Disclaimer: I do not own Inuyasha, or any of its characters.

Summary: Sometimes the choices we make lead us down a path we don't expect. She chose to leave his side, and he closed off his heart to the world. Now she is back, and he is the only one that can save her. Can he move past his pain to help her? Or will the consequences of their choices prove to be too much to bear?

Rating: T for language and alcoholism.

*Note, in response to a review: This story was previously posted on Dokuga under the same penname.

"I first met her when I accepted the position as the Public Relations Manager for her team. It was shortly after her mother passed away. I remember seeing her skate many times before, but when I saw her skate that day, it felt forced. She was grief stricken." Sesshomaru bowed his head. Kagome had been extremely close with her mother, who had been sick a majority of the time they dated. It was why much of Kagome's skating career took off later in her years, because she stayed close to her mother. She passed away four years ago. He had returned for the services, but due to flight delays he had missed it. "The coach was ready to give up on her. But I couldn't let that happen. I made it my goal to fix her, to get her back to where she had been." He laughed quietly at that, his arms coming up to cross over his chest. He looked vulnerable.

"You did." He had no idea why he was consoling the man. It just slipped out. Despite that, it was true. Kagome had gone on to win multiple competitions, and even participate and win the Winter Olympics.

"I did. It took months, but she started opening up. She would gloss over her past, and I got the feeling she didn't want to discuss it. So I never pressed it. She was healing." Hojo reached up and rubbed the tears from his face before turning to look out the window.

"From the beginning, I knew that she had been in a relationship that was still on her mind. It was clear. Some of the girls on the team confirmed it, but even they didn't divulge much. Still, it was plain as day that her heart belonged to someone else."

"But you fell in love anyways." Sesshomaru confirmed. Could he blame him? He had been adamant against Kagome when he first met her, knowing full well that his brother harbored affections for the pint-sized spitfire. But there was a quality about Kagome that no one could resist.

"I did. In truth, the media, the team, everyone thought we were dating for much longer than we had been. I had spent so much time helping her rebuild after her mother's death that it just seemed that way. It got to the point where we just stopped denying the claims.

"When she got sick, I didn't really think anything of it. It was just a result of the hard training she had done preparing for the Olympics. But when the doctors admitted her for testing, everything sort of fell apart. When we got the diagnosis, I proposed." His voice became thick, and though his back was to him Sesshomaru could see him wiping furiously at his face.

"When she was admitted, I went to her house to grab some things. You know, toothbrush and stuff. When I went into her room…" He paused for a few moments and Sesshomaru found himself yearning for what he would say. "When I went into her room there was a box on her bed. She must have forgotten to put it away. I had never seen it before. I… I went through it. Do you know what was in that box, Dr. Taisho?" Hojo still did not turn around, but Sesshomaru could easily guess. Still, he chose not to answer.

"You. You were in that box. You, and all your years with her. Clippings from newspapers and magazines highlighting your career, as recent as the week before. Pictures of the two of you together. It was overflowing. But what struck me the most was her smile." Hojo did turn around at that point, the tears still slipping down his cheeks, which were red from crying. "In all of my years with her, she never once smiled like that. She never once looked that happy." Sesshomaru's heard thudded, and his stomach churned painfully. Why was he telling him this?

"What purpose is there in telling me this?" Hojo laughed, a hollow painful laugh that felt forced. Sesshomaru waited for his laughter to subside, noting that towards the end it sounded more like a sob.

"I don't know. I really don't know why I am saying it. I knew she loved me, but it was never like that. We were dating, but we weren't dating. It wasn't… it wasn't like those pictures. That night, I asked her to tell me about her past, the relationship the girls had mentioned. She seemed surprised, but she didn't ask why. She told me about the man she loved, and how he was a brilliant man who was out there right now, saving lives. That he will always carry her heart, which is why she couldn't give it to me. But I had already known that, I had known from the beginning."

"This conversation does not serve us…"

"When I asked her why she ended her relationship with a man she obviously loved, do you know what she said?" Hojo shouted over Sesshomaru, clearly needing to say this. Sesshomaru was speechless, surprised at the sudden aggression. "Do you?" Sesshomaru clamped his jaw, his body tense. What the hell was this guy's aim? What did he want from him?

"No? You don't know?" He locked eyes with Sesshomaru, his gaze far softer than he expected. "She said, I had to let him go. I had to let him go so that he could go on and change the world."

Words failed Sesshomaru. He closed his eyes, letting the other man's words sink in. He could see it, the look on her face when she told him goodbye. The tears, the refusal to meet his gaze, the way she looked so defeated. It all fit. It fit so perfectly, he questioned why he didn't see it before. She had turned herself into a martyr for his career. And he let her do it.

Love, Caleesci