Endless Darkness

Chapter 1

"Broken Lovers Reunited"

Inuyasha's Forest---

Inuyasha---

Inuyasha stood in the forest just beyond the mystic well that help Kagome travel back to her own time, impatient and restless. She'd been gone for several nights already, and despite his desire to avoid thinking about her, Inuyasha couldn't help but be worried. She'd said that she would only be gone long enough to restock on supplies and Ramen, but she'd been gone too long this time and Inuyasha wasn't sure if it was a good thing or a bad one. He loved her but like a sister, after all, she was Kikyou's reincarnation.

Kikyou. His eternal love. He missed her so when he woke fifty years after their fight to find that she had died already. He was heartbroken and lost without her, but he'd soon found out that some evil witch had fulfilled his most forbidden wish…she resurrected Kikyou. Her body was mad of clay and old bones and she lived off the souls of the dead, but she was "alive". That was all that mattered to Inuyasha, and for some reason, armed with the knowledge that Kikyou lived once again, he was happier. When Kagome and him became closer, he found that he was torn; between the love her could sorta see in Kagome and the promise of the heart that he made to Kikyou. It was making him edgy and uncomfortable and he knew that he had to make a decision between the two of them soon…very soon.

The night was falling around him and Kagome still hadn't returned. Now the worry was complete and he was fed up. Jumping out of the tree that he'd been occupying for the past 3 hours, Inuyasha landed on his feet and strode calmly toward the well. He was only 4 feet away when a sound to his left intruded. He spun on his heels, drawing Tetsusaiga (sp?) at the same time, prepared to do battle.

His stance relaxed and he sheathed his sword when he recognized the tall petite figure of Kikyou stepping through the tree line. As always the scent of rich earth and death followed her, but Inuyasha didn't care. He took a step forward, taking in her appearance. The same white and red priestess's robes and the white ribbon holding her hair back gently. The bow was slung over one shoulder along with a quiver full of arrows, and her face was emotionless but at the same time, all revealing. Inuyasha smiled, "Kikyou…it's nice to see you again."

The once dead priestess smiled, "It is nice to see you again as well Inuyasha." She looked around them, taking in their surroundings, before she spoke again. "I see that you are alone, yet you stand by the well. I assume you are waiting for my reincarnation." Her voice was calm and toneless, but Inuyasha knew that she was hurt.; it was a empathic thing with the two of them. He took a step closer, and then another, but Kikyou took one step back for each he took forward.

Finally Inuyasha just stopped. They had managed to step themselves into the woods, and Inuyasha realized belatedly that they were completely alone and gulped self consciously. He loved Kagome like a sister, knew that she cared for him as something more, but whenever he was around Kikyou for the smallest amount of time he found he couldn't control himself. He tried to take a step back, but despite his brains request, his body refused to follow. Instead he was rooted to the spot, staring openly at Kikyou's beauty.

Her dark blue-black eyes glittered with quiet amusement, and something that might have been considered a smile appeared on her lips. She took a step back again, hiding herself in the shadows of the forest. "Inuyasha, you have not changed. Your mind is commanding but your body is resisting. You are in a most perplexing situation." The tone was flat as always, but Inuyasha knew Kikyou, knew that she was amused by his predicament. So instead of protesting the mocking, he smiled back. "Yes Kikyou, I haven't changed much. Nor have you." He tried to chuckle but the flash of pain he saw in her eyes stilled him. He didn't understand what was wrong, he'd made a joke, not an insult.

"Kikyou, I'm sorry. What did I say to upset you?" He tried to sound apologetic, not confused but the true emotion showed through. Kikyou sighed and took two steps forward. Her eyes were downcast and her shoulders sagged in a most un-Kikyou like way. Her posture itself would have given her away, even without her next words.

"You say I have not changed Inuyasha, yet I have. I am no longer among the living, I am empty shell of who I used to be. Yes, my beauty is eternal, but at what price? I must live off the souls of the dead, and I can never be with the one I love." She sighed and Inuyasha thought he could hear tears in her voice, if it were not for the fact that Kikyou could no longer cry. "I can understand why you have chosen my reincarnation over me." She made to turn away, back into the shadows of the forest and away from him, but Inuyasha's mind and body finally pulled it together.

He lunged forward and grabbed her arm. She didn't turn her head to look at him, but Inuyasha didn't care, he simply wrapped his arms around her waist from behind. Locked together, they stood for a few moments, neither saying a thing, only breathing and holding on to the memories of the past. Finally, when it had seemed like an eternity had passed, Inuyasha spoke.

"Kikyou, I love Kagome, but as a sister. I love you as I have never loved another in all my life, and no one can change that. I have always chosen you, in my heart if not in my actions. I promise you, I love you as much now as I did in the days before. I don't care if you aren't flesh and blood. Don't you see? Now we can be together. Before, when you were a priestess and guardian of the Sacred Jewel, we couldn't be…it was forbidden. But now…do you see, it's an opportunity. We can finally be together." He sighed and rested his chin on her shoulder. "Please Kikyou, it's for our future. I love you. Please."

The once living priestess was silent for several moments and Inuyasha noticed that he was holding his breath. He hoped beyond all things that Kikyou would accept him, would accept his offer. He loved her, he always had, and without Kagome around, he found himself dreaming of his first and only love more and more often. He needed her, he loved her…and he prayed to the Gods that she still loved him.

Finally, Kikyou spoke, her voice soft and quiet. "So you love me Inuyasha? You love me more than her? You love me enough to accept me as I am, without the ability to bear children? Without the ability to live without the souls of others? Can you love me like this Inuyasha, truly and for all eternity?" It was quite obvious to Inuyasha that his answers to these questions would make or break the situation, and he knew that Kikyou was holding on to herself by a thin thread.

With all the courage and honesty he could muster in that emotional moment, Inuyasha answered. "Yes Kikyou, I love you; more than I love Kagome because I do not see her the way I see you. I don't mind not having children, we could adopt, or if you like, we could go without. I don't care what you need to live, as long as you do, and I want you to know, now and forever, truly and honestly, I could accept you as a ghost, so long as you were there to love. I love you Kikyou, and I want you to be with me." He kissed the side of her neck, right beneath her ear, softly. "I want you to be with me forever."

Kikyou smiled to herself, her heart suddenly lighter than it had ever been, dead or alive. "Yes Inuyasha, I would like that too." She turned in his embrace and put her cheek against his chest, feeling the soft, reassuring beat of his heart. She smiled again and looked up into his eyes, "I love you Inuyasha."

Inuyasha smiled back, "I love you too Kikyou." With that, he leaned down and touched his lips to hers. The kiss was a promise, a fulfillment, and a gift. He'd thought that he'd never kiss his love again, but he'd been proven wrong. He loved her and that was all that mattered; life and death could take a seat and watch from the sidelines.

"Kikyou, would you…" he growled softly in her ear, feeling his inner demon rise to the surface, wanting to claim its mate. He knew it couldn't be fought. "Kikyou, would you come with me. I believe we have some things to catch up on." He tried to make it sound like a gentleman asking a polite woman out for a casual affair, not a hot blooded demon wanting to bed his mate.

Kikyou heard it anyway, "Yes Inuyasha, let us go from here." She smiled and laughed, "we have much to "catch up" on, as you say."

Inuyasha grinned; it was good to hear her laugh again, to see her smile again. He picked her up in his arms bridal style and ran into the forest beyond, unaware of the pair of watchful eyes that had seen the entire thing.

To be continued…