Hello there. This is my 2nd story writing for please feel free to offer any constructive criticism.

My 1st story is a Rurouni Kenshin story. It's called Once in a Lifetime. So far, it's all right.

I am originally a SessxKagome fan, but I'm also fond of InuyashaxKagome.

As it is, this is a IxY story.

I just thought of this a few nights ago & I just knew I had to write it out.

I do not own Inuyasha.

This is not plagiarized.

Enjoy!!

Love You Once, Forget You Forever

Chapter 1:

Goodbye

I did not want to say goodbye. Honestly. I didn't.

But I had to. It was the only way.

I do not belong in this era.

My home is in the future. Sky-high buildings replace fields of lush trees. Mobile cars replace muscled horses and exotic carriages. Concrete grounds replace miles of grass. Scary teachers replace the dozens of demons. Jerks replace the noble, polite lords.

That is where I belong.

The past is but a path in the crossroads of life.

At last, the shards are all here. In my possession.

My friends lay in different huts of the village, resting and healing. Slowly…

"You pervert!"

But oh so surely…

"Get out! Get out! Get out!"

I limped back to the hut I shared with Sango. Seems like Miroku found his way into the tent…again.

Naraku's miasma-dipped arrow had pierced my thigh. It was painful, I admit. Well, more than painful. I don't know how people of this era can stand for such pain. Luckily for me, I brought a bottle of painkillers. No, wait. Actually, I brought two. Yeah. Lady Kaede's medicinal herbs and potions cured the miasma and helped me regain strength. I had used much of my priestess powers during the fight with Naraku. Too much, to be exact.

You know, speaking of priestess, I was surprised to see Kikyo at the battle. Her arrows, combined with mine, helped a lot.

"You have saved my life," she had said. "Now it is my turn to save yours."

I opened the flap and stepped to the side instinctively as Miroku stumbled out. "Hi, Miroku." I muttered.

A bright red hue of a blush flared over his face. "K-Kagome," He laughed sheepishly. "I didn't know you'd be back so soon. Did you find what you were looking for in the forest?"

I nodded with a smile. "Yes, I did. And you know what you're looking for is not under the sheets but inside the heart."

Miroku's blush deepened, if it were even possible. He stuttered something and left quickly.

I shook my head and went in. "How are you doing, Sango?"

Sango huffed and crossed her arms. "Fine until that monk came in."

I slowly sat down. "You know he's just worried about you."

Sango paused. She let out a deep sight. "I know. But coming in every five minutes is just over-doing it."

I chuckled.

A moment of silence hung between us.

"So," Sango started.

"Mm-hm?"

"Do you know what you're going to wish for when you put the Jewel back together?"

A wave of sadness covered my heart. "Yes."

My heart thumped wildly in my chest as I brought out the pieces of the Jewel days later. I laid the shards on the table and summoned them to combine and purified them. It wasn't that hard, seeing as I had most of my strength back.

I walked out of the hut I was in and found my friends standing outside, staring warily at me, especially a certain half demon with soft puppy ears.

"Kagome?" Sango asked.

I tried to give my best smile. "You have all been such great friends of mine. I don't know what I'd be without you all."

Miroku's brow pinched together.

Sango tried to remain impassive.

Shippo had a confused look on his face.

And Inuyasha...

They all look so lost. So worried. So scared.

"This is only for the best," I murmured.

"Kagome," Inuyasha took a step toward me.

I reached up and cupped his smooth cheek with my hand. My thump ran across his cheekbone. He didn't blink. He just stared into mine.

Oh how I'll miss those amber-jeweled eyes. How they spark with anger. How they glisten with sadness. How they cloud with thought.

"I never regretted freeing you." I said. "And I never regretted shattering the Sacred Jewel because we would have never met our new friends." I paused. My gaze wandered down to his light pink lips. "But…I regret meeting you."

I never saw what was in his eyes. I only saw the tightening of his lips and I caught a glimpse of a fang.

"You've made me fall in love with you while you were still in love with her." I said, my voice stayed strong and solid. I wasn't going to let my tears break my voice. "I should have known that your heart was taken."

"Kagome, I-"

"Shh." I laid a finger on his lips. "Just hear me out." I never once looked up. "I know you wished I was Kikyo. A real, live Kikyo. Not a cold, dead Kikyo made of clay. Maybe it was the reason why you stayed with me and didn't kill me on the spot."

"Kagome-"

"P-please, Inuyasha," My voice started to break. "Sometimes I wished that you loved me a little. Me. Kagome. Not Kikyo. Not her reincarnation."

"I do, Kagome. I do love you."

My heart broke. He said the words I longed to hear from him. I let out a sob. "Oh, Inuyasha. How I wish that was true."

"It is." He sounded…desperate.

I shook my head. "You don't."

"I don't understand."

"You don't love me. You love Kikyo. And you always have. You say you love me, but it is only because I remind you of her."

His lips started to curl in anger.

I lifted my free hand and cupped his other cheek. I looked him square in the eye. "You don't love me." I said firmly. "We are only…" I tried to search for a word. "Friends, I suppose. Partners, actually."

"Tell me why you think that way," he said. "Tell me why you think I don't love you."

"It's only obvious." I whispered.

When he was about to speak, I laid my lips on his. I pulled back. "Either way, Inuyasha, we can never be together. Never." I took a breath. "I belong in the future. You belong in the past. And it is the future I will return to and it is the past you will stay in."

My hands drifted to his neck. I lifted the sacred beads and clutched them to my heart. "You've always said you hated the necklace. So I'll take it. As a keepsake. Even if I won't remember."

Inuyasha's eyes widened with disbelief.

"Kagome!" Sango and Shippo yelled.

"Inuyasha, stop her!" Miroku yelled after. "She's going to take our memories away!"

Those few seconds was all I needed. I threw up a barrier. One that I've mastered since last night. Inuyasha pounded on it. He was yelling, but inside my barrier, it was only muffled. I smiled sadly at him.

I pulled out the Jewel and whispered an incantation. It glowed.

"Sacred Jewel, I ask that you grant me five wishes of mine." I told it.

It hummed.

"My first, give Kikyo back her body. Make her whole again with a heart made for loving Inuyasha."

A bright flash.

More pounding by Inuyasha.

"My second, take away my memory of this place when I return home."

A bright flash.

"My third, let no harm come to my friends ever again. Let them live in peace for the rest of their lives. They have worked so hard to defeat Naraku and it is time they can settle down."

A bright flash.

"My fourth," I looked up at Inuyasha. "Take away all the memories of me from Inuyasha's mind. Let him not remember our first meeting. Let him not remember our adventures. Let him not remember my departure."

"My last, do not ever make him feel alone. Have all the friends we made remember him and not me. Have him feel wanted and loved because he's never experienced that in his childhood. Have Kikyo love him. And make him love her."

A white light started to slowly engulf me. I smiled at my friends. I let down the barrier. It was already too late for them to do anything anyway.

"Goodbye," I said.

Before the white light engulfed my whole body, I felt a tear at my shoulder. Then, the dark oblivion covered my eyes.

"I love you, Kagome! Don't leave me!"

Goodbye, Inuyasha. May we never meet again…