Come What May
Inuyasha suspected that he would be betrayed by the one he loved. It had happened when his mother died, so why should it not happen now? And as he sat in his tree surrounded by nothingness, he had to wonder…
Where did it all go wrong?
"Inuyasha."
"Kikyou."
Kikyou looked up at him in his tree with no leaves. It saddened her to think that life was stripped from everything that existed here. But then again, this world didn't really exist- it was just a place to stay for a while until things were sorted out. If ever sorted out.
Inuyasha looked down at the woman before him, his face relaxing. He still loved her. Whatever happened back there stayed back there. There was no point in remembering or reminiscing. What mattered was that she was here, alongside him. As it all should've been.
"I was wondering if you'd show up," he said in a non-committed voice.
She only smiled and looked a patch of grass underneath her small feet. In fact, it was the only patch of grass. And even then she could see tints of brown approaching on it. Like everything else here, it was dying.
"I had a feeling you would know. It's terribly lonely here, isn't it? Everything is so silent that it screams."
With a shrug of his shoulders, he leaned against the gnarled tree, studying Kikyou's features. She looked the same, perhaps a little wearier.
"Back there…What happened," she began, pausing only because Inuyasha's body jerked a little, "was awful, and I honestly regret doing that. It shouldn't have happened. But it did, and we are here. Eventually, I'll disappear. We can just forget."
Inuyasha looked up, an incredulous look on his face. "Where would I go that you wouldn't?"
A small smile formed on her face.
"Just trust me."
--
It's been forty years.
--
Inuyasha wasn't surprised that he was still stuck in this world of nothingness. Not that he hated it here- he'd go into brief times of sleep. Some last five minutes, some last five years. But, Inuyasha determined, everything will always be as it is when his eyes open.
However, the tree in which he sits on has sprouted a tiny bud. From time to time, he enjoyed watching it, waiting for the perfect flower to reveal itself to the world that was him.
Things are far too quiet.
But he decided that for now, he could wait. If he was lucky, he'd fall asleep for another forty years.
--
41…
42…
43…
44…
45…
46…
47 years and counting.
--
"Inuyasha."
Inuyasha slowly opened his eyes and looked down from his spot on the tree branch, right next to the steadily growing bud. When he looked down, his eyes widened slightly, but he quickly jumped down. Kikyou was always full of surprises, so it didn't shock him too much.
"I didn't expect you back."
"You don't expect a lot of things when you've lived for so long."
"True."
He shifted his feet around a little, not sure of what to say. It was so profound, so surprising, that he couldn't possibly do anything.
"Didn't you hear?"
Inuyasha looked up.
"The girl from the future is near."
"What?" He opened his mouth to say something more, but she disappeared once again.
With a defeated sigh, he reclined himself back to his favorite spot by the bud. Something leaped in his heart, and he knew something would happen.
--
It's been three years, and Inuyasha was admiring the fully bloomed flower.
A desire to pick it and feel how soft its crisp petals were took over him. With great care, he reached over to touch it.
Silky black tendrils ran through his fingers.
--
Fin