InuYasha Fan Fiction ❯ While You Were Gone ❯ One Thousand Marks ( Chapter 3 )
[ Y - Young Adult: Not suitable for readers under 16 ]
By: King Baka 
Anime/Manga: InuYasha Fan Fiction | Genre(s): Comedy / Romance / Angst | Type: Continuation | Uploaded On: 09.03.2017 | Pages: 3 | Words: 1.4K | Visits: 421 | Status: Completed
Anime/Manga: InuYasha Fan Fiction | Genre(s): Comedy / Romance / Angst | Type: Continuation | Uploaded On: 09.03.2017 | Pages: 3 | Words: 1.4K | Visits: 421 | Status: Completed
Disclaimer: I don’t own Inuyasha. I will make no
money from this fic; I write for my own enjoyment and the enjoyment
of my readers.
A/N – the lyrics contained in this story are from “Far and Away” by Slash feat. Myles Kennedy and the Conspirators. The lyrics are italicized, so if songfics aren’t your thing feel free to skip over them. Personally I feel that they add something to the story, but to each his own.
One Thousand Marks
One thousand. He blinked in disbelief. Was it really so many? He stepped back and counted again.
Across the long last great divide
The distant longing never dies
And all the pain of a dream that was never known
Never fades, no
One thousand. Part of him couldn’t believe it, but the emptiness in his chest confirmed the somber truth. One thousand marks in the bark of the old tree. One for each day since he had last seen her.
That's all right, someday I'll find you
I tell myself most every night
He hadn’t made any marks at first, choosing instead to keep track of the days in his head. Then one morning, for the first time, he realized that he could no longer be completely sure how many days had passed. He remembered the moment with absolute clarity, the way abject panic both quickened his heartbeat and chilled his blood. For some reason he couldn’t fathom at the time, it had become incredibly important for him to know how long he’d been without her.
You seem so far and away
Another life, another time and place
Oh, oh, if only I could find you
He couldn’t breathe again until he’d wracked his brain, searched every corner and crevice of his memory, and found the correct answer. And on that day, he began his lonely count here at this old tree.
So far and away
There's something lost and never will replace
It seems so far away
Day after day, he placed a mark in the aged bark, scratching deeply into the wood with a single claw, a look of anxious concentration marring his features. He arranged them in neat rows, ostensibly to make them easier to count, but deep down he knew his obsession to be driven by something more. Each mark had to be perfect. Anything less felt like a disservice to her.
A love I'll never come to see
You know I tried, can't let it be
My body aches, for the longing only grows every day
I only bleed when I'm all alone
He tried to deny it for a brief time, how badly he missed her. He fought much longer against his inherent knowledge of the reason why. Admitting it, even to himself, inspired a fear more daunting than any he had ever experienced. But as the first row of marks lengthened, as he increasingly felt that he would rather carve them into his own chest than place them on that damn tree, the truth of his feelings had become unbearable, uncontainable. It was not mere friendship, what he felt for Kagome.
They say in time, give it tomorrow
But to me that's just a lie
He remembered the day he had finally admitted it, slumped over against this very tree, his body shaking in fear and longing. That miserable, glorious day, when his heart had finally shattered its stubborn shackles and poured itself from his being, along with a few rogue tears. The day when he finally admitted that he loved her.
You seem so far and away
Another life, another time and place
Oh, oh, if only I could find you
And strangely, the burden of his loneliness eased. His feelings for Kagome became a comfort, rather than a curse. A bitter comfort, one which haunted his waking moments and tantalized him in his dreams. But a comfort nonetheless.
So far and away
I'm waiting on a miracle today
It seems so far away
Nearly three years had passed since he had last gazed into her eyes, savored her scent. She seemed so close sometimes, as if he could reach out and touch her any time he wanted. But that was merely a pleasant fantasy, and reality was cruel. In truth, she was as far from him as she had ever been.
So if you hear this last refrain
I hope you know that I still wait
Time. The bane of man, the master of all living creatures. The magic of the bone eater’s well had granted them a special privilege, a passage through the unpassable. A path which should never have existed, and which neither of them fully appreciated until it closed. Forever. Only a miracle could open it now.
I can't let go, all I need is a miracle
Here today, all I need is a miracle
Oh, oh, oh, yeah
Still, he would keep his count. If it was a miracle he needed, then for a miracle he would wait. If it took a hundred days, or a thousand, or ten thousand, he would wait.
It seems so far and away
Another life, another time and place
Oh, oh, I hope these words will find you
Few things in this life were worth waiting for. Kagome was one of them. She was his greatest opponent and his most loyal ally, the source of his angst and the keeper of his harmony. She was his love, his soul mate. His everything.
So far and away
It's something lost that never will replace
No, I'm begging for a miracle today!
He had wished for a miracle many times during the last thousand days, all in vain. After each disappointment, he was tempted to surrender to his loneliness, to sink into its deceptively comforting embrace. To drown his sorrow in drink or solitude, abandoning all those who cared for him. But each time, he somehow found the strength to carry on.
And I wait so long to find you!
And I wait so long to live!
And I’m so alone, so alone!
His friends kept him going. The easy companionship he enjoyed with Miroku as they traveled. The warmth of Sango’s smile as she watched their children play, the girls’ joyous laughter brightening the world around them. And even Shippou, the little brother he never had, who could still annoy him as no one else could. These were the things he had chosen to live for, until Kagome returned.
And she would return. He knew it in his heart, knew it as surely as he knew he loved her. He would wait for her, for the miracle that would bring her back to him. And until then, he would keep his count. Each mark was a memory, all melding together into a living tapestry of their time together. And he would gladly suffer the pain of being without her, as long as memories of happier times endured within him. So he would return. He would return to this tree and carve a fresh mark into the aged bark, each and every day, hoping for a miracle.
No matter how long he had to wait.
A/N – the lyrics contained in this story are from “Far and Away” by Slash feat. Myles Kennedy and the Conspirators. The lyrics are italicized, so if songfics aren’t your thing feel free to skip over them. Personally I feel that they add something to the story, but to each his own.
One Thousand Marks
One thousand. He blinked in disbelief. Was it really so many? He stepped back and counted again.
Across the long last great divide
The distant longing never dies
And all the pain of a dream that was never known
Never fades, no
One thousand. Part of him couldn’t believe it, but the emptiness in his chest confirmed the somber truth. One thousand marks in the bark of the old tree. One for each day since he had last seen her.
That's all right, someday I'll find you
I tell myself most every night
He hadn’t made any marks at first, choosing instead to keep track of the days in his head. Then one morning, for the first time, he realized that he could no longer be completely sure how many days had passed. He remembered the moment with absolute clarity, the way abject panic both quickened his heartbeat and chilled his blood. For some reason he couldn’t fathom at the time, it had become incredibly important for him to know how long he’d been without her.
You seem so far and away
Another life, another time and place
Oh, oh, if only I could find you
He couldn’t breathe again until he’d wracked his brain, searched every corner and crevice of his memory, and found the correct answer. And on that day, he began his lonely count here at this old tree.
So far and away
There's something lost and never will replace
It seems so far away
Day after day, he placed a mark in the aged bark, scratching deeply into the wood with a single claw, a look of anxious concentration marring his features. He arranged them in neat rows, ostensibly to make them easier to count, but deep down he knew his obsession to be driven by something more. Each mark had to be perfect. Anything less felt like a disservice to her.
A love I'll never come to see
You know I tried, can't let it be
My body aches, for the longing only grows every day
I only bleed when I'm all alone
He tried to deny it for a brief time, how badly he missed her. He fought much longer against his inherent knowledge of the reason why. Admitting it, even to himself, inspired a fear more daunting than any he had ever experienced. But as the first row of marks lengthened, as he increasingly felt that he would rather carve them into his own chest than place them on that damn tree, the truth of his feelings had become unbearable, uncontainable. It was not mere friendship, what he felt for Kagome.
They say in time, give it tomorrow
But to me that's just a lie
He remembered the day he had finally admitted it, slumped over against this very tree, his body shaking in fear and longing. That miserable, glorious day, when his heart had finally shattered its stubborn shackles and poured itself from his being, along with a few rogue tears. The day when he finally admitted that he loved her.
You seem so far and away
Another life, another time and place
Oh, oh, if only I could find you
And strangely, the burden of his loneliness eased. His feelings for Kagome became a comfort, rather than a curse. A bitter comfort, one which haunted his waking moments and tantalized him in his dreams. But a comfort nonetheless.
So far and away
I'm waiting on a miracle today
It seems so far away
Nearly three years had passed since he had last gazed into her eyes, savored her scent. She seemed so close sometimes, as if he could reach out and touch her any time he wanted. But that was merely a pleasant fantasy, and reality was cruel. In truth, she was as far from him as she had ever been.
So if you hear this last refrain
I hope you know that I still wait
Time. The bane of man, the master of all living creatures. The magic of the bone eater’s well had granted them a special privilege, a passage through the unpassable. A path which should never have existed, and which neither of them fully appreciated until it closed. Forever. Only a miracle could open it now.
I can't let go, all I need is a miracle
Here today, all I need is a miracle
Oh, oh, oh, yeah
Still, he would keep his count. If it was a miracle he needed, then for a miracle he would wait. If it took a hundred days, or a thousand, or ten thousand, he would wait.
It seems so far and away
Another life, another time and place
Oh, oh, I hope these words will find you
Few things in this life were worth waiting for. Kagome was one of them. She was his greatest opponent and his most loyal ally, the source of his angst and the keeper of his harmony. She was his love, his soul mate. His everything.
So far and away
It's something lost that never will replace
No, I'm begging for a miracle today!
He had wished for a miracle many times during the last thousand days, all in vain. After each disappointment, he was tempted to surrender to his loneliness, to sink into its deceptively comforting embrace. To drown his sorrow in drink or solitude, abandoning all those who cared for him. But each time, he somehow found the strength to carry on.
And I wait so long to find you!
And I wait so long to live!
And I’m so alone, so alone!
His friends kept him going. The easy companionship he enjoyed with Miroku as they traveled. The warmth of Sango’s smile as she watched their children play, the girls’ joyous laughter brightening the world around them. And even Shippou, the little brother he never had, who could still annoy him as no one else could. These were the things he had chosen to live for, until Kagome returned.
And she would return. He knew it in his heart, knew it as surely as he knew he loved her. He would wait for her, for the miracle that would bring her back to him. And until then, he would keep his count. Each mark was a memory, all melding together into a living tapestry of their time together. And he would gladly suffer the pain of being without her, as long as memories of happier times endured within him. So he would return. He would return to this tree and carve a fresh mark into the aged bark, each and every day, hoping for a miracle.
No matter how long he had to wait.