This is my third attempt at writing this particular story, as it will already be evident from just this first part, a lot has changed/been added!
I hope the changes makes the story better and more awesome to read!
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I do not own Inuyasha or Avengers!
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Tony's full name in this story is Anthony Edward Stark (A. E. Stark as you would see it under the Ironman section).
Kagome's mother will be known as 'mama Higurashi' as I can't figure out if she was actually given a name in the series.
Warning! There will be cussing in this story!
I do not have a beta to proofread for me so if you catch any mistakes then please point them out to me! (I know that I suck at catching them myself as I, sort of, read myself blind in my quest at finding mistakes)
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Kagome remembered staring down the well; she remembered not understanding why she was standing in the future and not in the past as she should have been. She remembered falling to her knees, hands desperately gripping the edge of the well. She did not remember when she started crying, the crying had only registered when a drop had landed on her shaking hands.
She remembered when she began wailing, the confused understanding of her now being back in the future was hard. It hurt so badly that she was not sure that she would ever be able to find the words for it.
She did not remember her mother rushing to her, a worried frown on her still youthful face. She did not remember her mother pulling her to her, guiding her face into the crook of mama's neck. She did remember grabbing onto her mother almost desperately, great heaving sobs tearing out of her while the strength left her body as she allowed her mother to take her weight, trusting in her to keep them upright.
Kagome did not know how long they sat in front of the well, Kagome clutching her mother desperately while the older woman tried to sooth her. Kagome remembered feeling as though her mother would disappear if she let go - she knew it was an irrational thought, that it would not happen, but it still colored her actions.
She did not remember how she got inside but she remembered being swaddled in blankets on the couch, remembered the cat flopping down on her lap, she remembered Sota fluttering around her and her, not knowing what to do with his usually strong sister whom had been reduced to a crying mess. She remembered spotting her grandfather clutching a broom in his old, weathered hands. She remembered the old mans pursed lips and his mutters as he walked out of the room.
She did not know how long she had been sitting on the couch before her mother decided that she should get up so she could take a shower and go to bed so she could try to sleep. She could not remember her shower though she could remember stumbling to her bed, not really seeing anything as she walked, though still managing not to walk into anything.
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That night she dreamt about Shippo crying for her, Inuyasha jumping in and out of the well endlessly, Sango crying while she tried to comfort Shippo, Miroku standing a little off to the side, silent tears running down his cheeks. She dreamt that she was standing right in front of them, that she tried to touch them, her hands going through their bodies as though she was a ghost, her voice unheard. She could just watch them mourn her loss and it just about killed her inside.
She remembered startling awake that morning and how she just sat on her bed, staring at nothing for a long while.
She spent that first day alternating between sitting in front of the well and sitting in the kitchen, watching her mother cook. She could remember seeing Sota passing the room every once in a while and remembered how her grandfather kept on muttering about something or other.
But the most prominent thing for her, was how much everything hurt, she felt like she was dying inside, felt how her mind tried to refuse the reality of the well not working anymore.
She did not remember walking out of the house and to the well, she did not remember jumping in there but she did remember the pain of landing and remembered how her ankle had been an inferno of pain. She did not remember how she got out of the well or how she made it into the house.
She did remember the trip to the doctor and getting her ankle bandaged and iced, she remembered how scared her mother had looked, how her grandfather had fretted and cursed the thrice be damned well, she remembered hot Sota had stood at the foot of her bed, looking at her with no emotions on his face. She had looked back at her little brother who suddenly was not so little anymore and opened her arms, inviting him to hug her. He almost threw himself at her, shaking and crying and babbling.
"I was so scared nee-chan," he said, arms tightening around her. "Never do that again nee-chan. I don't want to lose you, I can't lose you. Please, please nee-chan." His words had trailed off as he continued to cry and shake and tried not to imagine Kagome jumping into the well again and not coming out of it as well as she had that time.
"I'm sorry Sota, so sorry." Kagome choked out, her words almost incomprehensible as she had begun crying as well.
Neither of the noticed Mama Higurashi standing in the doorway to Kagome's room, watching them cry; as she did not want to ruin the moment the two of them had clearly needed.
So she stood back even though it hurt her to do it.
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She began to heal, it was a slow process. She could still be found sitting in front of the well, thinking of the things she would not see or hear again. She missed small things like Miroku getting slapped for being a pervert, she missed her girl time with Sango, she missed fighting with Inuyasha, she missed cuddling Shippo, she missed Sesshomaru and the way he would grudgingly approve of her and the way he would only glare slightly at her for calling him nii-san. She missed Kirara and Kaede who always had a few words of wisdom.
She missed the abundance of trees and grass and clean air.
She would cry when the feelings of loss became too much, she woke up screaming from nightmares and some days things were just too hard and she would sit in whatever spot she had chosen for the rest of the day, never noticing anything but her churning thoughts and the misplaced feeling of guilt.
Some days she just felt empty.
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It was about a month after the well had closed that someone had come to the shrine. He had looked around dispassionately, seemingly not really caring about what he was looking at until his eyes landed on her.
She had been sweeping the ground and had, for that very same reason, not noticed him nearing her or the way his features had shifted or that he suddenly looked like someone she had known when she could still travel through the well.
He had placed himself so the wind would move his hair just enough for it to enter her line of vision.
It was the lock of silvery white hair that broke her from her thoughts. She slowly let her eyes trail up the man's body, first noticing his hair which reminded her of both Inuyasha and Sesshomaru. Then she noticed the purple lines on his wrists, her eyes had locked on them for a little while before they snapped up to the man's face.
The golden eyes, the purple lines and the purple moon on his forehead made it clear just who was standing in front of her. It did not matter that his face looked a little bit older, that he was just a little bit taller, and that his face seemed a tiny bit more open.
She did not have a doubt that the man or rather, the yokai standing in front of her was Sesshomaru.
"Miko," he said, his deep voice almost rattling the bones in her body. "This Sesshomaru could have killed you many times because of your inattentiveness."
Kagome did not even register what he was actually saying just that the being in front of her was, without a doubt, Sesshomaru.
"Nii-san…" Kagome whispered, standing still a few moments more before she threw herself at him gleefully. He caught her with an ease that was breathtaking for her, as she had almost forgotten what that ease felt like.
She was just so happy that he was there, that he was alive.
She was happy that there was a chance that she would get to see Shippo and maybe even Inuyasha again.
She spent the rest of the day within touching distance of Sesshomaru, as though afraid he was not actually there, that it was just her imagination running away with her.
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She met Shippo three days after she had met Sesshomaru.
The first thing she noticed was the fact that he had grown and that he looked like he was in his early twenties. He still had his fox ears; the most notable change was the fact that he now had three tails.
They had spent a few minutes just looking at each other, both of them noticing what seemed to have changed and what had stayed the same. Then they were hugging almost desperately, a continuous stream of 'mama' left Shippo while Kagome was murmuring her little kits name over and over again.
It took a while before they were well enough to sit down and talk about what had happened.
Shippo talked about all the kids Miroku and Sango had, he talked about Inuyasha and how he had died in battle, protecting Shippo, who had been brought down.
"I feel like it's my fault that you don't get to see Inuyasha again. I should have been more aware of my surroundings, I should have known better." Shippo said, tears rolling down his cheeks.
Kagome felt her heart stop, the fact that her little kit felt like that hurt her deeply, and he was not supposed to feel like that. Yes she was sad that she would not meet Inuyasha again but she was overjoyed that he had protected his pack, that he had protected her little kit.
"Shippo, it's not your fault. Bad things happen, yes I'm sad that Inuyasha is dead but I'm so, so happy that you are alive. I don't blame you little one." Kagome said while she made sure to keep eye contact with him so she was sure he understood.
The realization that Kagome did not blame him loosened something in him and suddenly he was crying into his mother figures shoulder.
'Things would be okay eventually.' Kagome thought as she hugged her little kit closer.
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One thing that had not changed was how demanding Sesshomaru was.
He expected her to be the best she could be and then some. He did not accept anything less than her giving something everything she had.
He arranged for her to have tutors for everything he deemed necessary and then some, though he did not start her off with any language as he felt that Kagome would not be able to do her absolute best if he made her learn another language as well.
She was still pretty bad at math to be honest. Her teacher hemmed and hawed over it and then decided to give her a test to see if the assignments were too hard or too easy.
After the test it became clear that she, for some reason, could not make her brain do simple math - the specific math that her mind counted as easy was, in fact, not easy at all.
While Kagome was studying, Sesshomaru looked into her family and quickly found that Kagome did not have the same father as Sota did. When he found out who her father was, he decided to arrange an English tutor for her as it would become necessary for her in the future.
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It was a Friday; about six months after Sesshomaru had reentered her life that he decided to confront Kagome's mother about the identity of Kagome's father.
"This Sesshomaru has something to discuss with you." He stated as he walked into the kitchen.
Mama looked up at him with a gentle, though confused smile.
"You need to tell your daughter about her father." He stated, his tone making his words a command.
Mama had frozen in place, she was looking down at the soapy water in the sink, letting his words sink in before she pulled her hands out of the water, dried them and then turned to Sesshomaru slowly. Her eyes were wide and questioning and her lips were turned down slightly at the corners.
"I… How did you even know?" she asked; her words a mere whisper.
Sesshomaru stared at her dispassionately for a few minutes, his face never betraying his thoughts. He did not have to say anything as she was cowed by his flat stare.
"I couldn't tell her this when she was smaller, I just couldn't. She shouldn't have to worry about it. I don't want to burden her father. I just… I can't." she stuttered, voice falling flat when she saw the small glare Sesshomaru was aiming at her.
"You will tell your daughter who her father is, she deserves to know." He said bluntly. He did not give her a chance to argue as he walked out of the room right after.
Mama Higurashi was frozen, her thoughts whirling, but this encounter would prove to be everything she needed to prompt her into figuring out how to tell her children who Kagome's father actually was.
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Every now and again Kagome would find herself staring at nothing, just thinking of the past and especially Inuyasha and his death. She despaired never getting to talk to him again and getting to talk to him about her feelings for him.
Because her feelings had changed and they had done so without her noticing - she knew that she thought of him as more of a brother than anything else, granted he would be an annoying brother, but a brother none the less.
But there was nothing she could do about it now, so she settled on a slight feeling of melancholy and sometimes let her thoughts wander to Inuyasha who had never gotten the chance to be her brother.
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And that's the end of the first chapter, this included a lot of new content!
Before anyone asks then I have 19 chapters planned for this story, though some may be split if I feel like they're too long (the story takes place after The Avengers movie by the way). I am planning to, sort of, include the Winter Soldier movie as well as Ironman 3. All of this includes chapters for side stories that reviewers suggested in previous versions of this story (though those will be at the end).
And there probably won't be any romance in this fic as that's not what I want to focus on – this is all about family.
Updates will be slow as I don't like rushing myself (which will make the chapters bad).
Feel free to ask questions (though I won't answer if it might end up revealing something), some questions and answers might be put up on the chapter if I feel it important to share the answer for said question.