Away From Me

Hey guys! I'm back with yet another one-shot! This one is for RoseOnTheGrave. She read my fic 'Loving Thru the Trials of Love' and replied to a contest that no one else did. So, even though the contest was over, I decided to write her a fic anyway! She asked for a Kagome/Inuyasha pairing to an Evanescence song with angst as the genre.

So, I picked the song 'Away From Me'. I love this song a lot. I hope you do too RoseOnTheGrave!

Now, I have never written a one-shot that was strictly angst, so please bear with me and tell me what you all think, ok?

Warning: ending might traumatize...

Disclaimer: I own nothing, except for my creepy brain that is.

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"Kagome! Wake up Kagome!" Inuyasha yelled as he ran and knelt before the girl. Naraku's evil cackle could be heard in the background as he shook Kagome's seemingly lifeless form. Miroku and Sango appeared before him protectively as Naraku made another advance upon the group. A complete and eerily black glowing Shikon no Tama dangling around his neck as he moved.

I hold my breath as this life starts to take its toll;
I hide behind a smile as this perfect plan unfolds.

Kagome had fired one of her arrows of purification at the spider hanyou, and he had dodged. Naraku had then stabbed Kagome's abdomen with one of his tentacles. With the Shikon no Tama complete, in Naraku's hands, Kohaku laying dead, and now Kagome gravely injured; the final battle wasn't exactly going as everyone had hoped.

Koga and Sesshoumaru had joined forces with the group, though Inuyasha suspected that Koga simply wanted to be near to Kagome. Sesshoumaru likewise had his own agenda to keep to, and obliterating Naraku was apparently higher up on his list than killing Inuyasha.

Kagome sputtered up a bit of blood as she painfully came to in Inuyasha's arms, "Inu." Inuyasha looked back down at her as Koga was thrown back by Naraku. He could hear Sesshoumaru and Kilala rushing towards the villain, but nothing registered in his mind except for the fading voice of his love.

"Kagome! Hold on, we're going to get you out of here, ok?" he yelled at her.

But oh, God, I feel I've been lied to;
Lost all faith in the things I have achieved!
And I...

"Inuyasha, I'm, I'm sorry that I wasn't good enough to help you beat him," Kagome replied somberly. Inuyasha shook his head and held her tightly to him.

"You're strong enough, the bastard just caught you off guard; you'll make it through this," he scolded lightly. Kagome was about to say something else when Sango's voice pierced through the void that had seemingly surrounded Inuyasha's senses.

"Inuyasha! Kagome! Look out!"

And that was when Inuyasha felt a poisonous tentacle run him through.

Naraku laughed maliciously as he kicked Inuyasha off of Kagome, "Pathetic Inuyasha. One who cannot protect one's self can protect no one else. You'll soon see the err in your pointless effort."

He lifted Kagome up with one arm, causing her to whimper in pain at being moved at all. With his other hand he took the Shikon no Tama from his neck and placed it over Kagome's heart. Inuyasha tried to stand as Naraku pressed the tainted Shikon no Tama into Kagome's chest, causing her to scream in her agony.

Miroku, Sango, and Kilala were pounding on the barrier that Naraku had formed around himself, Kagome, and Inuyasha. Koga and Sesshoumaru soon joined in, but only the Tetsusaiga that hung uselessly in an injured Inuyasha's hand had the ability to strike down the powerful barrier. Inuyasha tried to raise the said weapon but a burst of power from Kagome's body sent him flying into the invisible wall. When Inuyasha could open his eyes, he saw Kagome's limp body surrounded in a black cloud.

"Naraku! Put her down!" he yelled, trying once more to stand. Naraku only sneered.

"As I said, you will soon see the err in your pointless effort." With those final words, Naraku vanished in a cloud of miasma, taking Kagome with him.

Inuyasha let out a blood curdling cry as the barrier around him disintegrated. "Kagome!"

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I've woken now to find myself
In the shadows of all I have created!

"Kagome, my dear, how are you feeling?" Naraku asked in an almost seductive tone as he watched Kagome's eyes flutter open for the first time since her capture. The said girl turned her head to him, revealing shadowed brown orbs that betrayed no life. As Kohaku's had often been, Kagome's eyes were that of a controlled being.

Her pale lips moved gracefully as she spoke, "I hurt." Naraku smiled to himself at his fortune; his plan had worked. While as injured as she was, Kagome's holy powers had been unable to purify the jewel that had been placed into her heart, and the darkness had taken over.

Naraku caressed her silky bangs as he sat next to the bed he had placed her in, "That is to be expected."

Kagome's unfocused eyes met Naraku's, "Where, am I?" Naraku marveled at how much like Kanna she sounded.

"Home; I have a mission for you," he replied, changing the subject and getting down to business. The sooner he completed his objectives, the better.

"What would you have me do, my lord?"

"I would have you find someone for me, a hanyou called Inuyasha."

"And what would you have me do once this hanyou is found?" the injured girl asked quietly, feeling an odd darkness well up inside of her heart at the mention of this 'Inuyasha' person.

Naraku sneered, "I want you to kill him."

Kagome nodded slowly, painfully, "Yes, my lord."

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I'm longing to be lost in you,
(away from this place I have made)
Won't you take me away from me!

Inuyasha sat in Kaede's hut staring out the window. It had been days since the battle with Naraku, when Kagome had been taken from him. He had passed out a few minutes after Naraku had gone, and had awoken in this very hut; he hadn't moved since.

Miroku and Sango tried relentlessly to tell him that Kagome could still be alive. Sango had taken the job of consoling Shippo, who was at that moment sleeping In Kagome's sleeping bag. Shippo had been heartbroken at the news that his adoptive mother had been taken, and Inuyasha had expected the kitsune to take out his anger on him, but Shippo hadn't. Miroku told Inuyasha that it was because he knew in his heart that Inuyasha had done everything in his power to keep Kagome safe, but Inuyasha suspected that Shippo still hadn't let it fully sink in that Kagome may have died.

Koga, on the other hand, wouldn't drop it. He continuously hammered Inuyasha with how he should have protected Kagome better, how it was all his fault that she was gone. After the first day, Koga had left the village in search of Naraku so that he could rescue Kagome on his own. Inuyasha knew that it wouldn't work, however, because he knew that Naraku had taken Kagome to get to him, and unless Naraku wanted Koga dead more than he wanted Inuyasha dead, Kagome, or her body, wouldn't be found by anyone else but Inuyasha.

"Inuyasha, Kagome is strong, ye must have faith that she will be all right," Kaede said as she returned to her hut. Inuyasha sighed.

"She's strong, but she was so hurt. I, I don't know what he's doing to her either."

Kaede sighed, "Then ye best be on yer way to find her. Ye have healed enough, and I know that ye ache to save our dear Kagome, so do it." Inuyasha nodded.

"I'm going alone though, understand hag? I don't want Miroku, Sango, or anyone else following me; this is my fight."

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Inuyasha had set out in search of Kagome not an hour later. He doubted that Kaede would keep his secret for long, so he moved with haste, not wanting to involve anyone else.

He began his search at the battlefield where it all happened. Naraku had vanished, but Inuyasha was still able to pick up a bit of his scent. He began following it eastward, hoping that he wasn't being led into a dead end. Kagome was everything to him; he didn't know what he'd do if he didn't find her.

He ran for hours it seemed, following the stale scent of his greatest enemy. Inuyasha hadn't been so disgusted in his entire life with the scent he was currently tracking; it was as if the circumstances had made it more bitter and evil than even he could remember. Still he ran on, needing to find her, the one person who had always accepted and cherished him no matter what he had done to expel his deserving of such affection. Then he smelled her. He came to a halt in a clearing and his heart actually skipped a beat when he saw her across the way from him. Kagome.

Crawling through this world as dis-ease flows through my veins,
I look into myself, but my own heart has been changed.

Kagome looked at the hanyou before her critically. So this was the one that Naraku would have her kill? She took on a defensive stance and fingered the bow that Naraku had given her. Her heart fluttered at the look of relief on the hanyou's face, but she did not know why. Why would he feel relief in the presence of his enemy? Did he want to die? Then she would grant his wish.

"Perish!" She let her arrow fly, and watched as it was encompassed by a black light. The hanyou dodged unexpectedly, a look of shock on his face.

"Kagome? What the hell is wrong with you! I've been looking all over for you and when I finally find you, you shoot me! I'm not the bad guy moron!" Inuyasha yelled, perturbed that Kagome had confused him for just another demon. Taking a breath, he calmed himself. She was just on edge, jumpy; he shouldn't be mad at her, he should be happy that she was so alert. She had managed to escape, and was safe. That was all that mattered.

Or so Inuyasha told himself as yet another arrow whizzed past his head, making contact with the tree behind him. He stared at her, confused and hurt. It was then that he noticed the lifelessness in her eyes; the swirling darkness of her orbs that despite the lifelessness screamed of conviction. She had become pale, almost like Kikyo, and her black aura was licking at her frame like a growing fire.

"My God Kagome, what did he do to you?" he asked quietly, recalling then how Naraku had placed the blackened jewel inside her body.

"Master Naraku healed me, and commands your death hanyou! I shall obey," she replied, notching another arrow.

Inuyasha dodged swiftly when she fired, and finally understood what had happened; Naraku was controlling her, using her as he had used Kohaku before killing him for the shard in his back. He was using the nearly complete Shikon Jewel to control Kagome.

"Kagome, you need to fight this! I'm not your enemy! Naraku kidnaped you and put the jewel in you! He's using it to control you!" he yelled.

"No one controls me!" Kagome yelled, letting another dark arrow fly at Inuyasha, this time, it struck him in the arm.

I can't go on like this;
I loathe all I've become!

Inuyasha yelled in pain as the energy sent him flying. Though it was dark, the energy was still pure, and it burned like no other. When he could finally stand, Inuyasha gripped his sword, hoping to use it's sheath as a shield against Kagome's miko energy. He would not strike her; he couldn't.

"Inuyasha! If you will not face me in battle than at least allow me to finish you off!" she screamed, notching another arrow. She let it fly, and this time it his Inuyasha just above his heart, pinning him to the tree not four feet behind him. He screamed in agony as Kagome slowly walked up to him, readying her last arrow to pierce his heart.

Inuyasha said nothing, did nothing; he was numb from the pain, and couldn't move. He only stared at Kagome, feeling the all too familiar sense of betrayal as he was once again to be pinned to a tree by someone he loved. He quickly shoved down the feeling, however, since Kagome's mind was under the control of Naraku. Kikyo had her free will at the end, but Kagome did not, and so Inuyasha couldn't feel any resentment towards her.

I've woken now to find myselfIn the shadows of all I have created!

"Kagome, even if you kill me, I'll never hate you," he said quietly, knowing it to be true. Kagome pulled back the string of her bow, saying nothing to his words of forgiveness, and aimed it for his heart. Inuyasha closed his eyes, he did not want to see the void in her eyes in his last moments; those eyes hurt too much.

But instead of feeling the pain of being purified and hit by her tainted arrow, when he heard the arrow being released, he heard her scream in agony. Inuyasha snapped open his eyes as her arrow hit the tree next to him harmlessly. Kagome fell to the ground, screaming in pain, with an arrow protruding from her lower back. A miko's arrow.

"Inuyasha, are you so weak?" Inuyasha's eyes widened as Kikyo appeared from behind a tree, her facial expression almost satirical. "Would you fall into the same situation twice?"

I'm longing to be lost in you,
(away from this place I have made)
Won't you take me away from me!

"K-Kikyo, what are you-"

"I'm here to claim what's mine, nothing more," she said sternly. She looked down at Kagome's whimpering form and readied another arrow.

"Wait! Kikyo, she's being controlled by the jewel! Naraku put all his dark shards into her so that he could control her! Leave her alone!" he yelled.

Kikyo looked at Inuyasha then, "Inuyasha, I tire of having to devour souls in order to survive, and this girl is weakening my soul if she is so easily taken by that which she is supposed to protect. I wish for it back."

Inuyasha's eyes widened, "You can't! If you take her soul, Kagome will die!" Kikyo turned to him fully then, and slowly made her way to him. When she was but two feel from him she stopped.

"You would rather this girl live than I? This pathetic copy?" she asked evenly. Inuyasha couldn't look at her, so instead he looked at Kagome's bleeding form on the ground guiltily.

"You died Kikyo, fifty years ago. You can't stay here forever. I know that now; I know that I have to let you go and move on. I can avenge your death by killing Naraku, but I can't let you take me away; I have a reason to live." His speech was quiet, and sad. It was as if even as he said the words, he was discovering their truth for the first time. He had heard them over and over from the mouths of his friends, but never until this moment when Kagome was in need of his help did he actually understand. He thought he had to die to make this right, but that was a coward's way out; living took much more strength, and right now, Kagome needed his strength if he was going to free her from Naraku's control. He had to live to protect Kagome, even if from Kikyo. Kikyo was the past, and Kagome was now.

Lost in a dying world...

I reach for something more...
I have grown so weary of this lie I live!

Kikyo's eyes darkened a bit as she turned away from Inuyasha and walked back to Kagome. The girl was too weak to call her soul back from Kikyo's body of clay and ash, so Kikyo would call it back to herself and become whole again.

"Girl, you have my soul, and I will take it back." Kikyo put her hand over the girl's heart and began reclaiming her soul.

Inuyasha began struggling against the tree and arrows fiercely, "Kikyo! Stop this! Let Kagome go!" Kikyo paid him no heed as Kagome began to scream in pain. She could feel herself becoming more whole as the light of her soul slowly returned to her.

Eventually Kagome's eyes closed a final time, her soul completely gone. Inuyasha stared helplessly from his imprisonment upon the tree as his love's life was lost, because once again he couldn't protect her.

Kikyo rose from her place on the grown, her body now whole and real. She was slightly less pale, and her eyes held more life. She opened her hand and inside it was the black Shikon no Tama shard, nearly completed. "Inuyasha," she said, "I am alive again, am I still your past? Do you still have another reason to live but for me?"

I've woken now to find myself
In the shadows of all I have created!
I'm longing to be lost in you...Oh!

Inuyasha looked at Kagome's lifeless form on the ground, the scent of decay already beginning to shroud her lovely, natural aroma. He felt his heart break in a way that it had never done for Kikyo; his pain was so much worse. "No. I have no other reason to live."

Kikyo smirked in satisfaction, but only for an instant as Inuyasha spoke once more, "So kill me; you've taken all I had, why not my life too and finish the job?"

Kikyo snarled, "You would die for her but not myself! Did I mean so little to you before I died!" Inuyasha shook his head.

"You meant the world to me, but now, Kagome means more. Her death I'd wish not for love or hate. No matter how much I loved you, or hate Naraku for what he did to us, I can't leave her, even in her own death."

Kikyo stared at him evenly, "I see. You've finally chose."

Inuyasha nodded painfully, the purification powers of the arrows and his bleeding slowly killing him, "Yes, I've chosen Kagome."

Kikyo notched an arrow and fired it at Inuyasha, hitting him in the heart. Kikyo turned away as he screamed in pain as the arrow began to purify him. A single tear cascaded down from her finally alive eyes. Her heart beat in her chest for the first time in decades, and it did not please her. Nothing could ever please her. Not even the death of Inuyasha, Kagome, and Naraku combined, could ever make her happy.

In a sense, even when alive again, she still walked the Earth as nothing more than an empty shell, because she was still alone. She could not have Inuyasha's life, so she ended it. No one else could have him.

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Inuyasha pulled the arrows out of his body, feeling the purification energy all over again as he did so, but managed to hold on long enough to throw them to the side, and fall to the ground. After a moment, he began to pull himself along the ground to where Kagome's body lay. It took five pain-staking minutes, but he managed to get to her side.

I...

I've woken now to find myself;

"I'm so sorry Kagome; I couldn't protect you. I failed again," he said quietly. He moved his hand over hers and grasped it as tightly as his fading life would allow. He knew that he was dying, and he cared naught. Without Kagome, what was the point?

"I never told you that I loved you, and for that I'm sorry too. I knew that you loved me; I just thought that it couldn't work. I thought that I would have to go to Hell with Kikyo, and I didn't want to break your heart; I really screwed that one up, huh?" he went on, a pool of their combined blood mixing around them. He craned his neck a bit and gently pressed his lips to her cold dead ones, expressing his love for her in his final moments, knowing that she would never discover how he truly felt.

I am lost in shadows of my own!
I'm longing to be lost in you...

"I love you Kagome, and I always will. We'll meet again, in another life, and maybe then I'll get it right the first time. I'd do anything for another chance to be with you, so that I could protect you forever."

Inuyasha closed his eyes for the last time, clutching Kagome's hand as tightly as his faded life would allow. A small smile appeared on his face as death crept up to him in a flowing kimono of darkness, sweeping over his senses and thoughts, blanketing them with her finality for an eternity until he would once again have a chance to love the woman that lay beside him.

"Good-bye my love."

Away from me...

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Naraku sneered as he watched the proceedings through Kanna's mirror. He had never witnessed a more entertaining spectacle. Even when he had tricked Kikyo and Inuyasha to kill each other had he not had such enjoyment.

"Well," he said, smiling to himself, despite the loss of his giant shard. It was still impure, and he would have little trouble retrieving it later, "I had hoped that they would finish each other off, but Kikyo's intervention proved much more satisfying. Now to end the lives of their surviving comrades..."

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Me- Mean and evil, and not a happy ending, but hey, how did I do!

Kachie- You killed them! Omigod! I hate you!

Me- Hey! I left room for something to happen in another life...I am not going to continue this story, but if anyone would like to adopt it and turn it into something, I would be honored and thrilled, just send me a review, (send one either way please, I want input on this more than anything else I've ever written,) and I'll see what we can do! Please? I think that this could be turned into a great story, but I don't have the time to write it!

Kachie- Just review! RoseOnTheGrave, we hope you liked the story! The ending wasn't happy, but was it angsty enough for ya! Input needed desperately here! It's Hekele's first time writing a depressing story...and she's sick! So be nice and review!

Me- I think I'm gonna hurl...stupid respiratory viral infection...my lungs burn...that's why this thing took so long...I've been ill...

Kachie- So please review!