently as she could, trying not to look at the gruesome hole in his chest. A strange calm came over her as she stared at his silver hair, and the only thing she could think was how strange it was that it had remained untouched. They were both covered in blood, but his hair was still shining clean. Kagome's mind wanted to cry again in grief, reminded of her loss by that small detail, but there was nothing left in her heart. Only an emptiness consumed her, taking away the importance of anything else in the world.
Her family didn't matter, they could get along just as they had been since she'd started coming to the feudal era. Miroku and Sango had each other and Shippo's manhood was blooming just as it should. The Shikon jewel could be someone else's responsibility, it had brought nothing but pain and hate to everyone who touched it. She was tired of fighting, and, more than anything, she wanted to be with Inuyasha. Her eyes were almost magnetically drawn to the sheathed Testsusaiga. Mechanically, Kagome stood and retrieved the rusted sword, noting that it would never again transform in Inuyasha's hand to the formidable weapon that had destroyed thousands of demons. It only had one more life to take.
As she unsheathed the battered blade, she was amazed at how easy this was. She knelt beside Inuyasha's cold body and closed her eyes, grasping the blade with her bare hands. She felt the tip rest against her chest and knew it would go right through her heart, releasing her from the agonizing grief faster. Her grip tightened on the blade, drawing blood, and she cried out in exertion as she pulled in sharply toward her. The old Tetsusaiga slid between her ribs and pierced her heart, sending a brief wave of pain through the teenager. She groaned and laid down next to Inuyasha, facing him; she wanted his face to be the last thing she saw.
As her vision began to fade, she couldn't help but notice that with his eyes closed like that, he appeared to be sleeping, just like the first time she saw him. With the last of her rapidly waning strength, she laid her hand on his, not able to feel the lack of warmth. Kagome closed her eyes and sighed one last time, a faint smile on her lips as she went to meet him. At that moment, the clouds parted and a brilliant sunbeam lit the entire area. It may have been a trick of the light, but anyone watching could have sworn a man with dog ears and a woman in a short skirt were walking hand-in-hand into the trees.
The time had come to be together.
The End