To my reader's, use your imagination's for certain part's of the chapter, such as Sesshomaru and Kikyou. Thanks for reading. Please review.

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Title: Shattered Heart

Arther: Phantom Dragon of Eternal Chaos

Theme: Angyst/Tragedy

Dedicated to and for: Dogg Demoness, my carbon copy and best friend, who helped inspire me to create this one-shot.

Story: One-shot

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Inuyasha looked up at the star's that shone between the tree's branch's. They were shining brightly tonight, as if to bid him farewell, to shine their brightest on his last night. Memory's of the past flooded Inuyasha's mind, including the one's from recently. His group and he had slain Naraku a few month's ago, and in the proses, had killed Kohaku. That was a heart breaking time, for Sango, because Kohaku was her little brother, and for Inuyasha, because he had broken a promise to a friend. Sango had cried for nearly a month, her heart in fragment's. Inuyasha had been by her side the entire time, trying his best to comfort her, but it did little good. Even now, several months after, her heart was still in pieces, but they were slowly piecing themselves back together. But, as one heart repaired itself, another shattered. There really wasnt any reason for it to, it just did. The resentment and rejection from year's past had finally cought up to him. Instead of slamming into his heart like a ton of rock's, it surrounded his heart like a poisonous miasma, chocking it and blocking all emotion's, such as joy and love, aswell as the darker one's, such as anger and hate. And it is well known that a heart devoid of all emotion for long period's of time will crack under the strain. That is exactly what happend.

Inuyasha smiled faintly. He had done his best to make his last day on earth memorable for his friend's. He had played with Shippo, given Kirara a bath, helped Kagome with her homework, even went asfar as 'admiring' girls with Miroku, though he still thought it was disgusting. Then there was Sango. Dear Sango. He had put all of what remained of his broken soul into helping her see the light. He wanted her to live a life filled with blessing's, to patch up her old mistake's, learn from his, and live her life to it's fullest. He didnt want her to travel down the dark road he had been for the last several month's. But, it would seem that fate was against him. No matter what he tried, nothing worked. In a last show of desperation, he had 'joked' that he loved her, and even went as far as brushing his lip's against her's. He had seen a small spark shine in her eye's, but it died almost before it started. That was Inuyasha's last straw. Whatever remaind of the thread's that binded his shattered heart together gave away, letting the shard's drift into a dark oblivion, never to return.

He had alway's put up a show of streanght, a show of determination for his friend's, who he had now called his family. He wanted them to be strong. He didnt tell them, but he lived off there streanght and devotion for him. It was still there, but it had weakend. That weakness was just enought to allow the rejection to slip in, and destroy his heart and soul from the inside out. Inuyasha looked back up to the sky between the branch's of the sacred tree where he had spent fifty year's of his life on. A single tear took form in his eye, sliding down his cheek, and dripped off onto his hand. Inuyasha looked down at it, a sad look on his face. He then spoke the last word's of his broken existence

"Im...im sorry I wasnt strong enough. Sango...please forgive me." he whispered, before taking one last glance at the sky, taking his last breath, and sighed. His heart beat no more.

Twelve miles from the Bone Eater's Well

Sesshomaru stopped suddenly, causing Jaken to run smake into his leg, sending him sprawling backward's.

"O, my lord, does something trouble you?" asked the imp. Sesshomaru just stared into the distance. He was picking up a strange scent. Or, a lack of one. He had been tracking Inuyasha ever since he had defeated Naraku, waiting for his chance to slay him. He had not done so before now becuase he was not sure of his little brother's power. It had changed over the course of a few month's, and he wanted it to stabalize before he attemped a fight. It might not show, but he was a demon of honor.

Inuyasha's scent had been growing weaker over the last few day's, but Sesshomaru brushed it off as just a faze half-breed's go through. Now, he couldnt pick up the scent. It was gone. Vanished. This made Sesshomaru annoyed. So now his brother intend's to plan on hiding? But as the demon walked onward, he started to pick up another scent, and this one disgruntled him. It was the scent of death. Suddenly, Sesshomaru grew just a tad fearfull. He might not like his brother, and even tried to take his life a few time's, but he could never truly hate him because, as much as he hated to admit it, they were blood. Inuyasha was the only other relitive that had his great father's blood pumping through him, and it was unlikly that Sesshomaru would ever find a mate worthy of being his. So he had left that up to his half-blooded brother. But now, that might all have changed. Their great blood line might dissapere.

Sesshomaru took off in a blinding ball of light, speeding through the forst to see what had become of his little brother.

Nine miles from the Bone Eater's Well

The priestess rode her horse gently through the forest. She was heading to another village where she had heard of a plague that had swept over that part of the land. She was on her way to see what kind of aid she could offer when she was stopped by her ghostly soul collector's. They fluttered around her, speaking to her in there mysterious language that only Kikyou could understand. Afterdeciphering their remarks, she only shook her head. Inuyasha was bound to end his life sometime or another. She was only surprised that it had taken him this long to accomplish it. But, in the end, he was still a half-breed, and was weak.

As she thought these thought's, tear's formed in her eyes and slid down her face, falling onto her kimono. She softly dabbed two finger's on her cheek. When she brought back her hand, she could see moisture on her finger tip's. Was she...crying? Over what? Not Inuyasha. Couldnt be. Must be something in the air. But even as she thought this, her tear's started coming down heavier, and there was nothing she could do to stop them. They fell like a light shower's mist over the death of her past lover. Even though those day's were over, and could never happen again, she had held in her dead heart those memory's and emotion's that the half-breed had stirred in her fifty year's before. She had hidden them away, not acknowledging them in anyway, but now, the gate's had been unlocked, the dam broken, and nothing was going to stop them. There was only one thing to do. Kikyou quickly turned her horse in another direction and headed toward the well, her tear's still falling freely.

Back at camp

Kirara suddenly raised her head, and let out a low whine. She then got slowly to her feet, as if dreading something. Sango looked down at her with only the least bit interest. Kirara sniffed the air, the looked at her mistress with a look of distress in her red orb's. She started trotting off in the direction of the well, then stopped, looking back at Sango. Sango only sighed and sat back against the tree, her mind again wondering to thoughts that had been plaging her mind. Could she have done something else to save her brother? She would have continued on this train of thought had it not been for a firm tug on the arm by her cat demon. Kirara's tug became more ergent, gainig the attiontion of the other member's of the group.

"Um, Sango, I think there's something wrong with Kirara, maybe you better go with her." said Miroku gently. Kagome nodded, followed by Shippo. Sango only sighed and got up to follow her pet. The other three followed, just to see what had gotten Kirara's fur in a tangle. Everything was going smoothly untill Kagome bumped into Sango's still form, which inturn caused Miroku to slam into Kagome.

"Ow, can you warn a girl before you do that?" asked Kagome, pushing the monk off her before he got any idea's. She then noticed that Sango wasnt saying anything, just staring. Kagome followed her train of sight, only to be greeted by the still form of the dead demon. Kagome couldnt tell though. He only looked like he had fallen asleep. But Sango had been a demon slayer long enought to know when something wasnt in the realm of the living anymore. She slowly, ever so slowly, walked up to the 'sleeping' Inuyasha, and gently put two finger's on his neck.

No pulse. No heartbeat. No flow of life sustaining blood. Nothing.

Sango collapsed next to the body of the demon. She gently laid it on her lap, his face so calm, so peacfull, and yet held a saddness that went beyond compare. Kagome and Miroku walked up to her, wondering what was going on. Sango lifted her head, and slightly shook it. The priestess gasped while the monk froze. The fox demon started to cry, followed by Kirara's transformation into her full demon form. Kirara then started to let out low purring growls, similar to a dog's howl of pain, only cat like. Shippo sobbed openly, Miroku cried silently, while Kagome cryed her eye's out. Shippo crawled over to Kagome, who cuddled him in her arm's, as they both cried in eachother's embrace. Miroku fell to the ground and brought his knee's to his chest, wrapped his arm's around them, and cried in them.

Sango, on the other hand, didnt form any tear's. She stared down at the broken demon, memory's flashing in her mind. When they first met, how she had tried to kill him, how he had protected her from those group of men who wanted her as a trophy, protected her from Kanna's soul stealing mirror, protected her from that sea serpent who had taken over the water goddess's staff, who had given her the courage to keep on living when there was nothing to live for, who had did his best to keep his promise to slay Naraku and save her brother, who had even showed her love. But she was too blinded by her own self-pity to see it. He had tried, and she had failed him. She had failed. Failed again. This timethis new failurehad costed her her best friend's life.

Now the tear's started to come. They fell onto the half-breed's silver mane, where she used her finger's as a comb and brushed his long hair out. The tear's wouldnt stop. Shehadnt cried in month's, and now those months were catching up. Tear's that had not been shed were now let free on the death of this crushed demon. Tear's she had vowed to never shed. Tear's for her best friend. Tear's for her protector. Tears for the demon...she had loved. She used her free hand to brush his face off. Her finger's slid along his soft doggy ear's, to his soothing brow's, past his gently lidded eye's that hid ember's that once shone brighly with life and determination. Past a well defind nose. Past soft lip's. Her tear's continued to fall, her hand's continued to outline the face that had once been a stronghold for her. She relized how stupid she had been the past couple of month's. She had been so wrapped up in her own pain, she had not noticed his. Now it was over. It was finished. They could not rewind time. She looked up at the sky full of bright star's that she knew he loved to watch, and whispered one word.

"Why?"

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The heart is the most fragil organ in the body. One wrong push and it will give out. The same is true emotionally.

The heart live's off emotion. Without it, it will die. Emotion is it's life blood, similar to the blood that pump's

through our body's right now. The heart need's a constant flux of feeling's. Too much of one feeling can change

the heart for good or worse, depending on the emotion. To make a strong heart full of goodness, one need's

atleast three possitive emotion's, such as happyness, joy, and determination. But it only take's one dark emotion

to turn the heart bad. The strongest of all, even more so then hatred, is rejection. Hate can be cooled. Rejection

cannot. Rejection will only grow, turning into a weed that sucks the life out the the heart and strangle's it of all

other emotion. To much and the heart will shatter. When a heart is broken by rejection, nothing, not even love,can

bring it back together. Love start's as a seed, but it need's soil and fertalizer to live on, but it cant find anything like that

in a fragmented heart. Only the person's will power can fix that. But that is a near impossable task, because will power

spring's from determination, which come's from the heart.This mean's that it cant be done. There is nothing that can fix it.

Nothing can fix a shattered heart.