Prompt 67: Death
Title: Too Late
Author: britedark
Universe: post-canon
POV: Shippo
Warnings: major character death
Word Count: 296
Summary: Shippo arrives back in the village too late...
Too Late
He could not stand watching her age, and so he left. Years passed. He heard the gossip that the hanyo’s miko was dying. Too late, he returned…
Shippo stared at the small patch of soil. The bare ground under which lay the urn containing Kagome’s ashes.
“She wanted to see you,” said Inuyasha, his voice a husky whisper. “I tried to spread the word, hoping you’d find out in time…”
Shippo stared at the dirt, wondering why it was so blurry.
It had hurt so much to lose his parents. When he had finally realized what it meant to be friends with a short-lived human, to like them, to care about them: when he had seen the marks of age on Kagome’s face, and the whitening of her hair: he had left, unwilling to watch her decline.
What he had had not allowed for was the pain of not being able to say ‘goodbye.’ To not have been able to tell her that he still cared about her, still thought about her. He had let Kagome down.
“Shippo-kun?” He turned his head, to look up into a face that had Inuyasha’s golden eyes and was framed by Inuyasha’s hair. But the expression-the gentle smile-was Kagome’s. “Mama said, if you came, not to be angry at you. Mama said she understood, that it can be really hard to accept a friend’s death. She said, if you came, to tell you, she loves you, and she wants you to be happy.”
His vision blurred even more. He collapsed to his knees. “I’m sorry, I’m sorry,” he repeated over and over, crying, ashamed he had been too late.
Slim, girlish arms went around him, and then an arm far stronger. Shippo cried, grieving, yet comforted, by those arms.
Author: britedark
Universe: post-canon
POV: Shippo
Warnings: major character death
Word Count: 296
Summary: Shippo arrives back in the village too late...
Too Late
He could not stand watching her age, and so he left. Years passed. He heard the gossip that the hanyo’s miko was dying. Too late, he returned…
Shippo stared at the small patch of soil. The bare ground under which lay the urn containing Kagome’s ashes.
“She wanted to see you,” said Inuyasha, his voice a husky whisper. “I tried to spread the word, hoping you’d find out in time…”
Shippo stared at the dirt, wondering why it was so blurry.
It had hurt so much to lose his parents. When he had finally realized what it meant to be friends with a short-lived human, to like them, to care about them: when he had seen the marks of age on Kagome’s face, and the whitening of her hair: he had left, unwilling to watch her decline.
What he had had not allowed for was the pain of not being able to say ‘goodbye.’ To not have been able to tell her that he still cared about her, still thought about her. He had let Kagome down.
“Shippo-kun?” He turned his head, to look up into a face that had Inuyasha’s golden eyes and was framed by Inuyasha’s hair. But the expression-the gentle smile-was Kagome’s. “Mama said, if you came, not to be angry at you. Mama said she understood, that it can be really hard to accept a friend’s death. She said, if you came, to tell you, she loves you, and she wants you to be happy.”
His vision blurred even more. He collapsed to his knees. “I’m sorry, I’m sorry,” he repeated over and over, crying, ashamed he had been too late.
Slim, girlish arms went around him, and then an arm far stronger. Shippo cried, grieving, yet comforted, by those arms.