This is just a short one-shot dedicated to a friend of mine who is leaving us to go to another school. I hope that you enjoy it.

Graduation

Dedicated to G.

No matter what, we'll always be there for each other.

She walked down the path, her heart hammering in her chest. It had been so long since she had last been here…and she had changed so much. Would they recognize her? Was this still her home? Her heart was screaming out in pain. She knew that they had forgotten her. She knew that they had moved on in their lives. She was no longer apart of their worlds. She wasn't even supposed to be here.

Here they came.

They were walking down the path towards her. Hurriedly she shoved up the dark glasses on her nose, she took out a brochure and leaned against a tree, trying to look as if she was reading the brochure.

Here they came. They were laughing and smiling, playfully shoving and teasing each other. She smiled, just like old times. Just like they had when she had been with them…when she had brought them together for the first time.

"...Excuse me? Ma'am?" Came a voice. She looked at the boy who had just spoken and nearly started crying. She knew this boy. They hadn't been friends until seventh grade, and then they had become closer. He had never really thought very highly of her, had probably thought that she had no respect for him. What he never knew was that she never told anyone his secrets. She got mad at him when he had done something stupid, she had teased him cruelly…but she had never meant any of it. Did he know that? Did he understand that? Did he cherish that?

"Are you lost?" He asked. She smiled kindly at him.

"No…I'm just looking around." She said. Nearby another boy stiffened. He turned around quickly.

"Hojo!" He called to the other boy, the one in front of her. "We're having a party over at Eri's…you comin'?"

"Heck yeah!" Hojo said. She smiled softly, he had never swore. Never.

"Your name…it's Hojo, is it?" She asked him, even though she knew full well.

"Yeah…"

"Hojo…tell your friends this…there are people out there fighting for you, fighting so that you can live as peacefully as you do." She said. Hojo's features hardened and his eyes grew cold.

"If you're going to tell me about the army, get lost." He said. "I'll never join and War is a disgusting practice…no matter what."

She smiled.

She had taught him well.

"I wasn't talking about War." She said. "I meant people who fight…for you." Then she turned and walked away. She didn't look back…not right away. She didn't see the lost looks they threw at her back. She didn't see the single tear slip down Hojo's face. She didn't see him mouth her name. She couldn't see it, not anymore.

But she did hear herself.

"Please…" She whispered as she walked away. "Please…forgive me. I'm not coming back this time. Tell them I love them. Tell them that I'm sorry that I had to go. Please…just forget me."

By the time she was in the park…

She was dead.

Her friends graduated without her that day…because of who she was, because of what she was.

And that's why.

Because…

She couldn't live like that.

'Dear gods…' She thought as she left. 'Dear gods…someone get me out of here. Someone, please…someone here me screaming. I can't do this.'

When she was back at the place where she had been living for the past years two strong arms encircled her.

"Do you regret leaving them?" A voice asked in her ear.

"I…" Then she stopped, she couldn't lie to him. Not about this. "I regret my decision…" She turned in his arms to look up into his face. "I regret my decision…to let them go. Not to stay with you…to let them go. I…I'm sorry…I…" Inuyasha held her tighter.

"Don't be." He growled. "You didn't have a choice. You did what you had to do, and that's as much as any of us can do."

Kagome nodded and sighed. Then she turned in her lovers arms and cried until the sun peaked over the tree tops. Then she stood, wiped her eyes.

And then Kagome Higurashi left the future in the past.