'T was Christmas in Tokyo, Japan. The entire city looked like an ant hill as the people were busy with the last preparations until the big holiday. The city was decorated with lights and in the shops you could see the different decorations with jolly Santas, reindeers and smiling snowmen. Although it hadn't snow, the joy of Christmas was on everyone's faces as they bought presents for their families and loved ones, as they saw their children smile at the sight of a laughing Santa at the corner of the street and as they stood in front of the fire, drinking hot chocolate as the Christmas tree was beautiful decorated.
At the edge of the city, far from the busy center, the Higurashi family was enjoying the silent Christmas Eve. Mrs. Higurashi was in the kitchen making the last arrangements for the Christmas Eve dinner and Jii-chan was in the living room looking on the newspaper.
Upstairs, Kagome was making the last touches on her hand-made miniature Christmas tree.
-"Done!" she said as she placed the last colored globe on the tree. "It looks good, if I say so myself."
-"Great work, nee-chan! It looks great!" Souta said. "You've been working at it for two hours."
-"Thanks, Souta!" Kagome said smiling. "All we have to do now is keep it safe…"
-"Hey, Kagome!"
Kagome's eyes widened as she heard a very familiar voice…and also because the wind that entered through the open window knocked the tree Kagome made, scattering the decorations. A long silence followed and you could hear the rumble of Kagome's anger. Souta broke the silence.
-"Inu-no-nii-chan! How are you?"
Inuyasha turned at him.
-"I'm here for Kagome." He turned at her. "Hey wench, when are you comin' ba-?"
-"Osuwari," Kagome said and watched as Inuyasha went face first in the floor.
As the Subjugation Necklace spell wore off, Inuyasha raised his head to look at Kagome and growled.
-"Wench, you-!' He stopped as he saw the glare Kagome sent to him. It clearly said "Say a word and I'll say "the word" again!" Inuyasha glared at her then crossed his hands in front of his chest and keh-ed.
Souta looked at them.
-"Okay…"he slowly said. "I'll be downstairs." And with that he disappeared through the door.
After Souta's leaving, another silence followed, being interrupted by Kagome's try to repair the tree. She sighed. Somehow…she felt a little guilty for osuwari-ing Inuyasha. It wasn't his fault for destroying the tree. He didn't know what she was doing in her room. She really had to apologize but she knew it will be hard. She turned to him and could see it on his face that he was more than pissed. She walked to him and sat on her knees in front of him. He opened his eyes and looked at her.
-"What do you want?" he said.
-"I wanted to say that I'm sorry for… you know what. It was just a first reaction."
-"Keh! Your first reaction to everything I do is to sit me!"
-"Hey! I said I was sorry!"
In that moment, Mrs. Higurashi entered the room. Apparently, the fight didn't go unnoticed. She smiled as she saw Inuyasha.
-"Ah! I see that Inuyasha has come. Welcome!" she warmly said.
-"Hey," Inuyasha greeted.
-"Hello." She then turned to Kagome. "Kagome, don't let Inuyasha stay here, invite him downstairs. Dinner's almost ready." She then turned to the door. As she was to exit she turned one last time to look at him. "Hope you like Christmas cake, Inuyasha." And with that she left.
-"Criss-mas? What's that?" Inuyasha asked curious.
Kagome smiled.
-"Christmas is one of the most beautiful holidays of the year. It's the time when families and friends come together and enjoy themselves. They switch presents and sing carols around the Christmas tree."
-"What's a Criss-mas tree?" Inuyasha asked.
-"The Christmas tree is a fir tree decorated with lots of colored globes, ribbons, garlands, toys and other stuffs."
-"Does it look like the one you made?"
-"Yeah, only bigger."
"Oh…" Inuyasha nodded.
Kagome continued her story about Christmas.
-"Today is Christmas Eve. Today we get around the Christmas tree and have the Christmas special dinner. My mom has worked hard to make it. After the dinner, we switch the presents and at midnight Santa comes to our houses and places presents under the Tree."
-"Who's this San-ta guy?"
-"He's just a child story. I used to believe in him when I was little but I stopped believing as I grew up. The little ones still believe in him. He's an old man, with white hair and beard and has a big tummy. He wears a red coat with white collar and cuffs, white-cuffed red trousers, and black leather belt and boots. He carries a bad with presents for the good children and one full of coals for the bad ones. He is usually pictured flying on a sleigh pulled by 8 reindeers: Dasher, Dancer, Prancer, Vixen, Comet, Cupid, Donder and Blitzen."
After shaking his head upon hearing too many details, Inuyasha asked:
-"So you mean this San-ta guy that flies comes to your house and brings some things under that tree?"
-"That's the story. The real thing is that the parents place the presents under the tree but the kids love the story, so Santa still lives in their dreams."
-"Ohh," Inuyasha nodded. "For a minute I thought that this San-ta is a youkai or something."
-"No, Inuyasha, he isn't." After a few moments she rose and handed Inuyasha her hand. "Come on, the others are sure waiting for us."
Inuyasha looked at her hand, smiled and grabbed it. They went down the stairs and entered the living room. Inuyasha was stunned by the decorations that hanged on the walls and on the ceiling. In the corner he saw the tree that Kagome spoke about. It was decorated in silver and gold as the rest of the room. Seeing that, he had a hunch about what made her decorate the house like that. He smirked.
-"Ah, I see you two decided to join us," Kagome's mother greeted them. "Get sat at the table and I will finish the arrangements."
After a few minutes, the whole Higurashi family, plus Inuyasha were at the table. The table was full of different sorts of Japanese food, the Higurashi's wanting a traditional dinner that consisted from preordered KFC, oden, fried fish, salads and the traditional Christmas cake.
-"Wow, Mom, you really made one large Christmas dinner this year!" Souta said.
-„I thought that Inuyasha would come, that's why I'd made plenty."
Souta hurried and placed a colorful hat on Inuyasha's head.
-"What's this?" Inuyasha said as he touched the hat.
-"It's just a party hat," Kagome said. "It's for reunions like this one."
-"Okay, let's not let the food get cold," Mrs. Higurashi said. "Help yourselves with whatever you want."
All of the family began to help themselves with whatever was on the table. The dinner was great and Inuyasha liked it a lot, until…
*chomp*
-"BWAAAAHHHH!"
Kagome was immediately on her feet.
-"Inuyasha! What is it!"
-"What the hell was that~!"
-"Huh?" Kagome looked confused.
Mrs. Higurashi looked in the platter from where Inuyasha took the last bite. It was the salad.
-"Oh my, I think I used too much onion for his taste!" she said.
From the other side of the table Jii-chan talked:
-"Didn't you know that too much onion is toxic for dogs?"
-"WHAT!" Kagome yelled from next to Inuyasha who was finding hard too keep the continents of his stomach where they belonged.
-"It's true but I think that this time the smell got him…" Jii-chan continued.
-"I…I don't…feel too good~" he said as he wheezed and retched a few moments before "it" happened.
-"Inuyasha!"
An half an hour later, after Inuyasha stopped throwing up everything in his stomach for three days, Mrs. Higurashi told Kagome to bring Inuyasha to her room to rest as she finished cleaning up.
Inuyasha was sitting on his abdomen with his arms stretched forward, the bad feeling still in his stomach. Kagome who was sitting next to him sighed.
-"You okay, Inuyasha?"
Inuyasha slowly raised his head from the mattress.
-"Damnit! I was stupid for agreeing to stay here for this Criss-mas thing of yours!"
-"Hey!" Kagome argued. "It happened because of the onions!"
-"Didn't you know about it!" Inuyasha said.
Kagome turned from him.
-"No, I didn't!"
Inuyasha placed his forehead on his forearms.
-"Damn it! My stomach…"
Kagome sighed. Never in the other Christmases had something like this ever happened!
-'Yeah, but those times you didn't have a feudal era hanyou named Inuyasha for Christmas…Oh well…' She looked around the room and saw the miniature Christmas tree. "Oh, yeah!"
-"Huh?" Inuyasha said then saw her go and turn off the lights than place a small lantern made of rice paper with branches of mistletoe drawn on them on the mini table in front of the bed. The light that came from the lamp gave the room a dim light.
-"What's that?" Inuyasha asked.
Kagome turned to him and smiled.
-"Isn't it beautiful? My mom gave it to me as a gift."
Inuyasha just "humph"-ed and turned away. Kagome frowned.
-"C'mon, Inuyasha! You still can't be angry because what happened! I already told you that I'm sorry that I didn't know that onions aren't good for you!"
-"Than why did you think when I didn't eat any while we were in my time?"
-"I didn't think that you'll do such a fuss, okay?" Kagome said as she got up and went to her window. The city of Tokyo shone brightly from the Christmas lights. It was a beautiful view, but…all that remained for this night to be perfect was to snow. The sad thing was that there wasn't even a single snowflake in the sky. She sighed.
-"Why are you sighing for?" Inuyasha asked.
-"Oh, nothing. It's just…I really wish it would snow…"
-"Why that?"
-"Well…Christmas just isn't right without snow… Plus, it's said that if it snows on Christmas Eve and you wish something, that wish will come true."
-"Did it work?" Inuyasha asked.
-"Well, I tried on other occasions but my wishes never came true." 'Maybe because I didn't have anything important to wish for…But now...I really wish for it to come true.' She looked at Inuyasha. 'If not…I'll still be happy because I've spent this Christmas Eve with the one I love…'
Inuyasha was disappointed when he heard that her wishes never came true. Well, duh! Of course they don't come true! They're just some superstitions! Like his wish of being with Kagome for the rest of his life to have a family and have pups will come true… Bullshit! Kagome will never want that! But even if she would want to live in his time, thanks to who knows what Kami, he will outlive her with centuries and he couldn't bring himself to see her grow old and die while he still would remain young. No…It will be better for her to remain in her own time. Kagome has her family and friends and she will be safer living here after they destroy Naraku and the Shikon no Tama. He looked at her. 'How am I going to live without her? I can't resist one day without her yet alone several centuries!' He saw her turning to look at him. 'I wonder what she's thinking…'
Kagome looked at him. The man she loved for almost two years. Time sure had flied…it was like yesterday they had met, or better said, she found him sealed to the Goshinboku. At first they weren't what you could call buddies, although that changed fast as she found out about his harsh life and tried to get closer. But that was easier said than done. It wasn't until Kikyou that she discovered her true feelings about the silver-haired boy. It was true that she was jealous of Inuyasha's and Kikyou's relationship and it hurt when Inuyasha ran to see her when he thought she couldn't see him. She remembered all the times she was angry at him afterwards and all the times she cried on Sango's shoulder when they were alone. That was after she told Inuyasha that she'll remain by his side forever, just after he saw Kikyou again! Still…even if it hurt seeing him still meeting with Kikyou she remained by his side like she promised because she loved him. ~'I love Inuyasha!'~ She remembered herself yelling this after Akago tried to use the darkness in her heart to control her, using the fact that Inuyasha went in search of Kikyou who, they thought, was alive after Naraku attacked her. That was the moment when Inuyasha crashed through the wall to save her. She knew that he will come. He had always come to save her. Naraku always thought that her love for Inuyasha was a weakness, but he thought wrong. Her love for him was strength. And that strength was the one that kept her by his side until now and will keep her by his side until Naraku is killed. ~'Kagome…The rest is up to you…'~ Those were Kikyou's last words to her before she died. It was up to her to purify the Shikon no Tama and finish off Naraku then…it is up to Inuyasha. Why is she still scared she didn't know. She wished to remain in his era after all is finished but it wasn't certain if the well will close, leaving her alone in her time. She closed her eyes and smiled sadly. 'C'mon, Kagome. It's Christmas! Don't let sad thoughts come to your mind! Christmas is the period of joy and love.' ~'I love you as a hanyou, Inuyasha!' That was the first time she said it out loud when Inuyasha was under Kaguya's spell. That was also the first time when she kissed him to save his heart from darkness. If he was awake or not, she didn't know. 'He kissed me back…but I think he thought that I was Kikyou that time…' She sighed, wanting more than anything to feel his lips on hers once again. Suddenly the image of Inuyasha almost kissing her came to her mind. 'I almost forgot about that…' He really wanted to kiss her that time, but, if it wasn't for her brother…'Okay, Kagome! Snap out of it! There will be a time for everything! For now, just enjoy Christmas.'
Inuyasha began to get scared when he felt Kagome's sadness. 'What did I do?' ,he yelled in his mind then remembered all the times he made her sad by going to see Kikyou, the times when he told her that she was stupid, ugly, clumsy, all the times he said stupid things and made her leave in tears… And the list could continue. 'She has all the rights to feel like that…this is another motive for her not to feel anything but friendship towards me…Damnit! I'm such a jerk!' He placed his forehead on his forearms.
-"Inuyasha? Are you okay?" Kagome came beside him on the edge of her bed and began to rub his back with one hand.
-"Yeah…" his muffled voice was heard. 'After all I did to her why is she still next to me?' ~'I'll remain by your side"~ He remembered what she said a long time ago, by the well. 'Oh, yeah…That's why…' He felt Kagome's hand stop rubbing his back and felt her leaning her head on her forearms and on his back. 'Wha-Wha-What is she doing?' He blushed but she didn't see it.
-"You know, Inuyasha, I'm glad that you came."
-"Huh? You are?"
-"Yeah. I somehow wished to spend Christmas with you. Sorry if it didn't worked out too good…"
-"Nah…Don't worry about it."
Kagome giggled.
-"I'm glad to hear it."
Inuyasha smiled when he heard her giggle and saw her happy face. That's when he really realized her braided hair. It wasn't like he hated it but…he liked her hair to be free, to see it swaying in the wind, to feel it flowing between his fingers…Without realizing he reached for the braid, and in one pull, her hair freed itself, falling on her shoulders.
Kagome gasped as she felt her hair going loose only to make contact with Inuyasha's eyes. His gaze held warmth that she had never seen before. She felt the pressure of his hand on her lower back. She leaned. 'Inuyasha…'
Inuyasha was speechless. In the dim light of the room, Kagome looked like an angel, the light from the lantern making a halo around her head. 'She really is one…My Kagome, my angel in the darkness…' His hand made way to her lower back, wanting to feel more of her. He looked into her cobalt eyes and was mesmerized by the love in them. 'Kagome…' He added pressure to his hand on her back, and raised himself as best as he could on one forearm.
They met half-way, their lips uniting in a chaste kiss that took 3 or 4 seconds. They departed and looked eachother in the eyes. Both pairs of eyes shone with love and happiness.
-"Kagome…" Inuyasha's voice was heard. Inuyasha's eyes then went big as he saw tears in her eyes. "Kagome?" He wasn't prepared when Kagome literally jumped on him, kissing him like her life dependent on it. She bombarded him, her tongue dancing with his, neither giving up until Kagome gasped when Inuyasha turned them over that now she was under him.
-"Inuya-?" She didn't have the time to say his name because he kissed her again with the same fierceness as her, kiss that subsided into a tender one, one that tried to demonstrate his true feelings. Neither of them realized the white dance that began outside…
The kiss ended after 5 minutes and they stood forehead on forehead, with their eyes closed, trying to regain their breath. Inuyasha was the first one to react, settling next to her and pulling her into a hug. Kagome did nothing to resist him as she snuggled into him. She felt Inuyasha burying his nose in her hair, breathing in her scent. She giggled.
-"What's so funny?" Inuyasha said.
-"Well…Aren't we supposed to say something?"
-"Like what?"
Kagome rolled her eyes and sighed. She got up in a sitting position then looked at him.
-"Look, we can't act like this ever happened, and you know it…We really have to talk about it…"
Inuyasha sighed and then lifted himself in a sitting position next to Kagome.
-"I knew that the "easy way" wasn't going to work," he lightly laughed.
-"No, I understand that, but…"
-"No you don't!" Inuyasha sternly said looking at her.
-"Inuyasha?"
Inuyasha closed his eyes and sighed while his hand went though his silver mane.
-"Kagome…" he began. "There's a lot more into it than you think. I don't want this to be just for now or a couple of days…But…Because of the things we're in…and the ones that might happen…I just…" He swallowed the lump that suddenly formed in his throat. "I…I can't lose you!"
-"Lose me?"
-"I don't want to lose you ever! Even after Naraku is dead and the Jewel gone! Every day I keep worrying that you will chose to stay in this time…That you will never come back…Please don't make it come true…"
Kagome was surprised by his words. He too was thinking the same thought as her the only difference was that she thought that she won't be needed after the Jewel will be destroyed and that she will have to return in her time whether she liked it or not. Tears glistened in her eyes. 'He wants me to stay…'
Inuyasha continued.
-" You don't know what you mean to me...I am powerless when you aren't around me…I need you like I need air or water…I can't live without you, Kagome!" He looked at her with desperation in his eyes. He continued looking away from her. "After Kikyou's death I realized something…I did love her, and her death brought me sorrow but, after the thing with Kaou, I truly realized that I can't live in this cage I made from the pain and sorrow of her death. Now, I should be happy for her…she is free…free from Naraku's torture and free to be an ordinary woman, like she always wanted." Kagome placed her hand on his. Inuyasha smiled and intertwined his fingers with hers. "And now that she's free…I'm free too…"He grabbed her hand in both of his and looked her in the eyes. " I'm free to live…and to love…" He whipped away a few rogue tears that flowed form her eyes. " Kagome…After all this mess with Naraku and the Jewel…will you…would you stay with me?" He kissed her forehead. "Live with me?" He kissed her chin. "Will you…will you…"
-"Be yours?" Kagome finished his sentence. She smiled. "I already was yours for a long time…"
-"Kagome…" He smiled then closed the distance between them with a kiss. They pulled away then hugged. "You don't mind being the wife of a hanyou?"
-"Nope."
-"Neither having with said hanyou lots of quarter-youkai children?" he joked.
-"I just hope they have your ears." After saying that she reached and began rubbing one furry appendage.
-"Gods, Kagome, you can do that forever," Inuyasha said nuzzling at her neck.
-"After I become your wife I'm going to do just that."
-"Kagome," Inuyasha said as he rose to meet her eyes. "You do know that I love you?"
-"Yes, just like I love you too…"
-"Kagome…" Inuyasha said than took her in for another kiss.
-"Merry Christmas, Inuyasha," Kagome said after pulling away.
-"Merry Christmas, Kagome," Inuyasha said as he hugged her, then pulled her under the sheets. They slept together that night, smiling in each other's arms, dreaming of their future life and future family in a world without Naraku and the Jewel.