A/N: Sorry for the long wait guys, but I've been really busy, and I've finally got some time to myself. My unfinished stories got deleted unfortunately (I know...sorry)...So to make up for that I've written another one, seeing as how at any given moment there are about a million ideas in my head. Just to let you guys know, these chapters are going to be long. This story's going to be epic, I tell you!

...Ahem...anyways, on with the story, and please review and let me know what you think...or else I will be forced to reclaim my title as Queen of the Cliffies!...just kidding...enjoy:D

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Don't Cry for Me
Chapter One

Kagome sighed deeply as she looked around her room. Her big, over-stuffed yellow bag sat partially open on her bed, which had already been stripped of its linens. Her closet was empty. Her mother had already taken her school uniforms back to the shop, and now Kagome sat waiting for her to return so that she and her family could travel to the feudal era.

A week ago after a fight with a large bear demon, Kagome had noticed a large bruise on her side. When it did not go away or appear to get any better, the old woman Kaede had suggested that Kagome return to her own time to have the injury looked over by modern doctors. It had been three days since then...three days since Kagome's world had come crashing down on top of her head.

She allowed a single tear to roll down her cheek as she remembered what the doctor had told her the previous day.

"Kagome, our tests did not come back with positive results. Unfortunately, we have some very bad news for you. Try to remain calm, and I will explain everything." the doctor had said, and both Kagome's and her mother's hearts jumped into their throats. The doctor cleared his throat in an unnecessarily loud manner. "Our test results showed a very large malignant tumor in your side...around the area where that bruise is now. We were also unfortunate to find that the cancer has spread into various other areas of your body..."

"Cancer?" Kagome's mother yelped.

Kagome swallowed hard. "So, what...what happens now? I'm not going to die, right? I mean, nowadays they have surgery and chemo-therapy to fight these things..."

The doctor's head hung. "Kagome, the cancer has already spread. Putting you under right now would hurt you more than help you. There isn't anything we can do. If you stayed at the hospital, we could try to slow its progression for a little while, but we can't stop it. It has gone untreated for so long...you've probably had it for over a year now..."

Her mother gasped. "You can't stop it?" she repeated.

Kagome took a deep breath, silently allowing several tears to fall down her cheeks. "But I...I feel fine..." she whispered. "I don't understand..."

"That's probably the reason this was able to go untreated so long, Kagome. You don't get sick enough to end up here, and so we've missed it..."

Kagome nodded. "I...how long do I have until I..." Kagome gulped. She couldn't say it. Saying it would mean that it really was true...

Again, the doctors head hung, and his eyes went to the floor. "At this rate..." he paused as both Kagome and her mother took a very deep breath, "at this rate, maybe six months..."

Kagome choked out a sob. "Six months? I can't...I can't..." she closed her eyes and took a deep breath in through her nose in an attempt to calm herself. After a few seconds, she opened her eyes again. "Dr. Kunigawa, I want to go home with my family." she said simply.

He blinked. "Excuse me?"

Kagome sighed, and squeezed her mother's hand. "I want to go home, and spend time with my family..."

"But we need you to stay here. The treatment is intense..." he stammered.

Kagome shook her head. "I will do no such thing, especially if doing so would do nothing but prolong what you have just told me is inevitable..." At this, her mother looked up at her surprised. "I want to go home and spend what time I have left with my family and in a familiar environment. I will not spend it locked away in a hospital room. If I must die, I want to do so with my dignity intact, not fighting for something I know will never happen..."

When I get where I'm going
On the far side of the sky
The first thing that I'm gonna do
Is spread my wings and fly

Kagome blinked. The tears that had before only clouded her vision were now spilling freely from her eyes. She did nothing to stop their flow as she hugged herself.

Inuyasha sniffed the air in confusion as he jumped out of the bone eater's well and into the well house of the Higurashi shrine. He could smell the salt of tears. Kagome was crying. He rushed from the well house and to her window. He jumped up and perched himself there. He was surprised to see that Kagome's room was practically devoid of everything it had once held...and not only that, but she had failed to even acknowledge his presence.

"Kagome?"

At the sound of her name Kagome jumped. Her eyes widened when she realized Inuyasha was sitting in her window, and she quickly wiped away all of her tears. She smiled at him. "What are you doing here? I was going to come back today...even bring my family with me..." her voice trailed off.

Inuyasha shook his head. "Oh no you don't. What's wrong, Kagome?" His eyes shone with concern. "Why were you crying? Where are all of your things?"

Kagome took a deep breath. "Inuyasha...I need to tell you something. It's...it's very important..."

Inuyasha blinked. "All right...what is it?"

Kagome sighed, and her bottom lip quivered slightly. Finally, she began to cry again, and she fell forward and wrapped Inuyasha tightly in a hug. She was sobbing now.

"Kagome...please don't cry. Whatever it is, I'm sure it'll be all right...I can help you..." Inuyasha whispered, pulling her closer to him and rubbing small circles on her back.

Kagome shook her head. "No, Inuyasha...no...you can't." she cried. "I...I'm really sick...that's why none of my stuff is here. That's why my family is coming to the feudal era with me. I don't...I don't plan on returning to my time..." she whispered.

"You're going to stay in the feudal era with us?" Inuyasha sounded pleasantly surprised. This only made Kagome sob more.

"No, Inuyasha...I'm sick. I'm going to die..."

Inuyasha gasped and jumped in shock. "What? No, that's not right...it can't be. It was only a bruise, wasn't it? You aren't going to...you can't..." he stammered.

Kagome sighed. "I don't have much of a choice, Inuyasha. This kind of sickness doesn't go away. There aren't any herbs for it. It just spreads and spreads until it can't spread any farther..."

"Stop, Kagome...please..." Inuyasha frowned.

"I'm sorry..." she whispered.

He looked down at the ground. "No, don't apologize. You of all people have nothing you need to apologize for..." He wrapped her back in a tight hug and sighed into her hair. After a moment, he looked down at her. "It doesn't...it doesn't hurt, does it?" he whispered.

Kagome seemed to think about this a moment. Finally, she shook her head. "Not yet, it doesn't. The only thing that hurts me is knowing that I will be leaving you and my family behind..." At this she blushed slightly.

Inuyasha blinked in confusion. "Kagome? What did you just say...?"

"Never mind..." she frowned. "Just forget about it. It's best if you do that anyway..."

"Kagome...don't say something like that..." Inuyasha scolded her lightly.

The soft click from the front door down the stairs told them both that Kagome's mother was finally home from her errands. Inuyasha stood and picked up Kagome's over-stuffed yellow bag.

"That's your mom," Inuyasha said, stating the obvious.

Kagome managed to laugh slightly, and cleared away the remainder of her tears. "Did the others know you were coming here to get me?" she asked off-handedly.

Inuyasha looked away. "No...I sort of took off...but I got a little worried when you didn't come back when you said you would...so I thought I should come find you."

Kagome smiled. "That's sweet, Inuyasha. Thank you."

"For what?"

"Everything..." Kagome whispered, planting a small kiss on his cheek.

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"Look squirt," Inuyasha looked at Kagome's little brother. "Don't get scared when you don't land on the ground as soon as you jump in. You have to, well...fall into the past, so it takes a minute before you actually reach the ground. When you do, you'll be in my time, so don't even think about climbing out and going exploring until Kagome and I get there. It's dangerous..."

Souta nodded, squeezing the small jewel fragment that Kagome had given him in the palm of his hand. He slung a small book bag over his shoulder, and picked up the cat, Buyo. "Come on, Buyo...we're going to go on an extended vacation..." he smiled.

Kagome closed her eyes for a moment and took a deep breath. "I'm going to go...make sure we didn't leave anything important behind inside the house..." she whispered to Inuyasha.

Inuyasha cocked his head sideways in confusion, shrugged, and nodded to Souta. "Go on, kid. If you don't go now we'll be here all day..."

Kagome had almost reached her front door when Inuyasha caught up with her.

"Are you all right?" he whispered.

She smiled. "I've been better." She paused a moment, and Inuyasha took her hand in his.

"Come on, Kagome. Let's go...home. Everyone misses you."

She nodded. "All right."

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"What took you so long, Inuyasha? What were you and Kagome doing in her time? You were gone a long time..." Miroku whined.

"Shut up, monk. I don't want to have to hurt you," Inuyasha warned him, "but if you continue with that thought path, I'll strangle you with my bare hands."

Miroku threw his hands up. "All right. Shutting up. One more question though...why is Kagome's family here? Isn't it a little...dangerous?"

Kagome sighed. "I'll tell you guys later."

"Mommy!" Kagome's mother's eyes widened when a small fox demon ran and jumped into Kagome's arms. "Granny Kaede was teaching me about the herbs so I can help you!" he said proudly. "Did you bring me any of that candy stuff from your time?"

"Mommy?" her grandfather whispered.

"Don't say a word..." Kagome replied.

"What did you need to talk to us about?" asked Sango, walking slowly up to her friend. "I'm glad you're back. You're feeling better, aren't you?"

Kagome smiled quickly, and looked down at Shippo. "Shippo, please take Kirara and ask Granny Kaede to take you over to the neighboring village to get my family some clothing fit for this era, all right?"

Shippo blinked. "Why can't I stay here with you?"

"I need you to do that for me. It's really important..."

"All right, mommy! Come on, Kirara!" he called, and jumped on the back of the newly transformed cat demon. The members of Kagome's family gulped in fear.

When Shippo was out of ear shot and Kagome saw that Kirara was heading in the opposite direction with the old priestess and Shippo, she sighed. "I really need to talk to you guys, all right? Inuyasha...since you already know...could you take my family to my hut, please?"

Inuyasha nodded.

"What is it, Kagome?" Sango asked, worried.

Kagome frowned. "I brought my family with me because I'm very sick...I don't plan on returning to the future...I'm going to die..."

Sango gasped, and choked back a sob.

Kagome smiled. "Don't cry, Sango. It's all right. There isn't anything I can do about it. I wanted to be with you guys...I want to finish this thing with Naraku, and I wanted to be among friends when..." Kagome paused.

Sango swallowed hard, and nodded. "You don't want Shippo to know?"

Kagome shook her head. "No."

"But he's going to wonder..." Miroku began.

"Maybe he won't have to," Kagome whispered. "We have no clue what will happen with Naraku. I have six months to do what I can to make sure that you guys, Shippo, and Inuyasha will be safe from him after I'm...gone. And I am going to do everything in my power to see that he dies before I do..."

"Oh, Kagome...Inuyasha...I'm so sorry..." Miroku whispered.

Kagome shook her head again. "No...it's...all right. I think it's better that he doesn't know how I feel. I don't want him to be any more upset..." She looked down at the ground.

"We'll help you where we can, Kagome..." Sango promised.

"No," Kagome nearly snapped. "Just don't tell Inuyasha where I've gone. I don't want him to get hurt..."

"You're leaving now?" Miroku gasped.

Kagome nodded and handed Miroku a folded piece of paper. "This is for my family. Tell everyone that I'll be all right...and I hope to be back soon. I'm going to go find Sesshoumaru..."

Sango blinked several times, but said nothing.

Miroku gulped. "Sesshoumaru?" he repeated.

She nodded. "Yes, Sesshoumaru..." she confirmed. "I have my reasons..."

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"What do you want, miko?" asked Sesshoumaru in his usually uncaring manner. "Why are you out here in the forest alone? Why is my annoying brother not attached to your hip?"

Kagome sighed. "I did not wish him to come along, so I left without him." she admitted. "I came to seek your help in getting rid of Naraku. I...don't want Inuyasha to get hurt..."

Sesshoumaru's eyebrow rose. "What is your new interest in getting rid of Naraku faster? Do you have a death wish? You are nothing but a miko..."

Kagome shook her head. "I need no wish..." she smirked.

Sesshoumaru paused. "What exactly do you mean by that, miko?" he demanded, his interest seemingly sparked, if only for a moment.

"I am dieing...it is a sickness called cancer. I have six months left...and I want to make sure that Naraku dies well before myself, so that Inuyasha and the others will be safe when I am gone..." she explained.

Sesshoumaru nodded. "I must admit that is...noble of you. Although I have never heard of such a sickness..." he frowned. "Are you asking for my help with your quest?"

Kagome nodded. "I think I know you well enough to know that you aren't going to suffer from a guilty conscience if something happens..."

"You are willing to die?" Sesshoumaru blinked.

"I'm going to die anyway..." she reminded him. "At least if I died in battle, I'd die fighting...I'll have at least some control over the circumstances. I feel better about that than I do about dieing sickly and weak with everyone else taking care of me..."

"All right," Sesshoumaru nodded. "If that is how you feel, I will help you..."

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A/N: I hope you guys liked this one. Please review and let me know what you think. The next installment of this story is a bit longer, although I don't want to post anything until I've gotten some feedback about what you guys think about this one.