--Heartbroken--

--One-shot--

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I ran as fast I could; pumping my legs with every stride, running as fast as a frightened deer. Tears spilled down my cheeks, blinding my eyes, my chest hurting from running so long and hard.

He didn't love me he loved her. I knew this because I saw; I saw them together, holding one another, embracing. I saw the way she looked up at him with her cold brown eyes, with little emotion, and the way he looked down at her with all the love and care in the world.

The look I desperately longed for from him.

I awoke only an hour before, watching him slip out from the hut. The others slept peacefully, Shippo curled snug against Kilala next to Miroku and Sango who nestled close together, happily dreaming of their future together.

I slipped from my covers, my skirt sliding against my sides as I ran after him--at a ways distance. He dashed behind a tree, where I hid, where I saw.

I saw her, absorbing the last of the power of a dead soul. Her soul collectors slithered away into the night, its glow imitating that of a star. She turned towards him, opening her arms to hold him,

"Kikyo," he whispered, "I missed you."

"As did I, my love," she replied, holding him close.

I watched his hands travel the length of her back, sliding through her raven black hair dead as night.

The tears gathered.

It hurt to watch, the pang in my chest told me so. But I didn't turn away. I couldn't. I had to watch.

They talked, lightly; theirs words bare whispers in the wind to me. I tried to listen but I couldn't hear them, I wasn't sure if I wanted to either.

My eyes widened, as she stood tall against him, planting a kiss on his lips, him hungrily returning with one of his own. Tears--that had gathered--fell, I was blinded. It was then that I stood and ran. They may have heard me but I didn't care, I continued to run.

And run I did.

Now I was falling, landing hard on my knee. I let out a light scream, until I made contact with the hard ground. I turned and glanced down, it was all ready swelling and turning an unnatural variety of colors.

I groaned, lightly as the tears fell harder. I was hurting; hurting badly. My insides caved as I cried into the night. Many minutes past until finally the crying stopped; I turned to the small creek beside me.

I had past the hut, and the well long ago. I had run far, and knew nothing of my where a bouts.

I stared at the girl below me. She was broken and hurt, dirt smeared her face, and her eyes swollen red from crying. But deeper inside was another girl, someone happy, her eyes bright, a smile delicate as an angels' feather. She was obviously happy, loved and carefree, due to the man beside her.

I watched the scenes unravel reveling a cool starry night, high in the bows of Goshinboku, the sacred tree. The girl was tired, but content watching the stars above and listening to the man holding her tight between him. He told her of his past and what he always whished, of being loved and accepted. She listened closely to the sadness in his voice, twirling his silver hair in her hands, unafraid of falling.

He would care for her; she was safe. He told her so.

When he did, he kissed her lightly on the cheek, his lips soft and warm. He said he loved her and forever would he watch over her no matter what he meant to her.

She wanted to tell him that she returned his care and always had, but he silenced her with another kiss, this one lasting longer and deeper. Then she knew she didn't need to.

The image faded as a single tear destroyed it; the picture moving down the stream. I knew who she was and how she felt at the time, for she was I, only a night before; but now those feelings were gone.

I gathered myself to stand but instead I collapsed back onto the ground. I sighed. I'd have to stay here for now.

I was tired and soon I was asleep. I was cold, no doubt, due to the dew that settled earlier that night on the blades of grass; but, too worn out to complain.

Later during the night--closer to dawn I suppose--I heard a noise, feeling myself moving. Opening my eyes I stared up to the face of him.

He slowed, glancing down at me, taking notice that I had awakened. Stopping, he knelt and propped me up against his knee. "Are you okay?" his voice was soft and full of concern; he eyes knew that I knew of her and what he had done.

I nodded too tired to move my parched lips, my throat too dry to speak. I snuggled deeper beneath his youkata, which he must have given me when he found me.

He dipped his hand into the creek beside him; rubbing the pads of his fingers against my cracked lips.

"Here," he whispered as I obliged myself to drink from his fingers. "Were almost at the hut," he told me, lifting me off his knees and beginning to walk again.

"I don't want to go back," I told him instead, and obligingly, he turned the other way. Having no where else to go, he walked towards the safe bows of the sacred tree: where we first met.

He jumped up high, and snuggled me closer to him, his body warming up my own. He brought his head down and caressed my neck nuzzling me softly as a light purr erupted from his throat.

A tear slipped.

No doubt, he smelt it and looked at me, his eyes concerned. "Kagome, what's wrong?"

"Nothing," I croaked. I had nothing to say to him. Nor did I know exactly what to say.

"Kagome . . . you don't cry for nothing. Tell me . . . please?" he cooed, his fingers tightening around my waist holding me deeper into his body.

I was silent, what could I say? He didn't love me, he loved her; he loved his previous life and love, Kikyo. It was she who he wanted, so why was he being like this to me?

"Kagome?"

"You love her," I croaked. I hadn't planned on saying it, but there was no turning back now. "You love Kikyo."

He turned me closer to him--to face him. His eyes were hazed with confusion.

"Kagome . . . I . . . we . . . Kikyo was just . . . Kagome, what did you see?" he finally asked.

I took a short breath before telling what I saw--though not being able to hear anything. I hid my eyes as I told him. I couldn't look into his, so beautiful and mesmerizing; they'd tear me to pieces from the inside out.

As I finished, he hugged me tightly. "Kagome . . . we . . . A couple of days ago, the night before we . . . the night before Goshinboku, I sent Myoga to find her, to find Kikyo and to tell her that I needed to see her, tonight. Then, when I saw her, I admit I said I missed her and held her close; but that's when I told her. I told her that I loved you," He explained carefully his eyes never leaving my own. "That I loved you and only you, and that I have for a long time ever since I met you. You never were her replacement, maybe in the beginning but not until after I got to know you, did I think of you as someone else."

My heart beat rapidly, my mind was racing. He kept my gaze, as I tried to find some hidden lie of any sort behind the amber.

"Kagome, I love you," he continued holding me close with his reassuring hands while his eyes gazed at me intensely; the amber deepening in the shade of molten lava. "And when I met Kikyo tonight, I wanted to say goodbye. I know we kissed but it was just . . . I . . . I never meant to hurt you. I didn't realize you had followed me, but even then I was only saying goodbye, I know this is coming out in a jumble but Kagome, I . . . I want to spend the rest of my days with you. I love you so much and you mean everything to me. When I talked to Kikyo and told her the truth she only smiled and said she had known for a while so she gave me this," he dug in his hiori and pulled out a small ring. Its band was silver with small deep purple gem in the form of petals surrounding a small clear diamond on the top, forming a flower.

His eyes cast downwards slightly as he spoke, moving heavenward then back to mine. They were filled with sadness but truth. "It was something I had given her a long time ago, it belonged to my mother. My mother told me to save it for someone dear to me, someone I wanted to be with for the rest of my life and I had given to Kikyo. Only, tonight, she had given it back, telling me that only someone who was truly worth my love could carry such a possession, she was sorry for wanting me to change; unlike you. Kagome I want you to wear it, because I love you and being with you is the best thing in the word to me, because you mean that much to me. I love you Kagome, I just hope you realize just how much." He finished, slipping the thin ring on my finger as he did.

I sat startled and stunned by his words. I gaped at the ring on my left hand seeing pictures of my fairytale dreams within its beautiful gems of purple and white. I thought as I watched my future pass, "Would I want to be with him for the rest of my life?"

I smiled at the thought of doubt and whisked it away, and then gazing at him with tearful eyes, I thought. "Yes, yes I would."

We kissed in the bows of Goshinboku where we discovered our love, our future and each other. The dawns of the morning awoke the start of a new day, as we kissed with all our hearts filled with love and passion.

I smiled and laughed forgetting my tears of sadness hours before. I was with him, and he loved me. She was gone, my soul returned, my future waiting.

Behind his eyes, he was happy dancing with the light of the sun that I could see. We embraced and thought of our future as far as we dared. But for now, I was happy in the present and I knew he was too.

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A/N: I hope you like, this is my very fist FanFic even if it is a one-shot, oh well, hope you liked it, please leave a review-they always make my day.

I, also, want to dedicate this one to my only reviewer,

evilsarcasm--Definitely not bad. You might want to work on some spelling but pretty good. And I love the descriptions, and the part where she was like the girl in the water. So... nice. Hope to see more of your writing.

For the—only—yet lovely review that they have left for me.

And now,

I do not own any rights to InuYasha or the characters associated in it. They belong to Rumiko Takahashi; however, I do offer my thanks for making characters for people like me and other Fan-Fiction writers for us to 'play' with.

Soulless Lover,