Disclaimer: I do not own InuYasha or any of its affiliates

A/N: This is my first IY fan fic and I hope everyone likes it. This first chapter is extremely short and I plan on having a second much longer one follow this one in the next day or so...depending upon the response this one gets. Anyway, enjoy and remember to review! ;P

Eye of the Beholder

Chapter 1 ~ Windows to the Soul

It finally happened. Her reason for going through with it appeared. Gathering the train of her kimono she turned and ran without hindrance. She had waited years for the decision to be made...an ultimate sign that would point her towards the right path. It was the look on his face that did it... the look that questioned her very being. A man in love never looks at his bride like that...especially on their wedding day.

The rain had started falling softly when the shrine came into view. The shrine where she grew up, that was only a few short blocks from the chapel. She was almost glad that he looked at her like he did a few moments ago when he broke tradition and walked in on her changing. At least this way she wouldn't find out, after 20 years of marriage, he couldn't love her as much as she did him. Her heart wrenched at the realization, causing Kagome's eyes to release the first of her tears.

That bastard.. that horribly cruel bastard. How could he delude her into thinking that she was capable of being loved? A cynical sobbing laugh ripped from her throat. Now she knew the truth and promised herself never to forget it.

"Kagome!"

The sound of her younger brother's cries reached her in her room. Placing a few last minute items in a large yellow backpack, the twenty-year-old priestess prepared herself for the long anticipated encounter.

"Kagome! Kagome what's wrong?!" Sota's frantic voice did nothing to deter his sister from her present course of action. "Kagome please!"

He followed hastily and watched the raven-haired woman slide open the door to the well house, throwing her bag into its gapping maw. Pivoting slowly on her left foot she bestowed him with a tender smile. "Sota I have to go now."

A panicked expression appeared on the small boy's face. "Go? Go where?" Her silence confirmed his suspicions.

"But you can't go! What about me and Mama and Hojo?" Kagome winced at the last name mentioned and turned back to the well.

"Please Kagome. Please don't leave me." The tears were trailing steadily down his chubby cheeks.

She grasped that small boy in her arms as if trying to remember the way he felt in them. After what seemed like an eternity, Kagome drew away gently, "I may not be back for some time and I want you to remember something for me." He cried into the fabric of her wedding frock and sniffed heavily when she released him, shifting a few sweaty strands from his brow.

Kagome took a seat on the well's edge, hearing the footfalls draw nearer. "Never forget... never forget Sota that you have a sister and she loves you." And with that she leaned slowly back into the abyss, letting it claim her... a caring smile never leaving fading from her lips.

"NO! KAGOME!!" Sota leaned over the old well's edge and through the watery sheen he could see the last traces of his beloved sister as they too were consumed by the darkness. Hojo panted at his side, trying to control the way his body heaved from the exertion. How one petite temple maiden was able to move so fast completely eluded him.

One look at the broken little boy next to him and the young groom knew what he had to do. Stoning his resolve he leapt into the well's center only to land on the soft dirt below. He glanced frantically at all areas of the circular confine.

She's gone.

Kagome, his Kagome, was gone... and it was all his fault.