Me no ownie. Me wish me ownie. If me ownie, me wouldn't have massive student loans.

Correcting Mistakes

Chapter 3: Alone

By: Remora29

Alone.

He was completely, utterly alone. He hurt both physically and emotionally. How could she? Why? She had tried to explain, but he couldn't let her. Even though six weeks had passed since the incident, for him the wound was too fresh, too new. Hearing her voice, smelling her tears only made him feel worse. Her mere presence just rubbed salt into gaping hole in his heart.

After he left Kaede's hut, he wandered aimlessly through the forest surrounding the village. He didn't know where he was going, and he didn't care. All he knew was that he had to get away from her—her scent, her voice, her tears—everything about her. She haunted his footsteps, and his mind was so cloudy from the pain and emotional turmoil that he thought he would go insane. Inuyasha drug his tired, broken body until he felt as if he would collapse. He didn't know where he had stopped, and he didn't care. All he knew is that he couldn't go on. When he looked up, his heart stopped.

The Goshinboku.

The place where they first met. He should have known that he would end up there. Something about that tree drew him in. Inuyasha always felt he could think and sleep better in that tree than anywhere else. It was the one place that felt like home, and now it was his sanctuary. He leapt up into the tree with a grace that belied his injuries and settled upon his favorite branch. Then he did something he hadn't done in a while: he cried.

Thinking about everything that happened, he was overwhelmed and could only bow his head as the tears coursed down his face.

----------FLASHBACK----------

He thought back to the first time where he realized that he felt something for her—when she asked to stay with him even though he promised to go to Hell with Kikyo.

'Can I stay here with you, by your side?'

Her voice, her smile—he didn't think that he deserved her and seriously contemplated refusing her. In the end, he let her continue with the quest because to turn her away would hurt her more, and he didn't want to cause her more pain.

'You don't have to force yourself to sit here, you know' he said, after he lost control of his demonic side and slaughtered the group of bandits.

The way she refused to leave him, her constant support amazed him. Once again, he felt unworthy of her, and pushed away his feelings in favor of her finding love with someone deserving of her love.

The kiss she gave him in Kaguya's castle, to bring him back to himself. He considered it his first real kiss. Sure, he had kissed Kikyo before, but her kisses were always cold and devoid of life. With Kagome, even though his demon blood clouded his mind, he could feel her warmth, sense her love. It gave him hope that she might return his feelings, and convinced him to pursue her.

----------END FLASHBACK----------

Sango, Miroku and Shippo anxiously watched the heartbroken half-demon from a distance. They could only imagine how he felt if he was openly crying. The scene before them was one of the most depressing sights they had ever seen.

"He can't go on like this much longer," Sango said, shaking her head sadly.

"I know, Sango, but there isn't anything we can do. He will have to sort through his feelings," Miroku replied.

Shippo listened to the monk and demon slayer's conversation with interest. He had never seen Inuyasha like this, and even though Shippo liked to tease him, he would never want him to look like he did then. He just didn't understand what was making him feel so bad.

"Why don't they just kiss and make up?" Shippo asked. "Kagome already said she's sorry, so they should be ok, right?"

"Shippo, it's much more complex than that. Kagome, whether she meant to do so or not, shattered the bonds of trust between her and Inuyasha. He's feeling betrayed, more so now than he did with Kikyo because he and Kagome were much closer," Miroku explained. "To be honest Shippo, I don't know if they'll ever be ok."

With those words hanging in the air, the trio quieted, each one thinking about the half-demon and the priestess.

In the Goshinboku, Inuyasha could hear his friends' discussion, but he paid it no attention. He was too wrapped up in his own grief to indulge that of others. He replayed all the times that Kagome had sat him because she was upset with him or he did something that displeased her. As these thoughts ran through his head, he got more and more pissed. She used him to vent her frustrations and enforce her will upon him and the others. He hated her, and he doubted if he would ever forgive her.

The more he thought, the more enraged he became. It didn't help his mood any to feel her aura nearby.

'Dammit! I asked her not to follow me and she can't even do that. Why won't she leave me alone? If she wants to see how I feel, she should be prepared.'

Inuyasha jumped out of the tree, heading toward the familiar aura. He was a blur of silver and red in the forest, running toward her with one goal: to get her to leave him alone. When he came upon her, she wasn't shocked. It seemed as if she was waiting for him. He stopped a few feet in front of her, his impermeable facade in place once more. He could tell that she'd been crying, but at that point he didn't give a rat's ass. She should be crying for all the pain she put him through.

"Inuyasha, please talk to me," Kagome begged, looking into his eyes.

"No," came her reply.

"Please, I'm really sorry. I didn't realize what I was doing. I never meant—"

"Never meant what? To hurt me? That's a laugh. You meant it then, just like you meant it every other time you did it. You've always used that rosary out of spite. Don't fucking lie and tell me that shit because I don't believe you," he spat out.

"I just want you back. I'll do anything to make it up to you. Just let me know," she pleaded.

"Stop lying to me!" yelled the enraged half-demon.

"I'm not lying. I'll do anything you ask, just don't leave me!"

"No, you won't. I asked you not to follow me, but you did. You've been hovering around me the entire time. Did you honestly think that I couldn't feel your aura or smell your presence? Do you really think I'm that stupid?" he demanded.

"No," she gasped, "it's not that, it's that I wanted to make sure that you didn't leave me."

"That's my point. You don't listen to me when I ask you to do something, and you disregard my feelings. I've told you that I can't do this any more, but you think by following me here you can change my mind and get me to do what you want. Everything's not about you, and I just figured that out. I've got to take care of myself, because you've made it clear to me that I can rely on no one!" he said in such a low voice that she almost didn't hear him.

"Since you won't leave me alone, I'll go. I'm leaving, and I'm not coming back," with those words, he turned away from and strode through the forest. He walked for hours before he even realized that his body had unconsciously taken him West, to the home of his ancestors and his brother, the Western Lands.

After Inuyasha left her, Kagome collapsed onto the ground. She wanted to cry, but no tears would come. She tried to comfort herself the best she could, but it was of no matter. She knew that she had screwed everything up in the first place, and her stubborn nature just made things worse.

'I should have left him alone. If I did, maybe he would have forgiven me after a while, but no, I had to force a confrontation. Stupid Kagome, when will you ever learn?'

Kagome was so wrapped up in her thoughts that she didn't hear Sango and Miroku approach. They looked at the girl's condition, and even though they felt pity for her, decided that she needed to understand the gravity of her actions.

"Kagome," Sango started, "do you realize what you've done?"

"Yes," she replied, "I hurt him and he hates me. He'll never forgive me."

"Lady Kagome, I'm afraid the situation is more grim than that and you have no idea what he's going through. He doesn't hate you; quite the contrary, he loves you. He doesn't trust you. You used the rosary on him and made him vulnerable to attack. You caused him to endure such physical and emotional pain that he wanted to die. Then you disregarded his feelings by coming to him even after he asked you not to follow him," Miroku said.

"But I didn't mean to do that. I just wanted him to be more considerate," Kagome protested.

"Kagome, we know what you wanted, but did you ever think about what he wanted?" Sango questioned. "You want him to be more like the boys from your time, but that's the problem. He's not from your time and he never will be. He has shown you more consideration in his actions over the years than anyone in your time possibly could."

"How many times has he saved you, Kagome?" Miroku asked. "How many times was he mortally wounded to protect you? And yet you ask him to be more considerate of your feelings. You say you don't want to change him, yet you try to make him into something he's not. Maybe you and Kikyo aren't as different as you would like to believe?"

"I'm not like her. I'm nothing like her!" Kagome vehemently denied.

"Are you so sure?" Sango asked. She hated to see her friend in such pain, but she knew that it was inevitable. She needed to understand fully her actions so that then she would be able to deal with the consequences.

"I accept him as he is. I don't want him to become human," Kagome protested, although she felt her argument was weak.

"But you want him to act like the humans from your time," Miroku reprimanded. "You will have to decide: accept him as he is—a gruff, annoying half-demon—or not at all. You may once again have a chance at his heart, but if you haven't decided on how you feel about him, you will lose him forever."

"What do you mean? I don't understand?" Kagome asked, perplexed.

"What Miroku is trying to say," Sango interrupted, "is that even though you have hurt him dearly, Inuyasha will come to you wanting to work things out. It is how he is. He hates to see you in pain, but he's in so much pain himself that he can't deal with yours. When he comes for you, you will have to have your decision ready or else he will never talk to you again."

"What decision?" Kagome asked, still confused. It wasn't a wonder that she didn't understand; she could be incredibly dense at times.

"Whether you will submit to him, allow him to dominate you the way male demons do," Miroku replied.

"What? Let him boss me around? You've got to be kidding!" she exclaimed, horrified at the idea of being submissive to Inuyasha.

"No, we're serious. And this situation is serious. If you don't submit, he will not take you as a mate and will never come near you again," the monk told her, his face indicating the gravity of the situation.

"Think carefully, Kagome. You're decision will not only affect your life, but that of Inuyasha, Shippo, Miroku and myself," Sango told her. With that comment, the demon slayer and the monk left the bewildered young girl alone. She needed time to think about everything without interruption; she was about to make one of the most important decisions of her life.