Edited! w00t!
Thank you all for the reviews! Your support and advice has really helped.
And thanks to BlackDiamon for pointing out the errors I had in this chapter. They are now fixed!
Enjoy!
Remember Me Always
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Summary: Three little words he spoke to another broke her heart in ways he would never know. It's painful for her to remember him. She wants desperately to forget. And with the completed shikon no tama in her hands... she can. InuKag
Disclaimer: I do not own Inuyasha or any of the characters from the series.
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Last Chapter
Inuyasha placed his hands as gently as he could on Kagome's shoulders, and looked into her eyes carefully.
"I love you, Kagome," he said sincerely.
The girl froze in place and closed her eyes for a moment. When she opened them again, she suddenly looked unbelievably small and frail.
"This isn't a dream is it?" she whispered, then laughed bitterly at herself. "I mean, what am I saying. But how can this be true? Because, then what about-"
Inuyasha cut off her stumbled words when he claimed her lips with his own.
Kagome's eyes widened briefly before fluttering closed, enjoying the sensation of Inuyasha so close to her.
It wasn't like the kisses she saw in movies, the ones that seemed to last forever.
The first kiss she shared with Inuyasha was short and sweet.
Chaste.
And Kagome liked it that way. It filled the emptiness inside of her with a heart-warming feeling.
When she pulled away gently to look at Inuyasha carefully, all she wanted was to never wake up, if this indeed was a dream.
Because the expression on his face was one she had always wanted to see, the one she had waited for so many years to see.
A look of sincerity and of love.
If Kagome could wish for anything in the world at that moment, she'd want nothing more than to be by Inuyasha's side forever.
End
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.:Chapter Nine:.
A soft splash of faded gold blended noticeably with the dark, starlit skies surrounding, joining in the twilight dance to blanket the earth under a silent, sleepy glare. A sparse, wispy breeze lingered in the frosty air, trickling through dim, moonlit meadows and skimming quiet, motionless lakes, bringing out slight ripples to reflect their crystalline clarity.
Delicate pink cherry blossom petals twirled leisurely amidst the dancing autumn winds, floating carelessly to the lushly covered ground, carpeted in fragrant green grasses, still wet with daylight dew.
A stray petal tumbled inelegantly amongst its siblings, seemingly in a struggle to keep up with the rest in the race to reach the verdant green grass. It toppled softly at the base of a flat, moonlit rock.
A set of pale fingers retrieved the soft petal from its rest in the grass. They reached up to place the smooth, unbroken blossom on the flat rock overlooking the crystalline lake.
A gentle, whistling wind hurried past, slightly rustling the long crimson skirt of the young woman's miko robes.
A slight sound of disturbed autumn leaves from a nearby tree had barely any affect on her as she continued to smoothen out the small white creases in the petal she held in her hands.
A rough thump resounded behind her as a figure toppled out of an overhanging branch.
"Kikyo."
The miko paused a moment before standing up to face her inquirer.
"Inuyasha," she returned in an anticipating whisper. A smile tugged at the corners of her lips.
The white-haired hanyou before her found interest in the object she carried in her hands.
"What's that?" Inuyasha questioned curiously, leaping to Kikyo's side in one bound. He sniffed the slightly creased petal partially hidden by Kikyo's fingers.
Kikyo pushed Inuyasha's face away playfully.
"It is for a combination of herbs I am mixing," she explained serenely, her shining eyes the only feature on her emotionless face betraying her appreciation of Inuyasha's presence. "The son of the Arakiwa family, Ichirawo, is ill. I am hoping that my blend of medicines will cure him," she added as an afterthought, looking out past the trees.
"You're too nice to those backstabbing villagers, Kikyo," Inuyasha muttered quietly, his gaze averting to the tree behind the miko.
The hanyou jerked slightly in surprise as he felt Kikyo's hand rub into his shoulder gently.
Her deep brown eyes were fully of understanding as Inuyasha looked into them.
"Although your hanyou form has pre-empted both youkai and humans to accept you as one of them," the miko smiled slightly sadly, "you cannot go through life hating everyone." She squeezed his shoulder softly, offering him a quiet smile.
"If someone is in need, as a person who understands how to use medicinal herbs, it is my duty to help," Kikyo returned softly, looking back at the petal in her hands.
Inuyasha eyed Kikyo warily.
"I came to tell you something," he suddenly blurted out, remembered in time.
Kikyo turned to him, watching him curiously.
Inuyasha grinned. "Remember what you said about me using the shikon no tama to become a full human?"
A smile started to creep onto the miko's customarily serene face.
"I'm gonna do it," Inuyasha announced. "For you," he added somewhat sheepishly, mentally kicking himself for his unaccustomed mushiness.
Before Inuyasha could speak another word, Kikyo allowed herself to fall into the hanyou, catching him off guard into a deep embrace.
There were hints of tears in her eyes as she raised her face to look into Inuyasha's golden orbs.
Tears of happiness.
"Does that mean that all the plans we made earlier-" she began, only to be cut off by the hanyou beside her.
Inuyasha nodded.
"So we will marry after the shikon no tama has been purified, and move together to the countryside?" Kikyo whispered.
Inuyasha nodded in agreement, holding Kikyo tighter.
"I will bring the shikon no tama tomorrow, then," the miko nodded her tearstained face, true happiness like never before shining through her pale features.
Inuyasha grinned and pulled her into a needy kiss.
It was the happiest moment of her life right then.
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A brief flashback scourged her mind.
'It was the happiest moment of her life right then.'
Slashing the miniature sword across her victim one more time, Kikyo watched in satisfaction as a warm, crimson substance oozed out from the wounds.
A sudden, ghostly sting seemed to cut viciously across her back and shoulder, ripping through her skin. She reached a hand to touch the invisible wound.
Warm droplets of liquid began to wash slowly across her face as she looked up into the dark skies.
"Why did you betray me, Inuyasha?" she screamed at the retreating hanyou. She could scarcely believe that, with the smell of her lover's claws still fresh in her wounds, she was dying. She struggled to stand up, crawling towards a tree for support.
Fire raged through her dark brown orbs as she helplessly watched Inuyasha leave a village burning to shreds, children and adults screaming in agony as crimson embers consumed them and their loved ones. She watched in utter hatred as the hanyou turned his back from the gruesome scene and disappeared in the distance.
She barely felt it when she lifted a numb hand to retrieve a frosty arrow, stringing it expertly across her bow.
Her customarily organized mind was screaming and shrieking, and a most uncharacteristic lust for Inuyasha's blood tainted her eyes and lips, causing her to tighten her hold on the stiff bow in her hands.
Slightly limping, she trudged forward in the direction she had seen the hanyou disappear.
Upon entering the tangled forest, Kikyo saw Inuyasha from amongst the trees. He looked around somewhat wildly for a moment, before resting his golden orbs on Kikyo's shaking form, frozen in place.
When her hand went limp, releasing her arrow of deepest hatred, Kikyo watched in satisfaction as Inuyasha stared at her in shock and betrayal, wanting to feed him some of his own medicine.
Inuyasha's head seemed to jerk forward momentarily as the spelled arrow shot through his body and crashed him into the tree behind him.
Just before the arrow's blood-encrusted tip locked into the tree, and he closed his eyes for the last time, he eyed Kikyo with a gaze of deepest disappointment, regretted heartbreak, and utter hatred.
Just when the hanyou's eyelids dropped to fulfill the spell, Kikyo felt her body go limp as she collapsed onto the ground, stained crimson from her own blood.
She had failed.
Failed to purify the shikon no tama.
Failed to love Inuyasha.
Failed to live a happy life.
Of all the most important things she had ever wished for, not one had been granted, and she supposed they never would. She closed her eyes painfully, a single, regretful tear ushering its way down her pale face.
Kikyo glanced briefly at the hem and ends of her robes, smeared with mud and grass, and slit another infliction across her prey.
The scapegoat on which she was releasing her bitterness indeed was very much like prey to her. She herself was the predator, feeding on the image of fresh bloodstains, all of which she had caused.
Who knew that Inuyasha could cause even her earthen heart to break?
Kikyo certainly had never predicted it.
She had thought that, built on hate, she was utterly invincible.
But now she knew that she was utterly vulnerable.
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The air had cooled, rushed here and there hastily by armies of minute but ruthless breezes. The pale moon contrasted flawlessly with the coal-black sky, sending soft shafts of light down from its perch.
Glowing hints of gold, orange, and ruby peered from behind camouflaged clouds, drifting slowly but surely out from behind the darkened skies and into the open.
Her eyelids fluttered open slowly, revealing a pair of luminous brown orbs, shining softly from satisfaction and contentedness. Gazing up distractedly at the beginnings of a sunrise painting the shady skies, she lifted a hand subconsciously to touch the slight smile tracing her lips, lingering from the night before.
Never had she felt so secure and full in her life, as when, the night before, she fell asleep in Inuyasha's arms.
Kagome leaned her head back against Inuyasha's steady chest, careful to not disturb his heavy sleep.
She loved the feeling of his warmth pressed against her body, so that their breathing and heartbeats were delightfully aligned.
Kagome let out a deep breath of fulfillment.
Everything that had caused her to experience so many sleepless nights, leaving her pillows wet with salty tears – all of those worries and pains were gone now that Inuyasha was with her.
She felt the utmost safety around him.
The previous night, she had given into his protection. Drained of emotion and tears, she had allowed herself to fall asleep in his arms, with the cold, bitter wind beating mercilessly around them.
Kagome tentatively touched Inuyasha's strong arms, wrapped so tightly around her body, protecting her from the cold and the ruthless breezes.
The hanyou stirred at the contact.
Sitting slowly, he brought Kagome up with him.
Kagome playfully tapped his nose, which scrunched up from instinct.
"Good morning!" she greeted cheerfully.
"Morning," Inuyasha responded in a less enthusiastic mutter.
Kagome stood up in a single bounce, full of early-dawn energy. Smiling happily, she grasped Inuyasha's hand with both of hers and attempted to pull him up.
After a while of trying and failing, Kagome pouted mischievously at the hanyou, whose golden orbs were still half-lidded.
"You liar!" she accused teasingly. "You told me before that youkai didn't need to sleep at all! And here you are, not even up when I am!"
Inuyasha squinted and eyed the wide-eyed girl before him. He did remember telling her that once, but it was a long time ago. His spirits rose slightly at the possibility that Kagome was regaining her memory of the past.
"Yeah, I did say youkai don't need sleep," Inuyasha mumbled amid yawns. "But I'm a hanyou."
With that, he had collapsed on the ground, lost in heavy slumber once more, producing snores that shook the ground.
Kagome shook her head, unable to decided whether she should frown or laugh.
She bent down slowly and was about to shake the hanyou back into full consciousness, when she decided against it, her hand faltering millimeters away from the hanyou's body.
'When he wakes up, he'll have breakfast waiting for him,' Kagome decided happily, standing up and walking away quietly, whistling a soft tune.
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Kagome had walked a little ways from Inuyasha's resting spot, relaxing in the exhilarating feeling of sunlight on her skin.
A soft sound of vigorous slashing woke her from her morning cheerfulness, drawing her attention to an area of tall grass near her.
Kagome mentally noted that this was the same place Inuyasha and Kikyo had reminisced the day before.
The girl brushed the tall grass aside briefly to find Kikyo in the near distance, crumpled over something red.
Kagome took shelter behind a nearby tree and approached the dead miko's area.
She almost did not recognize Kikyo when she saw her.
Was this really the same elegant, impenetrable, emotionless miko she had encountered in the past?
Was this really her, weeping softly in the clearing, slashing a broken wooden flute endlessly with a small blade, as her tears of blood flowed in to wash the splintered wounds?
Kagome felt sympathy wash over her. She knew what Kikyo was going through.
Suddenly, the miko cast her bleeding eyes in Kagome's direction.
Kagome couldn't help but shudder slightly. There was something about Kikyo's glance that made her blood run cold. That glance – was of utter hatred.
"Kagome," Kikyo muttered, hastily wiping away her crimson tears as she stood up.
The dead miko presented an icy smile as she made her way towards Kagome.
"What could you possibly have that Inuyasha would leave me for you?" she demanded, her eyes narrowed as she questioned.
Kagome's eyes locked glances with Kikyo's for a moment before Kagome jerked suddenly, crying out abruptly in pain. She glanced at her arm, and saw a thin cut on her sleeve penetrate her skin.
Dark, crimson blood ushered out.
A feeling of panic rose within Kagome as she tried to run away, only to find that she was frozen in place.
"I wonder if Inuyasha will still like you after your face is covered in scars," Kikyo said softly, her eyes glinting spitefully.
Kagome closed her eyes tightly and urged whatever power she had within herself to show itself. She remembered how being near her caused Kikyo's stolen souls to flee.
Kagome opened her eyes in confusion.
"Why do you still have your soul?" she blurted out before thinking.
Kikyo laughed cruelly. "You think I really needed to have you killed so I could steal your soul and use it like I told Inuyasha?" Kagome shuddered. "Foolish girl," the dead miko spat out pityingly. "I merely wanted you to get the punishment you deserved for trying to take Inuyasha away from me." Kikyo smiled cruelly. "I could just imagine your torn look when Inuyasha ripped your life away from you like I suspected he did to me years ago."
Kikyo's face paled for a moment. "It is one of the worst feelings, being betrayed by someone you love so deeply."
She turned to Kagome. "But although my plan with Inuyasha did not come into effect, it does not affect me negatively at all. For you see, I have long since already conjured a spell to bind the stolen souls within me in a way that you cannot interfere with."
Kagome desperately tugged inwardly at her feet, urging herself to move.
"Save your energy," Kikyo spat out coldly. "You will not be leaving alive."
With that, she cast her blood-encrusted blade at Kagome's throat.
Kagome sucked in her breath as the tip penetrated her skin.
'Inuyasha!' her mind screamed out, but it was too late.
She felt warm blood generously gushing down her neck.
She was dying.
Kikyo had killed her.
Cliffy? I guess this would be considered a cliffy. Haha... I'm so evil! Please review and tell me what you think about this chapter!
One more chappie to go!