InuYasha Fan Fiction ❯ Falling ❯ Falling ( Chapter 1 )

I don't own any of the InuYasha characters! If I did, then this wouldn't be fanfiction, silly!

 

Chapter 1 - Falling

 

Kagome sunk to her knees, head bowed in her hands. It was over. She gripped the newly-restored Shikon no Tama as if it alone had the power to keep her alive. It was over. She clung to that thought as if it alone had the power to keep her going. It was over. She had to keep going.

 

Naraku was gone.

 

She shuddered, realized she was trembling as the sobs tore at her heart. The heavy emotion on the air, filled with a diluted sense of relief, overwhelmed by sorrow tore at her soul. `This isn't how it's supposed to be,' she cried inside as she slowly pushed herself out of the mud and blood that coated the slick ground. She slipped, weak after the arduous battle.

 

`I must help… until the others arrive, I must help.' She took a deep breath inward and turned, tears falling down her cheeks as she looked around to locate her closest friends first. She wondered if she actually had any energy left inside of her to heal. As she turned, more of her soul cried with those around her. Years of developing her miko powers, concentrated within her as pure emotion, had not prepared her for the onslaught of pain she felt from those around her.

 

Directly in front of her, Sesshomaru knelt by the remains of two paper fans, all that remained of a woman held captive by the now-defeated hanyou. His stoic face showed no pain, yet it was from InuYasha's tall half-brother that waves of loss and mourning came the strongest. She thought of InuYasha, thankful that he, at least, was fairly okay. She had sent him, as the strongest and fastest, completely against his will, to summon the group prepared to heal this broken band. She was momentarily revived by the knowledge that Shippou, Rin, and Kaede were okay. She was pleased that Kikyou had chosen to avoid the battle, previously injured in another confrontation; her healing powers would be more than welcome. Those thoughts buoyed her as she continued her assessment. Mournful howls came from her left, where Kouga lie in the mud barely breathing, blood pouring from the holes in the back of his legs where Naraku had forcibly taken his jewel shards. Still, he cried for yet more of his clan lost, and especially for the broken form of his intended mate. Red hair covered the battered face of the young wolf youkai princess. The howls of the remaining pack broadcasting their message of loss stretched Kagome's emotions further.

 

She steeled herself as she looked over the remains, live and lost, of the troops sent by leaders, youkai and human alike. Then she forced herself to look toward those who should have been her first concern, but had been her largest fear.

 

Sango knelt by her brother's broken, bleeding form, curled in the protective, unmoving body of the demon cat Kirara. Miroku, pale with the effect of the toxin of Naraku's poisonous wasps, gripped Sango's hand tightly. Kagome knew that it was a matter of time until he, too, fell. Sango could barely breathe for the tears that had consumed her. And it was this final image that brought Kagome to tears herself, falling back to her knees, unable to support herself any longer against the horror that surrounded her.

 

In one heartbreaking sob, loud enough to startle all around her from their actions, Kagome clenched the jewel in the hands. “Midoriko! Onegai… the suffering, the pain… onegai, I cannot stand it any longer. Naraku was an evil, evil being. He is gone; nobody should suffer at his hands any longer.” Kagome had begun to glow bright pink as she muttered in pain. The healers were running up the hill behind her, and stopped in time to hear her final prayer to the famous battling Miko.

 

“Onegai! Let the suffering inflicted by Naraku end! Onegai! Let these people live healthy, full lives that have been cut short. Onegai… ONEGAI!” The last word was a cry of pure desperation, tore from her need to protect and help her friends, and her fear at the inability to do so.

 

With Kagome's last cry, the pink aura that had been growing around her pulsed once, then rushed out to envelope the area and people around her.

 

*~*~*~*~*

 

The glow of Kagome's miko energy, strengthened by her wish on the jewel, flew up at Kikyou, standing on the hill. The air caressed her cheek, flew around her with an almost suffocating force. Then, as if simply carried on by the breeze, the aura was gone. Kikyou froze, Kaede staring at her in concern. The younger sister pressed her hand to her chest. There… another flutter.

 

“I… I live?” Kikyou's question came out breathy, almost frightened. The tone in her voice caught InuYasha's ears. He turned to stare at her. In reckless amazement, and a rush of happiness that she hadn't felt in life or walking death, Kikyou threw herself at the startled hanyou.

 

*~*~*~*~*

 

Kagome shuddered again as the power rushed out of her body in waves. She closed her eyes, the blood pumping in her ears. Then… she was aware of cries. Cries of joy and amazement. She raised her head to see those who had just been dead, who had been fighting off death, breathing easily; many were laughing in shock and joy of simply being alive.

 

`I've done it.' Kagome ducked her head in pleasure and embarrassment at the look of near hero-worshipping thanks that Sango sent her way as she was embraced by her younger brother and Miroku. Seeing the two lovers embrace, she thought of InuYasha. The hanyou had told her just the night before that she was important to him, had told her that he would like her to stay with him once the battle was over. `I've done it.' She stood again, stronger, to shoot a triumphant look at her love.

 

Locating him standing on the hill, she gasped. Then she turned on her heel, and with a swiftness born of sorrow and pain she thought she had erased, tore into the forest behind her.

 

*~*~*~*~*

 

InuYasha was nearly knocked back with the force of Kikyou throwing herself at him. He instinctively hugged her back, truly grateful that his friend had finally achieved a free life that she could enjoy. Her lips on his, however, were a shock that he was not prepared for. And unfortunately for the unsteady hanyou, his sensitive ears picked up a gasp from his right the moment that Kikyou's lips made contact with his.

 

`Kagome!' His mind shouted at him and he struggled to release himself from Kikyou's hold. Alarmed, she quickly pulled away. One look at her face proved to him that her affections were meant primarily as an excited reaction, and also thanks for his role in defeating Naraku. She turned to look for Kagome; she had spoken with InuYasha before about his decision and wanted to see the joy on her face. Instead, she and InuYasha both saw the tips of black hair whipping out behind the girl as she darted between the trees.

 

“Kagome!” InuYasha shouted. He sprung off the hill in pursuit, everybody watching him as she chased after the girl he loved. He knew where she was heading. He knew he was faster than her. He could still stop her.

 

But Kagome was moving with the impulse of a woman scorned. `Why? He said he cared. He wanted ME with him! Not her!' The thought echoed in her head as she weaved in and out of the trees, faster than her feet had ever carried her. She almost fell as the exertions of the wish on the jewel pulled on her. She pushed herself up on a tree and continued to run. The well was right there. A few more feet…

 

“Kagome!”

 

Kagome covered her ears, shook her head as she got closer to the well. He couldn't stop her this time. `Why would he want to? He has HER.'

 

InuYasha tore through the trees, ignoring the throbbing of his left leg, torn down the side by one of Naraku's claws. He pushed himself harder, seeing Kagome within jumping distance at the well. “KAGOME!”

 

The girl prepared to leap into the well. He could jump further than her; he could get close and stop her. `Why? Why? Why?' It became her manta. She pushed off the ground toward the well. At that very moment, however, the exertions caught up with her, and she stumbled. She cried out involuntarily as momentum carried her toward the well. Hitting her right foot on the wood, she flipped forward. Her right ankle snapped as her weight pulled against the well. Spots of pain danced in her vision as Kagome plummeted into the well. She had just enough time to realize that the familiar, warm, caressing blue lights had not appeared before she hit the bottom. Head meeting ground, Kagome was instantly out.

 

“KAGOME!” InuYasha catapulted himself into the well to her side.

 

“Kagome!” He gently shook the girl, who didn't move.

 

“Kagome?”

 

A/N - I didn't actually think about continuing this story, but the plot has been haunting me in my dreams! Obviously, a lot has changed in the years since I first posted this chapter, so it's a Divergence rather than a Continuation. Kikyou is alive, Bakusaiga and Black/Dragon-scale Tetsusaiga never happened in this storyline.