story

A gentle breeze began to stir near the base of a tree in the middle of a moonlit
forest. There a boy sat staring up at the dancing stars which were spread out
like diamonds sprinkled across velvet. His eyes shone with the same fire as
those stars, like a swirling pool of gold.

His lips parted as he whispered these words and he cradled them in his heart.
They had done it. Conquered it. Defeated Naraku. Avanged Kikyou and Kohaku. Laid
to rest all the pain that had befallen them. And it was over.

He could still see the joyous face of Miroku, that lech, as he had left them,
his curse lifted, finally free. And Sango as she calmly took his hand and left
with him by her side.

A sad sigh escaped the young man's lips.

He stood up, brushed himself off, and turned to go.

He had felt her there before she spoke to him. For some reason he always could.

The girl appeared next to him, her beauty magnified by the moonlight that danced
across her. She seemed thoughtful. He knew why she was there. To say good-bye
just as the other had and leave him there... alone...

"...came to say good-bye?" he finished it for her, turning to her quickly. She
was startled by the hurt look deep in his golden eyes. She stared down at her
hands.

"Yes, but I don't know..."

"Don't know what?!" The hurt was gone, replaced by his normal, blunt self. She
sank down into the grass and hugged her knees to herself.

"What's going to happen to you, Inuyasha?"

He was surprised by her concern in the question.

"I mean... I'll go back to my world with my family. And probably grow up and get
married and have kids someday, but..." she stopped there. Inuyasha sat down next
to her. He had thought about it before, Kagome not being there. But he had
always known that she'd be safe. She would go home. Grow up. Fall in... He grew
ridgid with that thought. It wouldn't be him... He looked at her gently. It
couldn't be him...

Kagome shifted nervously under his gaze, blush filling her soft cheek with a
ruby red glow. She hated when he looked at her like that.

"You don't need to worry about me, Kagome..." he said, his voice soft. She
looked at him, releasing her knees from her tight grasp. He blushed and
straighted himself up.

"I mean... I took care of myself before ya, didn't I?! And I'll do it after ya!"
he spat out bluntly, crossing his arms with his hands in his sleeves. Kagome
looked at him in shock.

"Yeah, you know I did exist before you came along."

"You were pinned to a tree, remember?"

"And I was probably better off."

"You really don't care about me!!!"

"Of course I care about you, stupid!!"

"Well, dough brain, if I am *so* stupid, then I must have been being stupid
everytime I worried about you and cried over you! And every time I let Kikyou
bully me and almost kill me, being nice to her even, all for you, oh yeah, I was
a total idiot! And I must be freaking retarded to have ever, *EVER* loved
*YOU*!!!!!" Kagome screamed, almost blowing Inuyasha over. When she finished,
Kagome sat there, sulking. The nerve of him! Calling her stupid after all she
had done! She twitched angrily.

"You what?!" she barked turning to him viciously. His eyes were soft on her. His
eyes sparkled.

"... I love you too."

Her face softened as what he said sank in. He... loved... She felt his arm slip
gently around her causing her stomach to flip.

He lowered his face down to hers, gently... gently...

Kagome winced as their noses collided. She blushed deep red, embarrassed by her
lack of kissing experience. Inuyasha laughed softly and leaned in again,
pressing his lips to hers.

Yuka had told Kagome once what a kiss felt like... but nothing she had said
could have ever applied to Inuyasha's. No words could be perfect enough to
describe it.

When the kiss ended, Kagome kept her eyes closed, mentally reliving it. Wishing
it wasn't over. She opened her eyes to his smiling face, so beautiful in the
moonlit forest.

And they stayed there, in each other's arms until morning. And neither one ever
questioned leaving the other ever again.