Disclaimer, Author's Notes, and all that jazz: Obviously, you know who owns the rights to this or you wouldn't be reading it. If I need to remind you, you really need to be hit upside the head with a smelly, very dead fish. This is a prequel of sorts to "The Tale of the Sad Miko", but you don't need to read it to understand this; both can be separate stories. Inspiration and chapter titles are from "Trouble" by Coldplay off the first LP.

The Tale of Why the Miko Cried

By Ruth Woytsek

"I never meant to cause you trouble, I never meant to do you wrong. Oh, I wonder if I ever caused you trouble, and oh, I never meant to do you harm."

-- "Trouble" by Coldplay

Chapter One: Oh No, I See

Running. Whether it be day or night, there was always some reason for her to be running. By the sun's light, she ran for her life, and by moonlight, she ran from her heart.

For almost three years, she had been coming to the Sengoku Jidai and had witnessed more than she really cared to remember. Retaining the Shikon no Kakera would have been an impossible task had she never met Inu-Yasha. Of course, without the Shikon no Tama, she wouldn't have met him at all.

Inu-Yasha was an enigma that she just could not solve. From one moment to the next, no one could figure out what the hanyou was thinking, and she certainly couldn't judge what he was feeling. There were a few times he had looked at her with such a gentle expression and golden eyes that she would swear shined with love for her, but then he'd open his mouth and shove a foot deep inside….

Sigh.

At least she no longer needed to worry over competition from Kikyou; Naraku had seen to the undead miko's demise a long while back, and the soul, without a home, had freely wondered back to her body. She hadn't felt complete since the rebirth of Kikyou, and she didn't want to admit to anyone that she felt like herself again. It seemed strange even to her how much her own soul relied on that small part of Kikyou.

But Inu-Yasha wasn't himself.

Sure, he still protected her, still fought possessively when Kouga came calling, and still managed to confuse her with those tender looks, but he was also more pensive and reflective now that Kikyou was gone, and she knew that when he dared a glance at her…she could tell….

It was killing him to see her because she was the bitter reminder of what he'd lost. Even more so now that she was older. At seventeen, she looked just like the miko had, and no matter what, she would never escape the fact that while she considered herself a separate entity from Kikyou, everyone else viewed her as a perfect copy. Her hair had grown longer and smoother, and her features had become more graceful and slender, more womanly. Her powers had increased, rivaling the now dead miko. A child she was no longer.

And no longer was she "just Kagome." There was no question of whom she had

descended now.

It was also a sad reminder to her--a reminder that her Inu-Yasha wasn't hers, because he would never love the Kagome part of her. He couldn't help whom it was he saw in her; she knew that, had told herself that constantly.

Her dreams were another story though. If the possibility of staying asleep forever existed, she would have been joyous. In her dreams, he was always a gentleman but also fiery if she allowed herself to relish those thoughts.

However, dreaming was for the noble, those who could afford such luxuries as she couldn't, because if she slept too long, too deeply, she'd risk getting killed by some vicious youkai.

Oh, and as Inu-Yasha kept telling her, those shards just don't find themselves, you know.

Secretly, she feared the inevitable. They were coming closer and closer to Naraku with each victory, and the feeling that the next meeting would be the last was intense. Then what?

It was the fear of losing those dear to her that invaded her thoughts. Ieie, she never let herself think such things, but she did think about what would happen after they had finally won. She'd have to go back, of course. Back to what had been normal life. No more of Shippou-chan raiding her backpack for crayons and sweets, no more of Miroku-sama dodging Sango's punches, no more of Sango-chan pounding Hiraikotsu's tip on Miroku-sama's head.

No more Inu-Yasha….

When nightfall came, and sleep was fading her vision, she would permit herself harmless fantasies about spending her life with him, not really caring if it was in her time or his…she just wanted to stay with him. He would pull her into his shaky arms, embracing her like he had before when he had been so afraid that Naraku would kill her. Sweet whispers of love and devotion would fill her ears; he'd beg her to stay because he couldn't imagine life without her there, while suggesting with his eyes that he really wanted her…her, not Kikyou's perfect copy.

Gah, he was as romantic as a dead fish. She would never hear such words from his mouth!

But what if he did? What then?