Originally written under: Lasako

Authors Note: Seven years ago I broke out my favorite CD collection and began listening to some of the songs that moved and inspired me. At the time, I'd never before wrote a song-fiction and I had really wanted to try it. The decision of which song to use was ridiculously easy to make, as Iris simply screamed "Kag/Inu Oneshot".

Yesterday I went back to re-read some of my old fictions and decided that, while some were actually not to terrible, they still had a large area where they could have been improved. Since I still like what I wrote, and feel that others would still like them, I decided to go ahead and make with the improvement.

So, that being said, please enjoy the re-written 'Iris'; I hope it's as big a hit now as it was then.

Iris

Kagome was back in her own time, sitting on her bed as she waited for her mother to finish dinner and call her down to eat. The silence had begun to bother her, no longer use to having the privacy which her own time provided, so she'd turned on her stereo. The music thumping out gave her more of a headache then anything else, and when she felt the sudden presence of a certain hanyou take residence in the tree outside her window she frowned.

Both aware and unaware of her actions she slipped off her bed and went through her American music collection, slipping out the plastic 'Goo-Goo-Doll's' compact disk and placing it into the CD tray. It took a second for the stereo to switch from radio to CD mode, and when it did she took little time to skip to the eleventh track. Iris.

The song was slow, and she felt herself swaying to it as she walked over to her window and pushed back the curtains blocking the night view, then easily opened the window. The breeze that drifted in was cool, and while it wasn't as fresh as it was in the feudal era she could catch the lingering sent of the boy hidden within the leaves of the tree.

And I'd give up forever to touch you 'Cause I know that you feel me somehow. You're the closest thing to heaven I'll ever be, and I don't wanna go home right now.

Her frown deepened as she walked over to her bed and stretched out, closing her eyes and letting the lyrics drift through her mind. She'd never poetically understood the songs meaning until she'd met Inu-yasha. The stupid, callous, mean, stubborn, strong, well intentioned young man that tried so hard in a difficult and dangerous world that did everything it could to push him out.

And all I can taste is this moment And all I can breath is your life; and sooner or later it's over I just don't wanna miss you tonight.

Inu-yasha growled softly as he watched her stretch out on her bed. What in the seven hell's did that wench think she was doing? Growling louder this time he stood to leap threw her window when the words of the song drifted by him, stopping him almost instantly.

And I don't want the world to see me 'Cause I don't think that they'd understand; when everything's made to be broken I just want you to know who I am

Stepping back he slowly slid against the tree, relaxing against the trunk and allowing the soft beat of the music and the words of the singer to mellow his temper for the time being. Was the man singing going through the same confusing emotions that he himself was?

Was he laying awake at night staring at the woman he loved; knowing that he'd never be able to touch her, never be able to breath in the sweet , near hypnotizing scent? Did he feel that he was fighting a losing battle every time he gazed into her guileless eyes? Could he see his past and his future when ever their eyes met with a breath of a second during the most typical of moments?

And you can fight the tears that ain't coming, or the moment of truth in your lies, when everything feels like the movies, and you bleed just to know you're alive.

Their two minds almost seemed to connect; their unspoken promise of love for each other causing their hearts to ache, neither allowing the salty water to leak; defiantly closing their eyes tightly against the moister. Denying the pain even as it etched into their hearts, leaving behind open wounds that had, at one time, healed over.

And I don't want the world to see me, 'cause I don't think that they'd understand. When everything's made to be broken I just want you to know who I am. I just want you to know who I am.

'I'm Kagome.' Kagome thought, her head started to pound as she stood up abruptly and walked over her window. 'I'm Kaogme'!' she thought again; throwing open her window and glaring out into through the night and into the trees where she knew he rested.

Inhaling a deep breath she screamed out her pain and heartache to the man that caused her life to end up in such turmoil. "I AM KAGOME!" She was Kagome. Not Kikyo, and nothing that he did would change that, nothing that he wished for, nothing that he hoped for would ever changed that fact.

I just want you to know who I am.

He stood up, his silver hair drifting about him, dancing with the wind as he stared unblinkingly into her eyes. 'I'm Inu-yasha.' turning he leaped out of the tree and walked slowly back to the well house. He knew who she was, she didn't need to tell him.

Reaching the well house door he placed a hand on the door frame, looking back before he entered the pitch black room, "I am Inu-yasha." Will she ever know his feelings? Will she ever be able to look into his eyes and see the man he was turning out to be? Clenching his eyes closed as the answers came unbidden into his mind. Maybe one day. Until that day, he'd be the half demon; and she'd be the reincarnated miko of his old love.

Authors Notes (2003): So anyway, here's where I'm going to explain a little about why I wrote this the way I did. Sounds fun doesn't it? Well, at least you don't have to read it right? Well, here it goes. I decided that I wrote to many fictions where Kagome and Inu-yasha had a happy ending with them in love and with sure knowledge of each others loyalty. Well that's all find and good and all, but do you actually think that both the characters would do that on their own? No, I doubt they would unless they've known each other for a couple of years like they do in 'Kisses and Caresses'. In this fic they've known each other for five months (give or take), just long enough for them to have grown to love each other, but to soon for them to be able to voice it freely.

Authors Note (2010): It's been so long since I've read this thing, and while it's not my favorite, I certainly don't hate it. There were so many errors I probably made because I didn't proof read my fanfictions at the time; and I'm rather surprised nobody complained about them. So many of the words were just repeated, it completely ruined the fiction for me when I re-read it, and I had seemed to have a problem with threw/through. I also had some minor spelling errors that tripped me up, something that could have easily been fixed with spell check (so I'm not sure why they were there in the first place).