AN: Ok, I know….it's been a really long time. I guess I just got caught up in everything else. I told myself that once summer started I would update a lot…in case you didn't notice that really didn't happen.

If I Fall

Chapter 1

Kyoto:

"Kagome, I would really like you to at least try this...please, I'm begging you." Kaede said as soon as she saw the young girl's immediate dislike to the idea. "Your skating isn't the same, and I honestly think this is what you need."

"Kaede, I'm fine. I don't know how many times I will have to say this, but I'm fine! Why can't you see that? My skating feels the same. Nothing's changed!" Kagome declared, her anger rising.

They were sitting on the benches underneath the home sign. You could just tell the rink wasn't new. The benches were faded and the sides of the rink were marred with different sized dents and marks. It looked worn.

There was nothing special about it, nothing really significant. Yet, it held so many memories for so many hopeful dreamers. Boys and girls who all hoped and dreamed that someday what they wished for the most would become reality.

Not all the memories that haunted the rink were good though. Kagome would never forget when she had to be rushed to the hospital after a nasty fall, or when she found out about the accident. No, not all the memories were good, not even close.

"You need this. I cannot show you how much you've changed when you can't even accept that everything has changed. Nothing will remain the same forever, everything will change with time. Little saplings will grow into trees or they die; houses get old and dreary. As much as we may want it too, life will not remain the same." Kaede stated as she stood up and walked closer to the wooden boards.

"I need to go, I'm sorry. I'll talk to you tomorrow. I just can't do this right now." A teary-eyed Kagome said as she turned away and left.

"Why me? I had so many hopes, so many dreams, and they were just starting to become realities when I had everything taken from me at once. And now I'm left with just shattered pieces that need to be picked up and thrown away." A bitter Kagome thought as she walked outside into the crisp cool air in northern Kyoto.

There was a slight breeze blowing from the North. The weather was definitely changing. Fall was coming. There weren't many people out on the streets as it was still early. Kagome was walking at a brisk pace, she had no idea where she was going, no clue where she would end up, she just knew she needed to clear her head.

"I don't know if I can do this anymore. Skating just brings back to many bad memories. He meant the world to me and he was taken by what was basically my life. How could life be so cruel? He had taught me the basics; he had taught me how to skate with grace and beauty." She thought torn. "Was fate really so cruel as to deny me what felt like my destiny…"

She stopped abruptly and looked up to see where she had ended up. It was a tiny pond, small, and insignificant to most. But to her, it held so many glorious memories; those first tiny steps on skates, her first spin, her first jump. This was where it started.

At that moment she knew she would do what Kaede wanted. She would start to skate pairs. She needed to keep skating more than anything in the world, because if she stopped that would really be admitting that nothing in her life was what it once was.

Change seems so complicated, but it could never be easier really. Everything can be altered in a second. It doesn't take long for your whole life to come crashing down at your feet, or to change drastically for the better.

"Well, I need to go home so I can call Kaede and tell her my decision." Kagome thought to herself as she turned around and began retracing her steps past the arena to her home a few blocks away.

Kagome's home was a small shrine located near the center of Kyoto. It was fairly old, but it wasn't really noticeably old. There were a couple of visitors wandering around the steps looking around. The sight really couldn't have been more normal.

She climbed up all the stairs leading to her front door and took her key out of her skating bag to unlock the door. Her mother, grandfather and her brother, Souta, were at his soccer game. At eleven he was extremely energetic.

She opened the wooden door and walked inside their living room. The walls were painted a cream color. There was a burgundy colored couch located across from the TV and a coffee table was a few feet in front of the sofa. Purple flowers were carefully placed in a clear vase on the coffee table.

Kagome closed the front door and walked across the hardwood floor up to the stairs where she walked up to her pepto bismol pink room.

A desk was placed in the far corner of the room, somewhat close to her window that was open; so that the room would be colder. Her bed was placed in the center of the wall across from the door entering her room. The bedspread was also pink matching the rest of her pink-themed room.

She slowly made her way over to her phone that was located on her desk. Kagome reached for the phone so she could call Kaede, and dialed her coach's home phone number.

"Hi, you've reached Kaede. I'm either busy or not home, please leave your name and message at the beep. Thank you."

"Oh good, I got the answering machine, then I don't have to explain it directly to her." Kagome thought right before the beep.

BEEP

"Hey Kaede, this is Kagome. I'm calling to tell you that I've decided I'll switch to pairs skating. Could you get Inuyasha's…that's his name right…anyways, could you get his phone number for me so I can talk to him. Thanks. Bye."

"Oh, what a long day it has been." Kagome thought as she walked over to her bed to take a nap before dinner.

AN: I really wanted to make this longer, but I wanted to update before I left for camp, so please forgive me. I'm sorry if there are any errors, I wanted to get it posted as soon as possible.