You don't know how hard it is.

When your heart is broken.

Unless you've felt the pain...unless you've felt the absence of that safety that once embraced you...You feel it suddenly leaving...

Separations can sometimes be managed slowly, in such a way that both members of the couple know what's going to happen, and deal with it gradually, drifting apart slowly until the final goodbye. Other times, it happens so fast, it's so blunt, that you're caught off guard, and the pain can tear you apart.

But in both cases, it's still a goodbye…

No matter how harsh, it still means the end of something that was once there; spark or flame.

He never saw it coming.

And that's what hurt the most. That feeling of betrayal.

The moment he heard an arrow make its way towards him, he knew.

It was over.

The fragile dream they once shared shattered.

…

What a fiasco.

She let the tears fall down her cheeks as she stood tall, her hair flowing in her face, staring at the dark trees.

While she had been dreaming of his death, he went to see her. He was dying in her dreams, but he was also killing Kagome in his heart. Everytime…Kagome’s hands gripped her short green uniform skirt.

Why? She thought desperately. Why did he always, always go back to a past that had already happened? The past is the one unchangeable thing in the world. What's done is done. The time traveler knew this, which was ironic. But nonetheless true

Why did he go back?

She supposed that he couldn't accept that.

He still loved her.

He still loved her…

"And I will always be a third wheel." the girl whispered, sighing, accepting her fate, as she always did.

I can't change him. I don't want to. He loves her. I want his happiness. She thought.

She turned around slowly, and walked back towards the camp.

She arrived in the tiny clearing, and saw that Sango and Miroku had fallen asleep, separated by Kagome's big yellow backpack.

Where's Kirara? She thought.

She then felt a small, soft rub against her ankle. There, pawing at her feet, the tuff of fur that was Kirara mewed, looking up into her eyes, as if understanding everything… The time traveler could feel the tears well up in her eyes...

"Oh Kirara." Kagome voiced in what was barely an audible whisper.

She bent down and scratched the kitten’s head, looking absently at Shippou, who was sleeping in her sleeping bag.

Kagome went to her pack and silently retrieved a pair of black, loose pants.

It's too cold to wear my skirt, especially now that its night and we're almost mid fall, she inwardly reasoned as she quickly changed from her uniform to a pair of loose pants and a long-sleeved green shirt.

She decided to go and...

She didn't know what to do next.

She certainly wasn't tired.

But maybe she needed to sleep. It was night time. She wasn’t thinking straight. She couldn’t make a proper decision…She forced herself to calm down. Kirara curled up by the dying fire, and fell silent.

She couldn’t run. No, that wouldn’t solve anything. She’d just get into trouble. Confronting it would make it worse. InuYasha never listened.

“I…I…” She looked at her sleeping bag, seeing the fox kit curled up in the warm, soft fabric. Indecision. As always. She hated it. Indecision and helplessness. Both emotions were her nemesis.

And she felt exactly that: indecisive…and helpless.

I want to go home…to mama… and there she was, crying for her mother. She was so pathetic.

She pulled back tears and bit her lip, finally deciding on sleep. She wrapped herself up in the blankets in her sleeping bag, careful not to wake up Shippou, who slept soundly, and waited for sleep to take her. And sleep was not her friend that night.

InuYasha…come back, okay? I want to know that your safe…

It was many hours later, the hanyou returned, and his appearance calm and content. He quietly observed the campsite before climbing up on of the thick trees.

And Kagome pretended to sleep, forcing her tears away as nightmares finally overtook her.

Drabble. Exactly 700 words, minus the AN. Disclaimer on Profile. What possessed me to write for InuYasha again...I dunno.

Ryuu