Unrequited Love by hopeis4ever

Unrequited Love

A/N: I really don't like this one-shot, but decided to post in anyway. It just didn't turn out like I thought it would. Besides that, it feels like I packed an entire fic into a few measly pages. *sigh* Well, maybe someone will enjoy reading it.

Disclaimer: You really think I own any part of Inuyasha? Well, I don't. Darn it.

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Unrequited Love

Unrequited love hurt, Kagome had decided.

It tore at one's insides, breaking the heart and crushing the lungs until breathing became unbearable.

The shattered remains of the heart would then cut through the body like glass, tearing you apart from the inside out.

And as Kagome had sat there, staring at nothing in particular, she knew that to continue and love him would be akin to committing suicide. Eventually she would die, maybe not physically, but her mind and soul would break under the strain.

That was when she'd turned to another.

It was not a spur of the moment decision. She had not simply decided that she would start loving him instead of Inuyasha, but now that she had, Kagome would not trade it for anything.

Finally, finally she had found someone who could love her back with no strings attached. There was no dead girlfriend in the background, throwing a shadow over their time together. There was no confusion over who she was, for to him she was and always would be Kagome.

With him she felt whole and unburdened. The pain that had almost become a part of her had melted away, leaving her feeling free and alive, more alive than she'd felt in ages, since before she'd first entered the well.

There were still the horrors that the Feudal Era possessed. There was still pain and suffering around her. She still saw and felt it, but it no longer had the power to tear her down. Hope had been rekindled, like a flame that had been given more fuel.

At the beginning there had been a weary interest on both sides. When two people had been enemies as long as they had, you tended to be suspicious of their motives.

But eventually, after many moonlit meetings in the forests of the Feudal Era that had been more accident than anything, they had become comfortable in each other's presence. Both had sensed something in the other, a certain sameness. Each of them had known the overwhelming need to love and be loved in return. Neither had thought to find it in such an unlikely partner, but found it they had.

At first there had been no words, but Kagome was not a quiet person and had begun asking him questions. Most of which he never answered. She hadn't pressed him, either. The simple pleasure of having a conversation in which one was not constantly ridiculed had made the lack of response worth it. And even though he didn't reply, she knew that he listened.

When she wasn't asking him things, she talked about anything and everything that came to mind. Sometimes she said silly things, like what trick Shippo had played on Inuyasha that day or a certain monk's perverted habits. Other times she was serious, commenting on the cruelties of life, Sango's situation with her brother being a main topic.

These meetings had progressed for over a year with no one being the wiser. She hadn't bothered to tell the rest of her group about them. He'd never threatened her in any way, all he ever did was stand there, staring at nothing in particular. The silent listener to every thought she found fit to voice aloud.

No, nothing but trouble would come of her telling her companions. That, and they would end. She knew they would. Whether it would be because of the hanyou interrupting them or her friends forbidding her going, worried over her safety, their meetings would end.

And, selfishly, she didn't want them to stop. Those moments with him were far too precious to her. They were like little snippets in time when she could be herself, the teenage girl who had fallen into a twisted fairy tale where pain and death were real. The teen who had become a mother to a young kit, who had taken on the role of team moral booster, plastering on a cheery face for everyone else's benefit. Her time with him had become necessary to her mental well-being.

But, as she'd come to learn firsthand, nothing lasts forever.

Inuyasha had finally found them together and without asking any questions and ignoring her protests, he'd fought with him. In the end Inuyasha had ended up badly injured and he'd left, giving her only a long, searching look before walking off into the trees. She'd cried then, tears that once again she'd been left alone, for there was no doubt in her mind that he wouldn't return.

And that was how her friends had found her, kneeling on the ground, sobbing with a bleeding and unconscious Inuyasha laying nearby in the woods. As the monk and Shippo had tended to his wounds, Sango had comforted her, asking what was wrong and what happened. Kagome couldn't bring herself to tell her best friend about any of it for she would surely see it as a betrayal and would be hurt and angry with her.

The group had made their way back to Inuyasha's Forest and Kaede's small hut. The teen had been silent the entire trip, an air of depression surrounding her small form.

The tea the old miko had offered her had not warmed the cold inside of her, freezing her limbs and organs. Even her mind felt numb. The hanyou had awoken after a few days, but he would not speak to her. Every time she'd entered the hut, he'd stubbornly turned his head away and ignored her presence entirely. She knew he felt as if she had betrayed her, but there was nothing she could have said that would have proved to him otherwise.

So Kagome had spent her days outside, wandering the woods, looking at the Goshinboku and sitting on the well. Shippo had been alarmed at her behavior, but she'd felt so empty that comforting him had been beyond her. She'd felt as if all the good cheer and happiness had been drained from her, leaving only a dry husk behind.

When their leader had been well enough to continue the hunt for shards, she'd stayed in the village. The hanyou had been adamant about leaving her, being so loud about his objections that she had heard every word. He hadn't wanted her, mentioning, briefly, about her not being trustworthy enough, that she was too weak and would only drag them down.

Miroku and Sango had been confused by his obvious anger, but in the end, with Kagome's lack of objections and the state of her health, they had agreed. The young kit had stayed with her, promising to protect her from any evil youkai. Even in her state, she'd been touched by his devotion and the love he held for her.

The others had been gone only a few days when the attack happened.

Shippo and herself had been out, gathering herbs for Kaede, when a demon of impressive strength had appeared. Before they'd left, her friends had agreed to leave the shards with her, as she was the only one able to purify them. Besides, the area around Inuyasha's Forest had always been devoid of strong youkai, only on a few occasions had there ever been high-level demons.

So the appearance of the large tiger demon had taken both of them by surprise. Kagome hadn't even sensed him, though in her current state she hadn't been too aware of her surroundings. Shippo had tried to help her with his fox magic, but the tiger had swatted them and the young kit away. He'd fallen into her arms, unconscious.

Her bow and arrows had been on the other side of the youkai and of no help to her. She had been kneeling on the ground, the little fox cradled in her arms, as the tiger had taken a flying leap at them both. In that moment, she'd found the will to snap herself out of the depression she'd sunk so deeply into, not because her own life was in jeopardy, but because Shippo's had been.

The young woman had rolled away from the outstretched claws and toward her weapons. Bounding to her feet with Shippo held firmly in her arms, she'd run and then had to dodge again when she heard the beast behind her, snarling in rage. She'd barely avoided his deadly fangs attempting to bite her head off. Taking the time offered to her while the youkai landed on the ground, skidding a few yards from her and turning to face her again, Kagome had set down the kit and reached for her weapons. She had quickly drawn an arrow and fired.

She couldn't miss, for the creature had already been pouncing on her again. The pink light had hit it and the teen had watched as the tiger disappeared into dust. Her knees had finally given out and the bow had dropped to the ground in front of her. Weak from relief, she'd crawled over to the still unconscious Shippo and gathered him to her.

It was only then that she'd heard another growl.

She'd barely had time to turn her head when another tiger youkai had come at her, claws outstretched. There'd been no time for her to do anything except cover her kit's body with her own in an attempt to shield him.

But the blow had never come.

The creature behind her had let out an ear-splitting shriek and then there was nothing. She'd slowly sat up and glanced behind her. The now dead flesh of the tiger had laid there, cut into neat little pieces. Beyond it had stood a pristine figure in white.

She'd blinked, not believing her eyes. He hadn't said a word, but simply stared at her with something different in those golden eyes of his. They had still been cold, but with a sparkle in them that might have been...admiration?

Then joy had run through her body. He hadn't left her, after all! And then she knew, in a flash of understanding, that he'd been waiting for her to prove to herself that she could move on, that she could depend on herself when it mattered.

She had smiled her thanks, for he'd believed in her when no one else had. He'd simply been waiting for her to figure it out for herself.

After that Kagome had found the confidence in herself to continue hunting down jewel shards. She'd only seen her savior a few times after the tiger incident, the one who she knew waited for her to finish her quest.

And, after the final battle and all of the tears and goodbyes, when she'd lifted herself over the lip of the well and into her own time with Shippo in her arms, she found him waiting for her still.