This is something I've been meaning to write for a while. It's a sad story but thank you for taking the time to read this. This is loosely based on the song, If I die young by The Band Perry. This is also to show of the dangers of drunk driving. I dedicated this story to all those who have lost loved ones and to remember that they'll always be alive in your hearts…
Disclaimer: Don't own Inuyasha.
-x-x-x-
Ayame waved good bye to her mother as she ran out the door with her younger brother, Takai, following close behind. The siblings ran all the way to school and once they arrived, they left their separate ways to their friends. Ayame smiled as she approached her friends, but it wavered as she realized they were huddled together crying. She quickly rushed over to them.
"What happen? Why are ya crying?" she asked. Kagome gave her close friend a sad look.
"Gramps died this morning." She said letting out a loud sob. Ayame gasped and pulled her into a tight hug. Sango, Rin, and she were really close with Kagome's family. It felt as if it was their own grandfather who had died. Ayame never met her grandparents. Her mother's parents died before she was born and her father's parents past away when he was a young boy.
"I'm sorry, Kagome. I'm so sorry." Ayame cried. Kagome shook her head and pulled away. She looked up at the sky.
"I shouldn't be sad. He was sick for a long time and he's now in a better place." Sango, Rin, and Ayame nodded and looked up at the sky as well.
"We'll miss you gramps!" they said in whispers. They held onto each other and sent silent prayers.
-x-x-x-
The day of the funeral, Ayame and Takai, stood by the Higurashi family and their groups of friends to pay their last respects to the man they treasured so much. Kouga, a close friend of hers stood by her a she cried. When she walked by the casket she laid a white iris on it. He once told her that her name meant iris and he placed the flower in her hair.
"An iris on an iris." He said. Ayame had been only seven when that happened, and ever since then she had always worn an iris in her hair. She remembered giggling and thanking him. He was always there when she needed him. When her mother was too busy working to support her and her brother, while her father only drank what he earned away, she was always able to turn to him. In a way, he really was her family.
When the funeral was over, Takai had gone with Souta and Kohaku, and Kagome had left with Inuyasha and her family. Kouga offered to walk her home and she gratefully accepted it.
They held hands as they walked. Even though she was sad, holding his hand felt really comforting and nice.
Once they were at her doorstep. He waited until she was in the house before walking away.
-x-x-x-
That night she got in an argument with her father.
"Why were ya holding hands with that boy?" he yelled. Ayame frowned.
"His name is Kouga! Not that boy! And what does it matter to ya? Ya never care about what I said or did before!" she yelled back.
He slapped her. "That's cuz nothing ya say or do is important! All ya do is flirt around with boys and act like some slut! All my co-workers saw ya walking with that there stupid boy! Y'all better not be comin' 'round here with a belly! YA HEAR ME, GIRL?"
"He was walkin' me home from the funeral!"
He leered at her. "What funeral?"
"Kagome's gramps died and today was the funeral." She said looking down.
"Ol' fart finally croaked? HA! Good riddance! Damn ol' man was always on ma tail to go to those damn AA meetings!"
She felt tears falling from her eyes. "Don't be talking 'bout him like that! He was a better papa then y'all ever be!" She ran to her room and fell on her bed and cried.
-x-x-x-
Several months had gone by and everything seemed to go back to normal. Kagome, Sango, Rin, and Ayame always went after school to visit Shinosuke Higurashi's grave. They would tell him about their day and send him their prayers.
One day they were sitting at their table at lunch and chatting with their guy friends. Inuyasha, Miroku, Sesshoumaru, and Kouga had grown up with them and the Shinosuke's death brought them even closer together.
"I can't believe he's been gone six whole months." Said Kagome looking up at the sky, Inuyasha put his arms around her and held her close.
Rin nodded. "It feels like just yesterday he was telling us those silly stories to make us laugh." She said.
"Yea, and then he'd make all those silly faces to cheer us up when we were sad, remember?" said Ayame.
The girls nodded.
Sango looked at all her friend and gave them sad smiles. "He lived a good life, a nice long one right? I think it would've hurt worse if he had died young…" She let her sentence drift. They all knew that Sango and Kohaku had lost their mother when they were younger.
Kagome looked around at her circle of friends. "I wouldn't want to ever lose you guys. I don't know what I'd do."
"Same here." Said Sango.
"I doubt that'll ever happen…" said Rin.
Ayame gave them smiles. "Don't be messin' with fate."
"Don't be talking about death. You guys are way too young to be thinking about that." Said Kouga, holding onto Ayame's hand. She sent him a smile.
"True, but ya never know what's gonna happen."
-x-x-x-
"Oh my god!" squealed Rin. They were all in Kagome's room getting ready to go to a party.
Ayame laughed as she put on her lip gloss. "Calm down, Rin. Yer gettin' way too hyper." Rin only giggled.
"I can't help it I've been waiting for this party forever!"
Sango threw a pillow at her. "Ayame's right. Calm the hell down, girl!"
Kagome rolled her eyes at her friends. She looked out the window and saw Inuyasha's car waiting outside.
"The boys are here already! Let's go!" They all rushed down stairs and out the door. Once they climbed into the car, they sat next to their dates.
-x-x-x-
When they arrived at the party they each went their separate ways with their dates. Kouga and Ayame sat in a secluded corner of the yard and talked there until the party was over. Ayame felt sad that the party was over, she loved talking with Kouga. Right before they left the house, Kouga leaned in and whispered in Ayame's ear, "I'll love you forever." Ayame giggled and held his hand as she pulled him into the car. Once they were on the road, everyone was talking about how great the party was and Ayame cuddled with Kouga and held onto his hand.
They leaned close to each other until their foreheads touched and Ayame looked into his blue eyes and said, "This seems too good to be true." Suddenly there was a loud noise and everything went black.
-x-x-x-
Kagome slowly opened her eyes and the first thing she saw was Sango lying not too far from her. Around her body was a puddle of blood, Kagome tried to stand, but a sharp pain shot through her body. In a distance she heard sirens and she tried to scream for help, but couldn't. She looked around and rocks and trees around her. She closed her eyes and when she opened them again she was in an ambulance.
She saw the paramedics yelling and reporting of the conditions of the others. She couldn't understand them well, but she became alert when she heard the word 'dead' and 'female' she wanted to ask who they were talking about, but fell into a deep sleep instead.
-x-x-x-
Several days later Kagome woke up to find herself in a hospital bed. "Kagome!" she turned and saw her mother holding onto her hand. She pulled her into a tight hug and let out a loud sob. "Kagome! My baby! My precious little baby! I thought you'd never wake up!" she held Kagome tighter and tighter. Kagome rubbed her mother's back.
"I'm okay, mama. I'm okay." Her mother pulled away and Kagome could see the bags under her eyes. "Mama, what happened? Where's everyone else?" she asked remembering what she had heard the paramedics say.
Her mother gave her a sad look. "Inuyasha was driving around the cliff when a drunk driver came around the bend and crashed into the car and threw it off the cliff. Rin, Sango, Miroku, and you were thrown out of the car. Sesshoumaru, Inuyasha, Kouga, and Ayame were trapped in. Sango had several broken ribs and a punctured lung. Miroku punctured both of his lungs and broke his left leg and arm. Rin fractured her skull and broke both her legs. You had a several broken ribs, internal bleeding, broke your right leg. You, Miroku, Sango, and Rin weren't wearing seat belt, that's why you were thrown out of the car."
Kagome was having difficulty breathing as she learned about her friends' condition. "And the others?" she asked, afraid of what she was going to hear.
"Inuyasha broke his ribs, Sesshoumaru broke his arm and had glass embedded on the left side of his upper body, Kouga suffered a bad concussion and broke three ribs." Her mother paused and looked at her with sad eyes.
"And Ayame?" she asked, her voice wavering.
Her mother hugged her and cried. "Oh sweetie, I'm sorry. I'm so sorry." Kagome's eyes widen.
"Mama, what wrong with Ayame?" she asked, her tone scared and shrilled.
Her mother pulled away. "Where she was sitting got the most damage. It took the paramedics a long time to pull her out."
Kagome stayed quiet waiting for her mother to continue, she could feel the dread growing in her stomach.
"Ayame's neck was broken on impact," her mother hugged her again and said, "Ayame's dead, sweetie. She's gone." Kagome suddenly felt her heart drop and she held her mother tighter. She shook her head.
"No, mama. Please no!" Her mother cried with her and the longer she cried the more she realized that her closet friend was no longer with them.
-x-x-x-
The day of the funeral Kagome and her friends were the first to arrive. As Kagome, Sango, and Rin walked in they couldn't help but feel how déjà vu the situation felt, but the only difference was it was not the funeral of someone who had a chance to live and understand what life was about, but the funeral of one of their bestest friends.
When they saw Ayame lying down in the casket, they completely broke down and shook their heads rapidly not wanting to realize reality. Sesshoumaru held Rin's hand as she cried, Inuyasha held onto Kagome who couldn't really seem to stand on her own. Sango held onto Miroku silently crying. Kouga stared at Ayame tears coming down his face.
Ayame was dressed in a white satin dress and her red hair cascading down to her sides, an iris on the left side of her head, her hands were placed on top of each other on her waist holding an iris. On her right hand she wore a ring with a green stone that once matched her eyes. Around her neck was a strand of pearls. In the casket were white roses surrounding her body.
"Why did she have to die?" asked Kagome. Kagome suddenly grabbed a rose out of the casket.
"Kagome! What are you doing?" asked Sango horrified at her friend's action.
"Kagome just turned to look at her and said, "Trust me on this. Get a rose. Please." Reluctantly they all took a rose out of the casket and held them close.
Finally after what seem like so little time they closed the casket and they left to sit in their seats for the ceremony. The priest talked about how wonderful Ayame was and how she was now in a better place. Ayame's mother and father spoke about their daughter always pausing to let their tears out. Her younger brother cried as he talked about how great of a sister Ayame was.
They watched as the casket was carried out of the church and placed in the car to be taken to the cemetery. Once there, they each went by the casket a laid a flower and told her their last good-byes. They watched as the casket was lower into the ground. The pain of watching their friend finally leaving them seemed too great to bear and they wished they could wake up from this horrible nightmare. Once Ayame was laid to rest, they all left home.
The next day at dawn they all met in front of Ayame's house. Kagome motioned for everyone to follow her. She led them to a river that Sango, Rin, Ayame, and she used to play at when they were younger. Kagome was about to lay her rose on the water when she saw Takai, Souta, and Kohaku walking towards them. Takai was carrying a small box.
Takai looked at his sister's friends and handed them the box. Inside was a small doll that looked exactly like Ayame. It was one of Ayame's favorite dolls that her father had given her. It had red hair and was wearing a small white satin dress. It even had a small green ring on her right hand and a strand of white beads around its neck.
"I hope she won't mind us sendin' this doll to her." Kagome turned around and saw Ayame's father and mother. They walked up to the teens and stood beside them. They all put roses into the small box and Takai laid it in the river.
If I die young, bury me in satin
Lay me down on a, bed of roses
Sink me in the river, at dawn
Send me away with the words of a love song
Uh oh, uh oh
Kagome, Sango, and Rin sang the tune to Ayame's favorite love song in whispers, as they watched the box float down the river slowly sinking in.
Lord make me a rainbow, I'll shine down on my mother
She'll know I'm safe with you when she stands under my colors, oh and
Life ain't always what you think it ought to be, no
Ain't even grey, but she buries her baby
Ayame's mother looked up at the sky and saw a small rainbow. She smiled knowing her baby was in a safe place.
The sharp knife of a short life, well
I've had, just enough time
Kagome and the rest realized how short life really was. Seventeen years really didn't seem like enough time to enjoy life.
If I die young, bury me in satin
Lay me down on a, bed of roses
Sink me in the river, at dawn
Send me away with the words of a love song
The sharp knife of a short life, well
I've had, just enough time
And I'll be wearing white, when I come into your kingdom
I'm as green as the ring on my little, cold finger, I've
Never known the lovin' of a man
But it sure felt nice when he was holding my hand, there's a
Boy here in town who says he'll love me forever,
Who would have thought forever could be severed by
The sharp knife of a short life, well,
I've had, just enough time
Kouga felt his heart break as he remember that he'd told he'd love her forever. He promised himself that he'd never break that promise. He'd never forget the feeling of holding her hand or holding her close as long as he'd live.
So put on your best boys and I'll wear my pearls
What I never did is done
A penny for my thoughts, oh no, I'll sell them for a dollar
They're worth so much more after I'm a goner
And maybe then you'll hear the words I been singin'
Funny when you're dead how people start listenin'
Ayame's father wiped his tears as he wished that he had listen to his daughter more often. Her mother and Takai wished that they could hear her voice at least one more time.
If I die young, bury me in satin
Lay me down on a, bed of roses
Sink me in the river, at dawn
Send me away with the words of a love song
Uh oh (uh, oh)
The ballad of a dove (uh, oh)
Go with peace and love
Gather up your tears, keep 'em in your pocket
Save them for a time when you're really gonna need them, oh
Never had any of them realize that they would be saying good-bye to their closest friend like this. She would always be in their hearts. She may not be there in person, but she would never die as long as she stayed in their memories.
The sharp knife of a short life, well
I've had, just enough time
So put on your best boys and I'll wear my pearls
-x-x-x-
I hope all of you enjoyed this story, cause this story came from my heart and I hope it touched yours. I may added several other stories to this, but that'll depends on the you my lovely readers! :)