Star-Crossed: Star-Crossed

Disclaimer: I don't own Inuyasha. He and his companions belong to Rumiko Takahashi and anyone she may have legally sold the rights to. I just like to mess with them.

A/N: This is just another Quickie that was offered at the InuErotica LiveJournal community. The challenge was that it had to have something to do with the Tanabata, or star, festival and couldn't be more than 1000 words. Well, this one went over by about three words but oh, well.

Star-Crossed

        It was the night of the Tanabata festival, and Kagome sat at the base of the God tree, tightly clutching a small slip of paper. Wanting to hang her secret wish in private, she had slipped away from her family's celebrations. It was only right, she reflected, that she tie it here where so many of her memories originated.

        The well had closed for them the night Naraku was destroyed, the magic transporting her from the very field of battle to stand in shocked disbelief in the tiny shack that held her end of the portal. She had tried many times to get back to him, but to no avail. The magic was gone, and all she had now were memories.

        She let her mind wander back to the last night she and her hanyou had spent together. It was been a clear, bright festival night, much like this one; and he had caught her up in his arms beneath this very tree, kissing her breathless as they slowly undressed each other before he lay her down on the tangle of his robes. Her body had tingled as his hands roamed, a thrill shooting through her every time his claws gently grazed her skin.

        She has moaned in pleasure as he suckled at her breast while she stroked and caressed his hardness. Her whimper as he pulled away from her quickly turned into a passionate cry as he slowly slid inside her. She matched him thrust for thrust as she nibbled lightly as the column of his neck, flicking her tongue out to taste him.

        His hot breath caressed her ear as he lipped it, licking at the shell before turning and catching her lips with his own. She felt her body tighten as he increased his pace, and in a moment her muscles clasped around him. A few short thrusts later he stiffened above her as he filled her.

        He rested his forehead against hers as they caught their breath. Pulling himself out of her, he put his pants on and wrapped her in his red jacket, picking her up and jumping into the lowest branch of the God tree. With a blushing smile, he pulled out two strips of paper that, she saw, had their names written on them in a clear, bold hand. With a delighted smile, she helped him tie them to the branch.

        Pushing those memories aside, she looked around for a way back to that spot. A flash of red caught her eye, and she turned to see a man standing behind her, his long silver hair stirring slowly in an evening breeze. Kagome's heart leapt as she breathed, "Inuyasha?"

        As he stepped into a patch of moonlight, she realized that, no; this was not her hanyou. Taking a step back, her expression guarded, she studied him. She couldn't put a name to this face, although she felt like she should know it. The stranger's eyes were an intense shade of green, and his chin was sharply pointed, the cheekbones high. Confused and unable to identify him, Kagome's brows drew together, "Who --?"

        "Heh," he responded sheepishly. "Maybe this will help." The air around him shimmered, and Kagome's eyes widened as four long, silver foxtails appeared behind him and his ears took on an elfin point. It didn't help her to identify him; and she shook her head. "Well," the kitsune chuckled, "I guess it's really not too surprising that you don't know me. After all, the last time you saw me I was about three feet tall, had red hair, and just loved to irritate the hell out of Inuyasha." 

        "Shippo?" Kagome's hand flew to her mouth in disbelief. 

        "Yeah," he answered, smiling crookedly at her. "How have you been, Kagome?" 

        "But - but I don't understand. How? Are you here alone? Where's Inuyasha? Why isn't he here?" Kagome watched as Shippo's smile faded and an age-old grief came into his eyes; and, in that moment, she knew. 

        "He -- Gods, Kagome," Shippo's voice was strained with suppressed emotion. "He didn't make it." His words struck her like a blow; and, for a moment, she couldn't speak.

        "What happened, Shippo?" Kagome whispered finally. When it didn't look like he was going to answer, she grabbed his arm tightly. "Please, Shippo. I need to know."

        Shippo closed his eyes, his face tight from the painful memories. Opening them, he pulled her to him, wrapping her in his arms. Taking a deep breath, he spoke into her hair. "You know that he was wounded pretty bad there at the end. What you don't know -- what even we didn't know -- is that Naraku injected a huge dose of poison into Inuyasha with his last strike. It wasn't until we'd gotten him to Kaede's and his wounds didn't heal in a few days like they should have that we realized -- and by then it was too late. Naraku had the last laugh after all. We killed him, all right; but he took Inuyasha with him."

        Kagome couldn't hold her sobs. It hurt so much, knowing that she would never see him again, that he had died so painfully. "Why?" she sobbed. "Why did it have to be this way?"

        Kagome buried her head in Shippo's chest. She held tightly to him, unsure if she would ever be able to let him go. He was the only link she now had to a past she could no longer touch and a love she would never see again. He was the only one left who could help her remember.