Why They Call It Falling
"But you can't live your life,
walking in the clouds.
Sooner or later, you have to come down."
Kikyo stopped in her tracks, the soul snatchers swirling around her, rustling her hair. With a sorrowful frown that held many emotions, she looked up.
There it was, that hated tree. The tree that had finished everything. She reached up, feeling the indentation that her arrow had made.
What had happened? Now, she knew of Onigumo's deception, and the evil that was Naraku. But how, and why, had everything fallen apart so easily?
What had they done wrong?
It had started out simple enough, the day that hell broke loose. As usual, she'd gone out searching for Inuyasha, the jewel in her hand and a smile on her face. She was waiting for their usual game of hide-and-seek. So when she heard him rushing up behind her, all she did was smile and prepare for the arms that would wrap themselves around her, and the warm breath that would tickle her ear.
But it never came.
She felt only the cold, stinging sensation along her shoulder, and her breath caught in her throat. The next time her heart beat, she felt the searing pain, and the utter agony of the fatal wound. She was even about to reach for her arrows, to shoot this intruder, when she saw him.
His face was hidden, and all that she could see under his mass of silver hair was that evil, horrid smile. The one that chilled her to the very bone.
He spoke then, though she couldn't bear to listen. Her Inuyasha, her love, had committed this crime? Why? And why did he feel the need to tear out her heart in the taking of the Jewel? Why was she the victim of this crime? He took the Shikon no Tama, and she gaped.
As she watched his feet walk away, saw the flowing red of his clothing, she felt an utter hatred for the being he had become. She cried out, damning him, hating him. But...
Always, always she would love Inuyasha. The young man he'd been before, the one who had told her of his love for her. She would never stop loving that face.
But now, he revealed this... this thing. This terrible beast. The youkai within him was taking it's control over him, she was sure of it.
Staggering to her feet, she leaned against her bow, taking in a ragged breath.
She could not let them see this. Not her precious villagers, not her family. They could not see this beast he had become. She would make sure of that.
By the time she'd gotten to the village, all had been lost. Tears streaming down her face, her sorrowful eyes took in the wreckage that lay before them. Utter destruction.
She looked around, trying to find survivors. This was all her fault, all her doing. If she hadn't fallen for his tricks...
Taking another breath, laced with a hiss of pain, she stumbled down those steps. She felt him, he was close. From the corner of her eye, she saw the blur of red, and thought no more.
"Inuyasha!" With her last vestiges of strength, she let fly her arrow, waiting with bated breath. Slowly, she saw him, that beast, turn his head in shock. Before he could stop himself, though he tried, the arrow struck.
He had turned, trying to flee from her arrow. In his squirming, the arrow had managed to strike him in the chest, piercing his heart. She collapsed to the ground, her eyes never once leaving his.
In all her hatred of the beast that had taken over her dear, beloved hanyou, she couldn't help but notice the pain in his own eyes. With the last of his own breaths, he fought, crying out to her. He screwed up his face in pain, before he could see that which was in her own.
With a cry, she fell, and Kaede was there in an instant. When she looked up again, her hanyou, Inuyasha, was gone.
She looked into the face of her sister, her dear little follower. Many a time, the young child had accompanied her in her walks. And when she gazed into the depths of her one eye remaining, she couldn't bear the guilt.
Because of her own stupidity, her sister had lost her eye. Because of her, villagers were dead, houses were burned. And she was near death.
With her final breaths, she condemned the Jewel as well as herself. She knew the power of the Jewel, and knew it could revive her. But one look at the damage around her, and she no longer wished to live at all.
She looked one final time at Inuyasha, the boy who had stolen her heart, then took it brutally away at the last. No... she couldn't burden another person any longer... And with the peace of mind that could come only from one making a good decision, she died tranquilly, with only the anger and pain lingering behind.
"It's like a knife,
through the heart,
when it all comes apart.
It's like someone, takes a pin to your balloon."