Angel's Tale [P/? | R]

[Leia Avenrose]

<center>Disclaimer: I don?t own Inuyasha. I only own the storyline. The title belongs strictly to Hyde, the song being titled that. GOOD song, very beautiful. His voice makes me shiver, it?s that beautiful.
Dedication: All my Inuyasha lovers and fans!





Angel?s Tale
By: Leia Avenrose
Rated: R


Prologue
Here in my heart
Memories linger
I hold from all sacred
Safe from all others
Angel's Tale

A love such as this
Once in a lifetime
Lost in your beauty
Still dreaming of you
Angel's Tale
</center>

His mind gave no thoughts to process, his face blank, his eyes listless and his expression one of worn-out shock. The image of distress ghosted the strong planes of his cheeks, black circles hugging his sunken eyes. His skin was ashen, dried; crusted patches of crimson and ghastly wounds stained and marred the once smooth features. A faint handprint in blood was smeared along the left side of his face, looking as though the fingers had been dragged along his skin.

His hands trembled, and he clutched the limp bundle in his arms closer to his chest. He thought that if he held her tight enough, close enough, his heartbeat would help revive her, would bring her back. The sad thing was the voice in the back of his mind objecting to it, trying to tell him over and over that it was done; things were never going to change from this day on.

They had defeated their deadly foe. Finally, after three years of battling strong only to be forced into hiding, they emerged one year later to only end up battling through the last three.

Things had gone horribly wrong in the end.

That one thought echoed along the edges of his mind, tormenting him. He was past the point of no return. He had lost his composure days ago. He was fresh out of battle, his clothes torn in many places, blood touching everything on him. Grit and torn flesh was stuck under his broken nails. He wanted to speak to her, but his throat was too dry, too tight, he feared that if he opened his lips to utter a single word, he would break and there?d be no one to piece the broken pieces back together.

It took all his strength to clear the surface. Light dimly shone in from under the doors. If he were livelier at that moment, he?d have noticed that the well hadn?t been boarded over from the lack of use. After struggling to pull himself over the edge, handling the bundle carefully, he staggered to the foot of the stairs, his legs trembling and sank down to his knees. The ground was rough beneath the bared flesh of his knees, the bits of dirt biting into the small abrasions.

He hardly registered the sting.

Taking a deep breath, he leaned over, bringing the body up to his shoulder. With a gentle touch, he nuzzled his lips into the young woman?s pale cheek. He could smell the death and dried blood clinging to her like flies to manure. It sickened him. He was disgusted with himself; he could?ve saved her, he could?ve kept her alive. Without her he was nothing, he was weak and alone. His strength had vanished the moment the arrows had pierced her from behind.

In his mind, as he continued to embrace the woman close, he could still see it all. He remembered how her last breath was his own.

She staggered forward under the impact; the shot had been from a close range. The head of the arrow had pierced through her breast. Blood blossomed like fresh flowers on a warm spring day, going in contrast with the white of her blouse. Her fingers tightened visibly on her bow; he could see from the distance of where he was, hacking through the tangling limbs of the demon trying to entrap him.

He knew he wasn?t going to reach her in time.

She first fell to her knees, a dazed look in her wide eyes. The others had called out to her, trying to rush to her aid, but the demons, sensing their panic, rushed in, doubling their efforts to slaughter them and take their corpses as their master had requested. Her fingers, trembling, lifted, reaching to touch the bloodied tip. The blood oozing off the end was thick, dripping off rapidly like that of a small flow within a deep crevice. At the sound of her name ripping through the howls of the demons around her, her lips moved, her words barely audible.

It was at that moment that she toppled to the side, her eyes rolling back into her head.

He clenched his eyes tight at the memory burning fresh in his mind. His body was numb, the wounds covering it raw, as if the memory had rubbed salt into them, reopening them altogether. He didn?t want to remember, he didn?t want to recall the look in her eyes, or her touch on his cheek and lips. How her fingers had trembled, how her voice had gone raspy and then silent. He suppressed the wail of anguish that longed to rise out of his throat. His eyes stung somewhat fierce, his throat too tight to bear anymore.

With a silent sob, he buried his face into the crook of her neck, his arms going around her, bringing her up hard against him. He could smell the sweat through the tears. It coated the both of them. He knew his time was almost up, he knew what was to come now.

He continued to sob against her, rocking to and fro, whispering her name over and over like a prayer, thinking that somehow if he continued to chant, to beg, that she?d come back to him, that she was simply asleep and would wake up the louder his voice got. After a few moments of holding her body to him, his sobs quieted and his rocking stilled. Outside the birds chirped softly. The sun was just rising; people would be getting up to start a fresh new day. Gradually he lifted his head and stared down at her. His arms relaxed somewhat and he reached down to brush tangled strands of ebony off her face, his fingers stroking along her pale lips, then over the softness of dark lashes resting delicately over pallid cheeks.

?I?m sorry,? he choked out, applying pressure to the outline of her cheekbones as he continued to trace out. ?I wasn?t there for you as I promised. Now ? now you?re gone; why did you leave? Come back, please,? he begged on a broken sob, sliding his hand under her head.

He pulled her up, touching his lips to hers, kissing her softly.

She didn?t give him a reply; she gave no indication of coming back. If his heart were still there, it?d have shattered to a thousand shards.

Gathering her close, he forced himself to his feet, and stumbled up the stairs. He managed the doors open with a foot. The sun hit him directly, blinding him. He cringed, turning away, curving his body around hers to keep her covered. The memory came to him at that moment.

?You?re going to be all right,? he assured, his voice trembling. Blood began to trickle out from the corner of her lips. The more she tried to speak, the more blood fell out. He shook his head, trying to silence her, placing a finger against her lips. ?Don?t speak?shh. Save your strength. We?ll get you back to the village; we?ll have Kaede look at you. She?ll be able to ? she?ll be ? able?don?t close your eyes!!?

The girl in his arms shuddered. Her skin was clammy, cold compared to that of his, heated and flushed.

He pulled her into his lap, being careful of the arrows in her back. Her eyelashes fluttered and then opened. Dazed eyes fixed on his frightened ones. She lifted a hand, her fingers unsteady, and touched his cheek. Her thumb stroked over his lips. He watched in horror as a smile twitched at the corner of her lips; she was trying to comfort him while she was the one dying. His heart was in his throat. He couldn?t think, he couldn?t speak; he didn?t dare.

He wasn?t about to lose her, he wouldn?t ever dream of it.

His hand lifted to capture hers. Her eyes became hooded.

As his fingers touched the back of her hand, hers slid down his cheek, leaving long warm streaks of crimson against his flesh. To his eyes, the fall of her hand to the ground was excruciatingly slow. His eyes shifted from her hand as it bounced off the ground to her face. Her lips were moving, she was trying to speak to him. Even with his hearing, he couldn?t hear a thing. He had to lean over to capture the last bit of her words before she trailed off into an inevitable silence.

??I ? loved you.?

[Mellie]

So...like all of your stories...I was totally pulled in and engrossed. But...being as paranoid as I am about your cliff hangers, I was watching my little scroll bar. And then I stopped watching. And then the writing stopped. And...and...*screams*

If you feel like it, I'd like my sanity back now.

Wow that was good! You have such a smooth and meldoic writing style that it tends to drive me straight through the end and for about another mile or so. Only...I run out of road and fall off a cliff.

SHE CAN'T BE DEAD! JUST WHEN I GET OVER SANGO'S DEATH AND YOU MAKE HER LIVE< YOU STEAL KAGOME AWAY! *sniffles* I've had my recommended angst/suspense allotation for the year.

*glomp* Great job! I can't wait to see where this takes me!

[Iron Dog]

Ah, good angst. I love good angst and you're one of the best I know of. I'm glad the Muses have paid you a visit again. Hopefully, they will decide to stick around for a while. You cannot leave this here like this for long. That passes angst and enters cruel. Frequent updates? Yes? Please?

[takisha16]

Wow...
Angst and Lei are back!!!!
Your writing style rocks! It's like I can almost feel Inuyasha's pain and see all the blood and the torn flesh
I can't believe kag dies!
It's sooo sad, and also how Inuyasha belives in his heart that she can be saved by kaede. The angst is sooo amazing! By the way...I loveeeee your avatar!

[ice princess]

Suddenly I'm a two year old child, being thrown into the lake of angst and made to sink or swim.

Either way I'm surrounded.

Good freakin' lord, Leia. Good freakin' grief. Literally. Grief. I'm not supposed to GRIEVE so much over made up characters, but it's your writing...you and your CPR words beating real life into these people and making me feel their pain. Do I have to look out my front door and make sure they're not wandering the halls of my apartment? The way you write them, I wouldn't be surprised.

What can I say? I think I created that lake of angst myself, with as many tears as I shed over this piece. It was one of your typical works, and that means it was heart-rending perfection.

Again, you amaze me to no end.

~*a very brooding and somberly impressed* ice princess

[Leia Avenrose]

Thank you for the reviews. I'm glad it turned out to be liked, this little piece. Thought it up on the way to work, the idea came to me suddenly, and then while just working and listening to my ipod mini at the same time, I was overcome with this urge to write everything out. Sadly enough I have the ending already written out and exactly how I'm going to tell the story.

The only problem is actually going in and writing everything out.

[tiffsmeow@yahoo.com]

OMG!!!!
that was awsome!! be very sad!!!