Sketches

Disclaimer: In this, the final chapter of "sketches", do I still need to remind you people that I am not the owner of the brilliant anime and manga Inuyasha? While Inuyasha maybe a wonderful artist, (riiiiiiight. only in this fanfic) I am not. And I suck at character development. So lets go through this one more time. I. Don't. own. Inuyasha. Get it?

Wow everybody! it's the last chapter! It's a bittersweet feeling for me, because it's the end of my first multi-chapter fic, and it was really fun to write. Thank you for all of your awesome reviews! keep 'em coming.

Now, I still would like to ESPECIALLY thank my good friend chia, (that's STILL not her real name. it hasn't changed since chp. 4) for forwarding me all of your reviews. I have about 60 on this one fanfic alone, so she's getting a little miffed at me. I quote," this is the only e-mail I get these days. I feel so …. used!" Chia, you know I love you and so does everybody else. So hey people reading this fic! CLAP FOR CHIA AND HER TOLERANCE FOR LOTS OF E-MAILS!

I also forgot to mention someone in chapter 4. My friend ducky ( her parents are not morons and did not name her ducky.) has been a wonderful influence on me, while I have been not such of a good one on her. In fact, I have corrupted her. But she's an awesome drummer, and you should all clap for her too. CLAP FOR DUCKY AND HER UNHEALTHY OBSESSION WITH THE BEATLES! (she's the next Ringo, y'all.)

and Illista, too. can't leave her out. yay sarcasm and being cynical. CLAP FOR ILLISTA AND HER PUEBLO! (insider. just clap and smile and look happy)

and now, without further procrastination on my part… wait hold on… -runs to get buffalo wings- ok, NOW without further procrastination on my part, I present to you….

THE FINAL CHAPTER!

chapter 5----

Some people like to be surprised. They find it all in good fun to have the crap scared out of them by one or more people.

Kagome was not one of those people.

Upon seeing Inuyasha at her window, she fell off of the bed and smacked her head against her desk. Rubbing her head, she stared back up at the silver-haired dog demon who was frozen at his perch on her window. He didn't move or flinch, and he didn't take his eyes off of Kagome for one second.

"I-Inuyasha…. Why… What are you doing here?" Kagome sputtered out, still not over the shock of Inuyasha being here. And what about what he had said? she replayed the scene in her mind.

Kagome soon found herself blinking back tears. Her heart wanted to explode. If only… If only that was how it really was between us…- I really do love him. I do! But he doesn't love me. This is probably just a piece of art to him… a sketch. A picture made up of lines and shapes. How could it be-I be- anything else?-

"After all… I'm just a jewel detector to him. Nothing more."

"No you're not."

What had he meant by that? Why was he taking back his words now, after all the times he'd called her his jewel detector before? Why was he doing this to her? Was he trying to get her hopes up, just so he could crush them again by running back to Kikyo? Why?

Inuyasha looked down at his feet, then slid all the way in the room. "I needed to talk to you."

Kagome blinked. This was new. Very new. Since when did he need to talk to her? When did he start caring about what she said? Picking herself up off the floor and sitting down on the bed, she tried to remain rational. "Um… Okay… What do you want to talk about?"

He merely walked over, sat down on the bed next to her and picked up the sketch book. Pointing a claw at the cover, he sighed and said, "This."

Kagome blushed. Oh lord, this isn't going to be fun. Just stay cool, Higurashi. He's just gonna tell you that he doesn't like you in that way. Just don't do anything stupid.

Inuyasha took a deep breath. How was he supposed to explain that he wasn't crazy? He shuddered to think about how bad this looked to her right now. She probably thinks I'm a pervert. Closing his eyes, Inuyasha began.

"I'm sorry if I offened you. I didn't mean to seem like a stalker or anything…And I know that's the way that it looks." He paused to see her reaction.

She merely nodded.

"I, uh, was thinking about what I said to you yesterday."

Kagome was intrigued. Inuyasha had never really talked openly like this before. He'd always been a closed book to her; locking his emotions behind a door. And every once in a while, she'd be able to see a little bit of them through a peek hole. But then the image would go blury and she'd be completely shut out again.

But this time was different. He was speaking openly; actually talking to her. She nodded to show she was listening.

"It was wrong. You mean… Much more to me than a jewel detector. Much more." He reached over and gently took her hand in his, giving it a gentle squeeze.

"I realized last night that you… Ah crap, I'm not good with sentimental stuff. Kagome, I don't feel right when you're not around. When you get mad at me like you were yesterday, I want to try to make it up to you…" He looked down at the floor again.

"But I can't."

And Kagome swore she saw a tiny tear run down his cheek.

He seemed so distraught. Like the time when his demon form had took over and he had slain all the villagers. He spent hours trying to get the smell of their blood off of his hands… but he couldn't. She remembered wanting to do something -anything- to help comfort him. To take away some of his pain.

And it was the same now.

"Kagome, I can't make it up to you because I'm… dammit Kagome I'm scared. Ever since Kikyo was resurrected, I've spent all of my time asking – pleading – for her forgiveness. Forgiveness for something that wasn't even my fault. Something that I didn't even do. And she still hates me."

Looking up into her eyes, he continued. "It's like…. every time I try to make up for something, I always get rejected…. Like the time when I went full demon and slaughtered all those people. I tried to get their blood off of my hands; I tried I really did. But it was still there. I couldn't repent."

Kagome felt tears tingling her eyes. He had to go through so much. Why hadn't he opened up to her sooner? She wanted to help him, but she couldn't if she didn't know what was wrong.

"I guess… Those pictures were my way of making it up to you. For all the crap you do for me… And all the stuff you go through… even though you could just stay here and forget we existed."

Kagome felt the tears running freely now. "I-Inuyasha… You don't have to 'make it up to me'. You will always have my forgiveness. You never need to ask. Ever. I can't be mad at you for too long… I need to be by your side."

Before she could blink, his arms were firmly around her in a fierce hug. " Thank you, Kagome. Thank you so much…"

She hugged him back and cried onto his shoulder until it was covered in salty tears.

5 minutes later---

Kagome had composed herself. It was always nice to have a good cry. You came out feeling refreshed afterwards. And things always got better from there. Always.

"KAGOME! HURRY UP!" Inuyasha was outside waiting for her to come back to the feudal era. After his emotional breakthrough, he was back to his arrogant self.

She sighed and slung her yellow backpack over her arm. Even though he put on a tough exterior, he really was a very good guy. A great guy, actually. "I'm coming, I'm coming!"

feudal era -------

"Hey."

Kagome looked over at Inuyasha. She had stopped in front of the sacred tree. "I was wondering. The last picture in the sketch book…. Can I have it?"

He turned around and smirked. "Actually, I think I have one you'll like better." He dug around in his haori and pulled out a folded sheet of white paper.

Handing it to her he said, " Remember what Shippo was wanting me to explain yesterday? I told you it was about Kaede being a hag, but he really wanted me to explain about this."

Kagome carefully unfolded the paper and…

"Oh… My… God."

Her face turned a dark shade of red, but she continued to stare at the paper.

It was her and Inuyasha again. Only this time…

Kissing. In front of the sacred tree.

Kagome was so caught up putting all her thoughts straight that she didn't notice Inuyasha creep up in front of her and gently pull the sketch down with one claw. "Well… Do you like it?"

Her face turned even darker red. "Well, um, it's – I mean, er, I-"

Before she could finish, he had leaned down and kissed her mid-sentence.

She could feel his lips curve into a smile against her own, and she couldn't help but smile, too. for he had absolutely no idea how long she had been waiting for him to do that.

The sketch fluttered to the ground, forgotten by the couple, and lay basking in the light of the sun.

Forever a reminder of the events that happened that day.

Owari! -----

Notes: well, that was a really crappy ending. sorry guys. I'm like inuyasha: not good with mushy stuff. In fact, my stomach was in knots when I was writing the part about the smiling while kissing thing. I don't know about you guys, but I just find it hard to write that kind of stuff! Sorry! I'm trying to get used to it.

To give you something to look forward to, I'm going to start a Sango+Miroku fic soon. (did anyone know that Sango could play the flute? and that Miroku LIKES flutes? lol.)

see y'all later!