A/N: I do not own InuYasha. If I did,Naraku would be doing the disco dance on the Inu-tachi's graves by now. :P This fanfic is from Naraku's point of view, and in the prelude he is addressing Kikyou internally. -Ahh, the inside speeches.-Just so fanfiction dot net doesn't think this is an interactive story...-sigh- Please read and review,and enjoy the ride. :D

Flowers For Your Grave -Prelude-

Your eyes are burning into my soul. I see your pale, timeless face, and the familiar hatred in your gaze. But for a moment...just a moment...I thought I saw pity. Regret. Desire...all things that I myself have felt at one time or another, though I fear the day that I ever admit it to you. Maybe you already know...

Either way, it doesn't really matter. It was only a dream. I dream of you often, Kikyou. Surprisingly, they're not full of murderous rage, as I try to make InuYasha and you think...Surprising to me, anyhow. You always seemed to know me too well. Does death bring some sort of hidden knowledge...? Maybe I'll ask you someday, as I am not willing to find out for myself.

It was one of these dream-filled nights that I awoke, and left the safety of my castle. Kanna, so like you in so many ways, knew what I was doing. Kagura tried to stop me with her useless yammering and interrogation, but I brushed her aside like the cast-off she always has been. You know I hate being questioned.

You always knew what I disliked.

The night was cold. But my skin, no longer mortal, is cooler than snow...I barely felt the dew under my bare feet, or the rolling fog as I neared the river. When I had been human, and weak, these were the nights that you would visit me after dark, to keep my company...

You always knew what I needed.

I saw the river, shimmering in the moonlight, and suddenly...there you are, standing beside a single, forlorn stone. So close to me...and as far away as ever. The smell of damp earth and herbs coils around my senses. This time, you are no dream.

Your gaze met mine, and for a moment, I saw the smouldering contempt there in your eyes...and in my heart. Our wills battled for the barest of seconds; I relented first, and looked away. There was no need for you to tell me that my willpower, compared to yours, was nothing but sand against the ocean tide. We already knew.

"...I brought flowers."

I looked to you. Kikyou...how long had it been since I heard anything but anger in your tone? The softness of it took me by surprise. Then I noticed the flowers in your arms, bright red lillies. So like your blood, that had stained my claws...had it been fifty-five years, already? Five years since you came alive, and that blasted InuYasha began to hunt me, along with your supposed reincarnation...a pale shadow in comparison.

"For your grave," you added, almost a whisper.

I watch as you placed the flowers beside the stone, marked only by the symbol gumo..."spider." You kneeled there for what seemed like hours, and I let you place your hands upon the stone, chanting the spell of purification. It was something I had come to expect over the years...

But I wasn't expecting the way your shoulder trembled, rising to your face with tears trailing down your perfect cheeks. My pathetic heart ached for your pain, your suffering. Did it please you, Kikyou, to know that you are the only one that could hurt me?

You stepped foreward the same time as I, and you wrapped your arms around me in a tight embrace. Kikyou...my Kikyou...these moments shouldn't have had to been made of sadness. I nestled my cheek to yours, feeling tears sting my own eyes. After a few, silent heartbeats, I turned my face so that our gazes matched. You didn't move as my lips touched yours, and we stood there for the longest of times, until I felt your thin hands press against my chest, gently pushing me back.

Breaking our kiss...as all good things must end...you moved away, turning from me. A meaningful glance over your shoulder reminded me that. once again, we were enemies. At least...until next year. With a faded smile, you bowed your head and disappeared into the night. I was alone with my thoughts.

I glanced at the grave. My grave. The grave of Onigumo, who had died so many years ago...or had tried to die, at any rate. My heart was beating like a startled rabbit in my chest, not letting me forget that I still possessed a shred of my former existance. Sometimes I hate it, sometimes I rejoice it...right now, I pondered it.

It was this day...the day in which demons consumed the flesh of a bandit, and gave birth to a new evil. It would only be a week from this day, in which that newly born devil would work out a master plan, to gain full power and to win the object of his desire for himself. It would only be a week from this day, where he would fail...

I smiled dryly. A whole week of self-pity and loathing...your true gift to me. A whole week to wonder how I managed to fuck things over so badly. With a sigh, I turned from the river, and began a slow walk towards my new destination. If I didn't use my powers, and slowed myself with contemplation, I would arrive there in exactly a week. This year, I would break from my rituals; I wouldn't be going home, this time...This time, I would face my past.

Thus began my dark pilgrimage, the feeling of your touch not far from my mind. I looked towards the stars, my chest feeling heavy. For so long, I had run...my gaze dropped back to the ground. I hated feeling this way...disturbed. Lost. Alone. Perhaps that is the way you wanted to make me feel, Kikyou. To feel as lost as you are, so that I would face what happened. Whatever your scheme, it worked. I was doing what I had put off doing for too long.

You weren't the first in a long line of fortune turned sour, dear Kikyou. I think you knew this; you knew everything else. But then, you must have also known how I tried to forget...no longer. This year...I would try. Try to remember, and try to ask you...ask you...

I rubbed my hand over my eyes, and walked foreward. It seemed the more I walked, the foggier my surroundings became, until I was no longer in the darkness of the summer night. Instead, I was racing through the dim sunlight and dead leaves of autumn...indeed, my very soul...