Unplanned by Sessylove219

Separation

No one can know the pain of separation as well as the one who is left behind. Inuyasha knew this as well as anyone. He felt the pain of her absence every day, and did not know how he was ever going to be able to put it behind him.

His heart had died three times. It should not be possible, but it was. The first time was when the supposed betrayal between Kikyou and himself, at the hands of Naraku, occurred. He had felt pain then, worse then when her sealing arrow pierced his heart. At the time, he welcomed the oblivion that death promised.

When Kagome released him from the seal, and he discovered that fifty years had gone by and the world had moved on, he felt that he might be able to put his life back together, to start anew. Here was this young girl, one who looked painfully like his lost Kikyou, and she was innocent, and different, and above all, she loved him. He became stronger with her at his side. He felt as if he could do no wrong when he saw himself through the mirror of her regard.

When he found that it was Naraku that had orchestrated the tragedy with Kikyou, he devoted his life to vengeance. When Kagome brought the jewel back into his world and then shattered it accidentally, he knew that keeping it out of the hands of the vile hanyou should take precedence over his vendetta, but it was so hard to separate the two.

No one can know the pain of separation as well as the one who is left behind. Inuyasha knew this as well as anyone. He felt the pain of his mother’s death when his brother paraded the Un-mother in front of him, tortured her, to get Inuyasha to reveal the site of their father’s tomb and the location of the Fang of Earth, the Tetsuaiga. Even though she had been dead for two hundred years, his heart still felt the constriction of loss when he saw her form, heard her voice. He rushed in blindly, not caring that he was leaving Kagome alone, leaving her at the mercy of his half-brother, the Aristocratic Assassin, the only one who could live up to a name that meant “Killing Perfection”: the Lord of the Western Lands, Sesshoumaru.

He rushed in blindly, and would have had his soul shattered by the Un-mother if it had not been for the courage of Kagome. She saved him. She was always saving him, it seemed.

When Sesshoumaru finally figured out the riddle of the black pearl, and stole it from him violently, Kagome was there, rushing into the border between this world and the next, encouraging him to go after his birthright. It was she who released the Tetsuaiga, she who encouraged him. When it seemed as if Sesshoumaru had killed her, Inuyasha experienced power and a drive that he had never felt before. There was someone else he could not protect, one more name to add to the list of people he must avenge. He was just as surprised as Sesshoumaru to learn that she had survived the dousing of dokatsu. He had been given another chance to keep her safe and when he made the vow to protect her, the sword came to life, and he cleaved the arm from his brother, leaving them safe, leaving them victorious.

They went about on their quest, making friends along the way, and it did not occur to them all that Kagome was the glue that held them together until it was far too late.

When Kagome was taken by Urasue, when her soul was stolen to revive a clay puppet that took the form of Kikyou, he felt confused. How could you avenge the death of someone when they were walking the lands again? He tried to protect her, even when she hurt them, even when he knew that what remained of her heart was black with rage, and he ran from Kagome again and again. She had taken back most of her soul, but that last little bit that Kikyou carried was to be his downfall.

HE tried to rationalize his abandonment of Kagome. He told himself that he was still protecting her, after all…part of her soul was in Kikyou, so by safeguarding the undead miko, he was protecting Kagome as well. It was splitting hairs pretty fine, and later he realized that he should have been safeguarding the one that was still alive. He had so much to make up for. All the times she was hurt, all the tears she had shed. All the time she had spent loving him only to be insulted and abandoned time and time again.

No one knows the pain of separation as well as the one who is left behind. Kagome must have felt it. He knew that now. When his brother came to their group and offered a truce, offered peace, after so many battles, he had accepted. Taking down Naraku would take their combined strength, it had just taken them all a long time to figure that out. When Kagome decided to let him go, to look to another for protection and love, he had once again known the pain of separation.

When he saw how happy she was with his brother, he had taken off for a full week, and finally realized that although he had not done things that were in her best interest before, he would do so now. He gave them his blessing, and told her that he just wanted her to be happy. It was hard for him to let go, but he did.

For her.

When the battle against Naraku was won, Kikyou let go of her hold on the piece of Kagome’s soul, and finally returned to the earth, where she belonged. She never should have been resurrected in the first place. They made peace with each other, and said their goodbyes. Strangely, it didn’t hurt as much as he thought it would. It felt right, it felt like he could finally let go of that part of his past. He was just sorry it had not happened sooner, when he still had the love of the miko from the future.

Kagome and Sesshoumaru decided to become mates after Naraku’s death, and he supported them. He fought for their right to be together, and helped Sesshoumaru bring peace to the West. He was, after all, a prince of that realm. While he had never had any designs on life in any of the Imperial courts, he stayed. He might not be able to be her mate, but he could be her brother, and he still cared for her. He never found someone that he could love and protect, but he was hopeful.

No one can know the pain of separation like the one who is left behind. Inuyasha knew this. He was just sorry that his brother had to learn this truth as well. When Kagome died, Inuyasha felt like his heart had died, and nothing would ever ease that pain.

He was wrong.

Each time he looked at InuDaiki, he felt hope. While Kagome was gone, part of her lived on, and he would do what he could to help keep that part of her alive. To protect. To love.

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Prompt: Imperial, Priestess Skye’s Weekly challenge ending 12/13/09

Words : 1233 according to MSWorks