Hey everyone! It's me again. Just who you wanted to see! Anyway, here's my new story. I really like it, and I'd love to hear what y'all think, too, so drop me a line, eh? Don't be shy! I wanna hear from all my old buds, and make some new ones, too!
P.S. I wrote this to Low Level Flight's Say (hence the title, of course) and recommend it for your listening pleasure as you read this story. All rights are theirs, blah blah. I make nothing, so deal with it, record people!!!
Say
Chapter One
"I wish you would stay."
He fingered the sleeve of her priestess haori, the rough fabric scraping under the pad of his thumb. Her black hair flowed loosely in the twilight, and her eyes shone up at him brightly, tear-wet, slightly regretful.
"I wish I could."
Kagome knew this was the way it had to be. She loved Inuyasha, despite his many flaws, but the Jewel had to be protected, and she couldn't do that here. There were too many evil people and demons who knew of its' power, and now that they had defeated Naraku and saved Sango's brother, Kohaku, the Jewel was whole once more. She rolled the pink orb in her palm as she stared back into Inuyasha's eyes, her other hand coming to rest over his heart.
"Me too." He sighed. He d been doing that a lot lately.
Her brow furrowed a bit. "Are you sure you don't want to wish on the Jewel?" Inuyasha's dream had been to use the Jewel to become a complete demon, but not once had he asked her for it since its' completion, or even asked to see it. He seemed content to leave it in her hands. She'd wondered if perhaps he'd decided he didn't want that, anymore.
He took a moment, but he nodded. "I'm sure. I think I'll stay just the way I am." He smiled, sadly.
She hoped his sadness was not for remaining as he was, but for her departure. She could not bear for him to have proved to himself that he was just as good, if not better, than almost any other demon, only to have him regret the whole lesson.
"Okay." Gently, she flicked the rosary that had hung around his neck for what seemed so short a time. She found herself bitterly angry at time, and its' persistent passing. She had never wanted her time in the past to end, but here she was, staring the end in the face, and what a sad face it was.
She had considered removing his rosary; he would be unable to follow her into the future if she did. In the present, she had not once detected the presence of any demon (excepting Inuyasha's and those she'd once brought home in a dried form), so she was hoping and praying that, since the Jewel was a legend in her time and nothing more, she'd not have any trouble keeping it hidden from detection, demonic or otherwise. It was her duty, now; her curse. She squeezed the pink ball with all her might, her anger making the bauble glow inside her pocket. If it weren't for this stupid thing...
If. There were so many ifs. If Kikyou hadn't been resurrected... If Onigumo had not become the scourge of their existence, Naraku... If the Jewel was not bound in her body and removed by the sharp fangs of Mistress Centipede... She'd not have lived the adventure most people only ever dream of. She'd not have lived, loved, and lost as poignantly, learned what was important and what was superficial, come to cherish each day, each moment... She knew without a doubt that, given the choice, she'd do it all over again, despite the heartache and the battles, the injustice and the pain. She would miss this, and she suddenly hated with all her being the decision she'd made to go. But Inuyasha and Kikyou's failed love affair had proven that the Shikon no Tama could not be kept here, in the past. It was simply too dangerous.
"Are you going to remove it?" He meant the rosary.
It was her turn to sigh. Did she do the smart thing, and prevent all contact between her world and this one, in the name of the Jewel, or did she do what her heart desired? She felt her muscles contract at the thought of never seeing his face again. She didn't want to hurt him, but their entire relationship had seemed to be based on chance and missed opportunities. She was slowly coming to realise that their lives, like his and Kikyou's, were intertwined, yet never joined. Her heart broke a little more every time she thought of it.
She supposed she could leave it, and just remove the spell. But then she would have nothing but the Jewel to remind her that this whole ordeal had, in fact, been real.
She glanced up at him. "I have to."
He sighed again, his silver hair shifting over his shoulders, gleaming bright in the faint moonlight. She released the Jewel in her pocket and pulled out something else in its' place.
"Your rosary will be my personal reminder of you; I will wear it when I'm gone. I would, though, like to leave you something to remember me by." She opened her palm. He accepted the white envelope from her in silence, then tugged her close and pressed his chest to hers, his arms closing her in. She closed her eyes, savouring his scent, his heat. His love.
She knew he could not read, but Sango or Miroku would help him. She had already said her long, tearful goodbyes to her friends earlier that day. She had saved Inuyasha for last, because leaving him would be the hardest thing she'd ever have to do.
He simply held her for several moments, breathing in the smell of her hair and skin, committing them to memory. He'd heard of people moving on after losing a loved one; Kikyou had been hard to forget. But Kagome was unforgettable. He doubted he'd ever love again after her, no matter what Kaede or Sango or anybody said. There was just no one like Kagome, and she was leaving him, yet he could not bring himself to hate her for it, because he knew as well as she that this was how things were meant to be, even if he hated fate for cheating him out of another woman he loved.
He nuzzled her neck and she leaned her head back, her lips close to his. Before either of them could take another breath, their lips were mashing together, and they were furiously trying to be as close to each other as possible. Kagome threaded her fists into his long hair, while he pressed her body to his chest in a death grip, as if releasing her would bring about his own demise.
Kagome broke away to gasp for air and whisper, "Inuyasha," in such a tone as not even he could mistake her desire.
He lifted her up, keeping her mouth busy as he took her away from the well, and deep into the forest. Goshimboku loomed when he sat down at its' base, nestling her snugly in his lap, his excitement palatable beneath her.
As she began to delve into his collar with her hands, skimming them over his hard muscles, he pulled her haori out of her pants and burrowed up her back, his claws making short work of the clasp on her bra.
"Kagome," he mumbled between kisses and heated gasps for air, "I love you. Please stay."
She gripped his face tightly between her small hands and wiped away a tear gathering in his eye. Her hanyou never cried.
"I will always love you, Inuyasha. Never forget that."
She took him into a world of their own, a place he wanted to die in, so he could stay in it with her forever, but as the moon waned overhead and they gasped in tandem, moving and rolling and writhing in the timeless ritual of love, he knew when he awoke again she would be gone.