Another of those song-fics appeared in my mind and I couldn't help but write it down. This one is for the song "Life after you" by Daughtry, though I stumbled upon the version by Gavin Mikhail on youtube, which is a great cover of the song. His version has a lonelier feeling to it, and one can certainly see those two pining for each other while the song plays.

Allright, I shall seize waffling now and simply let you enjoy the story...

Disclaimer: I do not own anything, neither the song or the characters within. I do own the plotbunny though^^

Warnings: None that I am aware of^^

Enjoy!

Love ever after

The last couple of days had been spent high up in the branches of the God-Tree by Inuyasha. Since he had been able to hear Kagome's voice he never ventured far from his spot in hopes to catch her presence once more. He couldn't honestly tell anymore how long it had been exactly since this strange event had occurred, time was somewhat lost to him now. All his mind seemed to be able to focus on was the absence of Kagome in his life, how much it hurt him not to have her by his side. He had always pretended to be stronger than anyone thought, but only now, as he felt so forsaken, he understood how lonely he really was.

Who was I trying to kid anyway?

It was clear now, her absence robbed him of clear thought, of any ambition to do anything, even moving seemed to be a meaningless task now to him. Sometimes he thought that if he'd simply spent the remainder of his days in this tree he just might make it to Kagome's time and see her again. Sadly he smiled a little. Inuyasha wasn't sure how long hanyou's tended to live, but he sure as hell wasn't immortal. He'd age and grow old and he was pretty sure he'd die before those 500 years were spent.

Besides, she wants to come back here, not for me to wait until I reach her time...

But he'd even attempt that if that was what she wanted of him. However the song still haunted him in its eerie beauty and lonesome sorrow, so plainly evident in her voice as he heard her through the border of time. She had felt so tired, so lost, so very alone. Almost like him. Inuyasha wondered if she too had that overwhelming urge to simply stay wherever she was, to let time pass by unheeded?

Not that he ever paid much attention to the way time passed. He was a hanyou and a inu-hanyou no less, time held no concept to him. It just passed, that was all. He couldn't honestly say how many hours had sped by him since Kagome and he had been so forcefully ripped apart. The only thing he was so very keenly aware of was that it hurt. Like Hell. Every minute more caused ripples of longing to course through him, and the more time passed, the more thoughts of Kagome appeared in his mind.

Inuyasha thought of how many times he had caused her to cry and how many he'd caused her to laugh, how she'd glare at him when she was angry and how her delicate white skin creased on her forehead when she was worried. How her eyes sparkled when she talked to him, even when he'd made her sad at times. How completely calm he was whenever her scent had washed over his senses.

The brief times he had held her in his arms had served well to memorize her scent down to the very last detail of her. Her hair smelled vaguely different from her skin, due to that strange concoction she used to wash it with. She had explained to him that the scent was from some fruit called coconut, but personally he didn't care what it was. To him it smelled great just because she carried that scent. His clawed fingers twitched slightly with the memory of how her skin felt through her clothes and a shiver of aching passed over him.

Gods, I really do miss you Kagome...

It was useless to deny it anymore, he was completely smitten with that girl. Sometimes he thought he had been from the moment she had met him at the base of the tree, or even when her unconscious plea of help had reverted part of the spell to make him wake up again. The months afterwards had just increased that feeling in his chest, everytime she got hurt during a battle, when he failed to protect her, something inside him had clenched painfully and he felt as if he couldn't breathe anymore. Only at the time he had been too afraid to figure out a reason for that. He had tried to convince himself that he was entitled to protect her, after all he HAD promised her, failure would mean losing his honour. But it was so much more than that.

Suddenly, just like last time, his nose picked up on the faintest indication of her scent in the air, either he was hallucinating once again of Kagome had returned to the tree. Choosing to believe in the impossible, Inuyasha sighed contendedly and leaned his back to the trunk behind him.

I wonder if she'll sing another song...

Her aura spread out and he allowed himself to be engulfed by her once again. Perhaps she could feel him that way too and know that he was listening to her. His mind conjured up a mental picture of her, just the way he wanted her to be, happy and carefree, displaying that brilliant smile which always made the light of the sun seem dim and insignificant compared to it. His mental Kagome's hair was playing in the wind, silken ebony strands of hair floating, devying gravity itself, her head tilted slightly sideways, as she had been doing so often.

And then, as if the Gods had heard his wish, he once again heard his Kagome's voice. And she was singing yet again. She was lifting her voice up to form notes and words with it that floated through time to reach his ears.

Where does she get all these songs anyway?

Choosing not to wonder about that, but to simply enjoy the voice of the one woman that held his heart, he let his eyes drift shut and relish in the feel of her presence around him.

10 miles from town and I just broke down, spitting out smoke on the side of the road...

That didn't make sense, perhaps he hadn't understood correctly. Frowning the hanyou let himself sink deeper in his daze and focus on her and nothing else.

I'm out here alone just tryin' to get home to tell you I was wrong but you already know...

Wrong about what? What could Kagome possibly be wrong about? Maybe that she'd be better off in her time? Perhaps she really didn't belong there, maybe she was meant all along to end up on his side of the well and they both simply didn't realize it. And she did feel alone, he could sense it clearly. Inuyasha wondered what had happened to make her feel so alone and lost, she had her friends right?

Believe me I won't stop at nothing to see you so I've started running...

She was as determined to get back to him as he was to provide her with a way for it. He wanted his Kagome back, nothing else mattered anymore. He had accepted the fact that his heart had chosen her as a mate a long time ago, and mates were made to be with the other. After all, she was his other half, without her he was sure he'd die. Maybe not right away, but certainly sooner than expected. He would die without her, that was something the hanyou had come to understand in all those nights spent in the branches of Goshinbuko with nothing but starlight to grace the skies overhead. He needed to get her back, more than he needed air itself. Compared to his need to have Kagome with him, the need for air paled drastically.

Realizing that he had zoned out in a sort of daydream where she was back with him and laughing at him, he focussed his mind back on Kagome, intend not to miss one moment of her voice.

Last time we talked, the night that I walked out, Burns like an iron in the back of my mind...

Gods that was true, he could remember the conversation he had with Kagome on the eve of the final battle. She had seemed so determined to face whatever was coming at them, to brave whatever devilry Naraku held for them, she had even seemed to be prepared to face her own death that night. They hadn't said anything about how they felt about one another, but no real words were needed. They had simply sat, right next to each other, their shoulders lightly touching together, ever so slightly leaning against one another. And that had been enough to make them understand.

I must have been high to say you and I weren't meant to be and I was just wasting my time...

Images of Kikyo flooded his brain and he understood how often he had made Kagome doubt her self-worth being comapred with Kikyo every step she took. For the longest time he himself had done that, looking at her and only seeing Kikyo, but gradually something strange had happened. Everytime he went to see Kikyo, he saw Kagome in her. He began to measure Kikyo to Kagome and found that nothing could ever measure up to her. But there was a time, albeit a long time ago, that he had doubted his own desire for Kagome, he simply hadn't known that she had gone through the same thing. But then again, could he really blame her for doubting? Time and time again he had left her behind for a copy of someone he had thought he loved a long time ago.

Oh why did I ever doubt you, You know I would die here without you...

That was delivered with such vehemence, such desparation it tore at the very edges of his soul. She'd die without me... She did feel the same thing, she too felt as if she was slowly being torn in two, just as he was.

You and I, right or wrong, there's no other one, after this time we spent alone...

It didn't matter anymore, opinions didn't matter anymore, no insult they could ever fling at Inuyasha could ever erase that feeling of pure elation and love that flooded his being as her words reached him and filled a void in his heart he hadn't known had been there to begin with. Simply her stating that he was the only one for her was enough. She didn't care either what people would say about them, all that mattered to her was to be beside him again. Just as much as he wished to be with her.

I do believe that a man with sight would be so blind, thinking 'bout the better times, must 'a been outta my mind...

Yes, that was true. He had been blind for so long, only to finally see clearly in the moment she was taken away from him. He had stumbled through his existance enshrouded in a dark blanket, until she had come and had pulled him out of it. Without her he wouldn't have been able to accept something like friendship, he wouldn't have taken to care for a little fox kitsune, he wouldn't have ever stopped to worry about old Kaede and whether she would live to see the next summer or not. Have to remember to thank Kagome for that...

All that I'm after, is a life full of laughter, without you God knows what I'd do...

That was all she wanted? A life filled with laughter? When he got her back (and he was sure he'd get her somehow) he would make sure that she laughed often, that he was the one to make her smile and laugh that angelic laugh again. Gods, he loved to see her laugh, how her aura seemed to pulse with every breath she took, while pure mirth overcame her. She probably didn't even know what she did to him when she laughed, but he loved her all the more for it. The Kagome he had fallen so heavily for, was just like that. So innocent and carefree, it was hard to believe at some point. And besides, he wasn't sure himself what he'd do if this purgatory continued on for much longer. He'd probably continue to sit in those branches and eventually starve to death waiting for Kagome to return to him. And somewhere in his heart he sensed that she felt the same. That she herself was willing to accept death if she couldn't overcome the rift that time had created.

Yeah, all that I'm after, is a life full of laughter, as long as I'm laughing with you...

How often had she pelted out some witty remark that made him chuckle, both inwardly and outwardly. Her dismissal of even the biggest demon or the strongest power simply to throw some snide comment delivered in that beautifully and strangely enticing disinterested voice had made him grin on a number of occasions. To believe in the possibility that he'd too have that sensation on a daily basis made him yearn for her even more. He wanted to be able to laugh with her, to spend the rest of his days bathed in her scent and the sight of her smile, that he wished for.

All that still matters, is love ever after, after the life we've been through...

She was right, all that mattered at this point was their love for the other and how much they meant to each other. He knew full well that his life had been a virtual hell before he even met Kikyo, but only since Kagome had appeared in his days, he began to like living. As long as Kagome was there, life was worth continuing.

'Cause I know there's no life after you...

She was right, there was no life without her and he couldn't just forget her. There was no going back now, his heart had chosen and he couldn't back out of that now, not even if he wanted. He simply couldn't go on and forget her, and he knew she couldn't either. There was no real life waiting for them without the other by their side.

"You're right, Kagome." he said in the stillness around him as her voice stilled and the song ended. A smile tugged at his lips as he stored that song away in the confines of his memory, to relish and enjoy it later again.

I need you Inuyasha...

Her voice drifted once more through the nothingness around him and he couldn't but answer back. After all, this was Kagome and she had been able to speak through the tree once before to him.

"I need you too Kagome."

Before you exclaim in anguish over the abrupt ending, it simply felt right to have it end there. When the next song comes along that fits I'll probably do another one. Methinks this will develop into a full blown series of song-fics blending together to form a story. As I've never done that before it could be there are gaps between the updates, so do put up with me, there's some good chaps?

As always, I would be delighted to see you all reviewing. Its easy, just press the green button directly below and let me know what you think of it^^ I even enabled anonymous reviews! But be nice, English is only my second language...

Yours faithfully

Callie