Okay, so this story is actually just a story that popped into my head.

Summary: Kagome has decided it is time to leave and explore. She has also decided a few other things for her group. She gives them gifts and departs soon after. Now, centuries down the line, Kagome is in danger - it's time to put those gifts to use.

Her Decision: Everyone's Future -
Decisions, Gifts, & Instructions

"I can't believe it's over," Kagome said, a hand on her forehead. It had been a week since Naraku's demise as well as the "interesting" event that had taken place just a day or so after that.

Last week had started off like any other week. She would be doing her same routine of jumping from era to era while making time for both of her families both in the present and the future. With the jewel now gone and Naraku permanently erased from their lives, Kagome and the others had finally been able to relax and enjoy themselves to the full extent of their leisure. Everyone was at the battle just a week previous, and everyone witnessed what happened just two days after.

It feels like forever ago when they were all heading towards Kaede's village. Kouga and Ayame had been holding hands and walking behind the group so they wouldn't get caught stealing kisses from each other. They had run to tell their pack of Naraku's fortunate end and pretty soon, the pack was going be making their way over to Kaede's village to celebrate. Lord Sesshomaru had gone and fetched Rin, knowing that she would love to be a part of the festivities and Jakken would be able to keep a closer eye on her should he get distracted. Sango and Miroku walked arm in arm, whispering to each other about kami knew what and she and Inuyasha walked side by side at the front of the group.

That's when that woman appeared out of nowhere. She had smiled down and even pat Kagome on the head for such good work that she had done. Like everyone else, she wondered who in the world this woman was. That's when the woman seemed to shift into a child, an infant almost. "They call me Chulu," she said, "I am the keeper of time and I have come to grant you the gift of immortality."

With wide eyes, she simply stared. Even Sesshomaru had risen an eyebrow at the bluntness of the woman-now-child's statement. "I have seen the good deeds that you all have done and I have come to grant you the lifespan of a demon. Know that you won't be completely immortal, for you may still die, but you will have a much longer life than any human." And with that, a purple smoke filled the clearing and several coughs were heard throughout the area.

When the smoke had cleared, the girl did, too. She told them nothing else, just that little warning and that was it. Now, as she sat thinking about how she now had immortality on her side, she wondered what she would do with her life.

"I know what you mean," Sango said, hefting a large bag filled with random supplies. She placed it gently on Ah-Uhn's saddle. She didn't like the idea of Sesshomaru lending her Ah-Uhn, but because Kirara was currently unfit to carry anything, she was forced to it the easy way. She knew that Kirara's fur wouldn't be a good idea to strap on the weight of the bag, so in the end, she just strapped it onto Ah-Uhn. The dragon seemed to be made of brute strength or something because he didn't even so much as move a muscle from the pressure of the weight. "It seems like only yesterday we were traveling around looking for Naraku and the shards."

"Yeah," Kagome said. "Speaking of traveling...I've created a couple of things with Kaede. She helped me out a bit with the reiki transfers on these." She pulled out two whistles from her own bag - which looked more like flutes than anything - as well as a bracelet and a rosary. "I asked Miroku for his rosary; I needed it for what I was going to do. The rosary and the bracelet is like a cloaking device, it will keep you from getting into any trouble. The flutes are for help if you need it. Be careful, the flutes are powerful. I've tuned it to where only our group, Kouga and Ayame's clan, and Sesshomaru's group can hear it. We can hear it no matter where you are, even if you're half way around the world."

With wide eyes, Sango reached her hand forward and brushed her fingers over the smooth surface of the wooden flute-like whistle. "How on earth did you make this?" She paused to catch her breath a moment and let everything sink in. "You're leaving," she said with sudden realization.

A lot of things happened after that. Sango broke down almost immediately and wrapped her arms around her dear friend in a warm hug. "Why?" She mumbled into her neck, seeking comfort from her closest friend.

"Sango," Kagome said, pulling away from the hug to hold her at arm's length, "you have Miroku. You two have already been married and you are going to be a mother sooner than you think. You two have already begun repairing your village. Nearly half the village is done rebuilding. All you have to do now is get word out of your village. You said yourself that you and Miroku were going to settle down for a while." It was true, Sango and Miroku, about a year and a half ago, decided that they were going to get married after Naraku's defeat. About a month before the battle, however, they stopped at a village and something happened. Kagome just happened to walk in on a naked Sango and a naked Miroku, both passed out on the floor in Miroku's room. It was a very, ahem, awkward moment for her, but she was happy for the two. She had thought it would bring them closer together.

She was right.

"Hai," Sango said, wiping her eyes. These days, she was just so...emotional. She couldn't control it and it nearly killed her every day. She hated being pregnant, it was just something she really didn't like being. "B-But I wanted you to-to be here with me and Miroku. To help me raise a child. I wanted it to be perfect."

"Sango," Kagome said with a broken smile. "You're going to be a wonderful mother. I'm not always going to be around to take care of you, you're one of the strongest fighters I know, there's no way you'll give in so easily. You baby, I'm sure, will be just as beautiful as you are, and with luck, he or she will have both your instincts and your strength. Kami forbid if it ends up like Miroku." Everyone knows that no one wants another Miroku running around groping women's breasts and backsides. It would just be too much of a hassle.

Sango giggled a little bit, calming down. "When will you be back?" She asked.

"I'm not sure about that," Kagome said, rubbing her neck. "I was planning on just, well, traveling. I want to see the world. I want to see different cultures, explore new things, meet new people. I want to be doing so much more than just be tied down and stuck here in the village. Kaede really wanted me to become her apprentice, but honestly, I really couldn't. I can't become another miko of a village that is perfectly capable of defending themselves."

"Hai, I know," Sango said. She looked at the fire she had going. It would be dinner soon. The food she had been cooking smelt delicious and she knew that this would be the last meal that her best friend, no, her sister would be with her to finish off a meal.

"I will be back in time for your first child's birth," Kagome said with a smile. That, of course, let Sango have something to look forward to.

"I would like that," Sango said with a smile.

"Well, hello, ladies," Miroku came waltzing into the scene. He seemed a lot less serious now that Naraku was gone from their lives for good. He always had this happy-go-lucky smile, and very rarely would it vanish when he was "trying" to be serious. "How are my two number one women doing."

Kagome rolled her eyes and Sango smacked him playfully in the arm. "We were just discussing some things," Sango said with a sad smile. "How are things down in the village?"

"Everything's going good," Miroku said, "they have new houses built. Inuyasha should be joining us pretty soon. It really is a pain that Naraku caused all of that destruction. The villagers left without a home are being forced to move to other populated areas, and it's beginning to wear everyone out."

"So I've heard," Kagome said.

"It ain't that bad," Inuyasha said, jumping down from a tree above them.

"Ah, so I was correct," Miroku said, "you were as eager to get away from there as I was."

Inuyasha just huffed and crossed his arms as he sat cross-legged on the ground. They were all outside the hut. Sango began filling a few bowls with her soup and passed them out to everyone. Inuyasha frowned - it were days like these where he really wished Kagome had more ninja food. He ate the very last bowl just a few weeks ago. Had he and the others known they wouldn't be able to return to Kagome's home to restock, he would have never had eat that last bowl so fast.

But Sango's cooking was good, too.

Shippou soon came bounding out of the forest. He was getting tall. Around the middle of last year, Shippou hit a growth spurt and all of a sudden, he stopped being so...tiny. Kagome used to be able to just cradle him in her arms, now she could only hold his hand. He was about as tall as her hip now. He grew his hair out but he still kept it in the blue bow of his. His clothes, apparently, were magic because they simply grew with him. Only, seeing as it was summer time now, he didn't wear that blue haori. He wore simply his vest and his hakama pants. His chest was always left bare.

Sango handed him a bowl as well before she returned to her own bowl of soup. Sighing, she slurped it gently - it was still rather hot. She didn't exactly feel like burning her tongue. Glancing at everyone else, they happily slurped their soup. Her eyebrow began to twitch, then it was her knee...she couldn't take it anymore - she had to say something. "Kagome's leaving." Okay, maybe not the best way to approach the subject.

"WHAT?" Inuyasha shouted, dropping his bowl on the ground. "When did this happen?"

"Mama," Shippou said, suddenly getting teary-eyed, "you're leaving me behind?"

"When did you decide you were leaving, Kagome-sama?" Miroku asked.

Kagome waited until the ruckus died and she continued to eat. When she finished her bowl, she set it down as calmly as she could. She blinked and slowly turned her head to look at Sango. "Sango," she said and could visibly see her flinch. "That is an amazing way to ruin dinner."

Sango laughed sheepishly and rubbed her neck. "Gomen, Kagome," she mumbled, "but they had to know."

"I wasn't planning on telling you guys until after dinner," Kagome said, looking at them each before glaring at Sango, "but of course, some people are just too anxious to get news done and out of the way."

Everyone calmed down and sat back to listen to what she had to say. She must have made this decision some time ago because the way she was calmly speaking about it made it look as though she had spent a lot of time thinking about this particular subject. There was no way she had just up and decided that she was going to leave. And speaking of leaving, where, exactly, did she plan on going? There wasn't a whole she could do. So what did she have in mind?

"I have decided that," Kagome cleared her throat, suddenly feeling nervous. "That I'm going to travel. I have refused Kaede's offer of village miko, I have no interest in being tied down in a village perfectly capable of handling themselves. I want to go see the rest of the world. I am leaving my books here so that you may read them. I think they'll come in handy, especially my medical and history books. Those two are the most important books you'll ever come across. When you're finished with them, I would like for you guys to give them to Kouga, let him read it and then make sure the books get to Sesshomaru. Those books are going to be your survival guide in the years to come."

"What do you mean?" Sango asked, obviously not having been told any of this.

"We now have the life span of a full blooded youkai," Kagome said, "which means we live way longer than the average human. We aren't talking a mere fifty or sixty years, we are talking hundreds of years. In those years, according to Japanese history books as well as America, there are going to be major wars happening, and I believe Edo will be involved at some point. In order to surive, I suggest everyone come up with a plan now so that you can survive to the future. I already know everything, so I won't be in harm's way.

"You all, however, do not. You all need a bit of history lesson. Read those books, I mean it. You, too, Inuyasha. I heard what you were talking about with Sesshomaru and Miroku a couple weeks back," Kagome paused, "you're planning on leaving yourself. I suggest you read these books as well."

"Wait," Shippou said, "Inuyasha's leaving, too?"

"I decided to take Sesshomaru's offer and train to become the head general of his army," Inuyasha mumbled. "I talked it over with Sesshomaru and Miroku before the battle with Naraku started. I don't think I'll do much good here in Kaede's village anyway. People already despise hanyou, they only have me here to work for them. I don't exactly want to get stuck here - just like Kagome."

"Anyway, I'll be back in time for Sango's first-born. I assume Inuyasha will as well," Kagome said.

"Then what about me?" Shippou asked.

"Shippou can stay with us, if you want," Sango offered to Kagome.

"I thought about that," Kagome said, "but that just doesn't seem like a good idea in my head. Kirara is one thing," said cat hopped onto Kagome's lap and she pet her head with a small smile, "Kirara is a pet as well as a friend. Shippou is not a pet or something to toss around. I fear humans will come to both fear and hate him. If he lives in an exterminators' village, people are going to ask questions and probably try to destroy the place as well. I don't want that to happen.

"That's why I also talked this over with Sesshomaru a while back," Kagome said, "I want Inuyasha to take him with him to Sesshomaru's palace. There, he can be amongst youkai and be able to train his abilities. It's bad enough that we don't even know how to strengthen his skills. Only a youkai can teach a youkai, just as a human can only teach a human. Although I have taught Shippou some things, other things I won't be able to. That's why I think this is the best way to go."

"I don't wanna' go to Sesshomaru's palace," Shippou said, sniffling, "I wanna' go with you."

"I know, sweetie," Kagome said with a smile, looking at him from across the fire, "but if you go with Inuyasha, you'll be safe and you'll learn. There's only so much I can teach you. Inuyasha can even teach you more than I can. Just stick with him, I'm sure things will turn around.

"And who knows? Perhaps in a few years, when you are much better with your skills and have mastered all of your training," she smiled, "maybe we can travel together again."

Shippou was done eating. His bowl was cold anyway. Miroku had one of those rare frowns etched onto his face. His own bowl had gone cold and he simply stared at it as if it had bugs in it or something. Inuyasha sat with his arms crossed, a frown marring his features with his ears flat against his skull.

"When will you be leaving?" Sango asked, her appetite ruined now that she had ruined the happy moment. Leave it to her to just ruin everyone's mood. She really didn't mean to - she blamed it on the hormones.

"Tonight," Kagome said, "if I stay any longer, than I'll end up staying longer and longer and then I'll never leave."

Shippou whimpered and scampered over to Kagome, scooting Kirara over so he could sit in her lap. True, he was too big for this - his fee nearly touched the ground and his head was just below Kagome's chin - but he wanted comfort, he needed it. He had this feeling that he wasn't going to see his mama for a very long time.

Kagome simply let him stay in her lap. The second he began snoozing, she lifted him with ease and walked him over to his cot within the hut. She had allowed him to keep her sleeping bag as a blanket, so with the bedding beneath him and the "blanket" over him, he had a full and comfy bed. She grabbed the pack that she had hidden behind a barrel inside the hut and walked out with it over her shoulder.

"You're leaving now?" Sango asked, becoming frantic.

Kagome nodded. "I assume you leave in the morning," she said, directing her attention to Inuyasha.

"Yeah, I'll take the runt with me, too," he said, standing and giving her a hug. Kagome smiled and hugged him back before repeating the gestures to Sango and Miroku.

"You two take care of each other,"she said, "and you," she looked at Inuyasha, "don't let my baby get hurt. If I suddenly decided to drop by, and I see a patch of his hair missing, then there's going to be hell to pay."

Inuyasha and Miroku chuckled while Sango was thrown into another bout of tears. "Kagome," she wailed, "you don't have to leave. Not yet, stay a while longer," she said, "we only just started to have a relaxing life and-and you're ruining it!"

Kagome smiled. "We went through this already, Sango. I promised I'd be back before you give birth, have I ever broken one of my promises before?"

Sango shook her head. "Wait," she said when Kagome made a move to leave. She ran into the hut as fast as she was able. The baby she was carrying was only a month and a half, but she was already growing a belly. She figured it had something to do with that sorceress that appeared. Her baby was probably going to be born just like a youkai - at about five or six months. Kagome would be back by then, she knew. They all went over this. Inuyasha even explained to her about youkai births, so she wasn't too worried.

She grabbed what she was looking for before running back out to Kagome. She held Kagome's hand out and placed a pouch in her hands. A clanking noise was heard and Kagome stared at it curiously. Eyes widening with shock, she attempted to hand it back, but Sango refused.

"Take it," she said, "you may need it."

"Oh," Kagome said, almost forgetting. She reached into her pouch and pulled out some beads. "Here, Inuyasha, this is yours."

"What?" He said, holding those damned enchanted beads that caused him to literally eat dirt so much. "Kagome, I really don't think-"

"It's a cloaking device. I changed the enchantment - it no longer has a binding spell. Instead, it has a spell that changes your appearance. Wants you learn how to use it, you'll be the master of disguise amongst a throng of humans. I made it in case we live to the future and we are questioned on our features. I was thinking ahead in case I don't make it back in time before then. You know there's always that chance.

"This one is Shippou's," she handed him another set of beads that was much smaller than his - like a bracelet. "Give this one to Rin, and this one to Sesshomaru." It was a necklace and a bracelet. The bracelet was silver as well as the necklace. They both had a charm of the crescent moon and had a shining, blue stone in it. "These are their cloaking devices. And these," Kagome said, pulling out two brown leather bands, one smaller than the other. "This one is Ayame's and this one is Kouga's. Tell Ayame that this goes around her ankle and Kouga's goes around his arm. And these," she said, pulling out those flute-like whistles, "are kind of like tracking devices. They are whistles that let each of us know one of us are in danger." There were six of them she handed to him. They all had different colors and beautiful in shape.

"Where the hell are you keeping all this?" Inuyasha asked.

Kagome giggled as she watched him struggle to keep everything in his hands. "I have my ways," she said, "well, ja ne. I'll see you guys in a couple of months."

"Oh, Kagome," Miroku said, "we'll be heading to the Slayers' Village, meet us there."

"Hai," Kagome said, "bye you guys! I'll miss you." She walked away from them and followed the dirt trail off to the side of the hut. It was the main trail that led out of the village. Following it, she walked on. She didn't forget her bows and arrows, she always had them with her, even when she was just sitting outside the hut on a lazy day. You never could be too careful.

Without much else to think about, she continued on, looking at the road ahead of her. She finally let her tears fall - she had been holding them in for forever. She knew that if she let them fall in front of everyone then they would be determined in making her stay. It wouldn't have been easy for her to get out of there after that. Wiping away those stray tears, she decided to focus at what was at hand.

Traveling wouldn't be so bad...if she had a friend beside her.

She knew that it wouldn't happen. Inuyasha and Shippou were going to Sesshomaru palace to train. Sango and Miroku were beginning a family and were tied down. Kirara stayed with them to guard the two. So, in the end, she had no one.

Man, that's the longest first chapter I've ever done. What do you think? Too sketchy? Not enough details? Too boring? A little mellow? Review and let me know! ^_^