Title: Fast Forward

Characters: Inuyasha/Kagome

Rating: PG

Notes: I'm just on a roll here! God! Alright, another one, starts off angsty, ends fluffily, hope joo like, and dear lord I hope the Muse will let go of my balls.

He was...older. That was the first thing that hit her, and she had to struggle not to lose it, not to fall to her knees and cry and scream and gibber, try to tell them it wasn't her fault, that she wished with all her heart that she'd seen this, been here to share it.

He stared at her, gold eyes made more pronounced by the dark tan he'd gotten, cheekbones high and sharp, mouth full and sensuous and his face hard, hard and beautiful, but she knew that if she'd been there, if she'd been with him, it might have been less hard.

She felt so much like sobbing and yelling and pounding her fists on the floor and up in the sky towards whatever god resided there, to make them regret, to make them turn back time and make it right.

Her first words were "Oh god, I'm so sorry, I'm sorry, please forgive me, please, please, I love you..." In retrospect, not the best thing to say, but she couldn't think, couldn't see, and it was then that she fainted.

She awoke to amused gold eyes and she teared up, then and there, as the eyes turned concerned. "Kagome?" and his voice was rougher, rougher than it had ever been, deeper and older and more sure. She cried harder. "Kagome, it's okay." And he took her into his arms and rocked her like a child, and that's when she thought that maybe, just maybe, it might be okay. He ran soothing claws through her hair and she hiccoughed and quieted, lulled by his voice and his hands, and she was struck again by the feeling that it would be okay.

That feeling was clinched when he held her a bit away, looked into her eyes and said, with no anger, sorrow, or hate, "I missed you, Kagome." And then, with no doubt or hesitation, following on the heels of one of the most romantic things she'd ever heard him say, "and I love you too."

Then she knew everything would be okay.