I just realized there is hardly anything I need to warn you about for this fic. I mean, it's not slash (I was surprised to; gods, it's been what, two years since I've been able to say that?) and there is no language or fight scenes. I guess just be warned of implications and an author who is not only writing her first Inuyasha fic, but her first het fic since -well, you can look at my Stories Authored list to figure that out ^^

Song credits to the Noir ending Kirei na Kanjou; beautiful song, probably one of my favorites. You should listen to it.

Character credits to the creator/owners of Inuyasha; I don't think I have to tell you should watch it.

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+Awaken+

Flames. They leapt upward, only to be beaten back down; tamed by the young man who watched them. He stirred the fire then, eyes glimmering in the low lighting as he watched the flames lick their wooden confines. The floor he sat on was cool, which was why he had started the fire. It had seemed like the best option; he really hadn't known what else to do. Leave? Ha, even he knew that was out of the question. But he didn't feel suffocated; his mind hadn't been overcome by a claustrophobic panic, as he had expected. Instead he felt calm.

Something in the small room stirred, and this time it wasn't the fire. Fingers curled themselves around his arm; the hands that pulled him close warm and soft. "Inuyasha," the human girl murmured, her naked body still wrapped only in blankets. The firelight danced in her dark eyes, eyes that now held him captive and drew his attention away from the fire he was nursing.

He reached out a hesitant hand and cupped her pale cheek. She didn't vanish like a fleeting image would, so he must not be dreaming. Gently, he let his hand fall lower, curving around her chin and down her neck, over her chest until his hand lay on the flat skin of her stomach. The girl smiled gently and leaned her head into the junction between his head and shoulder.

"Perhaps," she whispered, voice warm. "We'll have to wait and see, Inuyasha."

His hand ran in small circles on her stomach, trying to image what it would look like in a couple months; if she were to bare a child. Then her body moved under him as she pulled herself to him, wrapping her arms around his neck and sighing into his shoulder. He tucked the blanket around her and settled her in his lap, before rotating them both to watch over the fire.

/I finally noticed how cold this cheek was

Upon being gently touched/

Cold hands snapped Inuyasha from the depths of his mind, the icy fingers applying pressure as the girl before him fought for his attention. "Inuyasha," she snapped, her voice now empty of any warmth it once held. Then her eyes softened slightly, her arms encircling his body as she hugged him. "Inuyasha," she repeated, "come with me."

"K-" he started, startled from speech when he felt her lips on his cheek.

"Please," she urged him, leaving a kiss on his nose. Then she whispered his name again and kissed him gently on the lips.

His arms returned her embrace on their own accord, his head leaning into her kiss and his mind trying to ignore how cold she felt beneath him. He could feel her hands running up and down his body; the distraction working for the time being, though nothing was more distracting then the overwhelming scent of her body. The mere essence of her, that mixture of fresh air and fine incense, was tinged with the slightest smells of death, but still alluring to him after so many years. Her body still felt the same as he held her, still slender and fragile, but this time she was not born of flesh. She was not living in the sense that her heart beat out the rhythm of her life, sending blood to run through her veins while her lungs breathed precious air.

In those respects, she was dead. Yet her soul was still alive; anger enshrined in a clay body, love embodied in another human.

Another human . . .

Inuyasha pulled back suddenly, staring at the creature before him, watching the way her eyes narrowed. She shouldn't be there, standing in this world and with him no less. She shouldn't hate him, and through anger desire him.

Arms swift, he pulled her body to him, missing the startled expression that passed over her features. "Kikyo," he choked out, one finger absently toying with a strand of her long hair. "All I want is for you to find peace." Then just as quickly as he had embraced her, he released her; walking off into the shadows of the forest, her calls echoing after him.

He didn't look back.