Disclaimer: I do not own Inuyasha, or any of its characters.

Summary: Sometimes the choices we make lead us down a path we don't expect. She chose to leave his side, and he closed off his heart to the world. Now she is back, and he is the only one that can save her. Can he move past his pain to help her? Or will the consequences of their choices prove to be too much to bear?

Rating: T for language and alcoholism.

*Note, in response to a review: This story was previously posted on Dokuga under the same penname.

Sesshomaru relaxed back upon his sofa, the stillness of his high rise condo filling him with a sense of peace. His eyes were open, staring at the ceiling above as if it held some fascinating pattern. It did not. He tilted his head slightly to accommodate the lip of a bottle, forgoing the glass, as he drank heavily. The alcohol warmed his insides, but did little to drown the pain. Kagome's test results had come in. They were worse than before. The cancer was spreading. Treatment wasn't working, each drug making her sicker than he last. Still, he couldn't give up.

"Useless." He muttered to himself. He was completely useless. Though she seemed fine, a smile always adorning her pretty face, he knew it was not true. Her body was frail, and thin. The Chemo was destroying her. On more than one occasion, he had listened to the sound of her retching from behind the door, cursing himself for not being in there with her.

Since their rather intimate discussion last month, Kagome had pulled back from him. Keeping things polite, yet distant. Hojo had returned from his trip, and seldom left her side. Sesshomaru both detested his presence, as well as welcomed it. With Hojo around, he could keep control of his emotions, keep his wants and desires in check. And with the newest results, he needed to keep a tight leash on his feelings. He lifted the bottle again, swallowing the liquid in earnest.

A light knocking at his door cut through the depressing fog, and instantly he felt irritation curling at the edges of his mind. Who the hell would be bothering him? He turned his phone off, left explicit instructions to his assistant not to call his house phone unless it was urgent. So who would come here? He lifted from the couch, dropping the bottle back into its spot before striding to the door with ill intentions. Pulling the door open, he readied a scathing remark, but it died on his lips. Kagome stood, wide eyed, staring at him, her hand poised to knock again.

"Sesshomaru," She said softly. "May I come in?" Sesshomaru stepped back, surprise still coloring his face. What was she doing here? Where was Hojo? He closed the door behind her as she entered, suddenly feeling out of control and on edge. She couldn't be here, not now.

"Why are you here?" He did not mean for it to sound so cruel, but the alcohol loosened his tongue a bit more than he would have liked. Though he was not drunk, he was certainly not unaffected.

"I need to talk to you. I tried calling you, but I got your voicemail. Your assistant said you were not taking calls tonight. But I needed to talk to you."

"It is not proper to come here. And where is Hojo? Shouldn't he be…"

"I am stopping my treatment." Sesshomaru stopped in his tracks, his entire body going rigid. He could not have heard what he thought he heard. Slowly, gold sought blue. Her eyes were strong, determined, watery. Her form was shaking, as though she were braced for a fight.

"What?"

"If I were anyone else, you may have already had this conversation with me, wouldn't you? Chemo doesn't work. The cancer has spread." His eyes widened, how had she known? "I couldn't get a hold of you, so I discussed it with Mina." She had the slightest look of guilt about her face. Sesshomaru exhaled sharply. Why hadn't Mina told him? Why hadn't she called him? She knew his house number, this was most definitely an emergency. She should have called.

"Sesshomaru, I am okay with the decision."

"I am not." He bit out harshly. "Do you not think me capable? Do you think I have given up?

"Stop, please." She pleaded so softly, Sesshomaru's anger instantly deflated. She stepped up to him, her proximity causing his head to spin. She looked up at him, tears slipping down her cheeks.

"I know I am dying. I knew when I got the diagnosis that this was a possibility. Having followed your career for so long, I learned things. I knew it wasn't going to be a simple battle. I waited too long. I made the mistake, not you. If anything, you helped prolong my life a bit. But the truth is I would rather die me, than waste away with the Chemo. And I wo…" He couldn't hear anymore. He placed his fingers against her lips, his head bowing, and eyes closing.

"Don't." His voice cracked in a way he should have been ashamed of, yet he found he did not care. She was giving up. He couldn't allow this!

Slowly, her hands reached up and grasped his. She moved his hand, and pressed her lips against his palm. She slipped closer to him, and rested her cheek against his hand. He felt the dampness of her skin, the result of the tears she still shed. He couldn't lose her. Not again.

"Don't go." They were the same words he had whispered to his Mother the night she passed, and it held the same agonizing pain he had felt then. She was leaving him.

"I love you." She whispered, his voice breaking with a sob. "I always have."

Sesshomaru was, by design, an analytical man. He always knew the paths to take, and execute them to the best of his ability. It was what made him such an exemplary student, and renowned oncologist. However at this moment, he could not analyze anything. He allowed his instinct, his desires, and his heart to guide him. And so, as her small confession, one he had known already, reached his ears, he did not hesitate. He pulled her small frame against his and kissed her.

He kissed her for all he was worth, with every ounce of his feelings pouring through. Eight years of love, of pain, of heartache, of devotion in a single, heart stopping kiss. And she kissed him back with equal fervor. He felt it all. All of her love, all of her heart in that kiss, and he decided no matter what, he would never let go. He would never give up. Even if he had to follow her to Heaven, he would never let her go.

Love, Caleesci