A/N: Another new story! Wow, I'm on a roll. Haha. So I usually don't do 'alternate-ending stories' (I suppose you could call it that...), but I suddenly had a good idea and as we know, April is Inu Yasha obsession month for me. :) So here we are at chapter one of 'Fate Has a Way'. This chapter serves as a prologue of events to come (I suppose) and is a sort of flashback told in first person (Kagome's point of view) since it is Kagome's memory that introduces us to the story. Following chapters will be in third person and follow the events following this tragic scene. Thanks for visiting and please enjoy!

Also. This has been rated T for language. Those demons (and hanyou...) just love cussing it seems. ^^;

Disclaimer: raindropdays does not own Inu Yasha.

Forever Death

Death.

No matter how you say it. No matter when you see it. No matter how you meet it; alone, with friends, up close and personal, or not. It breaks a person.

Whether physically or by chipping off a piece of the soul, death can destroy a person.

And I am no exception.

But of course, I'm still here. I'm still breathing. I'm living to tell the story and the truth behind that unfortunate turn of events that unfolded last spring, so many months ago.

Last spring...

It's already been too long since his name has slipped off my tongue and his less-than-melodious voice rang perfectly against my eardrums. He was perfect, he was mine, he was...

Tell me; why do people fall in love?

Never mind. Love is a feeling, a fleeting dream that I no longer hold any desire for. Take away all the men on this planet and throw them into some great black hole somewhere out there beyond the stars and watch my proud face; I, Kagome Higurashi won't shed a tear.

Because there is no one on this earth that could ever replace what was lost to me in a battle of fury, fire, hatred and pain. A struggle of hatred that we were bound to by destiny... by "what-if's" and "maybe's"... and by a nagging peculiarity of history to always repeat.

I was told that the second time he died wasn't like the first.

I try not to remember the day though I know I should. I know it is an insult to his fine memory, to walk away and hide my face because I cannot stand to face the truth.

A cloud of red smoke blurred my vision that day as I watched through half-opaque eyes, the death of my love. My mouth was dry, aiding my blank mind in its search for words that could never be found. There are no words to describe losing a love one, you know. None at all can capture the pain, sadness, anger, panic, regret, denial and hatred all rolled into one. I don't have a word for that emotion so I'll call it "empty". Emptiness... a feeling in and of itself that does not feel; it haunts.

When he was struck down, I screamed. I always did when he was hurt, injured, in danger or anything in between. I rushed forward, over demon corpses and discarded weapons, on legs of lead that I remember cursing for moving too slowly.

Muffled cries broke through the thick miasma coated air attempting to reach my ears but my brain was turned off and I was accepting no requests for my now undivided attention.

Was the ground dangerous? Were their poisonous fumes leaking around me? Was I going to die?

None of it mattered. What did my safety matter when he hung onto life by a single thread?

I saw him fall in slow motion, the same as I would see in my nightmares, day and night.

When he hit the ground it seemed surreal to me that he was not snarling some insult back at his attacker, laced in foul language and drugged in pain. I screamed his name across the distance that separated us.

Please... just look at me. Please...

And I cursed my keen eyesight, silently, for showing me so clearly, the blank stare in his once vibrant amber eyes.

I was so near and yet so far away when the wind was knocked out of me. Something firm and steady made contact with my stomach, slamming me hard against the ground and ignoring my frantic protests. I needed to be near him, to see him, to watch him rise and be okay.

Please... just be okay. Please...

As I lay on my back, stopped brutally from my attacker, I realized it was Miroku who had stopped me, throwing his arm forward to collide with my frantic figure and prevent me from rushing to my beloved's side.

What are you doing? I wanted to scream though the wind had been knocked from my chest and I could only look at him with desperate eyes that pleaded without seeing.

He quickly shifted to half-carrying, half-pulling me away from the battle to which I violently reacted, angrily kicking and struggling in his already wounded arms.

"No, Kagome," he managed to reprimand me through gritted teeth and a body full of deadly poison, "You, can't, help, him, now."

Lies!

"Let me go!" I managed to shout as I struggled.

"I won't let you die as well!" Miroku shouted, quickly losing his temper with me out of desperation and grief. Still, I continued to struggle.

"He's not dead!" I screamed as if by screaming those words they would somehow become true. Somehow, they would gain validity.

"Kago—" Miroku began in a softer tone though at that moment large tentacle stabbed at the ground between us, narrowly missing each of us by inches, and forcing us apart in the rubble that proceeded to follow. I never knew if he meant to comfort me or pity me.

"Miroku!" I shouted frantically as I landed hard on the dirt ground. An evil and dark laugh resonated throughout the small makeshift battlefield, drowning out any reply that could come. I turned indignantly towards the source of the cackle to find myself looking eye to eye with the devil himself.

"Naraku, you bastard," I hissed as I struggled to my feet. He continued to laugh and taunt me as he always did though my eyes had now refocused on something shimmering ever so lightly in his outstretched hand. Was that a speck of light in the Shikon Jewel?

Kikyo's light...

Desperately I scanned the ground for my long bow and found it ignorantly discarded a few feet from me luckily undamaged in the chaos that coated what we all knew would be our final battle with that shape shifting bastard, Naraku. Without so much as paying a moment of attention to his lengthy, egotistical rant, I sprung forward, grabbing the bow with less-than-perfect agility and nearly stumbling off an oddly placed cliff in the process as blood coated the rocks I passed.

"Oh, you think to kill me wench?" That I registered Naraku saying. That caused my anger to boil over.

"You have killed so many innocent people!" I shouted as I righted myself from my clumsy retrieval.

"Including your beloved Inuyasha," Naraku nearly whispered, his eyes bright red from a mad frenzy. Was it happiness? Was it ecstasy? Had he finally gone mad? It sickened me and suddenly I felt nauseous enough to fall to my knees, my bow clattering at my side. I hunched over, palms pressed against the hard ground before me, and stared at the ground, nearly retching as fear gripped my insides, squeezing tight around my stomach and heart.

Oh god... Inuyasha... he's...

"And now, this will be your end, wench," Naraku sighed, almost bored, "Join your beloved in hell!"

My head snapped up to face the miasma coated tentacle now zooming forward to kill me just as it was inches from my face. At the blink of an eye, I would soon be dead. And there was no Inuyasha coming to save me this time... There was no Inuyasha anywhere in my world anymore...

Perhaps we really could be together in hell after all... Perhaps following him in death wasn't so bad...

Though, death's dutiful pain never came. The tentacle disintegrated against a barrier of purity before it reached me causing shock to arise from both Naraku and me. I looked on utterly surprised and Naraku cussed angrily at this unforeseen loophole.

"Bitch," he hissed as he readied to strike again, "You think a pitiful spiritual barrier like your own can defeat Naraku?"

I blinked, eyes filled with shock. It wasn't my barrier though its warm presence felt familiar. My eyes caught a glimpse of the Shikon Jewel's shimmer yet again and in the back of my mind, the answer to both Naraku's and my question became painfully clear.

Kikyo...

"Kagome, there is no time to waste."

As if right on cue, a stoic though beautifully soft voice seemed to overwhelm my presence and I felt the bow inches from my hand resonate.

"You must finish Naraku here and now, do you understand?"

A strange sadness underlined Kikyo's sense of urgency and immediately I felt the same pang of grief in my own heart. I felt strangely connected to her as the realization swept over me, denial wiped clean from my mind.

"You must shoot him now and purify him along with the Shikon Jewel. This is our chance."

Shakily, I rose to my feet, grasping my bow as I stood, as tears welled up in my eyes.

She seemed to want to whisper in my ear that he was gone but duty always came first.

"Oh? You think to fight me wench?" Naraku laughed as though I were no threat at all. I bit my tongue. Without Kikyo, perhaps I wouldn't be.

Cautiously, I drew the bow as my heart tore to shreds in my chest.

"Aim well."

Focusing on the Shikon Jewel as I held back overflowing sorrow, I positioned the arrow to shoot, purify and kill Naraku once and for all.

For Sango's horrors and broken family.

I carefully surveyed the surroundings looking for anything that could interfere.

For Miroku's too-long suffered curse.

"You cannot kill me, wench!"

I bit my lip.

For... Inuyasha...

With that thought, I released the arrow, letting it soar through the air with lightning speed that I alone could have never possessed. The time that followed seemed to be too quick as I scarcely blinked.

The arrow struck its target dead on and in a bright flash of light and defiant scream, Naraku disappeared from this earth and my sanity along with him.

The miasma faded from the battle zone as did Kikyo's conscience from my soul, leaving behind the understanding between us that can only come from sharing a soul. Our shared love had gone and now I knew it. I knew it fully and well... and could do nothing about it.

"Good job, Kagome..."

Her parting words. I wondered later if maybe she had only complimented me because she knew she had won.

She had Inuyasha for ever after; they would always be together in hell.

And inside of me, a part of me died as well, following Inuyasha. Forever with my love beyond the grave.

A/N: Well, I hope you enjoyed! As I said before, following chapters will get more into the plot. As usual, I hate having to set everything up. Haha. Please review and see you soon! Have a great day! :D