Disclaimer: I do not own Inuyasha, any of the characters, or any of their body parts from e-bay. Honestly, I don't.

A/N: Okay everyone, this is the beginning of my Christmas story. I know it doesn't seem very Christmas-y right now, but it'll get more holiday orientated in later chapters. Enjoy!

All I Want For Christmas Is You

Chapter 1: The Move

When Kagome Higurashi was ten years old, the only thing she wanted for Christmas was guitar. Her fascination with music began when she was much younger. Her father had been in a band when he was in high school. Kagome had come across his year book one afternoon while helping her mother clean out their attic. She confronted her father with these findings and he gladly reminisced about his youth with his daughter. That was when Kagome decided that she wanted to be a musician. She had always wanted to find a way to get closer to her father since they had always seemed so far apart. So when Kagome was ten, she begged for a guitar. And for Christmas, she was given one. It was a beautiful electric piece with a black body and silver-white trim. It was her most treasured possession.

Now Kagome was sixteen and she still had her guitar and she still treasured it more than anything else she owned. Even more than the old house she had lived in with her parents and little brother in Florida because now the Higurashi family was moving. Here it was, midstream November. While most normal teens were worrying about what to do during the Thanksgiving break, Kagome was worrying about remembering everything to pack for the move. The destination was a town in New Jersey called Tokyo Heights.

Mr. Higurashi had been laid off from his job in Orlando. They had been doing alright, but the rent on their house was getting too high with only Mrs. Higurashi's two part-time jobs. Then there had been the accident, and none of the family had wanted to remain longer then they needed. So they had begun scouting around for a new place to settle. Tokyo Heights had not been their original destination, but Kagome's grandfather lived in an old Shrine in New Jersey, and he had for years been begging the family to come up with him. Now it seemed to be the only option for the family. So they packed their bags and shipped their boxes and prepared for the move from Florida to New Jersey.

It would be hard for Kagome to say goodbye to her childhood friends, well, her childhood friend, Eri. But she was to leave behind the bad neighborhood for something new. She had never really belonged in Orlando. And what had happened at the end of the summer was only more proof of that fact.

Kagome was one of those girls who lived a double life. At school, she was a model of everything good. She was smart, inquisitive, clever, well-behaved and always quiet. But outside of that huge brick building, Kagome was adventurous and out-going. She lived her life like she played her music, loud and fast and fearless. She was at the same time, an angel and a devil. To her family, she was always responsible. The kind of girl that parents all over the neighborhood talked about and would say to their children 'why can't you be more like Kagome?' But that had been before the accident. That was before her life had changed forever.

Before the accident, it was because of her double life that most people thought she was strange. Many fellow students resented her and picked on her. Kagome took what they said with a grain of salt and a smile. She wasn't popular, but everyone knew about her. Most of them talked about her. Of course, there were those girls who wanted to be her, and there were the guys who wanted her. She was both brilliant and beautiful. But Kagome had other plans, and no one ever got too close. Now, the talking had increased and the looks were more murderous then awe-inspired.

So Kagome was moving to New Jersey for a fresh start. A new life with a clean slate. There, no one knew her or the things she did. No one knew anything about her double life. Kagome liked that part, so she never cried about moving away. On the day she left, Kagome hugged Eri, promised to keep in touch, and then hopped into the passenger seat of her father's pick-up truck. They were driving up to New Jersey with the last load of their things while Kagome's mother and little brother, Souta, would be taking a plane the next day.

No, Kagome never cried about leaving, but she was feeling blue. To relieve some of that sadness, she dug around in her backpack and pulled out a worn little blue notebook. Mr. Higurashi looked over at it with a raised eyebrow as he took the exit on to the highway.

"New inspiration Kagome?" he asked.

Kagome turned to him with a beaming smile. "Just a new idea Dad," she replied. He laughed a little.

"Sing it to me when you're finished?"

"Sure thing," she agreed, then began to scratch down a few lyrics, pausing to hum a beat or two in between. Kagome was not only a musician that played music written by others, she wrote her own music as well. It was the way she had always expressed herself. Somehow it made everything seem better in her eyes if she could write it down and play her problems off of that sleek body of her guitar. Perspective was everything.

And so Kagome Higurashi seemed to have a good life. She loved her parents and brother, they loved her too. She was moving to a new town, for a fresh start. In New Jersey, no one knew anything about what had happened that August, who could tell them? No one would know about had Kagome had not slept through the night in months or about how she would still wake up screaming.

Her parents loved her, and they would die for her. Souta loved her, and even though he was her little brother, he would do anything for her. Kagome tried to be everything they wanted from her. She was an 'A' student, she was a model athlete, and she was an incredible musician. That was why Kagome Higurashi vowed that this time, she wouldn't screw things up for her family. She wouldn't be a problem.

Along the drive up the coast, Kagome and her father stopped at a hotel for the night. When Mr. Higurashi had run out to get some fast food for their dinner, Kagome had rummaged through the contents of the pick-up truck until she was able to dig out her guitar. She went into the room and held open her little blue notebook as she strummed the strings, tuning it to sound just how she wanted it to sound. The weight of the guitar on her lap was comforting, like an old friend.

When she felt it right, Kagome found the rhythm for her newest song. First she hummed along the melody, finding the internal pattern. She was liking the beat and the flow of the music. Her fingers deftly flew along the neck of the guitar, holding one string and releasing another as her other hand plucked and strummed.

"I thought I left this all behind," Kagome sang, her voice clear as a silver bell and sweet as syrup. The kind of voice one could get lost listening to.

"I thought this pain would fade away," she continued.

"You said it was secret, you said that you'd never tell.

"And yet here I am, left in the cold, because I took the blame.

"You left me standing there, all alone,

"The world was fading out around me, all alone,

"The knight in shining armor left me, all alone,

"I looked to you to save me, but I was all alone."

Kagome strummed a little faster, fingers flying, beating out the rhythm with all the anger pulsing in her veins. Music was her outlet, it was in her soul.

"I stood there alone like a little lost child wishing that you'd come to save me,

"I stood there in the rain wishing that it could wash the blood off of my hands,

"But you still disappeared into the darkness that you came from,

"And I was left standing there in the vain attempt that you would here me cry.

"You left me standing there, all alone,

"The world was fading out around me, all alone,

"The knight in shining armor left me, all alone,

"I looked to you to save me, but I was all alone.

"Why me, please answer, why me?

"Why me, please answer…

"You left me standing there, all alone,

"The world was fading out around me, all alone,

"The knight in shining armor left me, all alone,

"I looked to you to save me, but I was all alone."

The last notes of her song died away in the echo of the empty room. That was when Kagome threw off the guitar strap and raced to the bathroom, getting to the toilet just in time as her lunch emptied from her. She leaned over the porcelain rim heaving long after everything was gone from her stomach. It was at this opportune moment that her father chose to appear with food.

After Kagome had assured him that she was fine, just not feeling all that well, she curled up and promptly fell asleep. Mr. Higurashi sighed, putting her guitar back into the truck. He also did a little research but picking up the little blue notebook that he, himself, had given to her for her birthday, and read the words written on the page. He sighed from a place deep within his chest. Closing the notebook, he tucked in his daughter and kissed her forehead.

When they set out the next morning, snow began falling the further north they drove. Kagome eagerly stuck her head out the window. It never snowed in Florida. Although it was not the first time she had ever seen the snow, she still loved it with the eagerness for a grade-schooler every time she saw it.

When they reached the Shrine in Tokyo Heights, both Souta and Mrs. Higurashi were already there. After a brief dinner of fast food, they began the long and arduous task of unpacking all of their things in various rooms of the huge shrine house. Souta had collapsed from exhaustion before nine o'clock that night. Mr. and Mrs. Higurashi were both tired as well, and went to sleep not long after. Kagome had been unable to fall asleep, so she sat awake in the large kitchen with a cup of cocoa in her hands, leaning back in a chair with her slipper-ed feet on the counter. That was how her grandfather found her.

"Kagome, you're up late," he commented, flicking the kitchen light on. Kagome squinted until he turned it off again.

"I made some cocoa, would you like some Grandpa?" she asked, getting up. Fresh cups were poured and another seat was taken. They sat in the dark for some time, enjoying a companionable silence.

"I haven't had a chance to talk to you for a while now," he began. "How was your trip up?"

"It was good. I got a little sick last night, but I'm good now." Kagome paused to sip from her steaming mug. "I'm sure Mom and Dad have told you everything that has happened and all."

"Yes," he agreed.

"You don't have to walk on eggshells around me Grandpa. You and I have always been able to talk." Kagome turned to face him, her misty gray eyes shining in the dark light of the room. The ebony color of her hair seemed to shield the rest of her face from his view since it hung around her like a curtain.

"Things will be better for you here Kagome," her grandfather assured her. "I promise you that."

Kagome nodded, sighing a little. Why was it that all adults could ever give was that everything would be alright? Words meant little in an action-orientated world. But then again, she wouldn't complain. "Thank you Grandpa."

"Tell me Kagome," he spoke again. "It's almost Thanksgiving now, isn't it?"

"Yes," she agreed.

"Next month is Christmas."

"My favorite holiday," Kagome said with a chuckle. "Now, since we're in New Jersey, do you think I could go to New York City and see the giant Christmas tree?"

"I don't see why not," he relented. All of the Higurashi family knew about Kagome's love of all things Christmas. Especially the music. "So, my little Kagome, what do you want for Christmas this year?"

Kagome sighed, thinking, but her mind came up a blank. "I'll have to get back to you, Grandpa. I don't know what I want this year."

"I remember a little girl who begged the life out of me for a guitar one year." Kagome smiled, getting to her feet and stretching.

"Yes, that little girl already got her guitar, though. Now she'll have to think of something new."

"Then she should do that."

"She will Grandpa, she will." Kagome kissed her grandfather's cheek and she placed her mug in the dishpan, then she went upstairs to her new room. Many thoughts went through Kagome's mind that night. Thoughts about what happened, thoughts about what could happen. She thought about how the next day she would start her junior year at Tokyo Heights High School at the beginning of the second marking period. But she also thought about her grandfather's question.

When Kagome had been little, she always knew what she wanted for Christmas, whether it was a doll or a stuffed animal or a certain coloring book. "Or a guitar," she mused aloud. Now it was different. Kagome could ask for something like DVDs or a TV for her room, but, truth be told, she didn't want that. "All I want for Christmas is my two front teeth," she sang in a whisper. But that wasn't true either. What Kagome Higurashi wanted for Christmas was to go back in time three months, and tell herself never to get into that car. But one can't change the past, all she could do was look to the future. And right now, it looked pretty clear.

A/N: Okay, here is where I will end the first chapter. I know what you're thinking. Yes, all the other characters will be appearing in the next chapter, I think….hehe. I will be using a lot of music in this story, both Christmas Carols when the time calls, and other music. If you want to know from who I get my lyrics, review! Thanks for reading and remember, Be kind, please review!