Disclaimer: I do not own InuYasha or any of its characters, nor anything that has to do with him.
Kat: Yes, it's been several months since I updated, but I've been swamped with school work and dealing with a new school, so don't hate me! For those of you who hoped this would end on a somewhat happy note, I'm sorry, but it isn't, not even near a happy note, either. Well, on with the story!
A grunt was heard coming from one of the wolf demons, Kouga realizing who it was since he hadn't been the one to make the noise. He looked down at Ayame with worry showing in his features as she fell to the ground, clutching her stomach in pain, tears stinging the corners of her eyes. 'What's wrong, Ayame? What's the matter?!' He had bent down beside her and cupped her chin in his hand, trying to look into her mind and see what was bothering her since he got no answer, but he saw nothing.
Her eyes were frightening to him; they seemed to hold no life, no love; nothing showed in them at all, and he was scared to death of what it meant. He didn't know what to do, he didn't know anything that had to do with medical needs, he barely knew what to do when someone was bleeding, so he couldn't do anything to help Ayame. Instead, he just watched Ayame groan in pain and scratch somewhat at the deep gash on her stomach, pulling the fur wrapping from around her stomach.
Ayame put her hand onto the wound in her stomach after getting the fur wrapping off then looked up at Kouga, tears pouring down her cheeks. 'I… I'm sorry…' she managed to say, her voice quiet and barely audible. It hurt her to breath, but she wanted to get everything out she could before everything ended on her. 'I'm sorry… for hating you… for… hiding my feelings…' She inhaled deeply and put one of her cold and paled hands on Kouga's cheek, trying to catch her breath before going on.
'Shush, please don't say anymore, Ayame…' Kouga said quietly, trying to keep any tears he wanted to cry from falling. 'You'll be alright, I promise… I won't let you die…' He took her hand into his and kissed it softly, squinting his eyes to push the tears that stung them away. As Ayame tried to start talking again, he put his finger to her lips, signaling that she needed to stop talking because it'd use up her breath. He picked her up into his arms and walked towards her den, hoping someone there would be able to help.
As he got there, one of the elders rushed up and looked from Kouga to Ayame, eyes wide in shock. 'What did you do to her?!' the elder shouted, taking the female wolf demon from the male, quickly walking inside and to the back. He set Ayame down on the ground and inspected her wound, then stood up and walked back to Kouga, glaring daggers. 'Why must you cause her so much pain? She was fine until you came up here; she would have never done anything like this if it wasn't for you!'
Those words hit Kouga like a ton of bricks and he just stumbled backwards, jaw gaping at the words he had heard. 'M-my fault…? How could it be my fault, though? I just came up to talk to her and tell her I really did love her.' His eyes were wide in shock, never having thought it was completely his fault for the pain Ayame was in; he had known about it being his fault for the deep gash in her stomach, but the elder had put all the blame on him.
'She's dying because of you coming back up here. You should have stayed away for good; it would have been for the best.' The elder shook his head and walked back into the den, sitting down beside Ayame, taking her hands into his. 'I'm sorry for the pain he caused you; you're dying because of him… Why must you do such foolish things for him?'
Ayame's eyes opened and she looked up at the elder with such pain in them, yet so much love, and then she spoke. 'Please… bring Kouga here… I… I want him to be here…' Her voice faded into nothingness as she pulled her hands away, brushing away several tears that had fallen onto her cheeks.
With an uneasy nod, the elder stood up and walked back out of the den, and grabbed Kouga's arm, then walked back inside to Ayame. 'Here you go, Lady Ayame.' He nodded and turned around to leave, figuring she wanted to be left alone with the other wolf demon.
Kouga sat down beside Ayame and took her into a slight hug, not wanting to hurt her anymore than she already was. 'It's all my fault,' he whispered into her ear, kissing her lightly on the forehead afterwards. He had finally realized how much pain he had caused; every last bit of hate she had was towards him, all the love she had was for him as well, and it was all his fault he had turned her away. 'I love you, Ayame; I always have and always will…'
'I… I love you, too… Kouga…' Those were her final words. She took a final breath afterwards and closed her eyes, letting herself die in Kouga's arms, the person she loved. If she had actually had a will to live, she might have made it, but after everything that had happened, what with Kouga coming up to see her, and knowing he loved her, she just wanted to die happy and in his arms.