Title: What Brought Them Together
Author: SakuraRyuu
Rating: K
Genre: Canon, Angst, Comfort, Drama, Friendship, Family
Characters: Inuyasha, Kaede, Kagome, Kikyo, Miroku, Naraku/Onigumo, Sango, Shippo
Author's Note: Inuyasha and all characters in this fan fiction are the property of Rumiko Takahashi.
Kagome didn't feel as if she were any different than her traveling partners. Each of them had sacrificed parts of themselves or their families to be brought together in the battle to defeat Naraku. However she was saddened more by what her friends had lost than by what she gave up every time she came through the well.
Because of Naraku's lust for Kikyo and the jewel, Kaede had lost the last of her family when Kikyo died. She had been a small child when the wound to her sister's shoulder had bled her body dry. Kaede had seen her sister's body burned, along with the jewel she protected. Kaede had been left alone in the village with no other family and the village had lost their miko.
Inuyasha had lost his first love and closest friend to Naraku's deception and his deathblow inflicted on Kikyo. When she had been resurrected he lost her a second time to her hatred and feelings of betrayal.
Even though Kikyo was not what Kagome would have considered a friend, she couldn't help but think what she had lost as well. By killing her, Naraku had stolen her closest friend and first love, her family, her kindness and compassion, and her life.
Miroku had lost his father and grandfather to the wind tunnel cursed into their hand by Naraku. This same curse threatened with every passing day and every time he used it.
Shippo had lost his father in a fight with the Thunder Brothers. True, his loss had nothing to do with Naraku, but Shippou had still lost his family.
Because the jewel had come from Sango's village, Naraku had slain every inhabitant trying to find it after Kikyo's death. Sango had watched her brother kill her fellow slayers and her father before trying to kill her while under Naraku's spell. Naraku had then wiped out her entire village.
As a random thought, Kagome felt she was the luckiest of her group. True she spent much of her time away from her family and her grades, along with the relationships she had with her friends, suffered for her absences, however, she still had a family and friends to return to. That was more than she could say for her companions.
They all had lost someone due to Naraku, but Kagome did not feel as though she had missed out on anything by being where she was, and she felt her friends would agree. True, their lives would be on different paths had it not been for the tragedies that had brought them together, but they did make the most of their time. They enjoyed life when they could, taking in the simple pleasures of being friends and being together. She felt what they were doing was important. They were all young and had plenty of time to make up for what had been pushed back due to Naraku's ever increasing interference.
Missed opportunities? Not really. Just delayed. Regrets? Not a one.