The Price of His Happiness by Addy
Chapter 1
A/N: Thanks again to the amazing r0o for the idea for this story! I hope you like. :3
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It was over, finally. The battlefield was splattered in gore, and the dessicated, empty husk of a man lay in the middle of the battlefield. Finally, Naraku was dead. The completed jewel sat innocently in Kagome’s palm, sparkling a pure, pink colour that belied all of the pain, tears, and agony that everyone had gone through to obtain it.
Despite how pure and beutiful the reward, the battle had been devistating. Kikyo’s earth shell had been shattered, Inuyasha had been knocked unconscious. Miroku and Sango were looking with joy at Miroku’s hand, which was now curse-free. Shippou clung to Kagome’s leg, more than half asleep from all of the exertion of battle.
Sesshomaru left almost as quickly as he had arrived once the battle was over. He was gone in a cloud of youki after retrieving Rin from a village more than ten kilometers away.
Kagome, already seventeen, could hardly believe she had come so far. Their journey had taken so long, stealing away her precious childhood as well. She realized how unrealistic it was now, everything that she had strove for. She was a miko, yes, but her youthful idealism was almost gone. It was like the last forlorn shard of glass in a broken window, waiting to be knocked away.
Until this moment, she had fantasized about a pure wish, a wish that would render the jewel harmless. Nothing ever came to mind. Now, as her thoughts whirled and the jewel sat still in her palm, she realized the impossibility of her task. She couldn’t wish everyone killed by Naraku back to life, because that would make her happy, and was selfish. The same thing went for wishing for the jewel out of existence. It would be selfish because it was too easy, and would take all the responsibility off of her shoulders.
There was no such thing as an unselfish wish. But, as the horrific realization came into Kagome’s mind and the last shard of glass fell out of the pane, she pushed it and its implications away. Once she made that realization, she changed her train of thought.
Miroku was with Sango, both of them reveling in the fact that they were still alive. Inuyasha was unconscious, thankfully, because Kagome didn’t want to think what he might have been saying or doing once he saw the completed jewel.
Inuyasha.
The name was an answer. In her mind, she finally realized what she would wish for. If she couldn’t make an unselfish wish, then what of it? A wish had to be made, regardless. If the wish wasn’t made, there would be more problems, and the jewel could even be shattered again.
Her idea fully formed, she made a wish. Wished with all her heart, and even as the jewel began to disappear, Kagome saw that it had been tinted slightly purple, instead of being completely pink. She felt a deep, ripping, aching pain in her chest, and cried out. Finally pulled out of their own little world, Miroku and Sango ran towards Kagome, who had fallen to her knees. She screamed as the familiar horrible pain came, and she knew it would be the last time she felt it. The last time she felt anything.
The ground shook as the jewel’s power flared, the flash of light engulfing Kagome, and Shippou’s form being flung away from her.
Inuyasha’s happiness was her wish. The most selfish wish she could possibly have made, because it was the one thin she had always wanted above anything else. She prayed that Inuyasha would be happy, but even as the jewel disappeared and Kagome realized what was happening she became shot through with jealousy and betrayal.
Even though it was what she had wished, her final thoughts were of regret and a broken heart. Maybe it had never been Inuyasha's happiness she'd wanted at all.
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Inuyasha awoke with a start, sitting up quickly, and groaned at the pain in his bound ribs. He had broken a few. He could sense something was wrong, and also something was right, but he couldn’t figure out what was going on. He could have sworn he had felt the ground shake, but all was still. Memories of the final battle flooded his mind, and he looked around for Kagome, but heard the sound of crying.
What he saw was something else though. Miroku and Sango were seemingly in shock, and Shippou sat crying next to them. It wasn’t the cry of a tired child though, nor of even pain. It was a hollow, desperate, aching sound. It was the crying of one who was mourning. Shippou’s tears seemed ripped from his very soul, and Inuyasha began to panic. Sango was still too much in shock from… what? What had occurred? She had silent tears running down her face, though, and looked like she would soon join Shippou in crying.
He stood, sniffing the air for Kagome. He couldn’t smell her at all. In fact, it felt like he had a bad head cold, because he couldn’t smell much of anything. Sango looked up toward him and caught sight of him. She gasped, and the other two looked up as well. Inuyasha looked behind him before realizing there was nothing and no one there but him. A breeze blew from behind him blowing his hair into his face. His black hair. And, from across the clearing, a woman stood and walked toward him.
Inuyasha thought for a moment that it was Kagome, but realized who it was once the woman got closer, and he stood in shock as Kikyo walked to him. When she got close enough he grabbed a hold of her, and shoved his weak nose close to her neck, taking a deep sniff.
There was no smell of death. There was no smell of earth. There were no soul collectors hovering nearby. And, most of all, there was a light in Kikyo’s eyes that Inuyasha had not seen in fifty two years.
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Kagome opened her eyes, and realized she was already standing up somewhere. She wasn’t breathing, but she also didn’t feel like she needed to breathe. The only thing she felt was an ache in her chest. As she thought that, she realized she had no chest. She had no body. The ache was in her soul. But then, she didn’t have a soul anymore either, did she?
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A/N: Dessicated means dried out, shriveled, etc.
I had fun writing this and the next few chapters so much, but I plan on having every one of them BETA'd by my amazing BETA Skyisthelimit, and Velvy helped out too. :D REVIEW!