Title: Silver Beast

Disclaimer: I do not own Inuyasha or any of the characters. All credit should go to VIZ media and the Inuyasha Corp.

Rating: MA - for later chapters containing violence and adult content.

Warning: This chapter contains graphic content. Read at your own discretion.

Silver Beast : Life and Death

I never thought I'd love someone so much that I'd be willing to lay down my life for them. I used to mock and take love for granted. It's an emotion I now deeply understand. Having experienced the other end of love's double edge sword, I know life is worth nothing without sacrifice. If you've experienced it, you know it can be so intense that it consumes your soul like a raging fire and occupies your dreams and every waking thought to the point of madness. It was this intense feeling of love that gave me the strength to overlook the pain of death as I finished the mission. Although it saddens me to know our love story was cut short, my sacrifice in keeping him alive was worth it to me in the end.

These were the very thoughts that occupied my mind as the rain beat down on my broken body. As I bled out on the cold pavement, alone and utterly spent; his smile, warm laughter and brilliant amber eyes gave me the comfort I needed to find peace. I was not afraid of death or the numbing pain that accompanied it. It was the regret of never getting to say goodbye or to tell him that I loved him one last time. Knowing he was safe and away from the hands of our enemies however was enough of a reassurance for me. As it got harder and harder to stay awake I reflected over our time together. Although it was a short few months it was beautiful all the same.

I inwardly sighed at the memory of our first meeting. We hadn't liked each other at first, but once we got to know each other a little better we became the closest of friends. Everything was going perfect until summer came around. Everything seemed to turn upside down after that. So much has happened since then and so much more I wished could still become a reality. This was not the ending I thought my life would cap with; that's for sure. To be honest, I hadn't given much thought as to how I would die. I always envisioned my life with a big house filled with children and a loving spouse at my side. It was most definitely not in an empty warehouse drowning in my own blood.

Now that I've chosen death I won't get the chance to be with him in the way that I wanted. When he learns of my passing I hope he will come to forgive me in time for what I've done. Although I can't be by his side like I'd promised I would, I hope in time he can find it in his heart to love someone else. I don't want him to live a life without love. With his painful past and previous love relationship, he more than anyone deserves a happy ending. I want him to be surrounded by his children and a loving partner by his side. I want him to succeed in life, to laugh a lot and to have whatever he wants in order to be happy. I do not want him to waste my sacrifice for nothing.

He needs to live so that I can be free of the burdens of this world. Knowing the baka however, he'll likely hate me for putting myself in the line of fire. Too late to turn back now; not when bullets already reside in my chest and our enemy's blood stains my hands. Fate might have brought us together but it was my destiny to die in his stead. My only regret in this life is not telling him I love him more often and not stealing kisses when given the chance. We'd both been shy in regards to the acts of intimacy and public displays of affection. He was always too cute when he'd blush or got embarrassed. Just thinking of him and the night we'd first made love brought tears to my eyes.

Gods… how is it possible to love someone this much? As my vision grew darker and darker I focused on the lethargic beat of my heart. It was slowly losing tempo as my life energy left my body. I knew the heavy rains would make it difficult to track my scent but I figured with the sound of the gunshots someone would have at least called for help by now. I'm assuming it's already been close to five minutes since the battle ended but the wait could be much longer than that for all I know. It was so quiet in the warehouse that my breathing and pulsing heart was near deafening. I'd hoped to hear the sounds of sirens by now or the patter of feet running through the puddles.

Unfortunately it was only the rain beating down and my struggle to intake a breath was left to keep me company. Was it possible that no one called the shots in and that my fallen body would be forgotten all together? Would I pass from this world with nothing but the howl of the wind to lift my spirit into the heavens? I'd hate for my corps to be sitting here all weekend. Just the thought of some poor person finding my battered remains when they came to work on Monday sent a shiver down my spine. What a horrible way to start the workweek. By then my soul would have long since past on from this world and my chance to say goodbye to my beloved would be long gone.

I never gave much thought to what would happen to me after I killed our enemy. I only thought about how they needed to die so that he could live. There isn't anything I can do now to fix that error; especially since I have no strength to move and am having a harder time differentiating hallucination from reality. Twice now I thought I heard my name being called and the sounds of sirens echoing in different areas of the warehouse. The building was monstrous in size and built out of concrete and thin metal siding. Everything echoed in this place making it impossible to identify the direction of the source. It was exhausting trying to figure out so I stopped listening to it after a while.

Besides, every time I thought I was going to be saved no one came. It was very lonely and emotionally upsetting. I didn't want to die alone. I didn't want to leave his side without saying goodbye or kissing his sweet lips one last time. Thankfully some god in heaven decided to grant my final wish. It was just when my body began the last stages of life that my final wish was granted. As I grew colder with death, I finally heard muffled voices calling out for me. The last thing I remembered before everything went dark and the steady beat of my heart silenced in my chest was familiar amber eyes staring down at me and his soothing voice caressing my ears.

[End of Intro]

Authors Note:

This chapter is not the end. It is only the beginning of a fanfic filled with friendship, romance, fighting, angst, betrayal and drama. I hope you choose to click the follow button to find out how it all unfolds.

-TG1