Disclaimer: I do not own InuYasha or any of its characters.

Kat: Once again, last chapter was extremely... over done with the drama and such. Gah, I need to stop doing that, but I can't help it, I'm a sap for the depressing crap and drama.

'God damn it, Ayame,' the person said as he cupped Ayame's chin in his hand, forcing her to look up at him, 'this isn't a dream, just open your eyes and see for yourself!' His voice was much rougher than when he had first spoken to her, even from the last time they had said something to one another there was a change, and he regretted the yelling right after he finished his sentence. Raven hair whipped into his face as he sighed and dropped her chin, carrying her up the mountain path in silence now, blue eyes resting on the path just feet in front of him, making sure not to trip over anything while he walked. 'I'm sorry,' he mumbled out of the corner of his mouth when he heard the whimpers coming from the petite figure in his arms.

Ayame freely lifted her head and looked up at the figure towering over her and slowly opened her eyes, letting out a rather loud squeak when she saw who it was and realized everything that had happened wasn't a dream. 'Kouga, I thought you died!' she said, staring up at him in disbelief, eyes wide in shock, though her face showed happiness no one had seen from her in ages, and, for once, she was actually extremely excited to see Kouga holding her in his arms. She wrapped bloody arms around Kouga's neck and hugged him tightly, ignoring the pain in her stomach, just happy to be holding onto the one person she truly cared about and loved, tears of joy stinging her eyes. 'I'm sorry for everything I did,' she mumbled as she unwrapped her arms from around his neck, wincing when she went back to laying down in the male's arms, 'I thought it was the only thing I could do to be with you...'

Kouga rolled his eyes at the girl and stopped, ripping off the bottom part of her cape to wrap around her wound so she wouldn't have to keep her hands pressed against the material and bloody herself even more. He stood Ayame up and lifted her armor up somewhat so that he would see the gash and wrapped the fur around her abdomen several times, tying it in the back when he finished. 'You hate me, remember? Why would you want to follow me in death when you weren't positive I was dead?' he asked, continuing the trek up the mountain with Ayame walking by his side. Obviously he had said something because he no longer heard Ayame's footsteps beside him, nor felt her presence right next to him, but somewhat behind him, farther down the path. 'Oh, come on,' he said, rolling his eyes as he turned around to look at her, only to see she wasn't looking at him any longer, but towards the ground and looked as though she wanted to cry again.

'You're... you're right... it was stupid, I didn't know you were dead, I... I...' the female wolf demon couldn't say the other word, because it wasn't true, she didn't hate Kouga, she loved him; loved him so deeply it hurt. Shaking her head, strands of hair fell into her emerald green eyes; she took several steps backwards then looked up and ran up the path, hoping to get past Kouga without him stopping her. To her surprise, he didn't grab a hold of her wrist, or try and stop her from running, but let her rush past him in whatever hurry she was in, just watching her is anger, sorrow, happiness, every emotion he could possibly feel at once.

Tears streamed down her cheeks, flying out behind her as she ran, eyes shut tight, 'I'm sorry...' Her voice was soft, only she could hear the words she spoke, but that's how she wanted it to be, unable to allow anyone else to hear what she was saying. 'I love you, Kouga, I could never hate you, no matter what you did to me, I would never be able to,' she mumbled, shaking her head as she heard what she had just told to the figure down on the mountain path. Sighing deeply, she stopped running and looked down at Kouga, who was starting to get bigger as he advanced up to reach her, which made Ayame wonder why he was starting to come back up after her.

Kouga slowly made his way up the rest of the path, watching Ayame, hoping she wouldn't decide to up and run again, which it didn't look like she would anytime soon since it seemed as though she was glued to the spot at the moment. He stopped just feet in front of her and took a hold of her left wrist with his right hand, looking into her eyes, watching her wince slightly, not in pain, but surprise, and sighed somewhat, then let her go. 'Do you trust me yet? Have I earned back the trust I lost so long ago that you said I'd never get back?' he asked, watching her, his face showing concern, worry, love, everything that showed how he felt for her.

Not a word was echoed about the trust Kouga had asked about, not a word was said between the two after that, Ayame just stared at the raven-haired male in front of her, biting her lower lip, unsure what to say. There was silence between the two for several minutes before Ayame spoke, though her voice wasn't even above a whisper, and when she spoke it was muffled and the words inaudible. She sighed deeply as she looked up at Kouga, nodding her head slightly to answer the question he had asked her, 'I don't hate you, Kouga, I can't hate you no matter what I say... I'm sorry...'

So, that wasn't what Kouga was expecting, at least not the apology or her confessing the truth that she had never hated him, but what surprised him most was the nod he got in answer to his question. Ayame was trusting him again, she believed his words, everything he would say and confess to her, oh happy days! The demon grabbed a hold of Ayame's wrist and pulled her into his arms, hugging her tightly as he whispered apologies into her ear only they could hear.