Into the Darkness, Comes her Light by jgem

Prologue

A/N: This is my first go at writing a fictional piece. Here lately, I've only written non-fiction essays/papers. I've discovered that first, it's a lot harder than writing a bibliography or a scientific paper and secondly, coming up with new material or writing the "same ole', same ole'" in a new and exciting way is even harder. Last of all, it's even more difficult to come up with the stuff to fill in those parts of the story that you know how you want to them to go and are easy to write down. Those "bridges" are killers to cross.

So, kudos to all those fanfiction authors who not only write, but post their works for others to enjoy. Even more points for those authors who successfully fill in the more exciting parts, with consistant, high quality work.

P.S. Just in case someone is lurking around looking for authors who don't write the disclaimer. I do not claim any ownership for the Inuyasha story, characters, merchandise, and whatever else it is that I need to disclaim to avoid a letter from a lawyer (unless it's a personal letter, that's o.k.)

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Gathered around a child-like form lying on a futon, was an unusual assortment of humans, youkai, and hanyous of various ages and species. Words were only spoken when necessary and only in quiet, hushed tones. The room was dimly lit, adding to the somber mood.

A sudden coughing fit issued from the prone figure, drawing everyone’s eyes towards the frail form of an elderly woman. A silver-haired male helped the frail woman into a sitting position, while a red-headed male held a cup of water to her lips.

The woman took a sip and nodded her thanks to both before lying down and closing her eyes again. Her raspy breathing continued on as before, although each breath sounded more labored. The silver-haired male remained by her side, holding a tiny arthritic hand in his large clawed one while his other hand gently smoothed the gray hairs at her forehead.

"Mother," he quietly spoke, trying to keep his voice free of emotions.

The elderly woman opened her eyes to look at the male and gently smiled at him. She had heard the sadness in his voice, even if the others had not.

"My son," she whispered, squeezing his hand to try and comfort him as best she could.

"We are all here," he told her, feeling that his mother should know that she was surrounded by those who loved and cared for her as she had them.

"Thank you," she replied. "I‘m afraid I must rest again. I’m so...tired," her voice trailed off as her eyes fluttered shut. It was getting harder to do much more than lie there and breathe.

The silver-haired male caught the eyes of the red-headed male who had helped with the water. Unspoken words passed between the them as they looked at each other. The silver-haired male nodded once then turned his attention back to his mother.

He leaned forward to whisper in her ear, "It is ok, mother."

She opened her eyes, allowing him another chance to look into the warm, brown eyes that had always shone with such love and tenderness for him. Although the love was still there, her eyes were now clouded with the weariness of a long lived life and the pain that wracked her sickly body.

"Yes," she thought. "It is time."

She closed her eyes, a gentle smile upon her lips. She embraced the darkness that engulfed her as she drew in one last breath. She knew that the darkness was only temporary. Soon -very soon- she would find her light again. He was waiting for her and just maybe, the others that had gone before her were waiting as well.

As she exhaled, those around her saw her body relax and heard, ever so faintly, her sigh the name of the one who was waiting for her.

"Sesshoumaru."

Kagome Higurashi had breathed her last.

And into the darkness, came her light.