The Moment: The Moment

Disclaimer: I do not own the character, all rights reserve to Rumiko Takahashi

Before reading: this scene takes place at the last chapter of the manga. I recreated a scene in which InuYasha waited for Kagome, so it does not follow the original manga storyline.

-----------------------------------------------------------

All colors of the world plunged into a golden haze as the fiery ball of fire sunk low, taking with it the light and the ultimate source of our world. It hid behind the ragged peaks of the mountains, shooting a few rays of hope between holes. Soon enough, it will be gone, replaced by yet another planet, gleaming white and cold, isolating the shadows of the trees from its parents.

             Isolation......

             That was the word that clung to his heart, tearing it apart sinew by sinew. Years have gone by, but his hopes did not falter despite the taunting emptiness in his mind called denial. He felt it now, the loneliness creeping upon him and enveloping him in a tight embrace, beckoning for him to give in. It grew, day by day, that sometimes, he can even see it before him. But that was just pure hallucinations, nothing more.

              The fiery ball continued its path downward, turning his golden eyes into warm honey colors. His usual silver hair took a share of the golden hue that graces so many other objects in the sun's pathway. The bright red apparel he wore lost its excitement, revealing the dull color that is by nature its true color. There were no other sounds emitting from the forest that surrounded him. This was a moment when all things are prepared for the welcoming sight of home.

                 Yet all these beauties, all these warmness and wonders were lost upon him. He was oblivious to it. His eyes beheld none but the well in front of him, and all his attention were reverted to the well.

                  There is nothing spectacular about the well; it is just a hole in the ground with wood fencing around it. It does not come in any spectacular shapes either, it is but a square. It doesn't even hold water, thus almost stripping the “well-ness” of it. Yet to him, this well held value above all. This well was where she first came through, and it was also where he last met her. Nobody would have thought that this well is a time portal, but now, it no longer functioned. The “her” that he so longed to meet with again was gone, just like a thin wisp of smoke in the air.

                   Unknowingly, his memories wandered back to the first day they had met. How he had hated her at first, and her, him. How they have walked side by side and held hands; how she had sat by the well with the wind playing in her hair and how, in the end, she disappeared through it. She never came back, and he had missed her. Then there was a moment when it struck him that she did not belong to him, and that there were other people that needed her more than him. There was a moment when he realized that he had to let go and cut all ties with her. Then again, why was he still sitting by the well day, fervently hoping for a day of reunion?

                      Isolation once again sang an eerie song, the lyrics mocking his useless wait. Maybe it's time to give up, denial chirped in.

                       He got up slowly and was turning away when he heard a creak and a muffled hmph. Then, the last ray of sun shone upon a figure climbing out of the well. His eyes bulged and his jaw almost dropped in surprise. So the time portal had worked its miracle again...

                        That figure finally made it to the top of the well and sat there panting from exhaustion. After a while, she raised her head and smiled.

                        “Long time no see.”

                         This was the moment where all miracles worked. Isolation and denial cowered, and a new feeling flow freely forth. A thousand words came and went in his mind, so shocked by this reappearance.

                          Then the sun sank and all else plunge into darkness. The magical moment was gone.