True to Your Heart

A/N: Thank you so much for your reviews everyone! As a present, I made this chapter a little longer than the previous ones. :D

Chapter 6: The Final Hours

:&:o:&:o:&: Sunday, December 18 :&:o:&:o:&:

"What's wrong, Inuyasha?" Shippou asked, bouncing up and down on Inuyasha's bed. Inuyasha didn't answer. Instead, he pulled his covers over his head.

"Leave me alone," he mumbled.

"But you haven't eaten breakfast or lunch at all today! And it's almost time for dinner!"

"I'm not hungry."

"But you've got to eat something," Shippou stopped bouncing. "Did something happen to you? You didn't wake up early today like you did in the past few days."

"It's nothing. I'm just tired."

Kagome ate her breakfast grimly and didn't say a word as the rest of her family was involved in deep conversation.

She'd gotten so used to going on daily dates with Inuyasha that she had half-expected him to come this morning…but when he didn't show up, she remembered what she'd told him the previous day.

It was weird. It hurt inside her chest whenever she thought about him…could it be that she had a crush on him again? No, not a crush this time.

Love?

'Am I in love with him?' she lowered her chopsticks onto her bowl, her eyes closing halfway. 'It's practically the only explanation why I'm feeling this pain…'

Inuyasha threw the covers off his head and stared up at the ceiling. He'd tried calling Kagome all evening yesterday. She didn't pick up every single time. Then, he'd begun leaving messages. None of them were answered.

He'd given up at 9 PM.

His eyes moved over to the phone that was sat on his desk in the corner of the room. With a sigh, he got out of bed and picked up the phone. He dialed Miroku's number.

"Hello?" Miroku answered.

"Hi, it's me," Inuyasha said tiredly.

"Hey," Miroku paused. "Aren't you supposed to be on a date with Kagome right now?"

"She found out about the curse, Miroku."

Miroku was silent on the other line, "…wait, you told her?"

"No, we were in the park yesterday and we bumped into that miko, Kikyo…and then she told Kagome all about the curse…and then…"

"And then what?"

"Kikyo made me sneeze and I changed into my dog form right in front of Kagome."

"Kami."

"And now, Kagome is mad at me. She told me to stay away from her. I tried calling her all evening yesterday, but she wouldn't pick up the phone," Inuyasha continued miserably. "And the thing is…I was already planning to tell her about the curse…but Kikyo beat me to it. Now, Kagome thinks I've just been dating her so I could use her to break the curse."

"Well, that's not true, right? You have to tell her that."

"No matter what I do to try and get back with her now…she'll just think that I'm doing it so that I'll have another chance at breaking the curse."

"Kagome, dear?" Mrs. Higurashi called through the door.

She was answered with silence. Mrs. Higurashi opened the door and peeked inside. Her daughter was lying in bed, one of her arms draped over her eyes.

"Kagome?" she said softly. "You've been quiet all evening yesterday and all of today. Tell mother what's wrong."

Mrs. Higurashi came over to the side of Kagome's bed and gently pulled Kagome's arm off her eyes…only to find that Kagome's eyes were filled with tears.

"Mom, did Dad ever break your heart after he told you that he loved you?" Kagome asked. The corner of her mother's mouth lifted into a small smile.

"Boy trouble?" Mrs. Higurashi questioned.

Kagome nodded.

Mrs. Higurashi closed her eyes, "Your father…was amazing. He always made me smile and laugh. He courted me for a whole year and a half before proposing to me. The funny thing is…we weren't the best of friends when we met."

"Really?" Kagome blinked in surprise.

"Really. We met during the last year of high school. He never took school seriously…the exact opposite of me. While I'd be at home studying my head off, your father was always going off to parties. He was always asking me on dates. Every time, I refused and told him I'd never go on a date with a person who couldn't take school seriously."

Kagome sniffed, "And then what?"

"Well…after a month of asking me on dates and getting rejected…your father changed. It was almost like a miracle actually. I began to notice that he stopped hanging around his partying friends. Instead, he started hanging around me… he got down to business more…and we got to learn more about each other."

Mrs. Higurashi blushed, "And then a few months later, he asked me out again…I thought about how much he'd changed and I said yes. And then the courting began. When we were in the middle of college, he proposed to me and we got married."

"How sweet," Kagome smiled.

"Yes," Mrs. Higurashi said with a distant look in her eyes. "Your father was a wonderful man. It's a shame he passed away. I loved him so much…I still do. He never purposely tried to break my heart."

She blinked and smiled down at her daughter, "I'm sure that…if the person who broke your heart really loves you, they'll show you that they really do in one way or another."

"Get up," a cold voice echoed through Inuyasha's room. Inuyasha was back in his bed, his blankets over his head again. When Inuyasha heard the voice, his eyes flickered open.

That was his brother's voice. What the hell was Sesshoumaru doing in his room?

"I said, get up," Sesshoumaru repeated, walking over to Inuyasha and throwing off the blankets. "You've been depressed all day and I'm tired of constantly hearing about it from Shippou."

"Leave me alone," Inuyasha grumbled.

"It's love trouble, isn't it?" Sesshoumaru grunted. "Either that, or we're having a shortage on ramen."

When Inuyasha didn't say anything, Sesshoumaru snapped.

"Stop being a pathetic loser!" he roared. "If this is love trouble, be a man and get back up on your feet so you can solve the problem!"

"I can't."

"Well then, at least stop moping in your room feeling sorry for yourself! Either do something about the problem or get over it! Now get downstairs and eat!" Sesshoumaru ordered. "If I don't see you down in five minutes, I'll haul you down myself!"

With that said, Sesshoumaru stalked to the door and headed back downstairs.

Inuyasha sighed and sat up, preferring not to make his older brother madder than he already was. Sesshoumaru's words rang through his head.

If this is love trouble, be a man and get back up on your feet so you can solve the problem!

Then, for the first time that day, Inuyasha smiled, "Imagine that. Sesshoumaru actually tried giving me advice."

:&:o:&:o:&: Saturday, December 24, Christmas Eve :&:o:&:o:&:

8:00 PM

Almost a whole week had passed by…and there had been no word from Inuyasha since the day Kagome had told him off.

'I guess…he really was using me,' Kagome thought grimly.

"Kagome, stop looking so gloomy!" Sango demanded, skidding to a stop beside her best friend. They were ice-skating on the large pond at the park. The water had frozen over in time for the holidays and now, the deep pond was filled with people ice-skating. "I know you're depressed about Inuyasha and the whole curse thing, but get over it!"

Kagome turned to her friend in astonishment, "How do you know about the curse?"

"Miroku told me," Sango admitted. "But it's only because Inuyasha let him do it. According to Miroku, Inuyasha's been really depressed."

"Yeah, depressed that his chance to break the curse has gone out the window," Kagome snorted.

"Why are you so pessimistic?" Sango shook her head. "You never know. There's a good possibility that Inuyasha really does love you."

"If he did, he would've done something to fix this problem by now."

"I give up. You're too stubborn to listen to anything I say," Sango sighed, earning herself a glare. "Hey, there's Miroku! I'll catch you later, okay?"

Kagome watched as Sango skated off toward the other end of the pond where Miroku stood.

As well as Inuyasha.

"There she is, Inuyasha," Miroku nodded toward Kagome in the distance. "I told you to use your time wisely. You only have until midnight now. This is your final chance to make up with her, you know. Either that, or you can count on saying goodbye to your hanyou form forever."

"Maybe it'd be better that way," Inuyasha turned his head away, sticking his gloved hands into the pockets of his thick jacket.

"Don't be pessimistic," Miroku pressured.

"Can it. At least I came out here today...otherwise, I'd be in my room right now."

"Moping."

"No, safe. Safe from having all these people see me if I accidentally sneeze and change into a dog."

"Forget about that. Just go make up with Kagome. If you had to be true to your heart once in your life, now would be the time. Anyways, I'm off. Sango's heading towards us."

Miroku started waving and calling out Sango's name. When she reached them, Miroku greeted her with a kiss on the cheek…and Sango greeted him with a slap when he groped her bottom. After saying goodbye to Inuyasha, the two headed away together.

8:28 PM

Every time Inuyasha decided to go to Kagome and talk to her, he would always change his mind when he was halfway there to her and then skate back to the other end of the pond.

"Damn, why is this so hard?" he cursed. All he could do was stand there and stare at her while she slowly skated in small loops on the other end. He squeezed his eyes tightly together.

If this is love trouble, be a man and get back up on your feet so you can solve the problem!

Inuyasha opened his eyes again, clenched his teeth, and slowly started to skate toward Kagome again…this time, with no intention to stop until he reached her.

8:30 PM

He was coming toward her.

"What should I do?" Kagome panicked. She desperately looked around and saw an empty section nearby. "There!"

She skated toward the vacant area, trying to avoid Inuyasha.

She was skating so fast that she literally felt the blades of her ice-skates grinding into the ice. She quickly peeked behind her and saw him catching up.

Kagome made her strides longer and then, when she set her foot hard against the frozen water, the blade of her skate became jammed in a large split in the ice.

Then, she heard a cracking noise.

"What the-" her eyes widened.

"Kagome! Get away from there!" she heard Inuyasha shout behind her.

Before Kagome could do anything, the ice beneath her broke apart and she felt herself being plunged into dark and chilly water.

That was when she realized that she couldn't swim.

Inuyasha threw off his scarf and dived into the large hole in the ice in which Kagome had fallen mere seconds ago.

He had been so close to reaching her.

'Damn, why'd she have to run away from me!' he thought angrily. He felt his whole body flinch once he made contact with the freezing water.

It was dark. He'd have to save her fast otherwise he wouldn't even be able to find her. This was probably one of the few times that he was happy to be half-demon. Inuyasha's eyes quickly adjusted to the darkness. He couldn't see Kagome anywhere.

She knew how to swim…right? If she did, she would've been trying to head back up to the surface by now.

He swam deeper into the water.

'Kagome, where are you?' he looked around desperately. 'I never got to make up with you!'

How long he searched, he had no idea. It felt like an eternity to him. Finally, Inuyasha spotted a dark motionless figure. He swam toward it and found an unconscious Kagome. She'd sunk quite a distance under the water.

'Oh, Kami, is she dead?'

He wrapped an arm around her and started heading to the surface. By now, his body was numb from the cold water.

Inuyasha squinted to find the hole through which he'd entered the water, 'I can't see anything! And I'm losing air…'

The hole came into sight a brief moment later. He saw red flashes. Did ambulances come?

Inuyasha felt his vision fading and his energy dissolving. He was blacking out. They were only a few yards from the hole now. With as much energy as he could gather, he thrust Kagome's motionless body to the surface. He saw hands immediately sticking into the water to pull her out.

Inuyasha stopped where he was, too tired to swim any further.

'I don't care if we didn't make up…as long as she's alive…that's all that matters,' Inuyasha thought, his eyes closing as the numbness began to overwhelm him.

And then, he began sinking back into the cold darkness.

11:00 PM

"Kagome…Kagome…wake up."

Kagome's eyes snapped open. Sango's tear-streamed face stared back at her.

"Kagome!" Sango cried, standing up from the chair she was sitting in and throwing her arms around her friend. "You've been knocked out for about two hours! Kami, I thought you died!"

"What…happened?" Kagome murmured, looking around. She was dressed in a hospital gown, laying in a hospital bed with dozens of thick covers thrown over her.

Sango let go of her friend, "You fell through the ice, remember? I saw it happen. Thank goodness Inuyasha was close by. He dove in after you and pulled you up to the surface. You were unconscious by the time you were back above the surface."

Sango looked down at her lap, "But then…Inuyasha…he…"

Kagome's breath caught in her throat, "He what?"

"We didn't see him come up after you…the paramedics that came in the ambulances had to arrange it so that the ice in the section you fell through was taken away so that a group of people could go into the water to find him. And when they found him…he was unconscious like you had been…but in an immensely worse state."

Kagome threw the covers off her body, ignoring the chill that swept through her entire self, and sat up, "Where is he? Tell me where he is."

"Miroku's with him. And your family is coming. Don't you want to wait for them?"

"Tell me where he is"

"He's in the room at the other end of the hall."

Kagome stood up, wobbled, straightened herself up, and briskly made her way there. She ignored the outcries from the nurses she encountered in the hall who told her she shouldn't be up.

"Inuyasha…Inuyasha…please tell me he's okay…" Kagome whispered. She reached his room. Miroku, who was sadly looking down at his best friend, became startled when he saw Kagome at the doorway.

"Kagome? What are you doing here?" he asked with concern. "You should be resting."

Kagome pulled up a chair beside Miroku and asked, "How is he?"

Miroku eyed her intently before answering, "The doctors have done all they can. It's up to how Inuyasha reacts now."

Kagome gave him a grim nod and glanced at the clock that hung on the wall.

11:41 PM

"Hey, just to let you know…Inuyasha loves you, Kagome," Miroku said suddenly. "He wasn't using you to break the curse…okay, I shouldn't say that. He was using you at the beginning, but then in the end, he fell in love with you. I mean, he even proved that he loved you by risking his life for you a few hours ago."

The words of Kagome's mother all swam back to Kagome's head at that moment.

If the person who broke your heart really loves you, they'll show you that they really do in one way or another.

'Inuyasha,' Kagome felt tears pricking at her eyes.

Miroku placed a hand on her shoulder, "Do you want some time alone with him?"

She nodded.

Miroku gave Inuyasha's hand a pat before heading out of the room and closing the door behind him.

During the next minutes, there was nothing but the sound of the machines in the room and heavy breathing from Inuyasha.

11:53 PM

Kagome transferred over to the chair Miroku was previously sitting in and clasped Inuyasha's hands within her own. They were ice cold. She took one of her hands and lightly brushed his bangs from his closed eyes.

It was a sad sight. His face was pale…he almost looked dead. The only thing that convinced her that he wasn't dead was the machine beside the bed that showed Inuyasha's heartbeat. Then again, the monitor showed that his heartbeat wasn't doing too well either.

Kagome silently ran her fingers through Inuyasha's hair and then, ran her fingertips against his cold mouth.

11:57 PM

"I'm sorry for not believing you when you said that you really did love me," Kagome's voice cracked as the tears she tried holding back started flowing down her cheeks. "I'm so sorry."

11:58 PM

Kagome laid her head against Inuyasha's chest as she cried.

And then she heard it. The beeping noises emitted from the heart monitor beside them began to quicken. Kagome quickly lifted her head up and stared at the monitor. The wave lines on the screen were growing flatter and flatter.

Kagome redirected her attention to Inuyasha, "Kami, is he dieing?"

She quickly glanced at the door. Shouldn't the nurses be barging in right now or something?

She was alarmed when she heard his breathing become shallower. His hands that she held were growing colder.

11:59 PM

Kagome found that her cries were becoming sobs.

"Don't die on me," she told Inuyasha's motionless body frantically. "Don't die on me, Inuyasha!"

The one window in the room was open. In the distance, a clock tower began the twelve chimes for 12 o' clock midnight.

One…two…three…

"I never answered you that day when we were on the ferris wheel at the amusement park," Kagome whispered. "I should have."

Four…five…six…

Her hand tightened around his. She stood up.

Seven…eight…

By now, the beeping noise was emitted at a fast speed. A fresh new wave of tears started pouring from her eyes.

"Inuyasha…I never got to…I never got to tell you…" Kagome said with a barely audible voice as she leaned down closer to his face.

Nine…ten…eleven…

"I love you."

Then, on the twelfth chime, Kagome closed her eyes and pressed her mouth against Inuyasha's chilled lips, tears still running down her face.

'You want us to be together…don't you, Inuyasha?' she asked him in her mind, tightening her hold on his hand. 'If you leave…what am I going to do without you?'

A moment later, she felt an arm wrap around her and pull her closer, making the kiss deeper. Kagome pulled away and found her gazing down at Inuyasha, whose face was now a healthy shade. The hand she held was now warm. The beeping noise had slowed down to a steady, normal rhythm. She didn't have to look at the heart monitor to know that it was showing strong heart waves.

For awhile, the two did nothing but stare into each other's eyes.

Then, Inuyasha smiled, "…Kagome."

The curse had been broken.

A/N: Ah, I started crying when I was typing this chapter. X.X

Am I sensitive, or what? Hehe. One more chapter!

Please review!