There's Always a Way to Forget
Inspired by: "I'm Looking Forward to Joining You, Finally", by Nine Inch Nails
(All Inuyasha characters belong to Rumiko Takahashi.)
Inuyasha ran the down the icy hallway that had little to no natural light. He was frantic to find Kagome and sensed that she was near. In his haste, he puzzled over one detail: as cold as this palace was, why did she smell as if she was resting in the sunshine? The faint scent reminded Inuyasha of the few precious times that he and Kagome had lain beside the hot springs after making love, holding each other close and talking of the future. The memory was as warm and as bright as the love shared between them, even though the temperature in this ancient place brought great gusts of frozen air from his lungs. Kagome would never truly understand how much he loved her, he thought. Or how little he deserved her. Inuyasha was a creature descended from the dark and a product of a love so misunderstood and maligned that both of his parents had died because of it. He wasn't worthy of happiness.
Still Inuyasha raced, searching for the woman who had been stolen by his hated older brother, Sesshoumaru. Sesshoumaru was blood-proud and upon learning of his bastard brother's mating, had decided that the Taisho line had been diluted enough by filthy human blood. Inutaisho's heir had apparently taken it upon himself to prevent Inuyasha from providing Kagome with a baby that would be more human than demon, and would probably not even display the Taisho familial markings: blue half-moons and magenta stripes.
Abruptly, Inuyasha stopped running and approached a great door that gave the impression it was carved out of ice. He had no reason to believe that this door was any different than the hundreds of others that he had passed, except that he caught the haunting scent of fresh grass and spring flowers. Inuyasha pushed it open.
There was no furniture in the vast room other than a great carved bed, which faced a wall fashioned entirely of glass windows. The light blue tint of the glass made the frigid room seem even more so, but Inuyasha no longer noticed the cold. He only had eyes for the small figure lying on the bed. It was his beloved Kagome. She was surrounded by flowers and her silky black hair was spread in a halo about her head. Inuyasha didn't see her beauty; he only saw that her chest was completely still. There was no warm breath coming from her blue lips to disturb the chilled air. His ears folded down and tears began to run down his cheeks.
Inuyasha approached his slain wife and reached to caress her face. Kagome's beautiful eyes were open, although they saw nothing. His clawed fingers gently touched Kagome's frozen features, and he pressed his lips to hers. Her wintry kiss was in bleak contrast to all of his warm memories. Kagome had always trusted him, even when she had reason to doubt. She had loved to tease him and smiled up into his face even when he had scowled. And after their marriage in old Kaede's village, she had learned to love his mouth on hers and the way that he had made vows to her with his body. The more that Inuyasha began to understand how much had been stolen from him, the more his demon began to stir. He would seek Sesshoumaru's death and then maybe his own.
As Inuyasha's head rose from Kagome's lifeless lips, Sesshoumaru's demon blade, Tokijin, descended upon his exposed neck.
The End