AN- Tay, so… I started a oneshot while I have a songfic going… What a LOSER! I dun no. I just felt like I should give it some time, while I'm posting this one, I don't expect reviews. This was on my mind, and I can't come up with any OC's that would fit the idea. So I'll give this to fanfiction!

.xXvXx.

The Taste of Blood

Crying to herself, Kagome whimpered helplessly. How could Inuyasha just abandon her like that? How could he leave her to the elements? To bleed and suffer? It just goes to show you, those you think are close, may be the farthest from you.

Long ago, had Kagome realized that Inuyasha would never be hers. He would always belong to Kikyo, always. She was the first one to accept him; even though she wanted to change him into a human with the jewel, he still loved her. No matter what she did, she was always perfect in his eyes. One minute, there would be betrayal shining in his swimming honey depths; the next unfathomable love for her.

Guys are just too much work, Kagome sighed to herself. That, was a fact. Why try to win something you know will never truly be yours. She didn't want Inuyasha to love her, she wanted him to love her.

So look at where she was now, lying in the dirt, cold dirty. No way out of this hell, seeing as her legs where shredded. She knew a few of her ribs where broken, and even if she could get up, she wouldn't make it far. She had gashes along her back, and her eye sight was starting to fade.

'So, this is it? I supposed it would've happened something like this, just… with Inuyasha here with me…' her sorrowful thoughts turned to her other friends. The ones she knew would never leave her without a good cause.

How did she even get here? It started with Naraku, of course. But it was an unexpected surprise when their unexpected ally stood up and tried to protect his new found friends. 'Sesshomaru' Kagome wondered where he went off to.

He had stood up and challenged Naraku, and seeing as this was his chance to finally add the Lord to his collection of rag-tag body parts, he had accepted. Naraku, being the coward he was, raced of, and Sesshomaru fallowed. Leaving the group without their strongest protection. While racing off, he didn't even glance back at his crying ward, or the worried eyes of Sango, Miroku, and of course, Kagome.

They had finally gotten the jewel together, now all they where missing were the few shards that Naraku had. Over time, he had underestimated the power of their small pack, leading to the loss of almost all his shards. That wasn't to say that he was less powerful, in fact, it drove him on, to get what was his back.

Kagome begged and begged Inuyasha to let Sesshomaru join their group, if only for a little while. She was tired of them fighting about who was going to kill Naraku, every time Sesshomaru came around, he would antagonize Inuyasha with the promise that he would slay the beast; and every time, Inu fell for it.

What was odd though, was that when he used to go to Inuyasha to beat the information about Naraku out of him, he started coming to Kagome. It scared her at first, but she eventually got closer to him, hence why she pleaded with Inu to let him help with the destruction of the miserable Hanyou.

Thinking back to the crying ward made her think of her poor little Shippo. While Sesshomaru fled to follow Naraku, Kagura had chosen her moment to attack. She told Shippo to take Rin and flee to a safer place. He would have done a good job of that, if it where not for the fact that there where so many demons around; one spotted the boy and girl trying to escape.

Thinking back to that moment in time, she was proud of her adopted son. He fought to protect the girl Rin; but his efforts where in vain. While he was using his fox magic to protect her, he had gained the unwanted attention of two other snake-like demons. Kagome flinched remembering their screams. While Shippo screamed for his mother, meaning Kagome, to help him, the little girl let out shrill wails for her Lord Sesshomaru to save her, to bring her back from the brink of her young death.

No such luck. Kagome had let out a heart-shattering scream as her beloved children where ripped apart bit-by-bit; over time Rin had gotten used to Kagome's company, and started calling her mother, seeing as she had no real mother any longer. Sesshomaru didn't seem to mind, and Kagome was more then happy to have a bright little girl to tag after her.

Sesshomaru didn't come back, and Rin was gone. Her little Shippo lay in pieces in front of her, and all she could do was stare. Both her shinning lights where ripped away from her in that moment, sending her into a fit of despair and hate. This was Kagura's fault, If Kagura had the courage to stand up to Naraku; she wouldn't have been here with this horde of demons, ripping apart her family!

Letting loose he anger, Kagome fired a single arrow and blew Kagura into a million pieces. Not even Naraku's ownership of Kagura's heart could bring her back from where Kagome has sent her. Inuyasha had finished Kanna off easily enough. By the time they where finished, Miroku was on the brink of death, and Sango unconscious.

Kagome had loaded Sango and Miroku upon Kirara's back and sent then off to the safety in the village of Edo, where Kaede would help them. She only hoped they got there in time. She couldn't loose the rest of her feudal family.

She had turned around just in time to see Inuyasha spot Kikyo's soul stealers fly past, before he raced off. She assumed she would never see him again, seeing as it was Kikyo's job to drag Inuyasha to Hell with her. Soon she was on her own, fighting the rest of the lower demons away from the ruined campsite.

So now here she was, fading away. Dyeing with no one here. She just wanted to be with some one, anyone! She wanted someone to know that she had died, someone to know who she was. Trying her hardest to get up, Kagome groaned. Pulling herself to her wobbly feet. She trusted the trees and leaned ageist the nearest one.

Slowly making her way back towards the small clearing, she told herself that if she died, she had died for a good reason; that she would die for the better good. She knew this already, but just incase she didn't find anyone to help her, she needed to make sure she didn't die with hate in her heart. She wouldn't die like Kikyo did. She wanted to be proud of herself.

When she got to the clearing, she was surprised to see Sesshomaru, well, maybe not that surprised. What hurt the most about seeing him back in the clearing was that he was holding the remains of the little girl Rin. It broke Kagome's heart that he had lost her.

'I bet he thought such a thing would never happen as long as she was in his care,' silent tears rolled down her face as she watched him hold his little orphan girl close.

"Miko, what happened to this Sesshomaru's charge." It was a command to answer. No matter how hard he tried to keep the emotions out of his voice, Kagome could still hear the sadness and the sorrow. But the most prominent emotion betrayed by his voice was rage. 'Of course he'd be mad, he has a rite to be.'

"It's my fault." She whispered to him. "I let them down, It's my fault their dead. I got her killed, and I didn't do a thing to stop it. Lord Sesshomaru, It's all my fault!" Her words echoed throughout the surrounding forest.

Looking up, Sesshomaru was shocked by the overwhelming emotions in her voice. "What are you speaking of Miko? How could this have been your doing? Are you not on the half-breeds side?" He asked, slight confusion lacing it's self into his spoken words.

The real meaning in his words was akin to 'how could you have done this?' He wasn't there to save the little ones, and he sure as hell wasn't there to see what had happened. "Tell this one, how did they die?"

Kagome was sobbing so harshly she could hardly hear his words. Her blood was pounding in her ears, and the world around her was dimming. Sesshomaru could see she was ready to faint, but he stayed where he was. The waves of regret coming off her form slightly put him off in going near her.

Calming down, Kagome realized she wasn't alone anymore, and that before she passed out she needed to tell him what had happened to his daughter.

Speaking softly, as if saying the words too loud would make them true, Kagome answered him. "After you left, we were open for attack. It was bad Sesshomaru, real bad. Kagura showed up along with Kanna. There where so many demons. I knew that something bad was going to happen…"

Kagome trailed off to regain her composure. Burning tears leaving fiery twin trails of regret slid down her sullied cheeks, and on to her fisted hands.

"I had told Shippo to take Rin far away, to be safe. But they didn't make it; a demon saw them trying to get away, and while Shippo was fighting it off, two others came and got Rin, then they killed Shippo too…" whispering the last words, Kagome realized how bad a shape Sesshomaru was in.

Curiosity getting the best of her, she asked. "What about Naraku? Did you kill him?" looking expectantly at the strong lord, she watched as he got up.

"Your tried to protect her?" He asked expectantly. "I did my best, I killed Kagura for what she did to them, they were mine, and she harmed them. Forgive me, I tried." The more she talked the faster the tears fell.

Kneeling down once again next to the girl, he spoke softly. "Forgive me. I left them, and you, and now you feel their deaths are your fault. They are not. I should have stayed. You had no obligation to protect what was this Sesshomaru's." He stated it in such a calm voice, never wavering once.

Letting out a sob, Kagome threw herself at Sesshomaru. She needed support, she needed someone arms around her. She needed to die here, with him. She would never forgive herself, and now he was trying to tell her it was his fault?

"But It wasn't your fault! You had to go, I was there; I should have been able to do it! It's my fault she's gone from you! Don't blame yourself." Even in the face of death, she still tried to take his pain away. He had killed the swine Naraku; but it had come at a cost, his happiness. Slowly wrapping his arm around the girl, he lowered his chin to sit atop her crown.

If you didn't know they were once enemies, you could possibly mistake them for star crossed lovers. Two people who could never be together. One who was on death's doorstep, the other who had to move on, despite everything. A human Mortal, an Immortal demon Lord.

Kagome closed her eyes, and let the world drift away. "Thank you Sesshomaru, this means.. so… much." Slowly her breathing evened out, small rasps coming out every other breath. Her grip tightened on his empty sleeve.

"I wish… we could have.. been … friends." She whispered. Slowly, ever so slowly, she leaned up to kissed him lightly on the lips, pressing into him she took a breath of his musky sent. Pulling away from his lips she lowered her head back to his chest; hearing his heart, she let her's fall in sync with his, keeping time.

Slowly but surely, her heart slowed its tempo, and lost count with his, as she took a long, deep, calming breath. She went limp, and Sesshomaru cringed. He could already feel the warmth slipping from her. The worthless sword at his side, the Tensaiga, did nothing. No pulse. No light. No life. He wasn't allowed to save her.

"Is this what you wanted, father? For me to have someone to protect, and not be able to save them?!" Lying the broken girl down on the soil, he lowered himself to lye next to her. He stared at the stars as one winked out of existence. She was gone, they both were. He calmed his breathing, and whispered into the night air, moving to grab the Almost whole Shikon Jewel from around Kagome's neck. "I'm sorry, forgive me." He put the pieces into a pocket in his shirt sleeve.

He watched the stars for the rest of the night, and one by one, they all faded away. Leaving the blue canopy above. The sun rose and fell and he stayed for a little longer. The arid summer's day air was saturated with the taste of blood. Burying the young ones in the garden under the Sakura tree, he buried the Shikon Miko under the Great Oak. His burdens for the rest of his days. The young girl who taught him how to love, and the woman who showed him compassion, in her time of need.