A/N: Here is my second entry. I am happy about the way this one came out, it was certainly longer than expected! Thank you to everyone that has joined me on this little adventure so far. I hope you enjoy all of the ones that follow. If you have any prompts that you think will work send them to me and I'll see if inspiration hits! Again thank you!

Disclaimer: I do not own Inuyasha and these prompts were found on Pinterest. The idea for this collection was mine.

Chapter 2: Apologetic Flower

She opened her apartment door to hundreds of roses. She knew they were from him; he had found her.

Her eyes opened wide and a chill went down her spine. She heard nothing except the blood pounding in her veins. It was over. The past 6 months might as well have been for naught. She was as good as dead.

Standing at her door with keys still in hand, the desire to run grew strong but her body would not obey. Her chest felt as if it was caught in an iron grip and she was having trouble breathing. Actually, breathing was hard at the moment. Really hard, which had distracted her from the shaky hands and tingling feet.

What was she going to do? She had nowhere to go and it had been hell leaving the first time around. She would never survive a second escape. Scratch that, they, would ensure there was no second escape.

Managing to place one foot in front of the other, she made her way inside where her vision zoomed in on the perfect white lily of the valley nestled among the dozens of vases overflowing with roses. Raising a hand to muffle the small cry that came out as soon as she saw him standing by the fireplace; did she finally feel as if the iron bars were closing in around and ensnaring her in their trap. Her chest grew impossibly tight and bile rose up in her throat.

"Please"

"No….No…..Stay the hell away from me." In the back of her mind, she knew that her only salvation lay with herself. Gathering up her courage she prepared to fight, not really sure how far the man in front of her would go to ensure her return. She didn't know him anymore and if she had been in the right mindset she would have chastised herself for letting that bit of information break her heart all over again.

"We need to talk." The smooth rumbling of his voice took her back to the last time that they had "talked".

"No! Get out and don't come back. You made things clear the last time we talked!"

"I had no choice!"

"That's such a cop-out and you know it. There's always a choice and you have never failed to remind people that you alone decide your future, only you. You just never wanted to make one and I was caught in the middle."

"They want you to come back Kagome."

"I escaped! There is no way I am going back after I saved myself from a position that would have killed me and nobody would have cared. Everyone was actually relieved when it was discovered that I was the Lady of Legend. Relief oozed out of everyone's pores when it was me didn't it? DIDN'T IT!?"

"Damn it woman will you let me speak?"

"Answer the fucking question Inuyasha!"

"Yes! Yes alright! I was relieved. I was so damn relieved that I didn't think things through but it wasn't what you think," he murmured while making his way towards her.

Wiping the tears running down her cheeks, she backed away from him.

"I never stood a chance, did I? It's always been about her. I was okay with it because I never really cared about anything else, didn't need anyone else except you. But I wasn't what you wanted so you left."

It broke his heart the hear her talk like that but the truth was that he HAD left. He should have tried harder for her but everything had happened so quickly but in the end, the only one that had truly suffered had been her. How long had it been before he was even made aware that she had vanished? He had been blind to just how disposable the elders of the temple had made Kagome feel. It had been no secret that the Elders had favored Kikyo, she was cool, calm, beautiful and powerful. In effect, she was all of the things that the Elders wanted to have representing the temple.

Enter Kagome.

Inuyasha had found her on the outskirts of town during one of his morning runs. He would never voice it but he had brought Kagome to the temple because something inside of him had latched on to her in the scant minutes that it took for her to introduce herself with a shy smile all the while extending a small hand in a symbol of trust and friendship as if she knew everything about him and had not found him lacking.

He could sense the power in her and it called to him, lured him in with promises of love and forever that scared him because Kikyo's power had always made him feel that he had to be on constant alert and kept at a distance. Not that it mattered to him because while he would protect Kikyo when it was required he didn't really talk to her about anything that did not pertain to his job. Their relationship was more like that of acquaintances and it was this on top of his growing feelings for Kagome that had confused him.

He had grown up having been told stories of the role he was to play; the role of protector for the Shikon Jewel and its powerful Lady. He had adored those stories throughout his childhood, detested them in his youth and treasured them in his adulthood. He yearned to settle that piece within himself that he had recently realized was empty. His confusion stemmed from the fact that many people claimed that Kikyo would eventually become the Shikon Lady but he felt nothing towards her that would be worth him wanting to give her his life and soul.

On the other hand, Kagome was everything Kikyo was not: she was opinionated, stubborn, compassionate, willing to help anyone no matter the cost, and gave of her love so easily. So it really was no surprise to him when one smile from her labeled that feeling inside of him. It had seemed as if he was destined to protect one woman but to love another and that definitely had not sat well with him. In the end, the decision had been made for him, it came to light that Kagome was the true protector of the jewel. The reactions that came from that revelation had been many. The Elders were riding on a wave of exuberance that Kikyo, the temple's image, would be removed from the jewels propensity of bringing its holder into danger but there was anger too that someone that they had ignored and had deemed below them would turn out being the Lady of Legend.

He had been ordered to leave with Kikyo on a mission after the discovery, an attempt of ensuring Kikyo's safety and like an idiot he had left, his mind so relieved that the confusion and tear in his heart had been settled that he had thought of nothing else besides finishing this assignment quickly and moving on to where he should have been all along. His alliances were no longer divided and would ensure that all of his attention would be on Kagome-his destiny, his future, his home.

He had not had a chance to talk to her after the life-changing revelation and had failed to realize that she had seen things differently. He cringed, remembering the last conversation that they had had, involving none other than Kikyo and could only imagine how alone she must have felt after he left; hearing that she might die because of the jewel and that many actually expected her to. He had learned all of this too late, she had already disappeared. She had left the jewel behind, encased behind a barrier that none but him could pass, why he didn't know but did nothing to prevent those seeking its power from visiting the shrine. It was a testament to her power that after 6 months the jewel never faltered in the presence of all the visiting evil. Finally having pinpointed her location, Inuyasha would make sure that he didn't leave until she knew how much he loved her.

They had not been cruel, that would have been beneath them but rather they treated her with a cool aloofness that rubbed her the wrong way and did not hesitate to let her know that she should not be adverse to die protecting the jewel. She was a people person, always had been, so being prohibited from leaving the grounds had served to drag her deeper into despair; the only thing that mattered was the jewel and its protection.

Before coming into the temple, Kagome had not really known much about the jewel beside the fact that the jewel existed. It had never crossed her mind that she would cross paths with the jewel since she cared nothing for its power seeing as how she had more than enough of her own. Simple barriers and healing spells were what she spent her power on and she would have been content in life with that.

Imagine her surprise when by accident she came in contact with the purple sparkling jewel and in her presence changed it to such a light pink that many might have mistaken it for white and a different jewel entirely. Scared that she had damaged such a holy relic, Kagome had stumbled away but the connection had already been made. The surge of power released would have even been felt by those who possessed little spiritual power. The next days were some of the worst for Kagome and that was saying a lot considering what she had already been through but she didn't feel alone. She knew Inuyasha was still with her regardless of the fact that they had yet to talk and even after one of the worst fights they had ever had, considering the topic was the same as all of their other arguments. Then, he vanished. No word, no note, nothing. She managed to overhear some information but that just made things worse because she learned that he wasn't alone, he was with her.

Well, that had been the last straw. Grabbing her meager belongings, she slid out of her room and stole into the night. Having no plan in mind besides ensuring that she was as far away as possible while still maintaining that invisible bond with the jewel, she made it to the next city over. It had to have been more than luck that she had literally run into Nurse Kaede who, apparently possessed spiritual powers, took one look at her and asked if she would like a job in a hospital a block down. Not wanting to embarrass herself in the middle of the street by crying, Kagome quickly accepted and thanked the universe for the good fortune that had befallen her.

Fast forward a couple of months, she was happy. She loved her work at the hospital as a spiritual consultant, had made friends with two of the nurses there that she knew would end up together soon if Miroku ever got his head screwed on straight and had rented a small apartment from a lovely youkai couple with a sweet little boy that tugged at heartstrings whenever he showed her a new trick that he was practicing.

Everything was wonderful, but at night fears about the jewel, her new powers and being found came preventing sleep. But above all she missed him. Found herself hoping for a glimpse of silver hair, anything to mend the soul rip that ached constantly but aware that a glimpse might mean an end to her freedom causing confusion in her heart. Her new powers where another thing, she could feel them coursing through her calling to her to try things never done before, the real effort though was in keeping all of this power contained within her. And then there was the jewel, that open tab that she knew she had to attend to soon in order to move forward. The problem was that she didn't have any idea what to do in that regard. She still knew nothing about the jewel and whenever there was spare time, it was spent trying to find anything about it- well anything that would help her anyway.

Staring into intense gold eyes Kagome couldn't understand how it was that Inuyasha had gotten so close without some type of spiritual heads up. Her powers had been fluctuating all day leaving her tired and drained, thinking that some rest would do some good she had asked to leave work early and had punched out with thoughts of warm baths and long naps. Hearing " of course you weren't what I wanted" spill from the lips of the guy you have loved for more than a year was not even close to what she had had in mind.

"Thanks for the clarification, now if you would make your way to the door so I ca-.."

"You're still not listening to me Kagome!"

"I am listening and now I'm done listening so make -"

"No you're not listening and I'm not going anywhere until I know that you have listened to everything I have to say but first I'm going to do what I came here to do." Standing in front of her while pulling something from his pocket Kagome shut her eyes in sorrow, finally focusing on the immense power that permeated the air, "Here we go … he's going to place the jewel back on me…. I'm dead, he's taking me back."

With tears running down her cheeks and bracing for the worst Kagome opened her eyes to see Inuyasha on his knee in front of her with the jewel nestled in the palm of his hand. Confused she looked down to grab at what he had placed around her neck and found that it was a thin gold chain with a beautiful diamond, sapphire and ruby ring.

"You're not listening because if you were you would see that I have been trying to tell you that I love you."

Choking on a sob Kagome closed her eyes and tried to forget that those words had come out of his mouth but there was no stopping Inuyasha now that he had started.

"You weren't what I wanted you were everything I didn't know I needed. I wanted a quiet life where I didn't have to constantly worry about me being ridiculed and scorned only acknowledge because of what I can do for them, but with you…. You make being hanyou a good thing. You make me want more out of life than just existing. I want a life full of adventure with you and you alone. I was relieved when you were found to be the owner of the jewel because that meant that no longer would I be divided between my job of protecting Kikyo and loving you. I want you to be my mate, my wife, but I know I still have a lot to do to get you to trust me again but… I'm willing to do whatever it takes to get you back."

Standing to look her right in the eye he continued, "Me and you. We'll protect the jewel together, but if you don't want to I'll take it back and tell them that your trace was lost and place it right back where you left it. I mean it Kagome, I'm not letting anything stand in between us and will do anything to protect you." Bringing his forehead down to hers to calm his rapidly beating heart, "You're too important for me not to. It's your choice."

Deciding that enough problems had occurred because of miscommunication Kagome responded with only the truth, "I only left because I thought that if I had to face this whole ordeal alone then I would do it alone, not surrounded by people that didn't care whether I lived or died as long as it fit their agenda. There is a responsibility to the jewel that I must see through; knowing that you are behind me in this gives me strength. As to us well….give me a little time to come to terms with this not being a dream, that you are really here, and placing me above the jewel all the while telling me you love me and only me."

Releasing a breath he didn't realize he had been holding, Inuyasha finally succumbed to the desire and tenderly enveloped her in a hug, "I know we can do this together Kagome, I was born for you and you were born for me, nothing anybody will say or do can change that. I'm here for you and together we will figure this out. Let's finish this my Lady of Legend."

Standing in her living room, wrapped in the arms of the man she loved surrounded by roses, Kagome knew that together they would not fail.