A/N: Aria- A song sung by one person in an opera, used to highlight an emotional state of mind .

Echoes of Her Lonely Aria

His heart sank when he found themselves in his cold office suite, five years later. He would never forget this particular Christmas night-

it was the night she walked out of his life.

His past self was standing by the backdrop of his floor-to-ceiling glass windows, hands on his pockets, turned away from her. She stood behind the desk, her hands on her back, as if trying to hide something.

He never noticed it before, but now, as he and the spirit stood as a silent witness to the scene before them, present Sesshomaru realized Kagome had been holding something small and slender on her hands. Her clutch to it was tight and desperate, and he strained to figure out what it was. The spirit noticed his unease.

"Why don't you talk to your brother?" She stammered, her head cast down, the shadow of her hair concealing her face. "it's been so long, Sesshomaru..."

"Why do you care so much?" he snapped angrily, not looking back.

Present Sesshomaru flinched as he saw his strong blue-eyed girl tremble. The hold he had on the little child-spirit's hand unconsciously tightened. He carefully watched his Kagome, studied her face with such intensity he was not able to do that night, and he realized as she lifted her head to look at him that she looked tired.

So very tired, her eyes had sunk into dark circles from stress and lack of sleep, her positive energy, her very life sucked out by him and his neglect. He tried to bite back the regret that threatened to spill out from his thoughts.

"You weren't like this at all," she said, her voice shaking in restraint, "Sesshomaru, what happened to you?"

"He married that good-for-nothing country girl, that's what happened." Sesshomaru dismissed. "I had him arranged with one of the social elite in the business world, still he chose a life of possible poverty. He will have to enslave himself to work for their daily needs from now on, and I washed my hands from having anything to do with that." He turned to her, his golden eyes ablaze with anger.

"But she loves him," Kagome whispered, stepping back, the clutch to the unknown item getting tighter.

"She is in the middle class." Sesshomaru quipped.

"You speak as if it is a sin to love someone with a lower standing," her voice was so quiet, if it were not for the silence and the emptiness of his suite he would not have heard. He chuckled sarcastically. "Love cannot pay for designer dresses, or vacations in the Caribbean islands."

Her blue eyes flashed with anger. "I only agree to those vacations because it's the only time I get to spend alone with YOU! You're always at work, you never even call me to say goodnight anymore!" She breathed deep, "And I don't need designer dresses, or thousand-dollar shoes... In case you forgot, Sesshomaru, I loved you before all this..."

Sesshomaru felt as if he were crushed by her words. At that time, he was not really listening- he was blinded by his greed for money. But still the litigator held everything in, refusing to give in.

"What now, Sesshomaru?" she mumbled softly, "I cannot reach you anymore... you became this rich, successful lawyer that I don't recognize, will you still want a struggling, lower-class woman like me?"

Present Sesshomaru cringed, watching his past self make a decision so coldly without even looking at her. He knew what he was about to say.

"No. I can't marry a woman with no name in the society."

Kagome closed her eyes and cast her head down, again concealing her face with the shadow of her long hair. She teetered, his words knocking her breath away.

"Then I release you." she said quietly as she stepped out the door without turning back.

"How did she break your heart, Sesshomaru?" The spirit tugged at his hand. "From what I have seen, I couldn't figure out the grounds to support your words."

"She never shed a tear for me the whole time," Sesshomaru tried to quell the immense unrest that gnawed on him, trying to justify his heinous actions towards the woman who only showed him love and patience and appreciation. "She was only after my money." He tried to convince himself. But the Spirit was patient.

"Are tears the only gauge of how much someone loves you?" The child-spirit pulled on his hand, allowing them to walk forward. "Are you sure she never shed a tear for you, Sesshomaru? I was not allowed to show anything past your perception, but this time, I make a special exception..." They passed through the wall that separated his office and the hallway. "Allow me to show you the other side." and Sesshomaru froze when he saw what was on the other side of the wall.

She was leaning quietly outside his closed door, in the darkness of his lobby, a torrent of pained tears spilling from her beautiful blue eyes.

"Kagome," Sesshomaru whispered, stunned.

Her hand was covering her mouth in a futile attempt to keep her whimpers of heartbreak from coming out. Her shoulders were shaking, wracking from her sobs that she desperately tried to contain. She clutched the unknown object close to her heart and with that, a moan finally escaped her lips.

"How can you accuse someone of being so insensitive, Sesshomaru? Look at your beautiful blue-eyed girl, look at her closely. How can you say she never shed a tear, when you haven't even seen the other side?"

"Kagome," Sesshomaru reached out to her crying form, the pang of regret and longing instantly overwhelming his entire being. But the shadow of her past took off to a blind run, past the doors of his receiving lobby, and into the elevator. They followed suit, the blue-eyed girl madly pushing on the buttons, blinded by tears that burned her eyes. Now alone in the elevator, Kagome finally sobbed like a little girl, shaking her head in desperation, banging her fists in the closed confines of the contraption.

Sesshomaru did not notice his own tears streaking down his face as he tried to comfort her in his embrace, but his body only went through her like a transparent ghost. He was trying to murmur sweet nothings to her, and the spirit only watched quietly in the corner as the elevator opened to the ground floor. "She cannot hear you, Sesshomaru. Right now, as far as anyone is concerned, she is alone."

Alone. Her words sunk in as he watched Kagome fled the elevator, outside the revolving doors of his building. He ran after her small form, and the harsh biting wind and heavy fall of snow greeted them both.

Ankle-deep snow had filled the parking lot, it wouldn't be until morning when the maintenance team would come and shovel it out. She was still crying as she struggled to fit her keys in her run-down car, until finally she gave up, her shaking hands unable to hold the keys much longer. It fell on the ground, and she cried.

She cried her heart out, alone under the biting snowstorm, and leaning on her trusty car she slid down, sinking herself in the slush, lurching painfully from the sobs she couldn't control.

"Kagome, I'm sorry," he whispered to her desperately, "I'm sorry, I'm sorry..." he tried to kiss her but he couldn't, tried to hold her but he only went through. It was only when she shifted did he pause in his attempts. "We'll make it through, I promise..." she suddenly whispered, bringing out the slender object she had clung on tightly the entire ordeal. Sesshomaru's eyes widened as she held out the object before her eyes.

"A pregnancy test," he faltered. A little ribbon was tied on the slim end of the device. It looked as if she had done so to give it to him as a Christmas gift, and he saw the double lines in the indicator that practically screamed at him.

She was pregnant with child.

Their child.

"I promise I will be waiting quietly until daddy comes back to us," She moaned, "Mommy will be waiting for him... but baby, if he never does..." she broke down into desperate sobs, clutching the pregnancy test close to her heart, "If he never does, I still promise to love you with all my heart... Know that I love you, baby, And I will love you until my last breath,"

He felt as if heaven slammed down on him. His vain attempts to hold her grew maddening, and he himself was shaking from his own tears.

"Let's go, my time is over." the spirit tapped his shoulder, and Sesshomaru angrily shoved her hand away. "No! Kagome... I couldn't leave her just like this... I couldn't leave them like this," he snarled as he grabbed for nothing but air, and the Spirit stared at him dolefully.

"Sesshomaru, let's go," she persisted softly, but the litigator was unable to tear himself away from his blue-eyed girl's miserable form.

"Can't you see I can't leave-"

The Spirit again rested her hand on his shaking shoulder. "But you did, Sesshomaru. You never called, you never sought her out. You treated her like you did your brother.

This is only a shadow of your past, and you cannot change what you did.

You left her that night, and that was what happened."

Sesshomaru shook his head, "Kagome, I'm sorry," he reached out as the pull of the image tunnel started, "I'm sorry... Koi I'm so sorry..." he was sucked into the vortex with a sickening inertia, and everything spun fast, "No!" he yelled, unable to leave his blue-eyed girl alone in the cold snowstorm, crying her heart out.

Sesshomaru woke up finding himself slumped on his mahogany desk. Had he fallen asleep? He lifted his sore head, the wood wet from his tears. He looked at the antique grandfather clock situated before him. Two o'clock in the morning. He would have been overjoyed at the thought of it all being a dream, but the litigator could only sit silently in the darkness of his suite.

The gaping door before him, the gun at the corner. A shimmering patch of blue dust to where the Spirit of Christmas past laid. And slowly he unfolded his hands, because he was clutching something he did not notice from before.

It was a small ribbon, the one from Kagome's pregnancy test.

It was impossible , it was outrageous, but there was no doubt. It really happened, and he felt as if his entire soul had been crushed. Kagome's beautiful but crying face jumped into his thoughts, and he sprang up as he reached for the phone. It had been so long, he did not know her number, but he was sure his brother knew. Inuyasha had invited her for Christmas dinner, anyway-

"Who are you calling at such an ungodly hour?" a male voice suddenly inserted, "Jeez, can't people sleep peacefully these days?!"

Sesshomaru froze on his spot. There was no dial tone in the receiver, and he lifted his eyes to see a golden-haired giant sitting cross-legged before him, his grin reaching ear-to ear. "I suggest you put that phone down for now, boy. We're not quite done with you yet," he folded his arms in front of him, cautious of the already high ceiling of his suite.

"Who are you," Sesshomaru uttered, and the man stroked his beard contemplatively, his grin never leaving his face.

"I am the Spirit of Christmas present," he answered, as the giant bent down and reached out his large palm. "Nice to meet you, Sesshomaru. Now, are you ready for another round of fun?"