Disclaimer: I don't own any of the characters from the Inuyasha universe, but I sure do love playing with them. The rest is mine.

Chapter 15

"Kagome...open the door," Inuyasha yelled, banging on the side of the ship as she tried to figure out the control panel in front of her.

Why did this hurt so much? Her vision was blurring as she tried to find an ignition switch of some kind.

"No," she yelled back to him. She kept pushing buttons until one created a shimmering, iridescent bubble around the craft that threw Inuyasha away from the ship. Her heart lodged in her throat as he landed roughly on his arm, and he cried out harshly in pain. She called out to him, twisting around in her chair in panic to watch him with bated breath. He slowly pushed himself up, hissing in agony as he held his arm to his body.

It looked like it was dislocated.

She didn't want to hurt him...she just wanted to live.

"Inuyasha," she breathed as he squared his good shoulder and clenched his jaw, placing his hand onto his dislocated shoulder.

He wasn't…

No…

He could break his whole arm!

"Inuyasha, no!" she yelled as he popped his shoulder back into its socket. She watched helplessly as he let out a tortured cry and collapsed to his knees.

"Inuyasha…" she breathed again, fighting the urge to leave her seat and comfort him. What was wrong with her? Why couldn't she get her fucking emotions in check? Why was she so...so confused when he was involved?

She needed to get her head on straight and get out of there.

She took a calming breath and forced her attention away from him and back to the panel in front of her, continuing to press buttons on instinct until the ship finally hummed with life. She flipped another one, and she then felt the ship lift up as a swarm of Inu Youkai started running towards the ship.

Shit.

She could see Inuyasha yelling at them, his good arm thrust out to the side in a gesture that made her think he was telling them to stand down.

Was he really letting her go?

She glanced at him one more time and felt her heart ache in her chest. Why did it hurt to leave him? Why had she even wanted him to come with her in the first place?

She shook her head and grabbed the steering wheel, refocusing her attention on getting the fuck out of dodge.

She swung the steering wheel around and made a sharp turn, heading toward the opening she had seen before. She grabbed a lever next to all of the buttons that had helped her get this far, and she was pleased to discover that she had found the "gas".

"Goodbye, Inuyasha," she whispered, shakily pushing it forward as she ignored the knots in her stomach and the tightness in her throat. She needed to do this. She needed to save herself...even if it meant leaving him behind. In a split second, she was out of the bay and surrounded by the stars.

She was going home.

Space was beautiful.

It was quiet and peaceful.

She had never been able to see this many stars while on Earth. She knew that light pollution and pollution in general was pretty bad there...but she hadn't realized how bad it truly was until she was traveling past Jupiter.

It was...wow…

As cliche as it sounded, she felt like she was flying through a sea of sparkling diamonds scattered across a black velvet fabric. She wished she could see the different galaxies that were out there, too. She knew they existed.

Inuyasha was proof of that alone.

She pinched her eyes closed and willed herself to stop thinking about him for the hundredth time...

...but she couldn't.

She was going home, and they were parting ways. He was just...just some random part of her life that didn't even matter. She shouldn't be feeling this way.

They had never even kissed for fuck's sake! She wished they had - she just knew it would have been so satisfying…

No!

She smacked the top of her steering wheel's side grip (away from all of the buttons), but it didn't help. She was still frustrated.

Why the hell was she feeling as...as...what? He kept things from her...important things! He had lied to her! He had fucking kidnapped her!

So...why did it hurt so damn much that he wouldn't come with her? That she wouldn't see him again? That she could never touch him again? Was this an extreme case Stockholm Syndrome?

She shook her head and turned her attention back to the once in a lifetime view outside her window.

Jupiter.

It was awe-inspiring. Absolutely breathtaking in every way.

The golden stripes surrounding the planet seemed to glow against the pitch black space surrounding it, vaguely reminding her of the golden eyes she wanted to get lost in. The white reminded her of the silvery hair she wanted to run her fingers through. The red made her instantly recall a certain military uniform.

How was a planet making her think of him?

It wasn't fair!

She leaned forward on the steering wheel, careful to not press any of the buttons. She then let out a loud groan of frustration. She wished she could forget him - everything about him, and everything that had happened to her.

She wished she were home.

She wished he were here.

She wished Koga had never interrupted them.

A loud beeping sound rang out in her ship as a holograph popped up in front of her face. Oh no...now what?!

It was just a large white rectangle with black text she couldn't read and what looked like two prompt buttons below. She waved her hand through it in a big, wide sweep to try to get rid of it...but all it did was shoot the image around the cabin of the ship, making her dizzy as she tried to follow its rapid, circular path.

Great. She was stuck with it now, huh?

She sighed in exasperation as the beeping sound continued, and she slunk down in her chair. This was going to be so annoying...but at least she wasn't thinking about a certain half Inu Youkai anymore, right?

Well...now she was…

There went that.

Her mind brought her back to those last few moments again for the umpteenth time, and she absently wondered how his arm was. He was so stupid...he should have just gone to a medic rather than try to fix his arm himself. He could have broken it!

She absently ran her fingers through her hair as she remembered how his arm had become dislocated in the first place. She hadn't meant to hurt him. She really hadn't. She had just wanted to get out of there alive. She wanted to go home. She wanted to live.

'Now that we found it, do you really think we would just let it go because it's inside your heart?

Say 'Oh ok. Our mistake. Let's go find another one to use instead!'?

No!

This is the one...and the people I'm with won't give a fuck where it is inside you. It's not right, but they don't care if they spill your blood to get it!'

Her mind replayed a mixture of his words in her mind over and over again. She hadn't made a mistake, had she?

'You didn't ask for this, and neither did I! So...if I can only save one of us from this fucking thing, I'm gonna save you. I don't care how hard it is. I don't care how many doctors I have to consult with or what I have to do.

I'm not going to let you let you die!

That's the whole fucking reason I did this. Taking you is keeping you alive. Keeping you with me is keeping you alive.'

No. Leaving was her best chance at survival.

'...unless we get that thing out of you, Haruto won't be the last to try and take it by force.'

She had defended herself against him. Leaving wasn't a mistake.

'They will never stop coming for you now that we've found you.'

Then she'd keep running.

Right?

Right?!

This was the right thing to do.

This was what she needed to do.

'If this works...I could be the key to ending this war.'

Yes. This was the right thing to do. Because it wouldn't work. He had told her that he didn't believe it would. By running...she was saving them both.

That was all the reassurance she needed.

The incessant beeping of the hologram finally, blessedly stopped...and she sighed in relief as it disappeared. Whatever it was or wanted, it was done and over with and the dull ringing in her skull it had been creating was finally easing.

"Kagome?"

Holymotherfuckingshitwhattheactualhell!

A new hologram had popped up in front of her - this time with what appeared to be a real-time video feed of Inuyasha.

"What do you want?" she demanded, before softly asking, "How is your arm?"

"It's been better," he smiled weakly. "You didn't pick up."

"Huh?"

"I tried calling you just now. You didn't pick up. I had to manually patch myself through."

So that's what that beeping had been…

"I didn't know what it was," she shrugged coldly, unwilling to show him that she was relieved that he was fine. She couldn't be feeling like that, damnit! How many times would she have to remind herself of that to get it through her thick head?

"Kagome...please...turn your ship around," Inuyasha pleaded, jumping right to the point. "Please. I don't want to treat you like a hostile."

"Yeah? That's funny…'cause that's how I'm feeling right now."

Noooo, no, no, no, no, no...stupid, stupid, dumb, big mouth. This wasn't helping! Why was she saying that?

"Please, Kagome...I...I shouldn't, but I'm giving you one more chance. Please come back willingly. You aren't going to make it back to earth. You don't even know how to find earth! This is a halfcocked idea…Please, Kagome…Don't do this..."

"I can't, Inuyasha. I need to try! I need to go. Let me go. Not just for me...but for you, too."

She watched him pinch his eyes shut and grind his teeth together, and she silently begged him to let her do this. Finally, he opened his eyes and even through the fuzziness of the hologram, she could see the tears brimming in his eyes.

"I'm sorry, Kagome. I warned you."

She gasped in surprise as a ship in the distance in front of her uncloaked itself, and she knew without a doubt that it was Inuyasha. He had been following her this whole time.

She had never really been free, had she?

Then, he fired.

A/N:

*Runs away and hides*

Thanks for all of the amazing reviews for the last chapter guys! And I'm FINALLY caught back up on responses on FFN (still working on AO3), but wanted to get this up ASAP so…AO3…I'm still coming for you!

House Keeping! Saucy Librarian is hosting a AMA tomorrow (3/7) from 10 am to 10 pm EST on my Tumblr account! Ask the woman slaving away behind the scenes ANYTHING (and I mean anything). You can start submitting asks NOW!

Fic Rec…My Heart by GrlWthAThrnNhrSd! I haven't read it yet…but it was recommended to me so I'm pasing it along! (it is on my list though!) I've heard great things about it!

Next chapter is going live Friday, March 13!

SEE YOU ALL AT THE AMA!

-Lemonlush

Ps: the second baby teaser in the teaser game on tumblr was in the image ;)

A/Rs:

Lola1991: Because I'm an evil, evil, evil woman when it comes to this story….MUAHAHAHAHAHAHA!

Kris M: I am the worst, and I regret nothing! I hope you enjoy the next chapter!